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Book Review: Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating -

RATED: 5/5 STARS

Guys seriously buy this book. It’s cute, she’s queer, she’s bi, they’re fake dating, everybody wins. 

I absolutely adored this book, so much so that I finished reading it in one sitting.

Hani and Ishu's guide to Fake Dating is a brilliantly executed novel that uses one of my favourite tropes ever, fake dating - the ULTIMATE yearning based romance trope. The novel follows two queer Bengali girls at a catholic school in Ireland as they 'decide' to start fake dating; one for clout to win a head girl election and her parents approval, the other to prove her friends wrong.

I honestly wish this book was available to me when I was still in school because I felt so validated and seen in the way that the author handled the bisexual character's struggles. Every minor criticism or invalidation regarding Hani's sexuality felt like something I'd heard and experienced myself, and to see that explored with such realistic tenderness AND to have her romantic interest be burningly passionate about seeing her treated better? I died. This is exactly the kind of representation the community needs and I'd love to see more of it. Both protagonists are fully realised characters with completely different personalities and motivations, but you get to see them grow and support one another in a relationship that isn't threatened by the world ending or anything crazy, but by jealousy and prejudice.

The story beautifully navigated sensitive topics including prejudice in many of it's ugly forms and had a central message focussed on the resilience and grit it takes to face ignorance and when it's important to stand up for yourself. I also loved that it didn't demonise setting up boundaries for who the characters felt comfortable being out to.

It was a both empowering and fluffy queer love story that made me so so happy to read and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a new wlw read.

-An ARC of this book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: We Hunt the Flame & We Free the Stars - Hafsah Faizal

RATED: 3/5 stars

In a land where magic has fled and darkness is creeping in, a ragtag band of mortals, immortals, assassins, hunters and comedians go on a journey to restore magic.

There’s slowburn romance, blades to throats and stolen kisses...if you’re a fan of YA tropes this middle eastern fantasy is definitely worth checking out. 

kind of.

- BOOK 1 review on Goodreads

- BOOK 2: 

I had hoped We Free the Stars would be the impactful sequel to We Hunt the Flame, but I'm left in a puddle of disillusion following completing this book.

The book picks up excitingly from the previous book, introducing elements that had me hooked from the beginning. I love the sentience of the Jarawat and the dimension that having fully realised characters from the previous book gave this sequel reading experience. The plot felt so fresh despite being a sequel, and I was excited to see the direction that the story would take upon reading.

However there was so much unrealised potential in this book that felt all too familiar to the first. You can never truly place a characters position in the room, and when the action hits it feels so hazy and confusing to read. There's no real clarity there, just choas to read and imagine. Then there's the overarching theme of sexism. For a world where women are supposed to have no rights, the protagonist rarely seems to suffer because of it, and the dialogue that surrounds the topic is very #GirlPower and lacks impact. The plot throughout just gets thinner and thinner, relying on repeated conversations and travelling to spur the story onwards.

It just felt unfinished. The plot overall has so many great moments that you never really get to see realised. The impactful moments are left unwritten, or rushed through so speedily there's very little time to absorb it. Like the characters, the plot just travels from place to place before succeeding or failing at tasks. The repetition of the dialogue is so frustrating to see as well. Do we need to hear that Zafira only cared for Deen like a brother for the umpteenth time? Absolutely not. Repetition is not rumination and it feels like a waste of pages where important things could be focussed on.

I have respect for the story and what it aimed to achieve. It is certainly an improvement on the first book for me. The plot is so full of potential and I have no doubt that younger readers might not see the flaws I saw and get to enjoy the story. I would recommend it to anyone who thoroughly enjoyed the first book on the promise of more Zafira x Nazir spice. It's absolutely a slow burn, but I'll leave it up to the readers to decide if the destination was worth the journey.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of We Free the Stars in exchange for a review :)

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BOOK REVIEW: Pastel Pink - Nikki Minty

A YA novel based in the stars - yes they really do have naturally pink hair.

391 pages of tropey sci-fi romance goodness...or is it?

Available on the 15th April 2021💕

They say don't judge a book by it's cover; Pastel Pink is a perfect example of this. On the outside it's gorgeous, and gives the impression of a story filled with ethereal beauty under a cute pink haze. It's more like a...pale...imitation of the YA genre in the past 10 years, filled with so many common tropes that fail to make up for it's lack of true plot development.

The story's premise is an interesting and intergalactic take on reincarnation in a world burdened by racial divisions and prejudice founded on pigmentation. The introduction paragraphs are gripping and get you hooked into the story of Ruby, a human girl who is tragically murdered and then reincarnated as Harlow, the pale and weak Zeek. I didn't expect to enjoy the explanation for having canonically pink hair, but the story forces you to take it seriously and get comfortable with the idea before leading you on a fractured journey where...not a lot happens.

In true YA fashion, Harlow is a 'special and different' protagonist that receives undue attention from multiple love interests that she is seemingly oblivious to. I love a good and classic trope, but this aspect of the story isn't explored. It just exists and the reader is reminded that the protagonist is considered desirable despite the constant reminders in the text insisting she is nothing but a 'skinny, pale, weak Zeek who has none of the WoMaNlY CuRvEs like she did on earth'. The plot doesn't develop as much as it clunks from one issue to the next, with each minor issue being solved almost as instantly as it was introduced. There are overarching themes of prejudice and discrimination but just as they are touched on the story moves back to how important Harlow is, and so on. There was so much potential for this story to unfold into something really fun and gripping, but it falls so flat.

I think, though the story wasn't my cup of tea, this would be a great introduction into reading for young teens who are just getting into reading. The story is simple and easy to follow, and if you loved the vibe of twilight look no further. Harlow is your Bella, Jax is your Jacob, Alex is your Edward and Zavier is your Mike Newton. Comfy, familiar and pink.

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Poems or short stories? Mechanical pencils or wooden pencils? Crayons or colored pencils? Markers or pens? Soft cover or hardcover books? Bookmarks or folded pages? Basil or mint? Cinnamon or vanilla? Mousse or whipped cream? Ice cream or cheesecake?

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hogwarts houses: sʟʏᴛʜᴇʀɪɴ — ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness

perhaps in slytherin you’ll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends.

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showing characters are in love without actually saying it

looks that last just a little longer than they should

constantly thinking about each other

they stand next to each other without even thinking about it

jealousy

lovers’ quarrel (they fight, get angsty, and then both make up after, yknow the usual)

always worried about each other

lingering touches

both subtly act a bit different when the other is around

protectiveness

they both know exactly how to comfort each other in the best way

smiles that last long after what’s been said (“why are you still smiling?” “hmm? what? what smile?”)

small touches

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BOOK REVIEW: They Fly Silent - Barb Lanell

     RATED:  4/5 stars

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced readers copy of They Fly Silent on NetGalley.

384 pages of pure, earthy magic. It’s due to publish on the 12th of May, so be ready for this one! (Content warnings under the cut)

They Fly Silent is a novel that follows the recovery of Cass Collard, a 25 year old woman with amnesia, trauma and a repressed childhood. I had a very turbulent relationship with this story as I read it. Cass’ backstory was eerily similar to my own, which led to plenty of highs and lows as I read. The way the book discusses therapy so candidly, and you can place yourself directly in the position of someone who feels vulnerable sharing their hurt out loud. It felt at times like the story was speaking to me directly, giving me advice on how to let go. It was so surreal, and I loved the experience of feeling like I had fallen in alongside Cass and was on her journey with her. It was so different to anything I've ever read before and I loved it. You are taken on a journey filled with descriptive imagery and choppy sentence structure to truly place you inside the fractured mind of the protagonist. The story flicked between the mundane expectations of the town which were the very traditional “don’t be different” christian family values, and the absolute chaos of the otherness of Cass’ repressed internal monologue. You’re flung from memory to memory to therapy to the news and back into a memory again. You can’t get your bearings on anything and I believe that’s intentional. The book is very artistically constructed. It felt like this structure represented the unstable sense of self in a mind touched by trauma. You get to understand her younger self is so confident and accepting of what’s other about her, which is a direct contrast to the now where she is sarcastic and angry and disconnected. Societal conventions squashed her growth, and this story takes you on the uneven road to regaining herself. The magic talked about in this book wasn’t the commercial kind you see in Harry Potter and the like, but rather an earthen spirituality that was woven into every single chapter. I feel like this book would be done a disservice if you didn’t read a physical paper copy. Something about it begs to be connected with physically. I love that aura. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone to try. It’s a really detailed read full of depth and questioning and spirituality. It touches on trauma in a really healing way, and whether the reader connects with that or not it’s a very unique and worthwhile read.

Content warning: Includes descriptions of self harm (cutting), Christian influenced spiritual practice, rape, molestation, blood magic, detailed descriptions of depression and anxiety

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Well hello there!

Everyone’s dealing with the global pandemic in their own way. Mine is returning to my middle school obsession of reading 5 books a week. All things considered, it’s not the worst hobby I could have picked up. And because how could I ever go about this without validating the experience somehow, I’ve made a blog to document the length of this mania.

Naturally though, I’m broke as all hell and can’t afford to buy anything new. So here I am, in my boyfriends house with the 20 or so books that I picked up at uni, reading everything I have access to.

I mean I read Game of Thrones for the first time. There was No Way that was ever going to happen without these dire circumstances.

I’ve also joined the NetGalley community! It’s a beautiful day to be opinionated and poor. I’ll be posting my forwarded reviews for upcoming books here, so keep an eye out for potential pre-order recs.

I’d love to meet more people in the reading community, and if you have a bookclub accepting members please do let me know!

I’ll be following as many people as I can to start building my little community :) It’s so weird to be making a new blog in 2021 so emotional support would be 10/10

(I also have a Goodreads if you’d like to follow me there)