Ready Player One took me a long time to finally finish, mostly because I was listening to it as an audiobook which always takes me far longer. I really struggle to get into audiobooks the same way I do normal books and I've been really busy with starting a new job for the last month so I've not read anything sadly. However, once I got into this I actually really started to enjoy this one and surprised myself. The first 20-30% really annoyed me with all the explanations about computers, technology, 80s music, films and games which a lot of I know about. However, once the storyline took off I really got into it and was routing for the friendships, everyone except the sixers.

Ready Player One is actually a very refreshing book because it is creative in its approach to science-fiction, it was very relevant to my interests and there was a good balance of humour, sadness and excitement.

Overall I really enjoyed this read more than I thought I would.

Fun, flirty easy reading.
Lots to like about this book. Sad I've finished with all the mercury pack books now.

Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band was not my traditional sort of book as I don't often read about rock bands, but I do enjoy graphic novels that depict true stories and history. Redbone was a great book that told both the story of the band Redbone and the story of the persecution and plight of Native Americans. The narrative seamlessly interwove the story of the band and the key moments in Native American protest. I have to admit I knew very little about the band, except for having heard their hit on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, and I also realised I know very little about Native American history.

Although I liked the art style, I did think that the graphic novel could have had slightly more structure as there were no storyboard section with boxes and outlines. The whole page was a free art style and there weren't always text bubbles, just free text. I think this would have provided slightly more guidance on which sections to read first as it wasn't always intuitive. However, the art style switches between the book worked really well to show the changes from the band's story to moments of history, and some of the history sections had more structure.

The one area that I really liked about the graphic novel was the snippets of history. I realise how little I know about the Native American plight. I knew about the occupation of Alcatraz 1969 - 1971, but I didn't know about the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. This followed the death of Wesley which resulted in police brutality and riots because there was no justice for Wesley. The result was Native Americans occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days. At the time they gained support from actor Marlon Brando who sent actress Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse his Oscar for The Godfather and speak out about the Lakota's plight. Jane Fonda, Johnny Cash and Angela Davis all supported their efforts. This was an event in American history I'd never learnt about or heard. In fact, the only reason I knew about the occupation of Alcatraz was because of my visit there a few summers ago. It made me realise how much Native American history is erased from the general history of America and how much I have to learn. So I thought this was cleverly done and I think important to the band's values as they became invested in the plight of their people and the protests such as Wounded Knee.

The story of the band itself was cleverly told (although I was probably less invested in this). The narrative followed Pat Vegas recounting to his children the various points of his life, the fame the band achieved, the success and the tours as well as the relationships within the band and the eventual breakdown of their success and group. It was interesting to see how Pat and Lolly Vegas the initial brothers and founding members had to change their names from Vasquez to Vegas to be more appealing to a white audience. The graphic novel really demonstrated the conflict of identity the brothers had until they finally decided to form a band with Peter DePoe and Tony Bellamy. They formed the band as a Native American rock band and it was that we see how they really became invested in retaining their cultural identities.

Overall, I really enjoyed the graphic novel. I learnt a lot about the band and the Native American plight and although I think the graphic novel structure could do with some tweaks, I did still really enjoy it.

I was provided an eArc through NetGalley in exchange for my review.

The book starts out with the murder of a young black girl, Rhoda Taylor, which is relatively ignored by the media until it turns out she's a siren. Sirens are young black girls who are persecuted and considered dangerous. The media begins to turn on the young murdered girl, Rhoda Taylor, and the world starts to question whether it can actually be murder if it's a siren being killed. The story follows two sisters, Tavia and Effie. Tavia is a siren and lives in fear of being found out. Her father has taught her and pressured her to hide herself and to live in fear of her abilities. Her sister Effie appears relatively normal at first glance, but her life begins to spiral out of control as the book goes on. She also likes to dress up as a mermaid for a renaissance faire show.
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This book is about the relationship and the bond between the two sisters (they're not biological sisters) and how they navigate the trials and tribulations of race, high-school and the magic in the world around them. I thought the book had an incredibly nuanced take on its approach to siren persecution and the connection with race. It touched on police brutality, media cover ups, protests and the gassing of protestors, and the persecution of minorities. This book felt incredibly relevant to the moment.
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The magical realism element was good, but I did think it could have been better. I felt the world building and back story behind what a siren, a eloko, a gargoyle and a sprite all were was lacking. However, I think it was a clever technique to use the magical realism and different creatures to create hierarchies and show how these divisions created persecutions within communities.
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Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was incredibly powerful and relevant and so many young black people would be able to identify with the themes, the fears and the discussions in this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for the eArc. The book was published yesterday, so do check it out!

4.5 Stars Rounded Up

Boyfriend Material was a book I expected to enjoy, but not love as nearly as much as I did. This book was incredibly cute and I really loved that. It has a very standard romance trope at the centre of fake relationship blossoming into real feelings, which I seem to love and it really worked for Luc and Oliver.

Luc is the son of famous rock-star parents, only one of them, his dad abandoned him 25 years ago for a life of rock-and-rock, drugs, and alcohol. His dad is forever in the newspaper, but unfortunately that also means Luc is also too often caught up in the tabloid gossip as journalists seek an extra scoop on the son of a celebrity. This has left Luc a little bitter and a little anxious about his actions, people's intentions and particularly his love life. He's very much in need of some help and support at the beginning of this book and he really stole my heart from the beginning. Then you have Oliver, who for all intents and purposes has his life set with a house, a good job as a barrister and a good upbringing. He initially comes across as frosty and a little pompous and seemingly entirely opposite to Luc.
The crux of the story is that despite the fact they have nothing in common, they both need a relationship for one reason or another. From there we see a different side to them both and we see that Oliver is so damn cute, his looking out for Luc, his cooking, his thoughtfulness and consideration. I absolutely adored the dynamic that grew between Luc and Oliver. The humour, the fondness and emotions and it just made me all warm and happy inside. There was a good balance between angst, humour, romance and general plot for me to really enjoy this book.

The other aspect that I really loved was that this book was set in London. I so often feel that a lot of romances I read are American based, which is fine, but I just love the Britishness so much more.

Overall, this was fun, cute and I would definitely re-read as a great standalone romantic read in the future as this was so honestly delightful on all levels.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC. This book is out 7th July 2020.

Olive - Emma Gannon - 3.5 Stars

Olive focuses on Olive, a 33 year old journalist who writes for a feminist magazine and has decided she doesn't want children. The book explores friendship, womanhood, mental health, being child-free by choice, motherhood and relationships. It's very femimist and very relatable. The four main women are nuanced, complex and realistic in their dramas, emotions and range of life complexities. They are not always necessarily likeable or rationale but they offer real insight into the trials and tribulations of women going through various problems in their life.

Initially I really struggled with this book and I think it was because of the emotions and thoughts around the idea of being a child free woman as I think it's an emotionally complex area. I do think it's really fantastic that Emma Gannon wrote this book on a subject that's so often see as taboo. It's also a really affirming book for women who have that viewpoint or for women who haven't yet decided. And I think the way Gannon handled the subject was with real care and sensitivity to the range of viewpoints on the subject.

I also really came to love Emma Gannon's subtle focus on mental health and how she showcased the grass is not always greener on the other side. She did this by exploring how friendships can splinter apart at times and our own insecurities can fuel the gaps that come between friends. This is as we consider our friends more accomplished, more put together or further along in their lives. We too often compare ourselves to others when what we see on the surface is not necessarily what is happening in people's everyday lives. I loved the focus on female friendship in this book and although it was pretty tumultuous at times, the strength that came through across the book and the realness really sold me.

I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did by the end. The second half was definitely stronger, and I did feel that in places some of the dialogue and relationships felt a bit rushed. Overall though I enjoyed this really feminist debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc.

"I came here to survive and to do better.
I didn't choose to come here, I had no other option. I lived in poverty, I was physically abused.
I want the US president to see we are not doing anything bad.
It's exciting to know other people will read my story, maybe I will persuade and inspire others to have another view.
Things are possible if you work hard, we are not alone.
I believe telling ones story is a way to healing. Sharing my own story has changed my life."

This book broke my heart. These are the words from one young refugee woman who is incredibly inspiring for the success she has now achieved in her life after overcoming great adversity to get there. However, as her words highlight the reason for her journey is because her basic human rights were being infringed upon, it was not a desire but a necessity.

Solito Solita serves as an important compilation of oral stories from youth refugees coming to the US. The editors highlight the difficulties in obtaining these stories and the difficulties in identifying who they could chat with. At the beginning they identify that the refugees who shared their experiences were all over the age of 18, but made the journey as a migrant when they were a child. They also interviewed young mothers making the journey. In order to not harm the work legal aid volunteers were doing in migrant detention centres they worked with legal aids and narrators in order to hear and share the stories of those in this book.

These stories are not easy in places as many of the refugees spoke about abuse, poverty, violence, horrible treks to reach the US, hunger, thirst and being victims to those that take advantage of their need to escape their home in Central America/Mexico. Having said that the voices of the young refugees shine bright as their bravery and resilience comes through to offer hope for a better future. Now more than ever, the voices of refugees and migrants and their stories are so so important.

Love in Colour is a collection of short stories that focus on themes of love and romance which made it a heart-warming read. The stories draw on mythology and folklore, with the focus being West African mythology, but also snippets of Greek, Middle Eastern and other stories from around the world. Many of these tales were brought into modern day settings which I really enjoyed.

Each story centred predominantly on the narrative of the woman within each story which I loved. Bolu Babalola made a point of saying in her acknowledgements how many of these original folklore tales were patriarchal and misogynistic and she aimed to return the agency and focus to the women without striping away the essence of the stories.

Some personal favourites include Nefertiti's story; she ran an exclusive club that was staffed and protected by women loyal to Nefertiti. There was almost a female mafia vibe to this. Except Nefertiti hunted down and meted out justice to the bad people of the world; like husband's who abused their wives. However, she was wanted by the law and the police had sent in a female operative to seduce her at the club.

The story of Psyche and Eros. They both worked for the company Olympus and Psysche was trying to get out from under her ruthless boss, Eros' sister. This was a tale of modern day business, romance and Greek mythology and made for an interesting mix.

I also loved Naleli and Khosi's story which was inspired from a tale entitled 'How Khosi Chose His Wife' (Lesotho origins). In Naleli's story, she perceived herself as an outsider and judged for her skin condition so she pushed away her childhood friend Khosi. She considered herself undesirable and laughed at by his friends. I enjoyed the turn of events and empowerment she came to feel for herself.

In all honesty the majority of these stories could have been my favourites as the women who were at the forefront of these stories were so interesting and inspiring in how they came to take control of their lives. Siya, Yaa and Orin were other favourites that featured in this collection.

Overall I was really enjoyed this collection as each romance was so unique and refreshing. Thanks to NetGalley and Headline books for the review copy.

Badly Behaved Women is a history of modern feminism focusing predominantly on the UK/USA starting with the suffragettes in 1910, covering second and third wave feminism, intersectionality, feminist art, sport, the 2017 Women's March, and the rise of fourth wave feminism.

This book feels inspiring as we see what changes have been made and the power and voices of so many amazing womxn. However in some ways it was also unsettling to see that it was within my parents lifetime when womxn were expected to be stay at home wives, couldn't have an abortion, didn't have access to the contraceptive pill (in the UK, as there are still many women that do not have these freedoms).

Anne-Marie Crowhurst makes an effort to ensure her history is intersectional as she examines how black womxn have been excluded at various points throughout history. How LGBTQ+ communities were often exiled from the feminist communities and this started the radical lesbian feminist groups. She looks at fatphobia and body positivity. She had contributions from contemporary women from across the globe and differently abled women. I would have liked to have seen more explicit inclusion of the voices of Indigenous women and Muslim women specifically. However I think based on the scope and bresdth of the book the work manages to offer a lot.

The cultural and historical moments predominantly focus on the UK/USA, although global timelines for things like women's suffrage and abortion laws do cover the globe. There are also numerous contributions from contemporary womxn globally throughout the book which I really enjoyed.

The pictures and sources (various adverts, posters, documents) that were included in this book were well placed and referenced and I think really helped to support Crowhurst project. They also bring to life the feminist history and the story of womxn which I really loved.

I think this is an incredibly inspiring and well put together history of feminism that is accessible for all, adults and children. Those that love history and feminism will particularly love this work!

Thank you so much to @welbeckpublish for my review copy as I absolutely adored this book.