anastasiac's reviews
8 reviews

An enjoyable sappy romance with hard hitting themes. If This Gets Out is a must read for any young queer

Ruben and Zack, both members of a booming boy band. But things are start to fall apart due to both management and tensen with some of the members.

(I was given this book as a ARC or Advanced Reader Copy given through NetGalley as an audiobook for an honest Review. All of these thoughts are mine and at no point was I pressured or swayed in my opinion)

This book comes out 07 Dec 2021. This is a LGBTQ Teen/YA

This book went above and beyond. 5/5 stars
I went into this book expecting a rom com about some boy band members. But what it gave me was so much more. This book gave me the the romance that I wanted, but it also went into some hard hitting themes that I wasn’t expecting. But these themes where all the more welcome. They added so much to the story, all the while being true to things that actually do go on in real life music industry.

You don’t have to be a boy band fan to give this book a read. Definitely recommend

The Band Members Of Saturday
Ruben, Zack, Angel, and Jon are all the members of the boy band, Saturday.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters in the band. Each had their own personality and quirks that made them who they are. All of them able to be distinguished from each other and reacting to the other characters differently.

Jon being more cautious, type A personality, Angel being more of a wild child, Zack being the more cautiously sweet type, and Ruben being the perfectionist. All of them fun to read and see how they interacted with each other in scenes and to the things that were happening around them.

Speaking of the things happening around them.

The Plot and the hard hitting themes.
The plot of this book is the boy band and management surrounding it.

I felt that this book portrayed boy bands and the politics around the music world that surrounds bands perfectly. While this book is a romance book (Which they did perfectly might I say. So cute I loved all of it) the things happening within the band due to outside forces of the music word kept me hooked.

They portrayed these real world things that happens to bands in the music world perfectly and tastefully. From fan bases, shipping, archetypes of band members, to controlled narrative of the band members. And most of all it portrays how this affects people within the industry.

All wrapped in a happy ending.

Give this book a Read if you like adorably awkward romance and hard hitting facts on the music industry
I myself will definitely be picking up my own physical copy of this book when it comes out in december so that I can have it in my hands and on my shelf. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book and will definitely be going back to this book in the near future. The perfect read from the romance and themes. All the way down to the side characters.

No aspect of this book I disliked.

The Dangerous Kingdom of Love by Neil Blackmore

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adventurous funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Francis Bacon, currently on the outs with King James, begins a series of plots to get back into his graces. But these plots have consequences.
(I was given this book as a ARC or Advanced Reader Copy given through NetGalley as an audiobook for an honest Review. All of these thoughts are mine and at no point was I pressured or swayed in my opinion)

This book comes out 15 Jul 2021

This is a adult, LGBTQ+, Historical fiction

Francis Bacon wants power
But Carr, lover and current favorite of King james is in the way. Worst he is plotting to get Bacon out of the way.

But Bacon won’t just take this lying down. He will live to plot another day. He just has to find the right way to go about this. Just a little time and he’ll have his own plot to get what he wants.

And he might have found the perfect person to use to get his way
But the person that he set up to remove Carr? He might turn out to be Bacon’s own downfall if he doesn’t watch his step.

And the kingdom of love is a dangerous. And it can lead to anyone’s downfall. But Bacon refuses to let something like love make him fall. He refuses to fall.

This was a all around 5/5 for me.
This book was written in a way that kept me hooked and made for an enjoyable read. I could not put this book down, needing to know how the plotting of the characters where going to go.

Even knowing how history plays out doesn’t change this.

The Characters were enjoyable to follow
Neil Blackmore’s writing of the characters made me stick around. Every character was fun to follow. None of the characters were boring to be in a scene with.

Even the villains were entertaining to read. And Bacon, our POV characters, thoughts and inner monolog about the characters around them made for good entertainment.

But the plot what was what made me read this in one sitting
I could not put this book down.

All the schemes that where running were interesting and made me want to stick around to find out how they were going to end. Who was going to come out on top

And when one scheme wrapped up, another one just as interesting took its place. I was hooked to the very end.

Speaking of the ending.
The ending broke me. This is a historical fiction with real life characters, so you can guess how things play out.

But even with that in mind Neil Blackmore shifted things enough that things didn’t play out exactly how history does. And when it does go the way that it does in history, how we get to those events where interesting and changed at places.

And so the ending broke me. But it wasn’t just because of how history plays out.

Toward the very end a revelation comes out that shook me to the core. Now some people might be able to have seen this. And might have taken this revelation in from the very start of things. But I didn’t, and it made me take everything in, in a different way.

This will make any re-read a new experience if you didn’t get the revelation (Like I did) making this a book that you can take in more than once.

So please give this book a change if any of this is your thing.

Because I definitely will be coming back to this book an some point.

Content Warnings

A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow

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adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the stoning changed things for Naema who suddenly being cast as the villain. But as she rebuilds again she realizes what it means to use her platform for good.

(I was given this book as a ARC or Advanced Reader Copy given through NetGalley as an audiobook for an honest Review. All of these thoughts are mine and at no point was I pressured or swayed in my opinion)

This book comes out on June 1st.

This is a solid 4.5 stars
I don’t know how the author did it but she did. she made me love Naema. That is to say, she made the antagonist from the first book fun and enjoyable to read while still making her the same character she was in the first book. All of this making this book enjoyable to read.

Naema life has turn itself the wrong way round
After the stoning it’s like she is in an alternate universe as suddenly she is being cast as the villian and being dragged online by her fans for calling out a siren.

And nobody. Not her friends, her boyfriend, or her fellow Eloko seems to understand what she is going through. The stoning affected her. And nobody seems to understand that.

And to sum up that is pretty annoying to deal with.

As she goes about her life things aren’t the way that she wants them to be
Naema isn’t living the life that she wants, but Tavia seems to be living it for her. And that’s just great, I mean the person who got her stoned is getting movie deals and all the attention? While she, the victim is getting dragged on the internet and losing her platform? Yeah that seems fair.

But it’s okay because Naema isn’t going to let that get her down. She is going to rise up. And Tavia? She’ll get what’s coming.

But as she builds her self and platform backup some realizations hit Naema
And that realization? As she starts to build herself up again back up again, the new fans that she is surrounding herself with are starting to become a little suspect.

And when they start to targeting fellow black girls Naema realizes that has to use her platform for good. and doing that? being able to make changes in the world that can actually do some good might actually be the way that Naema wants to go.

The audiobook was great to listen to.
The audio side of listening to this book was great for immersing into the story. This book is narrated by Cherise Boothe and Eboni Flowers and they did the perfect job with this story.

The voice actors brought life to this story. As a result the voice of Naema was perfectly used in a way that fit the character. Able to perfectly portray the character in all her mean girl glory without making her completely hateable in a way that would make me want to quit listening.

And I am not even getting into how the narrators are perfectly able to use the slang that is filled within this book and feel the age that they where. So the audiobook is definitely recomendable.

I Loved Naema even if I kind of hated her at times.
Naema is a perfectly hateable character. For the things that she did in the previous book. And for her self obsessed parts of herself in this book. Though Bethany C. Morrow was able to write Naema in a way that still made her likable and someone that I wanted to succeed in life and grow to be a great person that I felt she could become.

Not to mention that Naema had depth to her that showed more of what she goes through and shows some of the reasons that she grew into the person that she is today. A lot of those reasons? The world that she grew up in.

Speaking of the world
I loved the world in the first book. Filled to the brim with magic and lore that I wanted to sink my teeth into. And this one was just as filled the last one.

In this book we got more insight into the Eloko, who in the first book we saw as the people that everyone couldn’t help but just love.

This book goes more into depth into them as people along their magic. We learned more lore on how there magic works, and into them as people. All of which was a joy to learn.

I mean I am always down for more lore.

The conclusion was also satisfying to say the least
throughout this book I wanted to see Naema grow as a person. I wanted to see Naema be the person that I knew that she could be.

And really, I wanted to see her succeed.

And the ending didn’t disappoint on that front. I loved how it ended and how everything was wrapped up. Everything that I hoped the ending would be? It was that and more.

So if you’re looking for more from A Song Bellow Water that give this book a change. Maybe even pick up the audiobook.

And you can find out where to pick up this book HERE

Content Warnings

Ternary by Kristin L. Stamper

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adventurous dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Living Post AI Human War. Elora, an illegal half android on her way to a trial for her life stumbles into something that changes everything.

(I was given this book as a ARC or Advanced Reader Copy given through NetGalley for an honest Review. All of these thoughts are mine and at no point was I pressured or swayed in my opinion)

Trigger warnings:
This book contains: Physical Assault, Graphic Violence, Medical Harm, Character Being Treated As ‘Other’/Less Than Human, Physical Restraint, and Torture

This is a solid 4.5/5
Ternary is a sci fi book with prominent LGBTQ characters in the cast. They coming in the form of both a gay character, and a Bi one. Both playing important roles in the story.

What can I say except that this book kept me hooked the whole way through. Consequently, at no point while reading this was a bored or pulled out of the story. I never felt the need to put this book down.

Elora Cussons our sarcastic snarky protagonist
On her way to a trial to determine her humanity, Elora is not willing to put up with others bullshit. She has enough of her own to deal with thank you very much.

This trial will determine if she is giving the right to be seen as alive. To be seen as something worth having free will. Therefore you can say she’s a little bitter.

In other words, can you blame her for being snarky when everyone around her clearly sees her as some object? a ‘Tin-Man’ if you will. Or sees her as some type of object to get something they want.

Like saving a crew member that has got themselves stuck in a place that humans can’t reach.

But saving Lieutenant Fuentes leaves some complications
Well she finished the mission to save Lieutenant Fuentes. All under duress of it being good for character moral for the trial. Of Course Elora is now in a predicament that leaves her in some trouble.

Sure Elora saved the day, became the hero of the hour. Whoop Dee Doo.

However, the mission didn’t go perfectly smooth. And it left Elore coming out of this mission with some complications that she can’t shake.

And these complications? They leave her already rocky life spirling as she gets caught up in someone else’s love story.

Above all, none of this she has any time for. Not when her life hangs on the opinion of a mass that believes that she is an abomination.

This book kept me hooked
throughout this book I was unable to look away needed to know what was going to happen. I was at no point pulled away from the story or wanted to put it down.

This book had me on edge throughout. Action pact moments leaving me tense as I read, needing to find out what was going to happen.

I felt the anger at characters for their actions toward Elora. Them seeing her as less than and a danger to society as whole.

Not to mention the author’s great job of writing Elora. Which left me able to see how this affects Elora and feel for what she is going through.

Speaking of Elora, She was a thoroughly enjoyable character to be with
Elora was a very in depth character, with her flaws on display just as much as her virtues. I can say that Elora is a complex character that was very well written.

What I enjoyed most about Elora was that she always has something to say. Most of the time in the form of a snarky or sarcastic comment.

Elora never misses a moment to say something, and it left me entertained while reading this book. Her tirade of constant remarks making a entertaining read.

But don’t be fooled into her not having her soft spots. Because she has those too, just waiting for a moment that she can let them free.

Now if only the world could quite beating her down she could let them loose more often.

Speaking of the world, The world building was alive and ripe with things to discover.
This book was filled with world building and and things. All of which adds to the story.

At no point while reading this did I feel like the information was redundant or filler not their advance anything. moreover all the information added up to make the world that I was experiencing more real and lived in.

This world lived and breathed and I enjoyed my time with it to the very last page.

By the end of the journey with this book I wanted more
To clarify I very much enjoyed my time with this book. And reaching the end of the book left me satisfied with the characters arc and how it concluded.

But This book did leave me lingering, wanting more.

I wanted to stay and continue to live with these characters even at the end.

In short, I can say that this is a book that I can recommend. Especially if you are a fan of Sci Fi and enjoy prominent LGBTQ characters. And great complect characters all wrapped around a snarky protagonist.

Content Warnings

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anastasiac's reviews 8 reviews

anastasiac's reviews
8 reviews