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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
I first read this book when I was 12 and now, at 16, I can happily say that it's just as good now as it was back then!! I loved getting to read about the characters and aliens again, and I'm so excited to continue reading
1) Girls of Paper and Fire ★★★★
SapphicAThon: read a book by an author of colour
content warnings: discussions of past sexual assault, trauma related to sexual assault, self-harm (blood magic), violence, death, loss of a loved one, gaslighting, manipulation
representation: entirely Asian cast, Asian lesbian main characters with PTSD, f/f main relationship, mlm Asian main characters, m/m side relationships
SapphicAThon: read a book by an author of colour
content warnings: discussions of past sexual assault, trauma related to sexual assault, self-harm (blood magic), violence, death, loss of a loved one, gaslighting, manipulation
representation: entirely Asian cast, Asian lesbian main characters with PTSD, f/f main relationship, mlm Asian main characters, m/m side relationships
“Wren and I dissolve into each other’s arms, melting into the shadows beneath the eaves, and, slowly, all the other thoughts disappear. Not just thoughts; thought itself. Memory and fear. Every haunted moment of our pasts. We kiss and touch and breathe in unison, and I become a purely sensory thing, inhabiting every inch of my body. I am pleasure and love. I am desire and need. I am Lei and Wren is Wren, the two of us neither Paper Girls nor warriors caught in the last peaceful moments before war, but simply two girls in love and lust.
We are skin and fire. We are quickening heartbeats and liquid pleasure.
And, for a while at least, we are free.”
I hate that it feels like all my reviews lately have started with "I'm conflicted about this book", but goddamn, I'm conflicted about this book. Girls of Paper and Fire, despite being read early in the year, was a highlight of 2019 and I was hoping its sequel would be the same. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful by any means, just underwhelming and nowhere near as spectacular as the first book. A lot of my good feelings toward this book are entirely because I love the first one so much, which is why I've ultimately decided to give it a similar rating.
Without spoiling the first book, Girls of Storm and Shadow follows Lei and Wren after everything that happened and the journey they must go on to seek freedom from both the oppressive society the Demon King has created and the emotional scars he has left.
My biggest knock against this book is that it feels pretty generic in a way the first didn't. Girls of Paper and Fire was an incredible fantasy about a group of diverse, complicated women and their different experiences of all being the concubines of one abusive tyrant told through the eyes of one of them. It was a gentle romance between two women set in stark contrast with the harsh, abusive environment around them. Its worldbuilding wasn't great but its characters were so clearly defined and three-dimensional that I never cared.
Girls of Storm and Shadow, though, leans far more heavily into the fantasy aspects, something which isn't inherently bad, but Natasha Ngan's writing style often feels too modern and it clashes with the world. There are many times when a group of characters will be talking and it feels straight out of a contemporary. That also wouldn't be inherently bad if it were at all consistent, but whenever we're in Lei's head as she thinks about something or describes somewhere the writing transitions to lush prose with words only found in fantasies and historical fiction. It's been too long since I've read Girls of Paper and Fire to remember with complete certainty whether that book had the same issue, but from my memory it had a much more traditional YA high fantasy style of writing that you would find in a Leigh Bardugo or Roshani Chokshi book.
Easily my least favourite thing about this book, though, were the few chapters where we switch to another characters POV. It only happens a few times, each time a different character, and I thought they were utterly useless. Almost all of it was information we could get while staying in Lei's perspective, whether in this book or the next. In general I'm not a giant fan of authors changing perspectives midway through series (hello, Veronica Roth) but this example felt especially useless.
Outside of the general writing style, the plot also just follows similar beats other YA I've read. The beginning feels very similar to Mockingjay; starting in medias res a few weeks after the first book with the protagonist doing something, then returning to their new home where they've become a symbol of a rebellion with a strange nickname. Then, as the main cast of characters begin to embark on a quest it started to remind me of She-Ra season 1 as they appeal to other clans in an attempt to get them to support the rebels. This was easily my favourite section as I am always a sucker for a quest. The third section is the ending of every epic YA fantasy I've ever read, with some characters dying and new, mysterious characters being introduced and several battles taking place, ultimately ending in a cliffhanger.
The first book wasn't the most original thing I'd ever read, but Ngan's decision to set her YA high fantasy novel almost entirely in one place from a perspective we rarely get set it apart from the rest of the pack. And while Girls of Storm and Shadow is still better than most middle entries in trilogies I've read (namely because it actually moves the plot forward unlike most others), it is far less memorable.
I unfortunately also found the main characters we're introduced to pretty forgettable. Don't get me wrong, I liked them all, there are just very few of them who I think I'll remember a week from now. The only ones who made any true impression on me were Nitta and Merrin, and neither hold a candle to most of the other Paper Girls in the first book. The rest I thought were fine, except for Shifu Caen and Lova, both who actively annoyed me. They're meant to be prickly characters, but I found Caen to be so useless throughout most of the book and Lova's function in the plot kind of infuriated me.
You may be reading this review, hearing me talk about almost exclusively negative things, and wonder why I gave it 3.5 stars that I've rounded up to a four. Here's the thing: I still love Lei and Wren so much. They infuriated me a little in this book, but in ways I really enjoyed, and their growing romance gave me so many feelings that I couldn't help but be happy anytime they were together. This feeling lessened as the book went on, but those first 250 or so pages with them was absolutely wonderful.
Asides from that, I do ultimately just enjoy this world despite my many gripes with it. The cliffhanger at the end is predictable but incredibly effective and I'm excited to see how this trilogy is going to conclude.
This book has gotten a surprisingly mixed response so I can't honestly say if you would enjoy it if you liked the first book, but I think that if you at least have a strong affection for Lei and Wren you could definitely get something out of this. And if you still haven't read Girls of Paper and Fire then you definitely should because it's truly fantastic.
sometime in 2019
Update: NEVER MIND, THEY SOMEHOW MADE IT EVEN P R E T T I E R, HOLY SHIT.
Lauren James is a genius. If you haven't heard about An Unauthorised Fan Treatise, it's a serialised story currently online that's inspired by a lot of the MsScribe-esque fandom conspiracy theories/scandals. It follows a blogger as she begins to investigate whether the two male leads on her favourite TV show are secretly in a relationship, but this quickly leads her to discover things she maybe shouldn't.
This story is amazing. It's fascinating to read, especially if you've ever been in a fandom like this one (Supernatural especially), mostly because you've probably seen a situation similar to this, even if it didn't end up going down the dramatic roads this one does. We've seen fans pick apart every social media post from celebrities, speculate wildly about their personal lives, and even do super illegal things just to get closer to them (anyone else remember that time 1D fans hacked airport security cameras to spy on them). Well, I have at least. If you've managed to never be in a fandom that's done all this on a large scale then god bless you because I don't know how you did it.
Other than that, though, James has just written a really compelling mystery. She's using the Internet format to her full advantage, having everything that happens be something that someone is telling you and therefore making it inherently unreliable while also having in-universe commenters who can sway your suspicions one way or another.
I've been reading this story since the second chapter and it's been a wild ride, but god has it been a good one. Would highly recommend checking out, it won't take up too much of your time and it's so worth it.
This story is amazing. It's fascinating to read, especially if you've ever been in a fandom like this one (Supernatural especially), mostly because you've probably seen a situation similar to this, even if it didn't end up going down the dramatic roads this one does. We've seen fans pick apart every social media post from celebrities, speculate wildly about their personal lives, and even do super illegal things just to get closer to them (anyone else remember that time 1D fans hacked airport security cameras to spy on them). Well, I have at least. If you've managed to never be in a fandom that's done all this on a large scale then god bless you because I don't know how you did it.
Other than that, though, James has just written a really compelling mystery. She's using the Internet format to her full advantage, having everything that happens be something that someone is telling you and therefore making it inherently unreliable while also having in-universe commenters who can sway your suspicions one way or another.
I've been reading this story since the second chapter and it's been a wild ride, but god has it been a good one. Would highly recommend checking out, it won't take up too much of your time and it's so worth it.
content warnings: death of a loved one, grief, homophobia, injuries, fire-related life-threatening situations, mentions of child abuse and alcoholism
representation: gay main characters, m/m main relationship, pansexual main character, f/f side relationship
Annabeth Albert’s previous series, Out of Uniform, is easily my favourite erotica series, so to get something else from her, even if it isn’t (explicitly) part of that world, is amazing. Especially when it’s something as good as this.
Burn Zone is the first book of what at this stage seems to be a trilogy about firefighters and their sexy exploits. This one follows Linc, a firefighter who is still grieving the loss of his best friend on the job, and Jacob, the younger brother of said best friend who is finally achieving his dreams of becoming a firefighter. Jacob also used to have a massive crush on Linc that he definitely doesn’t have anymore and which definitely isn’t reciprocated, nope, not at all.
This combines several tropes I love: age gap (nothing too crazy, and don’t worry, Jacob is very much of age in this), dating-the-best-friends-brother, an element of forbidden romance since Linc promised Jacob’s brother he wouldn’t be with him, and, best of all, ‘we’re definitely just fucking, we absolutely DO NOT have feelings for each other’. And Annabeth Albert writes all of these tropes incredibly well, as I knew she would.
The dynamic between Linc and Jacob is goddamn perfection, especially when they start fucking and decide to keep it a secret for other people. But, honestly, all the dynamics are great: them with the other members of their crew, with Jacob’s family, hell, with Linc’s dogs (who get a good amount of page-time, something which I obviously really appreciated). I don’t think it even has to be mentioned but in case you haven’t read any of my reviews for the Out of Uniform series: the sex scenes are amazing. Albert has not lost her touch at all, they’re still some of the best I’ve ever read.
I’m a giant nerd so I also loved how much research obviously went into this book. Albert talks about it in an authors’ note, but even without her mentioning it it’s obvious. The detail given to various practices to do with firefighting make it clear the passion that went into writing/researching this, something which I really appreciate from a book that doesn’t really need to be anything other than sex.
I’m ridiculously excited for the future of this series. The next book is set to follow Garrick (pansexual protagonist, fuck yeah!) and I’m looking forward to both whatever his romance is as well as seeing Linc and Jacob again. If you want some good m/m smut then you really can’t go wrong here (or if, like me, you need to scratch that 9-1-1 itch because Buck and Eddie just won’t get together and it’s kind of killing you).
representation: gay main characters, m/m main relationship, pansexual main character, f/f side relationship
“They did make a good team. Linc flashed back to the weeks of training, building the play set for the kids, and dozens of other memories over the years. They’d always worked well together, an effortless team. Partners. And it was a bond and level of cooperation that went beyond friendship, beyond coworkers. He wasn’t ever going to find this with another soul.”
Annabeth Albert’s previous series, Out of Uniform, is easily my favourite erotica series, so to get something else from her, even if it isn’t (explicitly) part of that world, is amazing. Especially when it’s something as good as this.
Burn Zone is the first book of what at this stage seems to be a trilogy about firefighters and their sexy exploits. This one follows Linc, a firefighter who is still grieving the loss of his best friend on the job, and Jacob, the younger brother of said best friend who is finally achieving his dreams of becoming a firefighter. Jacob also used to have a massive crush on Linc that he definitely doesn’t have anymore and which definitely isn’t reciprocated, nope, not at all.
This combines several tropes I love: age gap (nothing too crazy, and don’t worry, Jacob is very much of age in this), dating-the-best-friends-brother, an element of forbidden romance since Linc promised Jacob’s brother he wouldn’t be with him, and, best of all, ‘we’re definitely just fucking, we absolutely DO NOT have feelings for each other’. And Annabeth Albert writes all of these tropes incredibly well, as I knew she would.
The dynamic between Linc and Jacob is goddamn perfection, especially when they start fucking and decide to keep it a secret for other people. But, honestly, all the dynamics are great: them with the other members of their crew, with Jacob’s family, hell, with Linc’s dogs (who get a good amount of page-time, something which I obviously really appreciated). I don’t think it even has to be mentioned but in case you haven’t read any of my reviews for the Out of Uniform series: the sex scenes are amazing. Albert has not lost her touch at all, they’re still some of the best I’ve ever read.
I’m a giant nerd so I also loved how much research obviously went into this book. Albert talks about it in an authors’ note, but even without her mentioning it it’s obvious. The detail given to various practices to do with firefighting make it clear the passion that went into writing/researching this, something which I really appreciate from a book that doesn’t really need to be anything other than sex.
I’m ridiculously excited for the future of this series. The next book is set to follow Garrick (pansexual protagonist, fuck yeah!) and I’m looking forward to both whatever his romance is as well as seeing Linc and Jacob again. If you want some good m/m smut then you really can’t go wrong here (or if, like me, you need to scratch that 9-1-1 itch because Buck and Eddie just won’t get together and it’s kind of killing you).
I received an ARC of this book for free as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.
content warnings: mild violence
representation: Black protagonist, main mlm wheelchair-user of colour, main interracial m/m relationship, minor Black characters
representation: Black protagonist, main mlm wheelchair-user of colour, main interracial m/m relationship, minor Black characters
“Minette, if you ever get lost, I’ll come and find you! I promise!”
Kay O'Neill is back at it again with the diverse middle grade that's mostly sweet but then hits me with Emotions towards the end. The Tea Dragon Society might be her best known work, and for good reason. I adored this with every fiber of my being, and the fact that this is going to be a series excites me so much.
This short book follows Greta, a blacksmith's apprentice, who befriends Hesekiel, a tea shop owner and member of the practically non-existent Tea Dragon Society. She begins helping him and his partner, Erik, with looking after tea dragons, while also befriending Minette, a girl who left home after failing to become a seer.
Everything about this book is just so sweet. The art is simple but beautiful, the characters not overly complex but extremely well-written, and the smattering of lore we get is perfectly done. I'm sure there'll be at least a minor expansion on the tea dragons and the society in future books, but the little of it we got in this one I thought was just enough. There are a few pages at the end, after the epilogue, that contain short bios for the different types of tea dragons, and I now need one immediately because they're so cute and, as a bonus, I love tea.
Unsurprisingly, from the author who wrote Princess Princess Ever After, there are implications of a future relationship from Greta and Minette, but even if that never happens I'll be okay because their friendship as it is now is already so lovely.
This was the best thing to read during times of self-isolation, so if you haven't picked this up yet and you have the means to, I could not recommend it more highly.
I've been reading this webcomic for close to four years and the fact that it's over has me so emotional. I can't wait to one day own the entire thing and constantly reread it in physical form.
content warnings: suicide, gore, homophobia, age gap relationship (15 year old with adult of unspecified age)
representation: sapphic main character
This was garbage. I don't have any other way to describe it. I'm currently halfway through the TV show this is based on (a fantastic show that I recommend you should watch regardless of your feelings on this) so I figured I would check it out and... wow. I saw the average rating on Goodreads before reading and was shocked at how low it is but now I would contest that it's too high.
This follows fifteen year-old Sydney, an average teenage girl with lots of problems: her dad semi-recently killed himself, she's in love with her (female) best friend, and she has telekinetic powers. A somewhat generic premise at this point but one that can still be written well (see: the TV show).
I haven't read anything else Charles Forsman has written, and this didn't exactly make me want to rectify that.
1. I've read so many books written by men with female main characters that were incredible. This isn't one of them. It's painfully obvious from page one that Charles Forsman is a dude in his thirties trying to write like a teenage girl, and I mean that in the worst way possible. There's this thing that male writers do when badly writing women, especially young women, that often comes across as fetishistic and makes it obvious that everything they know about writing women has come from other male writers.
2. Sydney may as well not have powers. Aside from the shocking ending, they serve no plot function and don't even make for a decent metaphor because they're inserted so infrequently. This is one of the many things the show does far better. Sydney's powers are a constant in the show, and a lot of the plot is about her failing to keep them in check.
3. There's literally no plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but if you're going to have no plot then you have to create investment in the characters, something this absolutely does not do. Sydney is painfully generic and often extremely unlikable, and no other character features long enough for you to latch onto. Having no plot is also no excuse for having such fucking terrible pacing.
4. I'm not going to go into it too much but the portrayal of suicide in this was so unbelievably shitty.
5. Without spoilers, the ending is absolute trash. It's only there to shock you and create some forced symmetry with something that happened earlier. As I said, I still haven't finished the TV show but god I hope they change the ending because otherwise... woof.
This was just so terrible. Don't read this, just go ahead and watch the show if the premise intrigues you, I promise you'll have a better time.
representation: sapphic main character
This was garbage. I don't have any other way to describe it. I'm currently halfway through the TV show this is based on (a fantastic show that I recommend you should watch regardless of your feelings on this) so I figured I would check it out and... wow. I saw the average rating on Goodreads before reading and was shocked at how low it is but now I would contest that it's too high.
This follows fifteen year-old Sydney, an average teenage girl with lots of problems: her dad semi-recently killed himself, she's in love with her (female) best friend, and she has telekinetic powers. A somewhat generic premise at this point but one that can still be written well (see: the TV show).
I haven't read anything else Charles Forsman has written, and this didn't exactly make me want to rectify that.
1. I've read so many books written by men with female main characters that were incredible. This isn't one of them. It's painfully obvious from page one that Charles Forsman is a dude in his thirties trying to write like a teenage girl, and I mean that in the worst way possible. There's this thing that male writers do when badly writing women, especially young women, that often comes across as fetishistic and makes it obvious that everything they know about writing women has come from other male writers.
2. Sydney may as well not have powers. Aside from the shocking ending, they serve no plot function and don't even make for a decent metaphor because they're inserted so infrequently. This is one of the many things the show does far better. Sydney's powers are a constant in the show, and a lot of the plot is about her failing to keep them in check.
3. There's literally no plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but if you're going to have no plot then you have to create investment in the characters, something this absolutely does not do. Sydney is painfully generic and often extremely unlikable, and no other character features long enough for you to latch onto. Having no plot is also no excuse for having such fucking terrible pacing.
4. I'm not going to go into it too much but the portrayal of suicide in this was so unbelievably shitty.
5. Without spoilers, the ending is absolute trash. It's only there to shock you and create some forced symmetry with something that happened earlier. As I said, I still haven't finished the TV show but god I hope they change the ending because otherwise... woof.
This was just so terrible. Don't read this, just go ahead and watch the show if the premise intrigues you, I promise you'll have a better time.
I'm so glad I pre-ordered this new favourite graphic novel of mine! This is middle grade (my personal favourite age range) and is about four teenage girls who are sick of the shame surrounding menstruation and the specific injustices in their school community, so they decide to do something about it.
Everything about this was wonderful. It's incredibly simplistic, as tends to be the way with middle grade, but I think that worked perfectly for the story. It's a personal one of the experiences these four girls have with their periods, but it still brushes up against the worldwide issue of periods being something seen as shameful that shouldn't be talked about, even if talking would help the person experiencing the period.
Aside from everything to do with menstruation, the individual plots of the girls were also so sweet. Sasha starts dating a boy in her class and Christine deals with having feelings for Abby. Speaking of, the diversity in this was also really nice. Christine never labels herself but is definitely sapphic, I would guess probably a lesbian, and two of the girls are women of colour. There are also discussions on the fact that women aren't the only people who get periods, as well as the fact that some women don't get periods.
Despite being fairly simplistic, this book does touch on some darker things to do with menstruation. There's one really heartbreaking scene between Brit and Sasha where Brit, who gets periods that normally last about two weeks and give her such bad cramps she'll miss school for days at a time, questions whether she can have children. The scene ends up being a sweet one between two friends, but there is the underlying thread throughout the book that periods can be horrible.
The art is also phenomenal. The colours are all different shades of red, something which I think is secretly genius, but every character still looks distinct even with the similar colour schemes. The four main girls are also complete cuties, and I would love to see this adapted as an animated film.
This was exactly what I needed. A group of baby feminists fighting the partiarchy and demanding that the bathrooms in their school stock pads and tampons like they promise. It's fun, light, but not devoid of seriousness, and should honestly be required reading for younger teens. So glad this came on my radar!
Everything about this was wonderful. It's incredibly simplistic, as tends to be the way with middle grade, but I think that worked perfectly for the story. It's a personal one of the experiences these four girls have with their periods, but it still brushes up against the worldwide issue of periods being something seen as shameful that shouldn't be talked about, even if talking would help the person experiencing the period.
Aside from everything to do with menstruation, the individual plots of the girls were also so sweet. Sasha starts dating a boy in her class and Christine deals with having feelings for Abby. Speaking of, the diversity in this was also really nice. Christine never labels herself but is definitely sapphic, I would guess probably a lesbian, and two of the girls are women of colour. There are also discussions on the fact that women aren't the only people who get periods, as well as the fact that some women don't get periods.
Despite being fairly simplistic, this book does touch on some darker things to do with menstruation. There's one really heartbreaking scene between Brit and Sasha where Brit, who gets periods that normally last about two weeks and give her such bad cramps she'll miss school for days at a time, questions whether she can have children. The scene ends up being a sweet one between two friends, but there is the underlying thread throughout the book that periods can be horrible.
The art is also phenomenal. The colours are all different shades of red, something which I think is secretly genius, but every character still looks distinct even with the similar colour schemes. The four main girls are also complete cuties, and I would love to see this adapted as an animated film.
This was exactly what I needed. A group of baby feminists fighting the partiarchy and demanding that the bathrooms in their school stock pads and tampons like they promise. It's fun, light, but not devoid of seriousness, and should honestly be required reading for younger teens. So glad this came on my radar!
Some people sleep on their back, some people sleep on their side, some people sleep on adorable middle grade sapphic cooking competition graphic novels. Glad that's not me!