(Mini-Review) How do I even begin to talk about how much I loved They Never Learn? I’d almost argue the more blind you go into this, the better - I was constantly on the edge of my seat with the multiple twists & turns thrown at you. This is truly an expertly crafted thriller, one that will definitely have you both questioning your morality and rooting for the killer! The queer representation here, particularly the bisexual representation, was excellent. It felt amazing to have so many real & relatable characters throughout. Layne Fargo truly hit it out of the park - this the feminist, queer revenge tale everyone needs in their lives! Go out & get this ASAP!

(Mini-Review) 4.5 Stars - This was such a fast-paced thrill from beginning to end! Like all of Sager’s books, it pulls you in right from the start & doesn’t let up until the twisted finale! Lock Every Door had a ton of strengths, but the biggest had to be its location - an exclusive, gothic, mysterious apartment building made for a truly claustrophobic setting at times! I honestly had no idea where this was going to go, but i was pleasantly surprised when the final reveal was made. Is it a semi-spoiler to say

Spoiler

that I can absolutely see something like this happening in real life?

This was a ton of fun and a really great, original read, check it out if you haven’t!

Narration: 5 Stars
Story: 5 Stars

I finally, finally picked up a Blake Crouch book & ya'll, I'm just blown away - lately I've been sitting on my reviews for a bit, but I haven't been able to get this out of my head once since finishing a few nights ago. This is easily one of my top books of the year!

I went into this pretty blind & I'd highly recommend doing the same, so I'm going to keep this pretty low on detail & plot. You're instantly drawn in & not once - not once! - did this let up, I was either consistently on the edge of my seat from the numerous twists & turns or sitting there with tears in my eyes pondering the meaning of humanity & life. Crouch is an incredible storyteller, I completely understand the hype, & he really does write sci-fi in such an accessible way. I will say I think the audiobook really worked in my favor here, it was much easier to grasp & understand having the technical terms being read to me vs. me reading them myself. & speaking of the audiobook, our narrator, Henry Levya, did an amazing job, he really sold the emotion & made the characters, especially Logan, so deeply human. I'm not lying when I say this brought me to tears more than once, there's such an important underlying message to be taken away from this story, one that will stay with me for a long time.

Needless to say, I absolutely loved this & highly recommend picking up a copy, & thank you so much for the free audiobook @prhaudio! I wanted to this end with what is easily my favorite line from the entire book - What do you call a heart that is simultaneously full and breaking? Maybe there's no word for it, but for some reason, it makes me think of rain falling through sunlight.

Heartbreaking, profoundly moving, & relatable even after all these years, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room beautifully captures the struggles queer men oftentimes face when coming to terms with their sexuality.

This book was published in 1956 - think about that for a moment. Consensual sex between two people of the same sex wasn't fully decriminalized in the United States until 2003. The fact that Baldwin was able to write so honestly & openly about sexuality in the '50s blows my mind. So many of the topics touched upon within Giovanni's Room are still highly relevant to this day within the queer community - ageism, body shaming, & toxic masculinity, to name just a few. David's struggles are struggles that many queer men still go through on a daily basis. While I didn't necessarily agree with all of his decisions throughout the novel, as a gay man who has gone through similar internal battles at one point in my life, I can understand why he made them.

Giovanni's Room is a true classic in the realm of queer literature, you'll be transfixed by Baldwin's beautiful writing. If you haven't picked this up yet, I highly encourage you to do so!