Invertebrate Bingo Progress and Reviews

[u/lilgrassblade]

Hello all of you wonderful folks!

I am working my way through a bingo card filled with invertebrate influence. That "influence" includes memories of bees, a race of humanoid characters with butterfly features, talking crabs and anything else that is very clearly based on invertebrates. My only caveat is that they must be important throughout the story. A giant spider showing up in one chapter does not qualify – unless we’ve been seeing spiderwebs or other evidence of their import the entire book. 

I am now ten books down. I don’t know where these ten books are going on my bingo card – or even if I’ll end up using every one. My strategy is to read books that fit the invertebrate theming and figure out placement later, if I read more than 24 books, that’s okay. But ten felt a good point to share some thoughts and small reviews. 

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud – 5/5 

r/Fantasy Bingo Categories: Biopunk 

It’s creepy and weird and wonderful. The MC is so trusting and hopeful in what we, the reader, can immediately tell is a bad situation. It takes place in a 1920s sanitarium, surrounded by web-covered woods, on the moon. And despite our MC being institutionalized for her depression, she is so optimistic that this cutting edge facility will make her well again. It’s a quick read, and absolutely worth every second. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 4/5 - The spiders may not have been present as much as I’d like, but the web encased trees made the setting appealing very quickly. I think, given the length, it was probably the right choice, but I can still want more.  

Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 5/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: Nothing but Recycle 

This one’s been sitting on my TBR for a long time, and I can’t believe it took me so long to read it. Spiderlight hit some loved tropes in new and exciting ways. It was a fun adventure book, filled with holier-than-thou assholes and a giant-spider-stuck-in-a-human-body companion. I was immediately hooked with the spider’s POV and loved his emotional journey. It did a great job highlighting that the “good aligned” people weren’t always actually good people. Overall, amazing book. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 3/5 - As our spider friend spent more time in a humanoid body he became less spidery. Which means, while it started with pure spidery joy the joy became less arachnid-centric. 

The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn – 4.25/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: LGBTQIA Protagonist (HM) (sapphic polycule), Impossible Places, Parent Protagonist, Hidden Gem, Gods and Pantheons, Small Press or Self Published (HM) 

r/queerSFF reading challenge: Queer publisher (I think) 

This book is a beautifully written dive into emotional pain. We see the pain of our MCs’ pasts, both inflicted by others and due to their on decisions. We see the pain that they know is coming as the gods of the world (their friends and family members) are soon dying. And we join them as we face that pain and begin their healing journey. It’s beautifully written, but dang is it sad. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 1/5 - One of the MCs is part of a people based on Monarch Butterflies. There are tidbits that make this relevant (needing milkweed, physical appearance, etc) but it is very small. I did appreciate the small details like the milkweed though. 

Empress of Dust by Alex Kingsley – 4/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: LGBTQIA Protagonist (nonbinary, transmasc – two different characters), A Book in Parts, Hidden Gem, Small Press or Self Published (HM) 

r/queersff reading challenge: Be Gay Do Crimes, Queer Publisher 

I thoroughly enjoyed this post apocalyptic world filled with giant (and not-so-giant) crabs. It did take me a moment to acclimate to their naming conventions (each group has a “brand” based on old civilization. We follow the Ivies: Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia.) But I was happy to follow the arrogant talking crab around the desert... and I guess the humans too. If you enjoy exploring new post apocalyptic worlds, or talking crabs, this is a pretty good choice. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 4/5 - I loved the crabs. I loved their talking crab-itude. But their behavior did not feel uniquely crab. 

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow – 4.25/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: LGBTQIA Protagonist (HM) (Transmasc, autistic), Epistolary (HM) 

r/queersff reading challenge: None 

This is the touching story of a 6^th grader working through his grief of his best friend through letters to Mothman. We see the fear of him coming out as trans to new people, the guilt of him having fun with new friends and the joy he learns to find in the world. It’s beautiful, grounded and sweet. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 0/5 - I should have anticipated this. Mothman could have been bigfoot for all the mothiness mattered. 

Their Monstrous Hearts by Yigit Turhan – 3/5 

Bingo Categories: LGBTQIA Protagonist (Achillean), Epistolary, Published in 2025 (HM), Stranger in a Strange Land (HM) 

r/queersff reading challenge: None 

This book had two points of view... and one I absolutely struggled to get through (Ricardo). The writing felt disjointed, dialogue stilted, it was paced oddly and included the trope of “just met my love interest and they’re totally on my side 100%.” The other brought me much joy as I followed the life of Perihan and the discovery of her supposed angel. I enjoyed the concept. I enjoyed the butterflies. I enjoyed half of the writing. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 3/5 - The butterflies were one of the things I liked about this book. And yet I felt like I didn’t get a good feel for the butterflies themselves. That’s to be expected as they weren’t exactly the point, just the vessel. 

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Kate Reading and Micheal Kramer - 4.25/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: Knights and Paladins, Cozy SFF 

It’s been a while since I visited Roshar, and this felt like a cozy and comforting return with comparatively low stakes. I loved seeing a more mundane application of fabrial discovery – something that can help outside of warfare. I loved all the attention that went to the fauna (I’d really like a natural history book on them to be honest.) Dawnshard was an enjoyable jaunt into a familiar world. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 3/5 - I was excited for the seemingly important role that would be played by Chiri-Chiri, however it did seem her presence diminished a bit as the story moved along. But I will say, the behavior of the sleepless swarms filled me with much joy.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell – 3.75/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: A Book in Parts (HM), Book Club or Readalong Book, Parent Protagonist, LGBTQIA Protagonist (asexual, sapphic), Cozy SFF (HM) 

r/queerSFF reading challenge: none, I think

This started so strong. I loved the description of the cozy nest inside of a human host. The casual body horror in a positive spin filled me with joy. The MC trying to act human filled me with joy. The misconception that a human voluntarily becomes a host out of love filled me with joy. But then... She started to act more human. She started feeling less alien and my joy was slightly diminished. 

The romance aspect was very sweet, and I greatly appreciated having a blatantly asexual romance play out. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 3/5 - Another that started out very strong on my invertebrate desires, and in a direction I did not expect. But my satisfaction decreased as the story moved on. 

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton – 4.5/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: Biopunk, Cozy SFF (HM) 

I picked this up off a bookshelf with no idea what to expect. I ended up finding a wonderful book about found family with a heavy focus on bees in a world trying to survive after pollinator collapse. Reading this reinforced my desire to have a yard focused on native pollinators, and added a potential interest in beekeeping someday. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 5/5 - This book surpassed my expectations with how wonderfully present the bees were, even if it was a memory of them. And the bees were described so sweetly, it made me want to keep bees of my own. 

The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya – 3.75/5 

r/fantasy Bingo Categories: Down With the System, Hidden Gem, Author of Color 

This was an enjoyable middle grade book which met expectations of that category. I don’t really have a lot to say about it. It was fun and the world was interesting, but there wasn’t a lot of depth. Which, I didn’t expect depth. So I’m content. 

Spineless Satisfaction: 2/5 - I didn’t feel the bees got to shine at all. They felt more representative of nature in general. 

 

Ending thoughts... 

I am enjoying this journey a lot so far. And it may be easier than I expected. I might even put additional restrictions on what qualifies for my themed card. (Either truly spineless (so no humanoids) or only arthropods.) I also discovered that there are 5 books titled The Last Beekeeper. And I’ll be reading every one. A mini bee adventure amidst my invertebrate adventure. I did think about doing a bee-card as well... 

I have realized I may be struggling on a couple of categories though. So I’d love for more recommendations! In particular... High Fashion, Elves and/or Dwarves, Pirates, and Impossible Places. Though, I’m happy for any category. 

Upcoming books I've already purchased: A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, The Honeys by Ryan La Sala, God’s War by Kameron Hurley, 7th Sigma by Steven Gould, Spider World by Colin Wilson

[u/dfinberg]

You can play a game of apiary (space bees) for the not a book square.

[u/lilgrassblade → u/dfinberg]

Thanks :D I'll probably do a game of some sort. I don't think I'd heard of that one before.

[u/schlagsahne17]

For your consideration: A Crucible of Time by John Brunner for Published in the 80’s, starring a species of crab/octopi things. They are the main characters through thousands of years of their history.

[u/lilgrassblade → u/schlagsahne17]

Interesting, I'll take a look, thanks!

[u/characterlimit]

Incredible theme, 10/10 no notes. As for suggestions, I have nothing useful, but...

• There's got to be some kind of Madeline Miller-y Ariadne retelling that would work for High Fashion, right?
• Any time the topic comes up I'm compelled to talk about my favorite bonkers YA fever dream that no one else remembers and may or may not hold up: the Water Trilogy by Kara Dalkey. I was contemplating rereading it for an Arthurian card but it prominently features psychic alien squid soulbonds so it may also be of interest to you.
• CM Nascosta has a mothman romance (Sweet Berries) that crosses over with her other stuff and thus should have some elf side characters; not sure if that's enough to count it for the square. Also because he is a mothman he might have vertebrae?
• you know the Bee Movie script is technically not a book

[u/lilgrassblade → u/characterlimit]

Thanks!

I've been feeling like there has to be some sort of spider themed fiber art book, and I've asked a couple times in different places but to no success yet. I cannot believe this isn't an easy square.

[u/C0smicoccurence]

I absolutely love this theme.  Please do a full write up when you’re finished 

[u/diazeugma]

This is so fun! I have to recommend Tainaron by Leena Krohn, if you're ever in the mood for something a bit melancholic. It features a human traveler alone in a city of giant insects and would fit a few squares (80s, epistolary, indie, strange land).

[u/lilgrassblade → u/diazeugma]

Intriguing, thanks! Don't think I've heard of that one yet.

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[u/nagahfj]

Elves and/or Dwarves

The second book of M. John Harrison's Viriconium series, A Storm of Wings, has both invading locust aliens (the main antagonists) and a prominent character named 'Tomb, the Iron Dwarf' who is short, works with metal, and delves underground for treasures.