simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

The blurb didn't prepare me sufficiently for this book. Sure, the theme of birds, nature and environmentalism is present throughout the story, but the focus is really on how utterly mentally unstable the main character is. It was sort of like watching a trainwreck - it's all horrible, but you still can't look away. I understand Franny has So Much trauma, but it was still difficult to empathize with her or really understand her actions - and the actions of the /other people/ in the book didn't make much more sense either. Overall, this whole thing was just... so tragic. 

I was very excited for this book because the blurb sounded sexy and awesome, but unfortunately I was disappointed. The main character is so shy and anxious that it's a bit frustrating, and the sex is... Yes, of course, consent is key, but when they ask four times if he's sure and everyone treats everyone like they're made of porcelain, that kind of takes the sexiness out of it for me.

There was a pretty funny scene when they go to get a fantasy morning after pill and they're all very awkward about it, but that's about it.

Also, like 90% of the book is more introspective, about the relationship between the three and their feelings, and then suddenly in the last 10 pages plot happens, which made for some weird pacing.

Look, I liked this story, the characters were great, and I love historical trans men. You meet a guy, hook up once, and then immediately conspire to do a kidnapping/rescue the next day? Chef's kiss, no notes.

But the whole second part of the book felt like it was setting up a sequel with Moss or even Lake that apparently never came since 2018. The stakes were a bit too big for a 150-page story, and I felt like it was taking focus away from the actual main relationship, as much as I did like Moss. So it just left me with a weird feeling.

Warnings for period-typical racism, homophobia and transphobia. I would say there aren't any explicit violent scenes, but there is the constant threat and possibility of violence.

I received an ARC through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I picked up this story because I was intrigued by the summary: two cosmic entities, Dream and Cupid make a bet to reunite two estranged childhood friends. Overall it's a quick, hopeful and sweet read, and it does have a nice message about the importance of both love and hope.

Unfortunately, the writing style really ruins the experience. The language is simple, which wouldn't be a problem in itself, but the constant repetitions and the short, fragmented sentences get exhausting to read.

A murder mystery and a girl's romance with Death, what more could you ask for?

I liked this book, and yet all the way up until the end I wasn't sure if I was interested enough to read the sequels. The end of the epilogue got me, though, so I think I'll be returning for the continuation.

There were some interesting ideas, but I didn't really care about anyone except Door, and seeing the names Croup and Vandemar gave me nausea after a point.

This is one of those super hyped books. I have to say that I had my doubts, but it won me over. Not completely - it's simply too slow and literary for me to savor every word, not my style - but the characters grabbed me. I was more interested in Addie and Luc's relationship than Henry, but he redeemed himself a bit in the ending.

I was excited to read a cute YA about an aromantic character, but this was bordering on offensive.

First of all, it's full of typos/grammatical mistakes (mostly incorrect use of your-you're, it's-its, whose-who's), but that didn't end up being my biggest problem.

This could have been a good story if it had been from Paige's POV about her discovering her identity and maybe learning about queerplatonic partners. Instead it's from Miles's POV, and the whole story is about how he develops romantic feelings, and wow now it's so inconvenient that Paige clearly said she doesn't want to date, but maybe if he lies to her and hopes hard enough then she'll change her mind and want to date him?! Not to mention he's breaking Paige's boundaries while lying to her about his feelings, even after a direct question. Also, most of the focus is on Miles and on his brother/friends who are being very amatonormative about the whole thing, instead of about Paige's feelings.

So yeah. Straight up uncomfortable and not a fun read, and I'm not even aromantic. 

I received an ARC through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

This anthology is all about motherly love, obsession, protectiveness or neglect taken to horrific and sometimes supernatural extremes. It's all about mothers and daughters, with sons not really making an appearance. There are both short stories and poems alternating.

It was a little hit-or-miss for me. Some of the stories were really good, but some of them just felt too abstract - I like it when I actually understand what's happening in the story, even if it's horrific, and many of these just left me sort of confused instead of scared, cathartic, or whatever the intent was. This is also a personal preference, but I like when the author bios are right after the given story so that it's still fresh in my mind - when they're all included at the end, I have to keep scrolling back to see which author is which, and that's a bit difficult.

A few highlights:
- Oh, What a Tangled Web - This one builds up very nicely to the reveal.
- Little Mother - Out of the poems, this was definitely my favorite. Ouch, those last lines.
- Special Medicine - That twist!! Absolutely disgusting, but cathartic and well-deserved.
- Dog Mom - Musings about what makes a mother. I genuinely enjoyed this one, but honestly I wouldn't really consider it horror, so I was surprised to see it included here. It's mostly just sad and melancholic, with maybe one horrifying paragraph.
- Your Mother's Love is an Apocalypse - The second person narrative was a bit weird, but I liked the whole concept, a mother's possessiveness and abuse being taken to apocalyptic proportions.

Man, having dyslexia before anyone knew wtf was happening must have been awful.

Heartfelt, cute, romantic and funny. The kids were adorable, I want to date Ben myself, and I'm invested in the side characters so i GUESS I'll have to read the sequels. Horror.