This was fun, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare. Although it had very similar overlaps in plot/characters to me so perhaps too similar to enjoy so close together.

Will definitely continue to read more of Tessa Dare though as she has great strong female characters which I like.

Sex Will Be Good Again by Katherine Angel

Katherine Angel uses science studies and popular culture to examine female desire, consent and sexuality. It's a non-fiction piece split into four parts: On Consent, On Desire, On Arousal and On Vulnerability.

Her chapter 'On Consent' was probably the most fascinating for me. Her discussions surrounding the MeToo movement and how there was almost a culture of pressure that emerged from this. A pressure that arguably was forcing individuals to share their stories in order to display their "feminist powers". Her exploration of "consent culture" and how it places the focus and onus on the woman to explore what she wants, to say what she wants was really quite thought-provoking for me. She talked about the difficulties of understanding our own desires can make this problematic and how consent culture can lead us into a trap of only seeing women agreeing to sex rather than desiring sex. Her arguments surrounding consent culture were very nuanced and this is only a small glimpse, and she was by no means saying consent is not important.

I also really appreciated her explorations in the chapters 'On Desire' and 'On Arousal' surrounding the scientific studies and the problems with examining sex in a scientific context. Who is willing to come forward and talk about sex and their sexual desires truthfully? Who is willing to have sex for a science experiment? Who has been selected for these studies, is it just white cisegendered heterosexual men? And can sex be science or is it all just the erotic?

I thought her considerations surrounding physical arousal and connections with consent, desire, and sexuality were also really interesting and something that I have not seen discussed enough.

I will say the final chapter 'On Vulnerability' disappointed me a little and I felt that the whole book lacked a conclusion drawing it together. In addition to that the book read quite academically in places. I do think the book can still be accessible for people invested in the topic though.

My one major complaint is the referencing in this book which is just page numbers listed at the back with no footnote references so I don't know whilst reading when there is a reference. I'm not sure if this is a new trend to try and promote these books as more accessible and less academic, but really is just a poor stylistic choice for me. Especially when the book clearly has a specific target audience and listed as non-fiction.

On the subject of intersectionality, Angel acknowledges the piece is largely heteronormative and cis-gendered focused but hopes those in gay/queer relationships and trans individuals will find some resonance with the book. However, given her own experiences and identity she doesn't feel best placed to explore the more nuanced details of those relationships in this context. This isn't to say she ignores queerness for the rest of the book and she still gives some considerations to binary nature of sex studies, to attitudes towards sex and gender more broadly. She also considers how racial divisions feed into sex and sexuality and discusses elements like the oversexualisation of women of colour. Given the shortness and realms of the book I thought Angel offered insight to these subjects, but there almost certainly require full books of their own for further exploration.

Overall though, Katherine Angel has a really fascinating book with a lot of nuance and thought and I really appreciated the whole reading experience. It gave me a lot to think about.

Terese Marie Mailhot grew up on the Seabird Island Indian reservation in British Colombia. Upon leaving the reservation she takes to writing. Heart Berries emerges following a suicide attempt when Terese checks herself into hospital where she is diagnosed with PTSD, Bipolar II and an eating disorder. Upon checking in to hospital, her one request is she is allowed to continue to write.

In hospital she pens letters to Casey, her husband, who at the time is her ex. The result is a memoir recounting her trauma, pain, anger and conflicted emotions. The style is choppy, chaotic and raw and certainly will not be a book for everyone but I found the style compelling. It urged me onwards to read.

It's a short book, but full of heavy themes touching on abuse, mental health, suicide, addiction, motherhood. Mailhot also examines sexuality, white male fragility, privilege, poverty, and shame.

Despite the heavy themes, the book drew me in and I think because Mailhot approaches her trauma, pain and shame in a way that doesn't have to focus on all the painful details, it provides a snapshot of emotions, conflicts, and the real rawness of her psyche at the time of writing.

Heart Berries is quite unlike many memoirs I've read, but it's powerful and distinctive and will stay with me for a long time.

Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021, Inferno is Catherine Cho's memoir exploring motherhood and her experience of post-partum psychosis. With raw honesty and emotion she discusses her experience of ending up in an involuntary ward, segregated from her family and her son Cato. She takes to writing down her thoughts to make sense of her emotions, her memories and what she knows to be true.

The memoir is heartbreaking and incredibly revealing about Catherine Cho's experience of psychosis and the impact it had on her and her family. She talks about the difficulties of motherhood and what it means to identify as a mother. How this made her feel and how her psychosis impacted on her relationship with her son, Cato.

Throughout her memoir she draws on her Korean traditions and tales to help the reader understand her experience and her upbringing.

This is not an easy read as Cho also dives back to earlier periods in her life where she was in an abusive relationship. However there were moments of light, particularly as she spoke about her relationship with her husband James. The support and love he gave her and his focus on helping her get well. It was so clear throughout the whole memoir the real bond and love between the pair of them and it really touched me.

This was a beautifully moving and haunting exploration of Cho's experiences of motherhood and post-partum psychosis. To read her experiences of how she felt she has lost her self and memories, and how a chasm had opened up with the people closest to you in your life was so heartbreaking. This is a memoir that will stay with me for a long time and it entirely deserves it's place on the shortlist as I'm pretty blown away.

Dnf - why is every man in this entire series incapable of letting their girlfriend be independent? It's a creepy and archaic attitude. Nope, nope, nope.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a tale of two parts. We have the music editor Sunny who sets out in 2016 to tell the story of the 1970s rockstar duo Opal & Nev. We then have the oral history interviews that take us back to 1970s New York and the emergence of the duo. The narrative revolves largely around the impact on one event on Opal's life and career when she protests against a rival band's use of a confederate flag and the series of events and life long impact this has.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is a fun and atmospheric dive into 1970s New York and the music scene and industry. It's also a critical and condemning narrative of current and past politics and institutionalised racism in the music industry and wider society.

The oral history interviews are exceptional as they come from music producers, fans, family members, fellow artists, journalist interviews and more. It brought the narrative to life and had me considering whether these events were actually real as it all felt so realistic and immersive.

Opal and the music editor Sunny for me were the main draws of the narrative. Their characters really unravelled across the book and we saw the difficulties they faced, their highs and lows and the real strength of these women. Opal was particularly flamboyant in her style and I loved her energy. I didn't always like her choices, but I think Walton used her character to explore some really important issue. Both of these women for me had great spirit and tenacity and (despite the title) they were the central characters in the narrative for me which I really enjoyed.

It was through the characters of Opal and Sunny that Walton really explored institutional racism and how this hampered both women specifically in their careers. Walton tackles some heavy topics in this book as she explores attitudes towards violence against Black individuals and the police's response. She focuses in on the violence of white supremacist and how their actions go unpunished. She also examines the fragility of the white ego and the white man, and how this all interplayed in the environment of the music industry. At no point for me did this feel to heavy to read though.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev kept me drawn in from the beginning and I really enjoyed the pacing of this novel. I know it's been marketed to fans of Daisy Jones and the Six but as I haven't read this I couldn't draw a comparison for you. Overall though I really enjoyed this book, and whilst I wouldn't say it's a favourite book it's definitely worth the read!

Thank you to Quercus for the proof copy, out now.

DNF

Giving up on this book, just couldn't get on board with the characters, especially the MC's love interest dragging her around by her wrist all the time. There is such a thing as holding a hand and it doesn't lessen your masculinity.

Disappointed as I quite enjoyed Suzanne Wright's Feral Sins book and series but this just didn't work for me.

I have no idea how to rate this book. Need to think on this for a while.

"My favourite animal was a white tiger because I was born in the year of the tiger, and because I assumed anything born white must have a better chance at life."

Bestiary interweaves magical realism and fantasy to explore the family history of three Taiwanese women. Grandmother, mother and daughter. K-Ming Chang uses magical realism to connect the trio of unnamed women throughout the narrative, using various beasts and animals, drawing on myths and stories to tell the tale of these women and their origins. She uses the concepts of holes in the ground as a way for the daughter to connect to her roots and heritage as here she finds the stories of her grandmother, mother and aunts.

Bestiary is incredibly imaginative, visceral and queer. It's clever and whilst it initially took a little bit of time and help from looking up other reviews about the book to wrap my head around some of the metaphors, I definitely became absorbed in the power of K-Ming Chang's storytelling.

I really liked the sections about language. The way the girls spoke about being told off for not using plurals because Chinese words don't have plurals. The way the girls spoke about misspelling words to end up with time together. Both an assertion of their connection to the Chinese language and a way to connect to each other. Language and words continue to have a powerful presence in this book. The way Ben spoke about her choice of name really struck me.

"When the teacher asked her why she'd chosen a boy name, she said, I liked Ben because it's already short for something. This way, none of you can abbreviate me further."

There was just so much depth and meaning to K-Ming Chang's words, her metaphors, her magical realism that absorbe me.

It is also a story of love between the Daughter and Ben who explore their love and friendship. How their friendship blossoms, how they learn to explore each others' bodies, and grow together.

I will say there were still elements of the magical realism where I felt some of the meaning eluded me slightly. However this book is clever, absorbing and a beautifully visceral, imaginative and gritty exploration of identities, heritage, relationships and family.

Thanks to the publishers for the gifted copy for review.