zinelib's reviews
429 reviews
Trade Me by Courtney Milan
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This we-can't-but-we-must romance is a quick read, which I appreciate because I'm still recovering from trying to slog through The Poppy War. (No particular shade to The Poppy War, just the unrelenting violence and degradation in a nearly 600-page book wasn't for me.) I found the we-can't-but tedious, but the emotional reveal was kind of okay? I'm making it sound like Trade Me is just meh, but really, the heroine Tina Chen, and to a lesser extent poor little rich boy Blake Reynolds are compelling characters.
Tina, whose family (Falun Gong adherents) have survived political strife in China and are barely surviving economic strife in the US. When Blake makes a classist assumption at school, she calls him out on it. Their teacher and classmates rally around poor Blake after the vicious attack, but Blake eventually shuts them down, and tries to connect with Tina after class. It takes him a minute to get Tina to listen to or accept an offer she can't refuse: trade lives with him for the remainder of the semester, but she eventually does, if only so her sister Mabel can get the medication she needs.
The story and resolution, including the protags' relationships with their parents (Blake's dad is a billionaire who takes pride in his assholery and Tina's mom is an immigration activist whose mantra is "don't talk to the pigs without a lawyer present.") is fun and funny.
btw Tina's roommate and best friend is a trans woman. Other than Blake and his dad, I think all the main characters are BIPOC.
Tina, whose family (Falun Gong adherents) have survived political strife in China and are barely surviving economic strife in the US. When Blake makes a classist assumption at school, she calls him out on it. Their teacher and classmates rally around poor Blake after the vicious attack, but Blake eventually shuts them down, and tries to connect with Tina after class. It takes him a minute to get Tina to listen to or accept an offer she can't refuse: trade lives with him for the remainder of the semester, but she eventually does, if only so her sister Mabel can get the medication she needs.
The story and resolution, including the protags' relationships with their parents (Blake's dad is a billionaire who takes pride in his assholery and Tina's mom is an immigration activist whose mantra is "don't talk to the pigs without a lawyer present.") is fun and funny.
btw Tina's roommate and best friend is a trans woman. Other than Blake and his dad, I think all the main characters are BIPOC.
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The Boyfriend Project, which starts out with a no-boyfriends pact that gets abandoned as soon as any of the trio of friends united by a shared Very Bad Boyfriend sets her sights on a new guy, is fine. It's not great or terrible. Probably the best thing about it is showing Black women thriving in difficult careers. The bones of the book are promising, but the flesh of it is just okay.
No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
I struggle with characters who knowingly do bad things.
End Credits: How I Broke Up with Hollywood by Patty Lin
informative
medium-paced
4.5
TV writer Patty Lin's story is the most compelling when it's focused on work, which may say more about me than it does about Lin, whose journey was about letting go of work and success as defining factors. It's fascinating to hear what goes on in writer's rooms and behind the scenes in general. Plus there's a little tell-alling, maybe a tell-a-little, rather than a tell all? tbh though, I would have appreciated a tell-more, because although I assume and believe that Lin was mistreated because of her sex and race, she doesn't give all that many concrete examples, other than her getting fired (option not picked up) a lot from writers rooms where she's an only.
Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Grace Henderson is the old-timer, despite being only 26, and recent college grad Phoebe Matthews brings the new player energy to professional women's soccer--the NOLA Krewe, that drafted her, and she hopes the national team, which invited her to camp for the time. Camp is where Phoebe meets her idol, Grace, and sparks fly, but not necessarily in a good way.
When they get back to NOLA, both of them a week before team training starts, the two players also get a fresh start...and sparks fly.
It's a prolonged will-they-or-won't-they, with more sex and less soccer than I anticipated. No cats are injured, but one does get locked out of a bedroom.
When they get back to NOLA, both of them a week before team training starts, the two players also get a fresh start...and sparks fly.
It's a prolonged will-they-or-won't-they, with more sex and less soccer than I anticipated. No cats are injured, but one does get locked out of a bedroom.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
dark
slow-paced
2.0
This book is a slog. I gave up 78% of the way through because it was just too much violence for too long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Mona of the Manor: A Novel by Armistead Maupin
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.25
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC. I will always read another installment of Tales of the City even though it's written by a cis man. (I don't read a lot of books by men, but somehow this is my 6th this year of 73 total, or 12%--probably an all-time high since I made the decision to stop reading male authors for the most part)
We're back in the 1990s with Mona (who I thought died of breast cancer, but maybe that's later?), who is Lady of the Manor at an estate in England that she inherited from her Lord of a husband, who also happened to be a queen, who preferred to hang out in San Francisco. Mona, a lesbian, who needed to get away from San Francisco, accepted a payment to marry Teddy keep an eye on Easley House. Teddy is now dead, and Mona together with her 26-year-old adopted son Wilfred (an indigenous Australian, also queer) take in guests to keep up the expensive old house.
We meet their guests, Ernie and Rhonda Blaylock, from North Carolina. Ernie is a crank who works for Jesse Helms, and Rhonda puts up with him, until...she doesn't. Ernie has slapped or otherwise been violent with her, and instead of concealing her bruises with make-up, Rhonda decides to go free. She also plots with Mona to leave her husband of 30something years.
Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Michael Mouse (this book is best if you already know the characters, I assume) is convincing Anna to accompany him to visit Mona. Michael loves Mona like a gay man loves his lesbian best friend, but he's kind of also visiting to see Wilfred again. They've been exchanging letters for the past several years and lusting after one another since before Wilfred was legal.
It's a short, sweet, slightly twisty tale where the surprises are surprising, but the heartwarming bits mostly land. I don't know that Maupin is at his best writing cis women, but it's okay. This isn't a particularly deep book. It's mostly sentimental.
We're back in the 1990s with Mona (who I thought died of breast cancer, but maybe that's later?), who is Lady of the Manor at an estate in England that she inherited from her Lord of a husband, who also happened to be a queen, who preferred to hang out in San Francisco. Mona, a lesbian, who needed to get away from San Francisco, accepted a payment to marry Teddy keep an eye on Easley House. Teddy is now dead, and Mona together with her 26-year-old adopted son Wilfred (an indigenous Australian, also queer) take in guests to keep up the expensive old house.
We meet their guests, Ernie and Rhonda Blaylock, from North Carolina. Ernie is a crank who works for Jesse Helms, and Rhonda puts up with him, until...she doesn't. Ernie has slapped or otherwise been violent with her, and instead of concealing her bruises with make-up, Rhonda decides to go free. She also plots with Mona to leave her husband of 30something years.
Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Michael Mouse (this book is best if you already know the characters, I assume) is convincing Anna to accompany him to visit Mona. Michael loves Mona like a gay man loves his lesbian best friend, but he's kind of also visiting to see Wilfred again. They've been exchanging letters for the past several years and lusting after one another since before Wilfred was legal.
It's a short, sweet, slightly twisty tale where the surprises are surprising, but the heartwarming bits mostly land. I don't know that Maupin is at his best writing cis women, but it's okay. This isn't a particularly deep book. It's mostly sentimental.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
Multiple mentions of AIDS deaths
When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
The "you" in When You Were Everything is a best friend, which is a trope I'm glad to see central in a novel. Normally I don't get a lot from epigraphs, but Shakespeare-loving Cleo's story is well-launched by the Antony and Cleopatra and MacBeth quotes about friendship and endings.
The story is told in a before and after that was confusing to me because Cleo's love interest is similarly present in both, even though Dom's not a boyfriend in one timeline. Still, the two narratives help the reader understand how close Cleo's friendship with Layla was and how it broke. Layla is a singer, and once she gets accepted in the high school chorus, she begins hanging out with her fellow chorus girls more than with Cleo. The beginning of the dissolution is realistic and feels inevitable. Mistakes--cruel ones--are made by both girls. I appreciate that neither of them is clearly in the right.
The secondary characters are believable--except maybe head bitch chorus girl Sloane, and the cast includes Black, Desi, and queer characters, and Layla is a stutterer. The friend groups are inclusive in a way that doesn't feel forced.
The story is told in a before and after that was confusing to me because Cleo's love interest is similarly present in both, even though Dom's not a boyfriend in one timeline. Still, the two narratives help the reader understand how close Cleo's friendship with Layla was and how it broke. Layla is a singer, and once she gets accepted in the high school chorus, she begins hanging out with her fellow chorus girls more than with Cleo. The beginning of the dissolution is realistic and feels inevitable. Mistakes--cruel ones--are made by both girls. I appreciate that neither of them is clearly in the right.
The secondary characters are believable--except maybe head bitch chorus girl Sloane, and the cast includes Black, Desi, and queer characters, and Layla is a stutterer. The friend groups are inclusive in a way that doesn't feel forced.
If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
There's a lot going on in this story that centers bisexual Chinese-British teen Elsie. She has several potential love interests, and I was confused for a while about which was the actual crush. There's a sort of mystery subplot that's kind of sweet. All-in-all, though, not my favorite LGBTQ YA caper.
The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The Picture Bride--about early 20th century Korean immigrants in Hawai'i. The author is Korean (not Korean-American), so an interesting perspective. Like a lot of good historical fiction, it gives you that wrong-end-of-a-telescope feeling.