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dbguide2's Reviews (863)
Review also posted on my blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2019/06/15/poetry-mini-reviews-1/
I thought I loved Princess (The Princess Saves Herself in this one) more than Witch, but I loved them both for different reasons. I also have the third book so I can’t wait to post that review. Where Princess speaks more of self-love and self-acceptance, Witch is about taking all that self-love and -acceptance and using it to show others you are unafraid of them or the world or trials that appear in your path. Witch is about facing those who said ‘you can’t’ with a ‘watch me’.
Witch is also about reminding yourself you’re strong, that you can go ahead. It’s about finding that power within you and using it. It’s a message to the world that we will fight back. We will let you know when we’ve had enough and we’ll stand up and I mean, I think if you read this poetry books, you’d probably find that out.
Lovelace has quickly become one of my favourite poets. I believe I found her on Pinterest – or a few of her quotes and really liked it! Which is cool because I’m slowly getting into expanding my list of genres I read.
Favourite Quotes:
bewitching
women: we can spin g o l d out of d i r t
bewitching ii
women: we can magic f i r e out of a i r
women are some kind of magic ii
I’m pretty sure you have w i t c h c r a f t running through those v e i n s
I thought I loved Princess (The Princess Saves Herself in this one) more than Witch, but I loved them both for different reasons. I also have the third book so I can’t wait to post that review. Where Princess speaks more of self-love and self-acceptance, Witch is about taking all that self-love and -acceptance and using it to show others you are unafraid of them or the world or trials that appear in your path. Witch is about facing those who said ‘you can’t’ with a ‘watch me’.
Witch is also about reminding yourself you’re strong, that you can go ahead. It’s about finding that power within you and using it. It’s a message to the world that we will fight back. We will let you know when we’ve had enough and we’ll stand up and I mean, I think if you read this poetry books, you’d probably find that out.
Lovelace has quickly become one of my favourite poets. I believe I found her on Pinterest – or a few of her quotes and really liked it! Which is cool because I’m slowly getting into expanding my list of genres I read.
Favourite Quotes:
bewitching
women: we can spin g o l d out of d i r t
bewitching ii
women: we can magic f i r e out of a i r
women are some kind of magic ii
I’m pretty sure you have w i t c h c r a f t running through those v e i n s
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/RoAnna-Sylver/e/B00OI321DO
My blog link: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/
RoAnna's blog link: https://sylvernebulae.wordpress.com/
This book is fantastic. I love it. Buy a thousand copies and hand it out to a thousand people. Buy yourself a personal copy. Buy another one to frame on your wall – it’s that good. It strikes something personal in your heart and just makes you want to adopt all of the characters (which I really want to do) and care for them and give them everything they want. Now onto the actual review.
I love vampires. I have no idea why I don’t read more vampire books. I was a total Team Edward chick (Jasper and Emmett definitely helped with that) and definitely rooted for all the vampires that were lurking around in Mystic Falls (not hard to do when there were barely any werewolves). So yes, I love vampires. And when I heard this was a vampire book I instantly jumped on board. But this isn’t just a vampire story, or a story about vampires. It’s a story about friendships, about love, romantic and platonic.
Let’s just talk about the aro ace rep. And grey rep if you’re talking about Jude. That’s all I really want in life – good representation. That’s all anyone wants in life. That and the fact that the romantic and sexual orientation isn’t a great big part of the story – which is actually great!
And that trauma and grief! I mean I could say ‘hey, don’t give me any of that. I need sunshine in my life’ but then I would be lying to myself because I read just as much angsty fiction as lovey-dovey fiction. And who needs sunshine when you’re a vampire, right? Anyway, I thought it was handled quite well (the trauma and grief) – something which needs to be seen again in fiction.
Pixie is my favourite – ok, everyone is my favourite and they all have to deal with that which means you have to deal with me having tens of millions of favourite characters because that’s how it works in the book community. If you are able to choose a favourite character, you’re probably either very tired while reading the book or extremely distracted. Both of which I am. All the time and at the same time. But yes, Pixie is my main favourite in the novel. And then comes Jasper.
So there’s the review. What are you still doing here? Go and read it!
My blog link: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/
RoAnna's blog link: https://sylvernebulae.wordpress.com/
This book is fantastic. I love it. Buy a thousand copies and hand it out to a thousand people. Buy yourself a personal copy. Buy another one to frame on your wall – it’s that good. It strikes something personal in your heart and just makes you want to adopt all of the characters (which I really want to do) and care for them and give them everything they want. Now onto the actual review.
I love vampires. I have no idea why I don’t read more vampire books. I was a total Team Edward chick (Jasper and Emmett definitely helped with that) and definitely rooted for all the vampires that were lurking around in Mystic Falls (not hard to do when there were barely any werewolves). So yes, I love vampires. And when I heard this was a vampire book I instantly jumped on board. But this isn’t just a vampire story, or a story about vampires. It’s a story about friendships, about love, romantic and platonic.
Let’s just talk about the aro ace rep. And grey rep if you’re talking about Jude. That’s all I really want in life – good representation. That’s all anyone wants in life. That and the fact that the romantic and sexual orientation isn’t a great big part of the story – which is actually great!
And that trauma and grief! I mean I could say ‘hey, don’t give me any of that. I need sunshine in my life’ but then I would be lying to myself because I read just as much angsty fiction as lovey-dovey fiction. And who needs sunshine when you’re a vampire, right? Anyway, I thought it was handled quite well (the trauma and grief) – something which needs to be seen again in fiction.
Pixie is my favourite – ok, everyone is my favourite and they all have to deal with that which means you have to deal with me having tens of millions of favourite characters because that’s how it works in the book community. If you are able to choose a favourite character, you’re probably either very tired while reading the book or extremely distracted. Both of which I am. All the time and at the same time. But yes, Pixie is my main favourite in the novel. And then comes Jasper.
So there’s the review. What are you still doing here? Go and read it!
STREET FREAKS BY TERRY BROOKS (REVIEW)
Street Freaks
Terry Brooks
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Grim Oak Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Science Fiction ~ Fantasy
Stars: 1 and a half, but I’ll make it 2
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. The image header used is my own and the link at the top of the post links back to the book’s Goodreads page. All quotes given in the review are from the e-arc and therefore might not be accurate. All opinions expressed are my own.
This looked extremely interesting on Netgalley – science fiction, written by the (apparently) stellar Terry Brooks (I’ve only read the screenplay of Hook but my dad always raves about Shannara Chronicles), so I wanted to give it a try. Heck, even the reviews I looked at it spoke positively!
And then it slowly started to become boring. It’s not that Ash (the main character) is boring, but he’s whiny. And while that is relatable in terms of him being a teenager, there’s a difference between a realistic whiny teenager and a jerk. And honestly, I’ll rather have a boring character than a whiny one. He wants to find out the truth about his father and what happened, but then forgets that it’s ever happened as soon as Cay comes in.
Now, Cay is a pleasure synth – which means she’s sort of like a robot? And her only role is to please men (first of all, how heteronormative. And then secondly what a way to write a female character). The other (secondary) characters also sometimes don’t treat her like she’s a normal person, they only see her for what she’s ‘made for’ – which just made me mad.
But now I’m going to rant about all the ways Ash annoyed me (towards Cay and how he felt about her and thought about her). So Ash is super entranced by Cay (he’s also seventeen – and while I’m not being rude about teenage love; I think it’s also true that teenage love can be.. immature – or well, Ash definitely made it seem immature); and while you could make the argument that she’s a pleasure synth and is therefore created to be looked at by men (which is how you can clearly tell this book is written by a man) but I’d rather you didn’t as it’s a really stupid argument that you clearly made up in a few seconds. And the way he talks about her puts her on a pedestal WHEN SHE CLEARLY DOESN’T WANT TO.
Next will be a couple of quotes I found re Ash and Cay that just annoyed me so much I had to put the book down for a few hours.
So what was she before? A painting? A table?
LisTEN, if a guy ever said that about me I would boot him through the rugby poles.
She’s helPING you WASh not signing her ENTIre life over to you!!
And even she tells him to stop thinking about her, he doesn’t, which was just so annoying to read. Like why did we have to read from his perspective?
I hoped the book would feature more street racing than it did. If you ask me, they should’ve focused more on the street racing and not added the unnecessary romance bit (Cay could’ve still come in, as I liked her, it could’ve just been without the romance).
The main plot (as the street racing was an underutilised subplot and the romance an unwanted subplot) just… (to me) fell flat and went nowhere. By the end of the novel, I barely remembered what had happened and why the main character was there. And in a novel, whether it be contemporary, or epic fantasy, or a sci-fi like this – the plot has to be structured. It has to be well-thought out and it has to connect throughout the story and it has to remain true. Otherwise what you get is a story that doesn’t follow through, one that doesn’t make sense.
That’s all I thought of the book (mostly because I didn’t want to keep on thinking about the book) Have you read this or saw it? Do you think I was right? Are you also really upset and frustrated with how some male authors write female characters? Tell me in the comments!
Street Freaks
Terry Brooks
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Grim Oak Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Science Fiction ~ Fantasy
Stars: 1 and a half, but I’ll make it 2
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. The image header used is my own and the link at the top of the post links back to the book’s Goodreads page. All quotes given in the review are from the e-arc and therefore might not be accurate. All opinions expressed are my own.
This looked extremely interesting on Netgalley – science fiction, written by the (apparently) stellar Terry Brooks (I’ve only read the screenplay of Hook but my dad always raves about Shannara Chronicles), so I wanted to give it a try. Heck, even the reviews I looked at it spoke positively!
And then it slowly started to become boring. It’s not that Ash (the main character) is boring, but he’s whiny. And while that is relatable in terms of him being a teenager, there’s a difference between a realistic whiny teenager and a jerk. And honestly, I’ll rather have a boring character than a whiny one. He wants to find out the truth about his father and what happened, but then forgets that it’s ever happened as soon as Cay comes in.
Now, Cay is a pleasure synth – which means she’s sort of like a robot? And her only role is to please men (first of all, how heteronormative. And then secondly what a way to write a female character). The other (secondary) characters also sometimes don’t treat her like she’s a normal person, they only see her for what she’s ‘made for’ – which just made me mad.
But now I’m going to rant about all the ways Ash annoyed me (towards Cay and how he felt about her and thought about her). So Ash is super entranced by Cay (he’s also seventeen – and while I’m not being rude about teenage love; I think it’s also true that teenage love can be.. immature – or well, Ash definitely made it seem immature); and while you could make the argument that she’s a pleasure synth and is therefore created to be looked at by men (which is how you can clearly tell this book is written by a man) but I’d rather you didn’t as it’s a really stupid argument that you clearly made up in a few seconds. And the way he talks about her puts her on a pedestal WHEN SHE CLEARLY DOESN’T WANT TO.
Next will be a couple of quotes I found re Ash and Cay that just annoyed me so much I had to put the book down for a few hours.
So what was she before? A painting? A table?
LisTEN, if a guy ever said that about me I would boot him through the rugby poles.
She’s helPING you WASh not signing her ENTIre life over to you!!
And even she tells him to stop thinking about her, he doesn’t, which was just so annoying to read. Like why did we have to read from his perspective?
I hoped the book would feature more street racing than it did. If you ask me, they should’ve focused more on the street racing and not added the unnecessary romance bit (Cay could’ve still come in, as I liked her, it could’ve just been without the romance).
The main plot (as the street racing was an underutilised subplot and the romance an unwanted subplot) just… (to me) fell flat and went nowhere. By the end of the novel, I barely remembered what had happened and why the main character was there. And in a novel, whether it be contemporary, or epic fantasy, or a sci-fi like this – the plot has to be structured. It has to be well-thought out and it has to connect throughout the story and it has to remain true. Otherwise what you get is a story that doesn’t follow through, one that doesn’t make sense.
That’s all I thought of the book (mostly because I didn’t want to keep on thinking about the book) Have you read this or saw it? Do you think I was right? Are you also really upset and frustrated with how some male authors write female characters? Tell me in the comments!
Cameron Post thinks her life is good. But then her parents die. She thinks her life is getting better. But then she’s found kissing another girl and sent to a conservative boarding school. And in there she finds friends again. She finds happiness. She finds herself.
CW/TR: Self-harm, attempted suicide, homophobia.
So like, I liked this book, really liked it, like a 4, 4.5 out of 5 (stars) – which sounds great, right? It’s just the pacing was very slow – which made me drop it down to 3.5. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, I did. It was just a bit slow. It also doesn’t mean it isn’t worth 4 or 5 stars, it probably is. And I went back and forth, trying to figure out if I should rate it 4 stars, because I did like it, but did I enjoy reading it enough to give it 4 stars? No, I felt 3 stars while reading it.
But I’m not for slow books. I’ve known about this book for years but I didn’t know much about it? I thought it was only about a girl in a small town (the original cover shows that) and then maybe she falls in love. I didn’t expect a book like this. I liked that the story started when Cameron was young. I think it’s so important to show that girls liking girls and boys liking boys and everything happens when they’re young and we have to let kids know that it’s okay to feel that way.
The formatting on this e-arc was off but it did make me change my kindle font to all bold – I think it’s sort of easier on my eyes? Or it’s just nice to look at? Well, I tried using the nicer fonts, but it got difficult to look at. This wasn’t the reason why I marked it 3 stars, if you wanted to know. Just annoyed that the fonts were like this.
I loved Cameron from the start. I remember I liked Adam when we met him but Jane took a while to like. I think that’s because she did put up a wall and Cameron and the reader had to learn to trust her. But then I started to love Jane!! But those adults (at the camp and Ruth) ????!!! ANNOYED ME ENDLESSLY LIKE JUST THROW THEM ALL INTO THE ABYSS WHERE THEY BELONG. Like how do you profess being a good person and wanting to look after teenagers (who really really need that because they’re in that spot where they do start to question themselves AND IF you’re an ass who decides to make them start hating themselves, guess what they’re gonna do!!
Also, you should watch the movie because it’s excellent!!
CW/TR: Self-harm, attempted suicide, homophobia.
So like, I liked this book, really liked it, like a 4, 4.5 out of 5 (stars) – which sounds great, right? It’s just the pacing was very slow – which made me drop it down to 3.5. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, I did. It was just a bit slow. It also doesn’t mean it isn’t worth 4 or 5 stars, it probably is. And I went back and forth, trying to figure out if I should rate it 4 stars, because I did like it, but did I enjoy reading it enough to give it 4 stars? No, I felt 3 stars while reading it.
But I’m not for slow books. I’ve known about this book for years but I didn’t know much about it? I thought it was only about a girl in a small town (the original cover shows that) and then maybe she falls in love. I didn’t expect a book like this. I liked that the story started when Cameron was young. I think it’s so important to show that girls liking girls and boys liking boys and everything happens when they’re young and we have to let kids know that it’s okay to feel that way.
The formatting on this e-arc was off but it did make me change my kindle font to all bold – I think it’s sort of easier on my eyes? Or it’s just nice to look at? Well, I tried using the nicer fonts, but it got difficult to look at. This wasn’t the reason why I marked it 3 stars, if you wanted to know. Just annoyed that the fonts were like this.
I loved Cameron from the start. I remember I liked Adam when we met him but Jane took a while to like. I think that’s because she did put up a wall and Cameron and the reader had to learn to trust her. But then I started to love Jane!! But those adults (at the camp and Ruth) ????!!! ANNOYED ME ENDLESSLY LIKE JUST THROW THEM ALL INTO THE ABYSS WHERE THEY BELONG. Like how do you profess being a good person and wanting to look after teenagers (who really really need that because they’re in that spot where they do start to question themselves AND IF you’re an ass who decides to make them start hating themselves, guess what they’re gonna do!!
Also, you should watch the movie because it’s excellent!!
I went into this thinking, ‘F/F The Little Mermaid retelling? Perfect! I’ll love it!’ and then…I didn’t love it so much. The plot didn’t have much meat on it and barely built up to anything – like when the climax came up I was like ‘Is this it?’
It was the whole thing of the summary sounding good and then the story turned out to be less than good. All the characters had their motivations and plans, but they had no fire to do so and when the characters have no interest in their motivations and/or plans, neither do I. And that’s where I begin to force myself to finish books.
There were also some parts where something happened and it just didn’t make sense, like SPOILER*when the little mermaid kills a deer, how did she know how to kill the deer? I’m pretty sure sea animals have different anatomy to land animals.
And another thing, maybe a bit of a spoiler – I didn’t find the romance between the sea-witch’s sister and the little mermaid to be believable. What, the sea-witch just sees the little mermaid and likes the way she looks and decides to add a clause to her (the sea-witch’s) deal? And the little mermaid only realised she also ‘loved’ the sister in like the last few hours… Yeah, sorry, not that believable to me.
There was this really weird quote so here you go:
The Prince moored his pleasure craft and walked up the pier to the so-called beach…
- Me: His what now?
And this quote really made me laugh:
The prince had not realised he was holding his breath.
- It’s the quote!!!
It was the whole thing of the summary sounding good and then the story turned out to be less than good. All the characters had their motivations and plans, but they had no fire to do so and when the characters have no interest in their motivations and/or plans, neither do I. And that’s where I begin to force myself to finish books.
There were also some parts where something happened and it just didn’t make sense, like SPOILER*when the little mermaid kills a deer, how did she know how to kill the deer? I’m pretty sure sea animals have different anatomy to land animals.
And another thing, maybe a bit of a spoiler – I didn’t find the romance between the sea-witch’s sister and the little mermaid to be believable. What, the sea-witch just sees the little mermaid and likes the way she looks and decides to add a clause to her (the sea-witch’s) deal? And the little mermaid only realised she also ‘loved’ the sister in like the last few hours… Yeah, sorry, not that believable to me.
There was this really weird quote so here you go:
The Prince moored his pleasure craft and walked up the pier to the so-called beach…
- Me: His what now?
And this quote really made me laugh:
The prince had not realised he was holding his breath.
- It’s the quote!!!
The anthology is split in two. A before and after if you will. The before being about a bad relationship, and the after is about love, finding that person who understands you, who knows you. And you feel the heartbreak, in the first half; and then in the second half, you feel the love. The second half also focuses on building a new life and creating new stories. It made me hopeful and just like the first poem says – I’m lacing my boots with my words and dropkicking the world – I’m ready to face the world head on.
Parker is one of those poets who paints pictures with the words in the poems. As you read their poems, it’s like you’re not simply reading anymore, you’re more floating gently and listening to the words. If it makes sense. This is the first poetry book I’ve read from Parker and I’m definitely wanting to read more.
Favourite Quotes:
her shadow:
what is more innocent than a girl and her cat?
I’m not sure if the next quote is considered an official quote from the anthology but I do like it very much:
I’m lacing my boots with my words and dropkicking the world.
a web of hopeless romantics:
we have the entire world/at our fingertips,/so why should we limit ourselves/to only what’s around us?
Parker is one of those poets who paints pictures with the words in the poems. As you read their poems, it’s like you’re not simply reading anymore, you’re more floating gently and listening to the words. If it makes sense. This is the first poetry book I’ve read from Parker and I’m definitely wanting to read more.
Favourite Quotes:
her shadow:
what is more innocent than a girl and her cat?
I’m not sure if the next quote is considered an official quote from the anthology but I do like it very much:
I’m lacing my boots with my words and dropkicking the world.
a web of hopeless romantics:
we have the entire world/at our fingertips,/so why should we limit ourselves/to only what’s around us?
Read this review on my blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/game-of-secrets/
Gemini Keeps Capricorn #3
Anyta Sunday
Year published: 2017
Publisher: Anyta Sunday
Genre: Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+ ~ New Adult ~ Humour
Stars: 4
I received this e-arc from A Novel Take PR and Anyta Sunday in exchange for my free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Leo Loves Aries Review (#1) ~ Scorpio Hates Virgo Review (#2)
Like all good readers, I love witty banter. Nearly all the characters in this series are so full of witty banter they’re bursting at the seams. The more sarcastic the characters are the happier I am. Though if you’re a reader who’s not so fond of witty banter, don’t worry, you’re also a good reader, there are many types of good readers.
Wesley Hidaka is a relatable character. He studies with his textbook without really studying. He focuses his mind on several other tasks rather than studying. And Lloyd Reynolds – well, first of all, he studies Mathematics, which I don’t get because Maths makes my brain hurt and then I need to hunt down chocolate – but he also really likes coffee, so he’s all right in my book.
The plot keeps on bringing up the fact that the two main characters are undoubtedly attracted to each other but can’t, (due to Lloyd being the RA) and so of course the attraction between them just grows, which is just absolutely fantastic.
Amidst all the drama and slow-burn romance, which is inevitable in a Sunday novel, there’s also the fantastic chapter headings – in this book it’s to do with coffee.
Anyta Sunday
Year published: 2017
Publisher: Anyta Sunday
Genre: Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+ ~ New Adult ~ Humour
Stars: 4
I received this e-arc from A Novel Take PR and Anyta Sunday in exchange for my free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Leo Loves Aries Review (#1) ~ Scorpio Hates Virgo Review (#2)
Like all good readers, I love witty banter. Nearly all the characters in this series are so full of witty banter they’re bursting at the seams. The more sarcastic the characters are the happier I am. Though if you’re a reader who’s not so fond of witty banter, don’t worry, you’re also a good reader, there are many types of good readers.
Wesley Hidaka is a relatable character. He studies with his textbook without really studying. He focuses his mind on several other tasks rather than studying. And Lloyd Reynolds – well, first of all, he studies Mathematics, which I don’t get because Maths makes my brain hurt and then I need to hunt down chocolate – but he also really likes coffee, so he’s all right in my book.
The plot keeps on bringing up the fact that the two main characters are undoubtedly attracted to each other but can’t, (due to Lloyd being the RA) and so of course the attraction between them just grows, which is just absolutely fantastic.
Amidst all the drama and slow-burn romance, which is inevitable in a Sunday novel, there’s also the fantastic chapter headings – in this book it’s to do with coffee.
This was an okay read. It wasn’t anything really special and didn’t stay in my heart. Partly because of the characters. Partly because of the writing. I enjoyed the plot, don’t get me wrong, but it fell flat a lot of the times.
So, Hallie was the 15 year old who got stuck in Susan’s body, and Susan was the 82 year old who got stuck in Hallie’s body – which seems pretty easy enough, since you think their two voices would be vastly different – and not just because of their ages, but because their personalities – but so many times I had to flick towards the start of the chapter or read on until I can find out whose chapter it is.
If I had to pick a favourite character (of the mains), I’d probably choose Hallie? She had the more interesting personality and I maybe even wanted to be friends with her. Susan, I felt, fell into the stereotypical old person viewpoint – which isn’t exactly the wrong thing here, because as you get older, you do have a different viewpoint on issues and whatnot – but Susan was definitely on that stereotypical line and it was annoying to read.
The plot, though a good one, did have some flaws. A big thing was that I thought it felt too preachy, too life-lessony. Now the author is an older person (which isn’t the issue here because older writers can and do write YA), it’s just that there was a definite feeling of the writer pushing a life lesson onto the readers – there’s even a Dear Reader letter that speaks about what inspired the book – again, sounding preachy.
Do I recommend this: It was a good read, so you can be sure of that, and the characters were fun.
So, Hallie was the 15 year old who got stuck in Susan’s body, and Susan was the 82 year old who got stuck in Hallie’s body – which seems pretty easy enough, since you think their two voices would be vastly different – and not just because of their ages, but because their personalities – but so many times I had to flick towards the start of the chapter or read on until I can find out whose chapter it is.
If I had to pick a favourite character (of the mains), I’d probably choose Hallie? She had the more interesting personality and I maybe even wanted to be friends with her. Susan, I felt, fell into the stereotypical old person viewpoint – which isn’t exactly the wrong thing here, because as you get older, you do have a different viewpoint on issues and whatnot – but Susan was definitely on that stereotypical line and it was annoying to read.
The plot, though a good one, did have some flaws. A big thing was that I thought it felt too preachy, too life-lessony. Now the author is an older person (which isn’t the issue here because older writers can and do write YA), it’s just that there was a definite feeling of the writer pushing a life lesson onto the readers – there’s even a Dear Reader letter that speaks about what inspired the book – again, sounding preachy.
Do I recommend this: It was a good read, so you can be sure of that, and the characters were fun.
Come read it on my blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/17th-jan-review-calling-calling-calling-me/
Calling Calling Calling Me
Natasha Washington
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Natasha Washington (Self-published)
Genre: NA ~ Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+
Stars: 4
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from A Novel Take PR in exchange for a free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
There’s something about big cities that fascinate me. Maybe it’s because I live in a small town and the nearest ‘big city’ is Cape Town (which a bit confusing – we call it the ‘Mother City’ and it has ‘town’ in its name) and we don’t go down there a lot – I mean my dad does basically everyday as he works there, but we only go if we’re meeting family, or birthdays; so, like I said, they fascinate me.
I definitely loved all mentions of San Francisco. I love it when cities are added and when they play a part in the book – sort of feel like a secondary character on their own. It adds some character to the book and makes you feel like you’re there – which I think it is very pivotal for a book – it needs to be able to draw you into its pages and make you forget about the outside (unless you’re reading and walking. Which in that case, don’t read and walk, people. I’ve done it before – not fun).
Josh and Patrick are so cute! All the flirting between them and the cute little moments and then Patrick went and did research about Hanukkah for Josh?? Just made me love him more. I loved the way Washington wrote them (all the characters) – how they all welcomed Patrick in early on – which was great as it’s good to have people around you who know the area. And as he’s from a small town, it’s good for him to have people from different backgrounds around him. People who can teach him about new subjects, maybe even help with a new outlook on life.
With most books with romances the couple gets together 80 or 90% of the book and the rest of the book is them during their first two weeks to maybe a month (of their relationship). But in Calling, Josh and Patrick get together halfway through the book and then of course the rest of the book is them exploring their relationship. Which I didn’t have a problem with, of course – the more couple time I get, the happier I am!
I didn’t like how their roommates dismiss the fact that Josh is pan – if you don’t actually know what pan means, you literally have a pan roommate, go ask him! They could all just ask him but they just revert to stereotypes! The pan rep in the book is really good, it’s just that the other characters are just… terrible for relying on stereotypes.
Quotes:
‘Benny was like, Josh, all sexuality is on a spectrum. That’s what the rainbows mean. We’re all part of this rainbow, and sometimes we’re different colours depending on the day.’
‘”Then he said, I know you feel like you’re the only one because you don’t know anybody yet who feels the way you do. But you will find people like you. You’ll find them and they’ll find you, like I found my people here. You will.”
Do I recommend this book? With all the pizzas in San Francisco, I do!
Calling Calling Calling Me
Natasha Washington
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Natasha Washington (Self-published)
Genre: NA ~ Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+
Stars: 4
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from A Novel Take PR in exchange for a free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
There’s something about big cities that fascinate me. Maybe it’s because I live in a small town and the nearest ‘big city’ is Cape Town (which a bit confusing – we call it the ‘Mother City’ and it has ‘town’ in its name) and we don’t go down there a lot – I mean my dad does basically everyday as he works there, but we only go if we’re meeting family, or birthdays; so, like I said, they fascinate me.
I definitely loved all mentions of San Francisco. I love it when cities are added and when they play a part in the book – sort of feel like a secondary character on their own. It adds some character to the book and makes you feel like you’re there – which I think it is very pivotal for a book – it needs to be able to draw you into its pages and make you forget about the outside (unless you’re reading and walking. Which in that case, don’t read and walk, people. I’ve done it before – not fun).
Josh and Patrick are so cute! All the flirting between them and the cute little moments and then Patrick went and did research about Hanukkah for Josh?? Just made me love him more. I loved the way Washington wrote them (all the characters) – how they all welcomed Patrick in early on – which was great as it’s good to have people around you who know the area. And as he’s from a small town, it’s good for him to have people from different backgrounds around him. People who can teach him about new subjects, maybe even help with a new outlook on life.
With most books with romances the couple gets together 80 or 90% of the book and the rest of the book is them during their first two weeks to maybe a month (of their relationship). But in Calling, Josh and Patrick get together halfway through the book and then of course the rest of the book is them exploring their relationship. Which I didn’t have a problem with, of course – the more couple time I get, the happier I am!
I didn’t like how their roommates dismiss the fact that Josh is pan – if you don’t actually know what pan means, you literally have a pan roommate, go ask him! They could all just ask him but they just revert to stereotypes! The pan rep in the book is really good, it’s just that the other characters are just… terrible for relying on stereotypes.
Quotes:
‘Benny was like, Josh, all sexuality is on a spectrum. That’s what the rainbows mean. We’re all part of this rainbow, and sometimes we’re different colours depending on the day.’
‘”Then he said, I know you feel like you’re the only one because you don’t know anybody yet who feels the way you do. But you will find people like you. You’ll find them and they’ll find you, like I found my people here. You will.”
Do I recommend this book? With all the pizzas in San Francisco, I do!