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deepbutdazzlingdarkness's reviews
305 reviews
Good Vibes Baking: Bakes to Make Your Soul Shine and Your Taste Buds Sing by Sandro Farmhouse
5.0
HUGE plus right off the bat: unlike other cookbooks I’ve received from NetGalley, this one is actually formatted as an e-book instead of being a PDF so I can easily read it on my phone! I also love that it has both US and UK measurements.
His voice was so entertaining, the pictures are great and make the food look so gorgeous and delicious (although I do wish there were photos of all of them). I saved sooo many recipes from this and I can’t wait to try some of them once I have all my baking supplies on hand. I like that there’s different levels of skill and time/effort recipes in here and in fact I saved so many that I might actually end up buying a copy for myself tbh.
Thanks to NetGalley and DK for the digital copy; all opinions are my own.
His voice was so entertaining, the pictures are great and make the food look so gorgeous and delicious (although I do wish there were photos of all of them). I saved sooo many recipes from this and I can’t wait to try some of them once I have all my baking supplies on hand. I like that there’s different levels of skill and time/effort recipes in here and in fact I saved so many that I might actually end up buying a copy for myself tbh.
Thanks to NetGalley and DK for the digital copy; all opinions are my own.
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
4.0
This was gorgeously written, although I kind of felt low key not smart enough to get everything that was going on lol. I still don’t totally understand everything about the magical aspects of it, but I had a good time and the epilogue made me tear up. I always love stories about Old Hollywood and this was such an interesting look at a pre-Hays-code era Hollywood and how gay people have always existed and will find each other
Double Exposure: A Novel by Elissa R. Sloan
3.0
This was…fine. Not bad by any means, but nothing remarkable. I love second-chance romances and the Hollywood setting, so that was nice, but something about this just didn’t hook me. It was a very fast read though, and I always like when books include epistolary elements.
Thanks to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.
Thanks to William Morrow Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.
Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia
4.5
I didn’t realize this was best friends to lovers when I started it but ahhhh. I loved Cash’s whole sexuality crisis, it was so funny and relatable, I laughed out loud early on when she was like “I'm just a regular straight girl who had a regular sex dream about my lesbian best friend. No big deal at all.” And then the scene where she realizes that she’s a lesbian had me tearing up. The romance was so so good too. ❤️
I loved that even though they live in a small town, there’s still a queer community, and Cash’s journey to accept that she’s a part of it and that there’s people who support her (both in terms of her sexuality and in general) made me so emotional. Cash’s daughter Parker was also SUCH a good character. Ngl I don’t always like kids in books but she was so cute and has such a personality.
I read this in one sitting in a couple of hours and I had an amazing time. I might even bump it up to a 5 star the more I think about it, but for now I’ll leave it at a 4.5, rounding down. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.
I loved that even though they live in a small town, there’s still a queer community, and Cash’s journey to accept that she’s a part of it and that there’s people who support her (both in terms of her sexuality and in general) made me so emotional. Cash’s daughter Parker was also SUCH a good character. Ngl I don’t always like kids in books but she was so cute and has such a personality.
I read this in one sitting in a couple of hours and I had an amazing time. I might even bump it up to a 5 star the more I think about it, but for now I’ll leave it at a 4.5, rounding down. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.
You're the Problem, It's You by Emma R. Alban
4.0
This was delightful! I didn’t love it as much as the first book, partly because the storyline with the parents in the first book really added something to it for me, but it was an absolutely satisfying follow up. I picked it up the day I finished season three of Bridgerton and it was exactly what I wanted.
I will say, when we got to the third act conflict, Bobby kind of annoyed me, like he should understand why James is so worried about his stepfather/other people finding out about them. And yes after his knee jerk reaction he does acknowledge that of course James has reasons for not wanting to be open about the relationship, but the fact that he takes it as being there something wrong with himself, like..I get it, but this is a character trait that I always find very frustrating. And the way he just assumes that this means James doesn’t care about him, like how about you at least ASK him first. (Obviously this is a romance novel, and even if it wasn't, talking about those kinds of things is always agonizing, but still.)
I like that the main conflict is external at the end though; that they face it together rather than letting it tear them apart and that the conflict is actually pretty mild and easily resolved. And the confession scene had me 😭🥹.
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the digital ARC, I’m SO glad I didn’t have to wait until August to read it!!!
I will say, when we got to the third act conflict, Bobby kind of annoyed me, like he should understand why James is so worried about his stepfather/other people finding out about them. And yes after his knee jerk reaction he does acknowledge that of course James has reasons for not wanting to be open about the relationship, but the fact that he takes it as being there something wrong with himself, like..I get it, but this is a character trait that I always find very frustrating. And the way he just assumes that this means James doesn’t care about him, like how about you at least ASK him first. (Obviously this is a romance novel, and even if it wasn't, talking about those kinds of things is always agonizing, but still.)
I like that the main conflict is external at the end though; that they face it together rather than letting it tear them apart and that the conflict is actually pretty mild and easily resolved. And the confession scene had me 😭🥹.
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the digital ARC, I’m SO glad I didn’t have to wait until August to read it!!!
Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green
4.0
This was pretty good, although I’d already seen the HBO Max docuseries based on it, so I feel like I didn’t get as much out of it as I would’ve otherwise. Still, it’s well worth your time, and I really liked that there was a ~20 minute interview with both the author and audiobook narrator at the end.