Scan barcode
ladybird4prez's reviews
132 reviews
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
4.0
I’m not a mystery person at all but this was cozy and enjoyable. I would’ve loved even more romance, but Sebastian did a great job of building tension and making every little touch carry so much weight. Page and Sommers were both very charming, and I appreciated the portrayal of PTSD and how that might manifest itself in two people involved in WWII.
The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture by Grace Perry
I was expecting more of an exploration of 2000s queer media but found this read more like a memoir. Still decently entertaining though.
The Long Run by James Acker
Written like two teenage boys’ lengthy streams of consciousness that made this feel way longer than it actually was. I get that that’s probably what it’s meant to read like so it can feel authentic, but it just wasn’t all that appealing to me personally. I felt like I had been reading forever only to realize I was about 25% of the way through. Then this happened again only to realize I was still only 50% of the way through. I don’t dnf but I was very tempted to with this. Not exactly objectively long by any means but had no need to be as long as it was. It was so repetitive and just dragged on and on.
The depictions of depression and complicated family dynamics were appreciated.
Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris
3.0
The premise of this sounds like it was handcrafted in a lab just for me. An ambitious queer teen stuck in her small, Southern hometown, embarking on a road trip to hunt down the last, posthumous album from her favorite musician (who was secretly queer, too). I was incredibly excited. From the first few pages, I started getting The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes but make it Dolly Parton, and add a Taylor Swift easter egg-esque time capsule hunt. So many interesting concepts to work with, so I’m sad that this fell flat for me.
I think my biggest issues can be attributed to how little time we got to spend with the characters. It’s already a pretty short book, but then add in the alternating storylines, and I just felt like nobody got the time they deserved. I didn’t feel much chemistry between Darren and Kendall, and they could’ve had a lot of time for development on the road trip. Don’t get me wrong, they definitely did get to know each other better, but I didn’t get the impression that they were so close that a relationship would immediately come of it. I would’ve appreciated a deeper, more fleshed-out connection. Decklee and Mickinlee could’ve been this huge, sweeping, heartbreaking romance of a lifetime, but not only did we not see much of it, it never felt sustainable in the first place (because of the characterization). Maybe that was just me expecting something different from the story than it set out to do, though. I’m also tempted to chalk these issues up to me being too old for YA, but there’s plenty of YA I absolutely love, so maybe this is just on the younger end and I couldn’t connect with it.
It was still sweet and like I said, the premise is super interesting. Also, I always love queer people in the South coming to terms with their small towns. I appreciate how different perspectives are explored and Southerners aren’t lumped into one reductive stereotype. And the honest portrayal of the sacrifices that come with celebrity and the reality of a ruthless, insatiable appetite for fame and glory were appreciated, as well.
Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Dream Work by Mary Oliver
A really beautiful collection with lots of meditations on nature; the personification of it, its simplicity, its complexity, its beauty, and its ultimate indifference to human life. Sometimes there’s nothing more comforting than acknowledging how small you are and how vast our world is. I think I read this at the perfect time, too. The seasonal affective disorder hits hard and I always look forward to spring. Finally getting to be out in nature reinvigorates me and I look at everything with a deeper appreciation after months of darkness and gloom. The fact that simple natural occurrences can have such an effect on me.
and what we see is the world
that cannot cherish us
but which we cherish
The Soldier's Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian
3.75
I’ve come to love the slow, sweet, no plot-just vibes romance from Cat Sebastian. This one felt like physical aspects of the relationship developed pretty quickly (and then happened pretty frequently.) I’d also say there was maybe a bit more focus on plot, with lots of ruses and schemes. It sometimes felt like between the schemes and sex scenes, there wasn’t as much time to develop the ~romance~ of the relationship and the pacing felt a bit off at times. I think I would’ve loved to see more of the little moments between Jack and Oliver like during their trips together, but that’s also probably just me being a sap.
Still sweet and entertaining with that classic Cat Sebastian charm and humor.
P.S. after reading The Charioteer post WCBSG re-read I swear I keep seeing echoes of it in Sebastian’s work. Am I making this up?? I don’t know I love it though.
A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski
informative
Sometimes felt slightly limited in its scope, but I suppose that’s inevitable when attempting to cover so much history in one short book. Michael Bronski aims to explore queer history as it’s situated in the larger context of general U.S. history as he argues the two are inextricable from one another. Less so about important individual moments in queer history alone and more so about how queer identity is woven into the very fabric of U.S. history, in general.
You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
5.0
So achingly sweet and heartfelt that I’d inexplicably find myself in tears during moments that were decidedly Not Sad. And then, of course, there were the actual tear-jerker moments. I can’t get over how much the exploration of grief, perseverance, and piecing yourself back together affected me. This concept doesn’t only apply to Mark, but Eddie, as well, and even Eddie’s team. How do you keep going when you’ve suddenly lost parts of yourself so integral to who you are? Or, when it seems like no matter how hard you try, you just keep striking out? (literally)
Books on grief are almost always guaranteed to hit me hard, but there’s an added layer here that makes it even more affecting. Mark is grieving his partner of several years, William, and their relationship was kept secret to protect William’s career. To know how deeply you have to love someone to conceal such a huge part of yourself and know that you would’ve done even worse just to have a second longer with them. To not know if they ever would’ve given everything else up to be honest about their relationship with you. To even live in a world that forces both of you to make these awful sacrifices. As if it’s not already utterly devastating to mourn someone so important to you, to have to do it all alone because nobody even knew about your relationship just leaves me at a loss for words. This doesn’t shy away from the weird ways grief can manifest itself and Eddie is SO understanding and lovely about it that it made my heart hurt. Mark deserves nothing less.
So basically…there were a lot of tears. Yet through it all, it still felt like a warm hug. There’s just something about how queer people and queer love are portrayed with so much care and compassion, especially considering the time period. And it’s not a Cat Sebastian book if I don’t abuse the highlighter. Why is she so good with words!! The power that the word “ours” alone can hold. The fact that such a simple concept can be so profound.
It’s impossible not to see how masterfully Sebastian writes romance. With electric tension and beautiful, organic development between captivating characters that blossoms into the sweetest, loveliest, most domestic relationship, it’s an absolute pleasure to read.
Oh and how can I forget to mention the way they bond over books, specifically queer books!! The importance of queer literature and representation Got Me in We Could Be So Good too, but here it’s even more salient to Mark and Eddie’s relationship. They frequently bond over books, and I’ve never been so jealous of anything in my life.
(I also can’t believe this recent development in which queer romance writers have managed to make me weepy over professional sports for the first time in my life…what is happening)
Huge thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.