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essjay's Reviews (635)
I don't know what I thought this was going to be when StoryGraph suggested it, but holy shit. Clarke says her inspirations were PKD and Fear Street (but gay!) and if that sounds as incredible to you as it did to me, then you should read this immediately.
I read it aloud to my 14y/o, who absolutely fucking loved it, as well. They are probably going to read it again in a few days.
I read it aloud to my 14y/o, who absolutely fucking loved it, as well. They are probably going to read it again in a few days.
I enjoyed this once I actually sat down to give it some attention. Is billed as Romance, but is really more about familial bonds (both birth and found family) and learning to love and accept yourself. Which...some parts made me teary, ngl.
Also, bumping up a quarter star purely for Wood using "hold the fort" properly. It's my rating, I can do what I want.
Also, bumping up a quarter star purely for Wood using "hold the fort" properly. It's my rating, I can do what I want.
I l o v e d the mix of art styles and the IDEAS of some of these stories, but overall they felt kind of underdeveloped. I would love a whole GN about whatever the fuck was happening in "Too Much On Your Plate," bc holy shit.
The epitome of Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism. This is the future leftists want.
Not rating this bc I'm honestly not even sure how to. I don't know if I actually enjoyed it, but it was compulsively readable.
I think I might have ended up reading multiple endings by accident (whoops) bc there was no indication that it had ended, so I just turned the page and was suddenly on a different path. Which was fine bc I probably would have gone back to try other options anyway, but a THE END or something would have been nice and relieved that ambiguity.
This is the second adult CYOA/interactive novel I've read this year, and I definitely preferred this to the other.
I think I might have ended up reading multiple endings by accident (whoops) bc there was no indication that it had ended, so I just turned the page and was suddenly on a different path. Which was fine bc I probably would have gone back to try other options anyway, but a THE END or something would have been nice and relieved that ambiguity.
This is the second adult CYOA/interactive novel I've read this year, and I definitely preferred this to the other.
I think I liked this a lot more than I would have if I'd read it alone, so I'm glad I went the Buddy Read route.
Was fairly disappointed in the lack of...actual capital e Evil. The side characters were more well-developed than our ostensible lead (who definitely gave off Not Like Other Girls energy) and I was just frustrated with every decision she made AND HER ABSOLUTE BLINDNESS TO THE UNTWISTY TWIST.
All that said, I had fun with it and will pick up the sequel when it comes out.
3.9 rounded up.
Was fairly disappointed in the lack of...actual capital e Evil. The side characters were more well-developed than our ostensible lead (who definitely gave off Not Like Other Girls energy) and I was just frustrated with every decision she made AND HER ABSOLUTE BLINDNESS TO THE UNTWISTY TWIST.
All that said, I had fun with it and will pick up the sequel when it comes out.
3.9 rounded up.
Astrid Dahl was the lead of Anna Dorn's Perfume & Pain, one of my top new releases of 2024 (so far) and is high up on my list of favourite messy queer women protagonists. So ofc when I got the email inviting me to read her upcoming The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey, I said "uh, fuck yeah" to myself and immediately added it to my reader.
It came as no surprise that messy as fuck Astrid Dahl would write more messy as fuck queer women, and when you add on the fact that it's a murder mystery taking place during the filming of a trashy reality show, OF COURSE I'm going to love it.
I don't even care that the mystery wasn't all that mysterious bc I was having such a great time with the characters.
More, please.
It came as no surprise that messy as fuck Astrid Dahl would write more messy as fuck queer women, and when you add on the fact that it's a murder mystery taking place during the filming of a trashy reality show, OF COURSE I'm going to love it.
I don't even care that the mystery wasn't all that mysterious bc I was having such a great time with the characters.
More, please.
Immaculate Spooky Season vibes, and the queerness is the entire fucking point.
Somewhat of a disappointment after This is Not the Jess Show. Featuring an entirely cartoon-like villain that it was nearly impossible to take seriously, and a bunch of stuff that legit didn't make a whole lot of sense. The 14y/o didn't even want to talk about it after we finished, just immediately went to bed.