yourbookishbff's Reviews (650)

No one does grumpy x sunshine quite like Cat Sebastian, and once again, she absolutely nails it. Peter, underappreciated and overlooked by his family, sees the best in Caleb right from the start, despite his Peter-specific brand of surly self-righteousness, and the two of them navigate from bitterness, to grudging respect, to attraction and finally to affection so organically. I loved seeing Caleb thaw to Peter on their haphazard road trip, as he begins to recognize Peter's soft heart and earnest goodwill, as much as I enjoyed seeing Peter's growing self-confidence and pride. I read this in one sitting, because I just didn't want to set it down, and I am genuinely shocked to have felt so swept away by a romance without on-page love declarations (who am I?!). 

A stand-alone sapphic (pirate x goddess) space opera from my beloved Megan E. O'Keefe?! I am just so happy. This was such a fun drop-in adventure, and while the world building at times required more exposition and some "now I will explain everything that has happened so far in a single monologue" infodumping, it was so romantic and adventurous that I didn't even mind. I loved the character development for both Amandine and Faven, the exploration of their class difference and political baggage, and the found family in the Marquette's crew. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator, Zara Ramm, was phenomenal, and gave our space pirates the perfect amount of swagger.

Also - I am absolutely trash for a sentient ship, and this plot delivered!

Thank you to the author, Hillary Bowen, for an advanced reader's copy of her debut, Out With Lanterns! Set in rural England in WWI, our female main character, Ophelia, is newly employed as a farm laborer within the Women's Land Army (WLA), when her former neighbor (and her not-forgotten-summer-sweetheart from before-the-war), Silas, shows up for a bit of active recovery at the farm while he's back from the front rehabilitating an injured leg. This is an introspective second-chance set-up, where two people are navigating expanded perspectives and hazy futures during war-time while they gently rediscover one another and untangle their shared past and sudden parting. The cover of this book so perfectly captures the atmosphere of this setting - this is farm-core for the misty-walk-at-dawn-through-the-native-grasses country kids, with lush scene-setting and prose that feels so syrupy-sweet (complimentary!!) you feel fully immersed in it from page one. 

What I love best in this debut is Bowen's attention to detail, descriptive prose, focus on found family, exploration of early-20th-century suffragist organizing and her absolutely DECADENT open-door scenes (WHEW). I did wish for more conflict, though. These two are so genuinely earnest and open-hearted at all times - and talk through their conflicts so effectively - that potential conflicts don't really germinate into true conflicts. Ultimately, this will be a perfect read for those who want mature, low-angst relationships they can really settle into, with a fully realized world and a nuanced depiction of how the era's sociopolitical context might create a new vision for partnership.

This was a lovely continuation of the Pride & Prejudice universe, where Charlotte (Lucas) Collins is now widowed and reconnects with the most underhyped Bennet sister, Mary. I love how quietly reflective this feels, with slow-building sexual tension and a lot of time spent navigating Charlotte's queer awakening. This is told solely in Charlotte's POV, which I didn't mind, though Mary does at time feel a bit like an enigma. This worked best for me in the second half, actually, as they start really confronting their complicated feelings about themselves, one another, their futures, their past relationships, etc. I adore jealousy and the very relatable exploration of self-doubt. Charlotte can be frustrating - she really, really does not believe she's loveable - but honestly, this is so true to Charlotte canonically and everything anyone has ever said about her character, that it feels right to spend this time unpacking it. As the declarations begin unfolding and all the messy feelings come out, I was fully invested. And the third act's resolution is excellent. A bit of a slow start for me personally, but a really compelling sapphic romance and retelling!

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of Isn't It Obvious, by Rachel Runya Katz! This was stunning. This has a You've-Got-Mail premise, with both main characters connected in real life and via email under other professional names/aliases. I loved the push-and-pull as the two develop a deep emotional connection and physical connection simultaneously, and appreciate how well-built their sense of trust and mutual respect is in both dynamics, so that when they ultimately (finally) discover their true identities, the resulting relationship feels earned. 

There are so many elements in this I really loved: the depiction of a mood disorder (Bipolar II) and its literal highs and lows (and how a character navigates it with the support of therapy, medication and a network of loved ones), the bi-for-bi representation (with significant time spent discussing identity, mentoring queer teens and dealing with strained family dynamics after coming out), and the intersecting racial and ethnic identities for both main characters. These characters feel so authentically lived-in, and it is so easy to root for each of them. 

I'm also delighted by how the author navigated sexual intimacy, sexual health conversations and sex language! Oral sex is sex! I feel so grumpy when characters act like they haven't had sex if they haven't yet had penetrative sex (especially when this happens in queer romances, don't we know better?!) and the way both characters call this out on page is so naturally done and so affirming. Love seeing characters discussing prior partners and STI testing on page, too. 

Not done yet with my laundry list of things I loved, because the friendships in this, particularly for Yael, are SO GOOD. One of my biggest pet peeves in romance is terrible, toxic friends we're supposed to just laugh off OR one-dimensional friendships that don't add anything to the story other than comic relief. These friendships help build out so much of Yael's personal growth (her friendship becoming REAL REAL with Gina was so beautifully done) and feel essential to the story (and I was living for Sanaa live reacting through the third act, truly). 

And ultimately, this story still manages to be greater than the sum of its parts, and I am so grateful to have spent this time with Yael and Ravi. 

What a necessary read. This is a tense coming-of-age story of a young, Chinese-American lesbian in the 1950s that maintains an unerring focus on the intersections of her experiences of both racism and homophobia. When she finds safety and affirmation as a young queer woman at The Telegraph Club, she is still consistently othered in ways that feel violently hypersexualized, and when she finds comfort and security among her friends and family in Chinatown, she is still living a split, mostly closeted life. And despite the constant tension she feels, there is so much queer joy to be found in her relationship with Kath. The ways they are each discovering themselves and each other are so profoundly earnest and pure, and I was rooting for them all the way through. 

This is a particularly salient read for us now - in 2025 - when, once again, citizenship and permanent residency is used to blackmail racialized people, political dissenters and all of those deemed enemies of the state (or frankly, just enemies of the status quo). The very real fears of Lily's parents during this time are horrifyingly familiar to us today, and it's a reminder of how circular white American political violence truly is. 

The author's note is fascinating and explores all the real-world inspirations for these characters, the Telegraph Club and these specific conflicts. Also - the audiobook  - narrated by Emily Woo Zeller, an all-time fave - was perfect, and I highly recommend it in this format! 

Thank you to the author for an advanced reader's copy of Savannah Royals! This is a historical romance for fantasy romance lovers, heist aficionados, and fans of a messy stressy love triangle! This is a darker romance (I don't read true "dark romance" so I wouldn't have a clue where it ranks in that spectrum, to be very clear, but a whole lot of people die on page and everyone is morally murky so take that for what it is!). It's written in first person from the perspective of our female main character, an orphan of the Savannah catacombs who has risen within her found-family-turned-street-gang. Now, though, she's fallen for a target, a rich, golden retriever physician who could not live further from her reality. I really appreciated that while these characters feel very new-adult the narrative feels more mature. While Kat might not know the ways in which her primary relationships are toxic and codependent, the narrative definitely does, and the slow unwinding of what she knows is well done, leading us to a conclusion that feels both surprising and not, for how it reveals the psyche of power-hungry men. I loved our (multiple!) explicit declarations of fidelity, the navigation of a new relationship and equal partnership, the layers of reveals and the steady communication between our main couple. I felt like I lost some of the romance's momentum in the third act, and I'm not entirely sure why, so this could be a me problem. I also wish the narrative more explicitly addressed the intentional violence of generational white wealth in the South during this time period (particularly with Abe's depiction as the gang's sole Black member).

I had a fantastic time with Godric and Megs. The set-up for these two in previous books was excellent - we knew going in that this was an unlikely marriage between two people grieving prior loves, and it delivers on this premise while also giving us two years of breathing room before this story starts. I particularly appreciate that the love each had for their prior partners never diminishes as it evolves, and they carry each person with them into their new partnership as a part of themselves. And though we might expect Godric to hold Megs at arm's length given his years of devotion to Clara, he's as decisive as we could hope for, letting her in fully and demanding she do the same for him. This was also so funny - Her Grace, the pug, bringing each of her puppies into his dressing room one-at-a-time, Megs determined to rehabilitate an almost-definitely-dead tree, and her LETTERS which were so sweet and chaotic and made me smile every time. This hit so many of my favorite historical romance beats and I had a wonderful time reading it!

I really enjoyed this! The pacing flagged a bit for me at times, and there were times I wasn't sure where we were in the overall arc of the story, but the characters are compelling and I love mutual caretaking that doesn't veer into codependency. I also love that this really celebrates Gene's career triumphs while navigating a mutual happily-ever-after for these two.

Thank you to Tor Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy of The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses! 

Where Murderbot soothes a very specific corporate angst, Pleiti + Mossa seem designed to appeal to a very specific academic angst. This world is a lot less familiar to me - that of academic research, university rivalries, etc. - but there are still beats I can really appreciate, and the humor is recognizable even if I don't always feel entirely in on the joke. 

There are a few working threads in this series, and they each succeeded to different degrees for me:

Continued world-building for Giant: This installment in the series has really dialed in on the multicultural implications of Giant's human settlements in the generations following the escape from Earth, dropping in words and phrases without a lot of context. Sometimes this is language mixing, which makes perfect sense for these characters and this world building, and then sometimes it's a professor using "technobros" in a sentence without a hint of irony or a scholar calling abstract art "askew art". I don't remember this feeling as intentional in the previous two books, and you can see where Older is trying to better contextualize this society and the various implications of their lengthening separation from Earth. I also loved seeing how the continuation of the series-long conflict played out in the background of this book.

Character and relationship development for Pleiti (+ Mossa to a lesser extent): This is where this installment felt strongest for me. I love Pleiti and really appreciated the space she gives herself to feel both angry with Mossa and concerned for her wellbeing. I also loved seeing how she holds a line on honesty and partnership and how the relationship conflict gives her more space to shine in some ways. Mossa can feel so distant to the reader - intentionally so - but seeing her through Pleiti's eyes ultimately humanizes her more rather than less, and I just have a soft spot for these two and how real they feel.

Mystery development: The mystery itself felt weakest for me in this installment. I loved the general premise and structure of the mystery - academic on the cusp of significant achievement in her field is being targeted by mysterious haters and a neutral third-party needs to come sort out friends and foes in her inner circle. But the conclusion to it felt flat. I loves a Holmes-style mystery, but my bar is probably too high after the Lady Sherlock series, and so I felt a bit deflated at the reveal here, knowing it wasn't really set up to be particularly revolutionary. That said, as a prop for the relationship drama between Pleiti and Mossa, I was invested.

I am disappointed this third book is a bit longer, too, than the previous stories in the series, because there is something so special about a novella SFF series, and this feels like it crept away from that and used up too much page space sorting out secondary characters.

All in all, I enjoy being in this world and look forward to continuing the series.