drp_moonlight's reviews
9 reviews

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.

The authors writing was utterly insufferable. Overly repetitive and full of cheap, overdone metaphors

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore

tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I really wanted to love this book. I first encountered Mclemore's writing in the anthology All Out through their story Rojas which I absolutely loved. I was so excited to read a historical fiction with queer characters that was also an adaptation of a fairytale. But what I found instead were bland characters, slow pacing, and repetitive phrases. 

The book alternates between 3 POV characters (Lala, Emil, and Rosella) but the extremely short chapters cut into each character's limited development. On top of that, Alifair (Lala's love interest) was ignored almost until the end. Emil and Rosella are supposed to follow the trope of childhood friends to lovers but there is nothing to actually develop them as such. They barely interact until they are together.

The writing dragged on and on without going anywhere. It took nearly half the pages to get to the plot. I was bored out of my mind half the time. The only time I left my stupor was when McLemore would reuse the phrase "given a girl's name at birth". When I first read this phrase in Rojas, I was enthralled by it's magic but by the 5th time in this book I was annoyed. 

The ending was sweet, though unrealistic, but this is a fairytale after all.

In conclusion, read Rojas instead. It's the same plot with better writing and pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Death of parent and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Bullying

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Never before has a book made me cry so much. A modern Holden Caulfield, Aristotle Mendoza, is depressed. And then he meets Dante. Together, they explore what it means to be a gay Mexican teenage boy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Death

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

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

4.0

The most important factor of this book is the style. It is written from the perspective of a Penelope already long dead. It does not shy away from stating that it is coming from a 21st century. Penelope's narrative is interspersed with the Maids' perspectives, giving the illusion of a classic play.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Overall, this book was great. It was just the realistic fantasy that I needed to get lost in. The characters are compelling and draw you into the story. It wasn't a 5 star read for me, though, because

the sex was a bit over the top. There was quite literally one scene where Henry was crying (emotionally) and the next paragraph they are having sex.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Cursing

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Biphobia

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual assault

Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I can't begin to say how underwhelming it was. The book markets itself as a thriller but the actual action is far too often put aside for teen drama and angst that tried to pass as character development but only served to drag the story to a complete halt. The villain was incredibly predictable and not even interesting at that. Still rated 3 stars because it was a quick read and entertaining enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Transphobia, and Chronic illness

Minor: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

Circe by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Circe follows the story of the goddess by the same name, from her birth in the halls of Helios to the aftermath of her time with Odysseus. It is a retelling of the ancient myths through the eyes of the goddess who speaks like humans. Personally, I loved Circe's character development; how she grows out of her anxiety only to fall right back in. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Incest, and Infidelity

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

The Four Profound Weaves follows two transgender elders who must learn to weave from Death. I enjoyed the message and the story, but I couldn't help to feel that this was part of a series (which it is). I felt like I was too quickly dropped into an unfamiliar world with a complicated mythology that I couldn't really grasp onto until the very end. Overall a quick and emotional read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Transphobia

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

The book features death and talk of death heavily.