Matthew's Journal

I've read all of these (in fairly short order), so I now must rank them. I think:

1. A Spindle Splintered, Alix E. Harrow. A very meta take on Sleeping Beauty, but manages to be an engaging and engrossing and sometimes surprising story at the same time.
2. Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard. A story of colonialism, escaping abusive relationships, and fire elementals, in a beautifully drawn world.
3. Elder Race, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Two narrators, one fantasy, one SF, tell the same story from different perspectives. A cute device, nicely executed, although I found one of the narrators a bit irritating
4. A Psalm for the Wild-Built Becky Chambers. A story about finding oneself and finding vocation; very Becky Chambers (and I felt it ended just as it was getting going).
5. Across the Green Grass Fields Seanan McGuire. Another Wayward Children book; less bleak than some.
6. The Past Is Red Catherynne M. Valente. Post-apocalypse, where the people of our time are simply "Fuckwits". We do probably need books like this, but far too grim for my liking.

I think it's fair to say I knew which were my first and last choices, and the ones in the middle were harder to rank.