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readingpicnic's reviews
467 reviews
The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
4.5
Okayyy, I'm obsessed with them. Love the Our Wives Under the Sea vibes and just the "they came back wrong" trope overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Grief
Paul Takes the Form of Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor
3.0
THE sexcapade book. I think if you’re like a trans punk dyke from the 90s, you would get all the references and eat this up. Robin was the most intriguing character for me; wish they were in this more.
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
4.75
What a genuinely hilarious book. Gotta love some queer siblings navigating some messy relationships and situationships. Such a lovely emphasis on family (including found family and adopted family) in this book that makes me wish my family was closer. Being gay and neurodivergent is the norm!!
I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai
3.5
I thought the main character was pretty insufferable and was not captivated by the writing style at all. The time skips were a bit jarring. HOWEVER, the story really picked up about 70% through and I was glad I didn't DNF it earlier. I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this last night! An unsatisfactory but realistic ending, I suppose. I don't think that the author dove into the trauma olympics that Bodie was doing on Twitter, nor fully examined Jerome in a critical light like I would have wished. It was giving too much "people think anything is abuse these days!" for my comfort. There were some strange discussions about the age of consent and power dynamics in age gap relationships. And in the end, I do think it felt like a white savior story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll
4.5
What a wild ending! I’m not sure what happened tbh, but the pace really picked up and the final art spread was beautiful. I could stare forever at that two page spread of those ladies smooching while drowning the bozo. The color pages are so so gorgeous. I love her equally as much as a princess and a creature!!
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
4.0
God Briar means the world to me. It’s so upsetting that Alix is still paying more attention to Catherine in the end and ignoring/putting her autistic daughter second. This book was so stressful to listen to, but I would get so overjoyed at the narrator’s voice acting for Briar. Alix is a freak! What the heck is wrong with her! I’m still confused about what she wanted her relationship with Emira to turn into since her obsession was bordering on romantic/sexual, but maybe she just got a kick out of Emira being dependent on her? What a freaking weirdo! I think I could have done without the zooming into Emira's future at the end like "here's where she is now!" and that the story could have ended sooner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Police brutality and Stalking
Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
4.5
I did watch the movie before reading the manga, and they adapted it so well!! My poor little codependent gay girls :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Murder
A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Such a sweet romance, but also an emotional journey of Vivi trying to reconnect with her mom’s family in Vietnam. I loved the process of her puzzling things together with Lan to find her family, going off only a photograph and the help of Lan’s connections and food stall community in Sà i Gòn. My main issue with the audiobook format is that Vivi’s voice actress read the chapters pretty quickly, while Lan’s voice actress read much more slowly, which made me struggle to find a good speed to listen to this at :’)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Terminal illness, Abandonment, and War