rogier caprino
Cassie Worthy has summer and her NYC college career all planned out. All the Summer 1991( one year before I was born haha) plans come crashing down when she discovers her boyfriend was seeing someone else when she was busy finishing her high school career. Cassie also gets fired. WTF? This won't stop her, heck no.Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself.
I disliked this book. It was decently written, but felt like a bare bones movie script instead of a novel. It meandered and many scenes would work better as movie montages. This is historical fiction (gasps) but I didn't have any connection to Cassie. She's your standard privileged white girl. Just say already what's wrong dont lie to your parents. They'll get used to it .The faking and misunderstandings weren't cute ,maybe it would have worked better in a romcom. We live capitalistic hellhole, we do our best to survive. I luckily never had nostalgia for the mall, it exists in Suriname but not the enormity like the US. YOU might like it if you have fun memories working in the mall. I might've liked it if it was a movie. Who knows maybe it will. I'm not interested in any other McCafferty book in the future that is certain
Traditions shouldn't be static. This need of Yadriel is strong. Gaining his magic is a hearts desire but his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender .Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself. Aaai, Yadriel summons a dead boy's ghost by accident. And he knows him, it's Julien Diaz. The rumored bad boy of the school. How the heck will they solve this?
This story is colorful it it's characters, scenery and culture. It has a charming cinnamon roll of a lead, Yadriel; a witty best friend more than a cousin Maritza, infused w love to the Latinx culture and a slow burn of a romance. This book about dead gods, ghosts, passing on and dealing with grief breathes life on every page. It does acknowledge the realities of queer pain and queer trauma but it is clearly written from a place of love and joy. You feel that Aiden Thomas had joy writing this, writing about a gay trans guy fitting in the world and falling in love.
The romance is magical. You feel the slow growing tension, see both Yadriel and Julian opening up and becoming familiar with each other. Nothing is forced. Talking about magic, how it is written feels fresh. I had to re read passages again, even the scary high tension ones. Animation is the only medium that can adapt Thomas scenery and how it feels reading his words. A truly warmth glow. Cartoon Saloon is the right choice w latinx creatives heading it of course.
I'm hope that trans people, trans boys and guys will see that they are loved. That they deserve love. This is a joyous book and I can't wait to see people enjoying that same warmth the characters, especially Yadriel and Julian have for each other.
Growing up is difficult for many. Growing up poor worsens it. Adam Lee Binder is Oklahoma trailer trash. The low class of society, which most don't give a fuck about. Adam has been able use the Sight to see the other side; the spirit realm and other planes since he was a child and it happened frequently growing older and to every day in his teens. This causes strain on his family resulting in tense relationships. His own brother and mom locked him up in a psychiatric facility, which they think was good for him. It wasn't. Years have passed and college aged Adam is flung back into his estranged older brother's life. He has to save his possessed sister in law. Lives are at stake and his life will never be the same.
Urban fantasy often has middle to upper class protagonists. This is extremely prevalent in YA. You rarely see rural , lower class or poor protagonists in adult and YA urban fantasy. And queer and this case gay protagonists even less. I love how Adam's social and financial situation colored this book. Slayton crafted a highly traumatized young man with a past who perservers and tries to remain kind. Adam really is a cinnamon roll but boy is he broken. You feel for Adam , want to hug him and say everything will be okay. I immediately liked him on page one and fell more in love chapter by chapter.
Every queer experience is unique and every person is different. Adam is real and was real reading his story. I love how Adam felt like a real guy, had sexual urges but wasn't a horndog. He's fully fleshed person. I would be his friend no doubt. You feel that Slayton cares for every character he created. From smaller to more important.
Every being Adam encountered had a life when they were off and on the page. You jump into action from the get go. Every character is important and helps reveal the story or is revealed throughout the book. The pace slows down at parts to help build character but is never boring and always important.
The love story between Adam and his lover past and present builds organically. You understand why they are a thing. And why Adam has doubts with both because of things and power beyond his control. I love how Adam is low powered. This means winning and defeating his enemies won't be easy. Adam being over powered is less of a thing.Adam has to work with other beings to get things done. Beings that are sneaky. Don't mess with the Fae is all I'm saying. I adore Argent and Silver , high fae , who are maybe or not friends. Magic has a price and Adam really pays for it. I know he will grow stronger, build stronger relationships and heal. Be less broken in his story. I'm in for the ride and thank you Slayton for creating Adam Lee Binder.
Cover talk: It is standard with urban fantasy to have the lead or leads on the cover. I expected it but change is good. I still love the first mentioned cover style. The green and purple fit perfect together. It depicts a scene and I'm looking forward what will depicted the following books
Belle Revolte is a re imagining of prince and the pauper In an elemental magical world. It's french inspired and set a time not yet in the French revolution of a country called Demeine. Emilie and Anette are the nobility and pauper stand ins. Emilie desperately wants to be a good force to the world and be trained and use the noon arts but she's forbidden to. She's girl of nobility, lower ranking but still of nobility and is not allowed. Ladies should be proper and not harm their bodies with strong labour. The switch happens on the ride to the school her mother attended in her youth . The another narrator, Annette is introduced at this point.
I love how the magic is split equally between the Lord Sun and Mistress Moon. Illusionary arts are moon based and the noon day arts sun based. Power drawn from Lord Sun is stronger and more fickle. Immense amounts of power is required to change the world through the fighting and healing Arts. Magic always comes with a price and extreme use can lead to an early died of all the ravages to the body . While illusions, scrying and divinations belong to Mistress Moon. It a safer and slower burn it can not change the world.
I have to address my complaints with this title . The beginning 60 pages were a bore to read . It picks up the after page 70. I do have to say Emilie and Annette got me through it. Although their voices sounds similar I grew attacked to the girls and the bond they shared. I did love the lore and magic system but I think Fantasy of manners or similar fantasy fiction isn't for me. I liked parts but sadly I have to say this book wasn't for me.
I like the idea of dectective and P.I. stories but most contemporary or old pulp fiction don't work for me. Add urban fantasy in and i'm ready to go. This hit me just right.
The cover drew me and i had to read it. Justis Fearsson is illustrated in agony on the cover with his vintage Z-ster in the background. That headache is not of the normal kind and only a select few have to endure every month during the full moon. You see Justis is a weremyste. A practicioner of magic with natural born powers, their power is at full strengh during the full moon but at price. The full moon causes someone to slip from reality , to be disillusioned the sameway with werewolves. This losing of reality are called phasing. Fearsson uses his magic to solve cases but the phasings became to much and had to leave the police force, the same reason his father did. Because his magic is kept a secret the force thinks it was because psychological reasons. Now being a P.I for a few years now a case began again where a politician's daughter was murdered by magic in a similar way other victims where.The poor on the street living youth and sexworkers is a stark contrast.
can fearsson stop the sorcessor
I immediately liked Fearrson the first page. He's doing his best, he might not the strongest using his magic but boy is he resourceful and not a quitter. I love how Coe wrote him. Coe characterised him as stand up guy without being a ‘ nice guy'.
Fearsson is similar to dresden but without the dresden sexist tendencies and eye fuckery. I love Harry Dresden but you have to admit Butcher writes him in away that is very male gazy when he's around female characters. This is where i'll stop comparing Fearrson to Dresden and only focus on Jay.
We see Jay grow in his magic and as character and I can't wait to see him grow further in the rest of the trilogy. Jay has a great support system in Kona, Namid, Billie and his dad to a lesser extend. His best friend friend and former parter in the force, his magical ghost mentor and what could potentially be his female love interest in the future, respectively.
This is a very grounded urban fantasy. It sparks joy everytime i see that magic has different colors in books. Jay has glimmering Aqua green, it was a treat to imagine when reading.
The magic used through will power, mental images ( elements) and words. Magic users' individual magic glows and has a halo effect on objects and the user.
A Zuni practioner has a large part in the novel. The Zuni ( A'shiwi) are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. Namid is Jay ghost mentor and was his father's mentor before him.
Being indiginous myself i pay close attention to how people like and similar to me are portrayed.I'm Lokono and not from the Zuni nation and can't speak for how they portrayed. It appeared respectful to me at least. Jay uses his quick witt to his advantage to deveat his more powerfull enemies but he could never have done it alone without Kona and Namid.
Not only has Coe written an amazingly entertaining book, and proven that urban fantasy doesn't have to have constant profanity & sex scenes. I appreciate the craft in written sex scenes but was shocked after putting the book down having read none. I'm pro sex positivity but being ace is difficult in an allosexual focused world. Spell blind was a pleasure to read and i can't wait to finish the trilogy and to read more about Jay , his adventures and about his close ones.
Stray thoughts
I love how Coe added queer representation with Kona. A bad ass Black lesbian cop and i hope to see more of Margarette and their relationship in the future. I loll'ed internally reading the jay & billie date scenes. Jay was so adorable around her, intrigued and scared how smart she is. She's a reporter.
I often try to imagine KJ Apa ( my favorite actor , Gyllenhaal 2nd ) playing a character after reading a book. I never imagine him as the character when reading. He would be a great Justis, a problem is he's to young. Jay is in his early 30s and KJ is only 22. Who knows what could happen in the future.
???It was a heat that didn???t just melt tangible things like ice, chocolate, Popsicles. It melted all the intangibles too. Fear, faith, anger, and those long-trusted templates of common sense. It melted lives as well, leaving futures to be slung with the dirt of the gravedigger???s shovel.???
Summer has lots to offer. It depends were you life what will be. Summer should be a fun time with family and friends. The summer of ‘84 in Breathed, Ohio is different. Attorney Autopsy Bliss is the cause of it. He invites mr morningstar in a sarcastic manner after a chase did not go as he wished. His request has been answered. It's a shock because were a cloven hoofed biblical figure should be a thirteen year old black kid with the oddest green eyes shows up claiming to be the devil himself. The authorities can't find his family looking for him and he ends up staying with Fielding Bliss and his family. Fielding Bliss is the narrator and tells his story summer of 1984 story somewhere in the future as an older man.
Tiffany McDaniel's debut is shelved on goodreads as a magical realism adult novel. The magical realism aspect for me at least is in the setting. I love how Breathed, Ohio breathed heavily as if it was out of breath of the heat. Haha, a pun. The book shows characters that have monstrous capabilities. The citizens display how mob mentality happens. Racism, homophobia, fear of AIDS, agoraphobia, child abuse and religion are shown not heavy handed and are done in a non preachy way. This book has brought me out of an reading slump. A 6-month reading slump, the agony. McDaniel's writing is amazing. Although it it hit me hard emotionally i'm glad i had the chance to read. I will definitely re-read it in the future. I can't wait to see what will be next.
I had an enormous slump the past few months an in order to get back into Dresden's world i figured why not pick up the omnibus. It was great re-reading the first two in comic book form. I forgot a few things but those are minor. I love how the art is drawn and seeing Harry drawn on paper strengthens the hots from this guy( roro) for Harry. I do hope that the other novels will be adapted to the comic medium some day . It will take a while , haha.
I amost wanted to give up on summer knight. I lost interest after marathon reading the Dresden files. I also forgot things about this series after the long break. The tor re-read blog posts helped a lot. I think that I'm more a fan of the undead , ghouls and shifters than the Fae in this series.
The burn out and not loving the Fae as much resulted in a 3 star rating. A highlight is the stronger bond between Harry and Murphy
really enjoyed it . it began as a 3.5 and came to be a 4.5 in the end ^_^
My thoughts
??????I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me?????? excerpt 2nd cor. 12: 7-10
As the saying goes , ??????every family has its cross to bear??????. As does the Powell family. One of the crosses looms above Jake Powell. The pk; preacher kid. He has a drive for Journalism but his career choice is already determined, to be a preacher. Playing by the book is about Jake accepting himself and personal growth. At least he does IMO.
Religion and to be precise, the Christian faith is of importance in this book. I did not find it preachy but you may. So be wary of that. I grew up in a Christian household and I now when it gets preachy. I hate the bigoted way that my family members/former church goers are of opinion that homosexuality is a ???sin??? or a ???choice???. If you???re a BIGOT stay away from it.
THINGS WORTH MENTIONING:
(+) It gave me a peek at how living at a dorm maybe. I???ll be going to the university this fall and will not be staying at a dorm because there aren???t any. * exited but also scared to go to uni* #HistoryDepartment
(+) It is nice to see the pov of a gay Christian. This is an oxymoron to some. I???m all for people that want to be closer to God. But ??????curing?????? gayness is a criminal act to your true self. And I???m happy that Mr. Shirley did not chastise Jake. A life without romantic love or any love for that matter is a sad and lonely one. Can???t people not see that gay love is not ,just about sex and lust.
(+) Jake???s story felt realistic. Jake could be a real person whereas the characters from girlfriends with boyfriends by Alex sanches were not. Sanches??? characters were bare bones if you would ask me. Playing by the book has a more flamboyant male that is only seen once or twice. I???m bringing this up because even though we know little of the more flamboyant character, he???s did not feel like the token flamboyant guy.
(-) Mr. Shirley stop using Brah. I glossed over the dialogue or used bro in its place every time Sam Horowitz, love interest used it. JEEZ
(+/-) It was tough for me to read about the self-hate (of which I have to a degree and gladly has lessened), suicidal thoughts and suicide attempt ( I???m thankful never happened) and coming out process I really had to put down the e-reader/phone at times because it got to emotional.
(+/-) I feel like sam was less developed than Jake and wished it was not so. But besides that a good loveable character none the less.
In conclusion I truly love this book and fell in love with the characters. I hope that if people read that they will feel the same. And that my furure coming out will not be a train wreck. It is unlikely. Top reason; the bigotry in the church and my peeps being part of the church
