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439 reviews by:
mirichasha
This book was stayed-up-all-night-to-finish-it-good and I’ll say more when it’s not 7:37am after no sleep
Wow wow wow wow wow this book was utterly and absurdly ridiculous and I loved it so much. I called one of the twists in the first book but the authors did it so well! I loved how playful this book was with time and story and myth and the fourth wall (what is that even called in a book?) and the just utter and completely normalized queerness that permeates everything, seeping through centuries. And the found family of it all in such a cool way.
I went in expecting more of a romance novel than this ended up being, which might just be the way I saw people talking about it. It was actually much more of a coming-into-yourself-and-finding-your-voice story, as well as a coming out story. It was good, the characters were just complex enough, with a few twists and moments of character development all around. The romance is there, but it's definitely not the center of the story, and is more important as it plays into Nishat's coming out story than as its own thing. In that way, it actually reads more true to life. This is a good book, it just didn't completely blow me away, but that's fine! I would have loved to read this book as a teen.
Read it online. It's so sweeeeeet. Literally, I love that Bittle has like, magic pie abilities. How dare you make me learn about sports
This was super sweet even as it was kind of like a fantasy? It took me a while to buy into Bittle and Jack's relationship, partially because we did miss the beginning of it but I ended up really liking the dynamics and how their families play into it, and the two teams. I read it online, not as a book.
4.5 stars
I have never read a book like this before. I mean that in a lot of ways - I haven't read horror books, but I'm also not sure if I've read this kind of historical fiction before, with so many layers and timelines, or if I've read a book that so thoroughly queers said historical fiction throughout. I listened to the audiobook, and therefore was not flipping back and forth to double check facts or to compare timelines with each other, wasn't really trying to sleuth out the book. I loved the feeling of not really knowing what was happening, how real any of the haunting was, who was behind the original haunting, how all the timelines played into each other. I didn't realize that Mary MacLane was real, that's fascinating.I'm a little disappointed that even after finishing the book, I still kind of don't. This isn't the kind of book with a clean resolution, a resound "aha!!! mystery solved!" moment (although there was a bit of it with Addie). Instead, it leaves you and the characters in a hopeful place, but with the lurking threat remaining, still uncertain of how long it will last, or how safe they will stay. In the end, it's also unclear who the narrator is. I'm leaning towards it being Merritt, in a later book.
I have never read a book like this before. I mean that in a lot of ways - I haven't read horror books, but I'm also not sure if I've read this kind of historical fiction before, with so many layers and timelines, or if I've read a book that so thoroughly queers said historical fiction throughout. I listened to the audiobook, and therefore was not flipping back and forth to double check facts or to compare timelines with each other, wasn't really trying to sleuth out the book. I loved the feeling of not really knowing what was happening, how real any of the haunting was, who was behind the original haunting, how all the timelines played into each other. I didn't realize that Mary MacLane was real, that's fascinating.
4.5 stars maybe? I really really liked this book but it was missing some more filling out of the characters.
This book, and specifically the fantasy element of the reveries, was like, very much the kind of thing I was thinking about as a high schooler desperate for escapism, constantly thinking about ways in which I didn't feel like I belonged around the people I knew, ways in which I was hyperaware of how my same identities that I was relatively safe in could be unsafe if I had been in different circumstances. I love the romance, even though I also wanted their relationship fleshed out a bit more, but because they had been together before but Kane had forgotten I give that more of a pass, and it certainly made for an interesting dynamic. I did not see some of the twists coming, and I audibly gasped at times. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and will need to wait and see if 1. I want to reread it and 2. what I think about it when I do to see if this ends up on my forever faves list. But it's a possibility. It was just so beautifully queer from the inside out, and the author says he was inspired to write this book because of queer revenge. I love that, and I feel that within the book, pulsing. I needed it.
Also, if you like Alex and Willie from Julie and the Phantoms, you will be drawn to the romance in this book, and to the love interest's story in general (not naming him in case it's a spoiler because it's a little slow at first).
This book, and specifically the fantasy element of the reveries, was like, very much the kind of thing I was thinking about as a high schooler desperate for escapism, constantly thinking about ways in which I didn't feel like I belonged around the people I knew, ways in which I was hyperaware of how my same identities that I was relatively safe in could be unsafe if I had been in different circumstances. I love the romance, even though I also wanted their relationship fleshed out a bit more, but because they had been together before but Kane had forgotten I give that more of a pass, and it certainly made for an interesting dynamic. I did not see some of the twists coming, and I audibly gasped at times. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and will need to wait and see if 1. I want to reread it and 2. what I think about it when I do to see if this ends up on my forever faves list. But it's a possibility. It was just so beautifully queer from the inside out, and the author says he was inspired to write this book because of queer revenge. I love that, and I feel that within the book, pulsing. I needed it.
Also, if you like Alex and Willie from Julie and the Phantoms, you will be drawn to the romance in this book, and to the love interest's story in general (not naming him in case it's a spoiler because it's a little slow at first).