Book Review Tuesday – Page 26 – The Bookish Mutant

Hi, fellow bibliophiles, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

I’ve been waiting for this book since before it had a title (only the promise of ✨RAINBOW ROWELL✨). It came out almost exactly two months ago today, and it’s the perfect fluff antidote to all of your woes. Best read during [clears throat] 🎃SPOOKY TIME🎃.

Need I say more?

Without further ado, let’s begin!

519OHqOUISL._SX352_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Pumpkinheads–Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

Ever since the beginning of high school, Deja and Josiah have worked together at the local pumpkin patch. But this year is their senior year–the last year that they’ll be working there before they leave for college.

Determined to make this year the best year at the pumpkin patch (and to break Josiah out of his gloomy funk), Deja decides that on Halloween night, she and Josiah will chart every part of the pumpkin patch that they’ve never visited. Josiah reluctantly goes along with her plan, but realizes that this could also be the opportunity to finally talk to the girl he’s had a crush on since the beginning…

Pumpkinheads is, in a sense, the literary version of a candy corn: adorable, and all kinds of sweet. SO. CUTE.

For anyone who isn’t into horror or drama, but still wants to read something fall-themed, Pumpkinheads is your book. Rowell’s writing and Hicks’ art are a match made in heaven–a pairing that I never would have considered, but one that works so seamlessly to create an adorable and delightfully surprising graphic novel. I absolutely adored the characters as well–they had such good chemistry, and Deja (though her orientation isn’t specifically stated) is definitely LGBTQ+ (probably either bi or pan)!!! 😀 🏳️‍🌈

Also, extra points because it allowed me to recover from the new Joker movie in peace. Whooooowee, that was a rough ride.

Anyway, for all those who need a heartwarming distraction from whatever’s bothering them, Pumpkinheads is your next read.

Stay tuned for more content later this week! 🙂

Screen Shot 2019-10-29 at 4.32.47 PM.png

Hey there, fellow bibliophiles, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

I am BEYOND excited to review this week’s book. And, of course, I got it at the library.

[fast forward to this Friday]

[abrupt cut to yours truly, with tears streaming down my face, returning this book to the library]

What I’m trying to say is that…well, to put it simply, this is one of the best books to come out of 2019. And the year isn’t even over. Simultaneously heartrending and beautiful prose, and a story that made me feel every feel on the spectrum while deftly explaining a real-life tragedy: the AIDS crisis.

Enjoy this week’s review!

Screen Shot 2019-10-15 at 5.41.11 PM.png

Like a Love Story

In 1989, at the midst of the AIDS crisis, three teens struggle to figure out where they fit into the grand scheme of things.

Reza, originally from Iran, has just moved to New York City. As he gets to know his peers at school, he grapples with the realization that he is gay. Art, the only openly gay boy at his school, tries to fight back–not only against his homophobic classmates and parents–but against the government that turns a blind eye to a raging epidemic. Judy, longtime best friend of Art, does her part to advocate for the LGBT community, while caring for her beloved uncle, who is dying of AIDS. These three teens meet in a whirlwind of happenstance, and their lives will be forever entangled, in the midst of a worldwide crisis.

Like a Love Story was simply unforgettable.

Nazemian paints a vivid picture, not only of every facet of the AIDS crisis at the time, but also what it was like to be a teenager in the center of it all, particularly one who is a gay immigrant. The characters were beautifully realistic, and despite their flaws, I found myself rooting for them from page one, and even resonating with them, on some levels. And…come on, there’s Madonna references EVERYWHERE. I mean, what’s not to love? A veritable gem of a novel, one that certainly stands out among the works of this year. Maybe even this decade. I don’t know, I guess I’m not quite old enough to compare it on that scope. Okay, at least the past five years or so.

What I’m trying to say is that Like a Love Story is a stellar novel, in practically every way, shape, and form. Five stars isn’t enough; let’s give this one all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Yeah, that’s what it deserves, methinks. 🙂

Thank you so much for reading this review! Have a wonderful day, and stay tuned for more content (hopefully?) this week!

Tag: Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (10/29/19)–Pumpkinheads

Book Review Tuesday (10/15/19)-Like a Love Story