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1.84k reviews by:
caseythereader
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- Who's ready for another QUEER SCREAMING review!? Because that's what this is! I loved this book so much! AAAAAhhhh!
- Main character identities include: bisexual, lesbian and trans identities. Minor characters run the whole spectrum - nonbinary, gay, pansexual, asexual, and more.
- Plus there also so much talk about attachment styles and how even if your childhood wasn't outright abusive you can still carry baggage from it.
- PERFECT ON PAPER really captures the biphobia a lot of people experience, both internalized and from other members of the queer community. Additionally, I really appreciated that although we were exploring these biases, there was no general queerphobia in the book - no one was hated or feared for who they were - just misconceptions being righted.
- Also, one of the letters Darcy answers is from a person who doesn't want to sleep with their significant other and says "but obviously I'm not asexual because I love them," and Darcy comes back with just the most excellent explanation of asexuality vs aromanticism and I was all HEART EYES!
- Main character identities include: bisexual, lesbian and trans identities. Minor characters run the whole spectrum - nonbinary, gay, pansexual, asexual, and more.
- Plus there also so much talk about attachment styles and how even if your childhood wasn't outright abusive you can still carry baggage from it.
- PERFECT ON PAPER really captures the biphobia a lot of people experience, both internalized and from other members of the queer community. Additionally, I really appreciated that although we were exploring these biases, there was no general queerphobia in the book - no one was hated or feared for who they were - just misconceptions being righted.
- Also, one of the letters Darcy answers is from a person who doesn't want to sleep with their significant other and says "but obviously I'm not asexual because I love them," and Darcy comes back with just the most excellent explanation of asexuality vs aromanticism and I was all HEART EYES!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Vomit
Minor: Violence
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free advance copy of this book.
📚 Wow, this book! So much is packed in to the character of Josie and the world she inhabits. I could have followed her forever.
📚 I especially want to point out how easily and seamlessly Garrett gave her characters intersecting marginalizations (Marius is Black and bisexual, Josie is Black, bi, fat, and has an anxiety disorder) that are inextricable from the story but also not the entire reason the book exists.
📚 OFF THE RECORD gets really real about sexual assault and harassment, please know that going in. Everything from "it wasn't that bad" to "this is so egregious I can't believe it isn't already front page news" is covered.
📚 Wow, this book! So much is packed in to the character of Josie and the world she inhabits. I could have followed her forever.
📚 I especially want to point out how easily and seamlessly Garrett gave her characters intersecting marginalizations (Marius is Black and bisexual, Josie is Black, bi, fat, and has an anxiety disorder) that are inextricable from the story but also not the entire reason the book exists.
📚 OFF THE RECORD gets really real about sexual assault and harassment, please know that going in. Everything from "it wasn't that bad" to "this is so egregious I can't believe it isn't already front page news" is covered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
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emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- I've been reading Jenny Lawson's writing for over a decade now. She's always been able to bounce between the absurd with the serious, and to find the absurdities within the serious things.
- She writes so clearly about what it's like to live with depression and anxiety, and how those conditions can so easily swallow your entire life - even when you're on the other side of it and are dealing with the financial and social fallout.
- Much less taxidermy in this book than previous books, just a heads up in case that's the reason you love her, lol.
- She writes so clearly about what it's like to live with depression and anxiety, and how those conditions can so easily swallow your entire life - even when you're on the other side of it and are dealing with the financial and social fallout.
- Much less taxidermy in this book than previous books, just a heads up in case that's the reason you love her, lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free advance copy of this book.
📚 I absolutely love finding a book with a story and a setting I've never read before, and CLOSER TO FINE was that for me. It's got a lot of pieces you don't often see in books, and certainly not together - discussions of Jewish teachings and traditions, biphobia, going through supervision as a therapist in training, and more.
📚 Also, this book was SO '90s. They go to a Dar Williams show. They call each other on their car phones. The idea of a support center for queer teens is a new and radical idea.
📚Unfortunately, I did not love that one character's suicide was ultimately treated as a teachable moment for Rachel. It really soured a lot of the rest of the book for me.
📚 I absolutely love finding a book with a story and a setting I've never read before, and CLOSER TO FINE was that for me. It's got a lot of pieces you don't often see in books, and certainly not together - discussions of Jewish teachings and traditions, biphobia, going through supervision as a therapist in training, and more.
📚 Also, this book was SO '90s. They go to a Dar Williams show. They call each other on their car phones. The idea of a support center for queer teens is a new and radical idea.
📚
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief
Minor: Infidelity, Antisemitism
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- Cole is the queen (ha) of meaty romance novels. Political jockeying! International relations! Unpacking toxic masculinity! Library archive maintenance! It's all here in HOW TO CATCH A QUEEN.
- I was so pleasantly surprised at how big a role characters from the Reluctant Royals series played in this book! So nice to see them all on the page again.
- I feel like it took a little too long for Sanyu to catch on to what Shanti was asking for, but at the same time I was happy to watch him unlearn so much.
- I was so pleasantly surprised at how big a role characters from the Reluctant Royals series played in this book! So nice to see them all on the page again.
- I feel like it took a little too long for Sanyu to catch on to what Shanti was asking for, but at the same time I was happy to watch him unlearn so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to Atria Books for the free advance copy of this book.
📚 Uh. I have no idea how to review this book. I liked it? It was horrifying? It was hyperreal, surreal, too real?
📚 I hated everyone in this book and it was great.
📚 McElroy skewers everything from influencers to tech startups to beauty culture to cults themselves - and somehow it all feels fresh. Minus a bit of a lag around the middle, I needed to know what would happen next because I didn't know what might be on the next page.
📚 Honestly though, the best dystopian fiction is the kind where you could envision it actually happening, and that is absolutely true with nearly everything that happens in THE ATMOSPHERIANS.
📚 Uh. I have no idea how to review this book. I liked it? It was horrifying? It was hyperreal, surreal, too real?
📚 I hated everyone in this book and it was great.
📚 McElroy skewers everything from influencers to tech startups to beauty culture to cults themselves - and somehow it all feels fresh. Minus a bit of a lag around the middle, I needed to know what would happen next because I didn't know what might be on the next page.
📚 Honestly though, the best dystopian fiction is the kind where you could envision it actually happening, and that is absolutely true with nearly everything that happens in THE ATMOSPHERIANS.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
- I mean, I feel like I don't need to do a lot of work to sell this book other than tell you the synopsis? Disabled teen witch Nova falls in love with nonbinary werewolf Tam while saving their town from demons and cults - what more could you want?
- Plus, the illustrations are engaging and adorable.
- Honestly, my only complaint is that there isn't a sequel about Nova and Tam's post-demon life!
- Plus, the illustrations are engaging and adorable.
- Honestly, my only complaint is that there isn't a sequel about Nova and Tam's post-demon life!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder
Just not in the right headspace for a book like this right now. Will try again another time.