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.
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. 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.
It’s been like six months since my last review, but hey friends! I’ve been wanting to review this one for months, so better late than never! I’m hoping I can get back to doing at least one or two reviews a month to spread more book love.
One of my guilty pleasures on social media is following authors who have great accounts, or who I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about, despite never reading their work. I love getting glimpses into their lives and their writing processes, and the odds of me finally reading their books increases quite a bit if I’m following them. A few weeks ago (okay, probably a month or two, by now), I saw a tweet by Hannah Moskowitz announcing that the e-book version of her novel A History of Glitter and Blood was on sale. Cut to me opening my e-reader app a few days ago and remembering said impulsive book purchase. And now, here I am, breaking my month-long book blog hiatus because I can’t not review this surprising gem of a book.
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AuthorWriter, reviewer, bookseller, book nerd extraordinaire. Fiction reader at Waxwing Magazine. Archives
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