I really love anna-marie mclemore but this wasn't my fave of theirs? it was well written as always and very pretty, I just wasn't that connected to thI really love anna-marie mclemore but this wasn't my fave of theirs? it was well written as always and very pretty, I just wasn't that connected to the world under the lake or felt it was fully brought into fruition? I still liked this tho! just not as much as I hoped...more
feel like I did my duty to western australia's literary scene by reading it, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Something just does not sit right afeel like I did my duty to western australia's literary scene by reading it, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Something just does not sit right about a cis man writing a trans narrative in such a close POV, about an experience he could never really experience or capture. especially since Australian publishing does not publish trans stories, certainly not to the hype and buzz this book has received within WA. More thoughts to come perhaps...more
❝ Stay gold, Pony. The world needs you. Stay gold when it’s hard. When it’s lonely. When it’s scary. Especially when it’s scary ❞
When I heard abou
❝ Stay gold, Pony. The world needs you. Stay gold when it’s hard. When it’s lonely. When it’s scary. Especially when it’s scary ❞
When I heard about this book from the publisher, I was pretty excited. It was pitched as a contemporary romance, comparable to ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’, which is a series I adore. I was expecting a sweet, fluffy romance between the new boy, Pony, who is trans and a popular cheerleader at his school called Georgia. This is what this book is … and it also … isn’t.
The first thing I want to say about this book is anyone going into it purely expecting a fluffy contemporary romance may potentially be disappointed and maybe even feel a little blindsided like I was. While Stay Gold does have a contemporary romance with a happily ever after, a lot of this story follows Pony tackling, oftentimes intense, transphobia and discrimination. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, it is important and valid for these issues to be explored in fiction. It just wasn’t what I expected and I want other people to go into this with the right expectations.
Stay Gold follows Pony, a seventeen-year-old trans boy who is attending a new school in Texas and has decided to go stealth, meaning he will keep his identity a secret. This is a decision he faces come criticism for, mainly from his out and proud best friend Max who believes more people should be out and visible, and from his sister Rocky who supports him and wants him to be open and honest. When Pony arrives at school, he meets and starts to fall for a popular cheerleader called Georgia. During the process of their romance, Pony comes to the realisation he needs to be honest with Georgia about his identity, and his ultimate decision to come out to her sets of a string of events at his school and a discussion around queer identities.
❝ We only get one chance at life. I couldn’t spend another day stuck because I was worried about what people thought of me ❞
First, I want to point out some basic things I did and didn’t like before I get into a more complex discussion of this book and why my feelings on it are mixed.
One thing I did like was Pony and Georgia’s respective characters and personalities. I particularly liked Georgia. She was a really fun character to follow, with lots of flaws and quirks that made her interesting. Pony was a really sympathetic character, and by the end of the book, I was really invested in him. Their romance was also cute, I liked the parts of them just hanging out as friends, I thought it developed their relationship well and their jokes and banter together were cute.
I also liked how both Georgia and Pony had friends outside of each other. Georgia’s cheerleader friends were an interesting group and I liked the subplot about their team and relationships. The relationship between Pony and his sister Rocky was also something I loved. I adore sibling relationships in books and I thought this one was well done, and their genuine love for each other, mixed with the way they would tease each other felt so authentic. I also liked the happily ever after the characters got, especially acceptance from friends and family, which I felt was most deserved given how dark this book gets in places. It has some cliche rom-com moments, and I kinda loved them. I also found myself quite sucked into this story, like any good contemporary romance, I felt like I was flying along absorbed into the story and drama. I also loved the hopeful and uplighting ending. It really made me feel warm and happy and I think it was a perfect ending for this story.
On the other hand, I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style, it’s first-person addressing the reader which is my least favourite point of view. I also thought some sections of dialogue were a little stilted, and maybe didn’t read like teens talk. But this is a debut, and those are things I can forgive, and it didn’t majorly interrupt my reading experience.
❝ They raised daughters named Sarah and Rachel and now they have a transgender son named Pony and a unicorn named Rocky. They must wonder where it all went wrong ❞
Those likes and dislikes aside, I want to talk about how this book wasn’t exactly what I expected. The characters, and by extension, the romance felt like they functioned as a tool to educate non-cis people about the realities of being a trans teen, and even more broadly non-queer people about the queer community. At times, this book felt stilted because portions would be ‘info dumps’ about living as a trans person, which felt more like they came from the author than naturally from the character. Further, depictions of violent sexual and physical assault, as well as inclusions of suicidal thoughts by the main character were included as a vehicle to educate. For example, the main character contemplates suicide, which acts as a gateway for the book informing and giving statistics about high suicide rates in trans teens. I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing to portray in a book, it is just that I think people looking to be educated may resonate with this more than those looking to be represented.
I think I was also looking for more of an arc for Georgia, and maybe for her to have to work a little bit more for her ‘redemption’. I felt the narrative didn’t really address her treatment of Pony and the inconsistencies between her actions and dialogue felt underexplored.
Finally, I’ve seen almost every pre-review address this, so I thought I would quickly discuss it too. A large focus of this book is around being ‘out and proud’. Pony is criticised by his friends and family for going stealth. His best friend Max is particularly critical, even threatening to end their friendship when Pony refuses to share a petition about a trans friend that could potentially out him. I was looking for more nuance in this discussion. I think the general message of the power that can come from being out and proud, and the representation it gives others was powerful. I also thought the narrative could have delved more into the complexities of it. Max going to a liberal art school, having accepting family and all queer friends and thus a vastly different experience to Pony is only briefly mentioned and not really explored. Further, there is a part where Max calls Pony ‘brave’ for coming out and thus getting assaulted, which felt a little off to me.
Overall, I think a lot of my issues with this book boil down to the fact this book didn’t explore queer issues with the nuance I wanted, nor did it give me the story I was expecting. Which is not necessarily a criticism. I think this book is meant to be an introduction to trans issues and the queer community, and that is important. I think this is probably going to be an important and useful book to a lot of people. It’s just not really the story I was looking for. I am sure some people will feel represented by it because realistically, Pony’s experiences are unfortunately ones which trans teens may face. At the same time, there are some discussions and ideas I think may not resonate with every reader, which is fine too. But I think it is a book which ultimately tries to give hope and be uplifting while trying to tackle serious issues head-on.
I would recommend this to people who are interested in the premise, as long as you’re knowing it’s not a wholly fluffy contemporary romance. I think the focus on trans issues was important, and the happily ever after ending for the character was sweet.
This is a book I have quite a few thoughts about. While on the surface it is a fluffy rom-com, and it does deliver that to some degree, I was blindsided a little by how much the main character goes through in this book. It’s a book I’ll definitely be following through release date, to see more reviews about, especially from ownvoices reviewers. I think it’s going to be a book that some people resonate with, and others do not. And that it is fine. A book doesn’t have to encapsulate every experience or be written in a way to appease every viewpoint to be worthwhile. I feel I was not the target audience of this book, but I also feel there is potentially a market and audience for this book out there that may really benefit from reading it.
this is an ARC and included quotes are subject to change upon publication. stay gold releases on may 26th! thank you to HarperCollins for sending me an advanced copy of this title
content warnings: misgendering and deadnaming of trans character, sexual and physical assault of main character on page, use of trans and lesbian slurs, public outing, suicidal thoughts and ideation, harassment, homophobia ...more
you know what you need in your life? A Peter Pan retelling where Peter is trans, comes back to Neverland aI AM AN EMOTIONAL WRECK THIS WAS SO CUTE WTF
you know what you need in your life? A Peter Pan retelling where Peter is trans, comes back to Neverland as an adult and realises he's in love with captain hook. TRUST ME YOU NEED IT
“I won't hurt myself, I'm the spirit of youth and joy, remember?" "You're a grown man and a nuisance." "I'm your nuisance,”
So I love Peter Pan and Peter Pan retellings and this one was just so cute and sweet. I honestly wish it was longer. It has the ideal romance tropes aka as, one of them is injured so there's angst, there's mutual pining, slowburn get together. One of them is serious and the other one is playful. Y'all don't know how much these tropes fuel me and PETER DARLING HAS THEM ALL AND MORE. I have strong feels
Also, the romance aside I really liked how Neverland was explored and what it was offering to each character was kind of unpacked. I really liked that everyone was queer and just overall I just ??? I loved this so much. Also, it was straight up funny
I am crossing all my fingers and toes its true there will be a sequel BECAUSE I NEED MORE OF PETER PAN AND JAMES HOOK MY SHIP HEART NEEDS TO THRIVE
“To die," Peter began, "would be an awfully big—" "Don't start that again," Hook said. "Surely you could have come up with something new to say after ten years.”
“I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she’s capa
“I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she’s capable of. They are small, and they are weak, and they will not hurt me ever again. My name is Danielle Tozer. I am a girl. No one is strong enough to take that from me anymore.”
I cannot and will not shut up about how great this book is y'all!
trigger warnings for: transphobia, homophobia and trans/homophobic slurs
Dreadnought is a superhero story following Danielle Tozer, a transgirl who is given superpowers and her perfect body by the superhero Dreadnought. Danielle must discover her place among the cities existing superheroes, deal with the consequences of her transition - especially from her transphobic family and friends.
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I soon as I heard about this ownvoices trans superhero story I wanted to read it. I was so interested in seeing a transwoman and lesbian girl as the protagonist, and to have a unique take on the superhero genre. This story has heaps of elements I can personally get behind. A diverse narrator, a heroes quest, a big supervillain, SUPERHEROES, f/f relationships and mad science.
For me, the highlight of Dreadnought was Danny as the main character. Her voice came through so strongly and she definitely had a massive presence in this book. I liked she was definitely a grey character, and that she had flaws and issues just like the rest of us to work through. Danny goes through all this incredible character development, accepting herself and her position in the world, as well as her new powers as Dreadnought and stands up for herself and for the world so strongly and I admire the heck out of her. Some people say she was too angry and I don't understand that for one second, she came from an incredibly tough place, and deals with a sickening amount of transphobia from all sides, and still she does the best thing she can in each situation.
The side characters were also well written. Calamity was a fun character, and also a black lesbian which I loved! Doc Impossible was a super interesting character who added a nice sympathetic touch to the cast, and I loved her relationship with Danny. I wish the other main superheroes had been more fleshed out, but I am hoping they have a greater presence in book 2.
This book does contain an incredible amount of homophobia and transphobia, and it can be very hard to get through at times. But I think the important thing is that Danny challenged each thing said against her as a transwoman, and also has support from other characters.
“You think it’s a uterus that makes a woman? Bullshit. You feel like you’re a girl, you live it, it’s part of you? Then you’re a girl. That’s the end of it, no quibbling. You’re as real a girl as anyone.”
My one issue with this book was writing based. I thought some of the worldbuilding was a little lacking and the book didn't seem quite as action-filled or suspenseful as it should have. Although it was only a short book, it took longer to get through then I thought. Some parts were brilliantly written and I enjoyed the scene as it played out, but some felt a little .. off, like the suspense that should have been there wasn't. However, this was completely balanced out by the great character interactions and character growth so the writing definitely did not write off the book as a whole.
Overall, Dreadnought is a fresh take on the superhero genre, featuring an incredible strong transwoman as the main character. The character growth Danny goes through is delightful, and the side characters really fleshed out this world. I'm really hoping for more growth in the relationship between Danny and Calamity in the sequel, and for some of the other superheroes to be more fleshed out and present.
i'm so glad I finally read this book. It's been sitting on my backlist collecting dust and I'm SO GLAD I finally read it.
This is an ownvoices book abi'm so glad I finally read this book. It's been sitting on my backlist collecting dust and I'm SO GLAD I finally read it.
This is an ownvoices book about a transwoman called Amanda who moves schools in order to live with her father. It follows her becoming situated in the town, and trying to navigate high school life, whilst not outing herself as trans to those she meets.
I think this was definitely a strong debut, the prose really carried me through this book and so it was a quick and easy read - very engaging. Amanda is a strong character and I also thought the side characters were interesting. The trans issues were dealt with wonderfully, and I really liked the authors note about representation at the end.
This is a hard book to read, because there's a lot of outing and homophobia/transphobia, as well as rape and sexual assault. One thing I really didn't like about this book was the open ending, and the representation of the bisexual character.
But overall this is a book I think everyone needs to read - ownvoices trans stories published by major publishers are rare and we're privileged to have this one. It's enlightening and important and offers a message of hope despite a world that can seem bleak for queer people
tw for: rape, transphobia, homophobia, sexual assault, bullying, physical assault, deadnaming and misgendering, forced outing, suicide mentions, explicit suicide attempt
this truly WAS the infinity war of the shadowhunter chronicles, it was so wild to see so many characters from across this universe play a role here anthis truly WAS the infinity war of the shadowhunter chronicles, it was so wild to see so many characters from across this universe play a role here and I LOVED IT.
I've had like a month to process this book and okay like I don't think my brain and heart will EVER be able to process what this book just did to me but I'm going to try. So, yes below you can read my FULL REVIEW OF QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS
(also, I'm saying now I CANNOT PROMISE THIS REVIEW WILL BE SPOILER FREE OK YOU WERE WARNED)
“The sky was a road and the stars made pathways; the moon was a watchtower, a lighthouse that led you home.”
This book was easily my most anticipated book of the year. I had made a big claim that if Queen lived up to Clockwork Princess, then The Dark Artifices would become my new favourite series of Cassandra Clare's. I don't know how I feel about that now. This ending wasn't as good as the Clockwork Princess ending for me, but there was SO many things I loved about it. I loved the characters, (most) of the plot, the angst, the romance, and seeing all the different series come together (most of the time). But there was some things (the lst 100 pages) that annoyed me so I just couldn't give it a five star even though it SHOULD HAVE BEEN ..... it COULD HAVE BEEN ....... im furious ! Anyways, lets break this bad bitch down:
“I whisper your name, Ty. I whisper the most important thing: I love you. I love you. I love you. Livvy”
CHARACTERS
Lets start with characters because it's my favourite part of this series
Emma remains my favourite character, what an iconic queen. I honestly ADORE Emma and she's one of my favourite CC characters ever. She's changed and developed so much between book one and three, but I love what a strong badass she is whilst also being caring and compassionate and maintaining important relationships. It's nice to have a female character who'd badass and blunt but not necessarily cold. I literally love her, and I really want her to punch me in the face because it'd be an HONOUR.
Julian for some reason a lot of people don't like Julian but I LOVE JULIAN. He's such an interesting and unusual main male character, especially from Cassandra Clare. So I think he adds a really great dimension to this series and is such a contrast to characters like Will or Jace. AND ANTI-HERO JULIAN FINALLY KINDA ROSE AND I WAS SCARED. All in all I loved his arc in this book .. the dark julian contrasted with actual julian was painful to read but I loved it. YOU ARE IN THE CAGE? I cried. Also, I just love Dad! Julian and how he treats his entire family dfjghdfkj. ALSO WE LOVE A DEMISEXUAL !! KING!!!!!
Mark, Cristina and Kieran SO I have always felt meh about Mark. I don't dislike him .. I actually like him quite a bit. I just don't like him as much as some people seem to. I felt pretty much the same about him in this as I always have. I love Cristina and I loved her in this too. But I felt she didn't get as good an arc as the other characters? Her entire plot was pretty much romance which was kind of annoying though I DID LOVE HER TEAM UP IN FAERIE. ICONIC!! Kieran I still feel mixed on. I've never liked him much but he did grow on me a bit in this. I actually kinda ended up liking him even though I still don't care about him on the same level as the other characters. But his character arc was great.
Kit and Ty THEY WERE NOT IN THIS ENOUGH?? Okay yes they literally had a major plot arc BUT STILL. Ty should of have a POV but he never did! I also hated the conclusion of their arc ... obviously it's going to be the main focus of The Wicked Powers but it was SO unsatisfying here. I also though Ty's literally had no growth in the 700 pages of this book which was annoying. But I LOVED KIT SO MUCH. Thats my son !!!! I really liked his role in this book and his POVs were some of my favourite. He is fucking iconic and hilarious .. "you are so forked", bitch you better BET i laughed
Dru My unexpected fave of this book. In Lord of Shadows I liked Dru but felt I didn't really know her. She had SO much development and growth in this and I loved her role. I didn't expect to love her so much but I seriously do, and I think of all the characters I am MOST excited to see more of DRU in The Wicked Powers! She stole my heart, I love her.
Jaimie and Diego They were in this more than I expected and I didn't .. love it. Honestly I did Not like Diego's chapters much, I just don't care about them that much so their chapters were always the ones that made me want to put this book down. But I did like their characters in relation to their character arc with Cristina.
Diana I LOVE DIANA and I honestly don't have heaps more to say about her?? I liked how she became a more important role in the Clave in this book and I also liked how there was more focus on her being an older sister to Emma and Julian in this.
Helen and Aline MY SAPPHIC QUEEEENS ! I love both of them so much. Aline was such a fun character because she was so different to Helen and even to Jules and Emma in terms of how she handled the kids. Helen was sweet and I LOVED her relationship with Mark in this. Seeing those two interact were some of my favourite parts of this book. Aline and Helen are also so fucking cute jghfkgj it's unfair of Ms Clare to show us gays a pair of gfs that cute when she KNOWS none of us can achieve that irl because all gays are too useless to actually date other gays.
“Grief can be so bad you can’t breathe, but that’s what it means to be human. We lose, we suffer, but we have to keep breathing.”
PLOT
Queen of Air and Darkness picks up right where Lord of Shadows ends. I loved this choice but also I WAS IN SO MUCH PAIN. The scenes of Julian crying and Ty passing out were hard to read and seriously I was emotionally wrecked by page 25 I literally had to take a break.
I pretty thoroughly enjoyed the first third of this book. The chapters in faerie were exciting and I liked seeing so many different characters play a role. Simon, Isabelle, Jace, Clary and more appearing was so fun and I loved the cameos. The plot in faerie reminded me a lot of Lord of Shadows but I decided I didn't mind it. That fight in the throne room also reminded me of that fight scene in The Last Jedi with Kylo/Rey and bitch I was HOLLERING.
The only plot in the first third I wasn't a fan of was Julian's emotions things - I didn't think it was bad but it just came out of nowhere? In no previous books, even when Emma and Julian discuss their "options" did him removing his emotions come up so it felt out of nowhere and kind of lazy?
The second part in Thule was literally my favourite part of the book which seems to be an unpopular opinion, but I thought it was SO MUCH FUN. It was like a canon AU and I was loving it. Seeing the world as it would have been was interesting, and I loved Emma and Julian's arc in this. The focus on their romance and Julian's choices was great and Thule really allowed a lot of emotional catharsis and tangible contrast between what is and what could have been. ALSO JULIAN AND EMMA FUCKING WHILST SAYING THEIR PARABATAI VOWS WAS HOT AND LITERALLY IS MY KINK
The final section was my least favourite and where everything seemed to fall apart. I felt Cassandra Clare had so many thread and plots and character things to work with and they ended up not coming together great. It definitely felt like she lost control of the story a bit. The climax was .. incredibly disappointing and so cliche. Again, the whole "Nephilim Parabatai" thing just came literally out of nowhere. The ending of Julian and Emma's complications with being Parabatai was so lazy and wasn't even foreshadowed as a legitimate option until it randomly happened. Using heavenly fire again also felt lazy and the whole "family talks you down" thing was SO cliche. I felt so unsatisfied with the ending here, and I really just can't get over Emma and Julian randomly going giant, throwing around the evil elf army like what the FUCK even was that. It was just messy and weird.
“Be good, my archer boy. Come back to me.”
ROMANCE & ANGST
So where the plot let me down, the angst came THROUGH. Honestly I was going into this wanting some sweet, sweet, painful angst and phew, once again the good sis Cassandra delivered.
JULIAN AND EMMA .... *kisses fingers* oh yeah thats the STUFF. Like I've said multiple times, I adore them. ADORE THEM. I honestly love their friendship/relationship so much and the whole set up of them being best friend, literally Being Eachother's People, like no one loves them as much as they love eachother ... oh fuck YES thats the shit. I THRIVE off of that. And she delivered in spades .. she really did. AND OH THE ANGST OF DARK! JULIAN. And Dark! Julian being like lowkey hot ... yeah I'm into that. Anyway, truly excellence once again.
Mark, Cristina and Kieran ... FINALLY the OT3 we all love and deserve. I see you boring bitches whining about the ending of this love triangle but it is WHAT. WE. DESERVE. Turning your love triangle into a polyam ship? inspired. And it honestly was so well written? That they're all equally in love with eachother?? That Mark/Cristina or Mark/Kieran or Kieran/Cristina doesnt even work because they're all thinking about one another like .. it's mess and I adore it? And the three way ship is perfect?? BUT THE ENDIGN .... I hate that omg ! It was so unresolved which was annoying as fuck but also I stan King Kieran so idk phew that is a tough one. I feel it will also be resolved in The Wicked Powers (IM HOPING)
Ty and Kit ... they're so cute aw man. I love Kit's inner monologue around Ty, he's so enamoured with him in such a pure and cute way and there is definitely going to be an arc around him Realising He Is Queer which should be fun. He really is the bi king I deserved. And Ty always recruiting Kit and trusting Kit was so sweet, they're both sweet and even tho I'm an angst DEMON I was rooting for them and their softness.
Jace and Clary. LOOK ALL I AM GOING TO SAY IS THEM GOING BACK TO THE GREENHOUSE TO WHERE IT ALL STARTED HAD ME EMO AND ALSO THEM BOTH BUYING A RING ....... INSPIRED
“You might be in the cage, Jules, but as long as you are like this, I am in the cage with you.”
ISSUES
Alright the gush has been real now it's time to do some quick rants x
Although I loved the Thule chapters, I had one huge issue and that is MAKING SEBASTIAN THE VILLAIN. Sebastian is the one behind all this nonsense and I HATE THAT. It is SO lazy to just bring an old dead villain back, and it's fucking annoying. What is the point of TMI and killing Sebastian if random alternate universe Sebastian can just return to fuck it up? I thought that was so lazy, and completely the opposite of what I had come to expect from CC in this trilogy. In Lady Midnight, Malcolm being the villain completely subverted my expectations because she kept setting up warlock = good, and then she undermined it, which was neat. Malcolm was also such a strong villain with interesting and complex motivations. And while I love Sebastian as a villain, he doesn't fit here, and he's just pure evil, which is fun in tmi but ultimately boring to repeat over and over. I felt CC really let down the great start to the series and intricate plot she had set up.
I also was ... so sick of the cameos. Does anyone else wish she would just let TMI go?? At first they were fun, but they started to totally eclipse the other, main characters. I don't want a continuation of their plots, I want the Blackthorns story! LET THEM GOOOO. Also, the epilogue totally sets up The Wicked Powers as City of Lost Souls 2.0 and i am ... not keen.
And like I said the last 100 pages were just .. messy. I'm annoyed because I SHOULD have given this a five star .. it was going so well. Everything I came for was there. The angst was top notch, the character interactions were great, and the book was fast paced and exciting. But those last 100 pages were too much and just so cliche and weird. And the ending was complete fanservice, which usually I don't mind, but this was WAY too much. I've said this soo many times but I HATE when books with dramatic "this is going to change everything this is the end of the world" plots have literally no consequences. Like the tagline of this book was literally "everything changes" but in the end nothing happened and everyone got to be happy. LOOK I LOVE PAIN AND SUFFERING OKAY. But I just think it's a super let down and doesn't deliver on my expectations of something Big happening.
Okay, I admit the loss of Idris was big and will probably play a big role in the next book .. but again it's the same problem I have with other plot lines. Nothing was finished off in this series ! It was all left for the next one. Which is lazy and unsatisfying. I get her series run on to eachother, but the ending of each individual series should still be satisfying and contained to that series in my opinion.
“If aught but death part thee and me, Emma,” he said, and pressed his lips to the strands. Emma closed her eyes as she whispered, “Julian. Julian. If aught but death part thee and me.”
Alright .. that is IT! This is an extremely gushy and messy review I recognise and own it. You'll just have to live with it. PLEASE chime off in the comments I still need to discuss this book I am still in shock...more
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