me, begging on my knees before starting this book: please do not blow this everything this month has been mid
me, now: thank u tess sharpe aka god and me, begging on my knees before starting this book: please do not blow this everything this month has been mid
me, now: thank u tess sharpe aka god and jesus
“you need to pick your moment. my smile, when it comes, is slow. sweet at first, and then on the edge of creepy, because it sharpens into something that shouldn't belong on such a pretty girl's face.”
for five years, nora has been pulling the ultimate con: pretending to be normal. pretending she isn’t the runaway daughter-slash-protégé of a con-artist. but when a trip to the bank with her ex-boyfriend-slash-current-best-friend & new girlfriend ends in a hostage situation, she needs to be all the girls she’s been before. she’s not stuck in the bank with them; they’re stuck in there with her.
after fist fighting a string of very mid books i am so relieved to say: folks we ended the month on a banger!!
the girls i've been was a thrill, jumping back and forth between present and past. a slow reveal. a gradual unwinding. but never slow, never gives you time to breathe. to the point where i was actively annoyed whenever i had to put it down to do silly things like sleep or work or be a functioning member of society.
for a story about cons, this book is honest. honest in it’s friendships. kinships. those of the unshakeable kind, if you will. friends who would die for one another, who’ll go down kicking screaming clawing. friends who see each other’s broken edges because within those shards, are mirrors of themselves. friends who become each other’s glue, holding all their pieces together, even though it’s hard & messy. because they’ll never give up on you.
people you hold onto when the world tilts. people you fight for when you realize you’re not alone anymore. it’s no longer you against the world. it’s letting people in, letting them become the core of you, just like every other version of you who’s lived under your skin before.
it’s looking over your shoulder down a dirt road at every person you’ve been before—the good, the bad, the ugly. the skin you’ve shed. it’s the sour taste in you mouth when you look back at where you broke. but eventually, it’s the sweet victory of knowing that every version of you that existed in the past led to who you are now. & perhaps, that’s slowly the path of being the person you want to be....more
“home doesn’t have to be a place” “oh yeah? what else can it be?” “anything you want.”
*deep breath* gOD IM SUCH A HOE FOR FOUND FAMILY
shaun david hu
“home doesn’t have to be a place” “oh yeah? what else can it be?” “anything you want.”
*deep breath* gOD IM SUCH A HOE FOR FOUND FAMILY
shaun david hutchinson’s writing is, in a word, enchanting. be it contemporary, sci-fi, or a beautiful blend of everything, SDH has such a talent for spinning lyrical and spellbinding tales. he beams us up to space to confront a single red button, wakes us up in a spaceship on the brink of exploding, and now, he sends us to the 1909 alaska-yukon-pacific exposition.
orphaned at a young age, jack is taken under the wing of the enigmatic magician, the enchantress, where he’s assists her with his clever trickery and sleight of hand. also no stranger to growing up without his parents, wilhelm was kidnapped by laszlo, who exploits wilhelm’s real magic for his own sinister purposes.
at the exposition, the two boys’ fates intertwine.
sometimes a family is a very Hot morally grey woman, two badass sapphics, and two cinnamon rolls with *jazz hands* magic !!
there is such immense beauty in witnessing these kids find home for the very first time. the sheer freedom and joy of finally being their unmasked self, of no longer needing to hide because every fibre of you feels like home to someone else too.
the magic of love and family - love for your past and future, that ragtag crew who never gives up on you, who gives you strength to carve out the future you want. the first time you see how love doesn’t have to come with strings or conditions. the person who feels like home.
before we disappear is also ahistorical. its overflowing with casual queerness in a way that wasn’t possible back in 1909. SDH talks about how there are moments where he left history and reality behind to tell a story full of queer joy. and while jack and wilhelm’s story is one of fiction, it could have been for the folk who existed back then. even if they may not have been seen, they existed and found love and home just like these kids did.
and queer joy indeed! this was so, so tender, an absolute delight. so many pages had me cheesy grinning in public - a nice change from looking like i’m one inconvenience away from breaking down :’)
“i stop myself from apologizing - because what would i even be sorry for? existing too loud?”
billed as gossip girl meets get out, chiamaka and dev
“i stop myself from apologizing - because what would i even be sorry for? existing too loud?”
billed as gossip girl meets get out, chiamaka and devon are polar opposites: she’s a wealthy queen bee; he’s a closeted piano player struggling to make ends meet. similarities? both have become the target of an anonymous texter named “aces” who puts their lives on blast, revealing dangerous secrets to their whole school. they’re also the only two black students in the academy and they wonder if there’s a link there. the clock is ticking & their bright futures are the hands of a faceless enemy.
contemporaries are my happy place, my comfort genre. “reading to cope with the cataclysmic experience of being alive” is literally the first thing on my feed, but this book? haHA bitch you thought !! i literally shedded hair while reading this wowie what a lesson in STRESS !!
it blows my mind how this is faridah àbíké-Íyímídé’s debut book. what a rollercoaster!! a wild ride from start to finish as it ripped my breath from my lungs, fantastic pacing and storytelling. i was constantly torn between wanting the slam the book shut but also Needing To Know what happens next. all this while packing unflinching commentaries on racism, homophobia, and classism and how prevalent it is. so in a word: relentless.
chiamaka and devon are strong narrators. you witness how hard chiamaka kicks beneath the surface without ever letting anyone see, yet never quite reaching the same level playing field as her white schoolmates. and devon, an absolute talent who keeps his head down and tries to make himself smaller to avoid stepping on toes. they are flawed, but you can’t help but desperately want the best for both of them, and yet, can only helplessly follow along.
and without giving anything away, this had one of the most satisfying endings that i’ve ever read. i literally. had goosebumps and was fist pumping along....more
“you're a line of music….i could transpose your melody into any key, hum at any tempo, and still know you.”
number of shakesi want to mcfrickin die
“you're a line of music….i could transpose your melody into any key, hum at any tempo, and still know you.”
number of shakespearean retellings i have read: 3
number of times i have made it out in one piece without begging for the sweet release of death like a banshee at 1am: 0
ben dane’s father is dead. was it on purpose or accident? the question is ripping ben apart so he turns to horatio for help. they were friends, still are friends, but they haven’t seen each other in a year ever since what was platonic become something else, perhaps something more. across the city, ben’s ex-fiancée, lia, is creating magical bouquets and learning the language of flowers with three peculiar sisters.
it takes a certain skill to take a story that we’re so familiar with and spin it into something new yet familiar, with characters we think we know but now painting them in a slightly different light, slightly off-kilter, and make it queer as a treat!
at its core, the king of infinite space is a retelling of the tragedy of hamlet. you’ve heard this song before, but it’s still different, still manages to take your breath away and leave you gasping for breath and reeling on the floor. it lulls you into a false sense of comfort and then goes “haha bitch you thought !!”
it may feel odd to call a book a work of art but it is. figuratively - the sublime prose and gorgeous emotional insight to all these characters feels like magic. the way you’re plunged into a dreamscape from the very first page, juggling light and darkness, chaos and peace. it’s raw and delicious.
and literally - the king of infinite space is art. an experimental piece that not many can pull off, but lyndsay faye does it and what a gripping ride. in particular, she breathes life into ben, using stylistic fonts (even comic sans baby!) as a way for you to enter /his/ world, his scattered and unhinged thoughts. fonts flowing upwards downwards around hurryhurrynotimetobreathe - pure genius.
at the end of the day, this is a story you think you know, steeped in love. a love persevering everywhere, everywhen, every universe all at once. all the time. and you’ll think to yourself “maybe this time, we won’t go down in flames”.
content warning: addiction, alcoholism, bullying, death, substance use, gun and knife violence, infidelity, suicide attempt and ideation...more
"we're all just kids, jumping into the deep together, hoping we can swim. it's not so bad when you don't have to jump alone."
✼ a huge thank you to
"we're all just kids, jumping into the deep together, hoping we can swim. it's not so bad when you don't have to jump alone."
✼ a huge thank you to the author for sending me a copy of this book!
changing majors is a delightful debut by ana hartnett reichardt! i went in expecting a sapphic romance but left with so much more. beyond the romance (that was so sweet and well done), this is a story about figuring out who you are, and that its never too late to do so. its about learning to accept and love yourself, and to accept that love from others around you too. bailey doesn't always make the right choices but she learns from her mistakes and that was one of my favorite things about this book - seeing people and relationships being portrayed with such accurate and beautiful care.
this is a book that many people will relate to and it will strike a chord in your chest. a fantastic na coming-of-age story, and ana hartnett reichardt is definitely an author to keep an eye on.
please note that this story deals rather heavily with religion and sexuality, so read with caution....more
do you hear that? its the sound of my impending marvellous light brainrot i will not be shutting up about this book for a long time
“it was the way
do you hear that? its the sound of my impending marvellous light brainrot i will not be shutting up about this book for a long time
“it was the way he felt watching edwin read; it was the feeling he had every time his eyes sought edwin in a room and landed on an angle of the man’s face, any movement of those delicate fingers: there you are. i’ve been waiting for you.”
the last thing robin blyth needs is to be named as a civil service liaison to a hidden magical society. so of course, due to a clerical error, that is exactly what happens. and then he gets cursed. he’s quickly thrust into a world of magic and premonitions, and together with his magical counterpart and unwilling ally - edwin courcey - they begin to unearth unsettling truths as they try to break the curse.
i don’t even know where to start. it's baffling how i’ve been yelling incessantly about this book for days and yet i lack the words to fully express just how quickly i fell head over heels in love with it.
robin and edwin are electrifying (hehe get it? i am gleefully rubbing my hands together like a gremlin). they compliment each other so well. edwin with his relatively meagre magic who was made to feel like he was never enough, so thumbed down by his own family, only to have robin - sweet golden retriever himbo !! - constantly gaze at him like he’s the actual sun, like he hung the moon, like every bit of magic he produced was the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. and yet, still firmly believing that the most magical thing in any room was edwin /himself/, with or without magic.
they spend so much time thinking about how ridiculous it is that they could marvel at each other for days or getting lost in thoughts about what their touch would feel like and i’m just. losing my entire mind !!
(robin blyth and ronan lynch will be battling it out for the title of: biggest hand kink)
and the magic system is spectacular. there’s cradles, leylines, and limited magic that can run out so you have to Think about it - honestly so creative and smart !! the cat’s cradle strings also infuses this book with so much nostalgia that it felt like reuniting with a childhood friend. also the limited magic really emphasizes how brains is just as important that braun, perhaps even more so, and i just- there’s so much to love about it.
i only started dabbling in queer historical fantasy last year but it quickly rocketed into one of my favorite subgenres, and a marvellous light really drives home why there’s a special space for it in my heart. i’ll always love seeing how queer folk have existed before us, how times were different but their love still existed, still blossomed, was still magical. how powerful that love is and how it visibly manifests as the most gorgeous kind of magic. a marvellous light, if you will.
anyway if you need me i’ll be here frothing at the mouth thinking of rolled up sleeves....more
damn t. j. klune, at least leave some tears in my body
“because it’s your life. it’s what you make of it. no, it’s not always fair. no, it’s not alw
damn t. j. klune, at least leave some tears in my body
“because it’s your life. it’s what you make of it. no, it’s not always fair. no, it’s not always good. it burns and tears, and there are times when it crushes beyond recognition. some fight against it. giving up is easy. picking yourself up isn’t. but we have to believe if we do, we can take another step.”
wallace price finds himself at his own poorly attended funeral - he has unexpectedly died. now, he’s whisked away by a reaper named mei to a way station that doubles as a tea shop in a little village where hugo the ferryman awaits to help him cross over. there, he meets other ghosts - an elderly man (nelson) and a little dog (apollo). as wallace struggles to accept his death, he realises that the life he had lived, was hardly living at all.
i’ve talked about how much i’m drawn to books that grapple with grief. for a chance at catharsis, for understanding. a lot of times, they leave a weird and hollow feeling in your chest, but this one made me feel comforted. maybe its The Klune Effect - taking a concept that many struggle with, approaching it with tender care, making you feel safe and protected as you explore it. make no mistake though, i'm still writing this with puffy eyes after finishing the book.
because how can a book about dying be so full of life?
under the whispering door is an exploration of grief in all of its forms. sometimes we forget that grief is not just about death. we have characters who mourn the life that they could have had, taken away too soon. characters who mourn the loss of a friend, a loved one who has strayed from their life. characters who mourn their past, wanting to be better, to do better - is it truly too late? characters who mourn love, missed opportunities, and everything else in between.
this is a love story, of love in all of its forms: romantic, platonic, familial. what’s a klune book without the most wondrous found family? the way they breathe life into each other, even though they’re dead. how they so willingly trust each other with pieces of their heart, even though it’s no longer beating.
as wallace grapples with his death, he begins to see his life for what it was and where he could have done better. he opens his eyes to the beauty of vulnerability, and the power that love and kindness can fill a person with. what a wondrous experience it was, getting to go on that journey with him....more
“maybe no one knows who they are and we’re all just trying to build the pieces of ourselves with the help of other people.”
✼ thank you to netgalle
“maybe no one knows who they are and we’re all just trying to build the pieces of ourselves with the help of other people.”
✼ thank you to netgalley and torteen for an arc of some faraway place in exchange for an honest review.
two months ago i fell in love with the infinite noise. since then, i've been journeying through the bright sessions universe - books, podcasts, spinoffs, you name it. its a strange feeling to have a universe grow inside your chest, something that started with caleb and adam from the infinite noise evolved into something larger, more complex. with each podcast and book, i fell more and more in love with this universe.
and now we’re reached the final instalment - some faraway place.
so like. we’ve all thought about escaping reality and retreating into a fictional world inside our heads, right?
that's basically it. we follow rose, a late bloomer in a family of atypicals, who discovers that her sleeping spells are a manifestation of her developing ability to dreamdive - entering and influencing dreams. spending time in a dreamworld is complicated, but the trickier part is not losing herself and her loved ones in the process.
if you look up ‘disaster lesbian’ in the dictionary, you’ll see rose proudly staring back at you. she is an absolute disaster. she waxes poetic about hand holding but literally cannot form a single coherent thought around girls. y’know in saphhos' poem 31 where sapphos talks about fainting after hearing a beautiful woman’s laugh? yes exactly that. i love her.
but more than that, rose is a messy protagonist.
flung into a tumultuous period with no instruction manual, rose makes poor choices, throws tantrums, wallows in self pity, pushes people away when she gets scared. but at the core, she’s driven by the best intentions - to stay true to herself while being a good daughter, sister, girlfriend; to right her wrongs; to do all she can to feel enough for herself and those around her.
this book tells you that you need to own your actions, acknowledge mistakes, and accept that they do hurt others. here’s the thing about growth though: its not linear. so she’s flawed but she picks herself up, dusts herself off, falls down, and tries again. as we all do.
lauren shippen is brilliant at character development - both personal and emotional - and her characters speak for a chance at hope and love. i also credit her with turning me into a podcast lover. yes, me! owner of two dying brain cells and the attention span of a goldfish! truly a testimony to what a phenomenal storyteller she is.
social media also plays a big role in this book. that thing these characters do? finding friends and family online, creating a safe corner on the internet with people who understand, love, and support you? most of us readers do that too, finding book communities oceans away through the internet, bound by a common love.. and it was so nice to have that validated as a form of connection that is just as real as in-person ones.
maybe its because the entire tbs universe now occupies a space inside my chest, but this book felt big, like the collision of every past book and podcast in a final hurrah. a farewell to characters who are damaged but healing, struggling but trying, and hurting but loving. just as we are.
goodbyes are always tough and this one is no exception. but i can’t think of a better send-off to this universe. as they say, this is not farewell, but a hope-filled see you later....more
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