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Hunger is all I am and all my life is: Reviewing The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Summer is slowly but surely turning into fall. Other things are changing too. They are exciting changes, though, and I’m feeling optimistic about the near future. For this book review, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try some genre fiction. Despite my preferences, I am a fan of historical fiction, and this once sounded particularly interesting. It’s also an interesting rabbit hole to delve into, if you feel like doing some random research. That said, let’s talk about The Glutton.

Content Warning: Explicit Language, Violence, Child Death, Sexual Content, Animal Death, Disturbing Imagery, Discussions of Sexual Assault

In a small hospital room in Versailles, a nun named Sister Perpetue sits with an ailing patient. This patient is considered dangerous, and the unpleasant task of watching him falls to the novice nun. This patient is a man named Tarare. His life began out unremarkably, in a tiny village outside of Lyon. Tarare’s young life is changed after a violent altercation, and he is forced out of the only life he has ever known. Soon after, he develops an insatiable hunger that drives him to extremes to satisfy it. Tarare’s journey ends up being one of peril, deceit, and gluttony. Amidst a political upheaval, Tarare is forced to navigate a strange world and his own dangerous cravings.

The Glutton is an intense, visceral, and eloquent imagining of Tarare, a man whose life is a mystery to this day. Blakemore’s prose is interesting because it feels stream-of-consciousness, even rambling, at times, but she cleverly circles back to the main narrative every time. The writing may not resonate with everyone, but it certainly presents a unique approach to such a unique story. Blakemore’s prose is poetic, sympathetic, and darkly funny at times, but doesn’t let go of Tarare as a tragic figure amongst the other odd characters in the novel. There was a distinct focus throughout the novel that helped ground this story in reality. That being said, this writing style may not resonate with everyone. At times, I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of the main story. The writing, though, is so captivating, and it was easy to get sucked into the story. Overall, The Glutton stands out as a historical reimagining of a story that most people probably don’t know about. If you are looking for a historical novel. I highly recommend checking out this one.

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There is consolation in dying in the pursuit of justice, no matter how small or big that death is: Reviewing The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Book 3 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl Series) by Matt Dinniman

Hi everyone! Let’s skip the pleasantries and get right into this review. If you haven’t seen my reviews for the first two books in the DCC series, please check those out. Now, let’s talk about the third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Content Warning: Violence, Gore, Crude Humor, Explicit Language

Not so long ago, Earth was colonized by a powerful group of aliens and turned into the set of their most popular survival show, Dungeon Crawler World. Carl and Donut have been pretty lucky so far, but nothing could have prepared them for the third floor. The Iron Tangle is the most complicated railway system in the galaxy. Trains of all sorts zip along on impossible tracks. Monsters lurk in every car, and there are only so many ways to escape. Luckily for Carl and Donut, they have the popularity and skills to survive even the toughest situations, and they’ll need all of the luck they can get. Along with all of the other enemies, they now have bounties on their heads. Not even their fellow crawlers can be trusted. The key to surviving all of this could be hidden in a silly little cookbook.

Out of the three books I have read thus far, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook has been the most fun. I love the setting and appreciate Matt Dinniman explaining that it is purposefully confusing. I think what worked for this book most was that there was little to no exposition about the new floor. Previously, I had praised the first two books for utilizing exposition effectively, but the lack of reasoning or any sort of logic made it all the more fun. This book is not all fun and games, though. Dinniman does a good job sprinkling in hints at Carl’s backstory, among other tragedies that are hidden within the bizarre world of this novel. I also appreciated the new side characters, like Katia. I’m interested to see what the new group dynamic will be in book four. With all of that being said, I’m hooked on the Dungeon Crawler Carl series and cannot wait to see what kind of nonsense is in the next book.

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You’re the wind. You’re the stars. You are all endless things: Reviewing The Lost Metal (Book 7 of the Mistborn Saga) by Brandon Sanderson

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well since I last posted. I am very excited to (kind of) wrap up this series. I highly suggest that you check out my reviews of the other books in the Mistborn series. More than likely, this will be my last review of a Brandon Sanderson novel for a bit. Good news, though: it looks like this series will be adapted into a TV series in the near future. Needless to say, I’m very excited for that. Now, without further preamble, let’s talk about the last book in the Wax and Wayne saga.

Content Warning: Violence, Some Disturbing Imagery

In the years since the Bands of Mourning had been discovered, tensions have slowly grown in Elendel. Waxillium Ladrian has shifted his focus to politics, but finds himself being met with resistance at every turn. Detective Marasi Colms and Wayne are investigating the mysterious stockpiles of food and weapons being sent to the Outer City of Bilming. All the while, the Set continue to spread their corruption throughout the city, even influencing the Elendel Senate. The Set, though, have a greater and more destructive plan. Wax and his wife Steris discover a new type of explosive that the Set already have access to. They soon learn that the Set plan on destroying Elendel for their god, Trell. With everything they have ever cared about at stake, Wax and his crew must fight against forces beyond their comprehension to save the world as they know it.

The final book in this era of the Mistborn saga is a satisfying, albeit bittersweet, ending to an interesting and action-packed story arc. As always, Brandon Sanderson delivers an exciting plot and plenty of tense, well-written fight scenes. When you get to the last 40% of a Sanderson novel, you have no choice but to lock in and lose yourself to the ebb and flow of the relentless plot. With that being said, this novel is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning. While there are plenty of great character moments, it does take a bit for all of the built-up plot points to come together. When it did come together, it was incredibly satisfying. Sanderson has always demonstrated attention to detail, and The Last Metal has plenty of those moments. The book, though, is not without emotional weight. A lot of the intense action scenes could have easily just been that- cool action scenes. Sanderson, however, uses those moments as important character development. There are certainly some emotional moments in this book, but I will not talk about those because I don’t want to spoil anything. I think it goes without saying that I was satisfied with the Wax and Wayne saga. I will continue to highly recommend the Mistborn saga to anyone looking for a compelling fantasy series.