aztlan's Reviews (238)

Moon Over Old Hollywood is a sapphic romance combined with a murder mystery. It follows Nicole as she tries to investigate her ex-girlfriend and co-workers death, getting involved with a television series about queer women in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Right from the start, the murder mystery side of the narrative felt rather shaky. We open on Patti's death, but the actual scene is glossed over, with Nicole just recounting her experience. This lead me to feel like I had no real reason to believe Patti was murdered, as there was no real impact moment where Nicole realised things didn't add up, we just got told they didn't. I decided to look past this and continue reading, though, as I wanted to see where this would lead.

Once Nicole arrives on the lot of the television series, it's almost like there's no longer a murder she's trying to solve. We go entire chapters with barely the slightest comment on the case, and all the focus is on the romance Nicole is having with one of the actresses. Having said that, I highly enjoyed the romance. It was a very sweet relationship and I enjoyed their interaction, I just wish the book had been exclusively a romance book. 

Overall, an enjoyable book, but the murder part of the plot felt a bit like an afterthought (possibly for shock value?). 

Lucy Siegle manages to write a book that is both confronting and enthralling. Unfortunately, 11 years later, the picture Siegle paints is not very different to today's fashion industry. 

Siegle takes us on a tour through the fast fashion industry, and the various systems that it is built on. She covers how fast fashion encourages us to buy endlessly and impulsively, with brands placing ever-increasing pressure on supply chains to make clothes faster and cheaper. She shows us the abhorrent conditions garment workers survive in, and the poorly monitored factories that spew out endless pollution. 

Siegle also discussed the environmental and ethical impacts of different fibres, from cashmere and merino wool to cotton and bamboo fibres. She especially discussed how the fashion industry’s tendency to focus on a single fibre at a time leads to over-exploitation of the ecosystem it comes from. 
This book was a disturbing but enlightening look into the fast fashion industry.

Hoo boy this was one that I stayed up way too late to finish reading. The Devil Wears Tartan follows life-long highland dance rivals Moira and Kenzie as the two of them return from competition retirement in order to compete for a scholarship.

Moira and Kenzie's relationship very quickly goes from fiery to steamy. Although the blurb calls it enemies to lovers, I would say they're more rivals than enemies, as they hate and envy each other for what the other seems to have, and want to beat the other because of it. This competitive relationship leads to them making bets about how much they can tease each other before one of them begs, and several steamy scenes as they do so.

However, neither of these characters are without depth, and this story has a beautiful exploration of both learning to cope with the traumas they have survived. Katia Rose once again has done a lovely job creating characters with personality, flaws and individuality.

Katia Rose has always set high standards, and she once again met them with The Devil Wears Tartan.