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.

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!

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.

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Meija and Anna-Marie McLemore || Book Tour

Title: Miss Meteor
Authors: Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 22nd 2020
Content warnings: Bullying, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, xenophobia

Disclaimer: I was given a free e-arc from the publisher through Hear Our Voices in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review. All opinions are my own. 

“There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.” – Goodreads

What I Liked

☄️ Lita: Lita was such a refreshing character to read about. She is unapologetic about who she is in all of her quirkiness, even if that means people making fun of her or ignoring her altogether. Despite how people treat her, she never ceases to be kind and caring. I also liked how her body image as a plus-size girl is not a big point of issue. She does mention how it affects how people see her, but it isn’t something she is super focused on. Proud plus-size girl rep is so wonderful and reading about her experience in the Miss Meteor pageant was a lot of fun.

☄️ Chicky: I really identified with Chicky, which is probably why she ended up being one of my favorite characters. Despite the fact that so many people in her small town are so dismissive of her, and even though she isolates herself, she remains as much of herself as she feels she can be. I enjoyed seeing her development as she goes from someone who runs away from others to keep herself protected to someone who is proud of who she is, especially in regard to her pansexuality, and is willing to stand up for herself and those she loves.

☄️ Cole: I found Cole to be such an interesting character. He is a trans boy with a sister who is a bully to all those who are different from her, with the exception of her brother. Despite homophobic comments she makes to others like Chicky, she usually avoids making any comments to allude to her brother’s trans identity. This ends up being more of a way to try to hide Cole’s identity than being respectful of him. Cole is the darling of Meteor, which she wants to protect. The town’s support of him is conditional on him not being “too out there” with his identity and continuing to be their sports star, and he knows this.

He is initially not very outspoken about how awful his sister and friends are, but as the story goes on, we begin to see him make comments that make people question the things that they say and the way that they act. It’s unfortunate that he has to constantly educate and correct people, but I truly appreciated him as a character and the perspective he brought to the story.

☄️ The sister relationships: I personally don’t have any sisters, so I always love reading about sister relationships. Their banter was so much fun and I found myself laughing at their interactions many times throughout the book.

☄️ The friendships: I loved all of the friendships in this story, specifically that of Chicky and Lita. Despite the time that has passed since they stopped being best friends, they have always longed for one another’s friendship. They are exactly what the other needs and they each provide a safe space to reveal who they are. Not only do they uphold one another, but they come to extend that to both Cole and Junior as well.

What I Didn’t Like

There was honestly nothing that I didn’t particularly like about this book. I wasn’t aware that it included magical realism elements until I started the book, but I don’t think that took anything away from my experience (since I haven’t had a great track record with magical realism in books). Obviously, it should just be a given to me now that any book by Anna-Marie McLemore will have magical realism in it…and I will still continue to read anything they release.

Final Thoughts

The second that I saw this beautiful cover, I knew I had to read Miss Meteor. The dark hair, the thick eyebrows, the jalapeño cupcake! Yes! Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and it did not disappoint. I found myself reading late into the night because I wanted to see where the story would go next, which hasn’t happened in awhile. The atmosphere of this book definitely lent to how excited I was to keep flipping the pages.

I think as a teenager, a book like this would have been so valuable to me. Although I grew up in a pretty big city with a predominantly Latinx community, going to a school with all but a few Latinx kids, I still identified with Chicky and Lita’s struggles in finding who they are and who they want to be within their communities. This is such a beautiful story about friendship, self-acceptance, and family that I would recommend, especially if you are looking for a book with Mexican-American and LGBTQ characters.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Favorite Quotes

“In a town this small, for girls like us, survival is based mostly on how well you can camouflage, not on dredging up the bloodred and sunshine yellow of your secrets and splattering them across your chest.”

“For instance, probably a third of our town’s five-thousand residents are Latinx- but Meteor ‘doesn’t care if we’re purple’, so long as we’re not too loud about it.”

“Fresa taps my upper lip and glances at Uva Quintanilla. ‘Depilatory or cream bleach?’ ‘Fresa!’ Cereza shouts. ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of,’ Uva says. ‘We all have to do it. With the many blessings of being who we are come a few curses.'” (*Shudder* I identified with this so much…oh how I have struggled with my Mexican mustache 😄)

“Then we’re off in the night air, the stars thick above us. They’re distant as dreams and close as relatives. They’re as much mine as I am theirs. They’re mirrors of my body and heart.”

“Because I am a girl worth the space I take up. I am a girl this world, this town, and most of all, the people who love me, will not let go of.”

Playlist

As part of the Hear Our Voices tour, I put together a playlist for the book. I basically just chose the songs based on the feel of them. I pictured Miss Meteor sort of like a movie and picked songs I felt would fit into very cinematic representations of general scenes. For example, “Toyota Man” while the Quintanilla family works in their diner (the lyrics are also on point), “Mujer Latina” as a song playing as the sisters get Lita ready for the pageant, “Queen of the Rodeo” as the song that plays during the dance scene, and “Shining Light” as the end credits.

1. “Toyota Man” by Neon Indian
2. “Mujer Latina” by Thalía
3. “Como La Flor” by Selena
4. “Beautiful Dreamers” by Grant-Lee Phillips
5. “Friends” by Los Retros
6. “Siempre Tú” by Enjambre
7. “Made To Last” by Semisonic
8. “High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves
9. “Queen of the Rodeo” by Orville Peck
10. “Shining Light” by Ash

Miss Meteor Playlist on Spotify

About The Authors

Tehlor Kay Mejia is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult fantasy novel We Set the Dark on Fire as well as its sequel, We Unleash the Merciless Storm; Miss Meteor (co-written with National Book Award nominee Anna-Marie McLemore); and her middle grade debut, Paola Santiago and the River of Tears.

Her debut novel received six starred reviews and was chosen as an Indie Next Pick and a Junior Library Guild selection, as well as being an IndieBound bestseller in the Pacific Northwest region. It has been featured in Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and O The Oprah Magazine and named a best book of 2019 by Kirkus and School Library Journal.

Tehlor lives in Oregon with her daughter, two very small dogs, and several rescued houseplants.

Anna-Marie McLemore (they/them) was born in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and taught by their family to hear la llorona in the Santa Ana winds. Anna-Marie is the author of The Weight of Feathers, a finalist for the 2016 William C. Morris Debut Award; 2017 Stonewall Honor Book When the Moon Was Ours, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature and winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award; Wild Beauty, a Kirkus Best Book of 2017; and Blanca & Roja, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Dark and Deepest Red, a reimagining of “The Red Shoes” based on true medieval events, will be released in January 2020.

Thanks for reading! Are you interested in reading Miss Meteor (which comes out today by the way 😉)? Have you read any other books by Anna-Marie McLemore or Tehlor Kay Mejia? Let me know in the comments!

Recent Reads: Audiobook Edition || Mini Reviews

The first week of September was a week of many audiobooks. I was in a real mood to read, but I also was not in the mood to sit down and concentrate on printed pages. I decided to read a bunch of books that had been on my TBR for awhile and were 5-9 hours on audiobook, the sweet spot for audiobooks for me.

I ended up reading so many books by BIPOC that I’ve been wanting to check out and feeling very accomplished! I am not an Own Voices reviewer for any of these books, so please take that into consideration when reading.

The Questionable

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

I have a lot of feelings about this book…again, I am not an Own Voices reviewer and my opinion is very much in the minority here. Many people love this book, so please give it a chance if it interests you and check out reviews by Own Voices readers.

I truly appreciated Hong’s insights into her experience as an Asian American and the racism she has had to deal with, but some of the stories seemed to meander and muddle the overall tone of the book for me. Some of the things that she wrote rubbed me the wrong way. One such thing is when she states that Indian Americans have “downgraded to or have begun self-identifying as ‘brown’.” The colorism in that sentence took me aback when I heard it, I had to go back a few times to make sure that’s what was said.

In one story, she takes her friends’ very personal stories, one with seemingly no permission after discussing with her other friend what she didn’t want of her personal life included in the book, and discusses them in a way that seemed so very weird to me. I felt gross reading her complain about a friend who dealt with an undiagnosed mental illness and how she once thought that maybe it would be fine if her friend just went through with her threats (if you know what I mean) because then she would no longer have to deal with her anymore. It was pretty awful. I understand that not all narrators have to be likeable, but there was something about her personality and tone that really irked me throughout the book.

I did learn a few things and added some other reads by Asian American authors that she mentioned to my TBR, but overall this book left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll continue to seek other books by Asian American authors to get other perspectives.

Content Warnings: Racism, violence, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, death, description of rape and murder

The Alright

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong, translated by Chi-Young Kim

I very much enjoy listening to thrillers on audiobook, it’s like sitting around a campfire listening to a scary story (although I have never done that before in my life). This is a South Korean psychological thriller about 26-year-old Yu-jin, who wakes up covered in blood with no idea as to what has happened. The story slowly unfolds as he tries to figure out the series of events that led him up to the present.

I didn’t have any particular feelings about this book that I could pin down. It seemed like a basic thriller to me, with few twists that really surprised me. The tension kept me interested though and I’m glad I finally read it.

Content Warnings: Death, murder, blood, gore, references to drowning

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

I tried reading this book in several formats and could not get into it. I tried e-book, physical, and then decided just to listen to it on audio. There has been a lot said about what people thought this book was about (two black girl mermaids) and what it actually is about: two black girls, one a siren and one an unknown supernatural being. Sirens are hated in this society for some reason that is never fully explained. They are also all black women, which adds onto the prejudice and racism that they face.

There were so many issues with the mythos and worldbuilding, or complete lack of it, that distracted from the important and impactful purpose. It’s very much about black girl magic, sisterly love, and the Say Her Name movement, but I feel like it would have been much stronger without the fantasy aspect to it or more detail about the world. It was so on-the-nose that the fantasy factor lost it’s purpose.

Ultimately, I appreciated the message, but the execution of the story had me slogging through. I would still recommend checking it out if you are interested because of the power of its purpose, just don’t expect a fleshed-out fantasy world.

Content Warnings: Racism, death of a black woman, police brutality

 The Good…no The Amazing!

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

This YA “Memoir-Manifesto” is narrated by the author and is absolutely beautiful. Johnson discusses so much in this book, including gender identity, toxic masculinity, and queerness in the black community. They are very straightforward with their purpose to educate with their honesty. I rarely cry while reading, but I totally did tear up listening to this. They tackle tough subjects in such a compassionate way. Amazing!

Content Warnings: Sexual abuse, molestation, homophobia, racism, death

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele

This was SO GOOD. A must-read! One of the founders of #BlackLivesMatter, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, discusses her life in southern California and how it brought her to the creation of a movement. I find it so hard to talk about why I love the books that I love (see above), and here’s another great example of that. It made me angry, it made me cry, it made me want to get out there and protest. I wrote down a lot of facts and quotes that were so impactful that I will be throwing out at the next family affair if someone so chooses to test me. 🙂

Her discussion of the toll on a people of not knowing whether or not their lives and the lives of their families will be long and healthy was so impactful and summed up the driving force of the book and the movement of Black Lives Matter so well. Here’s the particular quote that I sat with for the whole night and has marked itself into my heart.

“We say we deserve another knowing, the knowing that comes when you assume your life will be long, will be vibrant, will be healthy. We deserve to imagine a world without prisons and punishment, a world where they are not needed, a world rooted in mutuality. We deserve to at least aim for that.”

Wow. I also appreciated that Patrisse included her journey as a queer person and the people who she loved that brought her to where she is at the writing of the book. I would HIGHLY recommend listening to this on audiobook as it is narrated by Patrisse Khan-Cullors herself.

Content warnings: Police brutality, death, references to the deaths of black people at the hands of cops and other individuals, harassment

Have you read any of these books or listened to any other audiobooks lately? Let me know in the comments!

August Romance Reads Ranked

August was the month that I got super into reading romance for the first time. I read a total of 5 romance books, which is a lot for me considering that I was never very interested in the genre. I owe it all to reading Get a Life, Chloe Brown last month and my obsession with watching Jess at PeaceLoveBooks on YouTube talking about all of her historical romance recommendations. Used copies of historical romances are way too cheap at thrift stores…it’s dangerous for my wallet and I may or may not now own 15 of them. Whoops!

Since my feelings on the romances that I read were so varied, I decided that I wanted to rank them all. I tried not to be too harsh, but it was a little difficult for me not to for a couple of them…

5. The Gamble by Kristen Ashley

★1/2☆☆☆

I picked up this book after perusing the online shelves at The Ripped Bodice Romance Bookstore. The plot sounded interesting, a woman who goes on a solo trip to Colorado only to find out that the place she rented is currently occupied by the owner, who of course ends up being the love interest. This book was so confusing for a number of reasons, particularly the way that it was written. The dialogue was ridiculous, the sentences had to be reread multiple times because they didn’t make sense, and it ultimately read like a bad Lifetime movie. I have nothing against Lifetime movies, but this book hit all the unnecessarily dramatic notes despite them adding nothing to the story.

The hero was also not at all romantic to me and every other word spoken to the heroine was followed by “duchess”. I cringed throughout this book and somehow still finished it despite it being more than 600 pages and the audiobook, which I switched to in order to finish, being TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LONG. A disaster that I couldn’t look away from…

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Mentions of rape and domestic violence, mentions of suicide/grief of a loved one, attempted suicide, violence, sexual content, cheating in a relationship [/bg_collapse]

 

4. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

★★☆☆☆

I read The Kiss Quotient a couple of years ago and felt similarly to how I feel about its sequel. This story is about Khai, who is Vietnamese-American and autistic and has been set up with Esme, who comes to America from Vietnam after Khai’s mother pays for her visa in exchange for convincing Khai to marry her…basically she has been bribed to seduce him. I can understand Esme’s hustle, but my feelings about her quickly turned as I read. I really liked reading Khai’s point of view and his examination of the world as an individual on the Autism spectrum, but I didn’t like Esme and his family’s treatment of him in regard to his relationship.

No spoiler alerts, but this book seems to me to be focused on the manipulation of Khai’s emotions and actions. I felt pretty uncomfortable with the way Esme handled the situation and the manipulation/outright lying she and his family inflicted on him. I know that a lot of people enjoyed this book, but the way that Helen Hoang writes romance is probably just not for me.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Discussion of loss of a loved one/grief, mentions of abandonment, sexual content[/bg_collapse]

 

3. Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon

★★★1/2☆

This is such a CUTE romance centering on Jordan, the creator of Meet Cute Club, and Rex, a guy at the bookshop he buys romance books from who makes fun of his romance purchases. I really loved the discussion of the romance genre and why it is so important to people and not something to be ashamed of. I haven’t sat beaming at a book for so long and I was absolutely glowing while reading this book. I truly couldn’t stop smiling because the characters were so cute and the banter was so fun. I just wish that it were a little bit longer and filled in the growth of Jordan and Rex’s relationship just a little more. I would recommend this if you are looking for something fun, short, and queer!

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Alcohol use, mentions of child neglect, mentions of homophobia, sexual content[/bg_collapse]

 

 

2. Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

★★★★☆

Rebel tells the story of schoolteacher Valinda and architect Captain Drake LaVeq in their newly emancipated community in New Orleans. Beverly Jenkins books seem to focus a lot on the history of the time period that she is writing about, which I appreciated so much. I loved Valinda and Drake and their relationship. There weren’t a ton of issues between the two that dragged on, which was refreshing. I’m excited to read more books by Beverly Jenkins- I already have another checked out from the library!

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Racism, depictions of white supremacy, mentions of slavery, mentions of murder, mentions of murder of black people/characters, attack/attempted assault of a black woman, sexual content[/bg_collapse]

 

1. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

★★★★☆

Secrets of a Summer Night is the first book in Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflowers series following a group of women who have been deemed “undesirable” as wives in their social circle. They form a pact to find husbands, thus beginning their search for a husband for Annabelle, the eldest. It is a slowburn, hate to love romance that was perfect as my first ever historical romance read. It reminded me a bit of a gender-reversed Pride and Prejudice, except with smut and much more drama. Complex characters and witty banter made this my favorite romance read of the month!

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ expand_text=”Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Sexual content, building fire, reluctant relationship in exchange for money [/bg_collapse]

 

Have you read any romance books recently or have any that you want to check out soon? I have so many piling up on my TBR, but I can always add more. Let me know in the comments!

So We Can Glow by Leesa Cross-Smith || In Which I Gush About All the Girl Magic!

I finished reading So We Can Glow yesterday and needed to attempt to write my feelings on it. This book is a collection of  short stories that showcase the longing, desire, friendship, and inner lives of women…and I LOVED it.

From Kentucky to the California desert, these forty-two short stories expose the hearts of girls and women in moments of obsessive desire and fantasy, wildness and bad behavior, brokenness and fearlessness, and more.

[bg_collapse view=”link” color=”#4a4949″ icon=”arrow” expand_text=” Book Content Warnings” collapse_text=”Show Less” ]Sexual themes, violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, death, reference to suicide, discussion of miscarriage, infidelity in a relationship/marriage[/bg_collapse]

 

What Readers May Not Like

Usually, this would be what I didn’t like in a book, but for me, the things I initially didn’t like eventually made more sense by the end and I ended up not minding them too much. Overall, I think this book is for a VERY SPECIFIC audience and will only go over well with that audience.

Pop Culture References: This book is not for everyone because of the plethora of references to pop culture that I think would be a bit alienating to some readers, especially since it is primarily Western/US pop culture. But for those who consumed similar media as an adolescent, it is perfect. I would obviously fall under the latter group of people. There are threads of reference throughout the book that evoke a sense of nostalgia both for things I’ve never experienced, but have seen in TV/movies, and those that I have experienced firsthand. For example, I got such strong Friday Night Lights TV show vibes from a few of the stories…and that was before I got to the story ” Tim Riggins Would Have Smoked” (Tim Riggins is a FNL character). There was also a Cheese Touch reference…if you know you know (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). I’m sure there were some references I missed, but this personally did not take anything away from my read-through. I’ll gush more about my love of all the references later on.

Super Short Stories- Fragments Really: Many of the stories were only one to three pages long and left me super confused. I thought that maybe I was just completely missing the point and decided to keep on going. I’m glad that I did, because eventually the characters in some of these stories were revisited and the collection became much more cohesive. I can see the shortness and vagueness of the stories being a turn-off for some readers. Honestly, I couldn’t say that I really loved many of the stories on their own, but as a whole, the book truly evoked a sense of nostalgia for the magic of being a woman.

What I Liked LOVED

Pop Culture References: As a teenager and maybe even now, I was obsessed with so many different musicians, movies, TV shows, and actors. It got to the point where I would completely absorb myself in the worlds that I loved through clothes, makeup, and endless daydreams. The internet gave me access to so many things I would otherwise not have known about and basically shaped my personality.

I am lucky to have a best friend who also shares my love of similar things, but prior to reading So We Can Glow, I had never read a book that put these feelings into words so precisely. Me and my friend always talk about the yearning that we hold in our hearts and the things that trigger that yearning. Books, movies, shows, art. Leesa Cross-Smith PUT THAT YEARNING into this beautiful book!

Women (I’m speaking broadly here, anyone with any identity can feel this way) have rich inner-lives that I think many protect and hold extremely close to their hearts, so seeing it flayed out and exposed in such a way was so cathartic. There were so many moments where I thought, “Oh, it’s not just me”. It brought up so many memories of when I was younger and made me want to write them all down. When it comes down to it, we are all so connected in what we love and what we want in life, no matter the specifics. The friendships women (and queer folk) have with one another are so special and this book truly exemplifies that…the intimacy of friendship. There is a certain kind of romance within some friendships and it’s so magical. Here are some quotes that I really loved that encompass my feelings.

“What a relief to not be scared to death of you, here alone, I’d tell you. That’s why the only men I give my heart to live on my TV.” – “Tim Riggins Would’ve Smoked” (This gave my recent Friday Night Lights Tim Riggins obsession major validation)

 “Crystal and I would write WINONA FOREVER on our arms sometimes. Sometimes on our feet if it was warm enough to wear sandals. The boys we liked asked us what it meant, but we wouldn’t tell them. WINONA FOREVER was ours and ours only.” – “Winona Forever” (I was also obsessed with Winona Ryder and watched all of her movies one summer, cut my hair like hers in Reality Bites, and went to drink a malt at a restaurant they filmed at…so I felt SEEN)

“Same. This is so funny…all the women our age…we were practically living the same life! We’re all connected like magic.” – “Teenage Dream Time Machine“

The Break Between Fantasy and Reality: The few crushes I had as a teen basically consumed me. I would build up the person until they were a majorly unreal fantasy and one word that was out of line with this fantasy would completely shatter my feelings. No person, especially no man, could ever live up to such a glossy fantasy. I’m not saying it was healthy, but it’s something that I have done and the author truly captures the vibes of such an intense feeling so well. It’s not framed as being “crazy” or wrong, but as being something that girls do to protect themselves from getting hurt. Ugh I love it so much!

“I fell in love with a delusion.“- “Get Faye and Birdie”

“Listen to a mother when she tells you about her child.” – “Get Faye and Birdie”

Girlheart Cake with Glitter Frosting: This was my favorite short story from the book, even though it’s basically just a list of people, places, and things that are a “recipe” for a girl. It includes so many things that make me FEEEEEL. I want to hand this to every person I meet and have them highlight the things that they love because we really all do appreciate at least some similar things that connect our hearts. I had to make a playlist of some music referenced in this book that I have also listened to and yearned to so much since I was a teenager, so here it is. I talked about my love of the band Hole in my last Weekly Snapshots post and it’s all come full-circle.

So, overall I loved this book. Most of the stories on their own would probably not be noteworthy, but together they created a glossy, glittering tapestry of what it is like being a girl and a woman. It doesn’t speak to all experiences, but it gets down to the point that women are ETHEREAL. I can’t see any straight cis man I know understanding this book at all and I love that. This book is in a secret language that can only be understood by some. Luckily, I understood it and I know that it will be a piece of art that continues to inspire me in the future.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! What are some of the pop culture things that you love or have loved that shaped you? I’d say all the 90s/00s romcoms/TV shows (maybe I’ll write some posts about these sometime), Hole/Courtney Love, and Jeff Buckley. Cheers, hope you have a great weekend!