ARC Review for The Storm of Echoes by Christelle Dabos

 The Storm of Echoes by Christelle Dabos is the fourth and final book in The Mirror Visitor series translated from French. I was lucky to receive an advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately, the book was a huge disappointment.

While we get to know several great characters throughout the first three books, many of them are mere cameos in the fourth book. I wanted more Berenilde, Madame Rosaline, and Archibald. We get a fair bit of perspective from Victoria, a nonverbal child with the ability to dream-walk. Because she cannot warn any of the characters about what she's seen, these scenes are used to build tension by giving the readers info that the main characters do not know. I liked this in the third book as it was used more sparingly, but felt it was overused as a plot device now.

Two other things annoyed me before the ending. This book is translated from French, but the translator leaves in a lot of French words, something that wasn't done in the first three books. This gave the book an entirely different mood. Secondly, there is a lot of focus on infertility that seemed incredibly out of place, especially for a YA book. I know the protagonist is now a bit older, probably 20-21 but when facing the destruction of arks and losing great swaths of people, it felt like an odd thing to focus on.

Even with these complaints, I was still enjoying the book until the last 40 or 50 pages. The pacing suddenly speeds up, several reveals happens, making little to no sense. I felt the author didn't know how she was going to make some things happen so she shoehorned in events that she wanted to occur, even if there were no links or clues to these sudden reveals.

I ruminated on how to rate this and decided on 2 stars. I don't hate it, but I also don't recommend reading this book either. While this is a quartet, it really feels more like two duologies. The first two books focused on politics and magical societies whereas the latter two focus on religion/god/cults. 

Both the book and the audiobook are out now. Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced copy.

January TBR

Here's what I want to get to in January.

1.  Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

2. Saga issue #55 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

3. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

4. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

5. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

6. Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia

7.  The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

8. Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

9. Cost of Living by Emily Maloney (ARC) 

10. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

December Wrap Up

 In December I read 4 fantasy books.

I picked up The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden to finish out the trilogy. A snowy wintery read that was nearly perfect. As it is the third book, I don't want to say what it was about but I loved it and gave it 4.5 stars.

I read The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant. This was a cute children's fantasy about different clans of "makers" and a king that needed their help. It was silly and fun and I gave it 4 stars.

Next I read A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske. I knew there was a M/M romance in this, but didn't realize it was smutty. A man who doesn't know about magic gets a cursed tattoo and a magician tries to help him. I enjoyed this quite a lot and will continue on with the series when new books are released. 4 stars.

I read The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu. I'd heard fun things about a magical school, and while that wasn't quite true, I still enjoyed this story immensely. A girl yells at a sorcerer and is sent to a troubled girls school where she has to learn "manners". She makes friends and uncovers a long-held secret. I flew through this and gave it 5 stars.

I'm in the middle of another book that is an ARC, so I'll review it separately.

Owned Audiobooks Prior to 2022

 I will probably buy audiobooks next year, but since my resolution is to target audiobooks purchased prior to 2022, I'm writing out all of my options. I didn't pay full price for all of these but I did for some and need to read them. I have 60+ titles.

Audiobooks I bought before 2022:

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rivka Brunt

Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

American War by Omar El-Akkad

A Crooked Tree by Una Mannion

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Arcadia by Iain Pears

The Axe and the Throne by M.D. Ireman

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Unmentionable by Therese Oneill

The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

The Lighting-Struck Heart by TJ Klune

Wolf Song by TJ Klune

Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Girl at War by Sara Novic

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

Women of Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

A History of Loneliness by John Boyne

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson

Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik

Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainford

Pines by Blake Crouch

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

The Yield by Tara June Winch

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Soulless by Gail Carringer

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Ngyuen

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

The Five by Hallie Rubenfold

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T. Kira Madden

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

The Collector by John Fowles

Red Sister by Mark Lawerence

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Lock In by John Scalzi

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison

Ohio by Stephen Markley

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Anticipated 2022 Releases

 I wrote up a list of anticipated releases last year and while I didn't get to all of them, I liked organizing it all in one place. So I'm going to do it again this year.

Updated 3/20/22

January

Saga Issue #55 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

February

What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris

Where I Can't Follow by Ashley Blooms

A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers who Used Them by Neil Bradbury

March

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

True Biz by Sara Novic

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

April

Still Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton

A Sign for Home by Blair Fell

May

June

July

Heat Wave by TJ Klune (3rd in the series)

August

The Spear Cuts Through the Water- by Simon Jimenez

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston (2nd in series)

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

September

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

October 

Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (4th in the series)

November

December

The 12 Books I want to get to in 2022

 I make a priority list of 12 books each year, and I've been getting better at actually reading them. So, here's what they are:

1. A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

2. Party Monster by James St. James

3. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

4. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

5. Fences by August Wilson

6.  Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David von Drehl

7.  Kindred by Octavia Butler

8.  Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston

9. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

10.  We are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker

11. How High we Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

12. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Bookish New Year's Resolutions

 Well, now that I've failed my resolutions, time to set up new ones for a new year. I will be keeping one from this year which is to DNF whenever I'm not enjoying reading.

1. Read at least 15 nonfiction books in the year.

2. Listen to 12 audiobooks I've purchased before 2022.

3. Read at least 24 books from my owned shelf prior to 2022.

4. Complete Read Harder's 24 challenges.

Goals Check-In

 This year was a shitshow in terms of my physical and mental health. I read way less than normal. However, I wanted to check in on my goals in order to set realistic goals for next year.

1. Read 12 of my unread books where I own 2 or more books by the same author.

The only author I did this with was Simone St. James. I read both of her books I had on my shelves. 

2. Read 24 books unread on previous TBRs. I've been making TBRs for a little over three years and have plenty of books I haven't gotten to yet.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

No Exit by Taylor Adams

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3. Read 9 of my purchased Audible books.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez 

No Exit by Taylor Adams

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

4. Read 6 classics.

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Bread Givers by Anzia Yezeirska.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

5. Continue with series I've already started.

I finished The Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert

I finished the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers

I read the next Scholomance book by Naomi Novik.

Lastly my Top 12 books I wanted to read this year:

1. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

2. The Betrayals by Bridget Collins   DNF

3. The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

4. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

5. Abbadon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey

6. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Minstry

7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

8. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

9. Blindness by Jose Saramago

10. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

11. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

12. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

DNF'd books in the second half of the year

 I'm getting better with stopping a book when I'm not enjoying it. As a result, the majority of my reading were rated 4 and 5 stars. Sometimes I worried I wasn't giving the book enough of a chance, but there are so many books that interest me, so I have to draw the line somewhere. These are the books I decided not to finish in the second half of the year.

All the Names Given by Raymond Antrobus. This is his second poetry collection. I enjoyed his first, but these poems didn't impact me and after reading 60% of it, I decided to stop wasting my time.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I read 200+ pages when I decided that it wasn't holding my attention. The narrative seemed meandering and more focused on war than I wanted. Definitely a taste thing, nothing wrong with the book itself.

We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida. I only read 4 or 5 chapters but felt bored.

Sabrina by Nick Drnaso. This is a graphic novel that won awards but I have no idea why. The art is plain and so nondescript, I couldn't tell if the characters were male or female or who any of them were. The plot wasn't at all compelling so I put it down.

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins. This is her second book and I decided to pick it up after loving her debut. While her writing was pretty, it felt like nothing was happening. This was quite disappointing.

Only 5 in the last six months. I hope that indicates that I'm getting better at predicting which books I'll enjoy.

December TBR

 I have so many more books I wanted to read this year, but realistically, I'll probably only get to about 6. Wow, I'm in the mood for fantasy. This is what I plan to read:

Storm of Echoes by Christelle Dabos

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

All the Names Given by Raymond Antrobus

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske