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1.84k reviews by:
caseythereader
- BLUE SKINNED GODS takes its time unraveling it's story, but my goodness, is it worth it. This book is beautiful, enraging, heartbreaking, joyful, and so much more.
- Even when I thought I knew exactly where Kalki's story was going, there's a major plot twist I did not see coming.
- The audiobook, narrated by Varun Sathi, is an immersive experience. I felt like I was right there in Kalki's head, trying to work everything out with him.
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Sexual content
- WE ALL FALL DOWN has a fantastic premise. I love this idea of cycles that require certain players in place: it allows for some excellent plotting and meddling and self discovery.
- The main characters are all wonderfully sweet and queer (yes, even the ones with hard shells are sweet). There's a fluidity to people and things in this world that's lovely.
- I do have some beef with it, though. Given that it's set in a place sort of stuck between a magical world and our world, and that one of the main characters is Black, there are some scenes and plot elements (sorry, being vague to try not to spoil) that touch on his fears and experiences as a large Black man, but they aren't really explored or followed up on in any meaningful way. It's like the author was trying to have it both ways: our real world and a magic world where race and gender don't matter, but it ended up just making these important factors in the story just kind of get glossed over to not ruin the magic.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Police brutality
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
- Mandel is a master of laying out multiple story threads and then neatly braiding them all together in a thought provoking and satisfying way.
- SEA OF TRANQUILITY is practically a sequel to THE GLASS HOTEL, given that characters and events from the previous book are central to what happens in this one. I love the idea that Mandel drew in literary fiction readers with GLASS HOTEL and then surprise! Now you're in a sci-fi novel!
- As much as I enjoyed the spare writing style, I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the characters beyond what was essential to moving the plot along.
- I haven't read much pandemic fiction yet, and I felt like I was reading it askance, because it's still too hard to look at those early pandemic days straight on for me. It was quite something though, to basically see Mandel working through her pandemic experience and feelings in real time on the page through these characters.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War
Minor: Suicide
- HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE is another entry in the growing collection of YA books about embracing your queerness and your found family in red states hostile to queerness.
- I loved that both Jack and Amber were comfortable with their sexualities, if not both out and proud yet. I am also glad to see some butch representation with Jack, and also that this book is quite open about the characters' sex lives and urges: a lot of gay media in the past few decades has introduced gay characters but kept them quite chaste on screen, and that is not the case here.
- My one quibble with this book is that I just didn't feel like the characters talked like teenagers. They sounded much older, often using overly descriptive language in a way no real person does.
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia
- It's queer screaming time, because holy forking shirtballs, this book! Feminine rage! Power! Love! Deeply rooted queerness! WRATH GODDESS SING exceeded my high expectations and I need everyone to read it.
- I think it will probably help to have some knowledge of Greek mythology, as there are a lot of names and references to other events thrown around. However, it's not a straightforward retelling of the story of the Trojan War. The bones of the story are there, but many events and relationships have been changed to fit this framework.
- The prose of this book is a bit dense, often flowery, and there are a lot of gruesome battle scenes, all of which I know will put some readers off. For me, military influenced fantasy usually takes me forever to get through, but despite all these things, I found myself immediately fully immersed, and I absolutely could not put it down.
- I simply cannot stop thinking about Achilles. Her staunch belief in herself, her fiery rage, her impulsiveness, her intensity, her blooming godhood, her boundless love. Ugh, I already want to reread this!
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Vomit, Outing, Alcohol
Minor: Self harm
- YERBA BUENA is a small book that packs a big punch. It cuts right to the heart, looking both the best and worst life has to offer straight in the eye.
- This book does a great job of showing how trauma stays with you, but that doesn't mean your life will be devoid of joy and growth.
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
- JUST YOUR LOCAL BISEXUAL DISASTER is a lovely story about sifting through the complicated feelings of being a teenager, particularly one who's still figuring out herself and what direction she wants to take in life.
- This book tackles the uncertainties of being a young queer person, and how those get mixed in with biphobic stereotypes received from all sides.
- I love that this book centers queer kids of color, and how a love of the Rio Grande Valley shines through the pages. Maggie and her friends and family are both highly specific and broadly relatable. As a side note, I'm looking up if there's anywhere nearby where I could get a raspa ASAP.
Graphic: Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Pregnancy
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Car accident, Abortion, War