#july book reviews

[starplanes]

A (5 star) review of Bury Your Gays, by @drchucktingle!

I read this book in one sitting. I did not plan to read this book in one sitting, but I could not put it down, accepting that my lunch break was now an extended reading break. Bury Your Gays was just that good.

It starts simple. Screenwriter Misha has been told by his exec that the season finale of his show must out, then kill the two leads. He needs to bury his gays because the board has determined it's where the money is. Misha says no. Then starts getting stalked by his (definitely fictional, right?) characters from other shows. Either Misha developed some incredible supernatural powers in that meeting, or something more sinister is at work…

Bury Your Gays illustrates why queer people should be allowed to tell the stories they want to tell, instead of being made to use queerbating, tragic tropes, or fake relentless optimism in the name of corporate Pride. It's a story about the queer struggle to find oneself in a world that makes it so, so hard. There's a lot of love for the queer community poured into this book, and oh does it shines. I especially adored the ace rep - and the concept of ace rep as a plot point. I shall not explain further. However, I am more scared than ever of the corporatization of Pride.

Bury Your Gays also criticizes capitalism's monetization of tragedy and exploitation of workers. It explores what happens when ethics are ignored in the name of an ever-growing profit margin, to the point where the bottom line becomes a near-sentient thing. It leans into the horrors of AI and data-mining by combining the two and going all the way with it. Chuck Tingle has acknowledged all my fears of black box algorithms and also made them ten times worse. Truly a feat! I will be sleeping with my router off!

It's a masterpiece of horror, both visceral and psychological. Since the main character is a horror writer, the story is very genre aware. There's a lot of fun to be had in the tale of "writer being followed by the monsters he wrote," and certainly no small amount of terror. It gets gory here and there, with plenty of suspense in between. Hints are laid out for the reader, enough where I was occasionally able to predict what was coming just a page or two before it landed. My jaw dropped multiple times! The writing is descriptive enough to pull you right in (and gross you out!), and it's paced near-perfectly. There's all these little moments sprinkled in that elevate the whole story, from fun references of other work to subtle clues you'll only catch on a reread.

This book will be living in my head rent-free from now on. It's about so many things and yet has interwoven them all perfectly. Fans of classic horror movies will love this story. Those of us fed up with AI generated trash will love it. Anyone who joined a WGA picket line will love it. Asexuals fed up with lack of representation will love it. People who watched multiple seasons of Supernatural will love it. Is that you? Go pick up Bury Your Gays. Be scared, be sad, be angry. But also validated, loved, and joyful.

TLDR: Read this book when it comes out on July 9!

[andreai04]

All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

‘I have nothing to forget or forgive, I never ceased to love you.'

[jessread-s]

✩🎻🎼Review:

*Thanks to the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I am so down bad for this book it’s not even funny!!!

“Not Another Love Song” follows Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne,  two string players, as they fight their attraction for each other while competing for center stage.

From the moment Alex insulted Gwen’s form when she played the cello, I fell in love with them as characters and their dynamic. Gwen’s people pleasing tendencies struck a chord with me as someone who shares that same quality and enriched my understanding of her motivations for sticking with the Pops Orchestra when people were taking advantage of her. I enjoyed reading from her point-of-view and getting bits of Alex’s perspective throughout the novel. Soto is very intentional about her placement of chapters written from his perspective to add intrigue surrounding his past. 

Gwen and Alex’s romance is a perfectly paced, sizzling symphony and I was entranced by each movement: colleagues, rivals, duet partners, lovers. Their every interaction vibrated in my bones because their chemistry is that palpable! I adored Alex’s subtle gestures—like the way he made Gwen’s favorite drink for her, offered to buy her shampoo when she stayed with him, and attempted to make her pancakes—just as I adored Gwen for loving all of Alex and helping him become more in tune with himself. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cello scene that is depicted on the cover. Julie Soto was not messing around when she wrote that scene! Her lyrical writing brought the music they made together to life and I could cut the sexual tension with a knife. It took my breath away. I didn’t want it to end because it hit so hard! This whole book does quite frankly. 

In conclusion, whatever Soto writes, I’m buying!!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[she-karev]

📚July Book Review📚

4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“But the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable.”

For the month of Independence Day I thought a romance with themes of our country might be a good book to read. And boy was it ever. This is the perfect comfort read for the entire queer community. It's got humor, it's got romance and it's got a little angst in it to keep you at the edge of your seat. We all love a rivals to lovers trope and seeing it between the First Son of The United States and the Prince of England is Chef's kiss. The main characters are enchanting in their own unique way and their chemistry ignites in the pages. The supporting characters are interesting as well as they provide humor that made me laugh. The world the book is set in has a more optimistic and liberal atmosphere than the real world but there's behind the scene politics that are accurate to what we hear on the news. All in all this book begs the ancient question, 'Can love conquer all?'

[gcantread]

July 2024 reads

[loved liked ok nope dnf bookclub*]

^borrowing this format from @ofliterarynature—hope that's ok!

The Blue Castle • The Metamorphosis • A Reaper at the Gates • And Then There Were None • I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons • To Be Taught, If Fortunate • The Mysterious Affair at Styles • Till We Have Faces • This Ravenous Fate • Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch • Dragonhaven • [title withheld; SMP] • The Name of the Wind • Better Left Buried • The Body in the Library • Rose Daughter

My biggest reading month so far in terms of quantity, though only third-biggest in terms of "pages" (which I think is a bad metric anyhow—you can typeset them so differently! I wish every book told me its word count.) I read a lot of books in order to see if they're worth reading in @bellasbookclub for the 2024-2025 season, plus I was doing the BBC summer reading challenge! I also devoured my way through several ARCs coming out in August.

The Blue Castle ★★★★★ - I reread this once or twice per year at this point. This time around I read it to @flowerslut and we had a blast! Still the ultimate comfort read.

The Metamorphosis ★★★☆☆ - Also with Shannon (we listened to the audiobook on the way to and from San Diego!) Figured it was high time I actually read this if I was gonna go around calling things "kafkaesque." Somehow exactly what I expected.

And Then There Were None ★★★★☆ - Pre-screened for book club! So I don't wanna say too much other than "I liked it."

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons ★★★☆☆ - Disappointing. Plot was a bit all over the place and it was difficult to sympathize with the main characters. A shame, because I like the premise!

To Be Taught, If Fortunate ★★★★☆ - Read for the BBC 2024 Summer Reading Challenge. Fun and reflective! This was my first time reading Becky Chambers, and I liked the writing style and themes.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles ★★★1/2☆ - Another book club pre-screen. A solid mystery.

Till We Have Faces ★★★★☆ - Yet another book club pre-screen. My best friend's favorite book and now I can totally see why.

This Ravenous Fate ★★★☆☆ - An ARC I got signed by the author after seeing her speak on a panel about YA and romance. Unfortunately a huge letdown, possibly because I had such high hopes for the premise of "queer Black 1920s vampire x human." Alas, it had some cool vampire lore but was overall a convoluted mess and not nearly 1920s-enough!

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch ★★★★☆ - Another ARC I got from the same event and liked much better. Cool Jennifer's Body-esque premise, snappy voice, and a fun protagonist in the murdered and vengeful Annie. Perfect Halloween vibes!

Dragonhaven ★★★★☆ - Also pre-screened for book club so I shouldn't talk too much about it but I can't help myself (@ book club LOOK AWAY) I wasn't expecting much from this book because I've heard Robin McKinley fans voice their disappointment in it, but it turns out I'm the exact niche target audience for this. National Park politics and conservation science struggles and zookeeping?? I'm seated. I can see why others didn't like the pacing, but I was nodding along like "Yes, the difficulty of procuring grad students to come study dragons, of course. Do go on"

[title withheld; SMP] - I didn't realize this was an SMP book until I was halfway through it. Oops. A shame they still don't have their act together, because I'd love to talk about this one.

The Name of the Wind ★★★★★ - A title I've heard raved about a million times by a zillion people, so naturally I picked it as one of my BBC 2024 summer reading challenge books to see if it lived up to the hype. IMO it does! Fun, poetic writing style, cool framing device, and interesting worldbuilding and magic system. Curious to read the sequel.

Better Left Buried ★★★☆☆ - Another ARC. Cute queer YA murder mystery that I honestly don't have much to say about other than "it was cute."

The Body in the Library ★★★1/2☆ - And another book club pre-screen book. My first Miss Marple! Mostly elevated by having an interesting ending twist and class themes.

Rose Daughter ★★★☆☆ - And to no one's surprise, my final book of the month was also pre-screening for Bella's Book Club. Very pretty writing and it was fun to read while wearing a bit of rose oil (smell-o-vision!) but I didn't loooove the pacing and overall prefer Robin McKinley's other Beauty and the Beast retelling, Beauty.

DNF

A Reaper at the Gates (50%) - I sprinted through book 1 and walked sedately through book 2 of the Ember in the Ashes series, but this one (book 3) was taking me forever to read (and is almost 700 pages), and I was impatient to move on and read other stuff. Reaper at the Gates was decently interesting and I still care about the characters, but the timing just wasn't right. Will probably pick this series back up later.

July superlatives

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb:

Ali Hazelwood promises “the cello scene in this book will change your life” in this Reylo-inspired grumpy-sunshine romance full of sharp banter, deep emotion, and irresistible humor.   When professional—and self-taught—violinist Gwen Jackson plays, she disappears into the peaks and valleys of each song, a quiet passion that never quite explodes into pure emotion. Xander Thorne is the exact opposite. A cellist and a rock star, he’s all about big emotion, but not even his six-foot-four frame can contain his skill, his genius . . . and an attitude that borders on jerkitude. 

Not only did it take Xander a year to notice that he and Gwen both play in the Manhattan Pops, but he also always seems to have the perfect cutting criticism about her technique. When Gwen is offered the role of first chair of the orchestra, something Xander has secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. Yet, despite her best efforts, Gwen can’t ignore the sizzling chemistry between them. Forced to work more closely with each other, they can’t help exploring their attraction. As they begin to compose and play songs together, it’s clear that their powerful connection could make for a performance that would blow everyone’s minds. Suddenly, they’re box office dynamite, and the fragile romance growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt.

Review:

He's the grumpy famous professional cellist while she's the sunshine self taught violinist, both of them are part of the same orchestra and after a run in at a wedding.... a song has begun to be created between them. Gwen is a self taught professional violinist, she's kept to herself in the orchestra and enjoys playing music. Alex "Xander" Thorne is the complete opposite, he's the rock star cellist who is not only giant but is also grumpy and one could say, a bit of a jerk. When Gwen and Xander run into each other at a wedding, Xander begins to notice Gwen... and he can't seem to stay away. Gwen doesn't know why he's suddenly focused on her but he goes from giving her critiques on her technique to begging her for a coffee date. Things only escalate when Gwen is offered role of first chair, the one position that Xander has secretly coveted for years, their hostility only grows up.... but so does the chemistry. So when both of them are forced to work together they also begin to explore their attraction.... while composing songs and creating music together.... romance is beginning to be written out as well if only they could find a way to make the delicate song between them work without being crushed by everyone else's expectations of them. This was such a delight to read, as a musician I just adored this book so much. It gave me, if you've ever read it, La Corda De Ora vibes ( I was so obsessed with this manga when I was like 13). I had so much fun reading this one and I loved just how positively obsessed Alex is with Gwen, he fell head over heels for her music and was determined to have her as his partner. They were such a cute couple and I just had a smile on my face the entire time I was reading this and can't recommend it enough. I've been a huge fan of Julie Soto's writing for a while now and this one was just perfect, I can't wait to read her next book!

Release Date: July 16,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[bookishbethanyerin]

• arc review: not another love song •

Hello, ‘tis I, here to not so much review, but rave over Julie Soto’s Not Another Love Song.

Because I *loved* this.

The story follows Gwen, an orphan raised by her grandfather who began violin lessons at the age of 11 and plays professionally in the Manhattan Pops orchestra, and Xander Thorne, a rockstar of a cellist who joins the Manhattan Pops and has no idea Gwen exists – until she has to suddenly play the cello at a wedding he’s in.

To say he’s obsessed (and a little threatened by her) is an understatement, but things get complicated when Gwen is promoted to first chair violin of the orchestra – a position *he* wanted because, of course, it turns out he’s actually a violin prodigy who has been casually moonlighting as a cellist because he can.

So there’s a rivals vibe here, as well as a grumpy x sunshine situation, but mostly the chemistry between Gwen and Xander is off the damn charts. And Julie Soto’s writing is both a ton of banter-filled, easy-reading fun and gloriously beautiful as she masterfully weaves in musical terms – even in (especially in) spicy scenes.

If you are a Reylo person, the dynamics and backstories here will likely seem very familiar (😉), wonderfully reimagined for a contemporary setting, and perfectly executed, and if you read Forget Me Not, then you’ll be very very delighted by a few cameos in this book. But if you have no idea what a Reylo or Forget Me Not is, then no worries at all, you will not be lost!

I absolutely loved this book – it’s an extremely satisfying romance read that’s packed with emotion and a but if angst, that sizzles with delicious tension, and that absolutely delivers on all fronts.

🎻An enormous thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy!💕

[rabid-reads]

My July Reads Ranked

I don't see myself finishing a book in the next two days.

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat: It's one of the best books I've ever read.

King's Rising by C.S. Pacat: It's my cousin, Charls!

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: This took me by surprise, I did not expect to love this as much as I did. I HATED Killian at the beginning of this book, and by the end of it, all I could do was keep trying to picture his thighs. It was such a fun time. My only gripe with this book was the use of the word cream, but other that, super fun book.

His Curvy Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: This is the 4th book in this series, and I ended up reading all 5. This was pretty fun, but it didn't quite hit the same as the 1st book.

11/22/63 by Stephen King: I think if my expectations had been lower going into this book, I would have liked it more. But I don't regret reading it.

Barbarian's Rescue by Ruby Dixon: Not my favorite Barbarian book, but I still had a good time.

The Lone Wolf's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: This was the 3rd in the series, and I didn't like it. But I liked it more than others. Some of the situations and themes were not it for me. It felt like, after the 2nd book, she started writing for a different audience.

Love Potion for the Alpha by Alice Coldbreath: I read a lot of werewolf smut this month, and this was short and fun. This book is funny.

The Heir Apparent's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: The love interests had little to no chemistry; their convos were kind of weird.

The Stone Wolf's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells: It felt like Wells wanted to write a period piece in the modern world she had already built. It didn't hit for me.

Then, Earth Swallowed Ocean by Shiloh Sloane: I did not like this book, and that's fine. I have an entire shelf and kindle collection dedicated to books I don't like because it's as important as books I do like. It gives me insight into myself, and I like to pick apart everything I read. It's also fun to rant about books I don't like.

I learned this month, that I really like paranormal romances based on fated mates, so next month I'm going to do a fated mate Merman book. I like fantasy books with romance, but I do like political intrigue as well, so I'll be reading The Stolen Heir duology by Holly Black and One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. I loved the sci-fi elements in 11/22/63, so I'll be reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir because I am so down for an epic sci-fi adventure. I keep trying to read dark romances thinking they'll take, so I'm going to try Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton, but I wouldn't be surprised if I dnfd it.

[why-the-heck-not]

I made a Fable account!! Saw someone mention it here and been looking for something other than goodreads (bc I want a fresh start with that; it’s so full of things I barely remember reading/wanting to read). My @ is fully_booked (got the same pfp there as I do here) if anyone here is interested. I wanna try actually writing some sort of reviews (tho a fair warning: I’m bad at it)

[lightthewaybackhome]

Incredibly creative and stunning Snow White retelling, set in an enthralling but dangerous magical world. I couldn't put it down! It's one of those stories that will stay with me; and one that manages the tricky balance of being visceral and brutal, yet hauntingly beautiful and hopeful all at once. The development of each of the main characters is top notch, too. If you can endure the dark times with them and come out on the other side, the journey is well worth it. A masterful reminder that, no matter your circumstances, you can find healing - though the process may not be easy or pretty. And sometimes you have to saddle up and fight back against the darkness in your life before it consumes you.

This was another review Stoneheart received that touched me so much. All that this reader said is exactly what we hoped to bring to the world through our story.

@alana-k-asby

[justforbooks]

Miranda July’s characters often wonder what is real and what’s not. How far can our minds take us – dreaming, fantasising, making art – and when must we return to a shared reality? “Real comes and goes and isn’t very interesting,” a therapist advises in July’s 2015 debut novel, The First Bad Man. Most of the characters in her 2005 debut film, Me and You and Everyone We Know, throw themselves dizzyingly into dream and play. In the film, it’s fantasy that enables genuine connection; in the novel, the protagonist has to move beyond fantasy to discover that life’s core lies elsewhere – in the touch of a lover or a baby.

This breezy commitment to inwardness and strangeness has often led to July being described as kooky. I don’t like the word – why not honour strangeness rather than belittling it? – but I did find July’s own character in the film a little gratingly winsome, while the protagonist of The First Bad Man felt too wilfully imagined, or maybe just too dangerously deranged, for me to care deeply about her fate.

Recently July has turned these preoccupations to new uses, raising the stakes and developing something like an ethics of the misfit. Her casually magisterial 2020 film Kajllionaire looked outwards to society’s edges. These grifters were all too plausibly products of Trump’s America, even as the imagery tended towards surrealism. An over­commitment to fantasy in parallel with a total shaving off of dreams and tenderness: this became the stuff of survival, and life and death are at stake too in July’s acerbically clever, radically compassionate new novel, All Fours.

Here the 45-year-old narrator asks even more clamorously whether her life is real – which is unsurprising, given she’s apparently the author of July’s oeuvre. Several years earlier, her child Sam was born prematurely, close to dead, and for eight anguished weeks the narrator and her husband, Harris, were united by “ecstatic” pain. Since then, she’s felt estranged from Harris and reality more largely. She puts more of herself into her art than she reveals to Harris; she lies frequently, believing each lie to reveal “just one of my four or five faces – each real, each with different needs”; and because she’s a “mind-rooted” rather than a “body-rooted fucker”, sex is sustained by elaborate fantasies.

To tether herself to the present, she decides to take a road trip from LA to New York. But just outside LA she locks eyes across her windscreen with Davey, a gauche, handsome attendant at a smalltown garage. She squanders thousands of dollars commissioning Davey’s wife Claire to exquisitely redesign the room she takes in an ugly hotel, and there she remains for three weeks, joined every afternoon by Davey himself, with whom she discovers an astonishing mutual but unconsummated passion. He turns out to be foremost an incandescent, preternaturally airborne dancer, and through dancing they find forms of intimacy that finally make life seem real.

Returning home she must somehow make sense of the rest of her life. She’s aware that her agonising descent from ecstasy to misery coincides with symptoms of the menopause; a foisting of reality whose deathly overtones have had literal consequences in her family – her grandmother and aunt both killed themselves in their 50s. Answer comes through a radical acceptance of mortality, partly shaped by her face-off with death at Sam’s birth. Sex is part of this. July’s characteristic dry observational style can turn with equal ease to insouciant aphorism or to the lyrical eloquence with which she writes the extravagant, ungendering, transfiguring sex that takes the narrator to extremes of her own inwardness while forcing new kinds of contact and honesty, including with Harris. Meanwhile, the narrator surveys her friends, turning this explicitly into a novel about the menopause.

In this July is part of a generation of novelists seeking new forms for midlife – whether it’s “hot-flush noir”, or the plotless, evacuated voice of Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy. The classic menopause novel remains Doris Lessing’s The Summer Before the Dark, another story where a woman abandons her own life and discovers new forms of rage and lust. Lessing’s novel of dark regeneration had life and death stakes, as July’s does. July’s gains added freight from her deep commitment to autofiction across mediums. Because of her film-making and performance art, July exists three-dimensionally for us in ways other narrators don’t. She’s made art out of herself dancing, crying, kissing. Added to this are the literal echoes of her life: she, too, has a semi-estranged husband and non-binary child; even her dead mother and aunt are referenced in the acknowledgments. As the self-referentiality goes from playful to serious, I found myself anxiously uneasy on behalf of the child whose existence off the page shouldn’t matter, except that July constructs a world where it has special resonance. By tangling explicitly with reality across mediums she pushes autofiction to new limits, revealing how good this genre is at questioning reality. How can the narrator make her own peculiarities part of a lived life? How can she get real in the face of death if what remains most real is art?

Dance and sex are what allow access to the transcendence that July portrays with unashamed magniloquence. Having opened herself to divinity, the narrator finds that her hotel room isn’t a kook’s misplaced game, it’s a lesson in how to live. “I could always be how I was in the room. Imperfect, ungendered, game, unashamed. I had everything I needed in my pockets, a full soul.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[andreai04]

Can't I simply be devoured without being expected to praise what devours me?

[wornoutspines]

The Girls on the Bus (Premiere Review) | On a Promising Ride

Buckle up for a wild ride with #TheGirlsontheBus! 🌟 #MelissaBenoist leads a stellar ensemble in this sharp, witty take on politics and journalism. A must-watch for fans of smart storytelling and compelling characters! #TVReview #NewSeries Review here⬇️

Julie Plec & Amy Chozick (Creators)CASTMelissa BenoistCarla GuginoChristina ElmoreNatasha BehnamBrandon Scott Review The Girls on the Bus premiere is promising, it introduces us to a quartet of captivating female journalists navigating the treacherous waters of the US presidential race. Co-created by Julie Plec (The Vampire Diary, The Originals, Vampire Academy), the series is surprising with…

[triviareads]

ARC Review of A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 4/5 Publication Date: September 24th

Premise:

Adult film actress Sunny agrees to live with ex-boybander-slash-prior-hookup Isaac Kelly in his spare bedroom so she can work on the script for her new romantic holiday movie.

My review:

A Jingle Bell Mingle was a super sexy, super touching (ha, see what I did there) raunch-com, and the perfect way to wrap up the Christmas Notch series. We've been edged by Sunny and Isaac ever since they had an off-page threesome with another pornstar (It's what Isaac's dead wife would have wanted, okay?), and I was excited to see them pick up where they left off, even with a two-year gap.

Yes, this book does start with an early bang, and I do appreciate it not only because I love an early sex scene, but also because I love when couples don't necessarily need a lot of build-up before sex, but they have ways to go before they can actually be in a functional relationship— It feels very contemporary.

So Sunny moves in temporarily to work on her holiday movie script, and gets it in her head that the only way for Isaac to regain his creative muse is.... dates. With other people. What follows is a hilarious sequence of dates including a hot mechanic, hot librarians, and a hot catty pornstar from That threesome (Isaac and Sunny are both bisexual). Obviously they're all disasters.

Also, I LOVE Sunny; she's bubbly and quite fearless, but she also has some very real insecurities where Isaac is concerned, particularly when it comes to the emotional aspect of their relationship. She also has ADHD and you see these moments of hyperfixation throughout the book, my favorite being the mystery of the mailman, WWII soldier, and his wife, and whatever they were up to back in the day.......

As for Isaac, if you're a fan of a sadboi hero, he's your man. Isaac is.... tragic, to say the least but like, in a hot way because who doesn't love a hot tragic widower? He was also celibate for two years, between the first time him and Sunny hooked up and the present which, again, HOT.

Here's where it gets less hot but packs an emotional punch: Isaac isn't over the passing of his first wife. At all. And at first, it's sweet and sometimes even funny how dramatic and overwrought he gets at times. Then you see the extent of his unhealthy coping mechanisms, namely shutting everyone out to grieve alone, and making Sunny feel reduced to a body rather than someone he can have an emotional connection with. I really appreciate how this book deconstructs that thing romance heroes are prone to doing, where they're convinced they only have one great love of their life, and they're gone now so he can never love again. A lot of romance novels have that development off-page or kind of brush over it so it can get to the happily-ever-after, but not here. Isaac is forced to confront this not only with Sunny, but also his boyband friends/former Christmas Notch heroes.

The sex:

Isaac and Sunny are down-and-ready, anytime, anywhere kind of couple, so obviously they're a fan of a quickie (see: their first time on-page), and public sex because they just can't wait (which is how Sunny ends up shoving fistfuls of cash into a photo booth while Isaac has a hand up her skirt and rips her tights). Isaac does have a bit of a STERN edge but I'd say it's less bossy and more dirty and desperate, plus loads of dirty talk.

I also like how Sunny is never super hung-up on her body as a plus-sized woman, but there's still that moment of genuine awe when Isaac picks her up and drops her on the counter of a public bathroom (another one of their more public encounters lol), and that felt so real to me.

Also, we do get the rare contemporary romance butt stuff, and it does go both ways :D ft. the return of the gingerbread-scented lotion (iykyk).

Overall:

What I love about the Christmas Notch books is that they're genuinely funny (not all romances billed as romcoms are, in my opinion), and they're sexy, sex-positive, AND body positive in a way I rarely see in traditionally published romance novels. A Jingle Bell Mingle was no different and I'd strongly recommend it to any romcom fan.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1) by Heather Fawcett

Without a doubt one of my favorite reads of the year. And I mean that enthusiastically as well as unapologetically.

I saw somebody else refer to Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries as a cozy fantasy, and do you know what? I agree with gusto. It's an apt descriptor because this book is quaint, it's charming, and it's warmly whimsical in ways that had me wanting to curl up in an oversized chair to lose myself in its enchanting magic whenever I had a free moment.

The light academia vibe this emanated was another big hook for me. Emily's on a research expedition in the far north, studying faerie habits and folklore so that she can comprise it all in an encyclopedia, and she's serious about her work. Singularly focused. Which of course manifests in introversion, social reclusion, oblivion, and blunt logic. Wendell, her work colleague who also happens to be not-quite-so-mortal, shows up unprompted to "aid" in her research and is her opposite in almost every way. He's affable and full of himself, he's gregarious, he's lackadaisical about academic pursuits and participation, and he's deadpan. So. So. Deadpan. And his banter with Emily is an absolute riot! I cannot tell you how many times the two of them had me giggling.

Things do get dark-ish in moments, as Emily's curiosity and field study inclinations get the better of her while she's observing faeries, but there's always light waiting on the other side of them. (And sometimes absurd and fanciful rescues to boot!) There's not a ton of romance, but where it does dust across the plot, it is sweet and adorable enough to leave you craving more...

...Which is where I'm at now, itching to get my hands on the sequel!

4/5 stars

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[gothark]

Books I've read in July 2024

And what I thought about them:

The Husky And His White Cat Shizun Vol 1 - I looked at a problematic person and said 'yes, you. i will keep you' no joke though I breezed through this one, so invested like wdym????

5 Stars

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - literally based on 'what if everyone was a stereotype' and I really wanted the characters to be more than that? and they were, but all that got added was that they were all fucking mean

DNF

The Sky Blues - really didn't like it at the beginning but I didn't want to DNF another book right away so I continued and I think I liked it more at the end? Might just have taken me hostage instead though. Cheesy.

3.75 Stars

Tadek and the Princess - Follow up Novella to 'A Taste of Gold and Iron' and it made me bawl my eyes out. i was ugly sobbing, such a good exploration of grief and not allowing yourself to feel that grief. chefs kiss.

5 Stars

The Lightning-Struck Heart - I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe me and T.J. Klune just don't mix but this kind of humor goes from kinda funny to really fucking annoying in like 4 chapters.

DNF

Reforged - I just got over A Taste of Gold and Iron and this punted me right back into it, very similar feel but also different? I dunno how to explain it but if you liked one of these you will probably like the other one too. This just missed that slight spark to make it amazing.

4.75 Stars

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - Jesus fucking Christ. Like. WHAT. I hated this, this is legit the worst book I've ever read. If you like stories that sexualise the abuse of women at the hands of men in literally every single story this is the book for you. Maybe I'm just stupid but none of these stories gave women any agency, everything was just done TO them. Hard no. Gross.

0.25 Stars

She Who Became The Sun - Holy Shit. My beloved. Actually just my favorite fucking book ever. Like Shelley??? Hello??? How did you write this masterwork? Still can't decide if Zhu or Ouyang is my beloved (it's Ouyang) Pls, everyone read this. i'm keeping the second book in the series for dark times.

5 Stars

The Past Is Red - It was fine? I didn't like the guy, whatever his name was, i didn't like the rift between the silly names for things and the at times really horrific things going on?? the reveal at the end felt kind of cheap and unbelievable.

2.25 Stars

MADK Vol 1 - Insane? like... wtf did I just read? homoerotic cannibalism the manga. i was intrigued though and the art is really pretty??? (help)

4 Stars

MADK Vol 2 - i have no clue what's going on anymore, i'm just here for the ride. things are happening and my last brainvell has left the chat

4 Stars

The Fragile Threads of Power - CONFLICTED. I liked it? the world is really interesting? the problem was the 50 different pov's and that i really like some of those characters and really disliked others. i was also a little confused at the beginning because this was the first book i read in this universe (which you totally can do, everything you might be missing gets explained)

4.25 Stars

Herald of the Witch's Mark - i thought this was the last book in the series but it wasn't and i was lowkey so glad to be finished with the series because we have a serious love/hate relationship going on. i'm also just not the biggest fae person I've realised. oopsies.

3 Stars

Red Rising - my god, this is so good. completely changes it's vibe like halfway into the book and i'm all for it??? darrow is fucking insane, batshit crazy. this man will lead me to an early grave and I will THANK HIM FOR IT. he is my favorite frat bro who does murder in space. right after she who became the sun in my fave book rankings.

5 Stars

The Lightning Thief - I read the first five books once as a child and man this just hit such a good nostalgia spot, it also has none of the bad taste that harry potter does and this was just such a nice and easy read. like a nice rainy day in a warm blanket. would recommend.

5 Stars

The Extraordinaries - I actually started reading this at the end of 2023 and that should basically say everything. So technically this is my first TJ Klune, not Lightning-Struck Heart but I gave up on it after. Microwaving a cricket to make it radioactive to gain super powers was just too much. also the main character? felt kind of offensive if he was supposed to be a character with autism because no way in hell would any real person actually be like this

DNF

A Darker Shade of Magic - We have the problem here, I like the world but the pov characters are the ones I did not like in Threads of Power (lila) i'm sorry, i just don't vibe with her personally overall a good book though?

4 Stars

Shadow and Bone - man it just took too long to get to the reveal, once again i didn't really vibe with any of the characters (except for mal) and i want to punt the Darkling to the dark side of the moon

3.75 Stars

The Sea of Monsters - what can I say? i'm a sucker for greek mythology so this is just really my thing and it's just such a nice break to take between other books, also the twist at the end? i love that shit lol

5 Stars

Firefly Lane - so this book was basically taking the blueprint for the life of the typical midwest, american white women (maybe a little extra shitty life) and it's this book. it feels like going down a check list. young girls getting sexually assaulted? check. young girls getting with older men? getting pregnant when it wasn't planned? having a miscarriage? getting married to the guy who liked your best friend before he liked you? surprise twins? (being a bad mom lol) but that works for some people, just not really some gay guy who thinks marriage and children are kind of icky (personally, for me) also the parts where it was heavily implied that the one women was only unhappy because she had her dream job but no husband or children??? so ew. the ending got me though because cancer runs in the family. oh also just way too fucking long. needs to be like 40% shorter, so boring for so much of the time

3.5 Stars