julies_cozycontentclub's Reviews (264)

Night Owls and Summer Skies does such a great job at showing all kinds of love and family dynamics, no matter if it's a chosen or birth family. 
It's also an irresistible mix of:

It even has a Webtoon adaptation with the same name, which has the most beautiful visuals and captures the vibe perfectly. 

No matter if you are an avid camping enjoyer or an indoorsy person, or if you just want a cute coming-of-age sapphic romance, then this is definitely worth picking up. 

You won‘t find a lot of romance books with over 500 pages, and I guess Hearts and Stars kind of shows why, because this is definitely not just a normal romance book. It has a bunch of different plotlines that get drawn out quite a bit, which sometimes wasn‘t really noticeable because the plot was quite interesting, but other times just made it feel like nothing was really happening.

The whole crime family business at the beginning and the end of the book was so intriguing, and I would have loved to see more of it throughout the story.

Quin and Quincy are both interesting characters, and you see quite a lot of different facets of both of them. I am glad Quin ended up pursuing a different position than quarterback, though, because with her love for the end zone, running, and her catching skills, I doubt she would have been happy as a quarterback.

Even if I didn‘t really understand some character‘s actions, the book was an entertaining read, which could have profited from a slight edit regarding its length. 

Where there is room for us has so many aspects that work incredibly well together:

✧ self-realization

✧ standing up for your rights

✧ fun main cast

✧ incredibly wholesome sibling dynamics

✧ cute sapphic main couple

All of this and so much more, packaged in a beautiful Regency-style story set in a queernormative world, made me fall in love from the very beginning. I was hoping for more time with these beautifully written characters, but the second half of this book flew past so quickly, so my hope is now for another book in this time just to return to the Bridge once more.

The political situation was very intriguing, so it was a bit sad you don't end up getting a glimpse of what the resolution ends up looking like. It really would have added another layer to the existing plot, which mostly focused on the romance and Freya's struggle with finding herself, which isn't a problem in and of itself since it already gave a lot of material to think about. (Also, it's apparently inspired by Hayley Kiyoko’s own experiences, which is really interesting and wholesome if her relationship is just the tiniest bit like Ivy and Freya’s.)

All in all, this book is worth reading for everyone who wants a cute sapphic romance story with themes of familial love, finding oneself, and queer joy. <3

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin‘s Press and Wednesday Books for providing me with this ARC in return for an honest review. 

Olive J. Kelley has done it again! "Epsilon Nine" is the perfect book for everyone who wants a story with a lot of emotional depth and a plot that just sweeps you along in the ups and downs of a revolution.

The way the characters are written is one of the big strengths of this book. They feel so vivid and real and have some really distinct voices. The cast is also incredibly diverse, and the found family aspect is so well done that you just can‘t help but get attached too.

Sadly, some of the emotional depth gets reduced in the last part. And this is where my only criticism lies: the pacing. While the first two quarters of the book are at a pretty leisurely pace, the final quarter feels like it went by like a spaceship at light speed, which means it lost so many nuances the rest of the book had. It could have easily been the most devastating and detailed part of the whole book.

What I also would have loved to see more of is an explanation of the happenings that take place between the final chapter and the epilogue. Since there is so much buildup to what life could look like after the revolution, it would have been awesome to see how they actually get there.

However, the characters, the outstanding representation, and the thought this book provoked make it an incredible story that will stay in my mind for a long time.

(Especially with the parallels to current politics, which is increasingly going in a similar direction.) 

Thank you to Olive J. Kelley for providing me with this ARC in return for an honest review. 

I would like to officially thank qntm for introducing me to my new worst nightmare: antimemes. An introduction packaged in an amazing story but nightmare material regardless. 

The most outstanding characters are definitely the Wheelers, who are a memetic power couple in their own right, with a storyline as thrilling and layered as the antimemes themselves.

„There Is No Antimemetics Division“ has a plot that both requires a lot of thinking along to piece together the full picture of the threat that is lurking just outside of our understanding and somehow also manages to sweep you along in its narrative. It's definitely an incredibly unique reading experience.

I loved both of the serials included in this collection, but I enjoyed the first part a bit more. "Five Five Five Five Five" definitely has a surreal and thought-provoking charm, but it got incredibly difficult to follow the plot in the final chapters. 

Oh, how I love funny pieces of media that have underlying deeper themes...

"Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Comic Collection" has everything from hilarious bird behavior and everyday animal actions presented in a punny way to questions that confront you directly with moments from your own life.

I highly recommend reading this, no matter if you need a smile, want a beautiful art style to admire, or think about the silly human race through a new lens.

This review is brought to you by me, as well as the two pigeons who have been watching me for the entire time it took me to type out this text and are probably wondering why I was laughing about pictures of their relatives earlier. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in return for an honest review.  

I might need to have a talk about my time allocation with Chronos, because time just flies by when I read this series. 

This art style is incredibly pretty, and there are so many fun little details to pick up on. 

Sadly, this story has a bit of a slow pace. It also would have profited a lot from more background story set-up, as well as a bit more insight into characters' motivations, to achieve a better story flow. Regardless, the story is interesting and kept my attention. 

But pleaaaaaaase, can Apollo finally get what he deserves? I can't stand him running around, having the sun shining out of his ass (pun intended) after everything he has done. 

This is the book that deals with a huge amount of challenging imagery, profiling technology, and the effects of emotional abuse, but we shouldn't forget about the fact that this is also the book where they got an impression of the killer's teeth because he decided to eat a piece of cheese on his murder trip, just saying.

Aside from all of the questionable things that were being eaten, seeing Will reverse engineer the case step by step was incredibly entertaining. His consultation with Hannibal may have only been short, but it set the scene for the future novels very well. 

Now, did I enjoy myself when reading this book? For the most part, no. It was vile, disgusting, or just plain disturbing at times, but that‘s also partly where this story's strengths lie. Thomas Harris did not flinch back from challenging topics, which is partly the reason why his writing has this huge potential to be remembered. 

I, for my part, will certainly be thinking about those characters for a long time.