Comfybere

That epilogue was such a beautiful ending. I just want to read that last paragraph over and over again.

✨✨✨✨

It must be so hard to live with ptsd. One wrong trigger and you are trapped in the worst memories of your life. I mean I have generalized anxiety and panic attacks but at least I'm not trapped inside a memory, reliving it.

✨✨Silly and whimsical as expected ✨✨
Magical beings mixed into a mortal world in the regency.

Alexis always writes mental health so well. He always makes me feel not alone in the darkness, and gives just the right amount of hope that it might be a bit better or at least manageable in the future.

Very much love them

Listened to about 20% before dropping it out of anger.

Yeah, it's terrific. Ta very much. Hehehe

This one had such a warm and happy ending. I feel like I'm surrounded by friends and happiness.

Suffocated

This one's going to take me a long time to fully process, but by the end of the book I felt really hopeful. Jess's life is so different from mine but also familiar too. I've made decisions this year that will lead me into a new phase of my life and I'm excited about it. This book has made me feel more confident in my choices. I don't know very many other people in real life that are trans like me but the ones I do know give me courage as well.

I think it's going to take me a bit to fully process this story. It's exactly what I wanted out of a political space drama. Everything feels like it's barely balanced on a tightrope.

A variety of ace rep

Highly recommended! I am second guessing my ratings on most of the books I read recently because this one was sooooooo good!! I want to give it more starsssss ✨

I do have a strong SFF bias though. The world building was excellent. It felt established and complex. I also kind of have a thing for bureaucracy. It creates a good structure to work around or work through/against. I want to see more in this universe. Space worlds like this give so many options for more stories. I'm jealous and want to write about other planets too.

This 100% has spoilers. Also I read with my feelings and I'm not writing this as a review. I'm just writing it for myself so I can come back and read it again years later. It is all just personal feelings. I will be rambling.

So I relate to the two main characters so much in so many ways.

My dad had a lot of Cancer too. He had it three times and got through all three times and then just randomly died in his sleep in his fifties. The doctors never figured out why he died. I have this constant fear that it's genetic and I'm sick and I'm dying of cancers and some unknown thing just sitting there in my dna waiting to off me suddenly. Also my grandma got breast cancer twice, my younger sister had thyroid cancer and my dog had liver cancer. My anxiety about cancer and health problems in general is very bad.

Also I'm non-binary and I grew up sort of the way Jamie did. My parents let me do whatever. It was no big deal. I ran all over the place with the neighborhood boys and we even had sleepovers and stuff. It was all just normal for me and it wasn't until I was much older that I realized the way I experience gender isn't the same as others. I hate that my chest got so big. I have had dreams for over a decade that I would get breast cancer like my grandma did so that I would have an excuse to get rid of them. I've had these dreams before I even realized that there were other options then just my gender assigned at birth. Now I identify as non-binary but I'm not different then I was before. I feel like exactly the same person, but the people around me don't see me as the same now. Which is kinda weird. It's like they must feel somewhat like how Dylan feIt when He found out Jamie was trans.

I just have a different label on the same bottle. Now I don't feel like I need an excuse for anything I do that isn't femininish. I just do what feels right. I'll probably get top surgery someday but for now I'm terrified of surgery in general and especially blood clots. I like to look at before and after pictures and dream though.

Anyways I'm not even talking about the book now, but like I said I read with my feelings. I read myself along with the story and come out understanding myself a little better every time.

These teenagers were very well written. They felt like whole people.

Edit 9/30/22:
I have officially started my journey toward top surgery. I'm planning for 2026, before I turn 40. Going to take the next three years to get my body and mind ready as well as the insurance and necessary diagnosis for gender dysphoria.

So good!! The ending was a little sudden but it still felt right. A good coming of age, slice of life. This one is going in my re-read list because I want to experience it again. I could almost taste Sam's desserts

I cried a little during the scene about internalized biphobia.

Having to dismantle and rebuild the framework your life is built around.

It felt intense.

I felt somewhat feeling emotionally disconnected from the story. So it took me significantly longer to read this one.

Just as good as the first one.

Slice of life, literally. I think the whole thing flowed really nicely. I'm already grieving today so I was in just the right mood for this book. Cathartic. Some of the other reviews said the pacing was too slow I I felt like it could have been even slower. I like to read about people just living.

It's like a hug

This was sooooo good!!! The sequel doesn't come out until June next year

The end felt pretty sudden but it wrapped up nicely.

I haven't read a Fae fantasy in a while. I loved the world building. This was great and I can't wait for the sequel. Also I'm envious of Emyr's horns. The last paragraph was a really great end to the book!

edit: I bought some fake ram horns

Everyone in this book is a well written hot mess. The characters felt real. I really want to see fanart of Sol's homecoming outfit.