booksthatslay's reviews
220 reviews

Creep: Accusations and Confessions by Myriam Gurba

5.0

My Husband by Maud Ventura

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My Husband is exactly my kind of book! It is translated from French and is told from the perspective of a woman who is obsessed with her husband. The less you know going into it, the better. It is compulsively readable and will keep you on the edge until the final sentence. Hilarious, twisted, deeply unserious, and perfectly camp, My Husband is a new all time favorite. Thank you to HarperVia for the eARC on NetGalley.

Disability Intimacy by Alice Wong

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

An anthology that takes a tender, honest look at intimacy from the perspective of disabled folks. These essays explore the importance of community, caregiving, friendships, and access as they relate to the definition of intimacy. There is a lot of nuances when trying to define what intimacy could mean and this collection does an excellent job of showing the reader those nuances. Alice Wong has a gift for bringing together brilliant minds and compiling collections that will shift your perspective in the best way possible (see also Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century), and this collection was no exception. My own view of intimacy has been changed for the better.

Favorite Essays: “To the You That Used to Be Home: An Anatomy of a Disabled Heartbreak” by Mia Mingus, “Elegy for a Mask Mandate” by Ellen Samuels, “Staring at Curvature” by Travis Chi Wing Lau

Thank you to Vintage for the eARC on NetGalley.

Funny Story by Emily Henry

funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

Funny Story starts out with Daphne about to marry her fiancé, Peter. They moved to Peter’s hometown, Daphne has a great librarian job, and their life is about to begin! But then Peter confesses he is in love with his childhood best friend Petra. Peter and Petra – it’s giving ick! Peter calls off the wedding while Petra breaks up with her boyfriend Miles. With no connections and nowhere to go, Daphne finds herself roommates with Miles. You see where this is going?

I had such a good time reading this. I loved the forced proximity and opposites attract tropes. Emily Henry has this incredible gift to present tropes in ways that feels fresh and new. For example, the chaotic start that led to Daphne and Miles to becoming roommates. This was a fantastic hook at the beginning and something I hadn’t seen done before with the forced proximity trope. And Miles? Smash. That man loves his community and smoking a lil weed. I felt that.

However, the word “chortle” was used a lot. Daphne LOVES a chortle. You’re probably asking how many times it was used. At first, I was like “hmm don’t see that word often, what is that?” and then kept reading. The second time I was like “okaaay, I think I know what it is through context but not 100%.” Then the third and fourth chortles appeared, and I was too embarrassed to look it up – I was in too deep. Then enters the fifth chortle. You win EmHen, ya got me! If you didn’t know, a chortle is a breathy, gleeful laugh. It’s like nobody wants to chuckle these days.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing for the eARC on NetGalley and to Libro.fm for the ALC.

Coexistence: Stories by Billy-Ray Belcourt

emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

A brilliant collection of stories about searching for connection and intimacy in a colonized world told through the indigenous perspective. Some are about love while others are about loneliness. Some contain the horrors of being human and some showcase how beautiful being human can be. Belcourt shines the brightest when he is writing about where queerness, intimacy and connection meet. He just really gets it. He writes with a tenderness and confidence that sweeps me away every time. I know I am in great care when I am sitting with Belcourt’s work and Coexistence was no exception.

Favorite stories from Coexistence: Lived Experience, Poetry Class, Literary Festival, & Various People.

Thank you so much to W. W. Norton & Company for the eARC on NetGalley.

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

5.0

Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

Housemates is a 'once in a lifetime' kind of book. A contemporary, queer triumph. It has everything you could ever want in a book. It's gay, it’s messy, there's found family, there's finding yourself, a celebration of our bodies and what it means to really live in them, a road trip, the meaning of art, the creation of art, failures and successes. All of this is woven together in a brilliant and thoughtful way. It is unlike anything I have ever read before and it will be in my heart forever. I will be thinking about Bernie and Leah for the rest of my life. I loved these characters, I loved their story. Housemates felt like home while I was reading it. This is one you're absolutely going to want to read.

Thank you to Hogarth Books for the eARC on NetGalley. I would also like to thank THE Emma Copley Eisenberg for getting a physical copy in my hands.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

5.0

They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Dena Takruri, Ahed Tamimi

5.0

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

5.0