HarperCollins and subsidiaries books of 2022

The HarperCollins strike is over, so I'm going to publish short book review blurbs about the HC books I read since the strike started. TBH, it's been a while, so I may not remember everything about the books.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew (read in November) is the first Narnia book I ever read and as such I have a soft spot for it. Such a good story. Two English neighbor kids in 1900 set out to explore their townhouses and are forced into a magical experiment that will show them the end of one world and the beginning of another, setting in motion the rest of the series. To me it has some of the most creative and rich imagery. Uncle Andrew should be in jail and deserved a lasting comeuppance. More males acting stupidly again; Lewis's misogyny where?? lol One minor plot point I want to talk about: Aslan says Frank the cabbie and Helen his wife have not yet encountered grief, but they're totally OK with being yanked out of their world and never seeing anyone in it again? Don't they have families? If they don't have families, then haven't they known grief? Didn't they have friends they'd miss? If you don't have family or friends you know grief, in my opinion. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Trigger warnings for this book: children used/forced to participate in magical/scientific experiments without their consent by adult, physical violence, an adult physically hurts/harms children repeatedly, threats of violence and death, animal abuse and cruelty (to a horse), sick/dying parent, verbal manipulation of children, off-page magical genocide, off-page magical immediate extinction of all living species, sexism, theft

 

A True Wonder: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything (read in November) is a picture book biography about Wonder Woman and how her comics came to be, with an especial focus on the women who made her possible. It was written by Kirsten W. Larsen and illustrated by Katy Wu. I loved this book and learned a lot from it. A must-have for fans of Wonder Woman and comics! GIRL POWER! 5 stars, keeping.  Trigger warnings (that I remember): sexism towards real women and Wonder Woman, sexualization of Wonder Woman's outfit (wanting her to be more/less covered up)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (read in December) is indeed the last book of the series. I like it but at the same time it's depressing. Eustace and Jill are called back to Narnia to help its last king attempt to save his country's creatures and soul from forces outside and within. I found Shift's truth-bending and manipulation of religious belief for power to be prescient when I last re-read this series during the Bush administration, and I continue to find it prescient during this current era of fake news and Christofascism. My heart hurts for Tirian, the Narnians, and all the sad stuff that happens. Important to note that racism rears its head again, due to the part Calormenes play in this story. To go about undetected, Tirian and the kids put on brownface to impersonate Calormene soldiers. Tirian and other Narnians say racist things about Calormenes and their skin colors. This book's One Good Brown Person is Emeth; I can't go into his whole thing in the short paragraph I want this review to be (a good article; 'ware spoilers). Not to mention, the problem of Susan (ditto. all of his Narnia articles are so good)! There's a lot packed into this little book; you could say it's bigger on the inside, like the stable. 4.5 stars, permanent collection. Trigger warnings: war, battles, murder, death, physical violence, animal cruelty, cruelty to sentient creatures, slavery mentions, brownface, racism/colorism, child soldiers, hunger and thirst mentions, fantasy horror, sexism, heavy-handed Christian symbolism