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bisexualwentworth's reviews
764 reviews
See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Violence by Jess Hill
3.0
Incredibly well-researched, and a lot of the information was useful. Unfortunately, the analytical framework was incredibly lacking, and I felt like the author could have done a much better job of putting the threads together and reaching new conclusions based on them. The very best chapter, Chapter 10, focuses on violence against indigenous women and on the legacy of colonialism in Australia and the United States. If this lens had been extended to the rest of the book, it would have benefitted hugely. Unfortunately, the author just didn't quite go far enough in terms of critiquing the police and discussing white supremacy's role in domestic violence across the board. There was also a lot of weird anti-China bias? Still a useful, if difficult, book that I would recommend to a lot of people. Just lacking in some areas for me.
A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wish I’d liked this book more. I LOVED D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding. This one just seemed kind of… incomplete?
What I liked:
What I liked:
- The characters were fun and vivid.
- The diversity was great. I was especially thrilled to have an actually butch main character.
- The dialogue was snappy.
- I loved the opening chapter and the lens it lent to Cyn’s character.
- The discussions about community were really lovely.
- The sex scenes were many and varied and all of them were enjoyable.
What I didn’t like:
- We didn’t see anything of the characters’ friendship before they got the hots for each other, and the inciting incident for the mutual attraction felt very random, so I kept asking, why now?
- SO MUCH TELLING and very little showing of any kind, especially when it came to Jucee and Cyn’s friendship.
- The drama with Jackie was resolved off page and that was incredibly dissatisfying for me.
- I have a limit for how much miscommunication I can handle, and this book more than hit it. The leads’ inability to communicate drove me up the wall and made it really hard to root for them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia
Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
3.0
It was fine. I had fun. Not much in the way of character development, but there was some for Grover. Also random Sally backstory? That was fun. And lots of wild Hecuba lore. Otherwise just a silly adventure featuring familiar characters and a ton of timeline inconsistencies. Honestly, I would think the book was ghostwritten were it not for the fact that a ghostwriter probably would have kept better track of which characters were alive/had which weapons/etc at this point in the timeline. Or at least would have done some cursory research. Definitely not Rick Riordan's best but I did have fun.
Blue Rose: The Age RPG of Romantic Fantasy by Stephanie Law, Chris Pramas, Jeremy Crawford, Jack Norris, Steve Kenson
Excited to run some version of this at my local game store.
Brooms by Jasmine Walls
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
New favorite graphic novel. Everyone should read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation
Moderate: Violence
The Fate of Stars by S.D. Simper
Things I didn't like:
Overall, would recommend if the description sounds good to you. It is what it says it's going to be, and I always appreciate that in a book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Was this book good? Not necessarily. Did I enjoy it a lot? Yes. It's very tropey. Very sapphic dark romance the little mermaid.
Things I loved:
Things I loved:
- Bisexual mermaid!
- Stone butch lesbian princess!
- Godpunk!
- The narrative definitely has empathy and respect for sex workers.
Things I didn't like:
- A lot of the prose.
- The names were just kind of challenging for me. Typical of this sort of fantasy, but challenging.
- Unquestioned authority of royalty.
- Excessive mentions of and threats of sexual violence/rape to prove that the world is dark. This could have been used in tandem with other types of oppressive violence much more effectively than this book did.
Overall, would recommend if the description sounds good to you. It is what it says it's going to be, and I always appreciate that in a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Alcohol
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.
Not in the mood currently. Will resume when I am.
My Story Can Beat Up Your Story: Ten Ways to Toughen Up Your Screenplay from Opening Hook to Knockout Punch by Jeffrey Schechter
Very useful writing advice. I felt like I was taking a class with a very good teacher who I didn't really like as a person. Would recommend if you're looking for frameworks for compelling storytelling, especially for feature films but also generally. Basically all of the advice in this book is applicable to novels, and a lot of it is also relevant to TV, short stories, plays, etc.
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
- 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
A very satisfying conclusion to the duology. I preferred book one as a story, but there was a lot to love here. I liked the multiple points of view, especially the one that starts vague and confusing and becomes clear as the book progresses. Spent the whole book rooting for the gays, of course. The plot just kind of felt like something I'd read before, maybe because it was a probably deliberate (and I think fairly effective) riff on the ending of Ender's Game, maybe because it just felt too paint-by-numbers. The characters were what breathed life into the unoriginal plot, and I loved what Martine did with them. I'm definitely excited to see what she writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, War
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
- 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
4.5
I'm glad I waited until the whole series was out to start this one because THAT ENDING!
I loved the worldbuilding and the characters. The multiple religions felt fleshed out and made sense for the setting, as did the conflict that sprang from those religions. I loved that there was no true villain and that both Serapio and Naranpa were simply following the path that had been set out for them and doing their best with it. I also loved that the cultures we encounter in the book had varying attitudes to gender and sexuality as well as other cultural differences. Fantasy is so often either based in a fully homophobic and misogynistic world or in a fully queernormative one, and this approach makes so much more sense.
I do wish that the supporting cast had been more fleshed out. Iktan is the only non-POV character who felt fully fleshed out. I think that was mostly down to length, though. This book could have been 100-200 pages longer, though that might have slowed it down too much. And I did like the group scenes we got a whole lot (the ones with Xiala's crew maybe being the weakest of the lot).
I was expecting Xiala to be my favorite character because she's the sort of character I normally love and cannot get enough of, but while I quite enjoyed her, Naranpa was far and away my favorite. I adored her and spent the entire book rooting for her -- not necessarily for the sun priests and co generally, but very much for Naranpa in particular. And they're both bi! Truly a win for us all.
Excited to continue with the series!
I loved the worldbuilding and the characters. The multiple religions felt fleshed out and made sense for the setting, as did the conflict that sprang from those religions. I loved that there was no true villain and that both Serapio and Naranpa were simply following the path that had been set out for them and doing their best with it. I also loved that the cultures we encounter in the book had varying attitudes to gender and sexuality as well as other cultural differences. Fantasy is so often either based in a fully homophobic and misogynistic world or in a fully queernormative one, and this approach makes so much more sense.
I do wish that the supporting cast had been more fleshed out. Iktan is the only non-POV character who felt fully fleshed out. I think that was mostly down to length, though. This book could have been 100-200 pages longer, though that might have slowed it down too much. And I did like the group scenes we got a whole lot (the ones with Xiala's crew maybe being the weakest of the lot).
I was expecting Xiala to be my favorite character because she's the sort of character I normally love and cannot get enough of, but while I quite enjoyed her, Naranpa was far and away my favorite. I adored her and spent the entire book rooting for her -- not necessarily for the sun priests and co generally, but very much for Naranpa in particular. And they're both bi! Truly a win for us all.
Excited to continue with the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny