notsobinaryart's Reviews (153)

Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca & NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

I really wanted to love this one as a lover of non-human romance, hidden identity trope, and queer rep, but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations.

Maybe it’s because we started the book with both characters already having deep feelings for one another, but I had a hard time seeing and connecting with the romance. We see bits and pieces of their relationship forming through flashback group texts, which helps some, but with the robotic way our alien mmc Tam thought & spoke it was a bit harder at times to feel the romance. It did, however, make the genuinely sweet things he said feel even more hard earned.

The pacing also felt off, especially how much time we spent between the two officially professing feelings & intention to be together up to the end resolution seeming to drag on, then have a rushed last minute situation. That being said, I would’ve loved a short epilogue in the end exploring how the conclusion played out in a few years down the line, or even a 6 month check in.

One thing I did enjoy about this book is the bits of world building we got for what alien civilizations are like compared to earth. I loved the comparisons, and one of my favorite things in a human x nonhuman romance is when the nonhuman comments in how weird something that normal humans do every day is to them. I love alien & monster romance make us take a critical eye to what we’ve normalized in our societies, even if the critiques of humankind weren’t particularly deep in most cases.

Found family was also a big part of this book with a big group of self-proclaimed weirdos & space nerds meeting for the first time irl after being online only. I loved seeing the group dynamics and finding those that get you, and I’m curious to see what happens to the restroom of the characters if this continues as a series!

Overall cute concept but I don’t think I’ll be rereading this one!

Spice rating 1/5 
(

two scenes described briefly & without detailed language

)

Rep:

Tropes

I stopped because of the heavy trigger warnings that happened at the halfway mark. The writing & pacing up until this point was also off, though the art is beautiful

Please check the trigger warnings before you go into this book. I don’t think they are handled in good manner, instead just throwing the triggers ||pedophilia, sexual assault, incestous harassment/assault from a stepsister|| and more

I don’t usually read sci-fi, but I really enjoyed All Systems Red! It’s a really good introduction to sci-fi, in my opinion, as it is not super complex, have a ton of necessary world building, or have a massive cast of characters. Despite having “murder” in the series title, it is relatively cozy somehow? Maybe my perspective of cozy is really warped, but the themes aren’t as dark, you root for everyone around you, and there isn’t a ton of gore or other heavy triggers. 

 

There is sort of asexual representation in the main robot character, as well as debatably theoretical autism characteristics that a lot of robots have, but especially Murderbot as they don’t like making eye contact and a lot of other social norms. Queer normative world with polyamorous side characters as well!

Cute & sugary sweet sapphic novella! Read for the Trans Rights Readathon, and enjoyed this for a short lighthearted read to round out my 11 days of reading. Some editing and grammar issues did stick out to me while reading, and I don't think this story is going to particularly stick with me, but I'm glad I read it as a nice short palette cleanser. Recommend for someone looking for anyone looking for a short, trope-filled romance.

Content warning for toxic family that is recurring and can add a bit of stress to this otherwise sweet and lighthearted book.

I think I would appreciate this book a lot more if I was more familiar or nostalgic about Alice in Wonderland, but I was never especially interested in that particular story. I think people who already like Alice would get a lot more out of the parallels of the original story to the Indigenous (specifically, Anishinaabe) culture infused crossover. I liked learning more about these characters in Anishinaabe lore in this middle grade tale, and learning some new words alongside some I've learned from other books like Braiding Sweetgrass. I'd recommend this most to the target middle grade audience, especially lovers of the original tale or who can relate to the feelings of isolation our main character Aimée faces due to being Indigenous, nonbinary, and overall "different" to a harsh middle school crowd. 

One line I found hilarious was the Queen saying “Are you a little boy? A girl?” and Aimée replying “a gamer.” like mood sometimes you don’t want to explain your gender, let me just tell you about me instead.

I also found it really cool that we learn on the dedication page that the author’s earnings are going to support the Sanilac Petroglyphs for their protection and recognition. 

I really enjoyed this one! I usually breeze through graphic novels, but I took my time with this one, with both the beautiful story and illustrations. We never get an official label for one of our main characters, George, because of the fact that historically George would not have had the language we have now, but I imagine George is trans masc. I related a lot to elements George went through as an AFAB nonbinary person, and I loved how we can tell George is trans even when we aren't explicitly told George's gender identity. 

At times our other main character, Eleanor, can be a bit insufferable, what with her privilege as a cis white woman with money and status, but I appreciate this character arc for her at the same time. Because, realistically, a young woman in her position would be a bit insufferable, both as a nature of late teenagers messing up as part of their growth of coming into their own, and as she would be naturally very ignorant to people deemed socially "below" her as she believes. She grew up with wealth and privilege and expected to act a certain way, it's not surprising she had to grow past some of ignorant thoughts and behaviors. I appreciate, though, that the book doesn't seem to treat her words and actions as okay, but is acknowledged by her friends as wrong but they are willing to let her grow and change. Her actions do have consequences, but ultimately it is a hopeful romance where everything works out. I love when books, especially YA, show our next generations that redemption is possible, that one mistake doesn't have to be the end of your future, that making the world better is possible if we all keep trying. 

This book is so tender and sweet, with great growth of our young adults not just together but separate as well as they have time to explore by themselves what is important in life to them. Highly recommend to teenagers looking for queer representation, or for adults like myself searching for the representation they didn't get to see as a child.

Representation:

Thank you Forever Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC!

Kiss Me, Maybe is a cute romance, but even more a look into the experience of a newly out asexual finding her way through posting on social media and building community both online and in person. Angela has recently come to terms that she is on the asexual spectrum, and in this book she explores even more so where exactly she is along that spectrum, if she is even interested in sex, and how exactly this has shaped who she is as a person today.

I'll start off with what I loved. I came into this book excited for the sapphic romance with a librarian and a promise of a big scavenger hunt aided by social media. What instead I found was so much relatability to her experience growing up on the ace spectrum. The questioning from others on why you haven't done expected things, the questioning yourself if you're alone in your feelings, so many other universal queer experiences but also so specific to the ace community that I related to so much. 

The setting being in Texas is another thing I loved. I live in Oklahoma, and we hardly get books set in this part of the country, especially romance and especially especially a queer romance. I loved that there were landmarks like Six Flags that I've actually gone to. It's so important to remind people that queer people exist everywhere, including in heavily Republican-controlled states.

I think maybe because I related so much to the queer experiences in this book I had an even harder time distancing myself from unbelievable plot points or things that in real life would drive me mad if they happened to me.
 

Instead of being enamored by the will-they-won't-they, I was frustrated by all the mixed signals they were sending to each other. They both clearly expressed care, only for the other to then ruin the moment so many times that it got repetitive and frustrating for me as a reader.

I was also really excited for the theatrics of the scavenger hunt, but all of the planning and actual event took a back burner to everything else that it felt a bit more like an afterthought.

There were also some plot holes and inaccuracies throughout that may be edited out for the final run. One of these was when a character said they were getting too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen because they were surrounded by too many plants, which is the opposite effect plants have. Not story relevant, but a common enough science fact to leave me surprised that made it in. Another was when Angela threw her phone, broke it, said she then couldn't contact a character, but also texted other characters? If the phone was only partially working or if she was just using this as an excuse it wasn't clearly described and instead just seemed like a plot hole. The final one I'll mention was when the mural was washed away. What mural is painted with water soluble pigment? It also had been up for a long time at that point, and if it had been water soluble I would think rain would have taken it down by then.

I'd recommend this book if you are someone that loves angst, a will-they-won't-they story, or someone that can distance themselves enough from some ridiculous plot points and just enjoy the ride. I'd especially recommend this to lovers of sapphic romance, sex-favorable ace spectrum rep, family drama, friends to lovers trope, messy gays, and discussions on the complex role of social media in our lives.