The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School Review || Blog Tour

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publishing Date: May 17, 2022

Seventeen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being the new kid at a mostly white, very rich, Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend, she could use the fresh start.

At Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: make her mom proud, keep her brother out of trouble, and most importantly, don’t fall in love. Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami.

The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. Either way, Yami isn’t going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she’ll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.

Goodreads  | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound

When I first saw the title for this YA novel, I immediately knew that I had to add it to my TBR. As a Mexican-American girl who attended Catholic school from until I was 14 years old, this book called to me, and it did not disappoint! I mean…look at the first line of the book:

“Seven years of bad luck can slurp my ass.”

I have yet to read a book that so accurately exemplifies the Catholic guilt that I also experienced as a young person during my time (and for a while after) attending Catholic school. Yami is dealing with so much on top of guilt for not fitting into the narrow definition of a “good Catholic”, from fear of coming out to her mother and friends to coping with her father being deported from the United States. I appreciated how Sonora Reyes dealt with Yami’s very real fears, including the possible repercussions of coming out in her religious and “traditional” family. Despite how much she loves them and how much they love her, she is still fearful of being kicked out of her home and is forced to plan for such an outcome.

“She’s right. The bible says a whole lot of things that the Catholic church kind of just ignores. Why get so hung up over this one detail?”

Although this book focuses on quite a few heavy topics, it didn’t fail to make me laugh. Yami was such a fun character. I laughed out loud so many times because of her penchant for getting herself into uncomfortable situations in her efforts to avoid anyone finding out she is gay. She’s a bit of a mess, but all of her wackiness made her such a real character.

Her interactions with her friends and family, including her younger brother Cesar and her crush Bo, are also a big part of her journey and the book itself. I appreciated that the author focused on the immense amount of pressure that her mom puts on her to constantly watch out for brother, which is something so many Mexican girls are tasked with, no matter the age. Her crush Bo is also dealing with issues of her own as a queer Chinese girl adopted by white parents. I can’t speak to her experience, but the different representation in this book made it an even more enriching read. How Cesar and Bo’s experiences are woven through Yami’s own story was just beautiful.

“‘Bo, any way you engage with your own culture is authentic, because it’s yours.’ And damn, I kind of feel like I needed to hear that myself.”

Overall, I loved this book. It made me laugh, made me tear up a bit, and comforted me in ways I definitely needed. Even though the characters are really going through it, the book ends on a hopeful note that gave me the warm embrace that I hoped it to be.

Playlist

On to the playlist! I don’t know much about cumbia, regaeton, or some of the other genres mentioned that are typically in Spanish so I didn’t add songs of those genres, but I’m not feeling bad about it because as Yami says, how I engage with my own culture is authentic!!

• Someone to Spend Time With – Los Retros
• Para Siempre – Vicente Fernandez
• Dreaming of You – Selena
• Baila Esta Cumbia – Selena
• A Dios Le Pido by Juanes
• Amigos – Okills
• Feels Like I’m in Love – Kelly Marie

About the Author:

Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes is the author of the forthcoming contemporary young adult novel: THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL

They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories. Sonora is also the creator and host of the Twitter chat #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building chat for queer writers of color.

Sonora currently lives in Arizona in a multi-generational family home with a small pack of dogs who run the place. Outside of writing, Sonora loves dancing, singing karaoke, and playing with their baby nephew.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | YouTube

Thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours for including me in this blog tour! Let me know if you plan on adding this to your TBR or if it already is.

Favorite Things: March 2022

Hello friends, happy Spring! In the past, Spring has not been a favorite season of mine, especially since it is the beginning of the sweltering heat here in the desert. I’ve cranked up the A/C, I’ve retired the many layers of blankets on my bed, and I’m reluctantly preparing for another super-hot several many  months. March was a pretty good month though, and I will cherish the somewhat nice weather before it goes completely bonkers. Here is a collection of the bits-and-bobs that brought me some joy last month!

I read ten books in March. Quite a few duds, *cough* Devil House *cough* Blood & Honey , but also some new favorites too!

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice:This post-apocalyptic thriller was a bit of a stressful read, as most post-apocalyptic stories are, but I loved it. It tells the story an Anishinaabe reservation in Northern Ontario as they cope with the state of their world when all the electricity on the planet goes out. The narrative focuses on the resiliency of the characters, the pressures of outsiders that never seem to cease to influence the lives of First Nations people, and so much more. It didn’t include as much detail as I would have liked, and skipped through time a bit, but it was a solid read.

Lean Your Loneliness Slowly Against Mine by Klara Hveberg , Alison McCullough (Translation): This is one of those books that I can’t really explain. I suppose that any book I read with lyrical prose that deals with the subject of loneliness and isolation will probably end up on my list of favorite reads of the year every single time. This book is all about love (or giving into what seems like love because of loneliness), infidelity, shame, and the impact of chronic illness, all told in an interesting format- with fractals. I won’t explain too much, but the layering of history, fiction, and the life of the author was fascinating.

There are so many quotes I wrote down, but here are just a few that I loved.

“Tell me what you read, and I’ll tell you who you are, she thinks.”

“Because if there’s one more person in the world she can have feelings for, then it would be easier to believe that there might be others too.”

“I seem to interpret everything as love.” 

I watched the entirety of Bridgerton in one day and what a ride that was. I wrote a post about it, which is coming soon, but it was fun and I will probably end up skip-watching my favorite parts again soon. 

Love Ft. Marriage & Divorce is my and my mom’s favorite K-drama. The third season is currently being released on Netflix and even though some of our favorite actors were replaced with new ones, thus breaking my and my mother’s hearts, it’s still so good. Every episode is super dramatic, slightly to extremely ridiculous, and reminds me of Spanish-language novellas with their wild storylines. Currently looking for more scandalous K-dramas to watch asap.

Another beautiful Vegas sunset…sometimes this city can be alright.

I’ve been enjoying the relative calm of my life lately. I realized that things are pretty simple for me right now, which is something I am immensely grateful for given the state of the world. I’m just going to revel in it for now as it will for sure not be like this forever.

I also recently got invited last-minute to see BTS in concert since I am the person my friends know as always being up for any and every concert. My friend will be coming to my city to see them and so I am tagging along as a tour guide and concert buddy…even though I’ve never really listened to BTS at all. I understand the gravity of this situation (especially since getting tickets to BTS is like winning the lottery) and so my homework for the next week will be to: 1) Memorize as many songs as possible. 2) Memorize the fan chants…or at least some. 3) Pick my bias. I am super excited to experience a BTS concert as I’ve never been to a K-pop concert ever before. Wish me luck!

That’s all from me for now! What was your favorite read of March? What are you currently reading? Thoughts on BTS?

Hope you have a lovely month!

 

June 2021 Wrap-Up

I’ve tried writing this post about three times and feel less and less motivated each time since June wasn’t the most exciting reading month for me. There were lots of non-book related changes life last month and I couldn’t sit down and concentrate on a book for too long…which isn’t a bad thing.

I’m slowing down on reading a bit in general (in a good way). After three years of reading a lot of books every month, I think that the pressure I placed on myself to stuff as many stories into my mind as possible is waning. I’ll still be reading, but I think I’m finally getting out of book escapism as a form of dealing with loneliness and all that. I’ll still be reading as much as my brain can concentrate on, which may be 2 books or 10 books, but the self-induced pressure has slackened a bit. I’m also turning 25 tomorrow, so that also might be why I’m feeling like I want to Change My Life™. Maybe I’ll be back to normal in a few days, who knows. ANYWAY…

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann, Illustrated by Kerascoët

This graphic novel was so wild that I had to call my mom and explain to her everything that was happening as I read it. It was disturbing and weird and I really loved it. If you haven’t heard of this one, here’s my pitch: Cute little creatures emerge from the dead body of a young girl and must survive the wilderness and one another. If you aren’t into blood and gore and generally morbid things, maybe steer clear of this one.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4) by Julia Quinn

And my award for one of my most disappointing reads of 2021 goes to this installment of the Bridgerton series! I was super excited to read more about Penelope, as she is my favorite character from the series. But alas, I ended up extremely bored by her and her entire relationship with Colin. Oh, Colin! He had so much potential as a character and a love interest, and it was all completely squandered. What a dull couple…what a boring story. What a drag. I’m still going to continue the series, but it continues to disappoint me in new and infuriating ways.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

I was having a fun time reading the first third of this book, but as the story got more and more convoluted, I became less and less invested. I wish we would have been given a lot more information about many of the characters, including the main character, Jess. They didn’t seem as real as they could have been and there were so many little threads left hanging and unresolved by the end of the story. I’m glad I read it, but it was a somewhat disappointing.

The Overnight (Fear Street #3) by R.L. Stine

Not much to say about this one. Ridiculous, campy, trashy, amazing. All the things I like in a short slasher kinda book.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

I absolutely loved loved loved the first story in this collection, Tower of Babylon, but the rest didn’t do much for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.

All the time I spent not reading, I was listening to music while doing nothing in particular. Here are some of the songs I had on repeat last month.

This song is Ryan Gosling…Ryan. Gosling. That man. Unmatched.

I watched one of my favorite movies, Me Without You, this month once again (because I required cinematic guidance) and this song was stuck in my head for many days after.

I’ve been listening to this album nonstop. Always a sucker for some melancholy, ghostly music about doomed love!

That’s about it for now! I’m currently gearing up for whatever my actual quarter life crisis has in store for me…we’ll see but I think it’s going to be a good year.

 

Recent Reads: Books I’ve Loved

Thankfully, last month’s slump has abated and left me excited to read books I’ve had on my radar for a while. Many of the books have been a success so far, which I’m quite pleased about! Plus, if you’ve been wanting to read a book with a pretty good twist, these all had twists that I was not expecting (maybe that’s also just me being oblivious sometimes, though).

Reviews are spoiler-free!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev  by Dawnie Walton  | ★★★★1/2

This was such a compelling historical fiction novel with rich characters and writing that transports you to a time and place that seems completely authentic. Written in the style of a biography of the fictional afropunk duo, Opal and Nev, the book completely made me believe that these people truly existed. Several times, I nearly reached for my phone to look up what Opal’s stage outfits looked like or to find one of the band’s songs to listen to. I love that level of realism.

This novel is very much centered on the racism that the characters experience, both in the 70s and in the present, and truly shows how little has changed in 50 years. It’s frustrating and angering, but so worth the read. The twist at the end was phenomenal as well, especially considering how true to life it was. I’m still thinking about it a week later. I would recommend Opal & Nev to readers who enjoy books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Check out an OwnVoices review here.

CW: Racism, racial slurs, racial beating causing death, drug use, addiction, sexual harassment (mentioned).

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas | ★★★★☆

I finally got around to reading Cemetery Boys and I am so glad that I did. I listened to the audiobook, which I think added to my enjoyment of the book a lot. I loved the world that Aiden Thomas created more than anything. His melding of the spirituality and traditions of cultures who celebrate Día De Los Muertos with his own fantastical story was so beautiful. Yadriel’s struggle to gain his Latinx family’s affirmation of his gender is at the center of the book, and I truly appreciated seeing him come into his own. Those things, executed so beautifully, clouded my judgement of the rest of the book to be honest. The romance was a bit insta-lovey (I still loved it), the pacing was a little off, but I can’t stop my heart-eyes for this book and it’s characters. I also didn’t see the twist coming. I’m super excited to see what else Aiden Thomas has in store!

CW: Misgendering, allusions to deadnaming, depictions of gender dysphoria, exploration of parental death, non-violent references to blood magic, some descriptions of self-harm (for ritualistic purposes)

CWs from this OwnVoices review by Adri.

The Removed by Brandon Hobson | ★★★★☆

I don’t really know where to start with this book. The writing style was fascinating and so steeped in intricate Cherokee tradition and history, I couldn’t put it down. The Removed confused, enthralled, and surprised me. Focusing on a Cherokee family dealing with the grief of losing their son and brother at the hands of a police officer, we witness their grief and loneliness from their various perspectives chapter to chapter.

The symbolism and imagery of the many perspectives had me flipping back to previous chapters to recall the patterns that were appearing in nature and their lives. There were definitely connections and aspects that I did not understand completely, especially considering that I am not an OwnVoices reader, but by the end of the novel I was able to understand more of characters’ motivations with some revelations, which put it all into perspective. I would recommend reading this book without expectation and some historical knowledge ( read about the Removal Act and Trail of Tears here ). The examination of trauma, grief, and the effect of colonialism on an entire people was so profound and worth a read.

Check out reviews by Indigenous reviewers here and here (not OwnVoices reviews).

CW: Drug and alcohol use, addiction, racism, assault, police shooting resulting in death, gun violence, graphic depiction of colonization (Trail of Tears, removal), allusions to suicide.

Have you heard of any of these books, do any of them sound like your cup of tea? Thanks for reading, hope you are having a lovely April!

March 2021 Wrap-Up

Hello again! So here I am, a month after my previous wrap-up… The slump that I talked about last post continued to exist in March and resulted in only three books read. That’s the least amount of books I have read in a month in two years! I think that my brain just needed a break.

It’s been a whole year since the start of the pandemic and I am extremely lucky to be finally getting my first vaccine today. I’m grateful that there is some kind of end in sight. I spent this month talking to new people in my city on Bumble BFF (a rendition of Bumble that’s just for making friends…I am desperate for friends), cleaned up my Animal Crossing island a bit, and spent lots of time with family and virtual time with friends. The book and accidental blog hiatus therefore, didn’t end up being a total bust. Anyways, let’s jump into quick reviews of the books that I did get to in March.

Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare | ★★★★☆

I reread Chain of Iron in preparation for the release of its sequel (which I put aside temporarily due to previously mentioned reading slump) and ended up liking it a little less than I previously did. It was still fun and quintessentially Cassandra Clare angsty, but I couldn’t rate it the five stars I gave it last year considering how repetitive she is with her characters. Don’t get me wrong, I want everything she writes, but she needs to shake it up a little.

Dominicana by Angie Cruz | ★★1/2☆☆

My cousin and I have our own little book club and this was last month’s book. We both listened to it on audio and we both didn’t really like it. There were a lot of things that missed the mark here for me. I think someone who has not read many immigrant stories might like this more, but as someone who has read and heard quite a few, it was pretty basic. Things that could have been examined and discussed more just were not and left me wanting more. *Cough* The fact that she is FIFTEEN and going through all of these horrible things and is basically being preyed upon by two grown men!

Not all immigrant stories are the same, but this had to be one of the most surface-level ones that I have read so far. If I don’t think about it too much, it was an alright book, but I feel like it could have been so much better. (This review was kind of mean I’m so sorry. Also check out the content warnings, but here are a few: rape, domestic violence, alcoholism.)

Fantastic Tales by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti | ★★★★☆

I randomly picked this one up because the blurb intrigued me. Translated Italian gothic short stories from the 1800s? Sign me up! I really enjoyed a few of these stories, it served me just what I wanted at the time. It was also interesting reading about the author and reasons why he may not be as well known in literature, as well as the translation work that he did which sometimes meandered into straight up plagiarism. A surprising read that made me thing about life and death quite a bit…I am glad I picked it up.

Here is my April monthly spread. I’m really feeling the possibility of Spring this year and I’ve been very into the idea of Cottagecore things – hence this random collection of things. Currently longing for a long dress and a flower field to roam.

I am going back to my mood reading basics and picking books from my shelf that I want to read when I want to read them. This month though, I will definitely be finishing these three books.

Islands of Decolonial Love is my and my cousin’s family book club pick for April and one that has been on my TBR since I saw Thunderbird Woman Reads, one of my favorite booktubers, talking about it. The Final Revival of Opal and Nev was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and so far I’m really enjoying it. I highly recommend it for readers who like Taylor Jenkins Reid! I am also continuing my read-through of the Lisa Kleypas Wallflowers series with Scandal in Spring. I’ve been reading each book during the season that they are titled and this is finally my last installment. It’s been almost a year since my entrance into the wonderful world of historical romance with the first book in the series and oh what a time it’s been!

It feels good to be back here writing, I am going to try to get back to weekly posting this month! *Fingers crossed* Thanks for coming back to read my blog after this month of unannounced hiatus. Follow me on Instagram to keep in touch. I don’t use it much, but I’m hoping to work on it more this month. Cheers to a wonderful April!

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert || ARC Review

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: March 9th, 2021

Add to your shelf on Goodreads

In Act Your Age, Eve Brown the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard—literally.

E-ARC provided by the publisher.

Talia Hibbert’s The Brown Sisters Series was my introduction to romance last year, or at least the introduction that made me excited to actually read more romances from different genres that I would enjoy. Her books are cute, fun, and never fail to make me laugh out loud. The final book in the series, Act Your Age, Eve Brown is probably my favorite of all three. If you read and enjoyed the previous two books, then this is a must-read.

As many other reviewers have said, this book is nothing short of delightful. There really isn’t a better word for the reading experience of Eve Brown. I loved Eve and Jacob, both as independent characters and as a couple. Their seemingly opposite personalities make reading about their interactions so enjoyable. Jacob is grumpy and very particular about how he runs his bed and breakfast, while Eve can best be described as whirlwind of a human trying her best. Their banter had me smiling throughout the story and those steamy scenes…yeah they were quite steamy.

Talia Hibbert is amazing at writing characters and relationships with emotional depth. There is always something outside of the relationship that the main characters are working through and that they come to solutions to with the support of their love interest, and not because of their love interest. I am always immensely impressed with how she wraps up her stories and the development of her characters, which is definitely also the case with Eve and Jacob.

Although I can’t speak on this book’s representation, I will say that it was very interesting to read from the perspective of characters exploring how they function in the world and whose talents are strengthened by their backgrounds. Jacob’s diagnosed autism and Eve’s discovering of her autism were well written in my opinion as someone who has not dealt with either of those things.

I especially liked seeing Eve come into her own and become more comfortable navigating the world independently. I could definitely relate to the struggle of not feeling “adult enough” despite your age and I very much enjoyed seeing that struggle depicted in a romance. And Jacob is everything I could want in a romantic hero, with difficulties of his own that he works through. Ultimately, they both work on their relationship (even if that third act romance novel misunderstanding is present and is a little annoying) and arrive at a sweet, satisfying conclusion.

Some out of context things to expect from Act Your Age, Eve Brown

• Lots of music.
• Cozy, English countryside B&B vibes.
• Cute cameos of characters from past books.
• 100% amazing slogan t-shirts via Eve.
• Ducks.

Final Thoughts

I have found bits of myself in every one of the Brown Sisters. I’m sad that the series will be coming to an end with this book, but I’m excited for whatever Talia Hibbert has cooking for us next! Also, please check out OwnVoices reviews to get a different perspective on this book! I will leave off with one tip for you if you are anxiously waiting for Act Your Age, Eve Brown to release on March 9th! Take a listen to Corinne Bailey Rae’s debut album. It has been one of my favorites since I was a kid and I feel like it’s a great soundtrack to the story. “Breathless” has a little role in the book and it was so, so perfect for the scene it pops up in. Where are our Brown Sisters movies at already?!

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers || ARC Review

E-ARC provided by the publisher.

One month of 2021 down and I already have a book that will definitely be making it to my favorites of the year. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers is everything that I needed and wanted. It healed me in so many ways with it’s ethereal, romantic writing and rich, complex characters. The story follows Grace Porter, who has just completed her PhD in astronomy and is grappling with life after graduation, a complicated relationship with her parents, and a drunken night that resulted in her marriage to a mysterious woman.

“What happened in Vegas is tucked away in her suitcase. It is under her shirt in the shape of a key. It is hidden in her hair with the last little bits of dried petals. It hides in the gold ring wrapped around her fingers like a brand.”

I really do not want to give much away with this book since I went into it only knowing basic details and I suggest other readers do the same. I will suggest adjusting your expectations if you are going into the book expecting a romance. Honey Girl has pretty much been marketed and categorized as romance, but it is so much more than that (which is not to knock romance at all by the way). This is much more of a contemporary coming-of-age novel about love, friendship, and family. We don’t really get into the romance of the story until a quarter of the way into the book, but it is completely worth the wait.

“All four of them squish together in the bed. They hold Grace together, hold her bursting seams closed.”

The love that Grace shares with her found family was one of my favorite aspects of this novel. Her friends are her family and they are all woven into the story in a way that makes each one distinct and complex. By the end of the book, I knew exactly who each character was. Morgan Rogers so tenderly writes each character, making me fall in love with every single one. I felt homesick for this book and it’s characters the moment I finished it.

Grace’s relationships with her parents is where she struggles the most. As a mixed-race child, Grace has to deal with a father who is a strict military man and a mother who is a free-spirit. I appreciated the way her issues with her parents were handled and the reasonable resolutions we arrive to by the end of the book.

“Us lonely creatures have to stick together.”

A central theme of this story is Grace’s struggle as a black lesbian woman in STEM. I can’t speak on the representation, but Rogers does a great job of depicting a woman who is sick and tired of her accomplishments being minimized based on the color of her skin, on top of the typical pressures and stresses of academia. These struggles have a very real effect on her mental health, which I appreciated reading about immensely. Honey Girl focuses a lot on mental health and loneliness in general in a way that was so healing. I have not read a book that has dealt with mental health in such a way in a long time and I absolutely loved it. I cried multiple times…and I rarely ever cry while reading.

Which brings me to the romance of it all. I don’t want to spoil anything about the romance since I enjoyed slowly uncovering the mystery of who Grace married as I read. What I’ll say for now is that I loved the the longing and yearning that is infused into Morgan Rogers’ writing. There was a specific kind of magical, ethereal quality to her words that I was enchanted by. It was so romantic. Although Grace’s relationship with her wife is not the main focus of the book, I felt like it was just enough to satisfy me as a reader initially expecting a romance.

Honey Girl wrapped me up in its warm, cozy embrace and healed me a little bit. I would highly recommend reading this beautiful piece of contemporary fiction when it releases on February 23rd! Please check out OwnVoices reviews like this one to get a different perspective on this book!

Add to Goodreads

Some out of context things to expect from Honey Girl

• Mysterious, lonely, lurking beings.
• Monster hunting.
• Astronomy and space and possibly crying about the Mars Rover.
• Orange groves and farmers markets.
• So many cute, queer characters.

[bg_collapse view=”link-list” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Self-harm, allusion to blood and scars from self-harm, hospitalization, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder.[/bg_collapse]

 

Will you be reading this book when it comes out? Do you have any favorite books featuring lesbian characters to recommend? Let me know in the comments!

Mini Reviews: Book Blogger Recommendations

Here I am, writing this post exactly 11 days after writing What’s on My Shelf? || Book Blogger Edition with all the books from that list completed. I’m pretty proud of myself considering that I am a huge mood reader that doesn’t do the best with strict TBRs.

I truly enjoyed this little experiment and plan on making Book Blogger Recommendation TBRs every month from now on to knock out those books that I have discovered through other bloggers. Sorry if there are less than positive reviews for books you may have recommended, I still completely enjoyed reading all of these books despite my qualms!

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

“There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.”

This satirical contemporary was quite a ride. I could easily see this book as a movie with the writing style’s interesting jumps in time and asides that break the fourth wall. Some of the aspects of this book worked for me, while others not so much. It is written as a sales manual/self-help book, which is unique and provided a great anchor throughout the story. However, there were quite a few times that I physically cringed from odd dialogue and pop culture references. Many of the things that happened, particularly towards the end of the book, and some of the character’s reactions or lack of reactions to these things were so ridiculous that it was hard to suspend my disbelief. (I’m not talking about the racism the black characters experience because that was pretty believable unfortunately).

I can’t comment on the representation of this book, but I truly enjoyed the reading experience despite how frustrating the main character is and the truly off-the-wall story. If you are interested in reading Black Buck, be aware that it is a satire. Overall, it was a nice shift in tone compared to books I’ve been reading lately.

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) by Deborah Harkness

Shout-out to this author for drawing me back in every time I finished a book in this series despite how much I dislike her writing style. Did I like this book? Not really. Am I glad I read it? Yes. Am I itching to know what happens in the next installment? Absolutely. Very confusing.

*Mild spoiler* My first gripe with this book was the time travel mess of it all. It just doesn’t make sense how the characters act like their massive disruption of the past won’t have an equally massive disruption on the future and I’m curious to see if it indeed does or is glossed over in the next book. *End of Mild Spoiler*

There is also a ton of telling rather than showing, which makes it seem like the characters are passively witnessing the bonkers stuff that is happening to them with little emotion. It’s also unnecessarily long. Despite all the issues I had with the book, I’m still probably going to listen to the audiobook of the next installment once I finish watching the second season of the A Discovery of Witches TV series.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

“Everybody is very much alike, really. But fortunately, perhaps, they don’t realize it.”

I had such a great time reading this collection of short mysteries. Thanks Morgan, for this recommendation for starting Agatha Christie’s novels. The stories were the perfect length to keep me engaged and I loved the banter of the cast of characters. I didn’t know that I would find a murder mystery collection so delightful, but I did, and I’m interested in reading more Agatha Christie mysteries soon!

Foxhole Court (All for the Game #1) by Nora Sakavic

I don’t really know what to say about this book. It was ridiculous, shocking, disturbing…and somehow it kind of worked. Maybe? I don’t know. I’m still confused by it.

I’ve seen this series touted as an LGBTQ series, but this first book was pretty void of that with the exception of one side character who upholds some toxic stereotypes about gay people (ie: the predatory gay). Please check out the endless content warnings for this series , there is some ableist language and homophobic slurs in this particular installment that were jarring every time I saw them and took me right out of the book.

Those things make me apprehensive about this series. Honestly, every page is a new trove of problematic, jarring situations. But somehow I still want to see what happens in the rest of the books, especially since there are so many other reviewers who enjoyed it despite it’s problems and content. That alone is super interesting to me. I need to know what happens that makes people love this series so much! Foxhole Court basically made me super uncomfortable and I couldn’t look away.

Thanks to the blogs who recommended these books in their posts, I had a ton of fun reading them this month!

Coffee Stained Bookmark | Marianna’s Corner | Morgan is Reading Again | Ace Reader

Expanding My Horizons with Speculative Fiction

One of my constant reading goals is to constantly rotate through genres: romance, fantasy, nonfiction, sci-fi, and everything in between. One of these “in-betweens” is the elusive genre of speculative fiction, which has quickly become one of my absolute favorite genres.

According to Goodreads, speculative fiction is “a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways.” Other genres such as science fiction, horror, and fantasy can easily converge into speculative fiction. The central question for the genre is, “What if [insert thing here] happened on Earth?”

One of my personal favorite things about this genre is how utterly confusing and discombobulating these stories tend to be. There are rarely times when I finish a speculative fiction book and completely understand its events or world mechanics; something I truly enjoy, especially in between reading books that follow the traditional formula of a novel.

If you haven’t delved into the genre, it can be a bit intimidating, especially considering the odd styles of writing that many of these books adopt. It isn’t a genre for everyone and many of the books are ones that people either love or hate. In my opinion, the joy of reading these books is in slowly peeling back all their weird, possibly disturbing layers (even if sometimes they don’t end up being my favorite reads). Here are a few of the books I’ve recently read that fall under this genre and won’t leave my brain with all of their oddness…

The Seep by Chana Porter

This is a very short book that I think would be a good way to dip into the genre of science fiction and speculative fiction. In under 200 pages, the author weaves a story of a world that has been transformed into a utopia by a “soft invasion” of an alien species that has come to be referred to as The Seep. The main character is forced to confront the complexity of her grief and alienation in a world that no longer follows the traditional laws of life and death. It was a very interesting take on the alien invasion trope and was pretty easy to get through.

Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

This Ukrainian novel walks a thin line between science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Never have I read a book that more accurately describes the complete and utter anxiety of higher education (or any education for that matter). Imagine being compelled under an unspoken threat of violence against your family by a mysterious entity, to complete odd repetitive tasks and attend a school at which you will be taught something completely unknown. That’s this book. There are passages that make barely an inkling of sense, pages of heavily philosophical and confusing language, and endless repetitive tasks forced upon characters with seemingly no purpose but to disturb, all within the confines of a gloomy Ukrainian town.

More than halfway through reading it physically, I had to switch to the audiobook since it was so dense and meandering. I couldn’t stop reading it, though! It was like falling into a trance and I loved every second of it. I know I’m not completely selling it, but if you are finished with higher education and don’t mind a book that doesn’t answer many questions about its “magic” system and world, then I’d recommend giving it a shot. This is also the first and only book in the series that has currently been translated to English. I feel like it wraps up enough to be satisfying, but I have my fingers crossed that we get the sequel eventually!

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Lui

I really jumped into the sci-fi deep end with this book! Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, it tackles the question of how the planet would deal with first contact with aliens. The factions that arise vary between those who want to help the aliens destroy a humanity that has caused the destruction of the planet, those that want to introduce an assumed higher alien morality to the world, and those who want to merely survive.

It is a super science and physics dense book, which coming from someone that couldn’t wrap her head around high school physics, didn’t confuse me beyond recognition. I was able to understand the general purpose of the more scientific passages/chapters and I feel like even reading it as someone who is not versed in science added to the discombobulating nature of the massive existential questions that the author poses about life on Earth and life beyond our solar system.

I was completely absorbed by this book and found myself reading into the wee hours of the morning- it took a thriller-like turn a quarter of the way through. It may not be something that’s the best to read as an introduction to sci-fi, but it’s a book I think that anyone interested in the genre should eventually read. The scope of this book is incredible and I am so excited to check out the other two books. It’s definitely one of my top books of 2020.

Here are some other works that fall under speculative fiction that you may or may not have heard of before and that I plan on reading.

(Covers link to Goodreads)

  

Have you read any of these books or anything you think might fall under the genre of speculative fiction? Is it a genre that interests you or doesn’t interest you at all? It definitely is a bit of an acquired taste!

The Shadow of the Wind Book Review || Not My Cup of Tea

Title: The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2001
Pages: 486

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love. –Goodreads

Content Warnings: Homophobia, sexual assault, rape, physical abuse, domestic abuse, graphic mentions of torture, graphic mentions of abuse, death, graphic depictions of murder, mentions of war.

*There aren’t any specific spoilers in this review, but if you want to go into the book without any idea of what occurs, maybe skip to the final thoughts!*

I just finished the book Shadow of the Wind for my family book club and I have a lot of thoughts. This historical fiction novel has a lot going for it: mystery, atmosphere, beautiful writing. Yet all of it’s strengths become clichéd and repetitive halfway through. The fact that I took an entire month to read it to keep pace with my book club probably lent to the fact that I wasn’t as quickly bothered by its many flaws as if I were to read it at my regular pace.

It’s an interesting, mysterious, magical book and I understand why so many people love it, but for me the flaws hugely outweighed any positives.

What I Liked

The atmosphere: Shadow of the Wind takes place in Barcelona during two different timelines. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the mysterious author Julian Carax, whose books are being destroyed by an unknown specter, and Daniel, the boy trying to uncover the mystery. I really liked reading about the misty, gloomy streets of Barcelona, which is one of the main reasons I enjoyed the book so much at first. It’s honestly the only thing that I truly enjoyed about the book.

What I Felt Conflicted About

The writing: Carlos Ruiz Zafón, has a very descriptive style of writing. This lent greatly to the atmosphere that is created, but halfway through the book I found myself rolling my eyes at the endlessly descriptive passages. He would insert so many completely unnecessary notes about characters, how they looked, and things that had happened in their lives that didn’t add much to the actual purpose of the story.

On top of that, most of the characters were obvious caricatures, especially the one-dimensional women (see below). Halfway through, I decided that I had to finish it ASAP instead of continuing to have it lingering on my bookshelf for the rest of the month while I slowly read it’s meandering prose.

What I Didn’t Like

The way the author writes women: This is one of my biggest issues with the book. The main character, Daniel, basically falls in love with every beautiful-to-him woman that he meets. He places almost every woman in the book on a pedestal and then witnesses their downfalls as if they occurred only because of their proximity to him and how he felt about them.

The endless descriptions of how a certain woman was a femme fatale or how another much older woman who rejects Daniel basically has no right to get involved with more age-appropriate men was exhausting. He was nothing to them, except that the author wrote them to be completely obsessed with Daniel or some other male character. Truly a fuckboy I have no interest in, which made the book such a slog since he was the main character.

If a woman wasn’t beautiful, then she was haggard and had no sexual value, which is of course is the only value a woman has in this book. The one “unattractive” character that has a big part in the story is described as not being able to have children and this is what happens to her: “Her breasts withered until they were but scraps of skin, her hips were like the hips of a boy, and her flesh, hard and angular, didn’t even catch the eye of Don Ricardo Aldaya…” Uuuum okay sir. Because how desirable she is and her ability to bear children is the only value a woman has.

The plethora of violence against women: This is kind of similar to the previous point. Basically, almost every woman in this book has some terrible story in which she is attacked, assaulted, and/or abused by a male. I understand this being a plot point for a book, except that after the third and fourth time reading a backstory of a woman getting abused in detail, it began to seem gratuitous. We get it. Everyone in this story must be miserable and to the author, this means that almost all the women must be abused. PLEASE. Most of the men committing these horrendous acts also get written off as having a reason for doing so and having some sort of redemption arc. No thank you. I don’t care. Next.

There was violence against many of the men, but the imbalance in power was not as all-imposing as it was with the women and there was at least some purpose (no matter how flimsy). In one case though, it was immensely gratuitous how the abuse of a man was so graphically described and the almost comedic tone of the assault and the character’s identity was horrendous (I’m leaving who this happens to out for spoiler-free purposes). The women and this man were written as doing something to “deserve” the violence they experience and they fall by the wayside if they aren’t as equally obsessed with Daniel as he is with them.

The fact that this is a historical fiction taking place in a violent time and place doesn’t excuse this issue in my opinion. It’s still way too much paired with the obvious sexism seeping out of the writing.

How the mystery is solved: The entire purpose of this book is to figure out what happened to Julian Carax and who is burning all of his books. Daniel’s searching goes on for literal years and in the end all we get is a conveniently acquired info dump spurred by more violence against a woman. All of this buildup for an info dump conclusion. Okay okay…

How alike the two storylines are: Too alike. Too conveniently alike. That is all.

That twist: Yikes. I truly threw my book to the floor. No comment.

Daniel’s relationship with his dad: Not as so endlessly described as his other relationships, which was disappointing considering how much effort was put into describing other characters with smaller roles in the story.

Final Thoughts

Even though I felt compelled enough by the atmosphere of the book to keep flipping the pages, I couldn’t look past all of the flaws. I had nightmares that I’m pretty sure were caused by this book and I hope to never experience that again. I won’t be reading the other two books in the series, that’s for sure!

I can really understand why people like this book so much, but for me it’s gonna be a no. I wouldn’t recommend not reading it if the synopsis sounds interesting to you since the author truly sucks you into the world of the book, but be aware of the content warnings! No matter the flaws, I will say that it is an interesting and atmospheric read.