Jake

there is so much to say about how much i loved this book so firstly ill say my obvious critique. i definitely think the age gap in the main relationship could have been easily avoided and i am only choosing to look past it because of the paranormal fantasy nature of the character that it involves and how their relationship gets explained throughout the book. it is the one thing that i wish i could change the entire time because it was otherwise a perfect book for my interests. it was uncomfortable for a portion of the book and i just wish this part of the story was different.

other than this, i am properly obsessed with this book. this is one of those books that i am pained about never getting to read it for the first time again but simultaneously filled with love and joy to have gotten to experience it. this story, and specifically TJ Klune's writing, had me GRIPPED every time i picked it up. i knew that if i had decided to read it that night that i had to be prepared to have enough time to read at least 100 pages because i never wanted to put it down. there aren't enough words to say how much i adore the love, yearning, and PASSION that the two love interests have for each other and it is such a breath of fresh air to read about it in the context of a young gay relationship. the story was constantly moving and never dragging or slow but also never confused you by moving on to the next thing. it was filled with action but allowed so many moments of intimate stillness as well. i wish i could read a full series about the relationship of these two lead characters, i never wanted their story to end. i will truly miss getting to read another story through Ox's narrative.

i was hoping for so much more. the writing was wildly inconsistent, sometimes producing beautiful lines but then following them up with cringey lines that are entirely too modern.

“I don't want my death; i hadn't come this far to die. Deep, deep in my heart, all I wanted was for Perseus to do what Stheno had said: to see me for who I was - not a myth, not a monster, but an eighteen-year-old girl who cooked a mean octopus stew and loved her dog.” LIKE???

it also changes the end of her story from the original myth which is fine but there felt no reason for it. i wish that this had explored more of how deeply traumatized Medusa is and exploring the effects of her being raped and punished for it too, it lacked perspective and depth. at least it was short and a very quick read.

I have only been familiar with the Jean Anouilh adaptation of this play and I have to say I was astonished with how easy it was to read but also how much more dramatic and narratively strong the circumstances are in this original version. I regret not giving this one a read before now! Definitely the most easily digestible ancient text I've ever read. The story and circumstances presented are perhaps more poignant today than when it was written, considering the current political climate.

Medea has been one of my favorite characters in the history of literature for many years now and yet I never actually got around to reading the original ancient greek text written by Euripides until now. I know the Robinson Jeffers play adaptation nearly by heart and have read numerous mythological retelling novels about Medea and I think that Euripides' original version of this character is so cunning and fierce in all that ways that I have wanted from other versions.

Euripides wrote so many fantastic and descriptive lines of text in this play. I couldn't wait to read Medea's next line because her words were so impactful. The story is so iconic which is why it has lasted and been retold over two centuries, and I couldn't agree more with that impact. I think this is a staple in literature and is a must read for all.

- “To me, a wicked man who is also eloquent seems the most guilty of them all, because he knows he can dress up murder in handsome words.”

- “To say what I have to say will ease my heart; to hear it said will make you wince.”

- “Let no one think of me as humble or weak or passive; let them understand I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies, loyal to my friends. To such a life glory belongs.”

Britney's story is heartbreaking, emotional and baffling and she is no doubt a completely resilient person for all that she has been through while still maintaining compassion for those who have wronged her. However, I felt the writing was completely underbaked and never reached a deep perspective or reflection of the effect that everything had on her. Everything was super rushed, it felt more like a quick recap of her life rather than exploring the effects that each traumatic event had on her ability to be a functioning person. I wish that i'd could've dug a little deeper.

what a queer fantastical little joy this book was. i have not read the apollo series (at least not in a long time) so i was not familiar with the character of Will but i was familiar with Nico from the original percy jackson series and i absolutely loved getting to see much more depth and character growth from him. it was refreshing to read a YA queer romance that had mature dynamics and issues and choosing to be together even when it was difficult rather than everything just working itself out. rick you have done it again.

This book may have taken me a bit to work through but that truly is no reflection on the content of the book and more so reflects the time I have had to dedicate to reading as of late. In fact, there were parts of this book that I liked even more than the first in the series which is one of my favorite reads of the year. I just absolutely adore the world that TJ Klune has created in the Green Creek series and I truly never want it to end. I would read 10+ more books in this series focusing on different characters and their love stories. Living in the head of Gordo Livingstone for this one was particularly fun for me as I can certainly relate to who he is and how he presents himself as a very guarded and lonely man with a jaded demeanor. I loved the narrative device of switching off every other chapter with telling stories from the past and the present until the meet in the middle and then continue the story. It was a fantastic way to learn the background and origin story of Gordo and the other characters while still being able to further the story that was established in the first novel. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series, but truly I never want this to end.

I was nervous to give Jennifer Saint another try after I really did not like Elektra but I thought I might give her another chance since I enjoyed her debut, Ariadne, so much and WOW I am so glad I did. I am not a quick reader and I devoured this in 3 sittings. Atalanta's quick wit and fierce voice makes her a character you want to root for from start to finish. Jennifer's beautiful one liners spill off the page and stick with you in the best way. And I adored the ending. This could be one of my favorites of the year and one of my favorite retellings of all time.

Though I craved more nuance, character development, and overall just MORE from these characters and their role in each of their stories, I found this book very enjoyable. It is very rare that I enjoy a split perspective book but I found that all 3 of these women had equally interesting storylines and were all equally enjoyable characters which is very rare in split perspectives. Though the subject matter is very intense and uncomfortable, the author found a way to create a comfortable space in the setting of a cottage with a connection to nature that I absolutely loved. I loved that not only were the 3 narrators related but that all of their stories connected with each other and I loved the concept of legacy in this book. I also really enjoy reading stories about witches that are not your typical spell casting sorceress but rather a scorned woman with a connection to nature.

TW: rape, sexual assault, physical assault, abuse, suicide mention, abortion, etc.

heartbreaking. raw. honest. read it all in one day which i don't ever do. very digestible and follows the story of her life in chronological order. massive trigger warnings for anorexia and bulimia.

The story of the book is very captivating and interesting yet the author failed to keep me captivated and interested all the way through. I am a huge fan of Jennifer Saint's previous book, Ariadne, this one didn't live up to that one's beautiful writing. Reading a split perspective book can sometimes be confusing but this one was especially confusing with there being 3 different perspectives. The beginning started off very strong and lost me in the middle and the end as well. I probably would've enjoyed it more from one perspective. All that being said it is still a well written book and I did enjoy a lot of it. There are some really beautiful lines and I enjoyed hearing the story of the Trojan war from a women's perspective and from the Trojan perspective. Clytemnestra's storyline was the most interesting by far for me followed by Cassandra and then Elektra so for Elektra to be the title character was odd for me. Elektra was very one dimensional and by the end I didn't know much about her besides that she loved her father and wanted revenge on her mother. I went into the book excited to learn about Elektra as I didn't know really anything about her and I think the book could've benefitted from a title change as it would suggest it's Elektra's story when it was really the story of at least 4 people.

an interesting yet somber read that i wish i could've loved a little bit more. the auto-fictional story that reads like a memoir follows the life of Young Park, our narrator (note the author's name), while he lives his life as a gay man in a big city in his 20s and 30s and all of the trials and tribulations that come with that as well as his struggle with becoming HIV positive. the story is split into 4 parts and the first part was my favorite following his dynamic between him and a best friend. unfortunately each part was not as great as the last and the last 2 parts were very slow. i think a lot of people can relate to this character, it is a very real and accurate depiction of an average queer person coming of age but it felt very sad at times and not in a way that i love to read. Young never truly finds love in the big city and though he is much older by the end of his story, he fails to become any wiser.

adorable sweet cheesy gay rom com and an easy read. pretty much perfect for what it is. it's not trying to be anything it's not. though i do think there was some room for nuance and complexity in some of the storylines that could've taken it to another level. still a great read.

i really enjoyed this one once i adjusted to it. i feel it drops you right into the story instead of setting up what it is which can be quite confusing but thankfully that melted away after a few chapters. i would have loved to read this from Amara's perspective rather than 3rd person. i think that would have added a lot of depth to the trauma and female rage that is explored throughout the book. though there isn't a lot of plot, i highly enjoyed reading about these women and their relationships with each other through trauma bonding and being forced into an awful nightmare of a situation. i also think that at times the writing and dialogue came off too modern and i had to remind myself that we were in the ancient world at times. this is part of a trilogy but it stands alone as its own book very well!

One day I hope to find a love as deeply connected as Arthur and Ben. I didn't want this book to end and yet it had the most perfect ending that left me in tears.

this book was incredibly relatable in its themes of existentialism and longing for purpose in a life of repetition and burn out. it was incredibly cozy and warm and felt like a fuzzy blanket at times. for me it sometimes felt like a chore to get through which is odd for such an incredibly short book. part of its difficulty to read is as knowing that not much story was going to occur along the way, i tend to struggle with books that are more about the vibe than an eventful story. nevertheless i still enjoyed it and found it adorable yet profound.

I absolutely adored this book. TJ Klune has such a wonderful way of writing that just fills you with warmth and transports you to another world full of heart and whimsy and magic. A beautiful exploration of growth and life after death in a cheesy heartfelt way that had me shedding many tears.

this is my first time reading this series in full and i decided to read in chronological order rather than publication order, simply because that's how my box set was numbered. i'm glad i started with this one because it gave me a lot of interesting things to think about that were origins of the iconic story of the lion the witch and the wardrobe that we all know and love. great quick read!

This book feels near impossible to describe but I will try my best. The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions is a fantastical fable rooted in the history of queerness between the Stonewall riots and the AIDS epidemic. It explores solidarity, anti-patriarchy, feminism, and anti-capitalist ideologies elegantly through one of the most unique voices and story structures I have ever seen (and in only 112 pages). We are introduced to a small handful of whimsical queer characters for a short period of time and get to view beautifully unnerving illustrations as we make our way through the story.

The author dreams up a fantastical utopian future where all marginalized people can live together in harmony without men. In many ways, it reads as a manifesto and almost religious text for the queer community. This is perhaps one of the most important queer texts I've ever read and I can't wait to read about the history of the book post-publication in 1977.

“The strong women told the faggots that there are two important things to remember about the coming revolutions. The first is that we will get our asses kicked. The second is that we will win.”

“She grows up feeling wrong, out of place, too dark, too, tall, too unruly, too, opinionated, too silent, too strange. She grows up with the awareness that she is merely tolerated, an irritant, useless, that she does not deserve love, that she will need to change herself substantially, crush herself down, if she is to be married. She grows up, too, with the memory of what it meant to be properly loved, for what you are, not what you ought to be. There's just enough of this recollection, alive, she hopes, to enable her to recognize it if she meets it again. And if she does, she won't hesitate. She will seize it with both hands, as a means of escape, a means of survival. She won't listen to the protestations of others, their objections, their reasoning. This will be her chance, her way through the narrow hole, at the heart of the stone, and nothing will stand in her way.”

It's been a minute since I've cried this hard at a book. I will admit that it took me a minute to really get into this book, the first half dragged a bit for me but once I passed the threshold into the second half, I read the rest in one sitting. Maggie's writing just melts into your skin in ways that few authors have been able to do for me. We've learned so much about Shakespeare and talked of him so much over the years but know so little of his family so this story, though fiction, was a breath of fresh air.

oh my god i absolutely loved this book. casey mcquiston absolutely nailed the chemistry of these two characters from the jump and was able to flesh out their personalities and their growth as people together. the side plots of politics in two very different countries aided to the story so well. this book was fun, steamy, raunchy, cheeky, beautiful, fast paced and one of the best YA romance books i've read. i cant wait for the movie!

I just adored this book. Though it is certainly YA and at times I was cringing at the more juvenile material, most of the time I was smiling ear to ear. It usually takes me months to find the time to read a full book but I devoured this within a week. The characters are so lovable and you find yourself rooting for them the entire way through. This book taught me a lot too. I'm excited to read the sequel.

This was my second read of Circe by my favorite author, Madeline Miller and I believe it not only is better the second time but you also understand and relate significantly more as your grow. Circe is a complex character and it is beautiful to read of her story and watch her mature through thousands of years in time. The last few pages wrap up everything flawlessly. Miller's words are poetry to me. I cannot wait to read what is next.

The last maybe 75 pages made it worth the read and were my favorite part of the book. I felt such a deep connection to the characters by the end of it and was heartbroken even though we all know what is coming. A very well written YA novel and I am always so happy to read about queer love.

I am not really a fan of slow burn novels and this didn't feel like a book that should have been a slow burn since it all happens over the course of a day and there is a significant urgency that needed to be had for this particular situation. That being said, it made the pay off of romance that had been building very rewarding. I wish the romance had happened way earlier though. The writing wasn't sensational but was done well especially for the target audience.

Halfway through, if you told me that this would have ended up as a 5 star read, I would have never believed you. It felt important to me to read Maurice as it feels like such an iconic part of LGBTQIA+ history and literature, but, I found such trouble in liking the actual story itself until the conclusion. The actual story of Maurice is almost bland and can be described very easily. Though it has its profound moments, I don't think this novel was made iconic for its story.

E. M. Forster wrote from the eyes of a character that was so insufferable and mostly unlikable that I was struggling to appreciate anything about the story and this was a good distraction because I was quite taken aback by the growth of Maurice by the end of the novel because of its subtly. The story itself is not really anything special and in fact, not much happens. But the growth of Maurice as a character was stretched out so discretely that it caused me to have quite an emotional attachment by the end of it. He begins as a stiff, classist, uptight, snooty, terrified boy and ends as a man who fully accepts himself and his sexuality regardless of the societal implications or even the legality of it.

The thing that brings this book from an okay story to an iconic piece of literature is how it came to be and the circumstances in which it was written. This book was published in 1971 and if that is when it was written, I think how it is remembered would be much different. But it was sitting in a desk for 58 years before it was ever published. In the novel, we live through Maurice's struggle with self-acceptance of his homosexuality because of how culturally sinful, and even illegal, it was in edwardian London. Much like the reality that E.M. Forster found himself before writing this novel in 1913. Forster wrote this book for himself and made a plan for it to only ever be published after his own death. Forster did not seek to publish this book due to the public opinion of same-sex relationships. It was illegal for men to privately engage in homosexual acts in England until 1967, 3 years before Forster passed away. Forster decided to keep this novel hidden until it could be published posthumously for his own safety.

I found that the most interesting part of this entire book is the Terminal Note, written by Forster himself, where he explains his inspiration to write the book and breaks down every single nuance that went into crafting these characters and why he didn't feel like he could publish his book yet. I especially found his conviction to write a happy ending to be profound, especially reading it over a century later when queerness in media is STILL represented by a majority of traumatizing stories.

“A happy ending was imperative. It shouldn't have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood. I dedicated it ‘To a Happier Year' and not altogether vainly. Happiness is its keynote - which by the way has had an unexpected result: it has made the book more difficult to publish. Unless the Wolfenden Report becomes law, it will probably have to remain in manuscript. If it ended unhappily, with a lad dangling from a noose or with a suicide pact, all would be well; for there is no pornography or seduction of minors. But the lovers get away unpunished and consequently recommended crime. Mr Borenius is too incompetent to catch them, and the only penalty society exacts is an exile they gladly embrace.”

I feel like I could write an entire essay about this so for now I'll just say that this was an essential read.