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simonlorden's Reviews (1.38k)
This short story was as sweet as the title. The first half is basically detailing Benji's family life from his childhood into his twenties, with his twin sister and quasi-sister, as well as his love for baking. Then, the love interest enters. I loved Benji and Dane's dynamic, and really the only way I can describe it is "sweet". This isn't a very serious story, but it's great if you need something light.
I loved this! It's a fantasy with a badass princess, loveable side characters, good monsters, and turning kingdoms into democracies.
Once Upon a Rainbow, Volume Three
Mark Lesney, N.J. Romaine, Valentine Wheeler, Elna Holst, Sam Burns, W.M. Fawkes, A.E. Ross
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Average rating: 4 stars
Overall thoughts: This was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some stories I really loved, and others I really didn't. I did appreciate that it wasn't only cis LG retellings, and there were ace and trans characters in some of the stories as well. (Well, one of each, really.)
baile de marioneta by w.m. fawkes: cis M/M. A guy carves a naked guy from wood for his class and the wood guy comes to life. The moment where I realised this was a Pinocchio retelling (for an older age group, certainly) was during the sex scene where the wooden guy started lying and well, it wasn't his nose that grew. I was going to give it 3 stars on its own, but compared to some of the others it's 2.5 at best for me.
loose in the hell, tight in the toe by valentine wheeler: This story doesn't center romance - it's about a lesbian Cinderella and an asexual prince getting married for their mutual benefit, and also about Cinderella helping her stepsisters and other young girls who are being forced into marriages get away from their abusive family. I also loved that the Fairy Godmother couldn't magically solve everything, so Cinderella stepped up and did it herself. 5 stars.
green things grow from cinders by a.e.ross: trans M/cis M. Another Cinderella retelling, this time in a modern setting and with a trans guy Cinderella and a cis guy "prince", which is certainly a first for me. I absolutely loved this story, and I loved how Roman never really commented on Ash being trans. Also, I love the title. tw: unintentional misgendering (Ash isn't out to his friends at first). 5 stars.
the scent of magic by n.j. romaine: cis F/F. This story had everything. It's a Little Red Riding Hood retelling where the Red/Wolf/Hunter trio isn't what you'd expect, but it also has a Sleeping Beauty sideplot with a nonbinary Sleeping Beauty (kudos for introducing me to the word "princet"), and also lots of faeries and fae court politics. My only complaint is that it wasn't a full-length novel: I would have loved to see the rescue of the prince itself. 5 stars.
the rescue by sam burns: cis M/M. "Saving princesses is hard work. Getting out of marrying them is harder." This was a little funny because I was /so sure/ that I knew the twist but then the twist ended up being something completely different. It's a M/M romance between a knight and... the friend of a princess. I'm giving 4.5 stars in comparison to the others, because it didn't quite measure up to the ones I rated 5 stars, but it was still great.
the bremen town musicians by mark lesney: cis M/M. Ehhhhhhh. So like, this is a retelling of a tale with animals, where the characters are actually humans this time but they're still kind of treated as animals. Also, you know that thing in fairytales when there's some really fucked up abuse or violence going on but you never really question it as a kid, especially with animal characters? Well, this story has that too, but either because of my age or the human characters it's more difficult to overlook. tldr; I didn't enjoy reading this. There is a m/m romance sideplot but it's not really central. tw: abuse, casual discussion of rape, gy*psy slur used several times. 2.5 stars
gretel on her own by elna holst: This is a cis F/F story where I couldn't decide whether it's supposed to be a mystery/horror or a romance, and for most of the story I wondered if there was going to be a positive ending at all. Constant suspicion of the love interest isn't really what I want in a romance, but I suppose the constant suspicion/questioning was the point. 3.5 stars.
Average rating: 4 stars
Overall thoughts: This was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some stories I really loved, and others I really didn't. I did appreciate that it wasn't only cis LG retellings, and there were ace and trans characters in some of the stories as well. (Well, one of each, really.)
baile de marioneta by w.m. fawkes: cis M/M. A guy carves a naked guy from wood for his class and the wood guy comes to life. The moment where I realised this was a Pinocchio retelling (for an older age group, certainly) was during the sex scene where the wooden guy started lying and well, it wasn't his nose that grew. I was going to give it 3 stars on its own, but compared to some of the others it's 2.5 at best for me.
loose in the hell, tight in the toe by valentine wheeler: This story doesn't center romance - it's about a lesbian Cinderella and an asexual prince getting married for their mutual benefit, and also about Cinderella helping her stepsisters and other young girls who are being forced into marriages get away from their abusive family. I also loved that the Fairy Godmother couldn't magically solve everything, so Cinderella stepped up and did it herself. 5 stars.
green things grow from cinders by a.e.ross: trans M/cis M. Another Cinderella retelling, this time in a modern setting and with a trans guy Cinderella and a cis guy "prince", which is certainly a first for me. I absolutely loved this story, and I loved how Roman never really commented on Ash being trans. Also, I love the title. tw: unintentional misgendering (Ash isn't out to his friends at first). 5 stars.
the scent of magic by n.j. romaine: cis F/F. This story had everything. It's a Little Red Riding Hood retelling where the Red/Wolf/Hunter trio isn't what you'd expect, but it also has a Sleeping Beauty sideplot with a nonbinary Sleeping Beauty (kudos for introducing me to the word "princet"), and also lots of faeries and fae court politics. My only complaint is that it wasn't a full-length novel: I would have loved to see the rescue of the prince itself. 5 stars.
the rescue by sam burns: cis M/M. "Saving princesses is hard work. Getting out of marrying them is harder." This was a little funny because I was /so sure/ that I knew the twist but then the twist ended up being something completely different. It's a M/M romance between a knight and... the friend of a princess. I'm giving 4.5 stars in comparison to the others, because it didn't quite measure up to the ones I rated 5 stars, but it was still great.
the bremen town musicians by mark lesney: cis M/M. Ehhhhhhh. So like, this is a retelling of a tale with animals, where the characters are actually humans this time but they're still kind of treated as animals. Also, you know that thing in fairytales when there's some really fucked up abuse or violence going on but you never really question it as a kid, especially with animal characters? Well, this story has that too, but either because of my age or the human characters it's more difficult to overlook. tldr; I didn't enjoy reading this. There is a m/m romance sideplot but it's not really central. tw: abuse, casual discussion of rape, gy*psy slur used several times. 2.5 stars
gretel on her own by elna holst: This is a cis F/F story where I couldn't decide whether it's supposed to be a mystery/horror or a romance, and for most of the story I wondered if there was going to be a positive ending at all. Constant suspicion of the love interest isn't really what I want in a romance, but I suppose the constant suspicion/questioning was the point. 3.5 stars.
I didn't realise this was F/F, so that was a nice surprise. It's a nice fantasy story about dragons and princesses and lady knights. Both of the twists are kind of predictable, but I still enjoyed reading it.
I actually quite liked this. It's a pretty short story with a former cybercriminal going out of her way to find a missing girl in a harsh city. There were also some pretty relatable lines about poverty and fear of the future. My only complaint is that the story is basically cut in half, and you don't find out much from this first part. I'd be interested in the sequel but I'm not sure I'm ready to pay almost 4 dollars for less than 50 pages.
ghost ponies!!
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This is a story about a girl who fights her anxiety to be able to help her friend, and ends up gaining a different friend instead. Also, overbearingly strict parents, sheltered upbringing, class differences and sci-fi elements. Oh, and Priti is the best. I had trouble getting through this book sometimes because it was very introspective and slow and I just felt like there were too many little details, but ultimately I enjoyed the story.
This is a story about a girl who fights her anxiety to be able to help her friend, and ends up gaining a different friend instead. Also, overbearingly strict parents, sheltered upbringing, class differences and sci-fi elements. Oh, and Priti is the best. I had trouble getting through this book sometimes because it was very introspective and slow and I just felt like there were too many little details, but ultimately I enjoyed the story.
finally some backstory!!!! also I'm pretty sure Jo is trans (or at least I have no idea how else to interpret those lines lol)
aaaah this is the last volume I have T_T
aaaah this is the last volume I have T_T
Lumberjanes, Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan
Grace Ellis, ND Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Faith Erin Hicks
All kinds of unbelievable things keep happening but this volume was fun. Bear Woman is great.
This book had such a good concept, with the woman not remembering who she is and three different women claiming to be her wife. But the real wife was pretty clear from the beginning, confirmed in the first 60 pages, and the rest of the book was just utterly boring with no real emotional connection to any of the characters. The last 50 pages suddenly had a bunch of twists, but by that point I was so bored that they didn't really have an effect. (Except the handler reveal. That was great.)
tldr; I really didn't like this
tldr; I really didn't like this