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simonlorden's reviews
1300 reviews
Melissa by Alex Gino
4.5
I liked this, but it ended very suddenly. I would have loved to see more about Melissa actually living as a girl after coming out.
Emma and the Love Spell by Meredith Ireland
4.5
Twelve-year-old is told to avoid emotions to hide her secret magical powers. It goes slightly better than in Frozen.
This is a very cute contemporary fantasy about a girl who has a crush on her best friend. Only her best friend's parents are getting divorced and they are moving across the country, so this young witch must find a love spell to make Lina's parents fall back in love. Simple, right? Also she has a talking bird and a mind-reading cat who are both very neat.
Overall a cute, light middle-grade read with very summer-y vibes. There was a dark twist at the end that was a bit unexpected for me, but not too inappropriate.
This is a very cute contemporary fantasy about a girl who has a crush on her best friend. Only her best friend's parents are getting divorced and they are moving across the country, so this young witch must find a love spell to make Lina's parents fall back in love. Simple, right? Also she has a talking bird and a mind-reading cat who are both very neat.
Overall a cute, light middle-grade read with very summer-y vibes. There was a dark twist at the end that was a bit unexpected for me, but not too inappropriate.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
4.0
Surprisingly hard to read, with many literary parallels and big words. But a very interesting exploration of queer identity and a complicated father-daughter relationship.
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
5.0
Really cute, nerdy, humorous fake dating story. It starts out as "theatre vs gamers", but of course both sides gradually realize that there's overlap in their skills and interests. The D&D scenes were really fun, especially Riley and her friend playing bards. I would have liked to see a gamer girl who wasn't Sophia, but hey.
I also liked the non-romantic storylines, there's some great friendships, supporting the arts, and also an interesting family dynamic with Riley and her divorced parents. The arc between Riley and her Dad was really nice.
I also liked the non-romantic storylines, there's some great friendships, supporting the arts, and also an interesting family dynamic with Riley and her divorced parents. The arc between Riley and her Dad was really nice.
Close Friends by Vicky Ceelen, Hodder PQ Publishers
5.0
Very cute and funny series of photos, made me smile.
Me and My Dysphoria Monster: An Empowering Story to Help Children Cope with Gender Dysphoria by Laura Kate Dale
5.0
A short but important picture book about a trans girl and her dysphoria. After Nisha gets people to use her new name and call her a girl, she gets much more confident and happier, and she's finally able to participate in activities that caused her anxiety before.
It's also important to mention that there's nothing about giving kids surgery or hormones in the book, which is something a lot of conservatives are worried about (and which is sadly a common theme in the government's messaging in my country). At Nisha's age, social transition simply means using the right name and pronouns, letting her wear different clothes, and letting her play with the girls in class.
It's also important to mention that there's nothing about giving kids surgery or hormones in the book, which is something a lot of conservatives are worried about (and which is sadly a common theme in the government's messaging in my country). At Nisha's age, social transition simply means using the right name and pronouns, letting her wear different clothes, and letting her play with the girls in class.
Banned Books: The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present by D.K. Publishing
5.0
A very interesting overview of censoring books from the 1300s to today. The reasons for the bans are most commonly sex or religion, which wasn't surprising, but it's depressing that it still happens to this day. What is really sad to me is also that several of these books are memoirs, so they're not fictional, but the very experiences of the authors being banned.
A lot of the authors are also exiled from their countries and cannot return, either officially or because they fear violence. And yet we cannot blame whatever religion or geography for these bans when they happen even in the country of free speech, as well as in my own country.
The Hungarian edition I read actually has an essay at the end which talks about book censorship in Hungary's history, as well as the new, currently in force regulation that requires books with LGBT topics to be sold wrapped in foil, and bans them from being solved within a certain distance of schools or churches.
A lot of the authors are also exiled from their countries and cannot return, either officially or because they fear violence. And yet we cannot blame whatever religion or geography for these bans when they happen even in the country of free speech, as well as in my own country.
The Hungarian edition I read actually has an essay at the end which talks about book censorship in Hungary's history, as well as the new, currently in force regulation that requires books with LGBT topics to be sold wrapped in foil, and bans them from being solved within a certain distance of schools or churches.
Árvácska by Zsigmond Móricz
3.0
Azt hiszem lassan ideje lenne valami vidámat olvasni. Ebben a könyvben nem nagyon történik semmi, csak végig verik a kislányt. Reméltem, hogy a sok nevelőcsalád közül az egyiknél végre jó helye lesz, de nem. Egyébként az írásmód nagyon érdekes, régies, de azon belül is egyedinek tűnik.
Vészlény by Emilia Hart
4.5
The "problem" with historical witch books is that I love them but they make me depressed. People can be horrible.
Honestly this book is very much my Thing, but it still found me in a bad mood a bit, so all of the women in it being raped or abused was a bit much for me. I don't usually have a problem with those kind of stories, but I think I might be too full of them lately.
Honestly this book is very much my Thing, but it still found me in a bad mood a bit, so all of the women in it being raped or abused was a bit much for me. I don't usually have a problem with those kind of stories, but I think I might be too full of them lately.