bisexualwentworth's reviews
764 reviews

Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

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

4.25

I read this shortly after Camp Damascus so kind of can't help but compare them. Bury Your Gays was MUCH stronger in the character department (I loved/hated the supporting characters and antagonists), and I also loved the plot, themes, and worldbuilding (by which I mostly mean where the monsters came from). I understand the choice to include the scenes that were written in screenplay format, but unfortunately they didn't quite work for me. I think the idea has legs, but the execution wasn't quite it. The resolution also didn't quite work for me, but otherwise I very much enjoyed the book and got a lot out of it. I would highly recommended to any queer writers/film workers/TV fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Homophobia

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

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

3.75

Unfortunately this is my least favorite Aiden Thomas book. I still enjoyed the prose and the characters, but something was off with the plot, and the holes in the worldbuilding really shone through in a way they didn't in The Sunbearer Trials. I was also expecting a very different romantic subplot for Niya than the one we got, and it felt like missed potential. Still satisfying and enjoyable overall. 

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

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

3.0

I wish I liked this book, but unfortunately, it really didn’t work for me. The pacing was weird. The stakes didn’t quite line up. The main character felt unrealistically ignorant and slow on the uptake, which made me feel like I was reading a lower middle grade book rather than an upper YA one. Lots of good elements here, some of which I really enjoyed, but I don’t think this author is for me.

Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings

5.0

Excellent look at the evolution of fatphobia in the West over the past 500 or so years, particularly the ways in which it was born from and intersects with slavery, anti-Blackness, and misogynoir. Sabrina Strings draws a thread through Renaissance art, eugenics, health fads, and more to give a complete picture of where our current societal attitudes toward fatness came from. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in history. 

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

fast-paced

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

4.5

Excellent look at religious homophobia and the horrors of conversion therapy that centers a character at a surprising point in her relationship to her queerness. Some of the lore didn't quite make sense, but that was okay. I loved how Rose's autism came through in the writing style. It was very friendly to me as an autistic reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Religious bigotry

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

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

4.0

Fun and gay and silly.

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

• 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

4.5

Really excellent remix of Little Women. I loved almost all of the choices. I just wish it had been longer.

More complete thoughts are in the So Many Beginnings Episode of the It's Super Important! podcast. 

Mooncakes Collector's Edition by Suzanne Walker

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Very cute and gay and seasonal. Would recommend.

Mort by Terry Pratchett

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Honestly, I get why people recommend Mort as an intro book to the Discworld. Here, for the first time, the world feels fully-fledged. Things are going on that are unrelated to the main characters, the main plot, or anything we have seen before, and at the same time, the elements we've already seen are twining together with the new ones. The world has started to have a true identity with rules and lore and history outside of satire or one-off stories. All of that is excellent.

Unfortunately, I cannot stand Mort. He might be my least favorite Discworld POV character. He annoys and bores me by turn. And the plot of this book is only fine. Fortunately, Death mostly manages to make up for it, and it's still a fun read despite some unfortunate moments of misogyny etc.

Favorite quotes:

•  "Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten." 
•  "[Priests are always telling folk how much better it's going to be when they're dead. We tell them it could be pretty good right here if only they'd put their minds to it." 
•  "Mort had imagined that Death's handwriting would either be gothic or else tombstone angular, but Death had in fact studied a classic work on graphology before selecting a style and had adopted a hand that indicated a balanced, well-adjusted personality." 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.

Returned to library. Hopefully I'll have the stamina to read the rest of it at some point soon.