I bought Bloom probably a year ago, but never got around to reading it until last night--when I read it in one sitting. I don't know why I let it languish on my shelves for so long, but I'm glad I read it when I did. I needed something to lift my spirits, and Bloom did exactly that. Not only is this graphic novel a heartfelt, LGBT+ romance, it is also a very affirming account of navigating that scary time gap between graduating high school and whatever comes next.
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Today, I’m reviewing one of the most important YA fantasies that I’ll probably read all year: Girls of Paper and Fire, by Natasha Ngan. This sweeping, lyrical YA fantasy left me in a book coma for days.
TW: this book contains sexual assault and violence I’ve developed a habit of deciding I’m going to love a book before I even pick it up--especially if it’s written by an author I follow on social media. I can’t help it. After seeing the years of buildup and hype from the authors and their friends, it’s difficult not to get a little starry-eyed when you finally see their book on the shelf.
Or, you know, giddy scream inside because you’re the bookseller who gets to gleefully shove aside other books to make room for this sparkly, gorgeous new book you’ve been salivating over. The book in question is Once and Future, a queer, feminist, futuristic retelling of King Arthur. Readers, it made my little queer heart sing. Here I am, back with another review of a L.A. Ashton book! I’ve loved Echoes since I first read it when Ashton self-published it on Amazon. I was so excited when I found out that Ashton is having it re-published by Ninestar Press! Reading it a second time for this review was just as engrossing as the first time I picked it up.
L.A. Ashton is an author I’ve been following since I first found their fanfiction on Archive of Our Own many moons ago. I fell in love with the way they craft complex and gripping relationships between characters, and the sensuality of their writing stunned me. Ashton recently tweeted that they were looking for reviewers for their recently-released novella Valhalla, and of course I had to throw my hat in the ring. A chance to read more of Ashton's gorgeous writing and gush about it? Sign me up.
So. Here we are. A year after my review of the The Cruel Prince. Staring my laptop down, with glassy eyes and a haunted soul, about to embark on my review of The Wicked King, the flail-inducing sequel.
Just. Give me a second. I finished this book two (2) days ago, and my brain is still reeling. You know, set itself on fire, cartwheeling off cliffs, screaming like a banshee, that kind of reeling. I did not expect this book to take me to that place. I honestly do not know if this review is going to be very coherent, or do the book any justice whatsoever, but here I am, ready to give it my best. Breathe in, breathe out. Okay. Here we go. Black Wings Beating is a book that caused me to literally screech in delight when I received it in a Secret Santa exchange with my friends. I’m pretty sure that I told my friend that I would “kill or maim” people if necessary to get my hands on this book.
So, you know, good on her for preventing the harm of innocent individuals. I received an advanced reader’s copy of Rule several weeks (or months?) ago from Julianne Daly, a lovely book blogger and freelancer I follow on Twitter who does book giveaways. I finally managed to get to Rule after several bookish detours, and, as promised, I am giving it my honest review.
Let me be clear about something: I wasn’t intending to write and post a review so soon after posting my last one. I really wasn’t. I've been lazy about writing reviews lately, and I struggled a lot to make myself finally buckle down and review The Brilliant Death, a book I adore and will happily recommend to anyone I meet.
After posting the review, I told myself, “Okay, review done. I finally have permission to sit down with another great book and read to my heart’s content. I am not going to review this next one. Nope. Need a break.” The problem is, the next book I read was What If It’s Us, a book cowritten by one of my favorite queer authors, Adam Silvera, and Becky Albertelli, author of Simon Vs the Homosapien Agenda (you know, the book that got adapted into the film Love Simon). I started the book mid-afternoon on December 26th, and finished it at 1:09 AM on the 27th. So uh. I have no chill, and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book. I’m writing this review as much for myself as anyone else. The Brilliant Death is one of those books I’ve been hearing queer book Twitter raving about for months—a book I knew I was going to fall in love with even before I opened it. Magic based on Italian folklore, gender fluid characters, difficult questions about family and loyalty. I added it to my Goodreads list pretty much as soon as I heard about it. Then I saw a signed copy displayed at work, and the rest is history.
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AuthorWriter, reviewer, bookseller, book nerd extraordinaire. Fiction reader at Waxwing Magazine. Archives
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