Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer (Audiobook)

I have been so excited for this book and it did not disappoint!

I first encountered Naomi Kritzer’s writing when her short story “Cat Pictures, Please” was nominated (and later won) the Hugo Award. It was just delightful in every way and I cannot recommend it enough. It’s about a benevolent artificial intelligence that just wants to help people and to look at pictures of cats. This story was included in a short story collection after it won, Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories, and I enjoyed that collection very much. 

Later, Ms. Kritzer took this premise and turned it into the award winning Catfishing on Catnet, in which the AI hangs out with a bunch of teens in a chat room and helps out when the protagonist is pursued by her stalker of a father.  It was a delight and deserved every award it won. (And more!) I also very much enjoyed the sequel, Chaos on Catnet, and her more recent book, Liberty’s Daughter. 

So of course, when I went to Worldcon for the first time this past summer and I saw that Ms. Kritzer was reading from a new upcoming work, I had to be there! She read from this book, Obstetrix, which is set in a not too distant future in which an obstetrician is kidnapped by a cult. I couldn’t want to read the rest of it, so I was so thrilled when Tor and NetGalley approved me for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

It did not disappoint. Once again, the author creates an immersive world with believable characters that make you unable to stop turning the pages. You really feel you are there, captive, with the protagonist, and you share her creeping dread.

I predict this book will be on the Hugo ballot next year - it’ll certainly be on mine!

I listened to this audiobook at 2x speed. 

Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey

This book was just horrible (in the best way possible!) 

I think I first became aware of Sarah Gailey’s work when I read about their hippo riders in a review on tor dot com and thought “that sounds super fun!”  It was super fun, and after devouring River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, I have always looked for new works by this author. I loved Magic For Liars and the Echo Wife, and Just Like Home was terrifying in a wonderful way. Last year’s Spread Me was also quite enjoyable horror in a sexy John Carpenter’sThe Thing kind of way. 

I was intrigued when I got their new book Make Me Better from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed it but I wished there had been content warnings for pregnancy loss and dead babies. 

This book was so so so so creepy in a looming eldritch horror way where you’re not sure if the way humans treat each other is actually the scariest thing in the world. 

It follows Celia, a woman lost in her life, as she goes to an island cult to try to find herself and a friend who had used to live on the island. 

The book is intricately constructed with multiple timelines and some truly monstrous characters. Every time I turned a page I hoped that characters would realize what was going on and get out of their terrible situations. 

This wasn’t an easy read but I’m very glad I read it.