'A Matter of Blood' by Sarah Pinborough

The opening act of Sarah Pinborough's urban fantasy horror trilogy is dark. It's gory, it's harsh and unflinching in its descriptions of an ugly world; no romps with city-dwelling fairies here. It's urban fantasy at its most brutal, illuminating a bleak potential future where-- as our killer makes a habit of pointing out-- nothing is sacred. It's that idea of the sacrosanct that winds its way throughout the book, touching each of the characters in turn, leading the jaded Detective Jones to a thorough examination of not only the ways in which his society is broken, but in which he is as well.

cool shit i found online: part 1 of a series

I'm gonna try doing something new here at P.O.P., and every week or so (maybe more frequently, if warranted) I'll post a bunch of links to posts around the internet that made me go "Huh", or "Ooh", or "THIS THIS THIS" while accompanied by manic handflapping. With the stipulation that they will be at least tangentially related to stuff that this blog talks about-- geek culture, sci-fi/fantasy, YA lit, feminism, queer representation, etc Maybe eventually I'll come up with a catchy title for these linkdumps (your suggestions appreciated, of course) but for now, here's the goods.

• For any of you who have ever lambasted John Green (who, let's be clear, I love, but more for his digital media projects than his writing) for his endless parade of Manic Pixie Dream Girls, here's a great article about how Skins deconstructed the trope. (Flavorwire)
• 14 things you may not have known about Labyrinth, most of which I totally did, because I'm that much of a geek. (Buzzfeed)
• Why Carrie Bradshaw is not the female Tony Soprano (besides duh) and what's missing from SatC's female characters that would make them more feminist, and more interesting. (Flavorwire)
• The Guardian talks school libraries and whether or not it's better to keep collections current or stick with the classics. Even though it's talking about school systems and reading curricula in the UK, it's still pretty interesting stuff.
• Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle is getting turned into a TV show. Because HBO has proven that there's literally no reason not to turn an unfinished book series into a TV show! No but really, this is probably going to be awesome. (io9)

 Happy Thursday, kittens. Today after work I'm going to go get the last dregs of my possessions out of my old apartment and take them to the new one, so I never have to see the wretched place again. And then drink a huge glass of wine in defiance of my 6AM wake-up call. :D

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'Doll Bones' by Holly Black

Still working on my review of Sarah Pinborough's A Matter of Blood, but I finished Doll Bones this morning and couldn't stop myself from writing about it instantly.