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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
1) The Diviners ★★★★
content warnings: loss of a loved one, gore, violence, murder, violence against animals, domestic violence, rape, the KKK, racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, slut shaming, alcoholism, PTSD, medical procedures
representation: main character with PTSD, black side characters, jewish side characters, gay side character, biracial (chinese-irish) disabled side character, side interracial relationship, black blind side character
“Besides, things you loved deeply could be lost in a second, and then there was no filling the hole left inside you. So she lived in the moment, as if her life were one long party that never had to stop as long as she kept the good times going.”
Have you ever wanted to read a book with a vibrant setting, complex characters, an engaging mystery and spookiness, while also having your heart torn out on a regular basis? Well, buddy, do I have the series for you.
This series is incredible and must be read by everyone immediately. And if you do read it (as you should), you have to read it in audiobook because January LaVoy is quite possibly the greatest voice actor working currently and makes a one-woman show sound like a full-cast. Also, this book does suffer from some pacing issues at the start and listening to the audiobook almost entirely gets rid of that issue.
Lair of Dreams takes place a few months after the first book and follows the main characters from the last one (plus a few new characters) as New York begins to suffer from something known as the sleeping sickness.
This book is just as magical and atmospheric as the previous book, but in a different way. The Diviners had a spooky vibe to it while this book has a more eerie vibe to it. I think this is largely because of the antagonists. The first book had a ghostly-religious-murderer, whereas for most of this book the antagonist is the sleeping sickness itself. It's not until the final act of this book that we discover who the true antagonist is, and due to the nature of that antagonist and their backstory that eeriness remains.
As with the previous book, the characters are easily the stand-out of this and is why myself and majority of other readers don't mind the pacing issues as much as we probably should. The characters are so well-crafted, and feel so real and developed. Evie now has a radio show, the Sweetheart Seer, and is dealing with her PTSD by drinking and partying; Memphis is trying to keep his brother safe while also keeping a steady relationship with Theta; Jericho deals with bodily autonomy and blackmail, while also struggling with his love life; Sam is trying to find his mother and discovering that he has Emotions; Mabel is unsure as to who she is and only gets more confused as her friendship with Evie seems to unravel; Theta is struggling with her powers growing stronger and trying to keep her past under wraps; Henry meets another dream walker and attempts to reconnect with the love of his life. Then we also meet a new character, Ling, a nerdy disabled Chinese-Irish dream walker who tries to help Henry while also dealing with her own issues.
Not only are these characters fantastic, but as are their relationships with each other. Whether its platonic, familial, romantic or antagonistic, they're drawn so well and developed to perfection. When there's conflict, even when it's super petty, it makes sense because you understand these characters so well and you get that even if they're being stupid, they're also reacting exactly as they would.
Let's move onto my romance thoughts because I have A LOT OF THEM
⇢ Evie/Jericho: Hate it, want it to burn in a trash fire,
⇢ Evie/Sam: I was already shipping them hardcore and this book only intensified those feelings.
⇢ Memphis/Theta: They're both my children and I just want them to be happy!!
⇢ Mabel/Jericho: This could've worked but I just don't like it :/
⇢ Henry/: These two made my heart break literally every page I read that included them.
Those are my main thoughts. I'm pretty sure Henry, Ling and Mabel all get new(ish) love interests in the next book so I'm hyped for that.
I love this series and can't wait to move onto Before the Devil Breaks You, but I'm also not prepared to wait several years for the fourth (and final) book. This series is literally killing me and I'm very okay with it.
content warnings: loss of a loved one, gore, violence, murder, violence against animals, domestic violence, rape, the KKK, racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, slut shaming, alcoholism, PTSD, medical procedures
representation: main character with PTSD, black side characters, jewish side characters, gay side character, biracial (chinese-irish) disabled side character, side interracial relationship, black blind side character
“Besides, things you loved deeply could be lost in a second, and then there was no filling the hole left inside you. So she lived in the moment, as if her life were one long party that never had to stop as long as she kept the good times going.”
Have you ever wanted to read a book with a vibrant setting, complex characters, an engaging mystery and spookiness, while also having your heart torn out on a regular basis? Well, buddy, do I have the series for you.
This series is incredible and must be read by everyone immediately. And if you do read it (as you should), you have to read it in audiobook because January LaVoy is quite possibly the greatest voice actor working currently and makes a one-woman show sound like a full-cast. Also, this book does suffer from some pacing issues at the start and listening to the audiobook almost entirely gets rid of that issue.
Lair of Dreams takes place a few months after the first book and follows the main characters from the last one (plus a few new characters) as New York begins to suffer from something known as the sleeping sickness.
This book is just as magical and atmospheric as the previous book, but in a different way. The Diviners had a spooky vibe to it while this book has a more eerie vibe to it. I think this is largely because of the antagonists. The first book had a ghostly-religious-murderer, whereas for most of this book the antagonist is the sleeping sickness itself. It's not until the final act of this book that we discover who the true antagonist is, and due to the nature of that antagonist and their backstory that eeriness remains.
As with the previous book, the characters are easily the stand-out of this and is why myself and majority of other readers don't mind the pacing issues as much as we probably should. The characters are so well-crafted, and feel so real and developed. Evie now has a radio show, the Sweetheart Seer, and is dealing with her PTSD by drinking and partying; Memphis is trying to keep his brother safe while also keeping a steady relationship with Theta; Jericho deals with bodily autonomy and blackmail, while also struggling with his love life; Sam is trying to find his mother and discovering that he has Emotions; Mabel is unsure as to who she is and only gets more confused as her friendship with Evie seems to unravel; Theta is struggling with her powers growing stronger and trying to keep her past under wraps; Henry meets another dream walker and attempts to reconnect with the love of his life. Then we also meet a new character, Ling, a nerdy disabled Chinese-Irish dream walker who tries to help Henry while also dealing with her own issues.
Not only are these characters fantastic, but as are their relationships with each other. Whether its platonic, familial, romantic or antagonistic, they're drawn so well and developed to perfection. When there's conflict, even when it's super petty, it makes sense because you understand these characters so well and you get that even if they're being stupid, they're also reacting exactly as they would.
Let's move onto my romance thoughts because I have A LOT OF THEM
⇢ Evie/Jericho: Hate it, want it to burn in a trash fire,
Spoiler
glad it doesn't seem like it's going to be endgame.⇢ Evie/Sam: I was already shipping them hardcore and this book only intensified those feelings.
Spoiler
I love fake relationships, and their kisses made me all soft.⇢ Memphis/Theta: They're both my children and I just want them to be happy!!
⇢ Mabel/Jericho: This could've worked but I just don't like it :/
Spoiler
Luckily, it also seems like this won't be endgame either.⇢ Henry/
Spoiler
LouisSpoiler
I called pretty much from the start that something in the dream world was off, and therefore something with Louis was off, but that doesn't mean I was prepared to get my heart so savagely torn out by Libba Bray.Those are my main thoughts. I'm pretty sure Henry, Ling and Mabel all get new(ish) love interests in the next book so I'm hyped for that.
I love this series and can't wait to move onto Before the Devil Breaks You, but I'm also not prepared to wait several years for the fourth (and final) book. This series is literally killing me and I'm very okay with it.
content warnings: homophobia, transphobia, bullying, parental abandonment, domestic violence, underage drinking, vomitting
representation: Black sapphic questioning protagonist, Black trans main character, biracial (white-Japanese) sapphic side character, interracial f/f main relationship, Black main and side characters
This book as a whole isn't perfect, but good lord, that ending definitely was.
This is a book about Nima, a Black seventeen year-old living in a pretty small town who is questioning her sexuality. Only days after confessing her love for her female best friend and getting rejected, she accidentally attends a drag show and becomes entranced by the world. While she begins discovering herself through the world of drag, she's also trying to maintain her relationship with her best friend who doesn't seem to fit into her new world, as well as still dealing with her mother abandoning her and her father years earlier.
Without question, this is easily one of the most heartfelt books I've ever read. You can tell that the author has a history in the world of drag because everything is so specific in an incredibly lived-in way. One of the great joys of this book is getting to see this world through Nima's eyes as she's equally mystified and terrified of it. The number one thing that makes even the most anxiety-inducing moments of this book feel comfortable is the presence of my new favourite character, Deirdre.
Nima is standing in line for the drag show, and Deirdre immediately clocks her as a newbie and decides to befriend her. Deirdre guides Nima through this world with so much love despite barely knowing her, and I fell head over heels in love with her instantly. She's so full of love and warmth in a way that you can feel through the book, and when she hugs Nima it feels as though she's hugging you. She's also so empathetic, which is incredibly important when you get to the character of Gordon.
Gordon is a character who could just be a massive cliché: he's a guy who bullies Nima, specifically with homophobic slurs, who was raised by an abusive homophobe and maybe isn't as cishet as he seems. This is a character we've seen gone wrong so many times, but Tanya Boteju has just as much empathy for the character as Deirdre does while never forgiving him for what he's done.
Where this book started to drag for me was the romance. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it just didn't excite me. Nima starts having a thing with Winnow, a drag king she sees at her first drag show. In a book filled with such well-drawn characters, Winnow comes across as very two-dimensional, something which really sticks out during a portion of the book where Nima is hanging out with her and her friends. Ultimately, I think I liked what Nima's relationship with Winnow represented more than I like what it was.
But another subplot that I adored was the one about Nima and her mother. Her relationship with her dad is really great but there's been something different ever since her mother left them. Over the course of the book we discover more about Nima's mother and what her reasons for leaving might have been, and I loved every second of it. While this book is specifically about a teenager coming of age and discovering themselves, it still focuses on adult's discovering themselves in ways that aren't always good or healthy but are still valid nonetheless. By the end of the book, even though she's gotten some answers, Nima's relationship with her mother is very unresolved. This is something that will frustrate some readers but I thought was perfect. Everything about this book feels incredibly realistic and I think that having the storyline with her mother wrapped up neatly by the end would have destroyed that.
I'm not going to go into details about the ending because I think it's something that you should experience for yourself, but God, it was so amazing. Even with some plot threads left hanging, it's still so satisfying because the whole book has been focused around Nima and her journey. While her journey is definitely not over yet, the end of the book signifies a major milestone in it, which I think is even better.
This is a book that touched me in a way I wasn't expecting. I read it through audiobook which I definitely think was the way to go because it meant that the clunkier moments didn't register and instead I was completely focused on the emotions of the story. I can't wait to read more from Tanya Boteju, especially because her next book looks like it's going to be Whip It but actually gay.
representation: Black sapphic questioning protagonist, Black trans main character, biracial (white-Japanese) sapphic side character, interracial f/f main relationship, Black main and side characters
“But I told myself if I could just get past my house and hammock without being sucked in by the guaranteed comfort, something else might be waiting for me on the other side, something that might color me outside the lines and flow into other parts of my life.”
This book as a whole isn't perfect, but good lord, that ending definitely was.
This is a book about Nima, a Black seventeen year-old living in a pretty small town who is questioning her sexuality. Only days after confessing her love for her female best friend and getting rejected, she accidentally attends a drag show and becomes entranced by the world. While she begins discovering herself through the world of drag, she's also trying to maintain her relationship with her best friend who doesn't seem to fit into her new world, as well as still dealing with her mother abandoning her and her father years earlier.
Without question, this is easily one of the most heartfelt books I've ever read. You can tell that the author has a history in the world of drag because everything is so specific in an incredibly lived-in way. One of the great joys of this book is getting to see this world through Nima's eyes as she's equally mystified and terrified of it. The number one thing that makes even the most anxiety-inducing moments of this book feel comfortable is the presence of my new favourite character, Deirdre.
Nima is standing in line for the drag show, and Deirdre immediately clocks her as a newbie and decides to befriend her. Deirdre guides Nima through this world with so much love despite barely knowing her, and I fell head over heels in love with her instantly. She's so full of love and warmth in a way that you can feel through the book, and when she hugs Nima it feels as though she's hugging you. She's also so empathetic, which is incredibly important when you get to the character of Gordon.
Gordon is a character who could just be a massive cliché: he's a guy who bullies Nima, specifically with homophobic slurs, who was raised by an abusive homophobe and maybe isn't as cishet as he seems. This is a character we've seen gone wrong so many times, but Tanya Boteju has just as much empathy for the character as Deirdre does while never forgiving him for what he's done.
Where this book started to drag for me was the romance. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it just didn't excite me. Nima starts having a thing with Winnow, a drag king she sees at her first drag show. In a book filled with such well-drawn characters, Winnow comes across as very two-dimensional, something which really sticks out during a portion of the book where Nima is hanging out with her and her friends. Ultimately, I think I liked what Nima's relationship with Winnow represented more than I like what it was.
But another subplot that I adored was the one about Nima and her mother. Her relationship with her dad is really great but there's been something different ever since her mother left them. Over the course of the book we discover more about Nima's mother and what her reasons for leaving might have been, and I loved every second of it. While this book is specifically about a teenager coming of age and discovering themselves, it still focuses on adult's discovering themselves in ways that aren't always good or healthy but are still valid nonetheless. By the end of the book, even though she's gotten some answers, Nima's relationship with her mother is very unresolved. This is something that will frustrate some readers but I thought was perfect. Everything about this book feels incredibly realistic and I think that having the storyline with her mother wrapped up neatly by the end would have destroyed that.
I'm not going to go into details about the ending because I think it's something that you should experience for yourself, but God, it was so amazing. Even with some plot threads left hanging, it's still so satisfying because the whole book has been focused around Nima and her journey. While her journey is definitely not over yet, the end of the book signifies a major milestone in it, which I think is even better.
This is a book that touched me in a way I wasn't expecting. I read it through audiobook which I definitely think was the way to go because it meant that the clunkier moments didn't register and instead I was completely focused on the emotions of the story. I can't wait to read more from Tanya Boteju, especially because her next book looks like it's going to be Whip It but actually gay.
1) The Diviners ★★★★
2) Lair of Dreams ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, loss of a loved one, murder, gore, body horror, medical procedures, ingestion of blood, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, the KKK, misogyny, slut shaming, ableism, themes of colonialism, domestic violence, non-consensual kiss, attempted rape, mentions of paedophilia
representation: main and side characters with depression and ptsd, side african-american characters, side jewish characters, side white passing cherokee character, side interracial m/f relationship, side gay characters, side m/m relationships, side biracial (irish-chinese) disabled gay asexual character, side interracial f/f relationship, side blind african-american character, side black lesbian character
“Tell me, do you have family near?” Miss Addie asked.
“I’m an orphan,” Theta said.
“You’re wrong.” The old woman blinked up at the ceiling, her fingers waving in the air. “You do have family. I see it in your aura. They’re… they’re all around you.”
Review can also be found on my blog.
I love the first two books in this series so much and, somehow, it got exponentially better. Being the third book, I can't really explain the specific plot, but this series is set in 1920s New York and follows a group of individuals each with a special power: Evie, a flapper with the ability to read objects; Memphis, a poet with a healing ability which has been dormant for a long time; Sam, a thief who can make people not see him; Henry, a pianist who can dream walk; Theta, a mysterious dancer who has fire powers; Ling, an aspiring scientist who can communicate with the dead in dreams; and Isaiah, Memphis' younger brother who can see the future. Then there's also non-diviner characters in Will, Evie's scholarly uncle, Jericho, Will's assistant with a dark past, and Mabel, Evie's activist best friend.
Things that I don't have any new thoughts about other than they're great: January LaVoy's narration, the audiobook as a whole, and the atmosphere.
I think this book is probably the most well-paced of them all because it's really drawing on the previous books' experiences for its plot, making it move a bit faster. This book also has quite possibly the greatest subplots of all time. The Campbell brothers with Mr. Johnson, Jericho at the mansion, Mabel's activism with the Secret Six, Theta and her backstory with Roy. They were all fantastic and it meant that there was never a single scene when I didn't care. Despite the plot being a bit more present, that doesn't in any way take away from character moments. I would still argue that this series is most definitely character-driven.
The relationships in this book just fucking peaked. I'll put my romantic-relationship-thoughts under a spoiler tab, but the platonic relationships were also fantastic. Particularly the relationships between the women. There were several scenes with Evie, Mabel, Theta and Ling together, supporting each other and having fun, and it was so great. Also, Evie's willingness to just Fight everyone for her girls is incredible.
Romantic thoughts:
Evie/Sam
Jericho
Memphis/Theta: I feel like they're not really spoilery because they've been together from the first book?? Anyway, they're still goals as fuck and I love them with all my heart, and I just hope that they live a long, happy life together.
Mabel/
Henry/
Ling/
Also, I really liked how this book briefly talked about the characters experiencing depression due to their PTSD. When someone (I don't remember who) mentions the oppressive sadness they feel sometimes and the others say that they experience it too. It was also just a really nice moment of the characters connecting. Okay, that's it for character-stuff.
This book was straight-up terrifying in some parts. That entire scene in the mental institution when most of them are there, in the basement and with Henry and Theta with Isaiah, that entire portion of the book was.... fuck. It was so well-written, and I can't even describe the joy I felt when they met up again. That's only one part of the book, too. There are so many other spooky parts that genuinely put me on edge in broad daylight.
My final thing is that this book went there. I'm not going to get into specifics but let me just say that there is definitely no guarantee that all of our faves are going to make it by the end of next book.
Libba Bray is the devil, and she broke me. (also, I'm really stressed bc book four doesn't have a title, or release date)
2) Lair of Dreams ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, loss of a loved one, murder, gore, body horror, medical procedures, ingestion of blood, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, the KKK, misogyny, slut shaming, ableism, themes of colonialism, domestic violence, non-consensual kiss, attempted rape, mentions of paedophilia
representation: main and side characters with depression and ptsd, side african-american characters, side jewish characters, side white passing cherokee character, side interracial m/f relationship, side gay characters, side m/m relationships, side biracial (irish-chinese) disabled gay asexual character, side interracial f/f relationship, side blind african-american character, side black lesbian character
“Tell me, do you have family near?” Miss Addie asked.
“I’m an orphan,” Theta said.
“You’re wrong.” The old woman blinked up at the ceiling, her fingers waving in the air. “You do have family. I see it in your aura. They’re… they’re all around you.”
Review can also be found on my blog.
I love the first two books in this series so much and, somehow, it got exponentially better. Being the third book, I can't really explain the specific plot, but this series is set in 1920s New York and follows a group of individuals each with a special power: Evie, a flapper with the ability to read objects; Memphis, a poet with a healing ability which has been dormant for a long time; Sam, a thief who can make people not see him; Henry, a pianist who can dream walk; Theta, a mysterious dancer who has fire powers; Ling, an aspiring scientist who can communicate with the dead in dreams; and Isaiah, Memphis' younger brother who can see the future. Then there's also non-diviner characters in Will, Evie's scholarly uncle, Jericho, Will's assistant with a dark past, and Mabel, Evie's activist best friend.
Things that I don't have any new thoughts about other than they're great: January LaVoy's narration, the audiobook as a whole, and the atmosphere.
I think this book is probably the most well-paced of them all because it's really drawing on the previous books' experiences for its plot, making it move a bit faster. This book also has quite possibly the greatest subplots of all time. The Campbell brothers with Mr. Johnson, Jericho at the mansion, Mabel's activism with the Secret Six, Theta and her backstory with Roy. They were all fantastic and it meant that there was never a single scene when I didn't care. Despite the plot being a bit more present, that doesn't in any way take away from character moments. I would still argue that this series is most definitely character-driven.
The relationships in this book just fucking peaked. I'll put my romantic-relationship-thoughts under a spoiler tab, but the platonic relationships were also fantastic. Particularly the relationships between the women. There were several scenes with Evie, Mabel, Theta and Ling together, supporting each other and having fun, and it was so great. Also, Evie's willingness to just Fight everyone for her girls is incredible.
Romantic thoughts:
Evie/Sam
Spoiler
Oh my god, YES, my babes are finally together. The majority of this book was so painful as they were just pining and not realising that the other was desperately in love with them. BUT THEN, them kissing and Sam saying that he wants Evie to see him, and that sex scene, IT WAS ALL GREAT.Jericho
Spoiler
needs to stop fucking pining over Evie, it started to piss me off. Luckily it looks like that's finally dead, but christ on a bike, that was painful.Memphis/Theta: I feel like they're not really spoilery because they've been together from the first book?? Anyway, they're still goals as fuck and I love them with all my heart, and I just hope that they live a long, happy life together.
Mabel/
Spoiler
Arthur: At first I was like "this is great, Mabel deserves good things". Then he became a little snek and Mabel's death is completely his fault, the little fucking snek. I hope Evie murders him.Henry/
Spoiler
David: As a couple, I'm kind of indifferent, but I'm happy that Henry's happy. He's in love, he's getting some, and honestly, it's what he deserves.Ling/
Spoiler
Alma: These two stole my heart, and they had like two scenes together. Just Ling explaining her asexuality, and Alma not totally understanding but accepting it, and that scene with Alma dancing while the lowkey sex montage was going on, and them kissing and holding hands and constantly stealing glances at each other. @ Libba Bray, GIVE ME MORE PLS.Spoiler
James/Luther: This was so unexpected and it fucking broke me. We literally see them in a depressing flashback, that's it, but it made me Feel So Much, because we know so much about James, and just the tragedy of what happened, and everything changing about how Evie sees her brother and what happened to him. Also, I really hope this is a reverse Louis, and that Evie gets her brother back.Also, I really liked how this book briefly talked about the characters experiencing depression due to their PTSD. When someone (I don't remember who) mentions the oppressive sadness they feel sometimes and the others say that they experience it too. It was also just a really nice moment of the characters connecting. Okay, that's it for character-stuff.
This book was straight-up terrifying in some parts. That entire scene in the mental institution when most of them are there, in the basement and with Henry and Theta with Isaiah, that entire portion of the book was.... fuck. It was so well-written, and I can't even describe the joy I felt when they met up again. That's only one part of the book, too. There are so many other spooky parts that genuinely put me on edge in broad daylight.
My final thing is that this book went there. I'm not going to get into specifics but let me just say that there is definitely no guarantee that all of our faves are going to make it by the end of next book.
Libba Bray is the devil, and she broke me. (also, I'm really stressed bc book four doesn't have a title, or release date)
content warnings: child slavery, murder, violence, drugging, excessive drinking, excessive gambling
representation: all-Asian cast, demisexual Asian protagonist, bisexual Asian protagonist, Asian lesbian main and side characters, f/f side relationship, Asian transgender main character, Asian asexual side character
Don't mind me, I'm just breaking into your house and refusing to leave until you start reading Tara Sim's books because they truly are the greatest. Two books into A-spec August and two five-stars baby!
Scavenge the Stars is the first of a duology that's a loose, Asian-inspired fantasy, gender-bent retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. If you're not already in based on that then I don't know what to tell you. There are two lead characters: Amaya/Silverfish who has spent the past seven years on a debtor ship and is days away from freedom but makes a seemingly foolish decision to save a drowning man who offers her something better than freedom: revenge. Then there's Cayo, the son of a powerful man in Moray who is trying to support his dying sister after losing most of the family's fortune. Over the course of the novel, their paths begin to intertwine in ways they could have never expected.
I've loved Tara Sim's books ever since reading her debut Timekeeper back in 2016, and I can confidently say that this is my favourite. I'll admit that the first 50 or so pages were slow and difficult to get into, but once it began to pick up it just never stopped. Every chapter would end in a way that made me just have to keep reading, whether it was a cliffhanger or not, which means that I accidentally read almost the entire book in one night. The way Sim's writes is just so compelling and easy to fly through.
I would argue that Sim's greatest strength as a writer is the way she against all odds makes you fall in love with her characters, and this is no exception. Amaya and Cayo almost instantly became two of my favourite characters and stayed that way, even when they would keep making bad choices. I want to focus on Amaya especially because seeing a female YA fantasy protagonist who is ruthless and compassionate and cowardly and kind just really awoke something in me. I didn't just love them as individual characters, though; they have a god tier slow-burn romance. Their romance constantly had me swooning and I truly could not get enough of it.
Tara Sim is just continuing to prove how easy it is to include casual diversity. The book is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world wherein every character is Asian and almost every named character in this is LGBTQ+ ― hell, even a lot of unnamed characters are LGBTQ+. I was kind of astounded with how effortless she makes it, just offhandedly referencing that a character is trans without making it unimportant. Especially when I see so many SFF authors who either don't bother with diversity or do it in the clumsiest way possible.
Comparing this with her other first book, Timekeeper, this is definitely the plottier of the two. Despite only clocking in at just over 300 pages, it seemed like there were constant twists and turns that continued to both delight and surprise me. I know basically nothing about The Count of Monte Cristo ― basically everything I know comes from the TV show Revenge ― so maybe if I knew the original story better some things wouldn't have been such a shock, but as it stands reading this is the most fun I've had figuring out a book's mysteries in a long time.
Honestly, I'm glad I waited half a year to read this because I don't think I would have survived waiting fourteen months for the sequel. I don't know if I'll even survive the seven months I have to wait. Tara Sim continues to impress me and prove why she's one of my favourite authors, delivering on everything you would want out of a gender-bent The Count of Monte Cristo.
08/03/19: I have been murdered, I am literally deceased because of the most beautiful cover I've ever seen, plus this excerpt.
09/10/19: A gender-bent Count of Monte Cristo?? With POC and queer rep?? And a Slytherin girl and Hufflepuff boy?? Written by the author of one of my favourite series?? I have literally never been more hyped for a book in ages.
representation: all-Asian cast, demisexual Asian protagonist, bisexual Asian protagonist, Asian lesbian main and side characters, f/f side relationship, Asian transgender main character, Asian asexual side character
“She had stared at her reflection in its blade, and in that moment she saw herself in halves: the girl who was still finding her land legs meeting eyes with the one who had sworn vengeance on the man who had ruined her family.
She had vowed to become only the latter.”
Don't mind me, I'm just breaking into your house and refusing to leave until you start reading Tara Sim's books because they truly are the greatest. Two books into A-spec August and two five-stars baby!
Scavenge the Stars is the first of a duology that's a loose, Asian-inspired fantasy, gender-bent retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. If you're not already in based on that then I don't know what to tell you. There are two lead characters: Amaya/Silverfish who has spent the past seven years on a debtor ship and is days away from freedom but makes a seemingly foolish decision to save a drowning man who offers her something better than freedom: revenge. Then there's Cayo, the son of a powerful man in Moray who is trying to support his dying sister after losing most of the family's fortune. Over the course of the novel, their paths begin to intertwine in ways they could have never expected.
I've loved Tara Sim's books ever since reading her debut Timekeeper back in 2016, and I can confidently say that this is my favourite. I'll admit that the first 50 or so pages were slow and difficult to get into, but once it began to pick up it just never stopped. Every chapter would end in a way that made me just have to keep reading, whether it was a cliffhanger or not, which means that I accidentally read almost the entire book in one night. The way Sim's writes is just so compelling and easy to fly through.
I would argue that Sim's greatest strength as a writer is the way she against all odds makes you fall in love with her characters, and this is no exception. Amaya and Cayo almost instantly became two of my favourite characters and stayed that way, even when they would keep making bad choices. I want to focus on Amaya especially because seeing a female YA fantasy protagonist who is ruthless and compassionate and cowardly and kind just really awoke something in me. I didn't just love them as individual characters, though; they have a god tier slow-burn romance. Their romance constantly had me swooning and I truly could not get enough of it.
“Although Cayo had lost the race, he was rewarded all the same by the sound of her short, clear laugh ringing over the water.”
Tara Sim is just continuing to prove how easy it is to include casual diversity. The book is set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world wherein every character is Asian and almost every named character in this is LGBTQ+ ― hell, even a lot of unnamed characters are LGBTQ+. I was kind of astounded with how effortless she makes it, just offhandedly referencing that a character is trans without making it unimportant. Especially when I see so many SFF authors who either don't bother with diversity or do it in the clumsiest way possible.
Comparing this with her other first book, Timekeeper, this is definitely the plottier of the two. Despite only clocking in at just over 300 pages, it seemed like there were constant twists and turns that continued to both delight and surprise me. I know basically nothing about The Count of Monte Cristo ― basically everything I know comes from the TV show Revenge ― so maybe if I knew the original story better some things wouldn't have been such a shock, but as it stands reading this is the most fun I've had figuring out a book's mysteries in a long time.
Honestly, I'm glad I waited half a year to read this because I don't think I would have survived waiting fourteen months for the sequel. I don't know if I'll even survive the seven months I have to wait. Tara Sim continues to impress me and prove why she's one of my favourite authors, delivering on everything you would want out of a gender-bent The Count of Monte Cristo.
08/03/19: I have been murdered, I am literally deceased because of the most beautiful cover I've ever seen, plus this excerpt.
09/10/19: A gender-bent Count of Monte Cristo?? With POC and queer rep?? And a Slytherin girl and Hufflepuff boy?? Written by the author of one of my favourite series?? I have literally never been more hyped for a book in ages.
content warnings: aphobia, exclusionary behaviour, discussions of past abusive relationships and bullying
representation: aromantic asexual protagonist, latina lesbian main character, pansexual main character, interracial f/f side relationship, indian non-binary gay asexual main character, bisexual aromantic side character, aromantic asexual side character
This is it. This is my favourite book of the year. Hell, this is one of my favourite books ever. Ever since I Was Born for This I've been calling Alice Oseman one of my favourite authors and with her latest masterpiece she has truly become at the very least a top 3 for me (her only real competition is K. Ancrum tbh).
Said masterpiece is a book about Georgia Warr, a girl going to university and discovering that she's aromantic and asexual. I promise it's not as plotless as that sounds; she also meets a new friend, attempts dating, and tries to save the Shakespeare Society. As with all Alice Oseman books, the cast is fantastic and I need a moment to gush about them. Specifically two members but we'll get to those.
There are three of the four supporting characters who create our main group: Pip Quintana, a Latina lesbian who has been Georgia's best friend since Year Seven when they discovered they both wanted to be actors; Jason Farley-Shaw, the third in their trio who is almost-unhealthily obsessed with the 2002 Scooby Doo movie and has semi-recently gotten out of an awful relationship; and Sunil Jha, the Indian non-binary (he/they) gay asexual president of the Pride Soc and Georgia's 'college parent'. I love all three of these amazing characters so much! But get ready for me to truly gush because we haven't gotten to my two favourites yet.
First, our wonderful protagonist, Georgia Warr, a girl who loves love and is desperate to meet That Person. Obviously you and I know the premise of the book so we know that she's going to discover that she's not interested in that, and watching her slowly realise this is equally excruciating and rewarding. She realising surprisingly quickly that something's up but it takes her a long time to figure out that she's not just a classic late bloomer that we always hear about. She's also a giant nerd who would be content to spend all of her time lying in bed with some biscuits reading a good 200K swoony fic, and isn't that the ultimate mood.
Now, the woman of the hour, maybe my favourite Alice Oseman character ever: Rooney Bach. Rooney is Georgia's roommate at uni and seems like the polar opposite of Georgia: she's chatty and outgoing, seems to make friends with everyone, is beautiful and put-together, and has frequent casual sex. There's a very boring way you could write her character, which is that this is all just a front she puts on and she's actually incredibly insecure. Oseman toys with this concept but ultimately chooses a more interesting route: that this is a big part of Rooney's personality and she is putting up walls, and both of those things can coexist. Over the course of the book she becomes closer with Georgia and starts to fall for Pip, only now realising that she also likes girls. I really liked the way her having casual sex was written because it never felt stereotypical or judgmental. Georgia is worried about Rooney sleeping at stranger's houses, but that's it. The book goes to great lengths to make sure that Rooney's choices are never looked down upon and that her fluid sexuality has nothing to do with her love of sex.
My absolute favourite part of the book, though, was the friendships. Unsurprisingly, a book about a character realising that they're aromantic and asexual has a big focus on platonic relationships, specifically friendships. Oseman has chosen the perfect point in Georgia's life to set this story because, as is mentioned in the book, uni is a time of major change in friendships. Georgia has the benefit of going to the same uni as her two best friends but they end up being placed in a different college to her and she has a stranger for a roommate. She also meets other people, like Sunil, and has to balance these different relationships and the ways they fit into her life.
I cried at two points in this book, and surprisingly none of them were at times when Georgia was coming to terms with her sexuality (though I came very close). Both were moments of Georgia with a different friend. One was a moment with Pip that was so unexpected but also set up from the beginning that made me squeal with joy while crying; the other, my favourite moment in possibly all of fiction, was a moment with Rooney at almost the very end that made me full on sob. Because this book isn't simply about friendships; it's about the differences in friendships. Georgia's relationship with Pip is different from her relationship with Jason is different from her relationship with Rooney is different from her relationship with Sunil. They can all still be equally important, though.
I need to gush, so spoilers for the Rooney moment: Okay, that's out of my system.
This book kind of zapped me of energy in a really good way, so here's a few scattered thoughts to finish this off:
• Fuck Lloyd. I was so proud of what Georgia did at the end, it made me gasp in delight.
• Georgia's relationship with her cousin was so beautiful and was the closest I came to crying without actually doing it.
• All the nerdy references were wonderful.
• I'm currently doing a Shakespeare class and literally watched the 1993 Much Ado About Nothing today so I was able to appreciate all that stuff a lot more.
• This might be Alice Oseman's funniest book.
From the first page to the acknowledgements, this book was my everything. Even if a lot of Georgia's experiences aren't my own, there were still so many moments that felt like hit me incredibly hard. I truly think it's Oseman's best work and I can't wait to reread it for many years to come. Also, this month A-spec August is happening so it's the perfect time to read this.
representation: aromantic asexual protagonist, latina lesbian main character, pansexual main character, interracial f/f side relationship, indian non-binary gay asexual main character, bisexual aromantic side character, aromantic asexual side character
“I used to dream of a spellbinding, endless, forever romance. A beautiful story of meeting a person who could change your whole world.
But now, I realised, friendship could be that, too.”
This is it. This is my favourite book of the year. Hell, this is one of my favourite books ever. Ever since I Was Born for This I've been calling Alice Oseman one of my favourite authors and with her latest masterpiece she has truly become at the very least a top 3 for me (her only real competition is K. Ancrum tbh).
Said masterpiece is a book about Georgia Warr, a girl going to university and discovering that she's aromantic and asexual. I promise it's not as plotless as that sounds; she also meets a new friend, attempts dating, and tries to save the Shakespeare Society. As with all Alice Oseman books, the cast is fantastic and I need a moment to gush about them. Specifically two members but we'll get to those.
There are three of the four supporting characters who create our main group: Pip Quintana, a Latina lesbian who has been Georgia's best friend since Year Seven when they discovered they both wanted to be actors; Jason Farley-Shaw, the third in their trio who is almost-unhealthily obsessed with the 2002 Scooby Doo movie and has semi-recently gotten out of an awful relationship; and Sunil Jha, the Indian non-binary (he/they) gay asexual president of the Pride Soc and Georgia's 'college parent'. I love all three of these amazing characters so much! But get ready for me to truly gush because we haven't gotten to my two favourites yet.
First, our wonderful protagonist, Georgia Warr, a girl who loves love and is desperate to meet That Person. Obviously you and I know the premise of the book so we know that she's going to discover that she's not interested in that, and watching her slowly realise this is equally excruciating and rewarding. She realising surprisingly quickly that something's up but it takes her a long time to figure out that she's not just a classic late bloomer that we always hear about. She's also a giant nerd who would be content to spend all of her time lying in bed with some biscuits reading a good 200K swoony fic, and isn't that the ultimate mood.
Now, the woman of the hour, maybe my favourite Alice Oseman character ever: Rooney Bach. Rooney is Georgia's roommate at uni and seems like the polar opposite of Georgia: she's chatty and outgoing, seems to make friends with everyone, is beautiful and put-together, and has frequent casual sex. There's a very boring way you could write her character, which is that this is all just a front she puts on and she's actually incredibly insecure. Oseman toys with this concept but ultimately chooses a more interesting route: that this is a big part of Rooney's personality and she is putting up walls, and both of those things can coexist. Over the course of the book she becomes closer with Georgia and starts to fall for Pip, only now realising that she also likes girls. I really liked the way her having casual sex was written because it never felt stereotypical or judgmental. Georgia is worried about Rooney sleeping at stranger's houses, but that's it. The book goes to great lengths to make sure that Rooney's choices are never looked down upon and that her fluid sexuality has nothing to do with her love of sex.
My absolute favourite part of the book, though, was the friendships. Unsurprisingly, a book about a character realising that they're aromantic and asexual has a big focus on platonic relationships, specifically friendships. Oseman has chosen the perfect point in Georgia's life to set this story because, as is mentioned in the book, uni is a time of major change in friendships. Georgia has the benefit of going to the same uni as her two best friends but they end up being placed in a different college to her and she has a stranger for a roommate. She also meets other people, like Sunil, and has to balance these different relationships and the ways they fit into her life.
I cried at two points in this book, and surprisingly none of them were at times when Georgia was coming to terms with her sexuality (though I came very close). Both were moments of Georgia with a different friend. One was a moment with Pip that was so unexpected but also set up from the beginning that made me squeal with joy while crying; the other, my favourite moment in possibly all of fiction, was a moment with Rooney at almost the very end that made me full on sob. Because this book isn't simply about friendships; it's about the differences in friendships. Georgia's relationship with Pip is different from her relationship with Jason is different from her relationship with Rooney is different from her relationship with Sunil. They can all still be equally important, though.
I need to gush, so spoilers for the Rooney moment:
Spoiler
ROONEY LITERALLY SAYING THAT GEORGIA IS HER PERSON AND THAT EVEN IF SHE GETS MARRIED AND HAS KIDS GEORGIA WILL STILL BE HER PERSON AND SHE GOT HER FLOWERS AS A PLATONIC GESTURE!!! THIS BOOK IS A ROMANCE, IT'S JUST A PLATONIC ONE WHEREIN THESE TWO GIRLS FALL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER IN A WONDERFUL, NON-ROMANTIC WAY!!! THEY! KEPT! THE! BEDS! TOGETHEEEERRRRR!This book kind of zapped me of energy in a really good way, so here's a few scattered thoughts to finish this off:
• Fuck Lloyd. I was so proud of what Georgia did at the end, it made me gasp in delight.
• Georgia's relationship with her cousin was so beautiful and was the closest I came to crying without actually doing it.
• All the nerdy references were wonderful.
• I'm currently doing a Shakespeare class and literally watched the 1993 Much Ado About Nothing today so I was able to appreciate all that stuff a lot more.
• This might be Alice Oseman's funniest book.
From the first page to the acknowledgements, this book was my everything. Even if a lot of Georgia's experiences aren't my own, there were still so many moments that felt like hit me incredibly hard. I truly think it's Oseman's best work and I can't wait to reread it for many years to come. Also, this month A-spec August is happening so it's the perfect time to read this.
Review can also be found on my blog.
Feminist Lit Feb: a piece of feminist non-fiction
content warnings: discussions of sexism, racism, rape, parental abuse and domestic violence
“Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels…”
I’m not a very big non-fiction reader, not because I’m under the assumption that all non-fiction is dry but because I often don’t find any non-fiction works that interest me enough to warrant me reading an entire book about it, especially when it’s not a memoir. But I picked this up because I’ve been a big fan of Alicia Malone for years and was curious as to what she had to say about women in film. I was not disappointed.
The book is split into three sections: The Past, The Present, and The Future. The first section is by far the longest and covers each decade in Hollywood, the film culture at the time, and highlights several notable women. The Present operates similarly, though stops being decade-focused and instead zeroes in exclusively on highlighting certain women - and men - who are in Hollywood. The future is two pages long and is just Malone writing what her hopes for the future based on her research are.
I’ll start there. This book has clearly been so well-researched. From what I can gather, Malone did most, if not all, the research by herself and it’s kind of incredible. She’s also such a passionate writer, which kept me engaged the entire novel. There’s a very obvious care for the topics that she’s writing about and her enthusiasm seeps through the page, so even when there are the occasional spelling or punctuation error it’s very easy to ignore.
The contents itself of the book is also so fascinating. I knew very little of the subject matter, particularly the further back in history that you go, and I assume most readers will have the same level of knowledge that I have. It’s so wonderful to read about women who were there when film was being invented and were revolutionising it, actresses who found ways to thrive within a system pitted against them, as well as those who didn’t, the women who were making feminist media that’s still incredibly relevant today, and women from today who you recognise but may not even realise the impact that they had.
There’s also something very sad to this book, though. Even though it’s all about acknowledging these incredible women’s accomplishments, there is this underlying sadness to it as you discover more and more women who have been completely forgotten, or even erased, from history for no reason other than they were women.
In case you’re curious, the women (+ two men) and film movements being highlighted are:
→ Alice Guy Blaché: The First Female Filmmaker
→ Lois Weber: Social Issues on Film
→ Mary Pickford: The Movie Star Businesswoman
→ Margaret Booth: The First Film Editor
→ Frances Marion: The Award-Winning Writer
→ Helen Holmes: The Action Hero
→ Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Filmmaker
→ Mae West: The Sex Symbol vs the Code
→ Hattie McDaniel: The Oscar Winner
→ Anna May Wong: Erasure and Exoticism
→ The Women’s Picture
→ Hedy Lamarr: The Pin-Up with the Patent
→ Olivia de Havilland: The Lawmaker
→ Rita Hayworth: The Illusion
→ Dorothy Dandridge: Fighting Against Stereotype
→ The Femme Fatales
→ Marilyn Monroe: The Myth
→ Ida Lupino: Mother of Us All
→ Joan Crawford & Bette Davis: The Famous Feud
→ Jane Fonda: New Hollywood Icon
→ Female Filmmakers, Finally
→ Pam Grier: The Blaxploitation Hero
→ The Female Executives
→ The Firsts: Female Filmmakers of Colour
→ Meryl Streep: Oscar Queen
→ Dr. Stacy L. Smith: Information Is Power
→ Ava DuVernay: History Maker
→ J.J. Abrams and Paul Fieg: Men Who Help Women
→ Keri Putnam: ReFraming the Issue
→ Maria Giese: Taking Action
→ Geena Davis: See It, Be It
→ America Ferrera: Facing Fear
→ Mya Taylor: Transforming Hollywood
→ Octavia Spencer: Scene Stealer
→ Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Using Her Voice
→ Debbie Reynolds & Carrie Fisher: Mother-Daughter Icons
→ Amy Powell: The Risk Taker
→ Denise di Novi: From Producer to Director
→ Nicole Perlman: Writing Her Own Script
→ Joi McMillon: Editing History
→ Rachel Morrison: Striking Images
If you’re looking for a non-fiction book about film that focuses on the works of those who otherwise would likely never be highlighted, I would recommend giving this a read. Or, hell, even if you just want some classic feminist film recommendations, this is definitely worth your time.
Feminist Lit Feb: a piece of feminist non-fiction
content warnings: discussions of sexism, racism, rape, parental abuse and domestic violence
“Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels…”
I’m not a very big non-fiction reader, not because I’m under the assumption that all non-fiction is dry but because I often don’t find any non-fiction works that interest me enough to warrant me reading an entire book about it, especially when it’s not a memoir. But I picked this up because I’ve been a big fan of Alicia Malone for years and was curious as to what she had to say about women in film. I was not disappointed.
The book is split into three sections: The Past, The Present, and The Future. The first section is by far the longest and covers each decade in Hollywood, the film culture at the time, and highlights several notable women. The Present operates similarly, though stops being decade-focused and instead zeroes in exclusively on highlighting certain women - and men - who are in Hollywood. The future is two pages long and is just Malone writing what her hopes for the future based on her research are.
I’ll start there. This book has clearly been so well-researched. From what I can gather, Malone did most, if not all, the research by herself and it’s kind of incredible. She’s also such a passionate writer, which kept me engaged the entire novel. There’s a very obvious care for the topics that she’s writing about and her enthusiasm seeps through the page, so even when there are the occasional spelling or punctuation error it’s very easy to ignore.
The contents itself of the book is also so fascinating. I knew very little of the subject matter, particularly the further back in history that you go, and I assume most readers will have the same level of knowledge that I have. It’s so wonderful to read about women who were there when film was being invented and were revolutionising it, actresses who found ways to thrive within a system pitted against them, as well as those who didn’t, the women who were making feminist media that’s still incredibly relevant today, and women from today who you recognise but may not even realise the impact that they had.
There’s also something very sad to this book, though. Even though it’s all about acknowledging these incredible women’s accomplishments, there is this underlying sadness to it as you discover more and more women who have been completely forgotten, or even erased, from history for no reason other than they were women.
In case you’re curious, the women (+ two men) and film movements being highlighted are:
→ Alice Guy Blaché: The First Female Filmmaker
→ Lois Weber: Social Issues on Film
→ Mary Pickford: The Movie Star Businesswoman
→ Margaret Booth: The First Film Editor
→ Frances Marion: The Award-Winning Writer
→ Helen Holmes: The Action Hero
→ Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Filmmaker
→ Mae West: The Sex Symbol vs the Code
→ Hattie McDaniel: The Oscar Winner
→ Anna May Wong: Erasure and Exoticism
→ The Women’s Picture
→ Hedy Lamarr: The Pin-Up with the Patent
→ Olivia de Havilland: The Lawmaker
→ Rita Hayworth: The Illusion
→ Dorothy Dandridge: Fighting Against Stereotype
→ The Femme Fatales
→ Marilyn Monroe: The Myth
→ Ida Lupino: Mother of Us All
→ Joan Crawford & Bette Davis: The Famous Feud
→ Jane Fonda: New Hollywood Icon
→ Female Filmmakers, Finally
→ Pam Grier: The Blaxploitation Hero
→ The Female Executives
→ The Firsts: Female Filmmakers of Colour
→ Meryl Streep: Oscar Queen
→ Dr. Stacy L. Smith: Information Is Power
→ Ava DuVernay: History Maker
→ J.J. Abrams and Paul Fieg: Men Who Help Women
→ Keri Putnam: ReFraming the Issue
→ Maria Giese: Taking Action
→ Geena Davis: See It, Be It
→ America Ferrera: Facing Fear
→ Mya Taylor: Transforming Hollywood
→ Octavia Spencer: Scene Stealer
→ Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Using Her Voice
→ Debbie Reynolds & Carrie Fisher: Mother-Daughter Icons
→ Amy Powell: The Risk Taker
→ Denise di Novi: From Producer to Director
→ Nicole Perlman: Writing Her Own Script
→ Joi McMillon: Editing History
→ Rachel Morrison: Striking Images
If you’re looking for a non-fiction book about film that focuses on the works of those who otherwise would likely never be highlighted, I would recommend giving this a read. Or, hell, even if you just want some classic feminist film recommendations, this is definitely worth your time.
content warnings: violence, bullying, death
representation: black side characters, side character with a prosthetic leg
“‘No, listen to me.’ His wide blue eyes burned into her black ones. Righteous anger rolled off him like heat from the pavement in summer. ‘You asked me if your talent is being cursed? If you have a knack for ruining things? Hear me when I tell you this: you are not a curse on anyone, Morrigan Crow. You never have been.’”
This book has been getting heaps of hype, and it's incredibly well-deserved. Jessica Townsend is definitely an author to look out for.
The book follows Morrigan Crow, a girl who is supposedly cursed and everything that could possibly go wrong is blamed on her. She has just accepted that she is doomed to die at midnight on Eventide, but then is saved by a strange man who whisks her off to the world of Nevermoor. To earn her place and become part of the Wundrous Society, Morrigan must undergo four trials with the help of her strange mentor in an even stranger world.
It's no secret that I love middle grade and will defend it to stuffy adults until the day I die, and this book is everything that I love about middle grade adventure stories. It's fun, it's a little weird, it has good action, an interesting mystery, engaging characters, and it doesn't shy away from deeper themes when the situation calls for it. Townsend has crafted the world of the Nevermoor series perfectly, and the use of Morrigan as a protagonist was a smart choice.
I absolutely loved Morrigan. She's grown up unloved because of the curse and the strain it puts on her family, all who seem to only put up with her until her inevitable death. So when she comes to Nevermoor, a place where people actually care about her, she doesn't quite know what to do with it. There are several times where she just assumes that people are going to be mad at her or blame her for something she had no part in, and it's genuinely heartbreaking to read about this girl feeling like everything is her fault.
Other than Morrigan, the entire cast of characters is just delightful. Jupiter North, the man who took Morrigan to Nevermoor, is a little absentminded and overall just very strange, but seeing how much he cares about Morrigan (or Mog, as he calls her) was so heartwarming. Jack is Jupiter's nephew and doesn't meet Morrigan until he has a break in school. They immediately don't like each other, both feeling as though the other is encroaching on their territory, but they form a begrudging respect for one another and eventually grow to care. For those of you who don't know, that's one of my all-time favourite friendship tropes. There's also another friendship with Morrigan and a fellow competitor, Hawthorne, a boy who rides dragons and is a smol bean I would die for.
Jupiter runs a hotel, the Hotel Deucalion, and it's full of weird but lovable characters. A Magnificat who hates babysitting but is amazing at it, a kind woman who has six different suitors for Monday through Saturday, a vampire gnome party planner, and so on. As odd and otherworldly as all the characters tend to be, they are never reduced to their weirdness and are fully-fleshed characters.
There's also a lot of really great villain set-up in this book. You hear about them a lot, and even get some brief moments with them on-page, but it is largely just a prologue to what's to come in book two (the villain stuff specifically, the book as a whole doesn't read like a prologue). I'm very excited to see where Morrigan's dynamic with the villain in particular goes in the next book because it has the potential to be very interesting.
If you've heard someone hype this book up, listen to them because you will not be disappointed.
representation: black side characters, side character with a prosthetic leg
“‘No, listen to me.’ His wide blue eyes burned into her black ones. Righteous anger rolled off him like heat from the pavement in summer. ‘You asked me if your talent is being cursed? If you have a knack for ruining things? Hear me when I tell you this: you are not a curse on anyone, Morrigan Crow. You never have been.’”
This book has been getting heaps of hype, and it's incredibly well-deserved. Jessica Townsend is definitely an author to look out for.
The book follows Morrigan Crow, a girl who is supposedly cursed and everything that could possibly go wrong is blamed on her. She has just accepted that she is doomed to die at midnight on Eventide, but then is saved by a strange man who whisks her off to the world of Nevermoor. To earn her place and become part of the Wundrous Society, Morrigan must undergo four trials with the help of her strange mentor in an even stranger world.
It's no secret that I love middle grade and will defend it to stuffy adults until the day I die, and this book is everything that I love about middle grade adventure stories. It's fun, it's a little weird, it has good action, an interesting mystery, engaging characters, and it doesn't shy away from deeper themes when the situation calls for it. Townsend has crafted the world of the Nevermoor series perfectly, and the use of Morrigan as a protagonist was a smart choice.
I absolutely loved Morrigan. She's grown up unloved because of the curse and the strain it puts on her family, all who seem to only put up with her until her inevitable death. So when she comes to Nevermoor, a place where people actually care about her, she doesn't quite know what to do with it. There are several times where she just assumes that people are going to be mad at her or blame her for something she had no part in, and it's genuinely heartbreaking to read about this girl feeling like everything is her fault.
Other than Morrigan, the entire cast of characters is just delightful. Jupiter North, the man who took Morrigan to Nevermoor, is a little absentminded and overall just very strange, but seeing how much he cares about Morrigan (or Mog, as he calls her) was so heartwarming. Jack is Jupiter's nephew and doesn't meet Morrigan until he has a break in school. They immediately don't like each other, both feeling as though the other is encroaching on their territory, but they form a begrudging respect for one another and eventually grow to care. For those of you who don't know, that's one of my all-time favourite friendship tropes. There's also another friendship with Morrigan and a fellow competitor, Hawthorne, a boy who rides dragons and is a smol bean I would die for.
Jupiter runs a hotel, the Hotel Deucalion, and it's full of weird but lovable characters. A Magnificat who hates babysitting but is amazing at it, a kind woman who has six different suitors for Monday through Saturday, a vampire gnome party planner, and so on. As odd and otherworldly as all the characters tend to be, they are never reduced to their weirdness and are fully-fleshed characters.
There's also a lot of really great villain set-up in this book. You hear about them a lot, and even get some brief moments with them on-page, but it is largely just a prologue to what's to come in book two (the villain stuff specifically, the book as a whole doesn't read like a prologue). I'm very excited to see where Morrigan's dynamic with the villain in particular goes in the next book because it has the potential to be very interesting.
If you've heard someone hype this book up, listen to them because you will not be disappointed.
SapphicAThon: a book where the main character is a person of colour, a book with a cover you love, a book that fulfills your favourite prompt form the last sapphicathon (non-coming out story), a book that one of the hosts has read
Feminist Lit February: an #ownvoices book about an experience other than your own
content warnings: sexual assault, slavery, misogyny, violence, murder, loss of a loved one, themes of war, gaslighting
representation: asian-coded sapphic protagonist, asian-coded sapphic main character, f/f main relationship, asian-coded main and side characters
“I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.”
This book was receiving a lot of buzz when it came out, and for good reason. Girls of Paper and Fire is an Asian-inspired fantasy book in which there are three castes; the Paper caste, made up of humans; the Steel caste, who are half-human half-demon; and the Moon caste, who are entirely demon. The world within the book is ruled by a Demon King who every year gets eight new Paper Girls who are essentially his sex slaves. But the protagonist of the book, Lei, is a ninth girl who is noticed for her unnaturally golden eyes. Unlike many of the other Paper Girls who see their position as a thing of honour, Lei hates the Demon King and frequently rebels. One such act of rebellion is falling in love with a fellow Paper Girl.
I’ll admit, it was a bit hard getting into this book at first; the first 100 pages or so are quite description-heavy as Lei is taken from her village, journeying to the Demon King’s palace, and becoming accustomed with being a Paper Girl. But after that the story really picks up with the focus no longer being on description and instead being on Lei’s defiance towards the King and her romance with Wren.
Speaking of, I now have a new favourite fictional couple. The romance was built up really well and I literally screamed in my kitchen at some points when they were interacting. I loved seeing how much they both cared about one another, protecting and defending each other. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes in the next book, and I’m crossing my fingers the author doesn’t decide to add some unnecessary relationship drama.
The characters in this book are so interesting. Despite there being so many of them, all the Paper Girls felt very distinct and I liked that none of them were forgotten as the narrative went along. Lei has several moments with each girl, some more than others, and I really enjoyed seeing all of them whenever they showed up. There are a few side characters who were also really interesting, but the one I really want to focus on is the Demon King.
This book deals very heavily with sexual violence and sex slavery, and does so very well in my opinion. There was something I noticed in Lei’s first big scene with the Demon King and continued to notice as the book went along that I loved; the way that he gaslights the girls. When Lei is summoned to him, he is kind to her. He has organised for her favourite food to be served, treats her with something akin to respect, makes conversation with her. And then, right before ordering her to go to his bed, he says, “I’m good to my Paper Girls, if they are good to me”, which I think sums up his gaslighting perfectly. He acts as if it is a privilege for the girls to be with him, as if it is mutually beneficial, and unfortunately, as we’re shown with Aoki, it sometimes works; she ends up falling in love with the Demon King, saying that “he makes [her] feel special”. I absolutely loved how this book portrayed its abuser, with Lei’s disgusted perspective never allowing us to feel anything positive towards him but also showing us why others thought differently to Lei.
The world-building, for a first book, is pretty good. There are a few times when it feels a little info-dumpy, particularly towards the start and in some of Wren’s dialogue, but on the whole it works very well. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the portrayal of the types of ‘acceptable’ relationships within this society; relationships between men and women are accepted, and it’s mentioned that relationships between men are also fine. But relationships between women are unheard of. It’s never specified whether it’s something that’s simply frowned upon or if it’s not allowed, but it reminded me of several ancient societies (Greek, Roman, Japanese, etc.) and the history nerd in me liked that part.
Natasha Ngan has crafted a fantastic story with this book, inserting incredibly modern themes in her ancient high fantasy. While the world-building wasn’t always the best and the start is a bit slow, it was still a great read and I’m highly anticipating the sequel and any of her future work.
Feminist Lit February: an #ownvoices book about an experience other than your own
content warnings: sexual assault, slavery, misogyny, violence, murder, loss of a loved one, themes of war, gaslighting
representation: asian-coded sapphic protagonist, asian-coded sapphic main character, f/f main relationship, asian-coded main and side characters
“I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.”
This book was receiving a lot of buzz when it came out, and for good reason. Girls of Paper and Fire is an Asian-inspired fantasy book in which there are three castes; the Paper caste, made up of humans; the Steel caste, who are half-human half-demon; and the Moon caste, who are entirely demon. The world within the book is ruled by a Demon King who every year gets eight new Paper Girls who are essentially his sex slaves. But the protagonist of the book, Lei, is a ninth girl who is noticed for her unnaturally golden eyes. Unlike many of the other Paper Girls who see their position as a thing of honour, Lei hates the Demon King and frequently rebels. One such act of rebellion is falling in love with a fellow Paper Girl.
I’ll admit, it was a bit hard getting into this book at first; the first 100 pages or so are quite description-heavy as Lei is taken from her village, journeying to the Demon King’s palace, and becoming accustomed with being a Paper Girl. But after that the story really picks up with the focus no longer being on description and instead being on Lei’s defiance towards the King and her romance with Wren.
Speaking of, I now have a new favourite fictional couple. The romance was built up really well and I literally screamed in my kitchen at some points when they were interacting. I loved seeing how much they both cared about one another, protecting and defending each other. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes in the next book, and I’m crossing my fingers the author doesn’t decide to add some unnecessary relationship drama.
The characters in this book are so interesting. Despite there being so many of them, all the Paper Girls felt very distinct and I liked that none of them were forgotten as the narrative went along. Lei has several moments with each girl, some more than others, and I really enjoyed seeing all of them whenever they showed up. There are a few side characters who were also really interesting, but the one I really want to focus on is the Demon King.
This book deals very heavily with sexual violence and sex slavery, and does so very well in my opinion. There was something I noticed in Lei’s first big scene with the Demon King and continued to notice as the book went along that I loved; the way that he gaslights the girls. When Lei is summoned to him, he is kind to her. He has organised for her favourite food to be served, treats her with something akin to respect, makes conversation with her. And then, right before ordering her to go to his bed, he says, “I’m good to my Paper Girls, if they are good to me”, which I think sums up his gaslighting perfectly. He acts as if it is a privilege for the girls to be with him, as if it is mutually beneficial, and unfortunately, as we’re shown with Aoki, it sometimes works; she ends up falling in love with the Demon King, saying that “he makes [her] feel special”. I absolutely loved how this book portrayed its abuser, with Lei’s disgusted perspective never allowing us to feel anything positive towards him but also showing us why others thought differently to Lei.
The world-building, for a first book, is pretty good. There are a few times when it feels a little info-dumpy, particularly towards the start and in some of Wren’s dialogue, but on the whole it works very well. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the portrayal of the types of ‘acceptable’ relationships within this society; relationships between men and women are accepted, and it’s mentioned that relationships between men are also fine. But relationships between women are unheard of. It’s never specified whether it’s something that’s simply frowned upon or if it’s not allowed, but it reminded me of several ancient societies (Greek, Roman, Japanese, etc.) and the history nerd in me liked that part.
Natasha Ngan has crafted a fantastic story with this book, inserting incredibly modern themes in her ancient high fantasy. While the world-building wasn’t always the best and the start is a bit slow, it was still a great read and I’m highly anticipating the sequel and any of her future work.
1) Saga, Vol. 1 ★★★★
2) Saga, Vol. 2 ★★★★
3) Saga, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, gore, murder, graphic sexual content, misogyny, homophobia, discussions of forced underage prostitution suicide
representation: main and side characters of colour, main interracial relationship, side bisexual character of colour, side m/m relationship
Of the three I've read, this is easily my favourite volume. The characters are at their strongest here, as well as there being several strong characters added. Also, and this is me being extremely biased, The Brand is really hot and she's introduced in this volume. Not sorry about it.
The plot in this one should be more boring, on the whole. Alana, Marko and Co. are literally just chilling but there's such good character stuff done and we all know that that's my shit. The stuff with the two reporters was also fairly interesting, as well as giving us some good backstory for some characters. As usual, though, The Will's storyline was probably my favourite. I just love this weird found-family thing that was going on and I would fully support a spin-off AU about those dynamics. This volume also mercifully had very little IV, and where he did appear he was directly supporting the plot of Alana, Marko and Co. so I was okay with it.
If any of the following volumes are as good as this one then I'm extremely excited to continue on.
2) Saga, Vol. 2 ★★★★
3) Saga, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
content warnings: violence, gore, murder, graphic sexual content, misogyny, homophobia, discussions of forced underage prostitution suicide
representation: main and side characters of colour, main interracial relationship, side bisexual character of colour, side m/m relationship
Of the three I've read, this is easily my favourite volume. The characters are at their strongest here, as well as there being several strong characters added. Also, and this is me being extremely biased, The Brand is really hot and she's introduced in this volume. Not sorry about it.
The plot in this one should be more boring, on the whole. Alana, Marko and Co. are literally just chilling but there's such good character stuff done and we all know that that's my shit. The stuff with the two reporters was also fairly interesting, as well as giving us some good backstory for some characters. As usual, though, The Will's storyline was probably my favourite. I just love this weird found-family thing that was going on and I would fully support a spin-off AU about those dynamics. This volume also mercifully had very little IV, and where he did appear he was directly supporting the plot of Alana, Marko and Co. so I was okay with it.
If any of the following volumes are as good as this one then I'm extremely excited to continue on.
Review also posted on my blog.
content warnings: abortion, anti-abortion sentiments (challenged), slut shaming, misogyny, cat calling, brief sex scene, vomiting, mentions of bomb threats, gun violence and rape
representation: latina main character
I am a puddle of emotions. This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time, and probably the only one so far this year to make me cry. This book follows three teenage girls - Camille, Bea and Annabelle - as they have to drive from their hometown in Texas to the border so that Camille can get an abortion.
This is an incredibly difficult book to read. There were several parts where I just had to stop he audiobook and sit for a minute because I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. That is to say, this book did exactly what it wanted to do, and it did so flawlessly. This book portrays the near-impossibility of getting abortions in America, with scenes of Camille being tricked by a Pregnancy Crisis Centre, being humiliated by a pharmacist who refused to sell her a pregnancy test, having a judge tell her she's too immature to have an abortion without parental permission, and so many more. I loved that this book doesn't gloss over any of the horrible things people seeking abortions will have to go through.
The book isn't all just misery and gut-wrenching scenes. There's also an amazing friendship in this trio of girls at the centre of the book. Annabelle doesn't know either girl very well but is still willing to drive to the border to help Camille, and Bea is deeply religious and initially disapproves of Camille's decision but decides to support her best friend anyways. There are so many scenes between these three girls that had me laughing one minute and crying the next, because they're all incredibly different people with different ideologies, particularly with Annabelle and Bea's views on abortion.
The author's note at the end of this is what really broke me, though. It reminded me of the movie Spotlight (give me a minute, I'll explain). Throughout both this book and that movie, I felt awful (in a good way) because of the events being portrayed but it wasn't until the end when they tell you about what's happening in the real world that I lost it. This book also gives several resources concerning abortion, birth control, etc. which I liked.
One thing I especially appreciated about this book is that it doesn't fade to black when Camille gets her abortion. You're in the room with her the entire time as both she and the reader are explained what's going to happen, and I really loved that Sharon Biggs Waller was essentially telling her audience (which is largely teenage girls) what the procedure is like if they were to need an abortion.
This book is incredibly difficult to read and even though it's just over 200 pages it still packs a massive punch. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks that they can handle the source material.
content warnings: abortion, anti-abortion sentiments (challenged), slut shaming, misogyny, cat calling, brief sex scene, vomiting, mentions of bomb threats, gun violence and rape
representation: latina main character
“I read this quote from Virginia Woolf once, about how the future is dark, and how she thinks that’s the best thing the future can be, that we can’t know how our actions can affect it and how that’s good. Otherwise we’d lose hope. But I wish the future weren’t dark. I wish it were, like, full of light so I could see what was ahead of me.”
I am a puddle of emotions. This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time, and probably the only one so far this year to make me cry. This book follows three teenage girls - Camille, Bea and Annabelle - as they have to drive from their hometown in Texas to the border so that Camille can get an abortion.
This is an incredibly difficult book to read. There were several parts where I just had to stop he audiobook and sit for a minute because I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. That is to say, this book did exactly what it wanted to do, and it did so flawlessly. This book portrays the near-impossibility of getting abortions in America, with scenes of Camille being tricked by a Pregnancy Crisis Centre, being humiliated by a pharmacist who refused to sell her a pregnancy test, having a judge tell her she's too immature to have an abortion without parental permission, and so many more. I loved that this book doesn't gloss over any of the horrible things people seeking abortions will have to go through.
The book isn't all just misery and gut-wrenching scenes. There's also an amazing friendship in this trio of girls at the centre of the book. Annabelle doesn't know either girl very well but is still willing to drive to the border to help Camille, and Bea is deeply religious and initially disapproves of Camille's decision but decides to support her best friend anyways. There are so many scenes between these three girls that had me laughing one minute and crying the next, because they're all incredibly different people with different ideologies, particularly with Annabelle and Bea's views on abortion.
The author's note at the end of this is what really broke me, though. It reminded me of the movie Spotlight (give me a minute, I'll explain). Throughout both this book and that movie, I felt awful (in a good way) because of the events being portrayed but it wasn't until the end when they tell you about what's happening in the real world that I lost it. This book also gives several resources concerning abortion, birth control, etc. which I liked.
One thing I especially appreciated about this book is that it doesn't fade to black when Camille gets her abortion. You're in the room with her the entire time as both she and the reader are explained what's going to happen, and I really loved that Sharon Biggs Waller was essentially telling her audience (which is largely teenage girls) what the procedure is like if they were to need an abortion.
This book is incredibly difficult to read and even though it's just over 200 pages it still packs a massive punch. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks that they can handle the source material.