bookishfoxes's Reviews (426)

Can't get into it and it is not what I expected 

Great book! Definitely going to check out the rest of this series. Did wish the ending was a bit longer though.

This is a middle grade but also felt a bit like a YA to me. But I listened to the audiobook so maybe the physical copy has more middle grade features? I don't know. But this is definitely interesting for all ages.

Also, it's great reading a book with sports that isn't hockey or football.

Wow. Wowowowowowow.

You know when you love a book so much, you never want it to end?

A few years ago I read Far From the Tree by this same author and it is still my favorite book of all time. So I was a bit nervous starting this one. How can anything live up to that one?

But wow. It has the same beautiful writing and amazing characters with multiple layers. And So. Much. Emotions. I cried, I laughed, I gasped, I kicked my feet. 

This story was absolutely beautiful. That's all I can say right now. Beautiful. I can't put it into words. Please read it.

This was a very interesting read. The moment I saw this book in a video recommending books from all over the world, I knew I needed to read it. Which is interesting because this is definitely out of my usual reading comfort.

Reading these stories felt like reading a dystopian book and every time I had to remind myself that while fictional, these were all based on real life situations.

I normally don't enjoy short stories very much, I've often struggled getting through collections, so it was very surprising that this book was easy to read for me and I never lost interest.

The last 3 stories weren't as strong as the first ones, the endings felt a bit confusing, as if I missed some information.

Then the afterword interested me a lot. Almost my favorite part of this book.

I definitely recommend reading this book!


Ratings per chapter:
Record of a Defection - 4
City of Spectors - 4.5
Life of a Swift Steed - 4.25
So Near, Yet So Far - 5
Pandemonium - 3.75
On Stage 3.75
The Red Mushroom 3
Afterword: 4.75

Beautifully illustrated! Though sometimes I got a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information, and the reading order of the text wasn't always very obvious. Still, this was a good read! 

Hmm. Okay.

So, I listened to the audiobook at 2.0x speed and originally enjoyed it, though it felt very chaotic and over the place with so many names and years that I could hardly keep up. It went so fast that some things slipped by me that I didn't notice at first.

While it was really good to learn more about queer history, the way transgender people were mentioned was... questionable, to say the least.

I didn't know much about these historical figures. It wasn't until I read the reviews that I learned that the author kept referring to what would now be seen as a trans man as a woman. 

I'm lowering my original rating because of this. Transphobia does not deserve a place in our community and overshines the things I did enjoy before knowing this.

I'm very disappointed. I hope the author will learn from this and not misgender people in the future, though I don't think I will be reading anything else.

Nogmaals een geweldig boek van Nadine Swagerman dat mijn hart sneller laat kloppen. Ik heb hier ontzettend van genoten! Het zit vol humor en emotionele scenes, een perfecte mix dat je altijd kan verwachten. En ik vond het leuk hoe anders dit was dan de meeste kerstboeken, ookal houd ik zelf van de kerst. Prachtig ❤️

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHYYHHHHWJWJWJSJWJSNSJJSNSJSNSJSJSNDNSNSNS

I AM SCREAMING. OH MY GOD. OH MY- I LOVED THIS SO MUCH

This book had me crying. I have NEVER felt so seen before???? A sapphic HAPPY love story with autism AND adhd rep?? 

This was so freaking beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!