Peter Darling is a staple for trans books recommendations. It is a trans Peter Pan retelling, where Peter Pan is Wendy Darling the real version of himself that his family does not allow. 

 

I fell in love with the writing first. It wasn’t lyrical or ground breaking. It is just good. You are pulled instantly into the story. You feel like you are in a classic Peter Pan story. About half way in the book I started craving a bit more substance. But the author, Austin Chant, did not disappoint. Honestly, I felt a little blind sighted by the shift, even though I craved it. I had to take a breath and realize how many of my own emotions as a trans non-binary person I was brining into the book. 

 

So, a quick break for trigger warnings. This book talks about trans identity, transphobia, homophobia, lack of family acceptance, and sexual content. It can be emotional for someone who is still working through their own identity. Honestly, it can be emotional for someone who already knows their identity. But it is so refreshing to see these topics talked about in books. 

 

The irony of all of this is that first and foremost this is a Peter Pan retelling, more so then it is a trans book. I mean that to say that yes Peter Pan being Trans is an important part of his identity and an important part of the book but it isn’t the book. There is so much depth to this story, especially once you hit the second half of the book. I adore Chant's version of Neverland.

 

This book is also about acceptance and loving yourself. It is about grieving and taking a chance. It is a romance, that even had me invested. I adore this book because it spoke to my soul, as corny as that sounds. 

 

My one big complaint. . . the size of the paperback version. How am I going to display this on my shelves without it driving me nuts?

I always feel the need to preface a romance review with the fact that I am aromantic. I really enjoy the friendship aspect of romance books (if there is any) and then it goes down hill for me once they start hooking up. The Mistletoe Motive is no exception. 

 

I picked up this book because it is a holiday themed read about an Autistic main character is demisexual. For that aspect I loved it. The autism representation was on point for me. It was an important aspect of her identity and how she navigates the world, but not the story. It was the same as her demisexual identity. 

 

The novella was well written. It was nothing fancy, but not bad. The characters were well developed and very flushed out. The love interest, Johnathan, has type one diabetes that again impacted his life, but was not the story. 

 

The plot was one big cliche after another. It didn’t contain every romance troupe, because it was only a five and a half hour audiobook. It did contain a lot of them. Beyond the representation there really isn’t anything new here. Since I read this for the representation I was perfectly good with that. So, I guess know why you want to read it before reading it. 

 

For me, personally, the majority of the book was a fun lighthearted, holiday themed, read that I wanted it to be. The last few chapters were graphic sex scenes and over the top romance. I finished it, but I could have just as well done without them. To be fair, they are probably a romantics favorite part.

Autonomous is a science fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. This book should be a modern day classic and I do not understand why it hasn’t had more attention. 

The story has two main plot points. The first is Jack, a pharmaceutical pirate who picks up an indentured servant. The second is between a government agent and his bot partner. Within these two main storylines there are side stories. There are also a lot of political commentary.

One of the main themes of Autonomous is corporate greed, and how power and money can override decency. When everything is a commodity then people easily become part of everything.

There is also commentary on big pharma. Specifically, how pills have become so much of our lives, but then how only the rich can afford them. Jack finds horrible injustice in this and she wants to fight back.

But there is also a theme of gender identity and sexuality. One of the main characters is a bot named Paladin. Paladin does not experience gender in the same way as others, but humans need to slap this label to feel comfortable. You could write a whole thesis on the topic.

The book is not perfect. There are a few glaring inconsistencies, although miner they stood out. Newitz uses language as a tool. It is fascinating, but when it falls flat it is that much more apparent. There were also parts I wish we got more of.

If you enjoy science fiction then you should read this. This book is both classic and unique. It is one I will not soon forget.

The Keeper of Night is a dark young adult fantasy about collectors of death. The main character is Ren who is half Japanese and half British. She is also the offspring of two death collectors. Each has their own tradition and gods. Ren was raised by her father in England to be a reaper. Yet, her mixed nationality leaves her an outsider.

The Keeper of the Night is not a stylistic young adult book. I appreciated the unique narrative plot. There is a struggle of identity being biracial that a lot of youths will be able to relate to. I also loved how Baker incorporated different traditions into the world of soul collecting. 

However, the MC is not likable. I did not even like her as an unlikable character. The book is meant to be dark, but it is also ya. There are some gross murder scenes. There is also a non graphic sex scene that is very violent. The MC are also in their hundreds, but with long life spans they are still young. I would suggest it is better off being considered an adult book except the story structure is very ya.

My feelings for this book are complex. I enjoyed its uniqueness, the writing, and the focus on identity. Yet, so much was left unaddressed and I am unsettled that a ya book includes a scene where someone is being choked and scratched for pleasure.

 

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Game series. It is a book that most everyone has either read or watched the movie adaptation of. 

It is a great book. It maybe falls just shy as of the brilliance of the first book, but not by much. Katness is such an interesting narrator. The way she sees the world is so concrete, even though she wouldn’t probably describe it that way. She is so hard on herself, even while she is self sacrificing at every turn.

The plot was interesting. There was a lot more fit into the pages then in the first book. Since the world itself opened up in this book there was a lot more world building in the first part of the book. Most of it was presented as info dumping. However, it was usually short blocks when needed. Occasionally, it was longer. Even then it worked. 

Since the book is in first person it impacted the narration style. For example, there were a lot of sentences that started with “and” or “but.” I am talking a lot - but people speak/think that way so it made the narration for natural. 

I really liked how Collins is able to create such visible characters and scenes. It is no wonder why it adapted so well and authentically to movies.

Seriously, if you haven’t read this series then I strongly suggest you do. 

Helen Hoang is an amazing writer who writes romance books. The Heart Principle is the third book in a series following members of the same family. In this book we see Quan, cousin and best friend of Michael as well as brother of Khai.

I have a lot to say about this book, so I am just going to briefly touch on the great characterization that is Hoang’s trademark. The plot and writing are even better in this third book then the first two. There is sex but also relationship building. It is an overall amazing book.

The Heart Principal is a romance book, so it is not fair to put on it the expectation of educating readers. Yet the main characters are autistic. Autistic adults! Autistic adults that are often women! Autistic adults shown as capable of falling in love and having meaningful relationships. Do you have any idea how big of a deal this is? If you belong to an underrepresented group then you probably do.

So often in the reviews of these book the idea of the main characters being autistic is a brief blimp, or worse never even mentioned. Every time that happens I grow a bit smaller. Because while us autistic people are just that…people…we often are not treated as such. As our other main character, Anna, so excellently shows we have to hide who we are everywhere except our own houses, and sometimes even then. But now we can see ourselves in books, and others can see us too.

I am not romantic. The relationships in this book was a bit too easy and coincidental, but isn’t that what romance books do? With that being said, I loved this book so freaking much.

The Witch’s heart is a Greek retelling about Angrboda, Loki’s first wife. It is a story that takes place removed from the primary action of Greek mythology. There are long periods of inaction, which sounds boring. Yet, while the story was not exactly action packed, it also was very entertaining. 

I listened to this book via audiobook. The narration was fine. I tend to like my audiobook narrator to blend into the background. Jayne Entwistle, the narrator, was a bit more distinctive. It actually is probably a happy balance between those who, like me, are fine with text to speech narration and those who prefer a more dramatic narrator.

In all honesty, as much as I continue to read mythology retellings they aren’t actually my thing. But, The Witch’s Heart is an excellently written book with solid character. The plot is slow, but it is well done. If you like mythology retellings then this is probably a book you will fall in love with. Personally, I am glad that I listened to it. It was a great tale.

Note: I am aromantic and do not read a lot of romance. When I do, I do not read for the romance. This is not a criticism of the book which is suppose to be romantic. It is, however, my experience with the book. 

 

Wrapped Up In You is a novella by Talia Hibbert. It is a Kobo exclusive that I picked up last year. I decided to read it this month because I wanted something festive and Christmas themed books tend to be romance. However, after reading I would not classify this as a Christmas story. I would say it is more a traditional story that happens to take place during Christmas. It is more a scene set up than anything. 

 

Genre writing can get a bad wrap (pun intended), especially romance writers. Hibbert is amazing. I learned a lot reading this book. She was able to convey so much in just three words, or a well crafted sentence. It was pretty amazing to read. If I go on to read more of her books it will be due to the writing. 

 

The plot was fine. I enjoyed the long time friendship aspect. It made the whole romance in so few pages believable. There was conflict and confusion, but not enough to question if the relationship was toxic. The book was mostly a sweet and wholesome friendship. I personally enjoyed the friendship aspect. The romance conflict I did not enjoy as much. I mean it was good for what it was suppose to be, but I missed the other aspect. There is one mildly steamy scene near the end. 

 

The characters were interesting. I especially enjoyed how a character shifted depending on the POV. This naturally should be the case, others see is differently than we see ourselves, but it was masterfully done. That being said, I didn’t like Will all that much from his perspective and I didn’t enjoy Abbie from Will’s perspective. She just seemed so stereotypically female instead of the complex being we got from her own perspective. 

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee is a dark, gothic young adult book set in a high school boarding house.

The book is strongly character based, with most of the plot only being moved along due to the characters. The start of the book was slow. It was an attempt to set the gothic scene and build up tension. It also went on too long. There were other parts of the book where it stalled, but not for long. The last part of the book had me hooked. I stayed up late into the night to finish.

The main character, Felicity, is an unreliable narrator due to her own mental illness. It was fascinating how this was done, and how it was built into the main character herself. However, mental illness is real and not just a plot device. It felt like that could have been respected more. Also, the med rep is horrible in the book, and it didn’t have to be.

There were a few inconsistencies and a few unbelievable things. It was hard to know if they were due to the narration or writing. I think it was a bit of both. The two biggest to me - antidepressants do not stop hallucinations. Also, Felicity dug a large hole six feet in the ground during winter in three hours. Not possible.

There is LGBTQ+ rep with F/F relationship and a Non-Binary side character that I wanted more of.

Overall, the book was haunting and will stay with me. I appreciated the writing and also felt more could have been done for accuracy. The strength of this novel is the characters. 

I have workplace based PTSD and this book was triggering. The workplace was so toxic and I know that is the point, but the anxiety it produced was too much for me to continue. Don’t let it stop you from picking this up though!!