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deepbutdazzlingdarkness's reviews
362 reviews
Between Lies And Revenge by Hannah D. Sharpe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
This should totally have been for me, I normally love suburban thriller type books/books about women committing crimes but I didn’t find either of the main characters enjoyable at all, especially Elle. When she literally says early on: “Usually, I'm equal parts Sherlock and Hannibal, but right now, l'm straight-up, badass Amy Schumer, in any role she's ever played” I was like ???? Are we supposed to take her seriously or not? Like she does seem like the kind of corny ass who THINKS she’s such a bad bitch but it made me cringe so hard and I couldn’t tell if the author was being self-aware about it or not. And Olivia…I’m sorry, I know infertility is a serious thing, but the whole possibly cheating husband, woman who’s desperate for a baby and going deep into debt/lying about it to him storyline is just so cliche and I don’t care. If this was gonna turn gay, I’d probably push through, but both of them seem entirely heterosexual and at 44% I’m just tired of being in these women’s POVs. Maybe I’ll finish it eventually, but for now I’m gonna put it down. 3 stars because I didn’t hate it, but didn’t like it enough to read the whole thing.
Thanks to Rising Action and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Country Queers: 11,000 Miles of Back Roads on a Quest for Our Stories by Rae Garringer
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
5.0
!!!!!!!!! This was fantastic. I loved all the photos and stories/interviews from people all over the country and from all walks of life talking about their experiences being queer. And I really liked seeing the way this project evolved over the ~10 years since Garringer started working on it. The way they learned more about how to conduct interviews, what to talk about, how they specifically made a point to reach out to a more diverse pool of people after the initial road trip in 2013, etc.
Not to drag a similar book I read last month, but this is EXACTLY what I wanted Real Queer America to be, and now I want to drop my rating of that one even lower lol. They have similar premises, but I like that despite the fact that I also learned a decent amount about the author in this, they put the focus on the people they were interviewing, and didn’t do a bunch of navelgazing about why cities suck and why all queer people who live in cities are miserable.
Thanks to NetGalley and Haymarket Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unlike the other reviews, I didn’t have any issues with my NetGalley file, so don’t be discouraged from reading it for that reason, they seem to have worked out the issues.
Not to drag a similar book I read last month, but this is EXACTLY what I wanted Real Queer America to be, and now I want to drop my rating of that one even lower lol. They have similar premises, but I like that despite the fact that I also learned a decent amount about the author in this, they put the focus on the people they were interviewing, and didn’t do a bunch of navelgazing about why cities suck and why all queer people who live in cities are miserable.
Thanks to NetGalley and Haymarket Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unlike the other reviews, I didn’t have any issues with my NetGalley file, so don’t be discouraged from reading it for that reason, they seem to have worked out the issues.
The Group Trip by Audrey Ingram
4.5
I really enjoyed this. I feel like I can’t rate it 5 stars because I doubt it’s going to be a book I think about a lot going forward, but it was just a super solid summer read. I loved the different timelines, getting flashbacks to when Chloe was in college and how the friend group developed and evolved over the years. Despite the short length (only 230 pages!) the friendships felt so lived in and I totally bought them as found family. I liked the slow reveal about Luke cheating and why they broke up and how Chloe had been trying to make herself fit into his world.
The tension between Wyatt and Chloe was great and them bonding over both being the poor(er) members of their friend group was nice. I liked that Chloe and Wyatt live in DC like I do now because I got such a kick out of the local aspects of it that I recognize. And I haven’t read Happy Place yet, but I really like that this one doesn’t end up with Chloe and Luke getting back together and it has them moving on separately, but getting to a place where their friend group can remain intact.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The tension between Wyatt and Chloe was great and them bonding over both being the poor(er) members of their friend group was nice. I liked that Chloe and Wyatt live in DC like I do now because I got such a kick out of the local aspects of it that I recognize. And I haven’t read Happy Place yet, but I really like that this one doesn’t end up with Chloe and Luke getting back together and it has them moving on separately, but getting to a place where their friend group can remain intact.
Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Christopher and His Kind by Christopher Isherwood
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 3%.
Got 20 minutes in and I’m just bored.
The DC Book of Pride: A Celebration of DC's LGBTQIA+ Characters by D.K. Publishing
fast-paced
5.0
Gorgeous art and I love gay people!!! This doesn’t really have a story, but I liked learning about lots of queer DC characters I didn’t know about. One of them is apparently even in a canonical (? I assume given that it’s in the book lol) throuple!! Good for her. Also the art of Clark and Lois at a pride parade with a rainbow Superman flag makes me want to cry!!!! I love them so much 🥹
D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 38%.
I might finish this eventually but it’s due at the library tomorrow and I’m not gonna be able to push through tonight and tbh I don’t really want to. Similar to a book I read earlier this year called An Epic Construct, it feels overly explain-y and I’m just not really vibing with it. I do have the author’s other book out from the library rn as well, and I’m hoping that one will work for me better!