I had so much fun with this one! I adored the characters and their relationships more than anything else; seeing both the Illori and the humans learn/re-learn how to feel joy again was so fun and I loved the way it was handled. This book deals heavily with the human condition, and what it means to be human, and I found those topics to be deeply fascinating. There are a lot of very important issues discussed in The Sound of Stars, like freedom, discrimination, hatred and violence, but Dow also found ways to weave a childish kind of joy throughout that was a delight to read. It made this book feel like a space opera set on earth, and I loved that aspect of it so much!

This was the July pick for the Queer Joy Book Club over on Instagram, which I had the pleasure of co-hosting this month! If you'd like to hear more in-depth thoughts on it, check out our spoiler-filled discussion here!

The first half of Ghosts of the Shadow Market was definitely a lot better than the second half, but either way I'm pleasantly surprised by this! I was dreading this going into it; for some reason I thought Kit was the main character and all the stories would be about his life growing up in the Shadow Markets? Not sure where I got that idea from, but imagine my utter delight when I opened this book to find that it's actually following Jem, AKA Brother Snackariah/Brother Sixpackariah/Brother Hop-in-the-sack-ariah, also known as one of the greatest things Cassandra Clare has gifted to this planet. I loved seeing more of Jem and Tessa's life together, their backstory, and where they were during the times in between. I started to care less once we got more into stuff in the 2000s, but that's just personal preference.

Spoiler

Although I did also really love seeing Kit build a relationship with Jem and Tessa, that was really heart warming.

Overall, a surprisingly great read and I'm glad I finally picked it up! I laughed out loud, I cried several times, and just generally had a really good time reading this

Wow there was A LOT going on here!

Fully review to come!

Noni Blake absolutely was a fucking pleasure, I adored this book! It was messy and all over the place, and exactly the kind of chaos that I find in my own everyday life.

The characters, and especially the character development, was really the star of the show. Noni’s journey with trying to love herself and take control of her life was so inspiring, and I saw a lot of myself in Noni. She was so relatable, I found myself laughing and crying along with her at every moment. The humour in this was incredible as well, there were several times where I had to pause the audiobook because I was laughing too hard to listen to what was going on.

Overall, It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake was a genuine joy to read. This is hands down become my favourite romance novel that I’ve ever read. I even went out and bought the physical book after finishing it because I know I’ll be talking about it in many BookTube videos to come

A very quick but informative read. As a non-binary person myself, a lot of the information in here was not new to me, but books like these are so important for people who want to learn. I often find with books or articles discussing gender politics, the language used can be really inaccessible to people who are just starting on their journey of learning about gender. But Alok’s writing is easy to understand for those who are still learning, while still being engaging for those of us who are well versed in this topic. This was easy to read and would absolutely be a great starting point for people who have questions, want to know more, as well as want to learn how to talk about gender with others

Not my favourite thing that I’ve ever read, but I did like it better than the first one! The characters were more interesting, and I liked where the plot went and how things were resolved. The ending (and everything else actually) was very predictable, but not necessarily in a bad way. I had a few eye-roll moments (do you really need to have a make out session while your world is being taken over by monsters? Really??) but otherwise it was good. Just fine is probably a probably a more accurate description, but regardless.

3.5 ⭐️

This was a lot of fun! I think the target audience was a little younger than I typically like to read, but it was still very enjoyable. The plot was painfully predictable and nothing surprised me at all, but it was done in that cheesy comic book way so I actually didn’t mind that. It’s not a new favourite or anything, but I liked it enough that I’m looking forward to the sequels!

I really wish this wasn’t the conclusion to the story, I would love to spend years in this world if I could. But it was a fantastic ending to the cutest story. I’ll definitely be revisiting this world whenever I need a quick pick-me-up

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Cheer UP: Love and Pompoms is exactly the kind of my book my queer heart hopes for every time I pick up a book with a LGBTQ+ characters. This was quite possibly the sweetest thing I've ever read; it literally had me squealing with the utmost joy every couple of pages.

Cheer Up follows two childhood friends, Bebe and Annie, who drifted apart. Now teenagers, Bebe has come out as transgender and joined cheerleading as the first trans girl ever on the team, while Annie has become a social loner with a fiery temper and a tendency to make people dislike her. Annie is forced by her mother to join the cheer squad, and the two rekindle their friendship after Bebe stands up for her. What follows is a heart warming story of two girls who are polar opposites, helping each other to unlearn the worst parts of themselves while uplifting each other through the trials of being a queer teenager.

I truly adored this graphic novel. Everything from the characters, the writing, the art style, to the story were all done with so much love and care poured into it. I love the stark contrast between Bebe and Annie, and how they were able to play off of each other's strengths and learn so much in such a short amount of time. I deeply appreciate seeing the experiences that Bebe goes through as an out trans girl, and how the author showed that even those who are well-meaning can do and say hurtful things. The fears that Bebe has of making a scene, or being too loud in a place where she is already the centre of attention just for existing, is so relatable to me as a visibly queer person. I loved the conversations that were had surrounding boundaries, and seeing the reactions of others. The characters and their relationships were complex and so very real, and I loved every second of it. I think this is going to be a book that will be celebrated by the LGBTQ+ community, and I can't wait to see everyone fall in love with it as much as I have!