ouch. just, ouch.

i’ll come up with something better soon, but for right now? my heart hurts.

Chuck Tingle gets weirder and weirder (complimentary).

Intense from the first page, Tingle drops you into the world of statistics professor Vera who is on the cusp of achieving it all- until she isn't. Everything changes in the blink of an eye, and we're right along with Vera as everything *literally* unravels around her. 

I read most of this book with my mouth open in horror and awe of the things Tingle cooks up. In true Chuck fashion, there's gore aplenty but it *works*. Most queer people I know have had the "what good is trying? what does it matter?" talk with themselves, and being inside Vera's brain while she's having them herself sure was painful!

One of my favorite things about a Tingle book (aside from the many existential crises they give me) is his ability to put the characters through hell and back but never breaking their spirits. Queer people are resilient as fuck and Chuck gets it. 

Another 10/10 from Tingle as far as I'm concerned. 

As a former Quiet But Angry Kid, this book really hits the mark. 

Finn's anger and hurt are so LOUD it makes you want to reach right through the page and give him a hug and tell him it's going to be okay. 

Not enough middle grade books explore grief in a way that feels like this and I love the idea of channeling that hurt into something outdoors that maybe a kid wouldn't choose if left their to own devices. 

Heartbreaking, healing, and still somehow joyful, I loved Finn's journey through. A beautiful novel in verse that I think will land well with middle schoolers and adults alike. 

If you've ever thought there was an untapped literary market for lovers of lesbian clowns with mommy issues, boy do I have a book for you!

I love an unreliable and, honestly, kind of unlikable narrator and Cherry ticks both of those boxes. She's somehow both incredibly self aware and completely clueless in her interactions, and yet you still cannot help but want good things to happen for Cherry. Setting this story in Florida and showing how queer folks find one another and make our own spaces even in places we may not be wanted feels incredibly important, especially now, and I love how Florida fit this story.

Whether she's sleeping with the mother of the kid whose birthday party she's clowning at, tormenting Mister Manager at her dead end retail job, or preforming in a 7-Eleven parking lot, Cherry did everything with heart and very little thought of repercussions. Her relationship with her own mother is incredibly relatable and boy was it wild to see it reflected on the page back at me.

Filled with clownery, a whole lotta MILFs and just as much heart, I really enjoyed this little glimpse into that weird time in your late 20's where you think you should start getting serious about shit, but actually you've never been serious about anything in your life ever so how do you do that? I may never look at greasepaint the same way again, but definitely recommend this one.

I've started like three different ways of reviewing this book but I really don't know how to get across what it was like reading it. 

You jump RIGHT into the chaos of Trevor and Jacob's relationship, and immediately Jacob almost dies. That being our first introduction to them sets the pace for the first half of the book and I could not put the thing down. I was so caught up in this world of racing and hospitals and wanting to know what would happen if/when Jacob woke up and how his less than stellar family was going to react- Not well, just as I suspected!

I've said time and time again that I love a flawed character, and when I tell you these boys have flaws! They were not great to one another in their relationship, and you find them in it as one of them is fighting for their life, but you still kind of are rooting for them? The angst here is just *chefs kiss* if you're into that, and boy am I into that. It's messy and a little but absurd but honestly I was into that aspect so much. 

I've also said before that I know nothing about F1, so I can't comment on any of that, but I will say that I really loved watching Trevor and Jacob find their footing and really try to grow into themselves separately before they were ever able to work on "them" together. Trevor finding his little group of found family in his racing crew was so rewarding for me and honestly I would have been happy with near any ending as long as he got to keep them. 

My biggest issue was how QUICKLY things were resolved, but it does work narratively and I think the ending was a satisfying one that people will enjoy.

This one is going to be one that sticks with me for a while and I will absolutely end up reading it again!

A drag queen solving murders and being fabulous while doing it? Sign me up. 

It took a bit for the story to get going for me, but once it did, I was invested on what Misty and Miles were going to discover next. I thought I had it figured out a few times before I truly did, and it was so satisfying to have it right. 

The ending is clearly setting up for another book, and I kind of hated the abruptness of it, but it was still a fun read!