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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
content warnings: death, murder, loss of a parent, suicide, torture, misogynistic, racist, transphobic, homophobic and ableist language, manipulation, threatening, gore, body horror
representation: cherokee side character, queer side character, jewish side characters
“None of it was my fault! None of it was my fault; they brought it on themselves, and I won’t take the blame, and I won’t kill myself! Do you hear me! Do you?”
This is a Stephen King book that I had heard absolutely nothing about until myreadingisodd did her Stephen King 2018 wrap-up. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked it up but it was nearly 70% off in an edition I liked at a bookshop near me so I figured why the hell not. And it's a damn shame that I had never heard of this because it was fantastic!
The book follows a man Andy and his young daughter, Charlie, who are on the run from a government agency known as the Shop. The Shop is after them because back when Andy was in college, he, a woman who would later become his wife, and ten others students were involved in a weird experiment in which they were given hallucinogenic drugs which ended up giving them telekinetic-like powers. Powers that were then passed onto their daughter, as well as pyrokinesis.
For the record, I've only read one other Stephen King book, Misery, but as much as I loved that one this is by far my favourite. It's a decent length - my copy was 566 pages - but literally not a single page feels wasted.
There are so many great elements in this book - King's writing, the tension, the fast-paced plot, the action scenes - but by far the greatest strength is the relationship between Andy and Charlie. They've only had each other for a year by the time the book starts, and it shows. Both would do anything to protect the other, no matter how morally bankrupt, and they do just that. But there are also quieter sweet moments, such as towards the start of the book when Charlie's woken up and smiles at her dad who has stolen the covers, the one selfish thing he ever does.
The characters as a whole are really great, to be honest. The many people working at the Shop are threatening in their own ways; Rainbird, the manipulative 'Nam soldier who wants to murder Charlie to see the light go out of her eyes; Cap, the man overseeing the operation who really just wants this all to end; various scientists who want to pull Charlie apart to see what makes her tick.
I really wish more people knew about this book because it's a fantastic thriller with sci-fi elements.
representation: cherokee side character, queer side character, jewish side characters
“None of it was my fault! None of it was my fault; they brought it on themselves, and I won’t take the blame, and I won’t kill myself! Do you hear me! Do you?”
This is a Stephen King book that I had heard absolutely nothing about until myreadingisodd did her Stephen King 2018 wrap-up. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked it up but it was nearly 70% off in an edition I liked at a bookshop near me so I figured why the hell not. And it's a damn shame that I had never heard of this because it was fantastic!
The book follows a man Andy and his young daughter, Charlie, who are on the run from a government agency known as the Shop. The Shop is after them because back when Andy was in college, he, a woman who would later become his wife, and ten others students were involved in a weird experiment in which they were given hallucinogenic drugs which ended up giving them telekinetic-like powers. Powers that were then passed onto their daughter, as well as pyrokinesis.
For the record, I've only read one other Stephen King book, Misery, but as much as I loved that one this is by far my favourite. It's a decent length - my copy was 566 pages - but literally not a single page feels wasted.
There are so many great elements in this book - King's writing, the tension, the fast-paced plot, the action scenes - but by far the greatest strength is the relationship between Andy and Charlie. They've only had each other for a year by the time the book starts, and it shows. Both would do anything to protect the other, no matter how morally bankrupt, and they do just that. But there are also quieter sweet moments, such as towards the start of the book when Charlie's woken up and smiles at her dad who has stolen the covers, the one selfish thing he ever does.
The characters as a whole are really great, to be honest. The many people working at the Shop are threatening in their own ways; Rainbird, the manipulative 'Nam soldier who wants to murder Charlie to see the light go out of her eyes; Cap, the man overseeing the operation who really just wants this all to end; various scientists who want to pull Charlie apart to see what makes her tick.
I really wish more people knew about this book because it's a fantastic thriller with sci-fi elements.
1) The Wild Storm, Vol. 1 ★★★★
2) The Wild Storm, Vol. 2 ★★★★
3) The Wild Storm, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
I don't say this very often (or ever, really) but I think this might be a perfect series. Each issue and volume on their own might not be perfect, but when looked at as a whole it comes pretty damn close. This entire volume is just about catharsis. We're finally getting the climactic battle between Skywatch and IO with our heroes caught up in the chaos, and it's just as amazing as you would think.
Something that made this volume especially cathartic for me is that we finally have our new, fully formed Authority! They're all pretty different from our old team, both in terms of how they look and their personalities, but there are still shades of those old characters in these versions. I also love that Warren Ellis pulled a Young Avengers and made all but one member of his team queer. Everyone else is too much of a coward to have four of their characters straight-up have an orgy and the other two be a dorky married couple, and that's why we stan a legend.
I know that I've waxed poetic about the art in every review for this series, but guys, the way that the sky is drawn in this is fucking magnificent. Read it just for that because I want to wallpaper my room with the pages of this series.
This series has been everything I've ever wanted and so much more. I'm so glad that DC let Warren Ellis go back to his old sandbox, and I'm also glad that he let himself play around with the characters and update them for the 2010s. Practically no one has read this series and that's a real shame because I think it's become my favourite comic book series.
2) The Wild Storm, Vol. 2 ★★★★
3) The Wild Storm, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
I don't say this very often (or ever, really) but I think this might be a perfect series. Each issue and volume on their own might not be perfect, but when looked at as a whole it comes pretty damn close. This entire volume is just about catharsis. We're finally getting the climactic battle between Skywatch and IO with our heroes caught up in the chaos, and it's just as amazing as you would think.
Something that made this volume especially cathartic for me is that we finally have our new, fully formed Authority! They're all pretty different from our old team, both in terms of how they look and their personalities, but there are still shades of those old characters in these versions. I also love that Warren Ellis pulled a Young Avengers and made all but one member of his team queer. Everyone else is too much of a coward to have four of their characters straight-up have an orgy and the other two be a dorky married couple, and that's why we stan a legend.
I know that I've waxed poetic about the art in every review for this series, but guys, the way that the sky is drawn in this is fucking magnificent. Read it just for that because I want to wallpaper my room with the pages of this series.
This series has been everything I've ever wanted and so much more. I'm so glad that DC let Warren Ellis go back to his old sandbox, and I'm also glad that he let himself play around with the characters and update them for the 2010s. Practically no one has read this series and that's a real shame because I think it's become my favourite comic book series.
Review also posted to my blog.
1) The Kiss Quotient ★★★★
content warnings: racism, sexism, ableism, classism, loss of a loved one
representation: vietnamese autistic main character, biracial (vietnamese-white) main character, vietnamese main and side characters
Helen Hoang was already more or less an autobuy author for me, but it's now official. Within a few months she's become one of my favourite romance authors.
The sequel to her debut novel The Kiss Quotient follows Michael's cousin Khai who, after a tragedy years earlier, feels as if he is incapable of experiencing love. His mum is worried about him and decides to go to Vietnam in search of a bride for him where she finds Mỹ, a young woman living in poverty. She convinces Mỹ (who changes her name to Esme) to come to America over the summer in an attempt for Esme to seduce Khai.
I loved everything about this book. Helen Hoang's writing is just as addictive as ever and the sex scenes, while far fewer than her previous book for obvious reasons, are still fun and sexy.
Where Hoang excels in my opinion is in her construction of characters. I didn't think it was possible, but I ended up loving Khai and Esme even more than Michael and Stella. Esme in particular has become one of my new all-time favourite romance heroines. I appreciated that she was a character who comes from poverty, which is a type of character you rarely see in fiction ever let alone in a romance novel. She also has a young daughter who she had with a man she's no longer with and never married, which is also something you rarely see in romances.
The thing I loved the most though was the fact that she had very specific goals outside of her relationship with Khai. Her initial motivations for going to America is to make extra money, attempt to get a better life for her daughter, mother and grandmother, and find her American father she never met. When she gets there, she decides to start attending school to improve her English and complete the education she was never able to because she wasn't able to finish high school. She is also actively trying to find her father for the entirety of the book, taking initiative at every turn.
Her relationship with Khai was also so sweet. There's lots of misunderstandings and awkwardness, but it still ended up warming my heart so much. There's one particular scene where Esme offers to cut Khai's hair and he tells her that he's autistic so he wants her to do it a certain way. Despite not knowing what autism is, Esme knows that he is trusting her with something very important and follows his instructions to the letter. It was such a wonderful scene that really sealed the deal for me in terms of how perfect their relationship is.
To be honest, despite the same rating I enjoyed this more than The Kiss Quotient. I'm so ridiculously excited for the next book which is meant to focus on Quan, but lets be honest, I would be ridiculously excited for literally anything Helen Hoang wrote.
1) The Kiss Quotient ★★★★
content warnings: racism, sexism, ableism, classism, loss of a loved one
representation: vietnamese autistic main character, biracial (vietnamese-white) main character, vietnamese main and side characters
“The words wrapped around and around them, drawing them together.
Em yêu anh yêu em.
Girl loves boy loves girl.”
Helen Hoang was already more or less an autobuy author for me, but it's now official. Within a few months she's become one of my favourite romance authors.
The sequel to her debut novel The Kiss Quotient follows Michael's cousin Khai who, after a tragedy years earlier, feels as if he is incapable of experiencing love. His mum is worried about him and decides to go to Vietnam in search of a bride for him where she finds Mỹ, a young woman living in poverty. She convinces Mỹ (who changes her name to Esme) to come to America over the summer in an attempt for Esme to seduce Khai.
I loved everything about this book. Helen Hoang's writing is just as addictive as ever and the sex scenes, while far fewer than her previous book for obvious reasons, are still fun and sexy.
Where Hoang excels in my opinion is in her construction of characters. I didn't think it was possible, but I ended up loving Khai and Esme even more than Michael and Stella. Esme in particular has become one of my new all-time favourite romance heroines. I appreciated that she was a character who comes from poverty, which is a type of character you rarely see in fiction ever let alone in a romance novel. She also has a young daughter who she had with a man she's no longer with and never married, which is also something you rarely see in romances.
The thing I loved the most though was the fact that she had very specific goals outside of her relationship with Khai. Her initial motivations for going to America is to make extra money, attempt to get a better life for her daughter, mother and grandmother, and find her American father she never met. When she gets there, she decides to start attending school to improve her English and complete the education she was never able to because she wasn't able to finish high school. She is also actively trying to find her father for the entirety of the book, taking initiative at every turn.
Her relationship with Khai was also so sweet. There's lots of misunderstandings and awkwardness, but it still ended up warming my heart so much. There's one particular scene where Esme offers to cut Khai's hair and he tells her that he's autistic so he wants her to do it a certain way. Despite not knowing what autism is, Esme knows that he is trusting her with something very important and follows his instructions to the letter. It was such a wonderful scene that really sealed the deal for me in terms of how perfect their relationship is.
To be honest, despite the same rating I enjoyed this more than The Kiss Quotient. I'm so ridiculously excited for the next book which is meant to focus on Quan, but lets be honest, I would be ridiculously excited for literally anything Helen Hoang wrote.
Talia Hibbert has written nothing but perfect, diverse, steamy books that make me feel like I'm drinking an especially good cup of tea, and honestly we don't thank her enough for that.
content warnings: racism, homophobia, complications during pregnancy, infidelity
representation: questioning main character, black love interest, latino (mexican-honduran) side character, homoromantic demisexual side character, black side character, gay side character, lesbian side character, minor f/f relationship, side f/f interracial relationship
Holy fuck, I really loved this book a whole damn more than I thought I would. This is a sweet but serious book about a girl who is 100% sure she's a lesbian, until she reconnects with a boy from her childhood and begins to question her sexuality. First of all: no, this is not a book about a lesbian who becomes straight, it's a book about a girl who discovers her sexuality is fluid. People calling this book lesbophobic have clearly never read this book.
I loved the exploration in the book of Ramona's sexuality, in large part because she ultimately doesn't come to a conclusion. Lowkey spoilers, but at the end of the book she says "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to call myself. Gay? Bi? Queer? Pansexual? I'm not sure, but I'm going to figure it out as I go along" and I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a character unlabeled at the end of a book. All of the LGBTQ+ rep in this book was really good, and I loved how many side queer characters there were.
The diversity of this book as a whole was really great. In fact, other than Ramona's family and Burt there isn't a single major character in this book who isn't a person of colour and/or queer, and it's done so naturally that it never feels manufactured. Julie Murphy utilises her diverse characters perfectly for both humour and social commentary, and it was such a nice balance.
I loved all the main characters. I literally cannot pick a favourite. Even characters like Tyler had somewhat grown on me by the end. All the relationships - platonic, familial and romantic alike - were so well done and always felt very authentic. The stand-out relationship for me was easily Ramona with her older sister, Hattie, who's pregnant. Their bond was so beautiful, and all my favourite parts of the books were their quiet moments were they were just lying in bed together or Hattie was brushing Ramona's hair. Not gonna lie, I cried when Hattie said "You're my nine-one-one" to Ramona.
Also, this book is the only one that has ever done 'absent parents' right, because it gives legitimate reasons for said absence. Ramona's mum is a flake who left the family after Hurricane Katrina and the sisters now see her a couple times a month for dinner, and her dad is struggling to make enough money to support them at the hotel he works at so is rarely home when Ramona is. He's there when it counts, though.
The setting of this book is also incredible. It's a small beachfront town in Mississippi that's no middle-class families' first choice for a vacation, and I loved it so much. I also loved the discussions of being working class, as Ramona's family lives in a trailer park and a lot of her motivations come from her families lack of money.
In short, I loved this book and even though I've heard very mixed things on it, I'm kind of excited to read Dumplin' now.
representation: questioning main character, black love interest, latino (mexican-honduran) side character, homoromantic demisexual side character, black side character, gay side character, lesbian side character, minor f/f relationship, side f/f interracial relationship
Holy fuck, I really loved this book a whole damn more than I thought I would. This is a sweet but serious book about a girl who is 100% sure she's a lesbian, until she reconnects with a boy from her childhood and begins to question her sexuality. First of all: no, this is not a book about a lesbian who becomes straight, it's a book about a girl who discovers her sexuality is fluid. People calling this book lesbophobic have clearly never read this book.
I loved the exploration in the book of Ramona's sexuality, in large part because she ultimately doesn't come to a conclusion. Lowkey spoilers, but at the end of the book she says "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to call myself. Gay? Bi? Queer? Pansexual? I'm not sure, but I'm going to figure it out as I go along" and I can't tell you how refreshing it is to have a character unlabeled at the end of a book. All of the LGBTQ+ rep in this book was really good, and I loved how many side queer characters there were.
The diversity of this book as a whole was really great. In fact, other than Ramona's family and Burt there isn't a single major character in this book who isn't a person of colour and/or queer, and it's done so naturally that it never feels manufactured. Julie Murphy utilises her diverse characters perfectly for both humour and social commentary, and it was such a nice balance.
I loved all the main characters. I literally cannot pick a favourite. Even characters like Tyler had somewhat grown on me by the end. All the relationships - platonic, familial and romantic alike - were so well done and always felt very authentic. The stand-out relationship for me was easily Ramona with her older sister, Hattie, who's pregnant. Their bond was so beautiful, and all my favourite parts of the books were their quiet moments were they were just lying in bed together or Hattie was brushing Ramona's hair. Not gonna lie, I cried when Hattie said "You're my nine-one-one" to Ramona.
Also, this book is the only one that has ever done 'absent parents' right, because it gives legitimate reasons for said absence. Ramona's mum is a flake who left the family after Hurricane Katrina and the sisters now see her a couple times a month for dinner, and her dad is struggling to make enough money to support them at the hotel he works at so is rarely home when Ramona is. He's there when it counts, though.
The setting of this book is also incredible. It's a small beachfront town in Mississippi that's no middle-class families' first choice for a vacation, and I loved it so much. I also loved the discussions of being working class, as Ramona's family lives in a trailer park and a lot of her motivations come from her families lack of money.
In short, I loved this book and even though I've heard very mixed things on it, I'm kind of excited to read Dumplin' now.
*4.5
content warnings: homophobia, slut shaming, complications during pregnancy, loss of a loved one
representation: lesbian main character, black lesbian side character, main f/f relationship
“June’s skin is dark, like the night without stars. But the stars are in her eyes, those bright twinkling orbs.”
This was both the most adorable and heartbreaking thing I've read in a hot minute. P.S. I Miss You follows Evie, a twelve-year old who is writing letters to her big sister, Cilla, who has been sent away after becoming pregnant. In her letters, Evie tries to work out her feelings about religion, her sisters' pregnancy, and her feelings for another girl.
Everything about this book was beautiful. I'll admit, the pacing at the start was a bit slow and I wasn't very into it, but after it picked up it was great. Evie was a wonderful protagonist to follow. She was extremely stubborn, but also unsure and questioned everything around her. Being so young, there was a kind of naive innocence to her that I loved in contrast with how fiery she could be.
Evie and June were absolutely adorable together. June is a new girl who Evie becomes friends with, and then maybe more than friends, and seeing both of them interact was great. June is also an atheist, and she and Evie have some really interesting conversations about religion which leads to Evie questioning her faith a little.
Reading the evolution of the letters became so gut wrenching. At the start, Evie is confused and hates her sister a little for getting pregnant and leaving. But then she starts to just miss her sister and wants her to come back. As more time passes and Cilla still isn't responding, Evie's frustration and hurt become so obvious in her letters and it was awful to have to read about.
If you aren't sure if you would like middle grade because you think it would be too childish for you, I would recommend this be the first one you pick up because there is nothing childish about this fantastic book.
content warnings: homophobia, slut shaming, complications during pregnancy, loss of a loved one
representation: lesbian main character, black lesbian side character, main f/f relationship
“June’s skin is dark, like the night without stars. But the stars are in her eyes, those bright twinkling orbs.”
This was both the most adorable and heartbreaking thing I've read in a hot minute. P.S. I Miss You follows Evie, a twelve-year old who is writing letters to her big sister, Cilla, who has been sent away after becoming pregnant. In her letters, Evie tries to work out her feelings about religion, her sisters' pregnancy, and her feelings for another girl.
Everything about this book was beautiful. I'll admit, the pacing at the start was a bit slow and I wasn't very into it, but after it picked up it was great. Evie was a wonderful protagonist to follow. She was extremely stubborn, but also unsure and questioned everything around her. Being so young, there was a kind of naive innocence to her that I loved in contrast with how fiery she could be.
Evie and June were absolutely adorable together. June is a new girl who Evie becomes friends with, and then maybe more than friends, and seeing both of them interact was great. June is also an atheist, and she and Evie have some really interesting conversations about religion which leads to Evie questioning her faith a little.
Reading the evolution of the letters became so gut wrenching. At the start, Evie is confused and hates her sister a little for getting pregnant and leaving. But then she starts to just miss her sister and wants her to come back. As more time passes and Cilla still isn't responding, Evie's frustration and hurt become so obvious in her letters and it was awful to have to read about.
If you aren't sure if you would like middle grade because you think it would be too childish for you, I would recommend this be the first one you pick up because there is nothing childish about this fantastic book.
10/08/19: Reread for the #aliceosemanreadathon & review rewrite.
content warnings: abusive parent, death of a pet, mentions of self-mutilation via fire, death threats, racism, depressive states
representation: bisexual biracial (ethiopian-white) protagonist, demisexual main character with depression, south korean gay main character, indian main character, gay main character
This is probably one of my all-time favourite books ever written, and rereading it was an absolute fucking delight, especially because it gives me an opportunity to rewrite my kinda shitty review. When I first read this in February last year I didn't write reviews very often and so I just did bullet points, but now I'm a much better review writer and I figured this book deserved a decent review.
Radio Silence follows Frances Janvier, a clever teenage girl who is Head Girl and is aspiring to attend Cambridge to study English literature because that's what's expected of her. But in her spare time, she secretly draws fanart for her favourite podcast Universe City. At the beginning of the book the creator of Universe City messages her and asks her to draw official art for the podcast. At the same time, Frances becomes closer with her neighbour Aled Last who she discovers she can act like herself around.
There are so many things I love about this book so I'm going to have to format this review in sections.
1. WRITING
As someone who's read all of Alice Oseman's books, I've loved her writing style in each. It's not too different from book to book, the only difference usually being the voice of the character. I think part of why I love her writing so much in here is because I relate so much to Frances as a character and I feel like her voice is similar to mine in many ways (more on that later). I also like that this book, unlike her others, has really short chapters, similarly to K. Ancrum.
2. CONNECTIONS TO SOLITAIRE
When I first read this book, it was my first Alice Oseman so I obviously hadn't read her debut. In fact, Solitaire was the last book of hers I ever read, at the end of last year. I knew from her Q&A video about this book that all the main Solitaire characters cameoed, but hadn't actually gotten the chance to spot them for myself. It was so delightful to see stuff like an Olympic skater mentioned or a girl with purple hair and be able to go, "I know who that is!" Other than that though, I loved the seeds being planted for Aled being Charlie & Nick's friend, the reference to Frances being in Doctor Who cosplay at Becky's birthday party, all the stuff about the school burning down, a reference to a blogger pranking the school, etc. etc. It's just really nice to be able to pick up those little details, and I really hope that Loveless does end up connecting with I Was Born For This in the final copy.
3. CHARACTERS
The Radio Silence Five maybe make up some of my favourite characters in all of fiction, and that's at least partly because I relate to them all in different ways. Frances' need for scholarly perfection and that being the source of all her self-worth; Aled's weird obsession with this dumb thing he made that people actually like and the way his depression can spiral; Raine's brashness and tendency to say what everyone else is thinking; Daniel's problem of coming across as a dick most of the time because he can get too self-serious and up his own ass; Carys' confidence that she eventually has basically coming from her refusing to give a fuck anymore. But even aside from the various ways I relate to all these characters, I also just think they're so interesting and well-rounded and all of them have such special and different relationships to each other that makes it so interesting to read.
4. FANDOM CULTURE
This is something that features heavily in IWBFT as well, in particular the way that fandoms are balanced. There are those people who just enjoy the thing that they're obsessed with, and then there are the people who take it a step too far. There are the people who stalk creators online, send death threats, feel entitled to whatever the creator is producing. And yet, even while exploring the good and bad of fandom, there's never a moment when fandoms are demonised. There's never a moment where Frances goes "well I guess everyone who listens to universe city is awful". There's always the acknowledgement that there are good people, people who will call out the creeps and stalkers and try to support the creator however they can without crossing any lines. Honestly, I've never seen fandom explored in such an astute and personal way before, and I don't think I ever will.
This book isn't perfect because nothing a human creates ever can be, but this is easily one of the books I've read that's most perfect for me. If you like darker contemporaries with light moments that feature fandoms and diverse characters, then I would most definitely recommend picking this up.
content warnings: abusive parent, death of a pet, mentions of self-mutilation via fire, death threats, racism, depressive states
representation: bisexual biracial (ethiopian-white) protagonist, demisexual main character with depression, south korean gay main character, indian main character, gay main character
“Being clever was, after all, my primary source of self-esteem. I’m a very sad person, in all senses of the word, but at least I was going to get into university.”
This is probably one of my all-time favourite books ever written, and rereading it was an absolute fucking delight, especially because it gives me an opportunity to rewrite my kinda shitty review. When I first read this in February last year I didn't write reviews very often and so I just did bullet points, but now I'm a much better review writer and I figured this book deserved a decent review.
Radio Silence follows Frances Janvier, a clever teenage girl who is Head Girl and is aspiring to attend Cambridge to study English literature because that's what's expected of her. But in her spare time, she secretly draws fanart for her favourite podcast Universe City. At the beginning of the book the creator of Universe City messages her and asks her to draw official art for the podcast. At the same time, Frances becomes closer with her neighbour Aled Last who she discovers she can act like herself around.
There are so many things I love about this book so I'm going to have to format this review in sections.
1. WRITING
As someone who's read all of Alice Oseman's books, I've loved her writing style in each. It's not too different from book to book, the only difference usually being the voice of the character. I think part of why I love her writing so much in here is because I relate so much to Frances as a character and I feel like her voice is similar to mine in many ways (more on that later). I also like that this book, unlike her others, has really short chapters, similarly to K. Ancrum.
2. CONNECTIONS TO SOLITAIRE
When I first read this book, it was my first Alice Oseman so I obviously hadn't read her debut. In fact, Solitaire was the last book of hers I ever read, at the end of last year. I knew from her Q&A video about this book that all the main Solitaire characters cameoed, but hadn't actually gotten the chance to spot them for myself. It was so delightful to see stuff like an Olympic skater mentioned or a girl with purple hair and be able to go, "I know who that is!" Other than that though, I loved the seeds being planted for Aled being Charlie & Nick's friend, the reference to Frances being in Doctor Who cosplay at Becky's birthday party, all the stuff about the school burning down, a reference to a blogger pranking the school, etc. etc. It's just really nice to be able to pick up those little details, and I really hope that Loveless does end up connecting with I Was Born For This in the final copy.
3. CHARACTERS
The Radio Silence Five maybe make up some of my favourite characters in all of fiction, and that's at least partly because I relate to them all in different ways. Frances' need for scholarly perfection and that being the source of all her self-worth; Aled's weird obsession with this dumb thing he made that people actually like and the way his depression can spiral; Raine's brashness and tendency to say what everyone else is thinking; Daniel's problem of coming across as a dick most of the time because he can get too self-serious and up his own ass; Carys' confidence that she eventually has basically coming from her refusing to give a fuck anymore. But even aside from the various ways I relate to all these characters, I also just think they're so interesting and well-rounded and all of them have such special and different relationships to each other that makes it so interesting to read.
4. FANDOM CULTURE
This is something that features heavily in IWBFT as well, in particular the way that fandoms are balanced. There are those people who just enjoy the thing that they're obsessed with, and then there are the people who take it a step too far. There are the people who stalk creators online, send death threats, feel entitled to whatever the creator is producing. And yet, even while exploring the good and bad of fandom, there's never a moment when fandoms are demonised. There's never a moment where Frances goes "well I guess everyone who listens to universe city is awful". There's always the acknowledgement that there are good people, people who will call out the creeps and stalkers and try to support the creator however they can without crossing any lines. Honestly, I've never seen fandom explored in such an astute and personal way before, and I don't think I ever will.
This book isn't perfect because nothing a human creates ever can be, but this is easily one of the books I've read that's most perfect for me. If you like darker contemporaries with light moments that feature fandoms and diverse characters, then I would most definitely recommend picking this up.
content warnings: sexual assault, paedophilia, slut shaming, victim blaming, violence
representation: bisexual main character, non-binary gay side character, korean-american side character
This book is so short - not even reaching 300 pages - but it's quite possibly the most impactful book I've ever read. It's about a teenage girl, Mara, whose friend accuses her twin brother of raping her. First of all, I'm going to elaborate on the trigger warnings a little bit: for majority of the book, sexual assault is only discussed rather than seen. There is one exception to this, which is chapter eighteen. In this chapter there is a graphic depiction of both sexual assault and paedophilia. The series of events in this chapter are discussed briefly both before and after, and on the whole you can skip this chapter if need be.
Now, onto the rest of the book. Holy crap. This books discussion of rape culture and victim blaming is so incredible and insightful that I could write a full-length essay on it, so instead I'm just going to focus on one aspect: the differences between Mara and her mother. Both are feminists, as you discover very early in the book. Mara started a magazine at her school called Empower which is all about feminism, and her mum is a massive supporter of it. However, when Hannah accuses Owen of raping her, these two women take very different stances on it. Mara is conflicted, but ultimately believes Hannah and thinks her brother is lying, or at the very least omitting details. Her mum, though, immediately believes Owen, saying that Hannah is confused and there's been a misunderstanding. I loved this dissection of feminism, and the fact that Mara throws her mother's views back in her face when she's defending Owen. It was a stark reminder that it doesn't matter how close to the perpetrator you are; victims should still be believed.
Another aspect I loved was Mara's relationship with Owen, particularly the fact that even though she believes Hannah and is 100% supportive of her, she still loves her brother. She still misses her brother. She wants to believe her brother, she wants Hannah to be wrong. Reading about Mara's inner conflict was so heartbreaking because she so desperately wants to believe both of them but just can't believe what Owen's saying. No matter how torn Mara was, she never didn't believe Hannah.
I can't write any more or I will just start sobbing. This book is heartbreaking and wonderful and I would highly recommend to everyone (please do heed all trigger warnings though).
representation: bisexual main character, non-binary gay side character, korean-american side character
This book is so short - not even reaching 300 pages - but it's quite possibly the most impactful book I've ever read. It's about a teenage girl, Mara, whose friend accuses her twin brother of raping her. First of all, I'm going to elaborate on the trigger warnings a little bit: for majority of the book, sexual assault is only discussed rather than seen. There is one exception to this, which is chapter eighteen. In this chapter there is a graphic depiction of both sexual assault and paedophilia. The series of events in this chapter are discussed briefly both before and after, and on the whole you can skip this chapter if need be.
Now, onto the rest of the book. Holy crap. This books discussion of rape culture and victim blaming is so incredible and insightful that I could write a full-length essay on it, so instead I'm just going to focus on one aspect: the differences between Mara and her mother. Both are feminists, as you discover very early in the book. Mara started a magazine at her school called Empower which is all about feminism, and her mum is a massive supporter of it. However, when Hannah accuses Owen of raping her, these two women take very different stances on it. Mara is conflicted, but ultimately believes Hannah and thinks her brother is lying, or at the very least omitting details. Her mum, though, immediately believes Owen, saying that Hannah is confused and there's been a misunderstanding. I loved this dissection of feminism, and the fact that Mara throws her mother's views back in her face when she's defending Owen. It was a stark reminder that it doesn't matter how close to the perpetrator you are; victims should still be believed.
Another aspect I loved was Mara's relationship with Owen, particularly the fact that even though she believes Hannah and is 100% supportive of her, she still loves her brother. She still misses her brother. She wants to believe her brother, she wants Hannah to be wrong. Reading about Mara's inner conflict was so heartbreaking because she so desperately wants to believe both of them but just can't believe what Owen's saying. No matter how torn Mara was, she never didn't believe Hannah.
I can't write any more or I will just start sobbing. This book is heartbreaking and wonderful and I would highly recommend to everyone (please do heed all trigger warnings though).
Review also posted to my blog.
content warnings: homophobia, racism, discussions of previous drug addiction, anxiety, panic attacks, discussions of loss of a loved one, depression, discussion of past sexual assault attempt, outing
representation: bisexual biracial (white-mexican) protagonist, gay main character, interracial m/m main romance, bisexual main character, biracial (white-mexican) main character, mexican main character, nigerian main character, gay latino side character, indian side character, sapphic trans side character, pansexual side character, interracial side romance
“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”
There's a reason why I put this on my 2019 favourites shelf before I even finished it.
This wonderful, wonderful book is about Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, whose supposed arch-enemy is Prince Henry of Wales. After they both cause a massive fuck up at a royal wedding, as damage control they have to pretend to be besties. The best romance of the 21st century ensues.
No, I'm not kidding. This is one of the most well-written romances I've ever read. It's cute, it's sexy, it's funny, it's angsty. Alex and Henry are both such damn lovable main characters and you can't not root for their relationship to succeed. In fact, every main character is so damn lovable. There's June, Alex's aspiring journalist sister; Nora, June and Alex's numbers-obsessed bisexual best friend; Ellen, Alex and June's mum and also the President; Bea, Henry's hilarious sister with a troubled past; Rafael Luna, the first openly gay person elected to the senate; and so many others that I can't name because then this review would just become me gushing about how much I love these characters.
This book is also hilarious. I would find myself laughing aloud every couple pages because of something funny a character had said, or something Alex had thought. And the humour never comes across as try-hard; it's all very natural, which is really fucking hard to do, so I tip my hat to you, Casey McQuiston.
Asides from being an amazing romance and one of the funniest books I've ever read, this book is also filled with fantastic political commentary. With Alex's mum being elected in 2016, this is obviously a world different from our own, and while it is political escapism it's still our world. There are still absolutely terrible people doing and saying absolutely terrible things; these people just aren't in the White House in the books timeline.
This is going to be one of my favourite books of the year, calling it now. This book is amazing and I would highly recommend it, even if romcom's aren't usually your bag.
11/04/19: This is becoming a movie. That's it, all other romcom's go home, this is the only one that matters!
20/02/19: I wasn't expecting to actually get approved for an ARC for this AND THEN I DID!!
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
content warnings: homophobia, racism, discussions of previous drug addiction, anxiety, panic attacks, discussions of loss of a loved one, depression, discussion of past sexual assault attempt, outing
representation: bisexual biracial (white-mexican) protagonist, gay main character, interracial m/m main romance, bisexual main character, biracial (white-mexican) main character, mexican main character, nigerian main character, gay latino side character, indian side character, sapphic trans side character, pansexual side character, interracial side romance
“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”
There's a reason why I put this on my 2019 favourites shelf before I even finished it.
This wonderful, wonderful book is about Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, whose supposed arch-enemy is Prince Henry of Wales. After they both cause a massive fuck up at a royal wedding, as damage control they have to pretend to be besties. The best romance of the 21st century ensues.
No, I'm not kidding. This is one of the most well-written romances I've ever read. It's cute, it's sexy, it's funny, it's angsty. Alex and Henry are both such damn lovable main characters and you can't not root for their relationship to succeed. In fact, every main character is so damn lovable. There's June, Alex's aspiring journalist sister; Nora, June and Alex's numbers-obsessed bisexual best friend; Ellen, Alex and June's mum and also the President; Bea, Henry's hilarious sister with a troubled past; Rafael Luna, the first openly gay person elected to the senate; and so many others that I can't name because then this review would just become me gushing about how much I love these characters.
This book is also hilarious. I would find myself laughing aloud every couple pages because of something funny a character had said, or something Alex had thought. And the humour never comes across as try-hard; it's all very natural, which is really fucking hard to do, so I tip my hat to you, Casey McQuiston.
Asides from being an amazing romance and one of the funniest books I've ever read, this book is also filled with fantastic political commentary. With Alex's mum being elected in 2016, this is obviously a world different from our own, and while it is political escapism it's still our world. There are still absolutely terrible people doing and saying absolutely terrible things; these people just aren't in the White House in the books timeline.
Spoiler
Casey McQuiston also somehow got me so fucking invested in a fake election, to the point where I started crying and cheering when they got Texas??This is going to be one of my favourite books of the year, calling it now. This book is amazing and I would highly recommend it, even if romcom's aren't usually your bag.
11/04/19: This is becoming a movie. That's it, all other romcom's go home, this is the only one that matters!
20/02/19: I wasn't expecting to actually get approved for an ARC for this AND THEN I DID!!
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.