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sebbyreads's reviews
294 reviews
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the eARC of this book!
Truly words cannot express how much I loved this. As a baseball playing, vintage aesthetic loving gay man, this feels like it was handcrafted for me. Sports romances often just kind of wave away the sports itself and use it more as an excuse to have an entourage cast or fun little uniforms while letting the sport fade away, but this was nothing like that. Cat Sebastian either loves baseball or does a damn good job pretending, because the game and all its weird little intricacies are woven throughout.
Eddie and Mark had such a sweet, wonderful romance. It felt perfectly paced and unlike a lot of romances, I felt like I could really see them growing closer and starting to trust each other and fall in love. And both characters were such a joy in their own way.
I shed several tears through this. Over Eddie's journey of crafting a life for himself. Over Mark's grief. Over their slowly learning each other. I haven't felt so caught up in a story in a long while. I almost feel like Eddie coming out of a slump.
The historical aspect was also realistic, without ever falling too much into doom and gloom, if that's a concern for any potential readers. It's beautiful in its own way to see how our community has always carved out spaces for ourselves even in hostile environments.
Truly, I love this book. It'll live front and center on my bookshelf as soon as I can get my hands on a physical copy.
Truly words cannot express how much I loved this. As a baseball playing, vintage aesthetic loving gay man, this feels like it was handcrafted for me. Sports romances often just kind of wave away the sports itself and use it more as an excuse to have an entourage cast or fun little uniforms while letting the sport fade away, but this was nothing like that. Cat Sebastian either loves baseball or does a damn good job pretending, because the game and all its weird little intricacies are woven throughout.
Eddie and Mark had such a sweet, wonderful romance. It felt perfectly paced and unlike a lot of romances, I felt like I could really see them growing closer and starting to trust each other and fall in love. And both characters were such a joy in their own way.
I shed several tears through this. Over Eddie's journey of crafting a life for himself. Over Mark's grief. Over their slowly learning each other. I haven't felt so caught up in a story in a long while. I almost feel like Eddie coming out of a slump.
The historical aspect was also realistic, without ever falling too much into doom and gloom, if that's a concern for any potential readers. It's beautiful in its own way to see how our community has always carved out spaces for ourselves even in hostile environments.
Truly, I love this book. It'll live front and center on my bookshelf as soon as I can get my hands on a physical copy.
Becoming Ted by Matt Cain
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
While normally I enjoy dual timelines, something about this one was hard to really lose myself into. Partly I think it was a pacing issue, but also I think bouncing around between the two meant I never really felt I knew all that much about either of them. When I step back and look at what I read, I do enjoy it, but in the moment of reading, it was hard to immerse myself and sometimes dragged. Overall, I did enjoy it, but I do wish some parts of the execution had been better.
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is such a love letter to the supers genre and as a lifelong superhero lover, I devoured it. It centers more on being a ordinary human on the outskirts of superhero life than it does on the actual supers aspect, so if you're looking for an action filled adventure book, this might not be for you. But as someone who would happily comb through hours and hours of content about all the little parts of life in a super world, this was perfect for me.
The characters are all phenomenal too and it's so much fun to have college aged protagonists in a lighthearted book like this. I really wish publishing would give us more of it! Astrid was very relatable to all us anxious overachievers, David was such a fun, caring but realistic friend, and Max is just an absolute sweetheart. And the whole rest of the cast of characters are all fun and lovely in their own way as well. I could read far more in this universe and be happy as a clam.
At times the plot was very predictable (though, c'mon, that's a staple of the genre) and while I didn't really need a ton of action, the end still felt a little too rushed, which is why I can't quite give it the full 5 stars, but I really did love this and am looking forward to seeing what else Cristina Fernandez does.
The characters are all phenomenal too and it's so much fun to have college aged protagonists in a lighthearted book like this. I really wish publishing would give us more of it! Astrid was very relatable to all us anxious overachievers, David was such a fun, caring but realistic friend, and Max is just an absolute sweetheart. And the whole rest of the cast of characters are all fun and lovely in their own way as well. I could read far more in this universe and be happy as a clam.
At times the plot was very predictable (though, c'mon, that's a staple of the genre) and while I didn't really need a ton of action, the end still felt a little too rushed, which is why I can't quite give it the full 5 stars, but I really did love this and am looking forward to seeing what else Cristina Fernandez does.
The Boyfriend Subscription by Steven Salvatore
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Boystown Heartbreakers by K.C. Carmichael
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This was a very typical friends to lovers romcom. There was tiptoeing around each other, sweet and comfortable intimacy from knowing someone for a lifetime, and of course, some easily avoidable conflict from shoehorned in miscommunication. Obviously, I like some parts of that more than others. Still, the romance was sweet and the whole cast of characters was fun, so this was overall an enjoyable read.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This is an excellent introduction to intersectional feminism and one I would gladly share with friends or family who haven't been exposed to more complex feminist and leftist theories than the mainstream. The language was incredibly accessible, some of the most accessible non-fiction I've ever read, and goes to show that we don't need to lock topics like this away in the unnecessarily dense language of a lot of academia.