Permanent Objects

A collection of miscellany

Archives for April 2025

52 IN 52, Book #15: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

I love reading a book that makes me think “how the hell did anybody come up with this idea?” And I really enjoyed the idea’s execution here.

At the outset this book really just seems like pretty straightforward YA sci-fi fare. An astronaut wakes up on a spaceship midway through its mission and has to figure out what the mission is and what he’s meant to be doing, with the aid of an onboard computer… Only, as it turns out, things aren’t quite as straightforward as they seem. Honestly, having read Project Hail Mary not too long before I read this one, I was sort of thinking that it was giving Andy Weir — only to be promptly proven wrong by the events of the latter half of the book.

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52 IN 52, Book #14: Jade City by Fonda Lee

I keep recommending this book to everyone with the blurb, “Imagine like an 80s Hong Kong gangster film but with superpowers,” and that seems to really sell it for a lot of people, so let me start off that way! 

Honestly, I love this book and I think it is an extremely good stepping off point for a series. Jade City seems mostly to be about establishing the clans in Janloon and the jade abilities and responsibilities that come with clan membership, and I think Fonda Lee does a really masterful job with that — she focuses tightly on this island nation and its capital city and the people who live there, and she really brings the readers in close to get intimate with these characters. She makes us come to care about them quite a lot — for better or for worse, she says, still heartbroken…

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52 IN 52, Book #13: The Golden Raven by Nora Sakavic

For a very long time my Goodreads review of this book just said “NORA!!!!!!!!!” and that still encapsulates many of my feelings, so let me just preserve that for posterity.

I saw someone on TikTok not that long ago refer to AFTG as a “period piece,” and while I did take quite a bit of psychic damage from that, it’s not like they were wrong. The original series was quite obviously written during a different time period when Nora was a different writer, and a long time has passed between her writing those books and her starting on these, so it’s no surprise that this Sunshine Court series has a slightly different tone. I think it’s a positive — the original books do have some language and themes that are reflective of the times (so to speak) and it’s nice that Nora seems to be aware of that and is handling things differently in this series. There’s more diversity, more thoughtful handling of identity topics, etc.

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52 IN 52, Book #12: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Wow! This book is like one long trolley problem. I like the way it grapples with the utilitarian ethics of the greatest good for the greatest number, and the morality of deciding who gets to live and who must die; I also like the Minority Report-esque angle of “is it right to punish a person (or a people) for a sin they haven’t yet committed?” 

I don’t know if I’d say I liked Kyr very much, although I did like her more by the end, but I think there’s also an interesting challenge in her unlikeability: people who have been radicalized deserve the chance at deradicalization whether or not they’re likable, and (tying back into the morality question) an individual’s likability isn’t, or shouldn’t be, the deciding factor in doing the right thing… Super complex and much to think about. 

Also, all plot feelings aside, Emily Tesh’s prose is absolutely gorgeous and lush and the world she’s built here is incredible. An enjoyable read for me!

Rating: ★★★★☆ – The book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes this subject or genre, and I am likely to re-read it at least once.

52 IN 52, Book #11: We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

I liked this! It was a spooky read that was well-paced for the length, and gave House of Leaves vibes without all the turning the book upside down to read. It wasn’t the most satisfying ending in the world, but the acknowledgements said he got a three-book deal so maybe there’s a sequel?? Anyway, I enjoyed reading this despite my momentary confusion about why this girl in Oregon was pumping her own gas. (Which is legal now anyway so I don’t know why it threw me off so bad lol)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ – I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to people who enjoy this genre and subject, but at this time I feel I’m not likely to re-read.

52 IN 52, Book #10: Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish

I really enjoyed this read! It’s more of a slice-of-life romance(?) type book than I usually go for, but I was intrigued by how it would handle the topic of Jude’s depression in particular as someone who has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder myself.

Interestingly, although sometimes Jude’s internal monologue felt like a drag, it didn’t actually bother me because that too felt realistic? Which depressed bitches among us haven’t gotten into a downward spiral and then though “man, even I think I’m a slog right now.” I also enjoyed that it wasn’t a case of magical healing dick or that Jude’s depression was fixed by getting a new boyfriend. It was very clearly an up-and-down where sometimes he seemed to be doing okay and then something could kick his feet out from under him in the next chapter. By the end of the book I did sense a difference and a general upward trajectory but that had less to do with Faron himself and more to do with just having support and understanding while Jude gets himself back on track, I guess.

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