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horrorbutch
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts out with good intentions and a fascinating plot. Our three main characters are transported to the past, to an America were settlers have just started arriving. They meet a Native American Woman, who is sure that Molly can help her save her people and defeat the looming shadow that's trying to destroy them. There's also the witch hunters that are close on Molly's tail and they are dangerous and deadly. As if trying to survive in the wilderness of America in 1873 wasn't already hard enough.
The stakes are high and there is a sense of urgency accompanying the book. Most of the plot of the book (except for a time jump in the beginning and another in the end) happens in less than three days. However, I think the book would have greatly benefited from more time (especially in the romance department). Like this, Molly and Aquene meet, immediately trust each other (which is okay, they don't really have another choice) and fall in love in just two days and one night.
Angus' and Winnie's relationship was far better developed and made more sense, probably since they already knew each other. They get separated from the group and have to try to survive together. While it was nice to see how much Angus supported Winnie and get some body-positivity in the mix, they too would have benefited from a longer storyline.
Another character is Matthew, the main antagonist. I really like that he got his own voice because it made him even more terrifying. He was an obsessed, incredibly creepy guy and I quite enjoyed his parts (and cheered at his demise).
And now it's time for the things that bothered me. Because sadly as interesting (yet underdeveloped) as the characters were, there are a lot of things that were bad plot-wise. Spoiler Warning Applies. Rant incoming.
Aquene sees Molly as the savior of her people. When she finds out that in the future America is mostly white and Native Americans are gone from the land that is rightfully theirs, she is terrified. Molly is a bit sad, but ultimately she just says that many white people are sorry for what happened. Many would like to change that it happened if they had the chance. But oh well, it happened, no can do now. Oh, I would have a chance now? Uh, oh well, uhm, gotta go. Byeeeee!!! The "you will save my people" thing is never mentioned again and in the end, Aquene is apparently okay with her entire culture being whipped out by colonists as long as she can be with a girl, she just met two days ago. But it's fine. Because they are soulmates.
Probably one of my biggest problems with this book is how flat it fell compared to its interesting premise. There's insta love, which really ruined their relationship for me. (let people get to know each other before they fall head over heels for each other and turn their entire lives upside down for once please!) There's Molly not at all caring about the plight Native American people have gone through and are still going through today due to colonization. And Aquene is okay with that. Because Love. Oh, did I mention that she leaves her entire family behind when she takes off with Molly to go to the 21st century? But it's fine because now she can teach the language that died out because her entire tribe was slaughtered. What a good ending. All the main characters survived, so that's good right?
I really wanted to like this book. I read did. But writing a book that starts out with the premise of saving witches and Native Americans and then just saving the white witches without a single thought to Native American history just doesn't work.
Aquene also got a voice by herself and we get to see her terror when she sees what the future holds, but we never get to see her fight against that. She's just there to support Molly, the white savior of her people, except she actually just saves her own hide and oh well, they have to leave now, how convenient.
All in all, this book was such a huge disappointment and I'm quite sad to see that no other reviewer has spoken out about this huge problem in the plot. Native Americans are not just a part of America's history. They still exist today. They are not just a plot device to have some spirit guide in a book, who tells the white heroine what she is supposed to do. If this book had just featured white people it could have been an unfortunate oversight. But the author obviously knows at least a bit about the terror Native Americans had to face and yet still the one Native American character in her story ends up abandoning her people like that. And we are supposed to feel good about that?
Sorry, for me, this book was just a huge miss.
This book starts out with good intentions and a fascinating plot. Our three main characters are transported to the past, to an America were settlers have just started arriving. They meet a Native American Woman, who is sure that Molly can help her save her people and defeat the looming shadow that's trying to destroy them. There's also the witch hunters that are close on Molly's tail and they are dangerous and deadly. As if trying to survive in the wilderness of America in 1873 wasn't already hard enough.
The stakes are high and there is a sense of urgency accompanying the book. Most of the plot of the book (except for a time jump in the beginning and another in the end) happens in less than three days. However, I think the book would have greatly benefited from more time (especially in the romance department). Like this, Molly and Aquene meet, immediately trust each other (which is okay, they don't really have another choice) and fall in love in just two days and one night.
Angus' and Winnie's relationship was far better developed and made more sense, probably since they already knew each other. They get separated from the group and have to try to survive together. While it was nice to see how much Angus supported Winnie and get some body-positivity in the mix, they too would have benefited from a longer storyline.
Another character is Matthew, the main antagonist. I really like that he got his own voice because it made him even more terrifying. He was an obsessed, incredibly creepy guy and I quite enjoyed his parts (and cheered at his demise).
And now it's time for the things that bothered me. Because sadly as interesting (yet underdeveloped) as the characters were, there are a lot of things that were bad plot-wise. Spoiler Warning Applies. Rant incoming.
Aquene sees Molly as the savior of her people. When she finds out that in the future America is mostly white and Native Americans are gone from the land that is rightfully theirs, she is terrified. Molly is a bit sad, but ultimately she just says that many white people are sorry for what happened. Many would like to change that it happened if they had the chance. But oh well, it happened, no can do now. Oh, I would have a chance now? Uh, oh well, uhm, gotta go. Byeeeee!!! The "you will save my people" thing is never mentioned again and in the end, Aquene is apparently okay with her entire culture being whipped out by colonists as long as she can be with a girl, she just met two days ago. But it's fine. Because they are soulmates.
Probably one of my biggest problems with this book is how flat it fell compared to its interesting premise. There's insta love, which really ruined their relationship for me. (let people get to know each other before they fall head over heels for each other and turn their entire lives upside down for once please!) There's Molly not at all caring about the plight Native American people have gone through and are still going through today due to colonization. And Aquene is okay with that. Because Love. Oh, did I mention that she leaves her entire family behind when she takes off with Molly to go to the 21st century? But it's fine because now she can teach the language that died out because her entire tribe was slaughtered. What a good ending. All the main characters survived, so that's good right?
I really wanted to like this book. I read did. But writing a book that starts out with the premise of saving witches and Native Americans and then just saving the white witches without a single thought to Native American history just doesn't work.
Aquene also got a voice by herself and we get to see her terror when she sees what the future holds, but we never get to see her fight against that. She's just there to support Molly, the white savior of her people, except she actually just saves her own hide and oh well, they have to leave now, how convenient.
All in all, this book was such a huge disappointment and I'm quite sad to see that no other reviewer has spoken out about this huge problem in the plot. Native Americans are not just a part of America's history. They still exist today. They are not just a plot device to have some spirit guide in a book, who tells the white heroine what she is supposed to do. If this book had just featured white people it could have been an unfortunate oversight. But the author obviously knows at least a bit about the terror Native Americans had to face and yet still the one Native American character in her story ends up abandoning her people like that. And we are supposed to feel good about that?
Sorry, for me, this book was just a huge miss.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Timbuktu is mostly peaceful until a group of radical Muslims attacks their city. Their leader, Redbeard, thinks that their laws are too soft and implants Sharia laws. Everybody who protests against them will be flogged in public.
The people of the city suffer under their new ruler, but there is also rebellion.
In this story, we have two main characters. Ali, a shepherd-turned-soldier, zealous in his belief of what is right. And Kadija, the daughter of a Guardian, the protector of the sacred manuscripts. She is raised to become the next one.
Even though Ali and Kadija have no reason to trust each other, they slowly grow closer over the course of the story.
I really liked Kadija as a character. She was quite rebellious, refusing to give up her music fully and always trying to protect those she cared about in some way.
Ali was also very interesting character. He truly believes that what they do is the right thing to do. This obviously stands in stark contrast of how people react and who he hurts.
There's also a lot of interesting side characters, which really added to the story as they make it feel even more lively. I really liked how especially the women, who suffered a lot under the new laws, rebelled against them.
I also liked how the author managed to fuse real-life events with his story, without becoming dry or boring. He also showed the cruelty of war, without being gruesome.
However, the beginning of the book is really slow, with a lot of world building and not a lot going on, which made it hard to keep reading at points. In the end, there happen a few things that really propel the plot forward and I enjoyed that part of the story way more.
I also didn't really understand the romance in the book. I could understand them caring for each other and not wanting them hurt, but Kadija went from distrusting and disliking Ali (for good reasons) to wanting to kiss him very quickly with not a lot in between. Especially since when she kisses him, he just tried to destroy one of the manuscripts, which are sacred to her. If there had been a bit more build up there, I would have probably enjoyed it more.
Overall, the story was quite interesting with a lot of real-life events skillfully woven into the plot, but it is also slow and takes a long time to really get going. I ended up enjoying it well enough.
Timbuktu is mostly peaceful until a group of radical Muslims attacks their city. Their leader, Redbeard, thinks that their laws are too soft and implants Sharia laws. Everybody who protests against them will be flogged in public.
The people of the city suffer under their new ruler, but there is also rebellion.
In this story, we have two main characters. Ali, a shepherd-turned-soldier, zealous in his belief of what is right. And Kadija, the daughter of a Guardian, the protector of the sacred manuscripts. She is raised to become the next one.
Even though Ali and Kadija have no reason to trust each other, they slowly grow closer over the course of the story.
I really liked Kadija as a character. She was quite rebellious, refusing to give up her music fully and always trying to protect those she cared about in some way.
Ali was also very interesting character. He truly believes that what they do is the right thing to do. This obviously stands in stark contrast of how people react and who he hurts.
There's also a lot of interesting side characters, which really added to the story as they make it feel even more lively. I really liked how especially the women, who suffered a lot under the new laws, rebelled against them.
I also liked how the author managed to fuse real-life events with his story, without becoming dry or boring. He also showed the cruelty of war, without being gruesome.
However, the beginning of the book is really slow, with a lot of world building and not a lot going on, which made it hard to keep reading at points. In the end, there happen a few things that really propel the plot forward and I enjoyed that part of the story way more.
I also didn't really understand the romance in the book. I could understand them caring for each other and not wanting them hurt, but Kadija went from distrusting and disliking Ali (for good reasons) to wanting to kiss him very quickly with not a lot in between. Especially since when she kisses him, he just tried to destroy one of the manuscripts, which are sacred to her. If there had been a bit more build up there, I would have probably enjoyed it more.
Overall, the story was quite interesting with a lot of real-life events skillfully woven into the plot, but it is also slow and takes a long time to really get going. I ended up enjoying it well enough.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book features lovely illustrated fears in four frames, that people submitted to Fran Krause. What I really enjoyed was seeing that everybody has some irrational fear and how this connects us humans. Some of the fears seemed amusing to me, while other's were terrifying. Some are fears that I myself have and other's just added to my list of worries. There are also two longer stories, that are illustrated in bigger comics, which made for a nice change.
This book was also amazingly formatted and I have no problem at all reading an e-book copy, but I'm sure a paperback would also look amazing.
All in all, this is a nice short book with great illustrations and an interesting story behind it. I enjoyed it and it made for a great read.
This book features lovely illustrated fears in four frames, that people submitted to Fran Krause. What I really enjoyed was seeing that everybody has some irrational fear and how this connects us humans. Some of the fears seemed amusing to me, while other's were terrifying. Some are fears that I myself have and other's just added to my list of worries. There are also two longer stories, that are illustrated in bigger comics, which made for a nice change.
This book was also amazingly formatted and I have no problem at all reading an e-book copy, but I'm sure a paperback would also look amazing.
All in all, this is a nice short book with great illustrations and an interesting story behind it. I enjoyed it and it made for a great read.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a compilation of short stories, poems, quotes, artworks and photographs by Native American Women. While there aren't a lot of stories in this book (this book is actually quite short and if all the empty pages were taken out I don't think there would be more than 80 pages or even less. At times I understood why there had to be an empty page, some of the artwork seems like it was designed to be spread across two pages, but this only works for a physical book, not really for the e-book I read.) those that are in there are really emotional and amazing.
In this book Native American Women are given a voice. They are allowed to talk about their intergenerational trauma, about their present day pain under white supremacy, racism, and the patriarchy, about their hopes and dreams. As I follow a few Native American Activists on twitter, I already knew of some of the present-day problems that hurt Native Americans, but with this book, the struggles got an even more personal side.
Trigger warnings for abuse (sexual, emotional, physical), rape, alcoholism, forced sterilization, suicide, domestic violence, depression, genocide, colonization, kidnapping and racism
This book is really heartbreaking, even though it is so short. The writing is really well done and I also enjoyed the artwork a lot. My favorite stories were:
Reclaiming Indigenous Women's Rights by Nahanni Fontaine, an essay about what it means to be an Indigenous Women. The artwork with this short essay is gorgeous and it gave insight into how intergenerational trauma affects Native American Women.
A Tale of Two Winonas by Winona Linn, a comic about forced marriage and suicide, delving into what names might mean.
Honor Song by Gwen Benaway, a poem that feels a lot like a prayer, exploring what it means to be a woman and how to reclaim that.
Real NDNZ by Pamela J. Peters, a photo series where Native American actors recreate classic portraits of movie stars. This showcases how few Native American actors one sees in Media and how there's even less that are portrayed in a positive light.
I also really loved the quotes by Native American Women in this book. They are very raw and real, mention problems of Native American Women, but also give hope.
I don't want to punish the authors with a bad rating, just because the format was off. I also had an ARC, so maybe that was partly at fault. I have high hopes that this story will be better when in physical form. However, I hope there will also quite a lot of editing done on the e-book as well so it will be readable if there even is an e-book available.
All in all, I think this was an amazing book and I can certainly only recommend it to everyone, who wants to read about Native American Women and hear their stories in their own words.
This book is a compilation of short stories, poems, quotes, artworks and photographs by Native American Women. While there aren't a lot of stories in this book (this book is actually quite short and if all the empty pages were taken out I don't think there would be more than 80 pages or even less. At times I understood why there had to be an empty page, some of the artwork seems like it was designed to be spread across two pages, but this only works for a physical book, not really for the e-book I read.) those that are in there are really emotional and amazing.
In this book Native American Women are given a voice. They are allowed to talk about their intergenerational trauma, about their present day pain under white supremacy, racism, and the patriarchy, about their hopes and dreams. As I follow a few Native American Activists on twitter, I already knew of some of the present-day problems that hurt Native Americans, but with this book, the struggles got an even more personal side.
Trigger warnings for abuse (sexual, emotional, physical), rape, alcoholism, forced sterilization, suicide, domestic violence, depression, genocide, colonization, kidnapping and racism
This book is really heartbreaking, even though it is so short. The writing is really well done and I also enjoyed the artwork a lot. My favorite stories were:
Reclaiming Indigenous Women's Rights by Nahanni Fontaine, an essay about what it means to be an Indigenous Women. The artwork with this short essay is gorgeous and it gave insight into how intergenerational trauma affects Native American Women.
A Tale of Two Winonas by Winona Linn, a comic about forced marriage and suicide, delving into what names might mean.
Honor Song by Gwen Benaway, a poem that feels a lot like a prayer, exploring what it means to be a woman and how to reclaim that.
Real NDNZ by Pamela J. Peters, a photo series where Native American actors recreate classic portraits of movie stars. This showcases how few Native American actors one sees in Media and how there's even less that are portrayed in a positive light.
I also really loved the quotes by Native American Women in this book. They are very raw and real, mention problems of Native American Women, but also give hope.
I don't want to punish the authors with a bad rating, just because the format was off. I also had an ARC, so maybe that was partly at fault. I have high hopes that this story will be better when in physical form. However, I hope there will also quite a lot of editing done on the e-book as well so it will be readable if there even is an e-book available.
All in all, I think this was an amazing book and I can certainly only recommend it to everyone, who wants to read about Native American Women and hear their stories in their own words.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts with a thrilling story about the escape from a train whose destination is death. The little girl Juanita, who is saved by her grandmother and the ghost of her husband, grows up to be the towns mystic. When she has her first vision at 15, she soon realizes that she has to go on a deadly mission to save many.
This story cleverly combines steam punk, western, ghosts, and romance in a quite elegant fashion. While I'm normally not a fan of relationships with a huge age difference, I actually grew to enjoy the relationship in this story quite a lot, since there was so much build up between these two. There are other relationships however that are more disturbing to read.
What I absolutely loved was that no of the characters were purely white or black. Good characters did bad things, bad characters did good things, it kept the story very interesting. Juanita was also an incredibly great character, I absolutely adored her. She always had a goal that she wanted to achieve and despite her young age, she worked relentlessly to get there.
Another thing I absolutely adored was how lively the side characters were. Despite there being quite a huge cast of supporting characters - the cigar-smoking ghost of a mechanic, a mysterious man with a twisted past, a member of the cruel and feared Mendoza family and a creepy mechanical creature - none of them felt one-dimensional or boring. they were all very fleshed out and even though there were some absolutely despicable characters, there are times where you just can't help but feel for them, at least a bit.
My favorite thing, however, was how incredibly vivid the story telling was. At times I actually felt like I was being transported in that hot desert world and riding beside Juanita and Guide. It was truly an amazing story and it was an absolute joy to read it.
Since none of the other reviewers have mentioned it yet, I thought I'd include a list of trigger warnings before I end my review. There are many mentions of rape throughout the book and there is one attempted rape scene and one rape scene that's shown a bit more. It's not detailed, but I definitely would have liked a warning before I started the book. There is also a short mention of csa. With the theme of murder of the poor and those who the higher classes don't think are useful for society, there is also ableism, racism, violence and murder mentioned. There is also a relationship with a huge age difference (an 18-year-old girl with a slowly aging 100-year-old man, who looks like he's 40)
All in all, this story was definitely different, but in a really, really great way. I absolutely adored it.
This book starts with a thrilling story about the escape from a train whose destination is death. The little girl Juanita, who is saved by her grandmother and the ghost of her husband, grows up to be the towns mystic. When she has her first vision at 15, she soon realizes that she has to go on a deadly mission to save many.
This story cleverly combines steam punk, western, ghosts, and romance in a quite elegant fashion. While I'm normally not a fan of relationships with a huge age difference, I actually grew to enjoy the relationship in this story quite a lot, since there was so much build up between these two. There are other relationships however that are more disturbing to read.
What I absolutely loved was that no of the characters were purely white or black. Good characters did bad things, bad characters did good things, it kept the story very interesting. Juanita was also an incredibly great character, I absolutely adored her. She always had a goal that she wanted to achieve and despite her young age, she worked relentlessly to get there.
Another thing I absolutely adored was how lively the side characters were. Despite there being quite a huge cast of supporting characters - the cigar-smoking ghost of a mechanic, a mysterious man with a twisted past, a member of the cruel and feared Mendoza family and a creepy mechanical creature - none of them felt one-dimensional or boring. they were all very fleshed out and even though there were some absolutely despicable characters, there are times where you just can't help but feel for them, at least a bit.
My favorite thing, however, was how incredibly vivid the story telling was. At times I actually felt like I was being transported in that hot desert world and riding beside Juanita and Guide. It was truly an amazing story and it was an absolute joy to read it.
Since none of the other reviewers have mentioned it yet, I thought I'd include a list of trigger warnings before I end my review. There are many mentions of rape throughout the book and there is one attempted rape scene and one rape scene that's shown a bit more. It's not detailed, but I definitely would have liked a warning before I started the book. There is also a short mention of csa. With the theme of murder of the poor and those who the higher classes don't think are useful for society, there is also ableism, racism, violence and murder mentioned. There is also a relationship with a huge age difference (an 18-year-old girl with a slowly aging 100-year-old man, who looks like he's 40)
All in all, this story was definitely different, but in a really, really great way. I absolutely adored it.
Welcome Home
Eric Smith, Mindy McGinnis, Courtney C. Stevens, Kate Watson, Sangu Mandanna, Randy Ribay, Helene Dunbar, Nic Stone, Natasha Sinel, S.M. Parker, Karen Akins, Jenny Kaczorowski, Julie Leung, Adi Alsaid, Matthew Quinn Martin, Tameka Mullins, Lauren Gibaldi, Stephanie Scott, Tristina Wright, Shannon Gibney, Dave Connis, Julie Eshbaugh, William Ritter, C.J. Redwine, Erica M. Chapman, Sammy Nickalls, Lauren Morrill, Libby Cudmore
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This anthology has a very interesting and cool premise and I absolutely loved that we got to see so many different kinds of stories about adoption. Some were told from the perspective of the parent (both the adoptive ones and the ones who gave their child up for adoption), many were told from the perspective of the adopted children themselves. It was a really nice insight into these stories and I really liked that. However, sadly many of these stories were way too short to fully show their potential. And while there were barely any stories I disliked, there were also only a selected few that I absolutely loved. Anyway, let's start!
Charlos and the Fifteen-Year-Old Heart - Adi Alsaid: This story features a fifteen-year-old boy from Mexico City, who has been adopted by white parents, who survived the 1985 earthshake and are since then seemingly stuck in that year. At first, this was really confusing to figure out and it only made sense in the end. Another thing I didn't like about the story was the Insta-Love. 2 Stars
Strong Enough - Karen Atkins: Gracie has had super strength since she was a baby. Her adoptive parents went to classes and all to figure out how to handle a baby who was strong enough to punch holes in brick holes when she had a temper tantrum. Now her time has come to prove her powers for the first. This story is really interesting and super cool, but sadly way too short. 3 Stars
The Sign - Erica M. Chapman: About a girl who wants to meet her biological father. When she meets him, she finds out he's dying. Really interesting and emotional, but also pretty short. 4 Stars
Up By a Millon - Caela Carter: In this story, a girl visits her mother who is in prison. They talk about her life, but never about her new mother, Coach K. This story is quite sweet with a really awesome mother-daughter relationship and I really enjoyed it. 4 Stars
Mama's Eyes - Libby Cudmore: Trigger warnings in this story for murder, abuse and kidnapping. This story has a quite terrifying setup, about a girl whose nightmares are hunted by a tattoo her biological mother had. And now her past is reaching for her. Another story that could have benefited from more words. As long as it was, many things felt rushed and superficial, as well as very unbelievable. 2 Stars
A Kingdom Bright and Burning - Dave Connins: This story is about a mute boy and features a magical kingdom. It was a really cool story, but also could have benefited from being longer. 3 Stars
The Inexplicable Weight of Mountains - Helene Dunbar: This story features a girl who was adopted from Eastern Europe. She's not really sure if she wants to look for her family. She never knew them after all. And yet she is curious what kind of people they were. 3 Stars
Webbed - Julie Esbaugh: This story was really sweet. It was about an adopted girl with webbed toes, whose dad once told her that her birth mother was a mermaid. It is quite sweet. 3 Stars
Life: Starring Tallulah Grey - Lauren Gibaldi: In this story, an actress of a popular TV-Show is outed by the press as adopted. Apparently, her mother is sick. But since her mother has already contacted her once, just to ask for money, she is not sure what to do. It was an interesting story. 3 Stars
Salvation - Shannon Gibney: Trigger warnings for pedophilia and child abuse. This story is partly told through the eyes of an outsider and switched with the view of the adopted boy. The boy is adopted after an earthquake in Haiti, by a family that feels like God commanded them to do it. When they realize that the kid is trouble, they quickly give him to another family. However, that family is a really bad one. Sadly there was no satisfying resolution to this story and the end just left me sad. 2 Stars
Twenty-Seven Days - Jenny Kaczorowski: Trigger warnings for drug use. This story was really heartbreaking. It was about a girl who has already spent a lot of time in foster homes since her mother has been using on and off. When she finally finds a friend she really likes, she only wants to stay. 4 Stars
Ink Drips Black - Julie Leung: I really enjoyed reading this story. It is about an adopted girl who struggles with the feeling of not belonging. It is pretty mythical and I really enjoyed the writing style. It was pretty confusing too and had a few huge plot twists that due to its length (or lack off) didn't really work well for me, since they couldn't be explained and only confused me. 4 Stars
Upon The Horizon's Verge - Sangu Madanna: This story is about a pregnant teenager that's thinking about giving her daughter up for adoption. It is really sweet. There is a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, but it worked well. 4 Stars
Lullaby - Matthew Quinn Martin: This story is very Sci-Fi and weird. I really enjoyed the part about orphaned children hoping to find out that there was a noble reason why they ended up parentless. 3 Stars
Census Man - Mindy McGinnis: This story seems to be historical fiction set in an Orphanage, about a girl who really wants to be adopted. It's quite sweet. 3 Stars
Invited - Lauren Morril: This story is about a woman, who goes to visit the daughter she gave up for adoption. I really enjoyed the writing in this story. 4.5 Stars
Empty Lens - Tameka Mullins: Another one of my favorites. Told in interview and blog post format, this story is about a photography project about family. It is really sweet and I enjoyed it a lot. 4 Stars
A Lesson In Biology - Sammy Nickalls: This is a story about why family trees don't always apply to families. It is really well told and with a really nice point. 3.5 Stars
Tunneling Through - Shannon Parker: Trigger warnings for child abuse. In this story, a teenage boy is preparing to come out to his mother. It's really a heartwarming story and I enjoyed it. This is also the first story about a transgender person in this book, which was really nice to see. 4 Stars
These broken Stars - C.J. Redwine: This story is about a sixteen-year-old girl, who might finally be adopted from the orphanage she's in. It is a nice enough story, but all in all pretty unremarkable. 2 Stars
The Snow-Covered Sidewalk - Randy Ribay: This is a quite interesting story about an adopted girl who recently reached out to her birth family, but so far she hasn't found anybody. But then a boy starts pestering her about her adoption. The ending is quite abrupt, but the story was interesting to read. 3.5 Stars
Deeply - William Ritter: Trigger warnings for Child Abuse and Bullying. This story features a very young narrator and a supernatural parent. Another story that could have been way more interesting, if it just had been longer! 2 Stars
Meant To Be Broken - Stephanie Scott: A girl finally found a trace of a childhood friend, who disappeared one day without a trace. This story features a strong friendship between two girls and it was really great to read it. 4.5 Stars
Moving The Body - Natasha Sinel: Trigger Warnings for Nazism, islamophobia, antisemitism and murder. In this story, an adopted boy finds out that his brother has an internet friend, who doesn't seem to have his best interest at heart. When he searches out that friend to check him out, he soon gets more than he bargained for. This was a quite interesting thriller and I really enjoyed it. 4 Stars
In Pieces - Eric Smith: This story is a sci-fi story about a boy, who wants to visit his birth family. It is very, very short and I didn't like it at all. 1 Star
Peace of Paper - Courtney C. Stevens: This is a quite nice story, about a boy who's planning to marry. And there's only one person he can ask for advice. Luke, the man who gave him an apartment and helped him get a job. But will Luke agree with his decision to marry a girl he's only known for 4 months? 3 Stars
Happy Beginning - Nic Stone: Told in reverse chronological order, we get to know the story of two adopted girls. One of them, Ny, has been adopted by white parents and never quite felt like she fit in with them and so she ran away to find her birth mother. Now her girlfriend Jenna misses her. Even though this story is just ten pages, we get a wonderful insight in Ny's and Jenna's relationship. It's probably one of my favorites in this collection. 5 Stars
The Take Back - Kate Watson: This story is told from the perspective of an adopted boy. His parents wanted to adopt a daughter, but at the last possible moment the mother of the girl decided otherwise and called the adoption of. It's really heartbreaking and deals with how it feels to lose family. 5 Stars
Jar of Broken Wishes - Tristina Wright: Trigger Warnings for pedophilia. A young girl has realized that she can see wishes. There are wishes people don't mean, those fall to the ground and break into pieces and Daisy collects them. But it seems like she doesn't have any wishes for herself. When she tries to recycle other people's wishes, it all always turns out wrong. 4 Stars
This anthology has a very interesting and cool premise and I absolutely loved that we got to see so many different kinds of stories about adoption. Some were told from the perspective of the parent (both the adoptive ones and the ones who gave their child up for adoption), many were told from the perspective of the adopted children themselves. It was a really nice insight into these stories and I really liked that. However, sadly many of these stories were way too short to fully show their potential. And while there were barely any stories I disliked, there were also only a selected few that I absolutely loved. Anyway, let's start!
Charlos and the Fifteen-Year-Old Heart - Adi Alsaid: This story features a fifteen-year-old boy from Mexico City, who has been adopted by white parents, who survived the 1985 earthshake and are since then seemingly stuck in that year. At first, this was really confusing to figure out and it only made sense in the end. Another thing I didn't like about the story was the Insta-Love. 2 Stars
Strong Enough - Karen Atkins: Gracie has had super strength since she was a baby. Her adoptive parents went to classes and all to figure out how to handle a baby who was strong enough to punch holes in brick holes when she had a temper tantrum. Now her time has come to prove her powers for the first. This story is really interesting and super cool, but sadly way too short. 3 Stars
The Sign - Erica M. Chapman: About a girl who wants to meet her biological father. When she meets him, she finds out he's dying. Really interesting and emotional, but also pretty short. 4 Stars
Up By a Millon - Caela Carter: In this story, a girl visits her mother who is in prison. They talk about her life, but never about her new mother, Coach K. This story is quite sweet with a really awesome mother-daughter relationship and I really enjoyed it. 4 Stars
Mama's Eyes - Libby Cudmore: Trigger warnings in this story for murder, abuse and kidnapping. This story has a quite terrifying setup, about a girl whose nightmares are hunted by a tattoo her biological mother had. And now her past is reaching for her. Another story that could have benefited from more words. As long as it was, many things felt rushed and superficial, as well as very unbelievable. 2 Stars
A Kingdom Bright and Burning - Dave Connins: This story is about a mute boy and features a magical kingdom. It was a really cool story, but also could have benefited from being longer. 3 Stars
The Inexplicable Weight of Mountains - Helene Dunbar: This story features a girl who was adopted from Eastern Europe. She's not really sure if she wants to look for her family. She never knew them after all. And yet she is curious what kind of people they were. 3 Stars
Webbed - Julie Esbaugh: This story was really sweet. It was about an adopted girl with webbed toes, whose dad once told her that her birth mother was a mermaid. It is quite sweet. 3 Stars
Life: Starring Tallulah Grey - Lauren Gibaldi: In this story, an actress of a popular TV-Show is outed by the press as adopted. Apparently, her mother is sick. But since her mother has already contacted her once, just to ask for money, she is not sure what to do. It was an interesting story. 3 Stars
Salvation - Shannon Gibney: Trigger warnings for pedophilia and child abuse. This story is partly told through the eyes of an outsider and switched with the view of the adopted boy. The boy is adopted after an earthquake in Haiti, by a family that feels like God commanded them to do it. When they realize that the kid is trouble, they quickly give him to another family. However, that family is a really bad one. Sadly there was no satisfying resolution to this story and the end just left me sad. 2 Stars
Twenty-Seven Days - Jenny Kaczorowski: Trigger warnings for drug use. This story was really heartbreaking. It was about a girl who has already spent a lot of time in foster homes since her mother has been using on and off. When she finally finds a friend she really likes, she only wants to stay. 4 Stars
Ink Drips Black - Julie Leung: I really enjoyed reading this story. It is about an adopted girl who struggles with the feeling of not belonging. It is pretty mythical and I really enjoyed the writing style. It was pretty confusing too and had a few huge plot twists that due to its length (or lack off) didn't really work well for me, since they couldn't be explained and only confused me. 4 Stars
Upon The Horizon's Verge - Sangu Madanna: This story is about a pregnant teenager that's thinking about giving her daughter up for adoption. It is really sweet. There is a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, but it worked well. 4 Stars
Lullaby - Matthew Quinn Martin: This story is very Sci-Fi and weird. I really enjoyed the part about orphaned children hoping to find out that there was a noble reason why they ended up parentless. 3 Stars
Census Man - Mindy McGinnis: This story seems to be historical fiction set in an Orphanage, about a girl who really wants to be adopted. It's quite sweet. 3 Stars
Invited - Lauren Morril: This story is about a woman, who goes to visit the daughter she gave up for adoption. I really enjoyed the writing in this story. 4.5 Stars
Empty Lens - Tameka Mullins: Another one of my favorites. Told in interview and blog post format, this story is about a photography project about family. It is really sweet and I enjoyed it a lot. 4 Stars
A Lesson In Biology - Sammy Nickalls: This is a story about why family trees don't always apply to families. It is really well told and with a really nice point. 3.5 Stars
Tunneling Through - Shannon Parker: Trigger warnings for child abuse. In this story, a teenage boy is preparing to come out to his mother. It's really a heartwarming story and I enjoyed it. This is also the first story about a transgender person in this book, which was really nice to see. 4 Stars
These broken Stars - C.J. Redwine: This story is about a sixteen-year-old girl, who might finally be adopted from the orphanage she's in. It is a nice enough story, but all in all pretty unremarkable. 2 Stars
The Snow-Covered Sidewalk - Randy Ribay: This is a quite interesting story about an adopted girl who recently reached out to her birth family, but so far she hasn't found anybody. But then a boy starts pestering her about her adoption. The ending is quite abrupt, but the story was interesting to read. 3.5 Stars
Deeply - William Ritter: Trigger warnings for Child Abuse and Bullying. This story features a very young narrator and a supernatural parent. Another story that could have been way more interesting, if it just had been longer! 2 Stars
Meant To Be Broken - Stephanie Scott: A girl finally found a trace of a childhood friend, who disappeared one day without a trace. This story features a strong friendship between two girls and it was really great to read it. 4.5 Stars
Moving The Body - Natasha Sinel: Trigger Warnings for Nazism, islamophobia, antisemitism and murder. In this story, an adopted boy finds out that his brother has an internet friend, who doesn't seem to have his best interest at heart. When he searches out that friend to check him out, he soon gets more than he bargained for. This was a quite interesting thriller and I really enjoyed it. 4 Stars
In Pieces - Eric Smith: This story is a sci-fi story about a boy, who wants to visit his birth family. It is very, very short and I didn't like it at all. 1 Star
Peace of Paper - Courtney C. Stevens: This is a quite nice story, about a boy who's planning to marry. And there's only one person he can ask for advice. Luke, the man who gave him an apartment and helped him get a job. But will Luke agree with his decision to marry a girl he's only known for 4 months? 3 Stars
Happy Beginning - Nic Stone: Told in reverse chronological order, we get to know the story of two adopted girls. One of them, Ny, has been adopted by white parents and never quite felt like she fit in with them and so she ran away to find her birth mother. Now her girlfriend Jenna misses her. Even though this story is just ten pages, we get a wonderful insight in Ny's and Jenna's relationship. It's probably one of my favorites in this collection. 5 Stars
The Take Back - Kate Watson: This story is told from the perspective of an adopted boy. His parents wanted to adopt a daughter, but at the last possible moment the mother of the girl decided otherwise and called the adoption of. It's really heartbreaking and deals with how it feels to lose family. 5 Stars
Jar of Broken Wishes - Tristina Wright: Trigger Warnings for pedophilia. A young girl has realized that she can see wishes. There are wishes people don't mean, those fall to the ground and break into pieces and Daisy collects them. But it seems like she doesn't have any wishes for herself. When she tries to recycle other people's wishes, it all always turns out wrong. 4 Stars
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Mari is fifteen and when she found out that she was pregnant, she soon grows to love her baby. In him, she sees a chance for a family member who will always love her and never leave her. But when she finds out that her son has a heart condition, it all gets even more complicated.
I quickly grew to sympathize with Mari. Her mother took off when she was seven, her dad is in prison and her grandmother always makes her feel like she's a burden. But she has her girls and her boyfriend, who all support her.
The relationship that I most enjoyed, was the one between Mari, Yaz, Teri and Heavenly, her best friends, as they always hung around together and just had a really close bond, which was really great to read. The one between Mari and her unborn son, where also great to read. You could always tell that she really loved her son.
This is a fascinating contemporary that deals with heavy themes like teen pregnancy, sick babies, absent parents and drugs, all while never slipping in a too dramatic mood. Despite all of this happening, the story still manages to spread hope and it was really nice to see that.
I enjoyed the writing style, even though it was a bit hard to really get into it in the beginning since there's a lot of Spanish slang used as well as weird grammar constructions. On one hand, this definitely gave the story and unique flow and it helped me feel more connected to the characters as the story was told in the way the characters actually thought, but sometimes it was just hard to read.
However, this story is sadly not without flaws. Mari often makes homophobic comments and so in the end, I didn't like her character as much as I did in the beginning. Now, I know, she's 15, but none of her homophobic comments are ever called out and so she just grows more and more unlikeable. Also, the plot was sometimes quite predictable.
All in all, however, this was definitely an interesting book to read and unlike other books, I've read before, but sadly the homophobia heavily detracted from my enjoyment of the book and so I can't rate it higher.
Trigger warnings for homophobic slurs, child death, drug use and sexual assault.
Mari is fifteen and when she found out that she was pregnant, she soon grows to love her baby. In him, she sees a chance for a family member who will always love her and never leave her. But when she finds out that her son has a heart condition, it all gets even more complicated.
I quickly grew to sympathize with Mari. Her mother took off when she was seven, her dad is in prison and her grandmother always makes her feel like she's a burden. But she has her girls and her boyfriend, who all support her.
The relationship that I most enjoyed, was the one between Mari, Yaz, Teri and Heavenly, her best friends, as they always hung around together and just had a really close bond, which was really great to read. The one between Mari and her unborn son, where also great to read. You could always tell that she really loved her son.
This is a fascinating contemporary that deals with heavy themes like teen pregnancy, sick babies, absent parents and drugs, all while never slipping in a too dramatic mood. Despite all of this happening, the story still manages to spread hope and it was really nice to see that.
I enjoyed the writing style, even though it was a bit hard to really get into it in the beginning since there's a lot of Spanish slang used as well as weird grammar constructions. On one hand, this definitely gave the story and unique flow and it helped me feel more connected to the characters as the story was told in the way the characters actually thought, but sometimes it was just hard to read.
However, this story is sadly not without flaws. Mari often makes homophobic comments and so in the end, I didn't like her character as much as I did in the beginning. Now, I know, she's 15, but none of her homophobic comments are ever called out and so she just grows more and more unlikeable. Also, the plot was sometimes quite predictable.
All in all, however, this was definitely an interesting book to read and unlike other books, I've read before, but sadly the homophobia heavily detracted from my enjoyment of the book and so I can't rate it higher.
Trigger warnings for homophobic slurs, child death, drug use and sexual assault.
This is the second books set in Violet Hill, centered around the Violet Hill LGBT Cafe. We get to know quite a bit more about the sapphic ladies that live there and it's awesome. Anna works in the cafe, as well as in the library and she's also quite good at Photoshop, which she uses to make banners and other things for authors. Due to this she is always quite busy and doesn't have a lot of time for friends, much less for relationships. But then Lacey, a photographer who wants to write an article about the cafe, visits them a lot changes.
Unlike the first book, this is not a friends-to-lovers. Lacey is a trans woman, but unlike some other books with trans woman love interests, this is absolutely no problem between them, which was great. The cis MC is also not new to dating trans folks so she doesn't make a big deal out of with, which was nice to read. There is a bit of relationship drama but in their situation, it makes quite a lot of sense.
Sadly we barely got to know anything about Lacey outside her interest in photography and that she barely stays in one place for long. We also don't get to know a lot about the awesome LGBT Cafe, but there is a short cameo from the first book, which was really nice. Just as the first book this book is also quite short and so I didn't expect huge background stories, but it was a bit hard to connect with the characters like this and there was no real character development.
Despite this, the relationship was very sweet and if you're looking for something short and cute, this is the story for you. If you're looking for a nice and respectful story with a pansexual MC and a bisexual trans woman LI, this is also the story for you.
Unlike the first book, this is not a friends-to-lovers. Lacey is a trans woman, but unlike some other books with trans woman love interests, this is absolutely no problem between them, which was great. The cis MC is also not new to dating trans folks so she doesn't make a big deal out of with, which was nice to read. There is a bit of relationship drama but in their situation, it makes quite a lot of sense.
Sadly we barely got to know anything about Lacey outside her interest in photography and that she barely stays in one place for long. We also don't get to know a lot about the awesome LGBT Cafe, but there is a short cameo from the first book, which was really nice. Just as the first book this book is also quite short and so I didn't expect huge background stories, but it was a bit hard to connect with the characters like this and there was no real character development.
Despite this, the relationship was very sweet and if you're looking for something short and cute, this is the story for you. If you're looking for a nice and respectful story with a pansexual MC and a bisexual trans woman LI, this is also the story for you.
