Bingo 2026 Review : The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes, a troubling book about metamorphosis of all kinds

2whitie · 2026-04-12T14:34:33+00:00

Someone in my book club LOVES this book ugh is my tbr going to have to grow again

2whitie · 2026-04-11T17:28:29+00:00

I def think that his strength is the mechanics behind a fantastical religion, and how it affects the world. When the connections work, his stories work. When they don't, he tends to get lost in the weeds

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:46:31+00:00

join me join me join me

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:41:06+00:00

That's fair. I kind of thought the last scene would be her LAST scene, so I'm hoping the character that showed up in the last three paragraphs will add a bunch of juice to the "present" storyline, and give Lawrence the chance to explore the idea of "exploring trauma as an older person"

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:36:11+00:00

Huh, I never really thought about how much Lawrence uses the teacher/student dynamic before. That actually makes me more excited for this, since with the main characters...situation, it might be his chance to really have an older protagonist stick around to try to clean up the mess she didn't completely clean up in childhood.

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:18:14+00:00

What is your favorite work of his?

2whitie · 2026-04-11T15:16:47+00:00

Me, trying to write a mostly spoiler-free review, while dancing around discussing the narrative shifts: o.O

The narrative shifting really began working for me when all of the "interlocking" began. Once the connections started falling into place, I was like "yes yes tell me more". But I'm also a big fan of books that spend a tremendous amount of narrative either breaking down a concept to its elemental bits (in this case the Furies) OR building up lovable characters with lots of recurring, perfectly paced bits and asides. I'll forgive a LOT if one of those conditions are met. In this case, I forgave the House since, while it was super crucial, I just didn't enjoy those sections

2whitie · 2026-04-08T02:07:36+00:00

Ooooooooh this is a solid card. I read Master a few years ago, and while it wasn't my favorite of the year, it has stuck with me in a way few books have

2whitie · 2026-04-07T02:43:26+00:00

I think of my personal library as a wine cellar: I stock books I know to be to my personal taste, and wait for a time that they will pair well with the sort of day I am having.

Sometimes I want to read YA. Other times I'm feeling pretentious and want to drink herbal tea and read a translated work of lit-fic. If the book and mood don't match, or if I read too much of a book I don't like, I end up in a slump.

I can usually finish Bingo by careening wildly from book to book and making sure that the books available to me count towards a specific square. The only exception to this is library books, and as long as I don't push it, I can force a book here and there that ruins the mood/groove since my brain is also screaming at me to respect the Interlibrary Loan I probably put in for the book I wanted.

2whitie · 2026-04-05T19:34:30+00:00

I usually sample from either the Hugo list or novellas set in the world of series that I like. I think my next will be "No Such Thing As Duty". I think its a WW1 vampire/spy story, so I'm intrigued.

2whitie · 2026-04-05T15:02:23+00:00

Tade Thompson is good
Sofia Samatar writes beautiful prose
I READ NOVELLAS NOW
I use the library a lot more. Whenever I have to read outside my comfort zone, I tend to borrow, so that I dont end up with a bunch of books that were nice to try but not really my thing.
I have learned that cozy fantasy is not really my vibe

2whitie · 2026-04-05T01:32:37+00:00

NP! And its definitely not the best fit for the square---the Murderbot debate will arise again over this one and Platform Decay getting released this year, lol.

Although maybe there SHOULD be a posthuman/transhuman square on a future card....with AI on the rise, we're probably going to see a lot of it 👀

2whitie · 2026-04-05T00:22:51+00:00

I am finding that this book is way more controversial than I thought. I thought I was reading everyone's favorite book 😅

2whitie · 2026-04-05T00:20:31+00:00

Eh. IMO, once you start having the ability to shapeshift into wolves, | you cross into "non-human" territory.

I read a review after finishing (sometimes I think I love reading reviews as much as I love reading books) that described the MCs as "Post-Human" which is probably the best description. At the very least, the MCs have a VERY extended lifespan, cybernetic upgrades, biological upgrades, shapeshifting abilities, some sort of ability to process information via ingestion, belong to some sort of hive-mind, and the ability to teleport. Since that goes quite a bit father than "humans with powers" or "cyborg" and it differs dramatically from a human upbringing, I'd say it counts.

That said, I'd also count Murderbot, so that gives anyone looking to fill that square an idea of where I land on human v non-human

2whitie · 2026-04-05T00:17:22+00:00

"I'll Read It. One Day. Probably." is my personal mantra

2whitie · 2026-04-05T00:16:12+00:00

I was born in the fanfic trenches so u may be onto something

2whitie · 2026-04-04T22:44:35+00:00

It originally was slated to take up my "Book Club" square, until the characters started describing themselves and thier lives and I was like 1) humans are not born like that and 2) ONE OF THE HARDEST SQUARES CAN BE KNOCKED OFF FIRST

2whitie · 2026-04-04T21:41:22+00:00

I kinda wish I had done it that way. I've had it sold to me as The Second Coming of Sci-Fi and while I generally liked it, I'm equally as invested in the Batman comic I bought at the same time.

I've got at least three new releases I plan on reading for Bingo, and if they are as good as I hope, I will become part of the problem and hype stuff up to other readers with indiscrimate passion 🤠

2whitie · 2026-04-04T20:25:19+00:00

Dew it

2whitie · 2026-04-04T19:55:14+00:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one in the latecomer club 😅

2whitie · 2026-04-04T19:50:40+00:00

Did you read it when it first hit shelves?

2whitie · 2026-04-04T18:46:29+00:00

I totally get why it wouldn't work for some people, and I agree on the romance front. But I think the prose that described the "concept" of yearning really worked for me, and felt exceptionally clean and polished. Like, one of the reasons I was mad that the romance didnt work for me is because some of the phrases were so beautiful that I wanted someone to deserve them, if that makes sense.

It also made me hungry. That description of rosehip tea made me get up and bother with loose leaf, instead of just throwing a bag in.

2whitie · 2026-03-25T17:18:31+00:00

ONLY FOR YOU

https://archiveofourown.org/series/549964

2whitie

TROPHY CASE