moonyreadsbystarlight's reviews
576 reviews

I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya

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informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

This is a short but potent meditation on misogyny, drawing on the author's personal experience. She describes violence she experienced from men before and after transition and the impact of that violence before also discussing women's role (including her own) in perpetuating these violences.

Parts of this are in first person and others were in second. That shift to second person is a powerful literary decision because of the discomfort that it brings, putting you in the shoes of men who have hurt her. And it makes the later (first person) discussion of how even people who aren't men contribute to misogyny that much more hard-hitting. 
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The Sprite and the Gardener by Rii Abrego, Joe Whitt

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hopeful lighthearted

4.0

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 I listened to the audiobook at the beginning of the year and then reread it in physical form. I fucking love this book. To see my initial thoughts, I do have a review up for the audiobook specifcially (Though I will copy/paste so that the reviews are visble on both editions).
 
 Upon reread, I was able to really dig into things that I didn't notice on my first read. I knew it was really queer then, but I really got a good look at how the queerness is woven into everything: into Andrew's perspective and so many themes.
The relationship between Eddie and Andrew is queer all the way down; not just queer as in not heterosexual, but queer as in defying labels -- ineffable -- both before and especially now that Eddie is a ghost. Looking at the haunting and lore around the curse, there is a lot (from my perspective - though I am not an expert on the genre) that gets turned on its head in a very queer way. Andrew is brought into the curse through his connection with Eddie, not through marriage or blood relation, but through a horrific twist on the idea of a curse passed on through bloodline. Another queer element is the blending of so many lines (making Andrew's surname - Blur - more than apt). Lines of relationships, of living and dead, of Andrew and Eddie themselves, of the themes of haunting and heartbreak and desire and suppression, of dream and wake -- I could probably go on but I will stop there.
 
 
 There's so much about this that is devastatingly tender while also being raw and terrifying and unsettling as hell. There are so many details about this that I don't know how to articulate. But I am so glad that I did a reread and I already have other things that I plan on looking for when I reread it again. 

ORIGINAL REVIEW: 
 
 I was fairly excited about this when it came out -- the promise of queer spooky shit that reviewers I trust were raving about. But I was concerned because this isn't a genre I frequently read. It absolutely did not disappoint. 

The first couple of hours, I was undecided. The characters seemed brash and unlikable (and the cheesy, wavering southern accent from the audiobook reader did not help). But at a certain point, the depth of the characters and the layers that were created in the story started to show and I was completely hooked. 

This is a spooky southern dark academia, certainly. But I didn't expect such rich things happening with the characters and other parts of the story. This is full of messy people making questionable decisions. That raw vulnerability of messy queers in lit fic was absolutely here, and more than that, it was tied in thematically. The specter is what you discover it is through the lore, but it is also very much the ghost of permanently unrequited love -- a shadow, the result of (of course) death, but also of the unspoken, the unlived -- the fear and dissociation of homophobia by way of toxic masculinity. 

This hits on other themes as well through the story, looking at corruption in academia and of wealth that is accumulated through death -- the (tied) legacies of white supremacy looking at old wealthy families and university. There is so much more I'm sure I could unpack given the time. 

Looking at the characters, while they were certainly unlikable, they were complex and that built as the story goes on. I ended up really loving them and wanting to dig more into their characters and know what makes them tick (which often resulted in me pausing to speculate on what their birth charts probably looked like). 

This is absolutely a book I intend on rereading and annotating, so maybe I'll wind up with an essay about it eventually, but this should be more than enough until then. This was such an incredible read and definitely surpassed my expectations. 
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Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan

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adventurous funny lighthearted

3.0

After a post-hookup falling out, ex best friends still have to work at their mothers' ice cream truck. It's up to them to get it to an important event. So friends or no, they have to embark on a road trip that will make or break their friendship. 

There were lots of cute things about this. I loved the premise and the ice cream puns, and an opposites attract dynamic can be adorable. The writing style was quirky with little fourth wall breaks that were fun. I also think this book does a good job discussing consent. It is sex-positive and centers consent, but there isn't graphic sexual content, which I think makes it more accessible to some readers. 

However, a lot of this book hinged on miscommunication that just lasted way too long. I do think that *some* of that miscommunication would have made sense for the book, but it went on too long and was frustrating. I definitely think that it could work for some readers, but maybe not for me. 

If you're looking for a cute summer romance with discussion of friendship and ice cream puns, and are okay with/enjoy miscommunication in a romance plot, definitely pick it up. 

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 
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The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

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reflective

4.0

 I reread The Great Gatsby right before reading this and had such a fun time analyzing and seeing the parallels between them. As a retelling, I'd give it 4.5+ stars. The pacing, the detachment, some specific thematic elements were absolutely spot on. They even use some dialogue from the original. 

This is a difficult book to rate because some of the issues that I had with it honestly made a lot of sense because it's a retelling of Gatsby. I'm not sure that I really like Gatsby as a story, but I really enjoy analyzing and criticizing it. And this responded to some of the things that I thought about in my reread of Gatsby. In particular, I really love the queer elements that were added. Not just the fact that it was queer, but the way that the scenes and the relationships between the characters were done was really great. This also looked at race and racism, which was a problem that I had with Gatsby. The way that it approached it was quite realistic considering all of the context in the story. 

However, some of the issues that I had with Gatsby also showed up here. I can't fault the author for it because I think it was a good choice to make for the retelling even if it isn't in line with my preferences as a reader. There were a lot of different fantasy elements that were added to the 1920's setting. While there was a little that was explained, there was a lot that wasn't. I'm not a reader that really needs that much world-building explained to enjoy the book, but the lack of context was even distracting for me. That being said, the original also has elements like that, so this is probably just recreating that. Additionally, even if the specifics aren't elaborated in, the thematic resonance in the fantasy elements is really excellent. 

So, I have complicated feelings about this work. I wouldn't recommend it to every reader, but I had a really great time with it going from a more analytical perspective with the original in mind.     
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Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

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emotional

5.0

More Nick and Charlie!

I think this was done really well, even if some of it was painful (because they were working though issues). It was good to see them work through that sort of issue. (This next part I won't put details but it might be more spoilery since this is a shorter work)
The argument that they had, while it is largely miscommunication, I think the way that it was built up made it more realistic to me. But that might be because of personal experiences.
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This Winter by Alice Oseman

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emotional

5.0

 I loved this focus on their sibling dynamic and the realistic way that mental health (and people's reactions to it) is portrayed. If I weren't in a post-Heartstopper serotonin-induced stupor, perhaps this would be more of a 4 star, but I'm emotionally compromised and can't bear to give it less than 5 stars. 
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Heartstopper Volume 4 by Alice Oseman

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emotional
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This series continues to be everything!!!!
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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reflective
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I reread this for the first time since my first read through around 2008/09. I may come back and write a proper review later. This is a story full of unlikable hypocrites, which does not make it bad all on its own - I love a good unlikable character. The mix of pretty and undetatched prose was interesting and if I had more of an interest, it's something that I would have looked at more. The thing that makes rating this difficult though is the racism. There is a certain amount that seems intentional to further themes within the story, but there isn't enough in-text discussion that addresses it directly. I'm still mulling over my thoughts on that. I have a lot of mixed thoughts about whether or not I actually liked it, but perhaps that experience is compelling enough because I am glad that I reread it. 
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The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

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emotional informative reflective

4.0

This was a really interesting book. He explores the history of trauma treatments and his own history as a mental health provider. I do wish that there was more acknowledgement of trauma from systemic violence or how systemic factors that influence trauma. He did recognize some of them in the last chapter, mentioning some things like healthcare, poverty, and briefly mentioning the inequalities in the prison system. He also mentions intergenerational trauma some in the book, but it would have been good to see a discussion about broader inequalities, especially since many impact people starting at such a young age. It also would have been good to have more discussion of ADHD/autism and trauma besides the cases he mentions of ADHD being incorrectly diagnosed to some people who were exhibiting behaviors because of trauma. 

There was still a lot in here that I really liked and was helpful for me. There are so many aspects of trauma and the healing process that are really valuable and it serves to counter quite a few myths and negative attitudes that I have heard from people who are uninformed about trauma. And it definitely makes me want to look more into EMDR and other treatments outside of just talk therapy. I definitely see why so many people recommend it so highly. 

Definitely read with caution of potential triggers, though. I see this recommended a fair amount and most people who I've seen that tote is as *the* book on trauma to read don't mention that the traumatic events are laid out in a fair amount of detail. This includes traumatic incidences during war, sexual assault, incest, torture, neglect, alcoholism/substance abuse, and death.

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