native speaker by chang-rae lee

 It's an excellent novel in its own right, and I completely understand why it has so many diaspora-novel imitators. It's multi - layered, the writing is very good, and it's only a little bit corny. The diaspora angst is fully realized and genuine, introspective, yet carefully written, to perfectly suit the narrator. I didn't know this would be such a nyc-grounded novel, but it's also a fitting time in my life right now to have read it. 

the deep by rivers solomon

Not only is the story uninteresting, but there is basically no inventive or descriptive language, and no emotional impact. Even with how short it is, it feels stretched out with the word thesaurus feature or superfluous repetition. 

 "in one of the rememberings, there was still hair caught in a comb belonging to the foremother... She could only imagine how the bonds of black keratin had once choked the carved ivory." 

"Her stomach was bloated and overstuffed, so even though she was hungry, she could not bear to eat another bite."

???

the true deceiver by tove jansson (trans. thomas teal)

 It's the quintessential "adult" book not in sex or gore, but depictions of cynicism and social norms. Short and sparse, but all the loops are closed neatly and the themes play out perfectly. Not comparing this to roald dahl because of the Scandinavians writing about coldness trope, but an author of slightly disquieting children's work going no holds barred unsentimentality for adult novels. 

woman on the edge of time by marge piercy

The whole thing was basically two layers of the noble-savage trope, but given how long ago this was written, it was pretty imaginative and politically motivating. The writing was good, but from my point of view, the "ethnic" aspect of the voice was overdone. 

transfigurations by michael bishop

The writing is good, there are some quite interesting parts, and overall it seems aware not only of what biological anthropology "is" but what biological anthropology "is for".

the tyrant baru cormorant by seth dickinson

 Not really satisfying. The optimistic tone doesn't, in my opinion, serve the themes well, and it used an almost juvenile humor way too often for my liking. The sequels were written in a pretty video game-like way, with weak and repetitive battle plots serving to take the reader's viewpoint around a well-built out fantasy setting. Pretty anticlimactic, and the cliffhanger set up is much weaker than the one at the end of the first book. 

the monster baru cormorant by seth dickinson

this book was mainly about showing off worldbuilding. which is fine, but nowhere near as compelling as the first one. also comes across as, if i didn't know better, tv-series bait, with the goofy new characters, banter dialogue over inner monologues, and the lavish descriptions of place and people. the pacing is weird but that's supposedly because 2 and 3 were supposed to be one book.