Posts

REVIEW: The Bridesmaid by Cate Quinn

-
Well, that was odd. This book tried to do way too much. Like I am still a little confused, and not in a good way. There is an evil boarding school. Evil dad. Evil lesbian. Evil drug addict. Evil bride, evil groom. EVERYONE'S A SUSPECT. I was a little lost on the family history. Like it is a very tangled mess of weird stuff. I was like, ok, this is what happened. But I forgot that this other thing happened and this person is this and that person is that. I think this book is trying to be feminist? Based on the ending? It is strange because most of the book does not write women in a Cool Way. Holly is #notlikeothergirls, Petra is sleeping with a weird old man, Ophelia is a CrAzY lesbian, Georgia is dark-skinned and will be described as such often, and Adrianna is a BONKERS entitled rich girl. This book is not very eat the rich friendly. It is very rich people have problems too! Like nah these people are billionaires and their misery is exclusively of their own making. Mark...
Post a Comment
Read more

REVIEW: The Faceless Thing We Adore by Hester Steel

-
Image
  So this might be my favorite book?? I don't have words. I have so many words. The feminine urge to be a better man. The feminine urge to be a God. This book is so well written. Aoife's journey in this is so painful to follow. We find this girl who is only like 22 or so. I had to keep remembering that as I went along. Like, oh my god, she is younger than me. She ran away at 17 with Ugh Craig and apparently nobody cared????? So now she is living life as Ugh Craig's servant basically, working two jobs and doing all the chores and STILL getting yelled at because Ugh Craig is UGH. So like of course after they breakup she gets into a cult. She literally has nothing. At every point you, and sometimes she, are yelling at her to stop making these decisions. It is hard to watch. But at the same time you get it because this poor girl, you know? This book is about becoming more than what the world *cough*men*cough* want you to be, more than what they believe you can be. This book is ...
Post a Comment
Read more

REVIEW: Rumoured by The Mancaruso Sisters

-
Image
  Well, this wasn't great. I was really enjoying it until around halfway through. That is when the story, TO ME PERSONALLY, was no longer good enough to outweigh the poor writing. I have a feeling a lot of people will like this one, though. For me it went off the rails in a way that was so unbelievable it wasn't fun. For you, it may get crazy in a fun campy way. It is worth the time to find out; it is a short, fast-paced read. I love mixed media in books, so the articles were a nice touch. The writing was also better in them. I  think the authors do a better job at the short, punchy moments like those. Why was Leo there. What did he add. What did any of Naomi's friends add, actually? I feel like a lot of time was spent introducing them each time, and then they just do nothing and disappear. Also, the in-depth descriptions of what everyone is wearing and looks like got really funny to me. Like, we are at the very end, the truth has been revealed. But like we GOTTA know that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Upstanding Young Man by Sharon Doering

-
Image
  This book was so good! I highly recommend it. SUMMARY: Meg Hart is a pretty awful mom. Not a particularly good person, either. So when her teenage son goes missing, it isn't long until suspicion falls on her. Honestly, that is probably as much of a summary as I can give without spoiling anything. You will want to go into this one blind. MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this one. It has been a while since I read a book where I both didn't see the antagonist coming AND it didn't feel out of nowhere. I really enjoyed all of the characters. Which is saying something, because I didn't actually LIKE a few of them. Like Meg, for instance. Genuinely makes the worst possible choice any time she gets the chance. However you do really feel for her by the end. You never really get the feeling that she is doing things out of actual malice. She is just so stressed out constantly. I really, really, REALLY wound up loving the main teens in this story. I feel like it is rare...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Last Chance Live! by Helena Haywood Henry

-
Image
  Help I don't know how to feel anything anymore. Ok. So. This book is super complex, y'all. The characters are so well written and they are all pretty terrible people. Which is great. Everyone in this book committed some of the worst crimes imaginable. Yet by the end of the book you are like. Do they deserve to die though? Honestly this book paints a very harsh view of humanity that I don't agree with. At every turn everyone does the worst action possible. I kind of thought this was just because we see the world as it is through Eternity's eyes, but after seeing the end author's note I am not so sure. After reading this book take a moment to look at all the good things going on in the world. It is easy to feel like everything, all the time, is horrible. I promise you it is not. The books themes about race are very heavy-handed at times but I don't really mind that. Sometimes that is what is needed to make people listen. A bi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Shampoo Unicorn by Sawyer Lovett

-
Image
  This book was definitely something I needed to read. As a queer person in a town of less than 5k in rural Mississippi, this book really resonated with me. What little representation of small town LGBTQ+ people is out there usually focuses on how miserable it is and how the person can't wait to leave. This book shows that ugly side, yes, but it is all wrapped up in such queer joy. It really makes a statement on how we can carve out our own pockets of space. It is the wonderful idea that you can be happy exactly where you are. It is the wonderful idea that no matter how small your world seems, you can always find people that share in an experience you thought no one else did. The fact that this is a debut novel is really astonishing. It is written so beautifully. Each character is so real and well-characterized, though I do feel that a few felt like they could have been fleshed out better. The alternating between first, second, and third person ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: If We Survive This by Racquel Marie

-
Image
  I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book??? Let's chat. SUMMARY: Zombies. Rabies zombies. Rabies mutates, infects a bunch of people, people start biting, uh-oh, apocalypse. Typical zombie stuff. Flora and her brother, Cain, are the only people left in an LA suburb. They get a radio message from their missing dad, so what do we do? ROAD TRIP BABY. On the way we meet various friends and enemies and cute dogs. The zombies are there too, sometimes. BUT ROAD TRIP BABY. Teen rom-com-dram road trip! MY THOUGHTS: This book really had me up until like the last act. But let's talk about the good stuff first, since there is way more of it than the bad. Ok, so maybe Flora is me?? A little bit? Maybe?? I feel like a lot of people are going to really relate to her. First, I want to talk about something a little silly that meant a lot to me. As a person who is into horror, I have of course had the "How would I do in a Zombie Apocalypse?...
Post a Comment
Read more