velvetyaverage's reviews
268 reviews

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

This book is effortlessly beautiful. Gorgeous writing that flows so perfectly and reads like poetry. Not only is it a fantastic story but the level of craft in El-Mohtar's prose is immaculate. I cannot emphasize enough how much I adore her writing. I love the written word and I always get giddy finding absolute gems like this that turn words into art. Absolutely cannot wait for her upcoming short-story collection!

The production on the audiobook is also gorgeous. It is a fantastic experience.

The Elopement of Atticus and NEON by Al Hess

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Blue-Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation by Raquel Willis

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

"And I want you all also to remember that whether you're black and trans or not, you have a duty and a responsibility to elevate black trans power."

Fantastic memoir that hits the sweet spot of balance between life story and reflection. Very, very interesting read.

Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist

dark emotional

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Transgender Marxism by Elle O’Rourke, Jules Joanne Gleeson

informative medium-paced

I’m not sure this is one I can give a star rating to. It was an interesting collection of essays but I won’t lie, I felt very lost for a good chunk of them. This is definitely a collection that expects the reader to be familiar with the literature around Marxism. Would likely be a very interesting read for someone more well-versed in the area.

Lucas by MJ James

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

I'm always a fan of vampire stories and I'm liking what this book is doing with its vampires and the world building around them. It sets up an interesting magical community that is going to be the setting for the two other books in the series and establishes an overarching conflict.

That being said, I feel like we didn't get a satisfactory character arc for our titular character, Lucas. Which wouldn't bother me as much if the series continued to focus on Lucas but he's not the main character moving forward. We've only just barely scratched the surface of him as a person, let alone him as a newly-born vampire or his relationship with Jeffrey. It's just such an incredibly unsatisfying ending! I need more Lucas! This can't be it!

Still, it's a quick and entertaining read/listen. Even though vampires are no longer the focus in later books I'll likely continue the series to see how the story ends.

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Some really interesting ideas but this is a book that tells its story in the least number of words possible. Every scene is short and quick with minimal detail. We’re able to cover a lot of ground in just over 300 pages and the book certainly doesn’t suffer for a lack of things happening. But it also means that the character development suffers and the emotional beats just didn’t hit for me. If you’re a strictly plot kind of reader, though, you might have a better time with this.

Characters, even Lorel, feel two dimensional. They have charm to them but you could count their combined personality traits on one hand. I want to like them but we aren’t given the opportunity to know them beyond a few traits that are told to the reader, rather than showing on their own. It gets better by the end but even then the character development is just so sparse.

The emotional beats are also pretty sparse. There’s no time to sink into the world and become immersed so any twist in the plot or emotional moment doesn’t have much of an impact.

For example, the death of Dam Ghin and the betrayal of Dam Willow just felt empty. We had such little time to get to know either of them that the impact of what happens to them just isn’t there. With Dam Ghin I could tell I was meant to feel sad but no development in the story prior had earned that. And with Dam Willow there’s such little on page reaction and exploration of just how deep of a betrayal this is.

I know this is the beginning of a trilogy and we will be—hopefully—getting future books but I wish this book had been more than one. I have no idea where the series is going to go from here since there’s not really any setup for a future plot so I just don’t see why we couldn’t have taken things a little more slowly. Still, the series has potential. I’ve been burned several times before by stubbornly sticking with a series I was not in love with to the point of irate frustration but that’s not gonna stop me from trying again! Maybe this will be the one that I end up liking more as the books progress 🤞🏻

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Aiden Thomas has a real talent for crafting well done characters. I was so stressed knowing that at the end of the trial one of these kids was quite literally on the chopping block. Did I like them all? No, some of them are very annoying teenagers. But they’re still just kids. Even if we may not find them likable, we don’t want them to die and that brings a surprising amount of tension to a YA book.

Didn’t quite hit the same as Cemetery Boys but still a banger of a book. Very much looking forward to the sequel!

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I've only had Yadriel, Julian, and Maritza for one book but if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.

I have become irrationally attached to the characters in this book, even beyond our core trio. Charm and heart oozes out of these pages. Every character we come across is vibrant and adds life to the book.

And yes, I saw his tio doing blood sacrifices from a mile away. And yes, I wish there was a little more development surrounding that plot point.

It's such a good book, though! I'm getting pickier and pickier about YA as I get older but this is one of those YA books that truly can be enjoyed by any age. I might be a little too old to feel like one of the crew but my god would I lay my life down for these kids. These are my babies and I was invested in their well-being. And the fact that this is a debut novel? Amazing!

Also, kind of a little nit-picky side thing but I'm so glad that Yadriel's tio wasn't transphobic and didn't become transphobic after Yadriel discovers and interrupts his plans. He was the antagonist but he cared about Yadriel and he respected him. He didn't revoke that respect for Yadriel's being trans when he was upset with Yadriel. It's such a small detail but it really added to the moment. It would have been so easy to have his tio turn out to have been lying about his support for Yadriel this whole time because he's just evil to the core but Thomas didn't go that route. He kept the positive traits and kept Yadriel's tio human, which I appreciate.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Minor: Transphobia