Chloe
Enjoyed it, but some of the action/drama was a miss for me. Still my fav sapphic author though. Go to her site and buy the ebook (or physical) before the Amazon release!
My favorite of the three. Sometimes it feels like queer romance tries to hide from reality a bit, but this book doesn't hide from how hard it can be to be queer, and does it in a way that doesn't feel (to me at least) shallow or used as flavor. It's also nice to see meaningful trans representation. To have two important characters be trans women, one of whom has been around since the first book is really nice.
I don't think I liked the writing... Style? Voice? Still going to give some of her other stuff a try though.
A must read for anyone who considers themselves a feminist and/or trans ally. “the third sex” in particular is an incisive commentary on white/Western decolonization and a refusal to look at unfamiliar, but inarguable transmisogyny to score points using people of color as a rhetorical cudgel, while ignoring the reality of non-western patriarchy and misogyny as a whole.
Slow burn I guess but I didn't mind as both characters were likeable enough that just their friendship was entertaining.
DNF, I could not make it through the first chapter. Just a shotgun blast of forced drama, with zero introduction to who the characters are, even on a fundamental level. We're dropped in and boom here's the plot, immediately. It did not grab me at all, and I just felt irritated mostly.
Not bad, although I was reminded that Tchaikovsky loves to repeat himself quite a bit.
The exploration of overcoming comphet, especially in the light of something like a hetero focused dating show was interesting.
100% recommendation if you:
1. Are interested in Christian nationalism
2. Were raised or remain Conservative/Christian
3. Have family that is conservative Christian
Nice world building, kept me interested. Characters were well written and art was very nice.
I really expected to like this more than I did. I understand the purpose of the writing style, and it communicates a dreaminess that Offred experiences, fading in and out of reality and time as a trauma response, but it almost feels too vague at points. The lack of quotation marks is hard to follow in some places. The “historical notes” at the end feel superfluous, although read as a commentary on academic detachment from atrocities, especially those perpetrated by white men it's interesting. Not sure that's how it's intended though. I'd still recommend reading it, if only because of its place in SpecFic and feminist canon.
A meaningful and mostly well written story about a trans girl finding herself and the myriad of consequences that come along with it.
That being said, I have complicated feelings about the author and the allegations against her. They would be a lot less complicated without the way the allegations were signal boosted by TERFs.
I wasn't sure how I felt about it until ~1/4 of the way through but damn, I really liked it.
I liked parts of this, but I really didn't like Delilah/Delilah+Cat together. I liked Delilah's character more in the other books, and there were definitely some things that I liked about it in this one, but she just seemed a little angsty.
Different from Detransition, by a lot, but also not really? Every story in this collection is a work of art, though I didn't /love/ infect your friends as much as the others, surprisingly
I didn't like this as much as the other one (Sorry, Bro). MC was not very likable. The HEA felt unearned too, your love interest can't hate the MC but then show up 3 months later and be fine again. It just felt rushed and didn't make sense.
I don't care what straight people do in the privacy of their own home but I wish they wouldn't shove it down our throats
Jokes aside it was fine. Suffers from similar problems to the first one with regards to the “rules” of the magic system but it felt easier to ignore since they weren't being explained this time. I mean, I keep reading them so I must be fine with it.
I liked it but it was a little contradictory at points, especially when it came to what exactly magic could and couldn't do. I mean, why are we wondering what the town founders would have wanted, when apparently, we can just call them up on the ghost mirror and talk to them? Idk. Concept was interesting, execution not my favorite but it was still a fun read.
