Showing posts with label historical fiction; lgbtq; racism; feminism; alchemy; pirates; travel; abuse; adventure; action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label historical fiction; lgbtq; racism; feminism; alchemy; pirates; travel; abuse; adventure; action. Show all posts

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) - L.C. Rosen

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird. I think it's going to be weird for everyone's first time, though.

Meet Jack Rothman. He's seventeen and loves partying, makeup and boys - sometimes all at the same time. His sex life makes him the hot topic for the high school gossip machine. But who cares? Like Jack always says, 'it could be worse'.

He doesn't actually expect that to come true.

But after Jack starts writing an online sex advice column, the mysterious love letters he's been getting take a turn for the creepy. Jack's secret admirer knows everything: where he's hanging out, who he's sleeping with, who his mum is dating. They claim they love Jack, but not his unashamedly queer lifestyle. They need him to curb his sexuality, or they'll force him.

As the pressure mounts, Jack must unmask his stalker before their obsession becomes genuinely dangerous..."

There is a dearth of sex-positive books out there for young people, especially with LGBTQ* representation, so I give this book a resounding "yes, please!" I am endlessly glad that Rosen showed his first ninety-nine pages to friends and that those friends talked them into continuing to write Jack's story, because the world needs more books like this and more characters like Jack and his friends.

"I know lots of kids want to be famous, and yeah, I like attention, but I'd much prefer it for things I do--like dress amazing and say witty things--than who I do."

Jack is infamous around his high school. Rumors fly after every party--the book starts with a trio of girls discussing his alleged "fourgy" in a hot tub over the weekend, for instance. Most of these rumors aren't true, but that hasn't stopped people from believing everything they hear before, and it certainly won't in Jack's case. Fortunately, Jack's best friend started a website after being kicked off the school newspaper, and she comes up with the perfect way to harness Jack's reputation as a sexpert...a write-in advice column for students.

When Jenna first pitches him the idea, Jack is hesitant. He commits to writing one column, but doesn't plan to let her plan go any further than that. Much to his surprise, though, his fellow students respond well to the column, and he finds himself enjoying writing for the website. The only downside  to his new "sexlebrity" status is that mysterious pink notes have begun appearing in his locker, and they've quickly gone from intriguing to straight-up creepy.

"It could be worse." He tells his friends after finally admitting to them how disturbing the notes have become. Jenna won't let him dismiss things that easily, though. "That might be true, but that doesn't mean it's not bad. That doesn't mean you don't try to stop it from being bad."

As tension escalated and Jack and his friends went through plan after failed plan to unmask his stalker and get them to leave him home, I found it harder and harder to put this book down. I loved Jack from the first page, and it tore at my heart to see him doubt himself, toning his fashion down and retreating inward as he struggled with what to do and how to keep his friends and family safe. This would have been a solid 5-star read for me if it had been twenty pages longer. My one big gripe with the book is the rushed ending. I was reading an electronic version, and I couldn't believe it when I got to the end...at first I thought maybe my download hadn't completed properly and I was missing the last chapter or something. Everything was just a little too abrupt and anticlimactic, which was a let down after being so riveted through the entire book. That aside, though, incredible. More like this, please!

Saturday, December 8, 2018

Little and Lion - Brandy Colbert

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (along with her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support.

But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse."


There was a lot to look forward to going into this book...diverse books, characters of different races and backgrounds, LGBT (particularly B!) representation, frank discussion of mental illness...but not a lot that I ended up loving, sadly. The synopsis wrote checks that the actual content couldn't cash. As a disclaimer, I do think that the meh-ness of this book for me was partially due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook and was not in love with the reader. However, I also felt that the pacing of the book was slow and that way too much time was spent hashing and rehashing the same small issues, rather than developing the story. The beginning was intriguing, but then it went nowhere. Readers (or listeners, in this case) shouldn't have to slog through 90% of a book before something actually happens, and even when things finally DID come to a head, the drama of it all fell flat for me. I give this an A+ for concept but a C- for execution.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

NOT THIS TIME! And here's why:

This book caught me by surprise in such a good way. Full disclosure, I often have a tendency to judge books by their covers, in that I see a book like this one and think, "yup, that cover caught my attention. I'm gonna read this." without ever checking to see what the book is about. Consequently, knowing nothing about the plot, I started reading this with the expectation that it would be a little light, somewhat salacious, and funny.



I mean, I wasn't wrong. But it also did a mind-blowing job of weaving deeper themes into the story, making you think without ever coming right out and spelling out for you, "hey, let's talk about social issues." Monty's dad's treatment of him, the way people react when they find out Monty's sexual orientation, and the things Percy deals with being dark-skinned are just a few examples that come to mind, but it happens throughout the book, small comments slipped in when you least expect it that make you pause and consider the issue. It was masterfully done and such a pleasant surprise.

As if that weren't enough, I couldn't help but fall in love with the characters. I listened to the audiobook first, then read the physical book, and my god, every time Monty says, "hello, darling" I died a little. He was just the right blend of sarcasm and genuine caring, Percy was infinitely sweet and somber and made me want to hug him, and Felicity...I don't like hashtagging midsentence, but she is #goals, for sure. Then we get the side characters, and the little details we see that bring them to life...just sublime. After reading this, I think I'm going to start reading more books based only on the cover. I may get burned at times, but it was such a nice surprise going in blind and coming out of it with this experience. Amazing book. Please read it.