simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)

A very important and beautiful graphic novel about two Native girls who are as close as sisters. The presence of the ghosts of Native women on almost every page show that history is all around us, and that these girls are supported by their community - but at the same time they also draw attention to the dead and missing Native women. The end of the graphic novel has some more information, like statistics and further readings on the issue.

I haven't read the sequel yet, but I took a glance and it seems it goes into more detail about Dez's two-spirit identity, so I hope I'll be able to get my hands on it.

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

A sweet and humorous modern Beauty and the Beast retelling. I liked the body positivity, the concept of Bellamy's job being restoring old houses, and the exploration of Oliver's trauma. I also liked the casual queer rep, like multiple gay and a nonbinary side character. The servants at Oliver's estate were also heartwarming and interesting characters.

But ultimately, I think it kind of missed the mark for me. Bellamy's friends were more annoying than endearing to me, which was a big thing that ruined the enjoyment. The snarky AI was definitely funny, but in a book that otherwise clearly takes place in our present time, his intelligence and humanity was a bit too futuristic and out-of-place.

And the biggest thing is... I don't know, maybe I shouldn't read several contemporary romances in a row, but you know when you're reading along and everything is fine and romantic, and you can just feel the unnecessary third-act drama/breakup coming? Yeah. I recognize that it's a common structural element in romance novels, but I still hate it most of the time, because it just feels kind of forced. This wasn't an exception.

Kind of mixed feelings. There were some worldbuilding ideas I liked, but it was all really dense and often there was too much information at once. Took me a while to figure out the factions. There were also a lot of characters who were sometimes referred to as numbers, or had multiple names, and I admit I didn't always remember who we were talking about.

I mean, I guess I got what I signed up for. It's not that I expected complicated plot or character development from a 80-page smut story, but it still managed to be kind of rushed and cliché. Instant lust is one thing, but confessing their love for each other after a day is a different matter. I also found the dialogue/dirty talk kind of lazy. And lastly, I'm not sure if it's true for the Amazon copy, but the Bookfunnel copy that I got had a lot of typos and missing punctuation.

bit of a tease.

what's the point of triplets if there isn't a proper foursome

I received and ARC through NetGalley, and this is my willing and honest review.

This book has the cutest cat ever, with some very realistic cat shenanigans.

It is also an interesting twist on student/teacher romances. Namely, the student is in her 40s, divorced, with three kids who are old enough to be university students themselves. Emma is also attracted to women, although this only gets a few mentions, and her youngest child is nonbinary.

I liked reading a romance about two "older" protagonists (compared to what is common in romance novels, anyway), and it was pretty sex-positive. Emma is worried that she might not be as attractive after three children, but Santo doesn't agree, and they have some creative scenes in the bedroom which I appreciated.

My only negative remark is that the drama in the last third felt a bit forced... even though it was kind of obvious that it would come, and yet. Like, I get that he's her professor, but also she's an adult, it is emphasized that their university doesn't even HAVE a rule against them dating, and

they are reported by Santo's friend, who if he was actually a good friend would know Santo's personality and whether he's taking advantage or not

. Thankfully, it wasn't really dragged out into something huge.

 Shamefully I admit that I don't actually like Shakespeare. This book could have been 5 stars for me if I did, but I find the text hard to read, so when entire pages of it were quoted I kind of just zoned out. I'm sorry.

I love the theatre kid aesthetic though. This book is very atmospheric, and you can really get lost in the lives of these seven friends, their love, their drama, their tragedy. 

This book is absolutely brutal, and I don't think I can translate that into a star rating. It is very well-written and well-researched. I learned a lot. I didn't enjoy it at all.

There are two timelines as such - this book is both a personal memoir and a history book. First, it tells about the history of California Indians at the white-priest led Missions. The history is of course bloody, including rape, slavery, racism, violence and more.

But even though these parts were hard to read, you sort of expect those topics when you think about the history of Indigenous people. The parts that were truly "too much" for me were the memories of the author's own life. There are some quite explicit descriptions of child sexual abuse she suffered, as well as the physical abuse she and her siblings suffered at the hands of their father, and the sexual crimes his father committed against others. I admit I wasn't prepared for this and I don't really know how I feel about reading all of it. I hope the author got some catharsis or healing out of writing it down, though.

Nice twists, I liked the resolution, the sibling relationship and I liked that I didn't know what was going to happen.