I try not to think about her, but it’s like trying not to picture the color red.

I read this within six hours, 3.5 hours of actual reading. I was looking for something to pull me out of my reading slump and this did the trick. I had a lot of fun with it, and I really liked all the other relationships in the story, not just the romantic ones. The friendships and familial relationships were also wholesome and well written.
There’s some interesting commentary on relationships and the main character (Scottie) is recovering from one in the timeline of the story, so of course that was engaging.

Bonus points for no dumb third act conflict. There’s a short scene with miscommunication but it’s quickly resolved and the characters eventually make healthy decisions instead of just jumping into a relationship with the assumption that it will solve all their problems. Also one bed trope, hate to love and
fake dating, all in one book, AND it’s gay? I was absolutely spoiled. 

The only reason I’m giving it 4.5 stars is just because it didn’t hit quite like other similar books, e.g. Some Girls Do. It’s wholesome and cute but wasn’t deep enough for my usual taste. It did make me cry, but at this point that’s just the bare minimum. Highly recommend for anyone who just wants a sapphic romcom to have a good time with. 

Song: Honestly anything by Conan Gray, but specifically Astronomy and Jigsaw.  

It was as good as I remember. I’m unspeakably happy that I had such positive role models and good storytelling when I was younger. Also, we stan disability rep. I highly recommend this for ages 9-11 and anyone older who wants to have some fun. 

It’s a nice overview, and as someone who has an interest in LGBTQ+ history I had already known, or at least heard of, some of the people and events mentioned, but others I didn’t recognize. It’s not very in-depth, but it does give you somewhere to start so you can do more research on your own later on. It’s also a quick read, I finished it in about two hours over the course of a few days (I was reading the ebook so it shows how long it took me). And props to the artists, the art is really cute and, of course, colorful 😊

I just finished this book and honestly I have no clue what happened in it. We started off with two impulsive young boys having a good time, and ended with dark reflections on life, death and laughter. Bradbury has a writing style with a lot of intentional run on sentences and a certain rhythm in the words that helps with the tone of the story. I admit, the first half of this book is kind of dull and, as someone who is not the target audience of it, I couldn’t relate to the main characters. I felt like an observer, but I didn’t feel particularly connected. It’s very much a “for the guys” book and for anyone who would’ve had nostalgia from growing up in the 1920s (which at this point is barely anyone). It’s definitely not a page turner, but after a certain point it’s… intriguing.  My brain kept going from Ray Bradbury’s an annoying, if creative, idiot to he’s  a genius and I am incapable of properly appreciating this work, but by the end I leaned a lot more towards the latter. So my advice for this book is stick with it and you might have fun. 

Red, White & Royal Blue is for restoring your hope in a better present and future, the thing to work towards, an inspiration for how to live your life.
One Last Stop is the place you come back to after a days hard work fighting for that better future, the comforting home and the little things.

Top five books I’ve ever read, no questions asked. Beautiful. Unbelievably gorgeous. Wonderful. I don’t have any more synonyms to describe what the experience of reading this book was like
Apologies if this review gets more and more emotionally as it goes on charged because when I tell you I felt this book, I mean it. I read this book in 24 hours, starting sometime after midnight on July 4th and finishing some time after midnight on July 5th. There was not a dry face in my vicinity (and by that I mean just me) for the last 100 pages.  Even the goddamn author’s note made me cry happy tears. Anyway, enough with the sappy gushing over this book, and onto the hard facts of why you HAVE to read this, Alex-style:

One: It is filled to the brim with LGBTQ+ history references, and I loved that.
Two: The dialogue is absolute gold and belongs in… I don’t even know what place would be holy enough for such a masterpiece.
Three: Despite some inaccuracies, the political aspect wasn’t absolutely botched, in my humble opinion.
Four: Despite lacking a so-called side plot of a mystery like One Last Stop, it still hooks you and doesn’t let go until a day after you’ve read the last word.
Five: Omg even the gosh darn emails were so well written
Six: British boy. That’s it, no explanation needed. 
Seven: The side characters are to die for. Literally, I would step in front of a bullet for June, Nora, Zhara, Bea, any of them. Even frikin David Bowie the Beagle. 
Eight: Casey apparently loves to write scenes of characters lazying around in bed and I stan that
Nine: Nerdy gays are the best gays, change my mind.
Ten: And last but abso-fucking-lutely not last, HENRY AND ALEX OMGGGGGGGG. What a couple of insufferable, adorable twinks. I love them so much. 

Bonus points for: Giving me comfort in a difficult time. The recent SCOTUS decision has given me a lot of anxiety, especially with people saying marriage equality (aka gay marriage) could be next. As someone who is queer herself (hi, hello, 💖💜💙) this made me worry a lot for my future and the future of my many queer friends, and even that of strangers. This book was the perfect read at the perfect time for me, with fireworks going off outside my window and thoughts about what future I could make for myself inside my room. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Casey McQuiston, for writing the work of art that is this book. I know it will be something that future generations will read and find comfort in as well. It gave me a genuine hope in humanity which I haven’t experienced in at least a year, maybe even two. 
Was that enough to convince y’all? It better have been. 
Bye, I’ve gotta go cry over this book some more and then maybe possibly get some sleep. 

P.S. Yes it is very unrealistic but that’s the point; as someone who likes to read depressingly accurate depictions of real life, sometimes all you need is some bubblegum romance to give you something to hope for in life. 

Sure, some parts were boring, but it’s a lightly edited diary so what do you expect. I found the big and little differences between our lives and her life really interesting, and some of the things some people might relate to because of quarantine. Her narrators voice is pretty well developed for her level of experience and age, my younger self would’ve definitely related to her a lot. 

An interesting aspect of WW2 that I never really thought about was the amount of speculation between common people that there was, just like in any conflict or political event. I guess I just never really thought about it because we know (even if not exactly how or are missing some details) what happened, so, unless you're a conspiracy theorist, there's no need for speculation. Meanwhile in the Annex there's constant discussion over the war and when it will end and how it will end and etc etc. which is understandable considering how big of an impact it has on their lives and just generally how significant of an event it was. 

All in all, I do recommend it and I enjoyed reading it (even though it took me a while and I also felt a bit like a voyeur reading someone’s diary).

Sally Rooney’s writing style is still so satisfying to read; it’s like drinking a tall glass of crisp water. Someone described it as “delicious” and I have to agree. Not sure what it is about it but it’s so nice. 

I realized I’m reading her works in reverse, which is probably not good since her writing gets better with time. A lot more character development happens than in Beautiful World, Where Are You, but because of that the characters seem a lot less mature at first.

The more I think about it the less I think Normal People resonated with me. With Beautiful World, at first I was like oh that was fun and interesting, and then after a while I was like that was actually really good, I enjoyed it. This one kind of fell flat, and nice writing can’t make up for everything. 
I’ve noticed a pattern, a lot of people like Beautiful World but didn’t connect with Normal People or Conversations with Friends (or both). I’d say that’s a mark of improvement in Sally Rooney’s writing, so we’ll see how I feel about Conversations with Friends. 

“I feel so frightened of being hurt not of the suffering, which I know I can handle, but the indignity of suffering, the indignity of being open to it."

The entire book is basically just centered around certain conversations (both in person and over email) and then the rest of the story is context for them, but I still found it interesting. It’s like getting a window into strangers’ lives.  Since you’re kind of separate from the characters in that way, it’s emotional but more melancholic than heartbreaking. Beautiful World, Where Are You also has that feeling of “sonder”; the knowledge that every persons life is as vivid and real as your own. Because of this writing style it’s definitely not for everyone, and there also isn’t really a plot, it’s just a narrative of these characters’ lives, both the eventful and uneventful parts, but I still really liked it. 

Honestly it’s almost concerning how much I relate to these characters and their endless streams of thought. To quote one of my favorite booktubers, “fuck you Sally Rooney for writing unlikeable characters that I relate to.” Although honestly, I don’t think they’re that unlikeable. They’re just normal people (no pun intended) with mostly good intentions that make a lot of mistakes.

It’s funny, in a small way, this book has changed my perspective on life. I imagine my life being told through the lens of this story, which makes the so-called “ugly vulgarity” of ordinary life more bearable. I really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to get my hands on Sally Rooney’s other books. 

Coming soon, in a bookstore near you: Coco, this time as a gay book.

Twist villain included.

This was a beautiful homage to Latine* culture and traditions, and we stan Maritza. I'm so glad that people are finally getting the representation they deserve, especially in such a magical and moving way. I devoured this book, it was so funny, cute and emotional, there we so many parts that just made me want to give Yadriel a hug. I only wish there was a bit more mention of how it affects the bruje's world view to know that "life" doesn't exactly end at death, because there's barely any of that in the book. Also personally I am not Latina (the South American side of my family only goes back two generations and originated in Poland, so I don't count that) but I speak Spanish and know enough about the culture to appreciate some of the more nuanced parts of the story. It's not an all time favorite, but I still really enjoyed it and I'm sure there's many people out there who will be happy to read this book. 


*I'd like to note that I prefer to use e instead of x when trying to use gender neutral terms, because I find that it's more pronounceable and less of a "western cultures imposing their own rules on Spanish speakers" type of thing. There's a bit of debate about this, do your own research, but the times that I have seen gender inclusive discussions in Hispanic communities they use e, so I'm sticking with that. 

I’m not the biggest fan of graphic novels but I’ve gotta say I loved this. It’s awesome that books like this are becoming popular and people can finally see representation and relate to other people’s experiences. I’m grateful to Maia for sharing eir feelings and what it was like growing up for em.