I received an ARC from the Edelweiss TW: themes of sexual assault (nongraphic),predatory behavior & grooming (view spoiler)[(teacher) (hide spoilerI received an ARC from the Edelweiss TW: themes of sexual assault (nongraphic),predatory behavior & grooming (view spoiler)[(teacher) (hide spoiler)], implied self harm, homophobia & biphobia, bullying & outing 4.5
Hello, one of my favorite books of 2023. If you too have been let down too many times to count by books whose blurbs claim to be “for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue”, only to realize it holds basically nothing of the book you love- I don’t want to talk this up too much, but it was everything I was hoping for.
The romance in this is so cute. Letting people into your bubble, allowing your vulnerabilities and- I read it this way at least- letting your mask slip as someone stops being just another stranger, rationalizing your feelings for someone to death until you have to admit it’s real. It’s adorable.
And I really did love the politics. It’s mostly school based, but there’s a very real focus on actual governmental politics, including Madisons’ future plans. There are also a few sneaky RW&RB references in here that were subtle enough to be fun easter eggs for readers without hammering you over the head. I think a big issue with other books trying to ride on the love for RW&RB is that they use politics as a trope and that’s it- politics, instead, are truly the heart of this book. It feels organic, it feels taken seriously.
It’s also rare to genuinely like all the characters in a book but I really, really did! I love the messiness, I love the inner belief that you’re took much too handle being slowly erased as you are embraced in your fullest form. I just love them!
And surprisingly, because this book isn’t solely a cute sapphic romance there’s a balance that needs to be struck well between fluff and heavy themes and I truly believe Morelands struck it perfectly. I know a few readers felt like the third act came a bit out of left field, but if you’re paying attention to the hints and cues it’s a really consistent slow build.
My only complaint is that while I do love Madison, her arc was just a bit iffy for me. I would’ve liked the pacing to have felt a little more dramatic, and I would have enjoyed seeing more concrete moments for me. Though there is something to be said about continual growth as well.
I love this book! This is exactly the kind of heart and characters I expect when I’m looking for a book that makes me feel even half of what RW&RB did, and I think it’s raised the bar.
Pre-review comments below oh RBG, we're really in it now ...more
I loved this so much! The romance between a know it all cursed rich girl and an insecure, brash captain is tropey and perfect, and the fantasy pulling I loved this so much! The romance between a know it all cursed rich girl and an insecure, brash captain is tropey and perfect, and the fantasy pulling it together is divine. I love the way gods are treated and the nefarious quest at play. The plot is wonderful and so is the art!
I especially love the crew. They're all not only diversely drawn but interesting in their own right, even those with few lines. There is very much an "Our Flag Means Death" sort of vibe when it comes to these pirates, especially in the way that I just want to watch each and every one of them interact and live their piratey lives for as long as possible. There's a heart wrenching reminder of found family here too, with the two people Brig sees as parental figures, and it's beautiful.
I also really enjoyed the way Ferra's newfound disability is handled! I know "magical curse disability" is controversial, but I feel like the way it effected Ferra's life and the way she handles it and navigates the world with it in mind was really well done and organic in the way it reflected an actual disability.
Merged review:
I loved this so much! The romance between a know it all cursed rich girl and an insecure, brash captain is tropey and perfect, and the fantasy pulling it together is divine. I love the way gods are treated and the nefarious quest at play. The plot is wonderful and so is the art!
I especially love the crew. They're all not only diversely drawn but interesting in their own right, even those with few lines. There is very much an "Our Flag Means Death" sort of vibe when it comes to these pirates, especially in the way that I just want to watch each and every one of them interact and live their piratey lives for as long as possible. There's a heart wrenching reminder of found family here too, with the two people Brig sees as parental figures, and it's beautiful.
I also really enjoyed the way Ferra's newfound disability is handled! I know "magical curse disability" is controversial, but I feel like the way it effected Ferra's life and the way she handles it and navigates the world with it in mind was really well done and organic in the way it reflected an actual disability....more
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: parental death, drowning, potentially fatal illness, hand trauma (permanent), mentioned sexual assault, mentioI received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: parental death, drowning, potentially fatal illness, hand trauma (permanent), mentioned sexual assault, mentioned suicidal ideation, ableism, PTSD, infidelity 4.5
Tess Sharpe set out to write a fanfic inspired/fanfic worthy story and she delivered. This book nails all the things I love about fanfiction- the care for the characters, the dedication you can feel from the author pouring their feelings out into a story, the drama, the slow build, and, above everything else, the love. It also, stunningly, managed to miss everything negative I could possibly mean when comparing a story to fanfiction, it misses every stumbling block and soars entirely!
The tension in this is immaculate. The will they won't they, the sketching out of who these girls are to each other and the way what we've been told about their relationship immediately starts to diverge, like wallpaper slowly peeling away from the wall, into what we actually have before us and have always had if it could've been looked at head on. The chemistry is perfect from the beginning and never dips, the slow burn threatens tease you to death. This is the sort of love story that keeps you up until 3am with burning eyes and a swooping stomach.
But this isn't all romance and magnets pulled together, there's also such a great balance of love story and trauma, romantic complications and real world, heavy issues that these characters are struggling with. The PTSD Penny deals with, the very real work she's put into keeping movement in hr hands, the fraying, difficult relationship she has with her mother- it's also much a part of the whole story saying these things, as well as Tate's own worries about her mother, blend well isn't even accurate because there's nothing to blend. This isn't A Plot, B Plot, one's allowed real world trouble, one's fluff and longing, this is all one, solid story.
I also just really enjoyed the inclusion of the text messages. That, with the flashback scenes, added a lot to seeing Tate and Penny's actual relationship, and gave some fun little dramatic irony pokes as their friends talked about them.
My only real complaint is that Tate and Penny didn't feel wholly distinct to me. They talk a lot about being different, and they're dealing wit different things, but their personalities and voices weren't easy to tell apart. I would've liked to have seen more obvious distinctions between them to make them feel more like two separate people.
I was wholly taken in with this book! This is one I really didn't want to put down, and would love to pick back up again....more
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: biphobia, forced outing 5
I... love this book. So much. Thinking of it makes me kind of weepy. I usually don’t coI received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: biphobia, forced outing 5
I... love this book. So much. Thinking of it makes me kind of weepy. I usually don’t consider the author themself when reading and reviewing, but the fact that Becky Albertalli got to write this book made me so inordinately happy I can’t not mention it. After everything she had to go through, being forced to come out by fans and then having her identity questioned, I am thrilled she got to write this and share it with the world. And maybe that’s one of the reasons it feels so genuine, so true, so much like a beating heart.
But even beyond how right this feels on its own, it’s written so well! Imogen is such a relatable character, her moments of confusion and the subtle ways she talked herself around exceptions and curiosity to put herself back in “her place” was so well done. There are so many moments in this that I had in some way lived too, even as a person with a different identity and history, and I know anyone out there who has ever questioned their own validity as a queer person is going to get it.
And the romance- oh my god. It’s adorable. The chemistry is perfect, the banter made me want to tuck into bed and read through the night. These character work just so well together. I haven’t been this immediately invested in a romance in probably years.
And what’s lovely about it, is that these are characters that stand alone too. Imogen is fantastic, in her love story and outside of it. Tessa is a genuinely fun and likable character that feels solidly fleshed out, and Lili is a darn beacon of light. I love these people. They all feel like people.
I also really appreciate that for a story hinging on lies and being closeted there isn’t really any dragged out miscommunication! Things sometimes take a little while to come out into the open, things are not always clear, but it never feels dragged out or pushed to the breaking point. Everything is earned and everything makes sense.
My only complaint at all was that the narration and conversations on queer discourse and being politically correct did at times get to be a lot, and I personally really hate when it seems like authors are trying to prove their characters are morally correct by beseeching the reader like that- but I genuinely don’t think that’s what was happening here. This kind of thinking and the conversations had make total sense with Imogen’s character, and the people she surrounds herself with. It just crosses over into bogging down the text a few times, and I fear that’ll stop some people from pushing through.
This book is the light of my life, I cannot wait to physically own it (of course it’s been preordered since I finished my ARC), and I definitely cannot wait for more people to get to experience Imogen and her story.
Pre-review comments below I don't know why the thought of this book makes my heart hurt but the cover is pretty and I think it's going to damage me when it comes out
Update post-reading BECKY I AM SO HAPPY YOU GOT TO WRITE THIS...more
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: trauma, death of family members (sister, father), explosion, threat of drowning, gore weapon use, cannibalism,I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: trauma, death of family members (sister, father), explosion, threat of drowning, gore weapon use, cannibalism, abusive father, rape metaphor, cult, mentioned trafficking 4.6
“In death she became something more. Someone impossibly intelligent, savant-level gifted. Something bigger, something larger than she’d ever been in life. Literally. That spider was fucking massive.”
Lemme tell you how much fun I had!!! This is one of my favorite books of 2023 so far, I preordered it immediately after reading my ARC, I desperately checked to make sure there was going to be a sequel (there is), and I cried when I couldn’t immediately yell over it because I do not cross picket lines. If you want whiplash, Gotham energy, and morally gray people everywhere with some of the funniest out of the blue lines you could expect, please, please, pick this book up!
This book was promoted as basically being about “someone ordinary living in Gotham, without heroes”. And that tracks! It’s actually even more fun if you start actively reading it that way. This book is kind of crazy, and goes off the rails in the most perfect ways. This book hits you over the head again and again and you just say thank you. There is never a dull moment, never a “stop and rationalize” narrative pause, never a need to be down to earth or moral with it. And that means you never- never- know where it’s going to go, or what’s even possible. And yet! What does happen always winds up feeling plausible and even foreshadowed! I don’t know how that’s possible.
I also weirdly love everyone in this book. In particular I, of course, love Ness and her willingness to break ankles, and I have a soft spot for Cy, but I also absolutely love the Nightmare Phantom, without even getting to know him more than about chapter. This is one of the big reasons I needed a sequel- I absolutely must see how this plays out. I fell for Ness and Cy’s friendship, and I still think it’s wonderful, but I have a bad feeling it’s going to turn into a romance, which will be a disappointment for me personally, though I’m sure go over well with some other readers. I just love a platonic coupling! I love a platonic love story! I want those couple of moments implying Ness might actually be aspec to not be accidental! But, well, we’ll see.
The only things about this book I didn’t totally love, were the parts that felt a bit too loose. The thematic moments, the lessons, didn’t quite work for me overall, there are places in the end that feel forced. And the character arcs are fairly slow for the first two thirds, which is a shame- though there’s so much going on I can almost excuse this. What I wanted, was really for Ness’ conflicting personality to have been worked out earlier or made more sense. She’s characterized as a coward- she clearly thinks of herself that way and we’re supposed to too. But she’s also ruthless! She’s fine threatening people, going on a boat full of people, she bounces back from danger mostly easily- her fear of being on the street just makes her more willing to put herself in compromising situations where she has to metaphorically bite. She just has a phobia of Nightmares.
“I weigh my options and then decide I’m screwed anyway, so I might as well go out by being an absolute bitch.”
I really love this book! It’s a wild ride with characters that are easy to be ride or die with, and a world so out there that nearly anything can happen. I’ll take the sequel now please!
Pre-review comments below
"Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider" ...more
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: mentioned affairs & divorce, car accident/crash, accidental gun violence 4.7
Kevin Wilson is a man I never want I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: mentioned affairs & divorce, car accident/crash, accidental gun violence 4.7
Kevin Wilson is a man I never want to meet because if he is anything less than he is in my head I may lose half my reason for living. That is to say, I frigging love Kevin Wilson.
Wilson writes exactly the kind of characters I want to love obsessively. I want everyone else to read these books and get together with me to be distinctly Not Normal about them. They're messy and selfish and human and always just the slightest bit gross- that gross feeling you get in your own core when you think about all the things you are and feel and think that other people don't know and oh my god would they not love you if they knew.
I'm also a little desperate to read Frankie's Evil Nancy Drew books.
Kevin Wilson is also incredible at writing a very certain kind of story- mundane yet surreal. I love how much of this story is just a slow summer coming of age of teenage friendship, and yet the Satanic Panic and the deaths don't feel out of the blue or clash. I also really love how much this story is just a moment in time, as dramatic as it is. It stays just down to earth enough to feel like an actual piece of someone's history, and it doesn't worry about a big rise and fall.
I'm so glad I read the author's note for this book. Too often I either skip the man behind the curtain moment, or wish I did, because knowing too much about the context and the truth of it tends to ruin the art for me. But knowing what the book was to Wilson made it absolutely certain I was going to follow Frankie and her story heart first. It made me trust, more even than I already did, that he understands everything he was about to say out loud or silently. I can't say it better, or explain- I can really, really hope you read that note too.
I only wish that the impact of the panic was explored more, since deaths in other cities were mentioned. I think it could have been really cool to have brought it even further and seen the true scope- it also would have made Frankie's guilt that much more profound.
Pre-review comments below Kevin Wilson writes messy, selfish, desperate girls that make me want to lose my entire mind, thank you...more
What a great look at queerness in nature! While this book deftly sidesteps overly humanizing or labeling animals and relationships with no understandiWhat a great look at queerness in nature! While this book deftly sidesteps overly humanizing or labeling animals and relationships with no understanding of our Western ideals or categories, it also reaches right out to readers- especially those in groups who need it the most- and boldly says "this is nothing new, this is nothing strange, this isn't wrong". The fact that this book exists makes me so emotional and so happy. And it's also a genuinely fun read! I'm not a nonfiction reader, but Schrefer's conversational tone makes this book easy to pick up, and his humor makes it even easier to stay. I also loved the moments of biographical stories, connecting not just to these animals but to the world and why it matters, and specifically to Schrefer.
I also loved the fact that we get interviews with those studying these very specific groups and behaviors, mostly people who themselves are in the queer community.
Pre-review comments I don't think I've been this excited about a nonfiction book in a long time!...more
I received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: homophobia, classism, references to racism, bloodborne virus, adjacent to drugging 4.6
Kat is a vampire among huI received an ARC from Edelweiss TW: homophobia, classism, references to racism, bloodborne virus, adjacent to drugging 4.6
Kat is a vampire among humans. With just her mother around to connect her to the community they left behind, and the rising cost of the blood replacement Hema, a full ride acceptance to the prestigious, vampire-only Harcote Academy should be the obvious answer, even if her mother is determined to keep her away. But a school full of vampires who only views humans as food feels more like a different world than she expected, though one she's determined to fit herself into. The only real bump is her roommate- Taylor Singer. Ex-best friend and the reason she and her mother had to move away from the vampire community. Taylor didn't expect to see Kat ever again either. For her, Kat is the best friend who ghosted her with a single angry text she never found out the reason for. She's also Kat's first crush. Being forced to share a room with the first girl that ever broke her heart is bad enough, and seeing Kat go along with the exact people who want to corrupt her, but something weird is happening at the school too... And the only way to figure out how the ominous whispers, Kat's mysterious benefactor, and a dead body are related, are for the girls to unite, whether they want to or not.
This book was so much fun to read! It's brimming with energy, love, and vampires- what more could you want? I don't think this book was attempting to reinvent the wheel- and I'm glad it didn't spend its focus on that- but this book definitely felt fresh! The community at large plays off of the known and the expected in terms of vampires and the upper class, but it also felt unique and the details that come into play for the worldbuilding fit in perfectly with the general vampire canon while also making it totally its own.
The characters are also great! I have strong feelings about every single character in this book- an honest to God feat. Laurens writes these characters so well, making them effortlessly into real, varied people. It would have been easy to make Kat and Taylor fit into molds, or have their backgrounds become their entire personality, but instead they have flaws and strengths and desires that don't always perfectly line up, and are full fledged personalities.
Which is a huge reason the romance works so well! You know these girls as individuals, so getting to see them interact and who they are in those situations has so much more weight as well as nuance. The other big reason is because Laurens just completely understands the walls crumbling, yearning, not-sure-if-I'm-allowed-to-want-this vibe that makes most of us want to shake a book while either crying or screaming. There are so many tender, emotive lines in this book, and so many cute scenes between two girls trying to understand how to fit themselves into the world or into each other's worlds, I had to stop myself from flying right through this book just so I could better appreciate them.
And, finally, I love the messiness of this book! It's definitely there in the romance, but it's also in the morality, the manipulation, the fact that "new girl heroine here to save us from our ways" archetype is also allowed to want revenge and use people to win power struggles. I said this book is full of love, but it's also full of anger and that is wonderful.
I only really had three complaints in this whole book. The first was that the traditionalism/racism of the community felt more sidelined than such an important issue should have been. It wasn't prevalent in the story throughout, it was more of an extra grievance pulled out to stack the deck, which came off feeling much cheaper than it could have. The other issues are general pacing which just felt a bit off at times, and a wish that the major miscommunication in this story be more realistic. In fact, the miscommunication was the only thing that felt overwritten.
I loved this book! I had so much fun reading this, I love the characters, and I cannot wait for more people to read it....more
I received an ARC from Netgalley TW: religious trauma & homophobia 4.5
Shara Wheeler is beautiful, popular, and loved by basically everyone but ChloeI received an ARC from Netgalley TW: religious trauma & homophobia 4.5
Shara Wheeler is beautiful, popular, and loved by basically everyone but Chloe, her self-appointed rival. Which is just some of many reasons why it makes no sense that Shara kissed Chloe - and then disappeared. Determined to figure out what the hell is going on, Chloe teams up with Shara's boyfriend, Smith, her next door neighbor with an obvious crush, Rory, to play out Shara's deranged scavenger hunt of notes and clues.
This book both feels like a commercial teen story of sleuthing and manic dream girls and romance and like a completely unique story. It's hard to get a handle on, but once you're on the ride, it's an experience you're not going to forget.
McQuiston is a genius as character creation and the feeling of queer community, and that's what shines the most in this book. The characters are so strong, the moments of realization, the contrast between the strong, biting defenses and the so fragile you could break it with a breath moments fostered in those in between spaces. For me, Smith was the break away character, whose side arc is so full of gentle, anxious exploration it honestly made me want to cry. But Smith is also just an example of these fully realized, varied characters.
The arcs in general are good- something I wasn't quite sure would be the case at first. As I said, this book teeters a bit and is hard to categorize for a long while. It does in some ways threaten to be commercial, and a lot of that is on the shoulders of our main girls. Chloe's main characterization for much of the story comes from her fascination with Shara, slotting her into the role of the main character in an indie movie, where absent yet guiding voice Shara seems like the standard manic pixie dream girl. And it does stay that way against the mystery, letting that be a solid backdrop to the changes we see happening for our side characters. But when the mystery evolves and everything else gets sorted, what was once a fairly static thing shows itself to be some incredible slowburn, done exceptionally well. You see more of Chloe as a character at the end of this book than anywhere else, and the same goes for Shara- but it doesn't feel like an issue with pacing or writing, it feels exactly how it should happen.
The pacing, actually, is really great. Mostly because this story is a backdrop in which character work is done, and the spacing allows for that without any drag or making any part of it rush. The different moving parts and the genre/expectation changes are plotted perfectly, and it makes it so fun to read.
I noted in my e-copy that this book felt like a strange marriage of "Paper Towns", "13 Little Blue Envelopes" and "Geography Club", and while that doesn't cover the whole feeling of the thing, I do stand by it. This book did take a while to win me over, and the indie movie feel made it just a bit too surface level for just a bit too long for me. Maybe a reread would make me reconsider all my hold outs, but that's something to find out in a few months!
Pre-review comments below Okay this book wound up being a slow build after thinking I wasn't going to like it, and now I'm incredibly emotional. But also, I think I would've given this a 5 just for Smith alone ...more
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