biblioleah's reviews
260 reviews
Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante
3.0
There were a lot of aspects of this book that I enjoyed. The characterization of the side characters was very well done, there were many beautiful lines, and the writing itself was just very genuine and raw. The audio narration was fantastic, and having the author narrate their own book was such a genius move. I did have two main critiques while reading, and the first doesn't necessarily have to do with the book but the marketing. The majority of this storyline explored sex and art and queerness and community. These are all very valid and important themes and topics of discussion, but there is a large shift that happens in the second half where the book becomes pure erotica. Very little plot happens (despite it already mostly being Vibes before) and it is just graphic sex. There are emotional conversations and discussions of trauma, but the fact that this isn't really marketed as erotica is not the smartest move as I foresee a lot of readers going into this not expecting/wanting those graphic scenes. Again, this is not really a fault of the book itself but the shift was jarring enough that I wanted to point it out. The second note I kept having while reading was the story structure itself. It just did not feel like it knew what it wanted to be. The book is split in two parts and they don't feel as connected as I would have personally liked. The switch feels very out of the blue and suddenly we have new characters and relationships we are supposed to care about but we just don't because three pages ago, we cared about completely different people. I also wish that the author either leaned in MUCH more towards the memoir nature of the book or just dropped it completely. This did not at all read like a memoir to me which was a bit disappointing seeing as how memoirs are one of my favorite genres and the concept of a fictionalized one was so fun. It just felt like I was reading erotic literary fiction. Which is fine, and also a genre that could be enjoyable, but the memoir aspects would pop up every now and again and take me out of the story completely. There were only a few parts that were told in the "present" aka the fictionalized collaboration between Hazel Jane Plante and the narrator/main character of the story, and the flow would have benefited from either more of them or none of them. In the end, this was an alright reading experience and I would probably pick up another book from this author, but the execution of this particular story unfortunately fell flat.
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
2.0
aspects of this book that frustrated me: beginning with how horrible morgan was to everyone throughout the entire book. i also hated the emphasis on how it was unfair to not come out publicly. not everyone CAN come out and these narratives that the only way to be happy and in love is to be out are just so irritating. that being said, if you do keep your relationship secret it doesn’t give you an excuse to treat your partner so poorly (morgan was very selfish and never cared about keltie’s needs ever. also there was no reason she needed to join in on her friends bullying her???). the outing scene was painfully bad and there were barely repercussions to the individual who did the outing. everyone who ever did wrong in this book got away so insanely easy and yes i know it is YA and a simpler plot but it felt like no one actually learned anything. to end my critiques of this story, i just felt that the conflicts were truly ridiculous at points. the miscommunication trope shone in the final third and it was just so unecessary? also why did morgan feel like she could just go and tell keltie’s sectret to people like do you have no concept of how bad that is??? anyway i understand that the messages i received from this are not intentional and i could be reading too far into it but i think it’s a valid perspective to have. i just wish there were more queer stories out there where the conflict and resolution are not SO dependent on coming out or being outed.
Supper Club by Lara Williams
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
got to a point where i was like why do i want to finish this again? why am i still reading when i know i’m not enjoying the plot or the commentary or the characters and am just feeling uncomfortable with the triggering content? anyway yeah this one was not for me.