The Good Luck Girls – The Bookish Mutant

Weekly Update: July 25-31, 2022

Posted on July 31, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

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

It’s been a fairly uneventful week on my end; other than tagging along with my mom to run some errands, I haven’t left the house much this week. I’ve been trying to exercise a bit more—and I have, a little bit—but most of my days have been spent reading on the couch. Not complaining in the slightest. I was gonna go hiking, but after some storms, there was apparently a flash flood AND snow (???) at the place we were going to go, so…nope.

Reading-wise, I’ve had another prolific reading week. Most of it’s been in the 2-3 star range, but by the end of the week, I’d read something incredibly powerful but that made me feel rather sad (Man o’ War), and a sudden 5-star read that made me cry, but…in a good way? (The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects—the short comic “The Magician and the Snake” was the tearjerker in question). I didn’t have a chance to go to the library, so I’ll be trawling the Kindle library for books to read this week.

And now, Camp NaNoWriMo is almost done! I’m about 97% of the way to my goal, and I’ll finish it up tonight!! This year’s Camp was all about feeling my way through—the story, the website, and everything else—and I think it’s gone relatively well!

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing guitar, watching the new episodes of What We Do in the Shadows, and giving one of my cats an extra chicken treat for her birthday. Hobbes turned 6 on Monday.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) – Shelley Parker-Chan (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Ophelia After All – Racquel Marie (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology, #1) – N.E. Davenport (⭐️⭐️)

Man o’ War – Cory McCarthy (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Sisters of Reckoning (The Good Luck Girls, #2) – Charlotte Nicole Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects (20th Anniversary Edition) – Mike Mignola (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Early Riser – Jasper Fforde

Since I’ve already posted today, head over to my July 2022 Wrap-Up for today’s song.

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

Monthly Wrap-Ups

July 2022 Wrap-Up 🫠

Posted on July 31, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

As you can see above, the melting emoji represents my slow melting, a la the Wicked Witch of the West, because July in Colorado always threatens to melt me into a slushy puddle. At least we got some rain. (And hail, one time? got enough that it looked like snow in certain parts of the yard…)

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Hot as it was, I’d say that July was another good month of summer. I’ve had tons more time to read and relax, and even though college is always on my mind nowadays, the time off has been good to collect my thoughts. I’ve gone hiking a few times, seen some fun movies, and tried to exercise a little more.

I got to read tons this month, and although it was generally a mixed bag (a lot more books in the 3-star range than usual), I still found some gems in the mix. For Disability Pride Month, I tried to focus on books with disabled characters, and I’ve found some reads with great disability rep—including the first book I’ve ever read with SPD rep! (Thanks, Carolyn Mackler!!) Camp NanoWriMo is nearly over—it’s had its ups and downs (couldn’t find the stats page for a while and fell behind on my word count, hit command v instead of command b and accidentally pasted the whole Pinnochio trailer into my document), but I’m so close to 45,000 words now!!

Other than that, I’ve just been playing my guitar, recovering from the last two episodes of Stranger Things (OW), seeing Thor: Love and Thunder (pure Taika Waititi fun), drawing, and listening to an excess of Peter Gabriel.

Also, I figured I’d give everybody an update on Ringo, since I haven’t posted about him much since we got him; he’s 7 months old now and even more of a menace to society, but he has the sweetest face…

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 25 books this month! This is probably gonna be the most books I’ll be able to read in a month, since it’s the middle of summer. It was a mixed bag, as always, but I found a few amazing 5-star reads in the bunch.

1 – 1.75 stars:

Among Thieves (Thieves, #1) – M.J. Kuhn (⭐️.5)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2) – Tamsyn Muir (DNF – ⭐️⭐️)
The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology, #1) – N.E. Davenport (⭐️⭐️)
The Circus Infinite – Khan Wong (⭐️⭐️.5)
The Space Between Worlds – Micaiah Johnson (⭐️⭐️.5)
Fortune Favors the Dead (Pentecost and Parker, #1) – Stephen Spotswood (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Bluebird – Ciel Pierlot (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Follow Your Arrow – Jessica Verdi (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Ghosts We Keep – Mason Deaver (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
On the Edge of Gone – Corinne Duyvis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Final Strife – Saara El-Arifi (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling – Lucy Frank (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) – Shelley Parker-Chan (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Ophelia After All – Racquel Marie (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Sisters of Reckoning (The Good Luck Girls, #2) – Charlotte Nicole Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Meet Me in Outer Space – Melinda Grace (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Mean Little Deaf Queer: A Memoir – Terry Galloway (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Breathe and Count Back from Ten – Natalia Sylvester (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The King and the Corpse – Heinrich Robert Zimmer, edited by Joseph Campbell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Man o’ War – Cory McCarthy (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Kingdom of Back – Marie Lu (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Not If I Can Help It – Carolyn Mackler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

Alone in Space: A Collection – Tillie Walden (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Reckless Kind – Carly Heath (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects (20th Anniversary Edition) – Mike Mignola (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects – 5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF :

July is Disability Pride Month, and I made a post with YA disability recs & talked about my experience with SPD and why representation matters!
I had tons of fun reviewing Among Thieves, The Reckless Kind, Not If I Can Help It, and Follow Your Arrow!
I also made a list of YA recs for Nonbinary Awareness Week!
I reviewed Soccer Mommy’s fantastic new album Sometimes, Forever!
I made a list of my top 10 favorite albums!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

I wish I could put this one in flashing neon letters or skywriting or something, because my awesome brother has a blog too!!! he writes tons of short stories, poetry, and music/movie reviews, so go follow him!!!
Maddie made a great list of 85+ (!!!) books with disability rep for disability pride month!
Hundreds & Thousands of Books hit 500 followers!! Congratulations!!
Ahaana @ Windows to Worlds shares her goals for the summer (and some SUPER CUTE pictures of her puppies)

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

yeah spoiler alert I did listen to more Peter Gabriel

Kate Bush is hit or miss for me but when she hits it for me she HITS it

going through an 80’s period this month I guess??

HOOOOOOOOOOOWEE time go to back to my sad girl roots

I haven’t listened to much Japanese Breakfast but I fell in love with this one INSTANTLY

MORE PETER GABRIEL BC I LOVED SO

I really need to listen to more IDLES bc I’ve loved every song I’ve heard of theirs

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY JULY GOALS?

Read at least 20 books: 25!
Get through Camp NaNoWriMo: We’ll see about that later tonight…

GOALS FOR AUGUST:

Get through the first few weeks of college (AAAAAA)
Enjoy my birthday (which also happens to be on the first day of classes…yeehaw😀)

Today’s song:

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

Books

Feminist YA Books for Women’s History Month (2022 Edition)

Posted on March 24, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

Women’s History Month is here again in the U.S., and I figured I’d gather some more books to celebrate! Literature has always been an act of resistance, and it’s so important for readers—especially young girls—to see characters and narratives like their own to inspire change in our world. And as always, these books aren’t just for March—they’re for all year round; feminism doesn’t start and stop in March. My goal here is to uplift marginalized voices, and now is the perfect time to uplift those of women.

If you’d like to see my list from last year, click here!

Let’s begin, shall we?

FEMINIST YA BOOKS FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, Samira Ahmed

GENRES: contemporary, historical fiction, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Told in intersecting timelines between the present day and 19th-century. Paris, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is a love letter to all the women whose stories have been overshadowed and lost to history. Samira Ahmed is such a wonderful author!

Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao

GENRES: sci-fi, dystopia, romance, LGBTQ+, retellings

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Iron Widow is a fierce, fast-paced sci-fi tale that deftly explores themes of rape culture, institutionalized misogyny, and society’s treatment of women through the eyes of a spitfire pilot determined to tear down an empire. (DESTROY THE PATRIARCHY WITH ROBOTS! I said what I said.)

Squad, Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle

GENRES: graphic novels, contemporary, paranormal, LGBTQ+, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Squad presents a timely theme—when holding rapists accountable, where is the line between accountability and pure vengeance?—and puts a paranormal spin on it. If the premise of werewolf girls hunting down rapists doesn’t entice you, I don’t know what will.

Slay, Brittney Morris

GENRES: contemporary, fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Though this isn’t my favorite of Brittney Morris’ books that I’ve read (that title would go to The Cost of Knowing as of now), Slay was a wonderfully proud and feminist novel about gaming and Black pride.

The Mirror Season, Anna-Marie McLemore

GENRES: magical realism, fantasy, fiction, LGBTQ+, retellings, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Anna-Marie McLemore never misses a beat with their books, and The Mirror Season was no exception! All at once raw and beautiful, it presents a searing tale of love after trauma and the fight to hold rapists accountable.

The Good Luck Girls, Charlotte Nicole Davis

GENRES: alternate history, fantasy, paranormal, dystopia, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Through a blend of several different genres, Charlotte Nicole Davis presents the stories of five girls, bonded through sisterhood and trauma, who take control of their own fates and fight their fair share of patriarchy—and demons.

Juliet Takes a Breath – Gabby Rivera

GENRES: fiction, contemporary, LGBTQ+, historical fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Juliet Takes a Breath is a fantastic, queer coming-of-age novel about sexuality, self-discovery, identity, and being a feminist. There’s an especially important discussion of the harm of “white feminism,” which, for a YA novel, is crucial to discuss.

A Phoenix Must First Burn, Patrice Caldwell et. al. (anthology)

GENRES: short stories/anthologies, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, science fiction, LGBTQ+, romance, historical fiction

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There’s not a single bad short story in A Phoenix Must First Burn! Through several different genres, all of these stories center around the experience of growing up as a Black woman, and include everything from aliens to sorcery to the American west.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! What are your favorite feminist YA books? Have you read any of these books, and if you have, what did you think of them? What have you been reading for Women’s History Month? Tell me in the comments!

Today’s song:

NEW SOCCER MOMMY IN JUNE?? I’m convinced that 2022 is the year of being blessed by the music gods

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

Books

YA Reads for Black History Month (2022 Edition)

Posted on February 7, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

It’s February again, and in the U.S., February is Black History Month! For the past few years, I’ve been making an effort to diversify my reading and read books from a variety of BIPOC authors all year round, but during this month, I like to take the time to uplift Black voices and authors. It’s crucial to open yourself up to new perspectives and insights, and all it takes is picking up a new book. (But as always, read books from BIPOC authors all year round!)

I made a list of YA reads from Black authors last year (you can find it here!), but I wanted to do it again since I’ve read so many amazing books since last year. So let’s begin, shall we?

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THE BOOKISH MUTANT’S YA READS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH (2022 EDITION)

The Kindred, Alechia Dow

GENRES: sci-fi, romance, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll start this list off with a recent read from an author who is quickly climbing up the ranks of my favorites! Although this wasn’t quite as good as The Sound of Stars, The Kindred was such a sweet, feel-good sci-fi romance!

The Cost of Knowing, Brittney Morris

Amazon.com: The Cost of Knowing: 9781534445451: Morris, Brittney: Books

GENRES: contemporary, magical realism

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Cost of Knowing is immensely powerful; through the perspective of a teen with the power to see the future of everything that he touches, Morris tackles a multitude of important topics, from mental health to police brutality to grief.

A Phoenix Must First Burn, Patrice Caldwell et. al. (anthology)

Buy A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope Book Online at Low Prices in India | A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black

GENRES: short stories, fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Phoenix Must First Burn is a beautiful anthology of short stories of all genres that depict the Black experience—particularly Black women and nonbinary people. There’s only one short story that I didn’t like as much, but all the rest are fascinating in their own right. My favorite was Amerie’s When Life Hands You a Lemon Fruitbomb.

The Good Luck Girls, Charlotte Nicole Davis

Amazon.com: The Good Luck Girls eBook : Davis, Charlotte Nicole: Kindle Store

GENRES: historical fiction/alternate history, fantasy, paranormal, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t read a lot of alternate history or historical fiction books, but The Good Luck Girls was a fantastic read! If you’re a fan of demons, ghosts, patriarchy-smashing, and sisterhood, this is the book for you.

The Black Flamingo, Dean Atta

Amazon.com: The Black Flamingo: 9780062990297: Atta, Dean: Books

GENRES: contemporary, realistic fiction, novels in verse, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Again—novels in verse aren’t my usual choice for reading, but The Black Flamingo is a must-read! A beautiful coming-of-age story about growing up mixed-race and gay and discovering drag.

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water, #2), Bethany C. Morrow

A Chorus Rises eBook by Bethany C. Morrow - 9781250316028 | Rakuten Kobo United States

GENRES: contemporary, magical realism

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Set in the same world as A Song Below Water, A Chorus Rises explores Naema’s side of the story. Not a lot of authors write separate books from the point of view of the story’s antagonist, and this book was testament to the fact that not everything is black and white—there are several sides to every story.

Every Body Looking, Candice Iloh

GENRES: contemporary, realistic fiction, novels in verse

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Raw and honest, Every Body Looking is a poetic coming-of-age story of growing up as a woman, growing up Black, and growing up as the daughter of an immigrant. It’s a rough ride, but it packs a punch.

When You Were Everything, Ashley Woodfolk

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

GENRES: contemporary, realistic fiction, romance

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When You Were Everything is the perfect book for anyone who has had a close friendship deteriorate. It’s messy, it’s raw, it’s painful, but above all, it felt so real and wonderfully genuine.

Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Amazon.com: Ace of Spades eBook : Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah: Kindle Store

GENRES: mystery, thriller, contemporary, realistic fiction, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t go for mysteries most of the time, but Ace of Spades was the dictionary definition of edge-of-your-seat suspenseful. All at once a nail-biting mystery and a commentary on systemic racism, this is one you can’t let pass you by.

You Should See Me in a Crown, Leah Johnson

You Should See Me in a Crown - Indiana Authors Awards

GENRES: contemporary, realistic fiction, romance, LGBTQ+

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I guess I’ve bookended this list with feel-good reads…I don’t see a problem with that. You Should See Me in a Crown is a fun and tender LGBTQ+ romance about two candidates for prom queen falling for each other!

Tell me what you think! Have you read any of these books, and if so, what did you think of them? What are your favorite YA books by Black authors? Let me know in the comments!

We Are Black History I Am Black History Sticker - We Are Black History I Am Black History Africanamerican - Discover & Share GIFs

Today’s song:

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

Monthly Wrap-Ups

August 2021 Wrap-Up 🍰

Posted on August 31, 2021September 30, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

And here we are. August, the end of summer and the start of the school year. My birthday month too, so that’s always a lot of fun. Still can’t believe we’re four months away from 2022 though…

[ahem] that aside…

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

school GIFs - Primo GIF - Latest Animated GIFs

For the most part, August was a pretty nice month. I didn’t plan on getting bitten by mosquitoes in Florida (okay: not that many mosquitoes, getting bug bites in Florida is kind of a given), but I got to read some good books while I was there. Plus, Kaz cane. Other than that, I just enjoyed summer’s last hurrah, reading, watching movies with friends, and soaking up the last of the warm weather. I had my birthday later in the month as well, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with family!

I started school about two weeks ago, and I’m slowly easing back in, and knock on wood, I’ll be able to keep all the A’s I have so far. 🤞I’m still in mostly honors/AP classes, but I’m glad that I have those classes in the subjects I’m good at. After AP Bio, I don’t think I could take another honors/AP science class…

After getting through Camp NaNoWriMo, I’ve had mostly steady progress in my sci-fi WIP for most of the month! I’m close to the end of the draft, and I’ve gotten to write some of my favorite scenes in the whole story this month. My progress petered out a little bit once I had to adjust to my new school schedule, but I’m getting back on track now. As I’m writing this, I’ve just finished up the climax, so I’m getting close!

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Other than that, I’ve just been volunteering at the library, working my way through It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Gravity Falls, and What If?, going to my first live concert since the pandemic started (Wilco!),doodling still more aliens, watching The Suicide Squad, and eating all the cake and candy leftover from my birthday.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 20 books this month! I think this month is tied with January and June for the least amount of books read, and I can probably attribute that to a) a few really chunky books and b) getting back into the school routine. Nevertheless, I found some unexpected favorites in the bunch!

2 – 2.75 stars:

Amazon.com: When My Heart Joins the Thousand eBook : Steiger, A. J.: Kindle Store — *When My Heart Joins the Thousand*

She Drives Me Crazy – Kelly Quindlen (⭐️⭐️)
By the Book – Amanda Sellet (⭐️⭐️.5)
When My Heart Joins the Thousand – A.J. Steiger (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

The Lifeline Signal (Chameleon Moon, #2) by RoAnna Sylver — *The Lifeline Signal*

Filthy Animals – Brandon Taylor (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Ever Cruel Kingdom (The Never Tilting World, #2) – Rin Chupeco (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Girls at the Edge of the World – Laura Brooke Robson (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Six Crimson Cranes – Elizabeth Lim (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
The Tiger at Midnight – Swati Teerdhala (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Quiet Kind of Thunder – Sara Barnard (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Plain Bad Heroines – Emily M. Danforth (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Ahsoka (Star Wars) – E.K. Johnston (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Fell of Dark – Caleb Roehrig (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Forgotten Star – Colin Weldon (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
The Lifeline Signal (Chameleon Moon, #2) – RoAnna Sylver (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1) by Becky Chambers — *A Psalm for the Wild-Built*

Queen of Coin and Whispers – Helen Corcoran (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Suns Will Rise (System Divine, #3) – Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Good Luck Girls – Charlotte Nicole Davis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot, #1) – Becky Chambers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea – Maggie Tokuda-Hall (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

The Darkness Outside Us | eliot-schrefer — *The Darkness Outside Us*

The Darkness Outside Us – Eliot Schrefer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS): The Darkness Outside Us – 5 stars

Amazon.com: The Darkness Outside Us: 9780062888280: Schrefer, Eliot: Books — *The Darkness Outside Us*

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had a lot of fun reviewing The Darkness Outside Us, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and Ahsoka!
I made a list of undercover LGBTQ+ books for closeted readers!
My mini reviews for everything that I read in Florida were also fun to write!

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

Amanda’s post about cyberpunk/list of diverse cyberpunk recommendations!
Maddie’s Book Recs based on The Umbrella Academy!
Ahaana celebrated her 1st blogiversary!
Brooke’s stop on the Twin Stars blog tour (which I’m really excited to read now)!
Nashita’s hilarious review of Kingdom of Ash/basically the whole ToG series (I’m gladder than ever that I stopped at book 1 skdjhfskjfh)

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE ENJOYED:

the joy this song brings me oh my god

there isn’t a bad song on this album. on either of the discs. none.

shhhhh I swear I like this song for more reasons than the fact that St. Vincent produced it

god this song is beautiful…I had a dream about it the other night

never gets old

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY AUGUST GOALS?

Eat Cake GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Read at least 20 books: 20!
Enjoy the last weeks of summer: certainly did!
Start the school year off on a good note: all A’s and I got an A on my first math quiz, I’d call that a good note!
ENJOY MY BIRTHDAY: very much so!

GOALS FOR SEPTEMBER:

Read at least 20 books
Don’t stress too much about college stuff oof
Take care of yourself

Since I already posted once today, check out today’s Book Review Tuesday for today’s song.

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

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (8/31/21) – The Good Luck Girls

Posted on August 31, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

This week’s review was a fairly recent addition to my TBR. I found out about this series through a great post by Simone and her Books (thanks for putting it on my radar!), and I had a good feeling about it when I bought it with my birthday money the other day. I’m glad to say that I was right – my favorite out of all the books I bought that day!

Enjoy this week’s review!

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Good Luck Girls – Charlotte Nicole Davis

my copy ft. a few more purplish books (I don’t have a whole lot of purple books ksjdhfksjdhf)

Branded and trapped in a “welcome house” against their wills, the lives of the Good Luck Girls are filled with anything but good luck. Sisters Clementine and Aster have lived their lives in one such welcome house, waiting for the impossible day when they can go free. But when Clementine accidentally kills a wealthy man, she knows she’s put her life on the life. Along with her sister Aster, their friends Tansy and Mallow, and Violet, the prickly favorite of the welcome house, she risks a daring escape, meeting friend and foe alike as she flees into the wild.

HONEYMOON CLUB | Aesthetic gif, Desert aesthetic, Just like heaven

TW/CW: rape, branding, sex slavery, murder, descriptions of illness, misogyny, torture, loss of loved ones/death, substance abuse

Have you ever finished a book and immediately thought something along the lines of “man, why has nobody gotten the rights to make this a TV show?” My thoughts exactly for The Good Luck Girls – its cinematic writing makes it the perfect fit for the small screen, and its effortless blending of paranormal, Western, and dystopian genres made it stand out from all the rest!

I’ve never really read or watched many Westerns or Western-inspired books, movies or TV shows (I’m counting The Mandalorian in there though), but I found myself latching onto the immersive and unique world that Charlotte Nicole Davis presents us with in The Good Luck Girls. It’s equal parts Western, paranormal fantasy, and dystopia, and all of them fit to make a fascinating world! There’s something for everybody. You want girls rising up and fighting the power? FIVE OF THEM! You want ghosts, demons, and other weird monsters? Plenty of those to go around. Magic? Lots of that too. Whatever genre you usually gravitate you, there’s something for everybody in this novel.

The feminism and themes of sisterhood also shone in this novel! We follow a diverse cast of characters (some of them are POC and there’s a wlw relationship between two of them) as they escape a life of sex slavery, encountering no shortage of horrors along the way but sticking together through it all. Especially regarding most of the scenes in the “welcome house,” there are plenty of heavy and hard-to-read topics, but Charlotte Nicole Davis handled them in a way that balanced realism and giving the slightest bit of hope. I’m always up for books with a gang of well-written women taking down the patriarchy (and in the case of this book, fighting against misogyny and rape culture in particular), and The Good Luck Girls delivered 100% in that respect.

As for the characters, I liked most of them a reasonable amount, but I didn’t get completely attached to all of them. For Violet in particular, I liked that even though she was the token “bad-natured one who refuses to get along with anybody else” character, Davis gave her just as much depth and backstory as characters like Clem and Aster. However, I do wish that Tansy and Mallow got more page time; they just seemed like footnotes in contrast to Aster, Clem, and Violet, and we didn’t get much of their backstory. The Good Luck Girls would have been more enjoyable with a multiple POV structure, in my opinion; we got inside Aster and Clem’s heads, but since there’s an ensemble cast, I would have liked to get some of the motivations and quirks of characters like Violet, Tansy, and Mallow from their perspectives.

All in all, an effortless blend of wildly different genres that results in a fiercely feminist and cinematic journey. 4 stars!

✔️|2| 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒 [CA:CW] - 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 | Magic aesthetic, Aesthetic gif, Powers

The Good Luck Girls is the first book in the Good Luck Girls series, followed by The Sisters of Reckoning. Charlotte Nicole Davis also contributed the short story All the Time in the World to A Phoenix Must First Burn, an anthology of sci-fi/fantasy stories by Black women and gender nonconforming people.

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!

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: August 23-29, 2021

Posted on August 29, 2021August 29, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

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

This was my first full week of school, and…well, it had its ups and downs. College applications have been a bit stressful, but now that I’ve seen everything a little more simplified, it’s slightly less so. Still stressful, but at least I know how everything works now. But on the other hand, I had some great things happen this week! I aced a math quiz, I have As in all of my classes so far (I don’t care that it’s the second week of school, I’m still proud of myself), and I’m slowly getting more people into book club.

Reading-wise, I’ve just been reading through all of the books I bought/was gifted for my birthday. Most of them have been pretty good, but re-reading The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea was just what I needed to take my mind off of college. I got some cool-looking books at the library, so I’m excited for that! As for writing, I haven’t been doing it as frequently as I’ve been getting used to my school schedule, but I’m slowly but surely working through the climax of my sci-fi WIP.

Other than that, I watched The Suicide Squad (solid 3/5 for me, fantastic cinematography and also the best live action Harley look), had a busy shift at the library, and busily tried to convert people to my school’s book club. But the latter isn’t too out of the ordinary for me, really.

Oh, and in case you’re having a bad day, enjoy this picture of one of my cats (her name is Hobbes) with my library books: