essjay's reviews
567 reviews

All Fours by Miranda July

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4.75

This slots perfectly into an eternal favourite niche of mine, that of the "messy-ass queer women litfic" variety. Add in a perimenopausal midlife crisis, and I was never not going to love it. 
Reboot by Justin Taylor

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 6%.
Yeah, no. 

I thought "woof, this prologue is fuckin ROUGH" and convinced myself to read a little further, but got to this bit and decided I didn't need to put myself through this anymore. 

I'd be out on the town, or at home, enjoying some run-of-the-mill debauchery, and I'd get this kind of psychic prickle, like the first twinge of a hard-on crossed with the feeling of walking alone at night and knowing you're being watched. The feeling would plant its flag in me. Palm sweat and salivation. I'd wake up in a strange bed or a wrecked car. (Strange cars and wrecked beds were not unheard of, either.)
My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine

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3.5

I feel like the writing in this one was better than the first, and I definitely liked Amelia and Reggie more than Cassie and Frederick. It also probably helped that this was not an obviously reskinned ReyLo fic. 

Who's next? Zelda? Would def read what she gets up to in Napa. 
Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

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4.0

I can absolutely see why this has been compared to The Deep. However while that has stuck with me and I think about it frequently (and have re-read it twice), I don't see myself coming back to this one again. 
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

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4.0

Damn, I wrote a whole-ass review and hit back instead of save. 

This book is A LOT. I would go from cackling one minute to having to put it down bc it was so upsetting. 

The characters are really what elevated it above just the gore and violence (and sex...so. much. sex). I know some of the people in these pages and it's cool to see their representation here. 

Really looking forward to this as a movie, it's screaming for an adaptation. 

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The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

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4.5

Whew. This was a lot darker than I was expecting and I loved that. I saw the reveal coming, but that didn't make it any less impactful. 
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

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4.5

I read this aloud to my 14y/o. At about the halfway point, they told me that while they still loved this, they didn't feel like it was quite as perfect as A Psalm for the Wild-Built, and I agreed. 

I think part of it was the addition of so many other people to the equation. All I really needed or wanted was more Mosscap and Sibling Dex on their own. 

That being said, the ending was gorgeous and perfect and exactly what I wanted. 
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

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3.75

3.6 on my review rubric but I'm rounding up for unexpected
monsterfucking
, tbh. 

Not super horror-y or romance-y, so I feel like maybe those are some weird categories for it, but 🤷. 
Boy Island by Leo Fox

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4.75

This was absolutely wonderful and I loved every bit of it. The art reminded me a little of some of Robt Williams' 90s stuff, which worked perfectly for this. 
Cecilia by K-Ming Chang

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4.5

Gown me in guts. Sleeve me with your spit. I will twirl in a skirt of sirloin. I will wear my violence wider than sky.