The Bookish Mutant

Weekly Update: July 19-25, 2021

Posted on July 25, 2021July 25, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

This week…could’ve been better for me, if I’m being honest, but it picked up in the end. It was mostly just Tuesday that bogged me down. Remember that writing contest I entered back in April? I ended up checking back on it (they didn’t send an email for some reason??) and the short story I wrote didn’t end up placing. I specifically remember saying that I was expecting not to win, and yeah, I tried not to get my hopes up, but…yeah, well, I’m not very good at handling these things.

Sound Gear GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Eh, well, all I can do is tweak that short story, keep on writing, and try again. I’m at least proud of myself for putting myself out there…

Reading-wise, I’ve mostly been reading some books that family friends lent to us (thank you!) and some stuff from the comic shop. I got a nice library haul yesterday, so it looks like next week will be promising!

Writing-wise, I’ve mostly stayed on track with Camp NaNoWriMo (I’m almost to my goal now!!), even though being depressed all Tuesday sapped my energy. I’m getting to a good place in my WIP though – I just passed about 220ish pages last night!

Other than that, I’ve been drawing a bit, getting the last of my summer homework done, learning some new songs on guitar, obsessing over my new bees in Minecraft, watching The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro likes his Tennyson, huh?), picking back up in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and volunteering at the library.

Arrested Development Heavenly Fathers GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY — Two Gob gifs in a row…oops

And I just got to 450 followers! Jeez, I can’t believe it…THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 💗

feelings, love and cat - image #6773437 on Favim.com

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The Never Tilting World (The Never Tilting World, #1) – Rin Chupeco (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: The Never Tilting World (Never Tilting World, 1) (9780062821799): Chupeco, Rin: Books

Earth Abides – George R. Stewart (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Earth Abides: A Novel: Stewart, George R.: 9780345487131: Amazon.com: Books

Invincible: Compendium One – Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Invincible Compendium Volume 1 – Get Ready Comics

Circe – Madeline Miller (⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: CIRCE eBook: Miller, Madeline: Kindle Store

The Iron Giant (originally The Iron Man) – Ted Hughes (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Iron Giant - Kindle edition by Hughes, Ted, Davidson, Andrew. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

It’s My Life – Stacie Ramey (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: It's My Life (9781492694526): Ramey, Stacie: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

In Deeper Waters – F.T. Lukens

Amazon.com: In Deeper Waters (9781534480506): Lukens, F.T.: Books

The Boy Who Steals Houses – C.G. Drews

Amazon.com: The Boy Who Steals Houses (9781408349922): Drews, C.G.: Books

Sorrowland – Rivers Solomon

The Magic Fish – Trung Le Nguyen

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen: 9780593125298 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

The Iron Woman (The Iron Man, #2) – Ted Hughes

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Book Tags

The Feelings Book Tag 🤗

Posted on July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

I thought it’d be another good day to do a tag, and I found this one recently over at Rania’s Rambling Reads. (Go give her blog a read, she’s great!) The tag was originally created by Krisha’s Cosy Corner.

Rules

Thank the blogger who nominated you and give a link to the blog. (I wasn’t tagged, but thanks, Rania!)
Answer the 5 feelings given to you.
Write the reason in 5 to 6 lines of why does that particular book come under that feeling. (dunno if I’ll manage all that but we’ll see)
Nominate between 5-12 other bloggers.
Give your nominees 5 feelings too.
Notify your nominees once you’ve uploaded your post.

Let’s begin, shall we?

Feelings GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

😅THE FEELINGS BOOK TAG😑

A BOOK THAT YOU HAD TO STOP READING BECAUSE YOU GOT SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel (The Carls): Green, Hank: 9781524743444: Amazon.com: Books

Unpopular opinion time…

I read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing during the first couple of weeks of the pandemic, and I had to DNF at about the 30% mark because it was just PAINFUL. The writing was just fine, but all of the characters felt like walking stereotypes. What ultimately made me put it down altogether was how blatantly offensive the bisexual rep felt for me…there was this one monologue by April where it looked like Hank Green was just trying to say “hey! Look at me! I did my research!” but NO. HANK. YOU GOTTA STOP. YOU JUST PERPETUATED ALMOST EVERY BISEXUAL STEREOTYPE KNOWN TO MAN.

So there’s my rant. Hank Green, you may have helped me pass AP Bio, but I will never forgive you for that.

[ahem] excuse me while I step off my soapbox, moving on…

A BOOK THAT GAVE YOU BUTTERFLIES

Amazon.com: When the Moon Was Ours: A Novel (9781250058669): McLemore, Anna-Marie: Books

I suppose there’s multiple ways to interpret this prompt, but When the Moon was Ours just made me so fluttery inside. Anna-Marie McLemore is the true master of magical realism, and their writing never fails to make me feel like there’s hope and magic left in this world.

A BOOK WITH A SHIP THAT YOU WILL SUPPORT UNTIL THE DAY YOU DIE

Amazon.com: Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle) (9781524720926): Kaufman, Amie, Kristoff, Jay: Books

Aurora Burning, because I will absolutely ship KalAuri until the day I die. MY LOVES

A BOOK YOU KNEW YOU WOULD LOVE AFTER READING THE FIRST CHAPTER

Amazon.com: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse: Book One of the Thorne Chronicles eBook: Eason, K.: Kindle Store

Right away, How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse struck me with how witty and tongue-in-cheek the writing was. I love reading a book that pokes fun of tropes every once in a while, and this one 100% delivered!

A BOOK YOU KNEW YOU WOULD HATE BUT READ IT ANYWAYS

Amazon.com: The Lie Tree (9781419718953): Hardinge, Frances: Books

I wanted to give The Lie Tree a chance because the premise looked interesting, but I read The Lost Conspiracy a few years prior and hated it, so…yeah, it didn’t work out for me. I didn’t hate it as much as The Lost Conspiracy, but it still wasn’t my cup of tea.

MY PROMPTS:

A book with a character that made you angry
A book with the perfect setting for you to daydream about
A book that made you feel better after a long slump
A book that you couldn’t stop thinking about for weeks after reading it
A book that made you want to punch a wall

I TAG:

Becca @ Toastie Books
Phoenix @ Books With Wings
Cherry @ Letters to the Lost
Riddhi @ Whispering Stories
Maeve @ Books By Maeve
+ anyone else who wants to participate! If you see this tag and want to do it, I can’t wait to see your answers! And if I tagged you and you’ve already done it/don’t want to do it, no worries!

Today’s song:

wanted to mix things up today so I learned this on guitar…I started messing around with it and I realized it was in the same key as “Poor Places” so I guess I’ll be learning that tomorrow –

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (7/20/21) – Off Balance (Aunare Chronicles, #2)

Posted on July 20, 2021July 20, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

For the most part, I really enjoyed reading Off Planet, the first book in Aileen Erin’s Aunare Chronicles; I read it on vacation, and I loved the fast-paced action. So on a whim (and because it was pretty cheap), I bought book 2 on my Kindle and read it between library hauls.

But…

[heavy sigh]

Oh god, I can’t believe that these books are from the same series…Off Balance took everything that I didn’t like about book 1 and made it the main focus of the plot, making for a mess of a sequel that I had neither the will nor the patience to finish.

(find my mini-review of book 1, Off Planet, here!)

Enjoy this week’s review!

Amazon.com: Off Balance (Aunare Chronicles Book 2) eBook: Erin, Aileen: Kindle Store

Off Balance (Aunare Chronicles, #2) – Aileen Erin

On the run from Earth and SpaceTech, Amihanna di Aetes flees to the other half of her heritage, the powerful, spacefaring Aunare. Even surrounded by the riches of her father’s estate, her life is one of constant fear – fear of Spacetech, and fear of the aliens who look at her like vermin for her half-human heritage. But as tensions within the royal family begin to rise surrounding her, she must think on her feet to make it out alive.

TW/CW: discrimination, trauma-related nightmares, frightening situations, violence, bombing, 10+ year age gap between protagonist and love interest*

*yeah, you heard me right…see the fourth paragraph for me freaking out about that

DNF at 68%

Oh god…where do I begin with this one? It pains me to write DNF reviews these days. Really. It’s so rare for my ratings for a series to drop this much…I gave Off Planet a solid 3.5 stars, and here we have Off Balance with a measly 1…I feel pretty bad about it, but YIKES.

I really wanted to like Off Balance. I really did. But it just kept getting more and more frustrating with every page, and with around 500 pages, there came a point where I couldn’t take any more of it. It’s like everything that I didn’t care about in book 1 was emphasized, and then made 10 times worse…

First off, let me talk about the Aunare for a second. I was excited to see what their culture and physiology and such was like, but…there were hardly any differences from humans. I tried to brush off the fact that Lorne looked like an ordinary human in book 1, but, alas, here we have the “aliens that look exactly like humans but with ✨pretty eye colors✨ and they’re all ✨ridiculously attractive✨” trope. And they glow this time. Oh, joy. Furthermore, other than some of the food and the whole glowing business, all of the culture that we got was just…wild parties in ballrooms and messy stuff with the royal family? If nobody had told me that this was a space opera, I could have passed this off as a fully human cast. All those parties got mind-numbing eventually, which…maybe that was the point? I don’t even know…

And then there’s the issue of Lorne. I don’t judge love interests by whether or not I’m attracted to them, which, I’ll admit, doesn’t happen a whole lot to me in books. He already put me off a bit because of my association of his name from Lorne Malvo from Fargo (oops), but he was just all kinds of frustrating in this book. He was just such a startlingly bland character – there was nothing that distinguished him from any other YA love interest. And the whole thing with him and Amihanna…I just felt…nothing? I wasn’t invested in their relationship in any way, and all of the lines that were supposed to be tender or heartwarming just made me roll my eyes. And…IS NOBODY GONNA TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE’S AN 11-YEAR AGE GAP BETWEEN HIM AND AMIHANNA?

WHY IS NOBODY ADDRESSING THIS??

WHY?

Threw Up In Mouth GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

ALL KINDS OF CREEPY. AND NOBODY SEEMS TO BE BATTING AN EYE. WHY?

[waves hands around] okay, okay. Lemme cool off a minute.

Hellboy Stop It GIF - Hellboy StopIt RightNow - Discover & Share GIFs

Okay. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest…

Other than that, the plot just seemed to be completely absent. It was an endless cycle of Amihanna doing some training, drama with the royal family, drama with Dylan, drama with Lorne…just drama. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that this was a book from an entirely different series than the first book. I’m still so puzzled as to how we got from such an action-packed first book to…whatever this was.

In the end, I just couldn’t stand to read another page. The plot started to pick up a little, but by that point, I’d lost all will to read Off Balance. So it was a DNF for me.

All in all, a bitter, messy disappointment of a sequel that lacked in everything that made Off Planet a reasonably compelling read. Off Planet is still worth a read, but…maybe just stop at book 1. 1, sad little star.

Smh Disappointed GIF - Smh Disappointed HeadShake - Discover & Share GIFs | Steve harrington and robin, Robin, Stranger things wallpaper

Off Balance is the second book in the Aunare Chronicles, preceded by Off Planet and succeeded by In Command (#2.5, a novella) and On Mission (#3).

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (7/19/21) – Warrior of the Wild

Posted on July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

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.

I’ve been a huge fan of Tricia Levenseller for years after how much I adored her Daughter of the Pirate King duology, but I haven’t gotten around to reading anything else of hers. This one came shortly after the duology, but I haven’t read it yet – but given how well she handled fantasy, I bet this one will be just as good!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (7/19/21) – WARRIOR OF THE WILD by Tricia Levenseller

Amazon.com: Warrior of the Wild (9781250189943): Levenseller, Tricia: Books

Blurb from Goodreads:

How do you kill a god?

As her father’s chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: To win back her honor, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year—or die trying.

So why do I want to read this?

Looking back, I’m really not sure if I would even read this if not for the fact that it was written by Tricia Levenseller. From the synopsis, it looks like your standard YA fantasy – botched coming-of-age ritual, impossible tasks, strange realms. But after how much I enjoyed Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen, I have utmost faith in this novel.

With how well Levenseller handled both her compelling and determined female protagonists to her lush worlds filled with unique characters, Warrior of the Wild would be so exciting in her hands! I’m not sure how Rasmira will measure up to how wonderful Alosa Kalligan was, but I trust Tricia Levenseller enough to make her as compelling as the former.

In short: Tricia Levenseller sold me on this one, but I’ll absolutely see this one through.

Animated gif about gif in – fantasy lives – by ran (キング)

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: July 12 – 18, 2021

Posted on July 18, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

I’ve had another quiet week this week, for the most part. Just some summer homework, reading, all that. It’s been getting super hot over here, but I’ve been reading inside and outside.

Reading-wise, I’d say I had a pretty good week. I’ve only had one read that I didn’t like, and I finished the book that my English class assigned for summer homework (Native Son). I also got to go to the comic shop, so I got through a few single issues too! I have a really big one waiting as well…

As far as writing goes, I finally figured out the deal with the word count for my NaNoWriMo goal, so I fixed that up to a manageable level. I’ve been making a whole lot of progress with my sci-fi WIP though! It’s getting close to 200 pages now…

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, screaming with my friend about Fargo, finishing Loki (AAAH THAT FINALE), and volunteering at the library. I’m going to see Black Widow this afternoon too! I’m proud of myself for avoiding spoilers up until now…guess I’ve learned my lesson from Infinity War…

Vote Loki Loki Series Coming To Disney+ in May 202... - Tumbex

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Fable (Fable, #1) – Adrienne Young (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: Fable: A Novel (Fable, 1) (9781250254368): Young, Adrienne: Books

Sick Kids in Love – Hannah Moskowitz (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: Sick Kids In Love (9781640637320): Moskowitz, Hannah: Books

A Dark and Hollow Star – Ashley Shuttleworth (⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: A Dark and Hollow Star (9781534453678): Shuttleworth, Ashley: Books

Native Son – Richard Wright (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

When You Were Everything – Ashley Woodfolk (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: When You Were Everything (9781524715915): Woodfolk, Ashley: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

The Never Tilting World – Rin Chupeco

Earth Abides – George R. Stewart

Circe – Madeline Miller

Invincible: Compendium One – Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Book Tags

Count to 10 With Me Book Tag 🔟

Posted on July 16, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

I figured it would be fun to do a tag today, so I decided on this one that’s been sitting in my blog sticky note for a while. I found it over at One Book More, and the tag was originally created by Alyce on Booktube. It sounded so cute, so I figured I’d give it a try!

Let’s begin, shall we?

🔟COUNT TO 10 WITH ME BOOK TAG🔟

FIRST BOOK IN A SERIES

Gearbreakers eBook: Mikuta, Zoe Hana: Kindle Store - Amazon.com

Gearbreakers is set to be the first book in a series, but I don’t know how many books there will be…I LOVED this one, though!

2. TWO OR MORE COPIES OF THE SAME BOOK

Amazon.com: Six of Crows eBook: Bardugo, Leigh: Kindle Store

I bought Six of Crows on my Kindle, and then I got a paperback copy from the library (they’d gotten some extra copies), so I have two copies of this one. I normally don’t get several physical copies of the same book, but I have a few duplicates on physical and Kindle.

3. THREE COLORS ON THE COVER

Spellhacker has blue, purple, and yellow on the cover! This one’s super underrated.

4. FOUR OR MORE PERSPECTIVES

A Dark and Hollow Star has four perspectives, but they were…a little imbalanced for me. I feel like Aurelian didn’t get as much page time than the other POVs. I just finished this one yesterday, and it was a bit of a disappointment…

5. A FIVE STAR READ

Before the Fall was my first five-star read of this year! Noah Hawley is an incredible writer.

6. SIX (OR MORE) SHORT STORIES

Amazon.com: Color outside the Lines: Stories about Love (9781641290463): Mandanna, Sangu, Ahmed, Samira, Silvera, Adam, Smith, Eric, McLemore, Anna-Marie: Books

Color Outside the Lines has 6+ short stories, and they’re all about interracial relationships. Highly recommended!

7. A SEVEN ON THE COVER OR THE SPINE

It’s been YEARS since I read The League of Seven, but I remember it being a lot of fun in late elementary school/middle school. I couldn’t think of anything else with a seven in the title…

8. EIGHT LETTERS IN THE TITLE

Salvaged by Madeleine Roux: 9780451491831 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Oof, this took a bit of trawling through my Read shelf on Goodreads, but Salvaged has eight letters!

9. BOOK ENDS ON A PAGE ENDING IN A NINE

These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1) by Chloe Gong

These Violent Delights clocks in at 449 pages!

10. TEN BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Yeah, I’m drawing a blank for this one…I rarely read series that are longer than 4-5 books these days…

I TAG:

Riddhi @ Whispering Stories
Bertie @ Luminosity Library
Hundreds & Thousands of Books
Jessica @ The Awkward Book Blogger
Ahaana @ Windows to Worlds
+ anyone else who wants to participate! If you see this tag and want to do it, then feel free! And if I tagged you and you’ve already done it/don’t want to do it, sorry! No obligations.

Today’s song:

GAH, this might be my new favorite Julien Baker song…

That’s it for this little book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Books

YA Books for Disability Pride Month

Posted on July 15, 2021July 15, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

For those of you who didn’t know, here in the US, July is Disability Pride Month! I myself didn’t know about it until this year, which is a little embarrassing, but better late than never, I suppose. I hardly see anyone in the bookish community talking about disability rep in books – especially where YA is concerned – so I wanted to make a post of my own with some YA reads with disability rep of all kinds. Unfortunately, not all of them are from disabled authors, but it seems like there’s such a dearth of disability rep in YA as a whole, so for now, I’ll share these ones, and I’ll always be on the hunt for more books by disabled authors in the future. But as with all of my posts like this, AMPLIFY DISABLED VOICES 24/7/365!

And if you’re looking for book bloggers who talk about disability, disability rep, and breaking down ableist tropes, I’d highly recommend checking out Luminosity Library and The Inside Cover. (They’re both amazing!! Show them some support!!)

So let’s begin, shall we?

Pride Wheelchair Sticker for iOS & Android | GIPHY — the fact that I can barely find any disability pride gifs…that’s depressing…

YA READS FOR DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

GENRES: Fantasy, romance, LGBTQ+, adventure

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Kaz Brekker (otherwise known as the “morally gray” teen idol of the YA book fandom) uses a cane for mobility (and it’s a really snazzy cane, too), and his experiences are based off of Leigh Bardugo’s own experience with osteonecrosis.

Sick Kids in Love – Hannah Moskowitz

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, LGBTQ+, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I just finished this one up a few days ago, and it was INCREDIBLE! I don’t usually jump for rom-com, but this was one of the most tender books I’ve read in a while. Gave me all the warm fuzzies…

The protagonist has rheumatoid arthritis, and the love interest has Gaucher’s disease. And lemme tell you, I GOT SO EXCITED THAT WE HAVE A DISABLED, BISEXUAL LOVE INTEREST. BI DISABLED CHARACTERS?? NO KIDDING, MY BRAIN DID THE “WOOOOOHOO” FROM SONG 2 WHEN I REALIZED IT…

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens – Marieke Nijkamp et. al. (anthology)

Amazon.com: Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens (9780374306502): Nijkamp, Marieke: Books

GENRES: Anthologies (short stories), realistic fiction, LGBTQ+, fantasy, science fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s been a while since I’ve read this one, so I can’t recall the stories that stood out to me, but this one has a whole load of perspectives from disabled authors, and there’s stories of all genres!

Mooncakes – Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

Amazon.com: Mooncakes (9781549303043): Walker, Suzanne, Xu, Wendy: Books

GENRES: Graphic novel, urban fantasy, paranormal, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL IS THE CUTEST. What’s not to love about a love story about a queer, hard-of-hearing witch and a nonbinary werewolf? The art is so lovely, I highly recommend this one for everybody.

Otherbound – Corinne Duyvis

Amazon.com: Otherbound eBook: Duyvis, Corinne: Kindle Store

GENRES: Fantasy, science fiction, LGBTQ+,

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Again, it’s been a while since I’ve read this one, but I LOVE how diverse this one is; we have the dual POVs of an epileptic Latino character with a missing leg and a mute bisexual girl who uses sign language to communicate. It’s an interesting blend of fantasy and sci-fi as well!

Love from A to Z – S.K. Ali

Amazon.com: Love from A to Z (9781534442726): Ali, S. K.: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Adam, the love interest of this novel, has multiple sclerosis, and both of the protagonists are Muslim; there’s a lot of great conversations about Islamaphobia and other pertinent issues in this one, but it’s also a really sweet romance!

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily – Laura Creedle

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily: Creedle, Laura: 9781328603661: Amazon.com: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, romance, realistic fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one’s a romance between a girl with ADHD (the author has ADHD as well!) and an autistic boy, and like Love from A to Z, tackles a lot of discussions surrounding mental health and disability while still being a sweet romance!

Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle, #1) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Aurora Rising: Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff: 9781786075338: Amazon.com: Books

GENRES: Science fiction, space opera, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(There is no escape from the Aurora Cycle-posting on this blog…)

Even though Finian’s disability is fictional (bc, y’know, he’s an alien), he uses mobility aids, and we get to see a lot of his inner thoughts surrounding his disability. Disability in realistic fiction is all cool and good, but it’s even better to see casual disability rep in fantasy and sci-fi too!

Queens of Geek – Jen Wilde

Amazon.com: Queens of Geek (9781250111395): Wilde, Jen: Books

GENRES: Contemporary, realistic fiction, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Queens of Geek features a protagonist with Asperger’s and an anxiety disorder, and there’s lots of queer and POC representation in this one as well! If you love stories set at Comic Cons with lots of pop culture references, then this one’s for you!

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! What are your favorite books with disability rep? Favorite disabled authors? Any recommendations for me?

Girl Reading GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Today’s song:

Sophie Allison becoming a Mii wasn’t on my 2021 bingo card but I’m here for it

That’s it for this post! Have a wonderful rest of your day, take care of yourselves, and happy disability pride month!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (7/13/21) – Gearbreakers

Posted on July 13, 2021July 14, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

I’d been wanting to read Gearbreakers for a while, and coincidentally, the last time I went to my favorite bookstore was the day that it came out, so I grabbed a copy. I got a little scared from some of the reviews, but in the end, it was all worth it – a stunning debut that balanced a bleak atmosphere with tender romance!

Enjoy this week’s review!

Amazon.com: Gearbreakers (Gearbreakers, 1) (9781250269508): Mikuta, Zoe Hana: Books

Gearbreakers (Gearbreakers, #1) – Zoe Hana Mikuta

my copy ft. a cool filter and my guitar amp

Eris Shinandai’s world is one of brutality – under the oppressive thumb of Godolia, poor towns like hers are constantly being snuffed out by the Windups, giant robots with immense firepower and cunning pilots. But Eris has a special occupation – she’s a Gearbreaker, specially trained to destroy the Windups from the inside.

But when a botched operation ends in her arrest, she meets Sona Steelcrest, a disillusioned Windup pilot with a few secrets of her own. Sona knows the oppression of Godolia firsthand, and she’s willing to help Eris take them down. Their uneasy alliance takes them back to the Gearbreakers, and into a dangerous new world of conspiracies.

Ask Box: Open — 2D finding out his S/O has been hiding their...

TW/CW: loss of parents/family (past), graphic sci-fi violence, death, gore, torture, blood

[chanting] sci-fi sapphics, sci-fi sapphics, SCI-FI SAPPHICS!

Oh man, I aspire to have a debut novel as good as this one! Gearbreakers does what most YA dystopian novels fail to do – balance light and darkness in a smart way, and fill the bleak spaces with warm hope and tenderness.

My favorite aspect by far was the found family aspect. The dynamic with Eris and the rest of her Gearbreakers crew was so sweet – Eris was a bit more of a hotheaded, stubborn character, but she was like a mom to all of the other Gearbreakers, and the love they all had for each other was so sweet. The relationship between Eris and Jenny, her older sister, was also so lovely – plenty of banter, but still a deep care for each other. Adding Sona to the mix created an interesting dynamic as well – there was a lot of mistrust for her from the other Gearbreakers, but Sona’s character development really shone in those moments as she tried to advocate for herself.

And coming off of that – CAN WE TALK ABOUT ERIS AND SONA? Their (budding) romance was more of a slow-burn one, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Their personalities were so glaringly different, but as they grew closer to each other, they meshed so well together. Without spoiling anything, I’m interested to see where it goes next – I’m hoping it’ll end smoothly…

The action in this book was also phenomenal! Again, Zoe Hana Mikuta does a stellar job of balancing levity with intense action, and it didn’t feel too comic-relief-y or too cynically dark. There’s nothing like destroying giant robots to get the action more fun, and there’s loads of that, and a whole lot of well-written fight scenes and explosions. The found-family dynamic of the Gearbreakers worked so well with these scenes – everybody all crammed in their jeep (do they specify what kind of car it was? I forget, I just imagined it as a beat-up jeep…) on their way to do some Robot Destruction™️ made for some great banter and amazing chemistry between the characters.

(And I recently heard that somebody’s already gotten the rights to Gearbreakers for a movie?? Which – WHOA, that was quick, and I’m a little worried, but that would make a GREAT movie. The more I read, the more I thought of how well a bunch of Gorillaz songs would be in the soundtrack…IMAGINE “19-2000” PLAYING THE FIRST TIME ERIS AND HER CREW GO DESTROY THE WINDUPS…)

Overall, the worldbuilding was good, but it was definitely the area where the novel had a few pitfalls. There was a lot of care put into the different kinds of Windups, how they worked, and the culture and training surrounding Sona and the other Windup pilots at the academy, which I loved! I just wish the same care was put into some of the history around the rise of Godolia, and where it was situated – there’s a little background, but not quite enough to make a fully-fleshed world. Most of the history we get is from the Tragic Backstories™️ of some of the characters, which I don’t really mind, but I wish the worldbuilding was as well-written as, say, the romance or the fight scenes.

In short, a fantastic sci-fi debut that balanced light and dark like very few other authors can. 4.5 stars!

Gearbreakers is the first in a series, and is also Zoe Hana Mikuta’s debut novel. The sequel, Godslayers, is set to release in June 2022.

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (7/12/21) – Teen Killers Club

Posted on July 12, 2021July 12, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

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.

Thrillers aren’t usually the kind of books that I readily pick up, but I’ve found a few that I’ve loved. And this one sounds fascinating – unintentional found family and misfit assassins? Count me in!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (7/12/21) – TEEN KILLERS CLUB by Lily Sparks

Amazon.com: Teen Killers Club: A Novel (9781643852294): Sparks, Lily: Books

Blurb from Goodreads:

Framed for the murder of her best friend, a young girl joins a super-secret society of teenage assassins to avoid a lifetime behind bars–and discovers her own true self–in this mesmerizing debut novel.

Seventeen-year-old Signal Deere has raised eyebrows for years as an unhappy Goth misfit from the trailer park. When she’s convicted of her best friend Rose’s brutal murder, she’s designated a Class A–the most dangerous and manipulative criminal profile. To avoid prison, Signal signs on for a secret program for 18-and-under Class As and is whisked off to an abandoned sleep-away camp, where she and seven bunkmates will train as assassins. Yet even in the Teen Killers Club, Signal doesn’t fit in. She’s squeamish around blood. She’s kind and empathetic. And her optimistic attitude is threatening to turn a group of ragtag maniacs into a team of close-knit friends. Maybe that’s because Signal’s not really a killer. She was framed for Rose’s murder and only joined the program to escape, track down Rose’s real killer, and clear her name. But Signal never planned on the sinister technologies that keep the campers confined. She never planned on the mysterious man in the woods determined to pick them off one by one. And she certainly never planned on falling in love. Signal’s strategy is coming apart at the seams as the true killer prepares to strike again in Teen Killers Club.

So why do I want to read this?

The Dance Scene In "The Umbrella Academy" Punched Me Right In My Very Emotional Heart | Funny umbrella, Academy, Umbrella — the blurb is giving me *slight* Umbrella Academy vibes

OOOH…like I said, I’m not usually a thriller fan, but this sounds right up my alley…

Even though having protagonists with ✨unique✨ names is a pet peeve of mine (…why would somebody name their child Signal?), I think I can look past it this time. (Maybe there’s a story behind it? We’ll see…) Signal sounds like an intriguing character – an outcast, framed for murder but with a tender heart, and determined to avenge her best friend.

And I LOVE the premise – a bunch of teen assassins and criminals thrown together against their wills in an old summer camp. What could possibly go wrong? And the description’s hinting at both enemies-to-lovers and found family vibes – two of my favorite tropes!

In short: I haven’t been this excited about a thriller since Before the Fall! (Then again, the two aren’t similar at all, so…)

reaction meme, wholesome and cat - image #7734970 on Favim.com

Today’s song:

my friend’s on season 3 and it made me think back to this score

That’s it for this week’s Goodreads Monday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: July 5-11 2021

Posted on July 11, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.

This week’s been fairly quiet – lots of reading indoors and outdoors. I got through all of the books that I bought last week, plus a couple on my Kindle and a bit of my summer reading. Of course, I had another unfortunate DNF, which…why did I escape them in the first half of the year, only to have all of them in July?

Writing-wise, everything’s going fairly smooth! I think I’m…oh, maybe a third of the way through where I want to be with my WIP, and my word count’s steadily been going up!

Other than that, I’ve just been making some fan art, volunteering at the library, watching Loki, hiking, and watching one of my close friends get through Fargo. (She’s coming up on one of my favorite twists in season 3…) I also had my first in-person guitar lesson since the pandemic started, and it’s so good to be back!

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)