galacticvampire's Reviews (366)

I was not expecting to like this sequel even more than the first one, but here we are. 

It focuses a lot on the AIDS pandemic and the fears of not only growing up but growing up as a queer man in the 80s. 

We finally get Ari coming out of his shell and developing beyond Dante, who in turn gets to show he's not always the confident and carefree boy from the first book. 

This is real and raw and full of grief, and I loved every second of it. 

This one was hard to get through. I think I was expecting more of a broad take on art in general, and there is some of that, but it was mostly hooks praising one specific artist in each essay, and if you didn't know about them before it's hard to follow the analysis because *most times we don't have a picture of the work in question*.

We also get a bunch of interviews which honestly didn't feel like added that much considering there were often full paragraphs of a single person talking. It felt like transcriptions of two friends' unplanned conversation: there are some great takes but they're peppered in rambling about the subject.

Still, bell hooks essays on art are incredible, and the one about photography and black culture particularly stayed with me. It's undeniable that even if you don't necessarily agree with something she says, she says it with perfect precision.

Star Wars audiodramas are always a blast! The full cast and sound effects really sell the atmosphere, and this being set as an interview really wraps it all together.

The hardest thing in audiodramas is the lost descriptions. They have to create a dynamic plot for the lack of inner thoughts you get from the characters, but Tempest Breaker found the best of both worlds.

The interview with Lorna Dee gives the perfect opportunity to hear he feelings about the story, while the story expands her relationship with both the good and the bad guys.

I do think this one will be really confusing without following the comics, and there are a few moments where the action got really confusing to follow, but it was a fun experience!

PS: this entry did nothing to help my overall dislike of Avar Kriss.

Wow. Just. Wow.

Bury Your Gays is a clear critique on the exploitation of Hollywood with the thrilling addition of sci-fi esque horror.

Pressured by the studio to change his story, the screenwriter Misha starts to be haunted by his own horror characters in a tense thriller exploring media, queerness and identity.

I particularly liked how it was made clear that every single company choice was driven by profit, and that the executives didn't really care if it they were inclusive or not, following the audience acceptance over bury-your-gays or queer-joy trends. Rainbow capitalism at its finest. Everyone involved in the machine got turned into a product to be used and discarded.

It was, at times, a little too on the nose, and I think the side characters could be a little more developed, but the experience was still incredible.

I understand why this book is talked about like a romance, because Ari and Dante also won my heart, but the truth is that this is an incredible coming of age story.

Somehow, I liked this even more than the first time (and totally forgot it was Lin-Manuel Miranda narrating).

Ari is the perfect main character exactly because he's so imperfect. He's so, so sweet and compassionate but controlled by anger and fear and anxiety. His relationship with Dante is tender but I'd say his development with his parents is really the highlight of it all.

This book is sensible, full of heart and a perfect slow-burn. All the characters are charismatic and have stayed with me for years.

I went into Call Me by Your Name very skeptical. While I haven't seen the movie, the pop culture conversation around it made me doubt I'd buy the romance between a teenager and a post-grad exchange student.

But I was surprised.

The prose is absolutely incredible, capturing the anxiety and inicurities of someone new to love while also providing beautiful descriptions of event both event and feelings, and it would've been enough for me to get over the questionable power dynamics.

But Oliver and Elio's relationship is way more complex than that. The hesitancy around queer desire in the 80s, the fear of rejection, the worry about consequences and the subtlety in which Oliver slowly gives in to Elio's (the teen!) advances made me totally endeared to them.

But probably my favourite thing about this book is that they're not perfect. It didn't feel like I was reading a romance, but a coming of age story. Elio is an annoying teenager who can't deal with his feelings, Oliver is awkward beyond his carisma, the both of them together do honestly really weird shit (

fucking a peach and eating it, or watching each other poop, for example

) and frequently flirt very badly.

They felt human and real and I'm definitely reading anything Aciman releases.

Dark Heir follows exactly where Dark Rise left off: Will and his friends need to flee from the Hall and find a way to stop evil plans, except that now Will is very aware of who he is and is intentionally keeping it from the others.

I really appreciate the complexity of the narrative. Will IS a reincarnation of the villain, and you see Sarcean's personality peeking through here and there, but he also has no plans of world domination and lives terrified of being found out and abandoned by his friends.

At the same time, we get flashbacks and several POVs that flesh out the world and put into question everything we've been told. What really happened at the war? Was it all really black and white, good versus evil? Who's telling the truth?

The cast continues being a delight, where even the antagonists get an opportunity to share their point and we can see exactly why each character thinks their perspective is the right one.

While I liked this book even more than the first one, I still think this story would've had more space to thrive as an adult work; both in terms of character and plot.

Probably the most cumbersome writing style I have encountered in the Star Wars Disney canon. It somehow feels straight out of a 80s hard sci-fi AND wattpad fanfiction at the same time.

Usually, an underground planet filled with somewhat-sentient fungi and lovecraftian silk creatures would be right up my alley, but the cool world building just became annoying when we kept stopping mid scene to paragraphs-long analysis on the fauna. It got repetitive very fast.

I think if Lucasfilm is going to hire people to publish what is basically official fanfiction, the very least they could do is have them consume a lot of the original material beforehand. This is a Mace Windu book, and yet, Mace Windu's characterization is all over the place.

I like how it emphasized Mace's feelings, breaking him out of the stoic and strung-up stereotype, but it pivoted too hard and by the end he was just? Totally okay with killing a bunch of people and plotting a planet civil war? He could've been a random smugler-hero in an original sci-fi story and it would've worked better than trying to shove it in Star Wars.

While the plot itself was overall ok, the writing made the whole thing feel cringe, jumping from the technical world building to clunky dialogue; including a ridiculous romance, a cartoon villain and multiple inconsistencies.

Honestly I felt like the author wanted to write a in-universe encyclopedia and got handed this instead, and no one got out of it happy.

The creepy and disgusting vibes of this book are incredible!

Following a group of girls quarantined on an island after a weird and contagious outbreak took over their boarding school, Wilder Girls uses the mysterious Tox as a way to talk about queerness, growing up and belonging.

There isn't anything particularly unique about the characters, but the atmosphere made up for it. With tons of body horror and an eerie mutaded forest, it's impossible not to crave the explanation on what is the disease and why it's affecting the island and its inhabitants like that.

I specially enjoyed the Byatt chapters, as they went deeper in the details and research on the outbreak, but they were sparse compared to the main plotline.

Which is a shame, because there's nothing particularly remarkable about it. We have our main character looking for her missing best friend and trying to uncover the secrets the government and the school are keeping from them. And even with some quite fun scenes, there's nothing too out there about it.

This book is great for those who really enjoy vibes and this type of horror (toned down for YA), but anyone looking for a substantial plot might find this one lacking.

(I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. While I don't believe a sequel is warranted, the inconclusiveness of it all wasn't that satisfying.)

Dark Rising has a simple premise: a boy who just lost his mother suddenly learns not only that there is magic out there, but that he could have a role to play in the fight against an ancient evil king being reborn.

Basic. The most standard YA fantasy plot possible. But it really shines in how it subverts expectations.

The main cast is very fleshed out, feeling lively and interesting way beyond our protagonist, Will. Violet is surprisingly compelling in how she refuses to be a genre heroine and James is an absolute delight.

I found the big plot twist very predictable, but the narrative really paved the way for it so it felt most like a secret between story and reader and less like a flat reveal.

Still, I think C.S. Pacat could've made this into an adult series to really explore implications and depth, as many times they made incredibly stupid choices and the narrative felt constrained.