A quick note: I’m Mel, the author of 99% of the reviews on this site. I’m a straight cis woman who firmly believes in equality and equity for LGBTQIA+ people. While I’ve been doing targeted reading for Pride Month, I haven’t really read a lot of queer books in any genre and I’m aware myContinue reading “Guest Review: All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M Johnson”
Category Archives: Book Reviews
[REVIEW] Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby⠀(Buy it HERE.)⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 out of 5 stars.⠀ “I can’t watch This Is Us because even though the brothers are hot and the dad is a smoke show, in the first couple of episodes the fat girl doesn’t get to be much more than “fat”, and wow, no thank you!”Continue reading “[REVIEW] Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby”
[REVIEW] Felon, by Reginald Dwayne Betts
Buy it HERE. 🚔⠀I am a father driving/his Black sons to school & the death/of a Black boy rides shotgun &this/could be a funeral procession⠀~from “When I Think of Tamir Rice While Driving”⠀✊🏿⠀When it’s difficult for me to focus, I tend to read poetry. This short collection surprisingly filled an empathetic void in me IContinue reading “[REVIEW] Felon, by Reginald Dwayne Betts”
[REVIEW] The Hundred Wells of Salaga, Ayesha Haruna Attah
⭐⭐⭐⭐(4/5) ⠀ (Buy it HERE.)⠀ ⠀⠀💧Wow, where do I even begin? I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this before, even though all of the elements of it are familiar. There’s a misfit princess, warring nations, a beautiful foreign slave girl, and strange visitors from a faraway land. Characters struggle with unrequited love,Continue reading “[REVIEW] The Hundred Wells of Salaga, Ayesha Haruna Attah”
[REVIEW]No One Can Pronounce My Name, Rakesh Satyal
(Buy it HERE.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⠀ This book is easily my second favorite read of the year so far after Girl, Woman, Other. It’s funny, touching, warm-hearted, and surprisingly deep. It’s also ferociously well-written. (One chapter made me close the book, say WOW, & sit for a while with the words.) I can’t believe I’ve never heardContinue reading “[REVIEW]No One Can Pronounce My Name, Rakesh Satyal”
[REVIEW] On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
(Buy it HERE.) “Who will be lost in the story we tell ourselves? Who will be lost in ourselves?” This is a messy book. There’s a lot going on between its covers–PTSD, emerging sexuality, poverty, war, immigration, mental illness, class, race, abuse, art, gender performance. There’s a lot going on, but it all seems toContinue reading “[REVIEW] On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong”
[REVIEW] The Poppy War, Rebecca F Kuang
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⠀⠀ First of all, yes, I know that’s not a poppy in the picture. There aren’t any growing in my neighborhood this year, unfortunately.⠀ Secondly, this review is a little spoiler-y. I won’t give away any major character-based plot points, but I will allude to a major event in the plot without giving any details.Continue reading “[REVIEW] The Poppy War, Rebecca F Kuang”
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5) (Buy it HERE.) I have no idea what you’re doing messing around with me on the internet when you could be somewhere reading this Booker-prize winning masterpiece. Hurry up and log off so you can get into this ASAP. (Just hit like before you go, ok? 😜 ) Seriously, this is genius, real lifeContinue reading “Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo”
[REVIEW] When My Name Was Keoko, By Linda Sue Park
(Buy it HERE.) This middle-grade book by Newbery-medal-winning Korean-American author Linda Sue Park explores an episode of history that seems curiously underexposed, if my own world history and Asian history classes in school are any indication. When My Name Is Keoko is set during the oppressive Japanese occupation of Korea in the 1940s. Pause forContinue reading “[REVIEW] When My Name Was Keoko, By Linda Sue Park”
The Invisible Man, by HG Wells
(Buy it HERE.) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⠀👤⠀Few canon classics really stand up to the test of time. It’s nice when I come across something that does and H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man was a nice surprise. ⠀👓⠀If you live in an English-speaking part of Earth, you already know what to expect here. There is a man. He isContinue reading “The Invisible Man, by HG Wells”
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