NOT A BOOK: The Madness Blooms

there have been others who already mentioned the horrendous marketing that misgenders and deadnames the trans male main character and how the book blurb and previous marketing made it sound like a f/f romance.

and there have been at least two reviews on this book (one on GR, one on twitter) that pretty much confirmed my suspicions: this book won't be good trans rep, or any other kind of good queer rep

actually, i think it might be triggering and harmful for some readers (especially young ones. i wouldnt want a young queer person to read this, especially not if they are trans bc it might leave some lasting, damaging thoughts and images)

and i guess according to this book, queer ppl in the past dont deserve to be happy; instead they all have to suffer and go through traumatizing experiences (that dont ever get resolved properly either, bc who cares, i guess).
its an interesting contrast to her previous books which were always praised for being happy queer historical novels. for a book that was in the works for 10 years... and had sensitivity readers... and it still kept all these harmful tropes... well.
i saw someone describe it as “queer pain porn” and tbh. from what i have heard, that sounds pretty accurate.

i was excited for a historical novel with a trans mc, but god, not like this, nope. lets support ownvoices authors instead

Simple and cute short story about a disabled Victorian man whose sister has hired a housekeeper/companion for him. At first, he's insulted and tries to turn the man away but realises the man needs the income and lodging. They learn to live together and then to like each other, ultimately coming together over a lack of communication (which is often the case in historical MM).

4.5/5 stars

Well, that was epic. Really well thought out story in a well developed fantasy setting. Loved the time loop and the reveal of its mechanics. So many early hanging threads are addressed later in the book, without the story losing cohesion.

Fantasia zero: a tutto viene attribuito il nome dal compito che svolgono nella storia come “L'Organizzazione”, “Il Sistema” eccetera.
Pieno di razzismo e rancore.
Banale tentativo di sotto trama romantica che così scontata manco i film per ragazzine.
Un pieno e completo fallimento.
E poi NOIOSO NOIOSO NOIOSO, al punto che mi sono chiesto diverse volte durante la lettura se lo pseudonimo nascondesse un ragazzino di 13 anni “ribellino”. E invece no, questo letame è opera di un adulto.
Quasi peggio del Mein Kampf, ma ad essere onesti il livello è più o meno lo stesso come d'altronde per i confusi contenuti.