• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers | ARC Review

    13th July 2021

    A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1) by Becky Chambers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    This is so cute and it makes me so happy! Sibling Dex (29, agender, they/them) and Splendid Speckled Mosscap (agender, it/its) are the only travel duo I need, aka the burnt-out cleric and the impossibly inquisitive robot.

    This novella reads like a prequel as we are introduced to the world Panga, a moon of planet Motan, as well as the human religion Sacred Six (Parent Gods: Bosh, God of the Cycle, Grylon, God of the Inanimate, Trikilli, God of the Threads; Child Gods: Samafar, Chal, Allalae). Chambers’ writing is very descriptive, and the world comes to life as Sibling Dex starts out as a garden monk, switches vocation to a tea monk, and decides to take a break altogether and embark on a journey to Hart’s Brow Mountain outside of human settlement.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby | ARC Review

    25th May 2021
    How to Become a Planet (Nicole Melleby)

    How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    It’s a space-themed MG book, so of course I loved it. 🚀🪐☄️

    Pluto Timoney (12) loves astronomy because her mom loves it. But she misses the last month of her seventh grade after being diagnosed with depression and anxiety and Pluto wonders if she’ll ever be the same again. Or would she be like Pluto the planet becoming a non-planet?

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon | ARC Review

    4th May 2021
    Cover of Sorrowland (Rivers Solomon)

    Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: animal killings, self harm, childbirth, alcohol abuse, cult, gaslight, pedophilia, blood, death, drowning, rape, attempted forcing of medication, torture, hallucination, brainwash, non-consensual medical experiment, reclaimed d slur, suicide, cannibalism?, voyeurism?, drug abuse, child abuse

    The craft of fiction at its finest.

    Sorrowland opens in the woods with the fifteen-year-old Vern—who is Black, albino (the term is used in text), and intersex—giving birth to twins Howling and Feral, the latter also has albinism. Vern grew up in the Blessed Acres of Cain, a religious compound that was supposed to be a Black utopia, but she had to escape because everything there seems to be a lie. Over the next several months and years, Vern’s body begins to change. She is both stronger and more vulnerable, and she starts to understand that the power of the past while struggling to raise the twins with the freedom she never had.

    I used to wish for a book in contemporary settings that references history and beliefs while telling a brand new story deeply influenced by the past. And now I have found it in Sorrowland.

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  • Rent a Boyfriend banner
    ARCs,  Blog Tour,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Blog Tour: Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao [EN/ZH-TW]

    13th November 2020
    Cover of Rent a Boyfriend (Gloria Chao)

    Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org | Book Depository | IndieBound

    Ta-ke hó*! I am Hsinju (she/they/他), a born-and-raised Taiwanese currently residing in Illinois. Today (November 13th, 2020) is my Hear Our Voices Book Tours blog stop for the adorable Taiwanese American, fake-dating YA romance Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao! Mostly set in Palo Alto with a few chapters in Chicago (yay, Illinois), the story opens with Chloe Wang and her family meeting her boyfriend—ahem—hired boyfriend, whose real name is Drew Chan, for the first time on Thanksgiving.

    * “Ta-ke hó” is “hi, everyone” in Taiwanese.

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  • You Should See Me In A Crown banner
    ARCs,  Blog Tour,  Book Reviews,  Bookish,  Fiction

    Blog Tour: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

    9th November 2020
    Cover of You Should See Me In A Crown (Leah Johnson)

    You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop.org

    Hey y’all! I am Hsinju (she/they/他), a queer Taiwanese book reviewer and blogger currently residing in Illinois. Today (November 9th, 2020) is my Hear Our Voices Book Tours blog stop for the uplifting sapphic YA with a Black teen lead You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson! Set in the Midwest (hi neighboring Indiana), we follow Liz’s journey of running for prom queen.

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