moonyreadsbystarlight's reviews
576 reviews

Don't Be a Drag by Skye Quinlan

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  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

 I had a really good time with this! This had some good discussion of mental health, community, and diverse drag. There was a bit of the tension that felt a bit forced and some of it played out a bit unrealistic. But honestly, I didn't mind much while I was reading. It was very YA stylistically* and those parts weren't outside the realm of what is expected for that. It also includes a lot of pop culture references, which can be an issue for some readers but I tend to like a good reference and I enjoyed how most of them were incorperated. Over all, I really liked it! 

*that's not a negative, just sort of descriptive of the writing style. I quite like this style when I'm in the mood for it. It's earnest in a way that adult lit rarely is... but I digress.
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Rat Bohemia by Sarah Schulman

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emotional reflective sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This multi-POV story peers into the lives of a group of friends living in NYC in the peak of the AIDS epidemic. This looks at the wounds of familial abandonment faced by many queers during this time, more general community disconnect in the face of such tremendous grief, and the trappings of nostalgia. These characters are imperfect, loudly messy, hurting, and in all in need of love and going about it in a myriad of wrong ways. The writing is unique and the style shifts with each character in a way that appears quite disconnected at first, but so many things really came into focus for me in the last part.

I have so many thoughts about parts of this. The way it describes disconnect while also showing connections in the characters' experiences, many of which go unacknowledged. It's also interesting reading more books from this era and seeing similarities, not just in content around the AIDS epidemic, community, and family, but the specific emotions that are evoked. The emotion that is distilled with such intensity in Gifts of the Body by Rebecca Brown is unmistakable in here. That feeling is so intense and situated so particularly in that historical moment. And yet, it struck me as I was reading this how uncomfortably familiar some of the disconnect is to the moment we are in as well.
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Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding by Maia Kobabe

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informative reflective

4.5

I loved this! I loved that it talks about binding safety and shares a variety of people's experiences with binding. But more than that, as someone who has done human sciences research, I was so stoked to see this as a mode for presenting research! It's accessible to so many people, you're sharing the stories that people want shared, and contextualizing it all with practical information and ways to reflect. I love this and I want to see more like it (and I want to make things like this tbh) There are some things that I wish they went into more, but over all, this was cool! 
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Restart After Growing Hungry by Cocomi

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hopeful lighthearted
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Restart After Coming Back Home by Cocomi

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lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

Trope-y and sweet! Heavy-handed grumpy/sunshine with several other classic tropes sprinkled in alongside some unique back-story. Would have liked for it to be a bit longer/drawn out. But overall, it was cute
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It Did Happen Here: An Antifascist People's History by Alec Dunn, Moe Bowstern, Erin Yanke, Julie Perini, Mic Crenshaw, Celina Flores

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hopeful

5.0

I have a huge soft spot for oral histories -- and have recently seen some really great and some not as successful ways people have put them together. It Did Happen Here is definitely the former! I've spent the bulk of my reading time this month focused on this and I'm really glad I did.

This is a history of antifascist activism in Portland, largely focused on subculture in the 1980's and 90's. This is full of input from people across these scenes at various points during this time. The chapters each focus on a different event, group, or issue that was big during its time including the murder of Mulugeta Seraw, outside communities organizing with Portland, and individual groups like Skinheads Against Racism and the Coalition for Human Dignity.

Going in, I had a vauge idea that Oregon had a racist past, but didn’t fully understand how intense it was in recent history. I had a much better understanding of racism and the radical right of the South, but clearly (as the title suggests) it definitely did happen here as well. It was really enlightening to see how people did react to that and seeing the reflection of what worked and what retrospectively was really missing. 

This is absolutely a book that remains relevent, especially with the political turmoil of today. The insights on organizing here is vital and can be translated in so many other areas and types of groups. 

This was a fascinating and well-done book. And to make things better, they have all of the interviews in full on a podcast! So, I have something to listen to as well that can add to what they were able to include here. 
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Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha

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emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

This was an incredible collection. Like all good poetry, it bring you right at the heart of the emotion which makes this collection particularly devistating. The author shows snippets of his story growing up in Gaza under the terror of occupation as well as those of his family and community. The writing itself was beautiful and the style and inspiration varied. For instance, some poems alluded to other authors and their works, while others included photography. 
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How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones

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emotional reflective

5.0

This was amazing and beautifully written. This begins looking at the author's childhood and his experience as a gay Black boy in the south. It focuses not just on his understanding of sexuality, but how that impacts many relationships in his life. The middle goes into his time in college, more fraught in understanding how he relates to himself. Throughout the whole book, he has mentioned his mother, but the last section hones in on this relationship at the end of her life. 

I can't begin to really talk about how impactful various parts of this were for me. Suffice it to say, this was incredible and moving. 
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Deprog #1 by Lisa Sterle, Tina Horn

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dark mysterious tense

4.0

Rating individual issues is hard because they're so short. But, I know I really liked the art and I'm hooked - definitely ready to read the next issue 

I was sent an ARC by the publisher for an honest review.
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Girl Haven by Lilah Sturges

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adventurous
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

Parts of this I really liked, other parts I had mixed feelings about. It had a neat adventure in a portal fantasy and I like how it approached the MC's gender and gender journey. I also liked some of the side characters.

However, I wasn't too sure about parts of the story including the resolution.
it's not super surprising that a middle grade would choose to go in the direction of loving someone instead of fighting. Could have been more nuance to that end of things or explanation, but it is a short volume. While I get where it was going with the boys in this, I don't think parts were clear enough, so I get why some people may be confused about parts of the messaging. It tried to spin it as the boys weren't all bad, but it wasn't super clear on that and we didnt get a strong resolution around it.
I am also curious to see how Black readers responded to this. I found it weird that the only Black character in the book was characterized as angry/grumpy, while the others in the friend group had very friendly dispositions. 

I really wanted to like it more. Parts of it were really endearing, but it had its issues and was a bit rushed. 
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