quillnqueer's reviews
381 reviews

For early 2010s YA, this novel really surprised me by being a strong portrait of grief and hypersexuality after the death of a sibling. While it did use some known tropes, these added lighter moments to the emotional story.

This is such a raw portrayal of grief that I could really relate to, where after a tragedy the main character has simply packed a bag and left, before starting college as if nothing had happened. Staying there over Christmas with the best friend and lover she abandoned, Marin has to finally confront her grief.

I liked that this wasn't a romance focused book, and the way Marin and Mabel had to reflect over their past relationship now Mabel is in a new one felt really realistic, and the outcome made sense to me. I didn't go into this story knowing it was Queer, so this was a welcome surprise.

This has that Bleachers "Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" vibe of college dorms, snowy winters and discussions over hastily cooked food that really made the story great, and made me emotionally connect with the story and characters.

This story is an absolute fever dream. Telling the story of the earth towards it's potential end through a series of interconnected stories, we get a picture of clones, artificial intelligence and psychic abilities, and the story leaves us to try and piece what is happening together.

I really enjoyed this, although it could be a little vague at times I felt the characters shone through, and were memorable. There's a POV switch each chapter, and I enjoyed my time with each, while looking forward to the new piece of the story that the next would bring me.

I've been reading some really solid Dystopian stories this year, and How We Became Wicked is no exception. Telling the story of two girls, one living in a small enclosed town away from the outside infected, and one living on a small island with her mother, infected Grandfather and soon to be baby sibling.

This has some truly clever twists and turns, and I thought that the title was an incredibly clever play on words. There's also a plot twist which I almost started working out before it was revealed, but the reveal was really satisfying, and made the story much more memorable for me.

This is a truly weird story set in Seoul, and made me think of the concept of Hungry Ghosts. There's many characters, some the same character seemingly in different situations, or told from different perspectives. I felt that the note from the translator at the end really helped with gathering context, but even if I hadn't, I really enjoyed the ride.

I really dislike it when it becomes obvious that the author had a great idea for a story, but didn't know how to finish it. Told from the perspective of a live in maid, Estela, after an event causes the death of the child in her care, this is a slow, plodding story that I frequently felt frustrated with.

While Estela's voice isn't one I'd forget, I did get the sense that at times she could be an unreliable narrator, but this was never confirmed. I was never quite sure where she was telling her story from, and the shocking ending left me with unresolved questions.

This author doesn't have much experience writing middle grade, and it really shows here. The story has it's high moments, when Dhikilo finally travels to a fantasy world and meets the unusual creatures there it kept me reading, but that wasn't quite enough to save just how slow the first half and the last few chapters were. By the end I felt myself forcing myself to keep reading just to finish it.

The one where everybody is in a relationship now. This sequel requires a strong suspension of disbelief, as what is apparently a major God tries to take over the world via the means of... hiring a young reporter to write news articles for him. And the God just acts like some annoying dude for 400 pages.

The ending made the trek through the chapters worth it, as it got back to the Divine Rivals level of desperation and hope that I connected to so strongly. But the majority of the book very little happened other than Roman dealing with the amnesia trope, while seperated from Iris.

I slogged through most of this book in a fog of depression. I liked the concept of this, but I think I wanted more time spent during the epidemic, and the aftermath, told from Mary who was there when it happened, was an incredibly bleak portrait of the future.

This book frequently did it's Queer characters dirty, was fairly dismissive of the one named trans woman, and gay characters were left devastated or dead. This just added to the bleakness, and while I'm curious to see what the sequel will bring, I'm not sure I'll be picking it up.

I TRIED.