Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.
This one hasn’t been on my TBR for as long a time, and it was just released this March. I nearly bought it when I went to the bookstore last week, but even though I didn’t, I look forward to this LGBTQ+ fantasy!
Let’s begin, shall we?
GOODREADS MONDAY (6/29/20)–WHEN WE WERE MAGIC by Sarah Gailey
Keeping your magic a secret is hard. Being in love with your best friend is harder.
Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable—even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love.
That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn’t change on prom night.
When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails—and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story.
SO WHY DO I WANT TO READ THIS?
First of all, CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS COVER? The color scheme. The art style. THE SISTERHOOD.
And the latter seems to be a key theme in When We Were Magic–the bond between friends, strengthened by shared magic. I’m a sucker for the found-family trope, as someone who has been an outcast for much of my life, and so I often attach to these kinds of books. (*coughcough AURORA RISING coughcoughwheeeeeeezecoughcough*)
But all that aside, books with covens of queer, teen witches always catch my attention. I’m getting some Lost Coastvibes, too. I am SO excited to read it!
Today’s song:
That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope today finds you in good spirits and health.
Now that June has almost come to a close, I felt like it’s gone by strangely quickly. It feels like it should be the middle of the month, but here we are, and it’s almost July. But that isn’t to say that I haven’t enjoyed the month; despite the strangeness of the times, I’ve had a good start to my summer, even though I’ve spent the bulk of it inside.
For the most part, I’ve had a great week. We went hiking on Monday for a belated Father’s Day excursion, and also that day, I FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT OF MY WIP! This is the first of my ideas that I haven’t abandoned midway and finished all the way, so I’ve given myself a pat on the back for managing that. I didn’t quite know what to do with myself, but I ultimately decided that for July’s Camp NaNoWriMo, I’ll work on a short story. Stephen King advised that you should wait a few months (at least) before getting to editing/second drafts after you finish, so I’ll work on said short story, and maybe get back to some of my other WIPs in the meantime.
Other than that, I made some progress on my Iron Giant puzzle, watched Memento, watched a few more episodes of Fargo (nearly done with season 3…)and went on my first excursion to my favorite bookstore since the pandemic started. I got a copy of The Sound of Stars and The Kingdom of Back (autographed copy!), and I’m so excited to read them both. I’ve had an…okayish reading week; I didn’t read as much because it took me longer to read Kingsbane at a whopping 608 pages. I’ve enjoyed everything that I read, but I didn’t read anything terribly memorable.
Oh, and the stickers that came with my preorder of Aurora Burning finally came in the mail, and I love them! Both my laptop case and my current sketchbook both look like the entire Aurora Cycle fandom vomited on them, and I have zero problem with that. (…no pun intended…)
Time for another Top 5 Saturday! This was originally started by Devouring Books, and it sounded like such a fun post to take part in. Today’s topic is books that have morally gray characters. This one was a bit harder than the rest–I’m trawling my brain for all the antihero-ish books I can think of…
Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post (This one!)
Tag 5 people
Let’s begin, shall we?
TOP 5 SATURDAY (6/27/20)–BOOKS WITH MORALLY GREY CHARACTERS
There’s always the possibility for moral grayness when you’ve got a naïve extraterrestrial who has powers beyond imagining, but has no idea of the consequences…(oh, and goes and forms his own religion, as one does…[ahem])
The morally gray aspects are more expanded on book 2, but The Final Six certainly has a prominent, well-done series of subplot that explores the motives of the different parties involved.
As with The Final Six, there’s a significant exploration of moral grayness in book 2 (here); it’s one of the highlights of the book for me–it encourages the reader to think about the different sides of war, and whether or not there is truly a “good”/”bad” side, and that there may be neither hero or villain in the conflict.
I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!
Today’s song:
That’s it for this week’s Top 5 Saturday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Happy Friday, everyone! I’ll dispense from my normal greeting, as this isn’t a bookish post…
I discovered Phoebe Bridgers late last year. “Smoke Signals” was the first of her songs to capture my imagination, and it prompted me to listen to her debut album, Stranger in the Alps. Though it wasn’t without its flaws, it was gorgeously lyrical and haunting at times. So naturally, I was excited to find out that she was releasing a new album. And she released it A DAY EARLIER! It’s been about a week since its release, now, and now I can say with certainty that her sophomore album, Punisher, is a worthy predecessor that may even surpass some of her older material.
Let’s begin, shall we?
ALBUM REVIEW: PUNISHER–PHOEBE BRIDGERS
TRACK 1: “DVD Menu”–7/10
A strange and haunting instrumental prelude to the album. Woozy, with almost a fever-dream vibe, it’s almost foreshadowing for what’s to come.
TRACK 2: “Garden Song”–7/10
This was the first single to be released out of the whole album. When I first listened to it, something about it got under my skin, but as I’ve listened to it more, something about it has grown on me (no pun intended). A nostalgic, dreamlike opener to the album.
TRACK 3: “Kyoto”–9/10
One of my favorite songs off of the album! This is the perfect song for rolling your windows down in the middle of the road. Bridger’s already stunning voice never fails to give me chills in the chorus. Phenomenal.
TRACK 4: “Punisher”–9/10
Bridgers said in an interview that the album’s title track was about being a huge fan of Elliott Smith. Though I’ve barely listened to his music, everyone from Becky Albertalli to David Arnold have sung his praise. But even if you aren’t familiar with the song, you’re sure to be familiar with the feeling it evokes–that of worshipping somebody that you’ve never met, and people associating you with them. Phoebe Bridgers never fails to be able to connect to her listeners.
What if I told you
I feel like I know you?
But we never met…
TRACK 5: “Halloween”–6.5/10
Though most of Bridgers’ catalog is already more melancholy and mellow, this fails to keep up the pace kept up by “Kyoto” and “Punisher”. It’s still a decent song, but it doesn’t pack as much of an emotional punch as some of the other tracks on the album.
TRACK 6: “Chinese Satellite”–8/10
Picking up from the slight lull of “Halloween,” this track delves back into Bridgers’ signature, heart-wrenching lyricism, weaving a tale of losing yourself and wishing on false stars. Absolutely beautiful.
TRACK 7: “Moon Song”–7.5/10
A soft, drifting track that dives more into Bridgers’ more dreamlike side. A song that could simultaneously rock me to sleep and bring me close to tears, if the mood struck me.
And if I could give you the moon,
I would give you the moon…
TRACK 8: “Savior Complex”–9/10
Without a doubt, one of the highlights of this album. With lyrics that stick and a melancholy melody, this is Phoebe Bridgers at her best. Again, her voice just gives me cHILLS…
TRACK 9: “ICU” (previously titled “I See You“)–7.5/10
(SCREAMING)
A catchy track that leans more into Bridgers’ poppier side. Though it teeters on going into the places that I thought “Garden Song” went when I first listened to it, it’s still a good song; not her best, but not her worst by far.
TRACK 10: “Graceland Too”–7.5/10
First of all, shoutout to Phoebe Bridgers for putting a banjo in a song that doesn’t instantly infuriate me.
With folkier instrumentation, “Graceland Too” weaves a beautiful, melancholy tale of newfound freedom and self-discovery.
So she picks a direction, it’s 90 to Memphis,
Turns up the music so thoughts don’t intrude,
Predictably winds up thinking of Elvis
And wonders if he believed songs could come true…
TRACK 11: “I Know the End”–9.5/10
A positively stunning end to the album. Laced with Bridgers’ signature lyricism, she quickly amps up the emotion, growing tense before erupting into chaotic instrumentation. The album ends with the sound of her raw screams and breathing as she seems to recover, somehow making it feel powerful and intimate all at once. The best possible song to end the album on.
Over the coast, everyone’s convinced
It’s a government drone, or an alien spaceship,
Either way
We’re not alone…
I averaged out all of my song ratings, and it came out at about a 7.9, which I’ll round up to 8. Punisher was, without a doubt, a worthy successor to Stranger in the Alps. Phoebe Bridgers has outdone herself on her sophomore album, creating something magical with her lyricism and dreamlike melodies. In short, Punisher is very nearly a masterpiece, and Phoebe Bridgers is an artist to be reckoned with.
Since this post is an album review, you can consider this whole album today’s song.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! HAVE YOU LISTENED TO PUNISHER, AND IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?
That’s it for this album review! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
This week is the final week that I’ll be doing these recommendations, but no matter the month, I’ll always be recommending LGBTQ+ books, don’t you worry. 🏳️🌈
Historical fiction isn’t a genre that I usually delve into, but in the genre, I’ve found quite a few gems. If done well, historical fiction can be a wonderful insight and perspective into another time period, and books that can immerse us in the past more than any textbook ever can. With LGBTQ+ historical fiction in particular, it can give us insight on events that most textbooks don’t usually cover (looking at you, APUSH textbook…I found a whopping ONE mention of the LGBTQ+ community. ONE. IN THE ENTIRE TEXTBOOK. Granted, we had to stop at the 1950’s because of the COVID-19 situation, but still…).
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Two out of the three protagonists are gay, mlm relationship, several gay side characters
TIME PERIOD: 1989-1990 (AIDS Crisis)
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I know I blab about this one quite a lot, but quite frankly, this is easily the best historical fiction novel I’ve ever read. Period. A major tear-jerker, to be sure, but worth every bout of sobbing, 100%.
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Pansexual/Genderfluid protagonist, gay side character, queer relationship
SET IN: 19th Century (London, specifically)
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I know what you’re probably thinking. “Why’d you put this in the historical fiction category?” And aside from the fact that I don’t read the genre as much, a good portion of the novel, though it leans more towards the fantasy/mythology side, is set in London in the 1800’s. Plus, Loki. Can’t go wrong with Loki, now can we?
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Both protagonists are lesbians, wlw relationship
SET IN: Alternates between 1955 and the present day (2017)
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A touching tale that alternates between a closeted lesbian (and budding author) in the age of the Lavender Scare and a curious, out-and-proud lesbian in the 2010’s.
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Both protagonists are gay, mlm relationship
SET IN: 1973 (TW: Conversion therapy)
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I talk a lot about this one as well, but honestly, what more could you want from an LGBTQ+ coming of age story centering around a boy who idolizes David Bowie? IT’S DAVID BOWIE!
As always, Queer Books for Teens is a wonderful resource if you’d like to find more LGBTQ+ recommendations and books to read.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! HAVE YOU READ ANY OF THESE NOVELS? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE LGBTQ+ HISTORICAL FICTION NOVELS?
Today’s song:
This one’s been coming on my shuffle in the car lately. Never fails to make me smile…
That’s it for this week’s pride month recommendations! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
General Edelweiss+ update…so apparently, Macmillan is only accepting eARCs from Netgalley now, so that eliminated most of my requests, so…whee…
Most of my eARCs have been from more indie publishers anyway; personally, it’s probably a good thing–if it’s a good eARC, I feel great about being able to spread the word about them. Especially when they’re as good as Elatsoe.
Again, I CAN’T WAIT for this one to be released! Though there was a brief lull in the middle, Elatsoe not only boasts stellar representation, but a thrilling paranormal tale!
Elatsoe–Ellie for short–lives in an alternate America, where the beasts of myth and legend roam the world, and ghosts are not so far away. Like Kirby, the ghost of her old dog, who she has now trained to follow her wherever she goes. Ellie herself can also raise the dead, and communicate with spirits.
But her skills, as she soon finds out, will be put to the test sooner than she ever thought. When her cousin is murdered, she and her family arrive at the scene, only to find that his killer hides in a picturesque Texas town, and that he may be hiding secrets that may spell disaster for the town’s residents. Will Ellie be able to uncover the truth before town falls into supernatural ruin?
Thank you to Edelweiss+ and Levine Querido/Chronicle Books for giving me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
The premise already excited me, but in all respects, Elatsoe is a fantastic, paranormal murder mystery!
First off, REPRESENTATION! Elatsoe is an incredible #OwnVoices story–both the author and the protagonist are Lipan Apache, and the protagonist is also confirmed to be asexual. I hardly ever see asexual representation in literature, and so I’m so excited to see that such stories are coming into the spotlight.
This novel strikes the perfect balance between the spooky paranormal and a murder mystery. The worldbuilding of this alternate America is absolutely stellar as well; most aspects of it are deftly explained without an excess of info-dumping. Darcie Little Badger introduces all sorts of fascinating creatures, and weaves them seamlessly into alternate America.
Going off of this, my favorite aspects–and my favorite scene–was that of the ghosts. Not only is Kirby adorable, but there’s a beautiful scene in which Ellie stumbles into a ghost sea, filled with trilobites, whales, and all manner of prehistoric creatures. The writing is lush and gorgeous, beautiful and immersive. And I’m a sucker for prehistoric critters and marine life, so of course you have my attention with the scene, even if it was fairly brief.
At times, some of the dialogue felt flat, causing a bit of a lull at the halfway mark, but I’m glad to say that it quickly picked up from there. I found myself completely immersed in the supernatural murder mystery, and after said dull spot, I enjoyed it from start to finish. Darcie Little Badger made so many creative choices that made Elatsoe all the more original, making for a supernatural story unlike any other.
All in all, a brilliant and creative #OwnVoices paranormal murder mystery. 4 stars!
Release date: August 25, 2020
Today’s song:
That’s it for this eARC review! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
I hope you’re all having a good day. I had a lovely hike yesterday, and just a spectacular day in general…and I FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT OF MY WIP.
I FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT! THIS IS THE FIRST OF MY IDEAS THAT I’VE ACTUALLY BOTHERED TO WRITE OUT IN FULL!
So that was certainly a bright spot.
Now, back to our scheduled program…
I found this book on Queer Books for Teens, and the fact that it was a) sci-fi and b) had great LGBTQ+ representation ultimately hooked me. I quickly found it on the Kindle library and read it. But while it boasted great representation, Fourth World failed to meet its ambitious premise.
2073. Isaak Contreras struggles to go through the motions of his life on a Martian colony. Two years ago, his father disappeared, leaving him to long for him back in his life. But when he finds an artifact hidden among his father’s old possessions, he stumbles upon a conspiracy hidden by the Martian government–one that may answer the question of the humanoid skeleton that the archaeology team dug up on Martian soldier. What they’ve hidden? A portal to another world, and one that may not be as alien as they believe it to be.
Now stranded in this foreign, dystopian world, Isaak is taken in by Nadin, a girl struggling with an oppressive society of her own. But what they both don’t realize is that the ground beneath their feet is not so different as they thought. Will they be able to save both of their worlds?
Let’s start off with the good aspects. Our cast of characters is incredibly diverse–virtually all of the characters are POC (Isaak is Latinx, Nadin is POC, and several other POC side characters). Additionally, Isaak is demisexual, and Nadin seems to be on the asexual spectrum. So props to Chiavari for creating a wonderfully diverse cast!
Now…other than that…
[awkward silence]
Eh…
The main problem of Fourth World is that it seemed to get lost within itself. The plot became very convoluted far too quickly, and I found myself losing interest rapidly. There’s an interesting, almost cosmic-horror aspect of it (Remember what I said about the humanoid skeleton they dig up?) that was well-executed at the start, but failed to capture my attention as the book went on.
The concept of a past civilization on Mars is fascinating, but I found it poorly executed. There’s so much possibility for these kinds of societies, but alas, it fell into the trap that all too many sci-fi YA novels fall into…
Ah, yes, Aliens™️, but…they’re basically just humans with different hair/eye colors. NOT AGAIN…
[Luke Skywalker screaming] “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
And beyond that, this past civilization is the exact same, overdone, dystopian society. You’ve got your oppressive class systems, your tyrannical government, and your secret, underground resistance, and the realization to our naïve heroine that the world she’s grown up in is far worse than she imagined. At this point, the trope has become so overdone that it doesn’t get any emotion out of me anymore. Sometimes, it can creatively done, but in the case of Fourth World, it…just wasn’t. Nope.
Overall, Fourth World was an ambitious sci-fi novel, but while it scored points in the diversity department, it crumbled to pieces in most other places. 2 stars.
Fourth World is the first in the Iamos trilogy, followed by New World (book 2, 2018), and One World (book 3, 2020).
Today’s song:
Okay, Danny Elfman, I love you, but the fact that you decided not to release this is a crime. A CRIME.
That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
First of all, Happy Father’s Day! I don’t know where I’d be without my dad–both in terms of life and in terms of quality music and comics–so for everything he’s done, I am eternally grateful.
It’s so strange to think that June is almost over. It seems like this month has gone by in a blur; mentally, I’m still on the first week of June. But aside from that, I’ve had a good week. I started out with a mediocre batch of books, but it picked up once I read one of my eARCs. I also went on my first out-in-public comic shop run, and that’s always super fun. Phoebe Bridgers also came out with her new album, and I’ve loved it so far! And, I just got to 300 pages on my WIP! I’m writing the last chapter, and my first draft should be done in a matter of days…
The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss–Amy Noelle Parks (eARC)
Today’s song:
Before I leave, I just wanted to let everybody know that I won’t be doing a Goodreads Monday tomorrow, since my family is going to be hiking all day for Father’s Day. 🙂
That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Time for another Top 5 Saturday! This was originally started by Devouring Books, and it sounded like such a fun post to take part in. Today’s topic is books that you’d give a second chance.
Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post (This one!)
Tag 5 people
Let’s begin, shall we?
TOP 5 SATURDAY (6/20/20)–BOOKS YOU’D GIVE A SECOND CHANCE
This is more of an “it’s not you, it’s me” kind of deal; from the premise, I thought there would be a little more action, but it ended up feeling like a bunch of old white guys in the room discussing their eminent annihilation. I suppose I didn’t quite appreciate it for what it was, but I don’t know.
I remember…next to nothing about this book, but I rated it two stars, so there must have been something that didn’t click with me at the time. The premise seems…semi-intriguing, so I might try and go back and see what went wrong the first time around.
Everybody and their mother (including my own mother) seems to adore this series, so maybe there’s something I’m missing. Granted, I was feeling grumpy and I had a stomach flu when I read this, so that might have contributed to the two-star rating. Maybe.
Again, I remember next to nothing about this one, other than the fact that I was listening to “(You’re My) Dream Come True” by the Temptations while I was reading it. Maybe it’s worth another read.
I read this one for school in 5th grade, and I remember thinking it was okay. I liked the character of Orvis a lot, but something about it failed to grab me at the time, but I think I might like it more the second time around.
I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!
Today’s song:
SUCH. A. GOOD. ALBUM. Expect a review next week…
That’s it for this week’s Top 5 Saturday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
As far as LGBTQ+ YA literature goes, contemporary is the genre where such representation is most common, I think. Contemporary novels were where many people were first introduced to LGBTQ+ themes and issues, and as a genre that sticks to the more realistic side of things, it’s a straightforward vehicle for representation.
But with such a plethora of books, there’s a wider variety. So, I tried to compile some of my favorites from this genre, and the ones that stood out the most in the genre.
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: protagonist is nonbinary (they/them), nonbinary side character
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A heartrwenching and poignant novel. Ben’s journey to realizing their identity as a nonbinary person is beautiful and simultaneously heartbreaking to watch unfold. (Trigger warnings: LGBTQ+phobia, being thrown out of the house)
LGBTQ+ representation: One of the protagonists is genderfluid, nonbinary love interest
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I can’t wait for this one to be released so that you all can experience this wondrousness! A beautiful and relatable novel about sisterhood, grief, and exploring one’s gender identity and sexuality.
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Trans woman protagonist, trans man side character
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Though it wasn’t without its flaws, The Art of Being Normal is a poignant exploration of grappling with gender identity and sexuality as an adolescent.
LGBTQ+ REPRESENTATION: Lesbian protagonist, aro/ace side character, wlw relationship
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Even though this one’s a bit more on the magical realism side (hey, it’s shelved as contemporary on Goodreads though…right? Right?), this is, without a doubt, a gorgeously written novel and one of my favorite YA love stories.
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The Bookish Mutant 