11/13/2020 0 Comments Boyfriend Material by Alexis HallBoyfriend Material is the perfect mix of humor and misery, quirky friends, heartbreak and a sweet fake-dating plot. I loved the snarky, British humor and I immediately rooted for the two main characters. And I loved all the emotions. Behind the humor and the somewhat thin plot there were so many feels. So much angst, self-loathing and fear of getting hurt. This story truly proves that opposites attracts and that love works in mysterious ways. Luc and Oliver are literally complete opposites of each other and have absolutely nothing in common. At least on the surface… Luc is the son of a famous rock star, who abandoned him when he was just a kid, but that doesn’t mean he’s spared the gossip tabloids or the fake friends trying to take advantage of his fame. Disillusioned and miserable he constantly screws things up. Finally, a compromising photo threatens to make him loose his job. So he needs a very reputable and cultured fake boyfriend to show he’s reformed… and Oliver is as nice and normal as can be; a barrister and an ethical vegetarian who’s never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. When he’s in need of a partner for a big family even, the fake-dating scheme is on. At first, it’s as awkward as could be expected as they have no common ground and pretty much have no clue why the other acts like they do. But soon the fake-dating scheme starts to feel dangerously much like real-dating...
This story is so sweet and funny, I absolutely adored the British humor with all sarcasms, bantering and the stiff upper class and dung beetles fund raising jokes. There are some truly amazing secondary characters, like Luc’s mother and her lady friend, the posh and completely clueless co-workers, the groups of friends and the great queer representation. But what makes this story so special are the two main characters and all the feelings behind the humor. Luc and Oliver are so multilayered that they feel like real people, with all their flaws, baggage and shortcomings. I rooted so much for them both from the start and loved the two of them together. They are both struggling with low self-esteem, trust issues and angst. Even though this story on the surface seems like a cute, fluffy read, there’s also so much angst going on. Luc and Oliver are both lonely and miserable in their own way, but they both make such a journey and learn so much from each other. Especially Luc’s character development is nothing but amazing. All in all, this is a cute and hilarious story that also gives you all the feels. Highly recommended! Rating: 4.5 snarky stars rounding up to 5 Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Alexis Hall
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11/11/2020 0 Comments The Burning Kingdoms by Sally GreenThis is the third book and conclusion to the wonderful and adventurous The Smoke Thieves series that takes place in a fantasy world that resembles Game of Thrones quite a bit, with fights for power, wars between kingdoms and a magic twist with demons and the hunting for demon smoke. “Fight to the death and then keep on fighting.”
Just like the previous two books, The Burning Kingdoms was a fast and easy read with action throughout; with the all-out war that has erupted and the threat from the unstoppable boy army fueled with demon smoke that evil King Aloysius is creating. But plot-wise, this was definitely the weakest of the three books and the characters felt flat and the pacing off somehow. The story was still told from the five POVs Catherine, Ambrose, Tash, Edyon and March, but I was disappointed in the small part that Tash got. She’s been my favorite character from the start; this seventeen-year-old demon hunter was such a badass, strong and shining character in the previous books that it was impossible not to fall in love with her. So the story definitely got weaker when her part was so limited in this book. I also felt that it was unfortunate that the five characters were split apart again and that the relationships that had formed in the second book were not evolved but rather put on hold here. Still, it was a very solid and enjoyable fantasy story, with a great world building and an interesting take on demons as victims. And I really enjoyed the ending, I just wish for some more suspense and a slightly more addictive plot to get there. Rating: 3 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Catching Jordan is a cute and enjoyable read about a girl football player and her ambition to get a scholarship to play ball in college. For Jordan Woods, football and her teammates are her whole life, and she’s determined to get a scholarship to play ball in college. And to get the approval of her hard work by her dad, the great NFL player Donovan Woods. But when Ty Green comes to the same high school and gets a position as a quarterback in the football team, threatening her place in the team, her leadership and her dreams, suddenly things get complicated. Especially since he makes Jordan’s legs go weak and her stomach go wild with butterflies… I really liked the storyline and the uniqueness of Jordan’s character. I adored Jordan for her toughness and her ambition, for standing up for herself and her love for football against her dad and for the way she bantered with the teammates, but also for being insecure and vulnerable about getting “girlie” feelings for the new teammate. But on the other hand, I had problems with her immaturity. It really felt out of character for her, who had been surrounded by half-naked boys in the locker room her whole life, to suddenly fall apart when the new cute guy just looked at her.
Speaking of the guys in the locker room though, I loved Jordan’s relationships with her teammates and how they treated her with respect and were so very protective of her should any opponent try to hurt her. But then again, their obsession with casual sex didn’t make sense and felt like too much stereotyping in the way they talked about screwing the cheerleaders. The romance part was enjoyable, but I never really fell for Ty. Their relationship felt a bit forced and there was just something about Ty that left me feeling cold about this character. So, I was so happy for the twist at the end… The parts I loved the most about this book were Jordan’s development of friendships with girls, her supportive brother and the relationship with her best friend, Sam Henry. I totally adored their relationship, their banter and how they always wanted what was best for each other, even though it meant getting hurt themselves. Overall, Catching Jordan was an enjoyable, fast and light read with cute characters and a new take on the teenage high school jock theme. It’s just that it had the potential to be so much more, which left me feeling a bit disappointed in the story. Rating: 3 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Miranda Kenneally 11/7/2020 0 Comments Runed by Kendall GreyThis first book in the Asgard Awakening series is such a fun, queer and totally hilarious retelling of the Norse mythology set in the 21st century. Waking up about a thousand years after Ragnarok, Loki can’t feel his balls... because, it turns out, he’s been reborn as a woman. “I shake my head as I trip over the wire stretching across the punch line to this cruel joke.
I’m a woman. The trickster god Loki, son of frost giants, father to the beasts that brought down Allfather Odin and Thunder-Bringer Thor, who masterminded and personally delivered an end to the entire world, wrapped up in a pretty, bloody red bow has finally been bested. Well. I can’t say I didn’t have it coming.” Loki has not only been reborn as a woman, he’s also lost his runes and is no longer a God. With the help of Icelandic archeology student Gunnar Magnusson he sets off on a journey to the west (America) to retrieve them. In their wake they have a chicken spy. Yes, chicken spy! It’s Odin’s raven Huginn who has been reincarnated as a chicken and commanded by Odin to spy on Loki and stop them from getting the runes back. Huginn was such a wonderful side kick, and the banter between Loki and Huginn made me laugh out loud at times. I also loved the sweet, strong and handsome Viking Gunnar Magnusson and how he followed Loki on the crazy adventures even though he was sure that she wasn’t playing with a full deck of cards… There’s also a great secondary character in Gunnar Magnusson’s queer friend Freddie, a lot of twists and surprises, and a cliffhanger that will make you crave for the second book. Starting to read this book I had no idea what to expect, but it really blew me off. The story is a completely unique urban fantasy comedy. It’s well-written and very fast-paced (I read the whole book in just a couple of hours!) and the humor is hilarious. Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ebook copy and the opportunity to find this new author and unforgettable book! Highly recommended to anyone, also those who don’t normally enjoy fantasy books! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Kendall Grey 11/4/2020 0 Comments The Happy List by Briar PrescottThe Happy List is such a cute and heart-warming m/m romance story about falling in love with your best friend and about awakenings; to realize that things you’d taken for granted in your life might not be what you actually need or want, and about being brave enough to risk losing it all for love and happiness. Gray is the responsible, somewhat repressed, lawyer who’s always done what’s expected of him, even though he’s not very happy neither with his career nor his girlfriend. He’s never really done anything crazy or unplanned. Not until he turns his girlfriend’s proposal down and starts realizing that his best friend Kai might be more to him than just a friend. Why else would seeing him with another guy feel like being stabbed in the heart?
Kai on the other hand has been in love with Gray since they were teenagers, but has finally gotten over it and won’t do anything to jeopardize their friendship. But that’s getting harder and harder to pull off when Gray’s looking at him in a new way… I loved Briar Prescott’s writing style and the wonderful dynamic between Gray and Kai (even as friends). I loved their banter and the humor, and not to mention the chemistry… It was absolutely sizzling! There were also some really great character developments. I loved the way Gray realized he was not happy at his work, and how he’d never had any real feelings for anyone but Kai. His character development from repressed and stuck in a job he doesn’t like just because it’s what his brother expects of him, to a person who is willing to take risks and put his heart on the line was amazing, and his mix of demisexual and bisexual awakening was so well and realistically executed. I read this book in one sitting, it was so addictive and I rooted so much for the characters that I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the very end! There isn’t much angst in this book though. No unnecessary drama just for the sake of it, which I really appreciated. Falling in love with your best friend and trying to navigate the way through a new relationship is overwhelming enough. All in all, The Happy List is a fast-paced, light, funny and sweet friends-to-lovers tale that will make you smile and warm your heart! I truly recommend it and can’t wait for the second book in the series! Thank you NetGalley for the ebook review copy in exchange for an honest review. Rating: 4.5 stars rounding up to 5 Get your own copy: Amazon Author info: Briar Prescott 11/3/2020 0 Comments All Out by Saundra MitchellAll Out: The No Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages is a collection of queer stories by YA authors such as Elliot Wake, Sara Farizan, Alex Sanchez and Mackenzi Lee that takes us on a journey through time and genres and discover a past where queer figures live, love and shape the world around them. As always in collections like these, there is a spread from absolutely amazing stories to some not as fantastic. But all in all, there were so many wonderful, sweet and heart-warming stories with characters to root for that I’d love for this book to be twice as long, so that I could get more of the narrative and characters! My three favorite stories were “Every Shade of Red” - a retelling of Robin Hood written by Elliot Wake as a band of queer misfits and with Robin not being quite the person we all thought he was, “The Secret Life of a Teenage Boy” - a story about a teenage boy coming out in the 1960s by Alex Sanchez, and “The End of the World as We Know it” – about finding the courage to tell your best friend how you truly feel, written by Sara Farizan, but there were so many other stories too that I’m sure everyone could find at least one that would be right up their alley.
“Sometimes, in a thunderstorm, a lance of white fire would spear down from heaven and split the stone heart of an ancient tree, a crack that seemed to come from the core of the earth, you could feel the skin of the world tense against it. Robin’s kiss felt like that.” - Every Shade of Red, Elliot Wake All in all, four stars for this wonderful collection of diverse stories that range across different cultures, time periods and identities, and I’m really looking forward to the sequel! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Saundra Mitchell A Darker Shade of Magic is (as the title hints at) a dark and gripping book full of magic. It has a completely unique world-building, with four different Londons that just a few magicians can travel between, and a unique plot with morally gray characters, blood magic, evil royals and almost no romance at all. I have to admit though, that this book was a bit slow for me in the beginning. I don’t know why, but it really took me a while to get into the characters and world-building. With four different worlds with different kind of magic and atmosphere, it took some time to understand the differences between them and which persons that belonged to which world and why the main character Kell was travelling between them. It was also a bit difficult to get to know Kell at first, as there were so many aspects of him (thief, almost-prince and magician) that were hinted but not fully explained until later. But about halfways, when Lila entered the story for real, it turned into such a wild, fast-paced adventure! She really made the story shine! I loved her badassery and I loved the dynamics between Lila and Kell, even though I had hoped for a little more romance, since the chemistry between Lila and Kell felt so real and really made me ship them. But I’m hoping for more of that as the series continues…
So, all in all I really enjoyed this story, but I wasn’t as swept away by it as I had hoped for. But it’s a solid 4 star read, and I’m definitely excited to continue this unique series! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: V.E. Schwab 11/2/2020 0 Comments If You Say So by Teagan HunterIf You Say So is a gripping second-chance M/M novella about two best friends falling in love, but then falling apart and trying to find a way back to each other. It’s a story about acceptance, bravery, and forgiveness – of both yourself and the person who has hurt you. Even though this story is only about a little more than 100 pages or so, it’s so full of emotions, grief, anger and (sexual) tension that it’s quite a heavy read. In short, it’s about Nate and Blake, who have recently broken up after being friends forever and lovers for two years, and who are now struggling to deal with the aftermath of the mistake Nate made. Can they still be friends or are they over for good, even though they both obviously still love each other?
I loved the glimpses we got about how they fell in love, but I would have love more of them as a happy couple and not quite as much emotional turmoil and break-up misery. But all in all, it was a gripping, sweet and enjoyable read that I truly recommend! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Bookshop.org Amazon Book Depository Author info: Teagan Hunter |
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September 2023
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