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sarahhbeth_reads's reviews
939 reviews
Gloria Buenrostro is Not My Girlfriend by Brandon Hoàng
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
4.0
Not your average coming-of-age story.
Summary:
It's summer break before junior year and Gary Võ and his best friend Preston are tired of being "Viet nobodies." This is going to be the year everything changes; Gary and Preston will make sure of that. When Gloria Buenrostro, the most beautiful, unattainable girl in school, recruits Gary's help making deliveries for her mom's business, Preston sees an opportunity. If Gary steals Gloria's special charm bracelet, the popular boys will let them into their secret club, "the Roosters." Gary's conscience protests, but he's desperate to improve his social standing. Yet the more time Gary spends with Gloria, the more he sees her--and she sees him. Will Gary forfeit their ticket to high school popularity?
Review:
This book will make you nostalgic for the seemingly endless days of summer break and thankful that you're beyond the relentless agony that is teen angst.
Adults will enjoy this book, but I especially recommend it for young readers. Teens will get a lot out of this book. Hoàng is an author to watch.
When Angels Fall by Meagan McKinney
3.0
A love story about two very traumatized people. I adored Ivan but Lissa made me want to throw my book at the wall.
Her Drag Barbarian by Kate Raven, Kate Raven
funny
fast-paced
5.0
I walked up to Je Sweet, grabbing her by her long, dark wig, and drove her head into the dressing table.
Summary:
Working at her father's conflict management firm, archaeological grad student Elowyn Carew is tasked with rescuing the Heavenly Lights drag club. A string of anonymous threats and unfortunate accidents have put the club at shutdown risk. Elowyn immediately determines that Je Sweet, the club's top performing drag queen, is undoubtedly behind a significant number of the club's problems. Je Sweet, aka Beauchamp de la Fontaine, is selfish, conceited, callous and reckless. Not one to be cowed, Elowyn is determined to whip Beau into shape.
As Elowyn works her magic with Heavenly Lights, Beau becomes increasingly obsessed with the one person he can't intimidate.
Review:
I am a huge drag fan (Trixie Mattel is Queen of Wisconsin, after all) and was initially a little wary about this book's premise. However, after seeing other friends' positive reviews I decided to give it a try. I immediately loved it. It's trademark Kate Raven humor and unhinged behavior + an unusual plot + great queer representation.
Both main characters are bi. Narration uses she/her pronouns for Je Sweet and he/him pronouns for Beau. Je Sweet/Beau is described as attractive both female and male presenting, and Elowyn is attracted to them in both presentations. I love when an Alpha personality is also confidently feminine; you don't see that representation often in any genre. I also really liked Elowyn as a takes no shit/gives no fucks, comfortable in who she is heroine.
Despite its often campy tone, the book acknowledges serious issues drag performers and the queer community face, such as discrimination and ostracism.
Most importantly, the novel didn't feel exploitative. It was outrageous, but in the standard Kate Raven way; drag was not punch line.
Even though their relationship got off the rails quickly, I thought Beau's bi-awakening and attraction to Elowyn developed in a way that felt believable, something that is often hard to achieve (especially in a book <200 pages).
Despite my initial concerns, i thought this book handled sensitive topics respectfully. It wasn't a "suddenly straight" plot, like I feared, but an attraction to another person for who they are. Beau's sudden obsession with getting Elowyn pregnant didn't bother me; it's kink. This is obviously just my opinion, others may feel differently.
My Drag Barbarian was a unique, creative, sexy, deranged romcom that I probably would never have picked up if Kate hadn't written it. This is probably one of Kate Raven's best books.
Too bad this book has a critical and unforgivable flaw: the French LI never says anything sexy in French?! Criminal.
Rating: 5/5⭐️
✅Entertaining/Engaging
✅Creative
✅I liked it.
✅Lots of queer rep. Handled difficult topics tactfully.
✅Definitely original and norm-transgressing.
The Ghost and the Incest Clause by Kate M. Rivenhall
5.0
Yeah...I can't explain this one except that I am obsessed with everything Kate writes.
Honestly: 🤌🏻✨ 10/10, no notes
Freeing Mr. Collins: A Pride and Prejudice Christmas Variation by Kate Ravency
Campy and tender P&P offshoot about Charlotte and Mr. Collins' marriage.
Summerstorm by Anastasia Cleaver, Natasha Peters
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Revenge, culty libertines, madness, incest, secret identities, a seance, a traveling theatre troop, an asylum fire, a hot Scottish single dad, and so much Shakespeare-- what more could you want?
Picking His Poppy: A Dad's Best Friend Dark Romance Short Story by Kate Raven
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
“I’m going to kill you for this!” she squeaks, but I only give her hair a little shake.
“I’m going to kill you for this, sir,” I correct her
I am always excited to read anything Kate Raven writes and this did not disappoint!!
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
dark
mysterious
tense
4.0
"On my life, on all I hold sacred and dear--and that is the children my love for your father made--you can believe I will soon be the heiress to a fortune beyond belief, and through me, every dream you've ever had will come true."
Summary:
After their father's untimely death, the destitute Dollanganger family (mother Corinne and her four children Cathy, Chris, Carrie, and Cory) move in with Corinne's wealthy, estranged parents. There's only one complication--Corinne's father never approved of her marriage and consequently disinherited her. Now ailing, the Dollangangers' grandfather is not long for this world--he may only have days remaining! In order for Corinne to get back into her father's good graces (and will), he can't know her children exist. Thus, the four Dollanganger children are confined to the attic...just for a short time!
Review:
It's been a while since a thriller really *got* me. In that sense, Flowers in the Attic was excellent because the ending had me got. That being said, based on the novel's notoriety, I was expecting even more drama. After watching these four children suffer for 300+ pages, and with quotes like: "I stayed to plan my revenge, my vengeance against those who had turned me from good to evil, and made of me what I was going to be from this day forward. I convinced myself there would come a day when both my mother and my grandmother would be under my thumb...and I'd snap the whip, and handle the tar, and control the food supply." -- I expected some righteous revenge!
Much of the book is just the children being in the attic. While this successfully expresses the mundanity of their years in captivity, it is also kind of tedious for the reader. Some things just felt odd or confusing. For example, the grandmother delivering her massive list of rules only to punish the children... once? Twice? over the course of their attic years, despite immediate and constant disobedience. I also thought the grandmother's claustrophobia would come into play more. I wouldn't say that Andrews missed opportunities, but I am still unsure how I feel about the end product.
Despite these issues, the novel's horror is well-executed--a creeping, "slow burn" kind of horror, peppered with off-putting imagery and occasional disturbing episodes. The long, uneventful chapters contribute to this effect, with the narrative coming to a dramatic head in the last few chapters.
I appreciated the way Andrews used Cathy to suspend disbelief--any question I was initially yelling asking while reading ("Why don't they do this? Why aren't they doing that?"), Cathy herself voiced. She was an unusually perceptive, cynical protagonist, especially as a sheltered tween/teen. Through Cathy, Andrews seals up holes readers might try to poke in her plot and, in doing so, reinforces the direness and inescapability of the Dollanganger children's circumstances.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, the thrill and nostalgia of reading this infamous, deviant Gothic. I definitely want to read on in the series and see what bad luck befalls the unfortunate children next.