I have been meaning to read this graphic novel for almost the entirety of 2020 and a day before the year is over, I finally did it. I thought t[image]
I have been meaning to read this graphic novel for almost the entirety of 2020 and a day before the year is over, I finally did it. I thought the art was cute but other than that I didn't really feel very invested in it and probably won't be continuing this graphic novel series.
“It really did seem like some monstrous force was suddenly rampaging through my life. I didn’t understand it, but I knew the name: Sash
[image]
“It really did seem like some monstrous force was suddenly rampaging through my life. I didn’t understand it, but I knew the name: Sasha Masha.”
Sasha Masha is a really moving ownvoices novel about exploring gender identity and understanding who you are.
Before I go into this, I just wanna say that I will be using he/him pronouns in this review, as that is what is used throughout the entire novel and because pronouns do not necessarily equal gender, I want to respect that. I will not be using Sasha Masha's deadname though, even though it is frequently used, as he mentions several times throughout the novel that Sasha Masha is the name he wants to be referred to as.
There isn't much to say in regards to the plot of this novel but it is astounding how much was packed into this short novel. Really, in a lot of aspects it just reads like your good old coming-of-age novel, except it has the added element of Sasha Masha being trans and we follow Sasha Masha as he is figuring this out during all the other teenage experience shenanigans.
“But something was wrong. There was a high wall inside of me, and it made me angry, it made me stuck; there was a self on the other side—was this, now, the thing I’d failed to see? That in my heart of hearts I wasn’t a boy after all?”
I loved Sasha Masha's journey and I thought that it was very powerful and moving. There is a lot of questioning and confusion going on in Sasha Masha's inner monologue but it is so beautiful to follow him on the path to understanding his own gender identity and accepting who he is.
I especially loved the way the author approached Sasha Masha realizing he is trans, where he kinda has this persona of Sasha Masha and knows that that is who he wants to be and then slowly grows into it, but also learns that that person has been him all along, he just had to make sure to really embrace that part.
“I could only think of that picture, and I started to wonder whether I really just missed myself. You miss yourself? How could you miss yourself? You’re right here.”
There are definitely people in Sasha Masha's life that struggle with him accepting his own identity but for the most part, he has a really wonderful support system in both old and new friends.
Especially seeing the queer support system that build up around him throughout this novel was an incredibly heart-warming aspect. These people not only accept him exactly as he is but they also support his journey, both with trying to help him figure his identity out but also just being patient with him and never pushing anything.
This novel also had several side-characters of colour and I very much enjoyed that there was a brief discussion about how a lot of queer riots were led by people of colour. This also introduced some discussions between a younger and older generation of queer people, which is something we so rarely get to see.
“We were like two pieces of rope that had been frequently knotted; even when we were separate, our bodies held the shape of the knot we made together.”
Mabel, Sasha Masha's best friend who ended up moving away, especially stands out as a side-character. Even though they can only communicate via text and calls now, Mabel is still there for all of Sasha Masha's journey and being accepting of him at all times.
I loved seeing moments from their friendship in the past and seeing Mabel always being an unapologetically queer presence in Sasha Masha's life too. Their friendship is just incredibly well written and Mabel as a character within the book alone adds so much comfort.
“All of a sudden I felt far away from my parents. This road might take me places they would never go.”
I also found the relationship between Sasha Masha and his parents a very interesting aspect and I definitely wish we had gotten to see more of it because it was quite a complex relationship. They definitely care and worry a lot about Sasha Masha, especially as they're starting to realize that something is going on and his behaviour changes, but they're never actually there for their child to figure out the root of what is going on.
Throughout the story you are definitely wondering if Sasha Masha's parents will accept him being trans. Long before he has come to the realization that he is trans, he is already wondering what his parents will think of the self-discovery journey that he is on. And I definitely liked this portrayal of Sasha Masha's relationship with his parents and thought it added an important aspect to the story.
“The world was Real. This couch was Real, Murphy was Real, the light and the bookshelves and the creatures and the sounds of the city moving around me—they were all Real. Like it or not, the world is Real, and whoever we are, we are part of the world.”
I definitely think that overall a lot of the aspects in this novel were kept quite brief but that is very much due to this being a very short novel too. I would've loved to see a lot of the things talked about within this story to be discussed even more.
But ultimately, this showed us a glimpse of Sasha Masha's life and his journey to not only understanding their own identity but also to get more comfortable within queer spaces and understanding and connecting with other queer people. And I feel grateful to have gotten such a glimpse and I know that his story will stay with me for a while.
Finishing this novel just gave me a really hopeful and positive feeling. And I know that there is lots more good things to come for Sasha Masha and people with similar journeys. After reading this story there is just such a wonderful, reassuring feeling, knowing they will find their path and people who unconditionally love and accept them.
“Reading will make you brilliant but writing will make you infinite.”
Juliet Takes a Breath is a graphic novel adaptation of the nov[image]
“Reading will make you brilliant but writing will make you infinite.”
Juliet Takes a Breath is a graphic novel adaptation of the novel with the same title and unpacks so many different themes, from white feminism and intersectionality to finding your place in queer spaces, heartbreak and coming out.
At the center of this story is Juliet, who moves from the Bronx to Portland, Oregon, to start an internship with a feminist author called Harlowe Brisbane. During this internship she gets introduced to a super diverse group of queer people and finds a queer space to belong for the first time.
As time goes on, Juliet becomes more comfortable within queer spaces but also learns that Harlowe Brisbane is not everything that she had hoped she would be and represent for her.
“They didn't even know me and it was like they loved me. I almost couldn't accept it. Like the ache of Lainie had me numb way deep in my spirit too.”
There is truly so much to say about Juliet Takes a Breath because it unpacked so many different themes but I thought it was all done incredibly well. I haven't read the original novel but this graphic novel had me so hooked and so in love, that it made me want to read it, even though I now obviously know the basic storyline.
But it just made me so intriguied to see how the novel unpacks all of these issues because if the graphic novel already did it so well in such a small amount of pages, then surely the novel will be doing an ever greater job at it!
I also just adored all the characters in this novel so much and I would want to read more about them. This novel features an incredibly diverse cast of characters! Most of them are queer and/or genderqueer, we have Black characters, Latinx characters and a biracial (White & Korean) love interest. Juliet herself is Puerto Rican, fat and a lesbian. She also has asthma and is shown using her inhaler on page.
“And you get to decide what you believe and how you worship yourself.”
Even though Juliet has known for a long time that she is gay and feels quite comfortable and confident in that identity, and even has been in a relationship for a year, she hasn't really been part of any queer community and she really finds a wonderful support system with these people.
The story actually starts with Juliet coming out as a lesbian to her family and while a lot of the members of her family are dismissive at first, most of them are accepting. But Juliet's mother does not accept her sexuality and calls it "just a phase" and thinks that Juliet just needs to find the right guy. It was a storyline that obviously many queer people can relate to and that I thought was well done overall.
I really loved Juliet's relationship with her brother, even though we only got to read about it briefly and later on in the novel we meet Juliet's cousin and aunt who live in Miami, who were also such wonderful characters to read about and had a big impact on Juliet's journey too.
“Juliet Milagro Palante. I love you like the seas love the moon. Whatever you are, whoever you love, I'm here.”
One of the biggest themes of this graphic novel was white feminism and the saviour complex that white people have. This is definitely a story that is not always a fun and happy read, it can be quite uncomfortable at times. But it shows a reality of our world and I really appreciated that the author was so blunt about it.
This graphic novel talks about casual racism, it talks about how reverse racism doesn't exist, it's about how white people will so often overstep and speak over people of colour when they are trying to help. And it's also about holding people accountable. All those aspects, while brief, due to the nature of this format, were so well done and surely very eye-opening for many people.
On top of all that, Juliet Takes a Breath also has themes of different kinds of romantic relationships and how self-love plays an important role in that. We see that the relationship that Juliet is in in the beginning of the story does not seem very healthy and it shows just how important communication is in a relationship.
But within the course of this novel, Juliet starts dating someone else and it is a really beautiful development. There is also a great f/f sex scene with a big emphasis on consent and masturbation is also explored in this graphcic novel. Neither of thoses scenes are explicit but make it very clear what's happening.
“Kira felt like home. Like a million street bikes zipping down the bronx river parkway and popping endos under the elevated trains. Dinosaur-sized butterflies fluttered in my stomach.”
And of course there is the beautiful art style, that I truly loved and that only added so much love for this graphic novel for me. I loved the line art and how much very clear body diversity there was with these characters. It also has a very warm and pleasant colour palette, that just made it a very pleasing reading experience.
“Gender is a trip. Limitless like the universe.”
Overall, as you might be able to tell from this review, I truly loved this graphic novel and cannot wait to dive into the novel soon because I am just that in love with the characters and themes in this story!
Trigger and Content Warnings for homophobia, racism, fatshaming, sexual harassment, smoking (weed), use of d-slur (in a reclaiming nature).
“Loyalty to the family is rewarded, and impertinence is punished. Remember that and you shall be very happy.”
This was such an inten[image]
“Loyalty to the family is rewarded, and impertinence is punished. Remember that and you shall be very happy.”
This was such an intense and captivating read and incredibly atmospheric. It was definitely very much the kind of book that I was craving.
But while I loved the atmosphere and mystery especially in the beginning of this book, something about the last third just no longer really worked for me. And especially the ending left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
But to be fair this is a book that is very much out of my comfort zone and I am still so very glad that I picked this up because I thought this overall was a very enjoyable reading experience and again, something that very much satisfied a craving that I had.
“The world might indeed be a cursed circle; the snake swallowed its tail and there could be no end, only an eternal ruination and endless devouring.”
This was just.. uhhhhh not good. Definitely still enjoyable, in a nostalgic kind of way, especially the first half, but also just very frustrating to This was just.. uhhhhh not good. Definitely still enjoyable, in a nostalgic kind of way, especially the first half, but also just very frustrating to read in parts. Especially the "big reveal" lmaoooooo.
“You're my heart, Magnus Bane. Stay unbroken, for me.”
My love for the characters and world of the Shadowhunters has manifested a[image]
“You're my heart, Magnus Bane. Stay unbroken, for me.”
My love for the characters and world of the Shadowhunters has manifested a long, long time ago and yet I feel like every time I read about them, they carve out an even bigger space for themselves in my heart.
The Lost Book of the White follows Magnus and Alec as they travel to Shanghai to get back the very powerful Book of the White that was stolen from their home. And on their journey they get support from the rest of the main The Mortal Instruments cast, Jace, Clary, Simon and Isabelle. That said, there is spoilers in this book (and review) for basically almost all of the other Shadowhunter series and books and you should definitely be caught up with them before you go into this!
I loved being back with the original The Mortal Instruments squad so, so much. While they obviously show up throughout the newer books too and we always know what they're up to, seeing all six of them together on an adventure truly made me feel so blessed.
“Jace rarely spoke of his feelings, but he didn't need to: Alec could read them on his face. Jace had chosen Clary to love, just as Alec had chosen Magnus, and he would love her forever and with his whole heart.”
I also adored that we got to see a little bit of Magnus and Alec being domestic and the ever-worried dads, even when they are stuck in some hell dimension (as you are). Magnus and Alec having such an intense, beautiful, unconditional love for each other and their son made my queer little heart feel so very soft and warm. And I am especially happy about seeing that kind of representation in a YA book!
Other than Magnus and Alec, Simon in particular had a really interesting character arc in this story. Obviously Simon had an entire short story collection dedicated to him and his journey of becoming a Shadowhunter but this story takes place just a little bit after and we see how much the events that happened at the Shadowhunter Academy really shaped him. He is still very much dealing with processing what happened and understanding what it really means to be a Shadowhunter.
“Someone, long ago, had told Magnus that human beings could never love the way immortals loved; their souls didn't have the strength for it. That person had never met Alec Lightwood, nor anyone like him, Magnus thought, and their lives must have been the poorer for it.”
I feel like this book in particular was such a testament to the skill of Cassandra Clare writing the most memorable characters, even if it is side or even minor characters. There were a lot of characters in here that might not get a lot of "screen time" but that we see over and over in the different series and throughout different times and I just love them all dearly and am invested in what they are up to every time.
And I just genuinely think that this is one of those things that Cassandra Clare very much excels at and that makes reading these series particularly fun and at times heartbreaking. Which, to be fair, Cassandra Clare definitely very much excels at too. Lord knows she has broken my heart several times in the past seven years that I have been reading her books and you know what - I thank her for it.
That said, I didn't find myself all too invested in the storyline itself. I feel like there is an infinite amount of interesting things to explore in this world and this was definitely one of them but I just felt like the plot didn't enthrall me much.
“Alec drew the strokes of the rune with attentive care, and Magnus felt the same wonder as he had years ago, the same calming of fear. On the eve of battle, amid the darkened spin of a strange infernal city: it made no difference where they were. They would fight and live and die together.”
But despite what people might think and say, I think that Clare constantly brings new and refreshing ideas and character arcs to the table. She established this world and these characters and I am glad she is still playing around with them, even the ones that are already well-known and loved because that is the aspect of this book that I appreciated the most. Seeing Simon's journey, who has been through so much, dealing with the repercussions to his mental health, or seeing Alec and Magnus together as fathers, are additions to this series that I deeply appreciate.
Overall, even though I gave this a 3-star rating, I have a lot of love in my heart for this book because I adore these characters and I always love following them on their adventures.
If you liked the first book, if you like this world, and/or if you miss the The Mortal Instruments cast, this comes with a huge recommendation from me for sure. And the bonus short story (which was in the audiobook but sadly not in the library ebook copy I had) was absolutely beautiful too and showed me that I will never grow tired of just reading about these character's well deserved happiness too.
“It’s freezing and dark because this is how it is with us; this is how we connected, so it’s fitting that this is where we wind up, kis
[image]
“It’s freezing and dark because this is how it is with us; this is how we connected, so it’s fitting that this is where we wind up, kissing each other like we are both hungry.”
The Liar's Guide to the Night Sky is YA Survival Story that had some very promising aspects to it but ultimately ended up not delivering when it came to unpacking them.
The story starts with a group of teens, most of them cousins, who all got together because of a sickness in the family, sneaking out to an abandoned ski slope, when they get hit with a sudden mudslide and are stranded on this mountain with nobody knowing where they are.
Our main character Hallie decides that she doesn't wanna sit around and wait for help but to go and search for it herself. Jonah, her cousin Jaxon's best friend, joins her and we follow them on their survival journey but also them getting to know each other better.
I have read two other books by Brianna Shrum that I really loved, so I was very excited to pick this novel up, even if it was slightly out of my comfort zone, as I do not usually reach for (Contemporary) Survival stories. But I was excited by the diversity aspects in this story and my love for the author's earlier books, so I wanted to give it a chance.
Sadly, I did not end up being very satisfied with this novel and the elements in it. I think that there are a lot of intriguing aspects to it but ultimately the things that I would've wanted to read more about were either not talked about enough or just didn't get the on-page time they deserved.
“We touch each other, under the black sky and a million stars that shine a million miles away, stars that make up the backdrop of this crucial twenty-four hours, this life-altering turn of a night, and that do not give a single shit about us. We are not imprinted in the memory of the stars. Anyway, it’s the vastness of the black that’s imprinted in mine.”
One of the very promising aspects of this story are the complex family dynamics that are portrayed. Hallie lived away from the rest of her big family for a long time and feels out of place in between them, even when she wants to be part of this cousin group so very badly.
She struggles with not getting inside jokes and just feeling like she doesn't know everyone as well as they all know each other. On top of that, whenever there were family gatherings in the past, it seemed like her parents wanted to mostly keep her away from the rest of the family and making her feel like they would have a bad influence on her.
One aspect that plays into this is racism, which absolutely did not get unpacked enough in regards to Hallie's parents. We find out about a conversation between Hallie's dad and his brother, that Hallie overheard when she was younger, where they are having a fight and Hallie's uncle asks if this is about him being married to a Black woman. And in that moment Hallie even thinks to herself that her uncle is probably right.
But that is the most that this ever really gets talked about. I know that it can be hard to challenge your parents about their racism, especially when it has to do with family relationships and it being something that you think might be out of your lane. But apart from the fact that Hallie is acknowledging this and being upset by it, this is never really brought up again, even by anybody else. And it is not like Hallie is the picture-perfect daughter in this novel who never says anything against her parents.. the fact that the racism is never brought up by her, was really disappointing.
It seemed like the author was making a point later on in the novel about how the main character in general didn't seem to be super well informed about (anti-Black) racism, when she has a conversation about the racism in Denver and other "liberal-leaning" cities with Jaxon, who is Afro-Latinx and studies Political science. And while that obviously would be a very valid point to make, especially considering Hallie's parents, there was not enough substance to this conversation and, again, the topic is never really brought up again when it comes to her parents and the fact that they have basically completely separated themselves from the rest of the family due to racism.
Plus, the conversation ends with Hallie making heart eyes at Jason because he is so passionate about fighting racism... instead of her actually processing what he said. And the topic gets brought up again later, when Jaxon tells Hallie about his dad having been in jail for 10 years for smoking weed and how that is a systematic issue that many Black men have to face. All Hallie has to say about this is that it “fucking sucks”.
I am going to talk about the Black character doing all the explaining to the white character later in the review but the thing is that there is just such a wasted opportunity here. The least Hallie could've done is to really listen and learn and to later on confront her parents about their racism and how it kept her from being close to her family. It honestly feels like Hallie doesn't take anything away from this conversation whatsoever.
“When he pulls me toward him with the smallest pressure in the tips of his fingers and kisses me. It is so slow that it fucking hurts. I think that maybe I’ve never kissed anyone in my life.”
Now while I don't think that the racism was handled very well, I think that a lot of the representation was done much better. There is Hallie being Jewish (which is ownvoices) and I liked that this novel used lots of Jewish terms and talked about traditions, while also acknowledging that there is a lot of layers to being Jewish and practising (or not practising) Judaism.
Jonah and Hallie also have a really great conversation about romantic and sexual attraction. Hallie identifies as bisexual and Jonah identifies as pansexual and aromantic and the aromantic and bisexual representation is an ownvoices aspect. Now while I cannot speak for any of these identities, I liked that the author took the time for the characters to really have a conversation about this. This is one of the few novels that actually explains what pansexual means, while also acknowledging that sexuality is a spectrum, which made me really happy to read about.
Jonah also talks about being aromantic and what that means for him. There was definitely an emphasis put on the fact that it does not mean that he is broken or incapable of love, which is so very important to point out. Jonah also mentions that he is not monogamous and explains it to Hallie too because she basically immediately assumes what he means is cheating, when he is talking about consensual polygamy.
Now I am grateful for these barely represented identities to be so well-explained in a novel but especially as I was writing this review, I realized how much explaining there was within this novel and that most of it came from Jonah. He keeps educating Hallie about all of these different things and the author even makes a point for Hallie to point out that she would do research herself, if she had internet, but it is a really cheap excuse for the one, main person of colour in this story to do all of the explaining.
“I am absolutely suffocated by the fact that I seem to have changed utterly while my parents simply have not. Nothing else has. Nothing but me.”
Apart from all of those glaring issues with this book, I also just didn't enjoy the Survival part of this story much. I will say that that very well might be a me-problem because I obviously didn't really go into this novel because of that aspect but because I was interested in the author's work in general and the character dynamics. But I just ended up being bored by the Survival aspect because, while the stakes were supposed to feel high, they never really did.
I also couldn't handle the stupidity of the main character and her companion leaving the group in the first place. Throughout this story I kept thinking about there being a good chance that this group had already been found while these two people are still wandering around, with absolutely no indication of where they could be for any help on the way.
The really interesting aspect of this story could've been the aftermath of this traumatic event. The last part of this book was so fucking good because it dealt with the main character trying to live a normal life after her time hiking through these mountains, fearing for her life. But sadly that was truly only on the last couple of pages. The main character very clearly suffers from PTSD and depression and it is so interesting to read her inner monologue and her not understanding how everybody else can just move on with their lives when she just has been through such a life-altering event. I absolutely wish that this aspect would've taken up so much more time of this novel.
Especially as this is also where the relationship between Hallie and Jonah truly becomes fascinating because they have been through this together and understand each other better than anybody else. This is where we could've really discovered the bond between them and if and how their relationships develops.
“I care that, for this second, all there is is me and Jonah and a hundred trees that have no opinion, a solid dark that surrounds us, that lets us both just exist in a way that is shockingly alive. Shockingly … connected.”
I will say that I liked the nature of their relationship a lot and it is something that we really do not get to see in Young Adult. They had a strong bond, were physically affectionate and had sex but this is not a Romance. I think it is so important to show that two people can have a genuine connection with each other and have a physical relationship too, without them having romantic interest in each other or falling in love.
Lastly I do want to say that Hallie is 17 and in high school and Jonah is almost 20 and in college. I feel like I have become very aware of age in YA relationships and do find it important to point it out, even though I struggle to talk about it, especially as someone who did not grow up or has ever lived in the US. But I know that for a lot of people, while this age gap isn't big, it makes a huge difference that one is in college and one is in high school. There is even a conversation in the beginning where Jaxon says to Jonah “stay away from the high schooler” and while I understand that this was more like some kind of protective older sibling joke, it immediately left a bad taste in my mouth about their relationship.
Overall, I finished this novel feeling disappointed and that is very much the lingering feeling after writing my review too. I feel like this had a lot of potential and I do believe that the author had good intentions but ultimately, this sadly missed a mark.. or many.
Trigger and Content Warnings for underage cannabis use and drinking, blood, injury, loved one with a terminal illness, PTSD, depression.
The Times I Knew I Was Gay is a very charming graphic memoir that many queer people will find themselves relating to.
It can be hard to review a[image]
The Times I Knew I Was Gay is a very charming graphic memoir that many queer people will find themselves relating to.
It can be hard to review and rate memoirs but I can truly say that I just absolutely loved the way that this author told their story. The art style is super simple, almost just a doodle style, but it completely fits the way this story and the way that it is told.
It was also just a super quick read and something that I can see myself picking up again and again, so I definitely want to buy a physical copy of this to just have as a coffee table book. It is just filled with so many charming, funny and relatable moments, that I know I will cherish again.
This was really an absolutely incredible graphic memoir that I would highly recommend. As far as memoirs go, it is very easy to read and could be a good entry into the genre, especially if you are generally a fan of graphic formats.
Before I go into any of this review, let me say that I am very aware that this book has made so many people feel incredibly seen, for many for the firBefore I go into any of this review, let me say that I am very aware that this book has made so many people feel incredibly seen, for many for the first time, and I am so very happy about that. But I want to share my personal experience and perspective as honestly as possible and I do not like to hold back when I think something is genuinely doing more harm than good. I not only found many things portrayed in it not well represented whatsoever but this book was really hurtful to me personally in the way that it portrayed one experience as THE aromantic asexual experience. And I hope that this community can respect my opinion without me disclosing my own orientation. Also this will have mild spoilers, so I can actually go into detail.
Loveless tried to do a lot of good but ended up just being harmful, hurtful and offensive, invalidating literally everyone that doesn't have the exact same experience as the main character.
This is one of those books that shows that ownvoices does not necessarily mean a book can do no harm or has perfect representation. This book would've immensely benefited from having sensitivity readers for the other identities portrayed AND for the aroace representation too, especially as aromantic and asexual is such a huge spectrum.
I think that a lot of the questionable things in this book could've been avoided by having gone through a sensitivity read by someone who, for example, is asexual but not sex-repulsed. And by that I do not mean that this book needed to be relatable to everybody on the aroace spectrum but the least it could've done is make more of an effort to explain the differences and not invalidate everybody who is anywhere else on the spectrum. This identity gets explained literally once and when the main character, Georgia, actually does some research herself, she quickly logs off because she finds it too overwhelming. And while that is valid, is it just not enough for a book like this.
Georgia is clearly sex-repulsed but the word does not get used on-page ONCE and I just think that this is a problem. A sex-repulsed experience exists but it is not THE aroace experience, even tough this book sadly ends up portraying it like that.
And I get that this is a story focused on figuring your sexuality out but it really took 45% for us to get to that ONE explanation of what asexual and aromantic means. Basically no one had ever heard of this term before, except Georgia, who didn't know what it was, even though she clearly spends a lot of time on the internet (and NOT the straight corners of it). It quite frankly seemed very convenient but made all of this unbelievable. And what would've been so wrong with the character understanding these words earlier in the story but still coming to terms with the fact that that is how she feels and identifies? Instead we have to go through this character bulldozing her way through literally everybody else's feelings, experiences and identities in order to figure this out.
But this book does not only have an aroace coming out story. It also has the storyline of Rooney, Georgia's roommate, who she becomes friends with very quickly, figuring out she is pansexual. And we get so little pansexual representation in books, that it's especially harmful when the little rep we do have perpetuates a harmful stereotype like it does in this case.
This character is portrayed as someone who seems very sex positive but throughout this book we find out that she basically only slept with people as a coping mechanism for her feelings and emotions that she doesn't want to deal with. And I am not saying that this experience can't be valid but, first of all, this book really needed this perspective of sex being something that many people do enjoy and can do without any commitment, and, again, all of this just perpetuated an already harmful stereotype without ever talking about it.
And with an identity that is so little represented, when you want to feature a full coming out story of a character (even if it is a side-character), you need to do a better job at explaining what pansexuality actually means, ESPECIALLY if you also constantly put pan and bi in the same bracket. We never once got an explanation of what pansexuality actually means or what the difference between bi and pan is. Quote:“She said she just doesn’t think she really has a gender preference and that felt like the right word for her!!!!” That is not enough if you feature a pansexual coming-out story so prominently.
And do not even get me started on when Georgia said "stop erasing my identity" in a conversation with Rooney about falling in love, when she could've brought up a very legit discussion on aromanticism or the difference between romantic and sexual attraction to her. Instead, she treats Rooney in the dismissive way she was so tired of being treated by everyone else.
I even would've found it completely valid to have this portrayed as an experience that is realizing "oh wait, this is not how everybody else feels?" instead of a "finding people you relate to"-experience, but the main character's thoughts towards everybody else were constantly shaming them. It is okay to be sex-repulsed but you can't place that on everyone else when sex is such a natural part of many people's lives and something that they enjoy.
You cannot yell at and shame your friend, who you know has a lot of sex and just shared personal things with you, like what gender she fantasizes having sex with while she masturbates. Quote:“‘This has to be a fucking joke,’ I blurted. Rooney paused. ‘What?’ I sat up, pushing the covers off my body. ‘Everyone has to be fucking JOKING.’ ‘What d’you–’ ‘People are really out there just … thinking about having sex all the time and they can’t even help it?’ I spluttered. ‘People have dreams about it because they want it that much? How the–I’m losing it. I thought all the movies were exaggerating, but you’re all really out there just craving genitals and embarrassment. This has to be some kind of huge joke.’”
Also I wonder how a book that focuses so heavily on sexuality, has a super prominent non-binary side character AND a character that comes out as pansexual, could still READ SO BINARY! No one ever ACTUALLY acknowledged the existence of there being more than two genders. And the fact that Sunil, the one non-binary character, wears a pin that says "he/they" but never once gets addressed with they/them pronouns, not even by their BEST FRIEND, is on another level too. Why introduce them using they/them pronouns when you are not going to use it? Genuinely makes me wonder who edited this book too.
There is a lot to say on how the people of colour get treated in this book as well. Like for example the way that Sunil, who is Indian, is only there to do all kinds of (emotional) labour for the main character. Or how Goergia's best friend, Pip, who is Latinx, is portrayed like a stereotype. Or how terribly Georgia treats her throughout this entire book. Or how she says "I would choose to be gay" to her face after they just had a talk about how it hasn't been easy for Pip to be a Latina and lesbian.. seriously, I could go on and on and on. I would encourage you all to check out Maëlys's review because she will talk about this (and many other things too) in more detail.
And while the book definitely tried to put out the message that platonic love can be just as or even more valuable than romantic love, it just missed the mark. This is a message that I always find so important and absolutely love seeing portrayed in books but here it was almost like Georgia felt superior and like she was the only who could truly and fully love someone platonically because she would never develop romantic feelings or sexual attraction.
This book could've used this opportunity to talk about the existence of platonic relationships and how there are people who live as non-romantic couples.. instead it just ended in this weird triangle situation with Georgia, Rooney and Pip, introducing no boundaries whatsoever, and I cannot even get into the mess that all of that was. And the fact that Rooney having been in a toxic relationship is getting used as an opportunity to say that platonic relationships are better than romantic relationships, is something I can't even begin to unpack either.
I could write many more paragraphs for many more hours on this book, for example about the time when Georgia just picks up her roommate's phone without her consent and the roommate is just like "okay no prob". Or when the lesbian character is the one who says "how do you know you won't find someone one day?", so Georgia gets to be the one to say "how would you feel if I said this towards you" and on and on and on.
I'm not saying characters can't be flawed or unlikeable or fuck up. But this book is one big fuck-up. From the way Georgia behaves and treats other people to the things that this book portrays and talks about in general. Considering all the things that this main character says and does and thinks throughout this book, there is just not enough repercussions for it. There is not enough people calling Georgia and her bulldozing behaviour out and it is not okay.
At the end of the day, despite knowing how many people saw themselves in this book and the main character's experience, I simply cannot recommend this book whatsoever. A book that shames and invalidates everybody else's experiences to further a main character's journey is just not a good book. If you're looking for something else to read instead, I highly recommend Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman for a book with amazing aroace questioning rep without invalidating anybody else!
This was such an amazing book with so many important topics, all handled incredibly well! So much discussion on racism and cultural appropriation, theThis was such an amazing book with so many important topics, all handled incredibly well! So much discussion on racism and cultural appropriation, the queer representation and different coming-out stories were wonderful, the relationship between the main character and her sister was absolutely beautiful and all the character were so flawed and realistic. Plus I had an especially soft spot for how unapologetically the word "lesbian" was used within this book, even if it was something that the main character couldn't unapologetically be for a lot of circumstances around her. Highly, highly recommending this book, especially if you want a truly inclusive reading experience!
Trigger and Content Warnings for a character being outed, racism, homophobia.
“We’d done everything together since we were ten years old. I couldn’t imagine life any other way. I’d never wanted to imagine life any
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“We’d done everything together since we were ten years old. I couldn’t imagine life any other way. I’d never wanted to imagine life any other way.”
The Secret of You and Me is a sapphic adult romance that tackles some very serious topics and issues, all packed into a beautiful second-chance romance.
This story revolves around two women, Nora and Sophie, who fell in love when they were teenagers but couldn't be together due to the prejudices in their small hometown in Texas. When Nora, after 18 years of being away, comes back into town for her father's funeral, the old stories of what happened start to get unravelled and Nora and Sophie have to navigate being in each other's lives again.
I will say that I have read less sapphic adult romances than I would like but the ones that I have read, were mostly more on the rom-com spectrum. And while I absolutely love getting a sapphic rom-com, this novel tackled some more serious topics and I very much appreciated that.
It is hard to really talk about the in-depth aspects of this novel without giving too much away, as I do think that this is the kind of novel that really works best if you go into it knowing as little as possible, especially because a lot of things that happened 18 years ago only get slowly revealed throughout the story.
“I didn’t realize until I saw you at Mel’s that you’ve held my heart in the palm of your hand all these years. Right now, I’m offering you my heart, Sophie. My soul. Can you promise me a future? ”
We get to read from both Nora's and Sophie's point of view in this novel, which works incredibly well and I found their voices to be easily distinguishable. While Nora and Sophie grew up in the same town, they end up having very different experiences, due to Nora leaving town, and so it was very interesting and important for this novel to feature both of their perspectives.
Sophie has known for a while that she is a lesbian but only really confronts this feeling when Nora returns to town. She is married to a man and they have a daughter, who she loves very much and is really the main reason that she is with her husband. This was easily my favourite aspect of this novel and one that I thought was handled with incredible nuance and care. Seeing Sophie's journey with her sexuality is powerful and so important to portray. We see some flashbacks of her realizing that she is gay and that, while she can recognize her husband is an attractive man, she is not actually attracted to him, but that she still loves him and their daughter. But only in the course of this novel does Sophie actually confront these feelings for the first time and talks about it and comes out to people too.
This novel manages to shine a light on the experiences that many lesbians go through. Being with men, questioning their feelings and attraction towards them and even going as far as marrying and having kids with them. And I love that this novel showed that there can be reasons why lesbians have sex with men that have nothing do with their attraction to them or enjoying or wanting it. It doesn't make them any less gay if the reasons are something like protecting themselves (from being outed, for example) or compulsory heterosexuality. Seeing a woman in her mid-30s come to terms with her sexuality and finally realizing that she has a right to truly be who she is and to live happily out as a lesbian, even with having been with a man for a long time, was so good to see.
Sophie is a recovering alcoholic and this is a topic that gets talked about a lot in this novel as well. We get flashbacks of how Sophie and her family realized that she has an alcohol addiction and decided to go to an AA meeting and her sponsor is a very present side-character in this story.
“My body was barraged with tiny explosions of desire and, deep down, I grieved for all the years this had been missing from my life, that Sophie had been missing. I wanted her as I’d never wanted before, and when our lips met, I fell into her.”
On the other hand, Nora has lead quite a different life. When she left her hometown, she joined the military and has PTSD due to it. Nora definitely talks about her life in the military and how it has shaped her. And living in DC, she has lived a life as an openly bisexual woman. She is in an open relationship with a woman called Alima, who is a closeted Muslim lesbian, married to a man.
There was a paragraph where Nora talked about what identifying as bisexual means to her and I very much enjoyed the discussion on how this is a label that, while it has one general definition, still will mean something different to the people identifying with it. I will say that in this conversation, Nora said that to her it means "enjoying connections with both genders" and I honestly never thought I would ever have to read the term "both genders" again. Genders outside the binary exist and even if this was a small part, it is very disappointing for a queer novel to not acknowledge that!
“It’s good to see being in the military didn’t turn you butch." "Depends on your definition of butch. One definition, my personal favorite, is being able to kill a man with your bare hands. In that regard yes, the military turned me butch."”
The relationship dynamics in this novel are all complicated and messy and I think that it is very important to know that a lot of this novel has (grey-area) cheating. I know that this is an aspect that is an absolute no-go for a lot of people and so I definitely find it important to mention that this is a topic that is very present in this book. But again, everything in this novel is handled with a lot of nuance and care and this not an element that is used as some sort of shock-factor. There is a lot of history between all the characters involved in this story.
In some ways I did think the ending was quite easily resolved. The book did a lot of good, unpacking all kinds of different things all throughout it, and the ending almost felt a little too convenient, ignoring a lot of the issues that are still present, especially considering the overall tone of the book. That said, this didn't hinder my enjoyment, as all sapphics deserve happy endings, especially when it is way too often taken away from us, as this story perfectly portrays. Plus, books that are marketed as Romance, especially if they are queer too, should always have Happily Ever Afters!
“Because I want to be with the woman I love, the only person I’ve ever loved. I want to feel your skin against mine, to be reminded how beautiful making love can be when you’re with someone who you want to absorb into your very being because the thought of ever being without them fills you with sense of despair so complete, so bottomless, that you’re sure you’ll never smile, or laugh, or feel whole again. ”
Now, while I loved this story so very much, I do want to point out that it is not ownvoices. The author does not identify anywhere on the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum and in the acknowledgements the author talks about the love story between these women coming together as she wrote it, with no initial intention to make this a sapphic romance. I read an interview with the author and it very much seems like the author is in one way acknowledging that the process of falling in love is not different just because of the genders involved, while also being very aware of the individual struggles that same-sex couples will go through. I am also glad to hear that the author will be donating 10% of her royalties to the It Gets Better Project.
While none of these things influenced my personal opinion or enjoyment of this book (and I had no idea prior to reading it), I do find it important to point all of this out, so that every reader going into it is aware of this. I definitely wish that especially a storyline like Sophie's would've been written by an ownvoices author but from what I have read, both as far as interviews and the book itself, the author took so much care in writing this story and I do think it is well done, to the point where I am truly in awe of how well this was written, considering it is none of the author's own experience at all. But at the end of the day, I wanna leave the decision to every reader themselves and that is why I thought it important to mention this.
“I pulled her to me and kissed her, pouring into her every bit of admiration I had for her generous heart, gratitude for her courage, and hope for our future. ”
Overall, this was a very intense reading experience for me and I think that the trigger warnings and general tough topics of this novel should not be underestimated. While this book made me very happy because of the representation and themes involved, it was also not an easy read.
But if you can handle the themes and topics, I absolutely recommend this story. It was really beautiful to read about these two women finding their way back to each other and finally getting the happy ending they deserve. The Secret of You and Me is a novel that I will carry in my heart for a long time.
Trigger and Content Warnings for PTSD (after military service), loss of a loved one, homophobia (including physical violence due to it, mentions of/being threatened with conversion therapy and homosexuality being called a mental illness), biphobia (immediately challenged), alcohol abuse, cheating, racism, chronically ill loved one, sexual harassment.
“I think part of the point of loving someone is being able to deal with their brokenness.”
HANK GREEN!!!! YOU ARE!!!!!!!!! A GENIUS!!!!!!!!
“I think part of the point of loving someone is being able to deal with their brokenness.”
HANK GREEN!!!! YOU ARE!!!!!!!!! A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like this duology is fucking perfect. The Science Fiction aspect perfectly paired with theme of what it means to be human in the 21st century... the commentary on social media... the complexity of ALL THE CHARACTERS and their relationships (also fucking kudos for writing one of my favourite f/f relationships).... I am just so in love. SO IN LOVE!
Truly, Hank could easily because one of my favourite authors. I absolutely cannot wait for more books by him. Also I loved the audiobook of the first one already but this? Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
Hank Green uploaded a recap of the first book on his YouTube channel, for anybody else who needs it ...more
I really wanted to read Cameron Esposito's memoir because I love her podcast "Queery" but that one focuses mostly on her guests and I was really interI really wanted to read Cameron Esposito's memoir because I love her podcast "Queery" but that one focuses mostly on her guests and I was really interested to find out more about the author and her life. This memoir is brutally honest. Esposito does not hold back on talking very openly about her experience coming to terms with and truly discovering her sexuality and how that would lead to very questionable behaviour. But I liked that. I liked that she didn't shy away from talking openly about it. She is aware that she made mistakes but that a lot of things were also a very big "grey area". She acknowledged her past but she is also not beating herself up for things she can no longer change anyway. I understand not everybody is gonna like that and I do not condone her behaviour but for the experience of reading a memoir, I enjoyed it a lot. I read this via audio, which was the obvious choice considering I know her through her podcast but also because I think memoirs are generally best consumed via audio (if the authors reads them) and I enjoyed that experience immensely!
Trigger and content warnings for rape and sexual harassment, homophobia, abuse and cheating.
This anthology really did a lot for me.. but sadly not what I think it was supposed to do. Instead of making me excited for a vampire renaissan[image]
This anthology really did a lot for me.. but sadly not what I think it was supposed to do. Instead of making me excited for a vampire renaissance, it kinda made me hope we actually never get one.
I went into this anthology expecting to see a whole lot of identities portrayed in vampire stories that we haven't gotten before. I was looking forward to seeing vampires of colour, queer and genderqueer vampires, fat vampires, disabled vampires. And while we definitely got some of that, I feel like this anthology could've done so much more and could've been even more inclusive. Plus, I was disappointed by not all the aspects being ownvoices. For an anthology that called itself a "revolution on page", I just expected more.
I also thought that this anthology was very much lacking when it comes to exploring generally new ideas for the world building and mythos around vampires. I definitely go into this in my thoughts on the individual stories but only a couple of these stories actually satisfied my thirst (ha) for seeing vampires like we have never really seen them before, for example how they deal with social media and use modern technology as an advantage. The possibilities are endless here but were not really used.
And what this anthology showed quite well (very much by accident) was the fact that YA and vampires is a really tricky topic. A couple of years ago, nobody batted an eyelash at a teenager having a relationship with a 200-year old vampire but things have (thankfully) changed and we have become more aware of this. After I immediately noticed that this would be an issue when I read the first short story, I honestly ended up ignoring this for the rest of the anthology, kind of thinking "oh well, that's just how it is with vampire stories".. but that's really not how it should be. And as Melanie pointed out, there was a grooming aspect in the second-to-last story, that I honestly didn't even consider because, again, I was kinda just going into all the stories ignoring age. But it really just drove home that there are issues with the way vampires are often portrayed in YA. Some stories were able to avoid this for different reasons but it still made me very aware of this issue in general!
Below you fill find my individual thoughts and ratings for all the short stories. I definitely enjoyed some more than others, but at the end of the day, I have a hard time recommending this anthology and even a lot of the stories I enjoyed had issues. I will say that my highlight of this entire anthology was for sure Samira Ahmed's story "A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire", combining all the elements that I wanted from the stories in this anthology.
“You’re already hungry, every young girl I’ve ever met has been hungry—that makes the transition easier. You know how to live with hunger. And anger—Seti is right about that. Not just any anger, not old masculine anger, sharpened with toxicity, but true anger, the kind that fills you up like a light.”
Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton ⭐⭐⭐
This was a super fun way to start the anthology but nothing more for me. I liked that it had a queer main character (ownvoices) and we got a tiny glimpse into how becoming a vampire can be useful for a trans person but other than that this story didn't really wow me in terms of the vampire aspect, even if the author tried to do something new with the element of the main character having six days to decide if she wants to become a vampire.
Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro ⭐⭐
This just felt really unresolved? I very much enjoyed the idea and the way this story was done, it definitely added a refreshing aspect. But at the end of the story I just kinda stood there and thought to myself what the point of this story was.. even though it was kind of a long story, I felt like the confrontation at the end was barely there. This felt like a story that was building up to something that we never got a pay-off for.
The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved the atmosphere and feeling of this story. Dhonielle Clayton took a lot of time to describe the surroundings and I appreciated and loved that so very much. I found every page of this story super intriguing and was really craving more by the end of it.. and not only because the ending was so very open ended. This definitely had potential to be another favourite of this entire anthology but not gonna lie, the ending ruined it, as it felt like the author gave us a mystery without actually knowing herself what the mystery way gonna be. This was still a great story overall though and it is ownvoices for Black representation.
“Bea’s heart lifted, the hum of mischief lingering right beneath the brown of her skin, and her incisors elongated, ready to bite, ready for mischief.”
River by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐
I honestly can't really sort my feeling on this story. I just had lots of what the fuck moments while reading this but not because things were so exciting but just because I was kinda wondering what the fuck the main character was thinking for most of it. Also I didn't really get the appeal of cowboy vampires, if I am completely honest. So this was just not a great reading experience for me whatsoever and mostly just left me shaking my head. This had a Native (ownvoices) and gay main character.
Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy ⭐⭐✨
Not to be greedy but while I loved that this had a fat main character who is a vampire slayer, I really wish we would've gotten a fat vampire in this anthology too. But I am pointing this out as general criticism of the anthology, not for this story or Julie Murphy in particular. This story wasn't bad but didn't really stand out either. I liked it more than a lot of the other other stories but that's sadly more due to the fact that I just didn't like the other stories very much and this one was just more enjoyable to read than others, as I like Julie Murphy's writng in geeneral. Apart from it being queer and having a fat (both ownvoices) main character, it didn't really do anything special.
The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig ⭐⭐⭐✨
I very much enjoyed reading this story but the vampire element wasn't exciting or new enough for me personally. Plus, this main character was a trans man, and as far as I know, Heidi Heilig is not trans. In an anthology like this, where it is really supposed to bring voices and stories into the vampire genre that we haven't heard before, it is really sad that the only trans main character is not written by an own-voices author.
“But as he stands there, he can feel his heart beating—that powerful organ, the seat of the soul at his center. The thing that tells him what and who he is. A man. And a doctor. And he aims to save lives, not suck them dry.”
In Kind by Kayla Whaley ⭐⭐⭐⭐
oof, this was an intense but really well done story. This is the kind of story that I had really hoped this anthology would consist of. It is about a disabled main character who gets turned into a vampire and the author took a lot of care in writing about the physical changes because of that. I really like the format with some news articles and the ending of this story was so good. This was one of the few short stories in this anthology that actually felt like a well rounded story. And it is an ownvoices! It does feature some ableist language and potentially triggering content in the beginning (the main character gets murdered by her dad, who portrays it as an assisted suicide) but it all gets challenged and the story as a whole has a very strong message against that.
A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
THIS! WAS! SO! GOOD! It is a story that differs from the way it is approached and written compared to the other stories in this anthology AND it does something actually really exciting and new with the element of vampires, talking about how they would use modern technology as an advantage. So far I have not finished a story in this anthology and thought to myself “wow, I really loved this, this was so fascinating to read” but this one really did it for me. And as the title says, it is about Desi vampires, which is an ownvoices aspect (THE DESI ONE, NOT THE VAMPIRE ONE (at least not that I know hehehe)).
“Time marches forward even if you’ve stopped. Where once you might have felt surrounded, at times suffocated, by your noisy, irritating, nosy, beautiful, loving family, now you are alone. No longer human. Reviled and misunderstood by many. But you are not unloved. You are here. And so are we. We see you. We believe in you. You are enough.”
Bestiary by Laura Ruby ⭐
Oh well. While a lot of the stories in this left me kinda confused and disappointed and just generally wanting MORE, this one I just fully disliked. It was not well written, in a way where I was struggling to follow along or understand what was going on. I appreciate the idea this was based on but that is about it. Plus this tried to tackle quite a lot of issues all at once but absolutely did not have enough time to really explore any of these very serious issues. While this anthology as a whole didn't wow me, this was easily the biggest disappointment of the entire anthology.
Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This to me was another perfect example of what I would've wanted the stories in this anthology to be. This was written from two point of views, with one of them being an Ecuadorian girl (ownvoices). I thought this was written in a way that was super compelling and I was very invested all throughout it. What I really loved though, was that this talked about how vampires would use social media and I liked that this was a world in which there were rules established for the vampires. But as mentioned above, there was a grooming aspect to this story, so be aware of that going into this.
First Kill by Victoria Schwab ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's no secret that I love Victoria Schwab and I tried to go into this as neutral as possible, even a little bit nervous that I wouldn't enjoy it based on the rest of this anthology. But this was such a pleasant reading experience for me overall. And that definitely has to do with the fact that I just really love Victoria Schwab's writing, so I just immediately felt drawn in by this story. But I also loved what Victoria Schwab did with the vampires being a generational thing and there being a "First Kill" (with funny parallels). Plus, this was sapphic (ownvoices) and definitely played with the enemies to lovers trope. I will say that, similarly as with Heidi Heilig's story and the non-ownvoices aspect, this was the only other story besides Dhonielle Clayton's that had a Black main character and that aspect was not ownvoices.
“Jules, who tastes like summer nights, and thunderstorms. The crackle of ozone and the promise of rain. It is one of Cal’s favorite things.”
Overall, what I wanted from this is that it would leave me wanting more vampire stories and while I definitely saw potential in some of these, I am now actually rather nervous about picking up any new vampire books in the future.
“She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of
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“She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of them. Words instead of blood, words instead of organs.”
I read this entire book in a day and stayed up until 4am to finish it which I haven't done in so, so long. This was so compelling and truly one of the most exciting and enjoyable reading experiences I've had in a while. But something about the actual plot and especially the ending did give me a feeling of being letdown just a little bit. But I was looking for a thrilling reading experience, which I got, and I really loved the elements of grief, so overall this was definitely a book that I immensely enjoyed and that will also just stay with me for a long, long while. But I think this is going to be a divisive book in general.
“I think the important thing to realize, to try and remember, is that grief doesn’t have a rule book. You’re allowed to feel every emotion under the sun. You’re even allowed to invent new ones.”
Trigger and Content Warnings for self-harm, pica, parental death, grief.
“I guess grief is like that: the banshee patiently waiting in the many-halled house of your mind, so quiet in certain moments, until yo
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“I guess grief is like that: the banshee patiently waiting in the many-halled house of your mind, so quiet in certain moments, until you turn a corner and see how it takes up rooms and rooms, cracking their floors and windows with its volume, its weight.”
White Fox is a novel that started out very intriguing and promising for me but eventually lost me along the way of unraveling the mystery.
To be fair I think there was a problem with me expecting a Thriller more so than a Mystery so I kept waiting for the story to pick up but that just wasn't really the case. This story is a slow unraveling of the mystery about the main characters mother and her disappearance more so than it is a novel that keeps you on edge and that was kinda what I had expected going into this.
“Everyone stares at her when she arrives, then softens into the space around them, like watching her hasn’t made them jealous, competitive, or wary. Watching her has taken them out of themselves for a minute, transported them into her world, where she pads around, full of verve and viv, and utterly carefree. It’s a lie, but it’s more beautiful than many truths.”
I also think that it was incredibly hard to distinguish between the point of views of the two sisters and that was even the case when I switched to the audiobook halfway through the novel, even though the characters had different narrators.
I had hoped that it would become easier to tell them apart as the story progressed, just by learning more about them, especially because they had very different, easy to distinguish personalities. But sadly you could not really tell that from their inner monologue and I think that both of these characters could've been very intriguing to read about, if only they hadn't read so similarly.
“I’d only ever depended on journals to hold my deepest, darkest secrets (and depended on Tai to read them without permission). I��d only ever depended on myself to write through my thoughts. Imagine a friend—who wasn’t blood bound to you—who knew them all and still loved you. Imagine a significant other, who would only want you all the more.”
There is really not much more that I can say about this novel. I enjoyed the first third but eventually realized that I wouldn't really get much out of this and I had issues focusing and paying attention because I simply lost interest about halfway through.
I don't think that this is a bad novel by any means, it just wasn't for me. I think that the way the story is told and the inclusion of actual parts of the script of "White Fox" make this story a lot more fascinating, and there is a lot of really interesting elements in this but I just never really got invested in the characters and because of that, had trouble staying invested in this story in general.
Lea (drumsofautumn)
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