• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall | ARC Review

    18th September 2020
    Cover of The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus.

    The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall

    Chelsea Shu died a tragic death on NYC Subway tracks and never got to attend her brother Osric’s wedding. After discovering an afterlife as a ghost, she befriended Carmen, a fellow spirit, and Cyndricka, a homeless mime-performing human. The three of them, incidentally the Triple Cs, set out on foot for a cross-country trip to attend Osric’s postponed wedding in San Francisco. They understood it would be a difficult journey, but little did they know what was actually in store for them throughout the months-long walk.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair | ARC Review

    17th September 2020
    Cover of The X Ingredient (Roslyn Sinclair)

    The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair

    Content warnings: non-consensual kissings between the main characters, one instance of bi-erasure from a minor character, underlying misogyny from antagonists. Note that ableist language is also present in the book (crazy, insane, mad, blind).

    Sinclair definitely surprised me with The X Ingredient. I don’t normally do well with ice-queen, age-gap, office romance, but I wanted to try anyway. And I am so glad I did.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Holiday Detour by Jane Kolven | ARC Review

    16th September 2020
    Cover of The Holiday Detour (Jane Kolven)

    The Holiday Detour by Jane Kolven

    Content warnings: misgendering from main character and minor character, car accident, recalling parental loss

    As someone who is both genderqueer and sapphic, The Holiday Detour is very difficult for me to review. I wanted to love it so badly but I didn’t. I appreciate Kolven writing a sapphic story featuring an f/gq relationship however, so I rounded up my rating. There are too many issues that kept me from fully enjoying the story, but it was nonetheless chaotically entertaining.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

    15th September 2020
    Cover of The Gilded Wolves (Roshani Chokshi)

    The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi

    The overall atmosphere Chokshi had created was gloomy, haunting, and breathtaking. She stated that the idea for this trilogy stemmed from hearing about the “human zoo” displaying Filipinos in 1904 World’s Fair. Then she came across another “human zoo” featuring “Negro Village” in 1889 Exposition Universelle. The Gilded Wolves series was never meant to be a cheery story. Set in the 19th century, Chokshi wanted to show the “beauty and horror” of La Belle Époque, The Beautiful Era. In her words, “When we revise the horror and sanitize the grotesque, we risk erasing the paths that led us here.” And I love how she managed to achieve telling an honest story with a magical twist in this first installment.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Presidential by Lola Keeley | ARC Review

    13th September 2020
    Cover of Presidential (Lola Keeley)

    Presidential by Lola Keeley

    Content warnings: shooting, off-page deaths, parental loss, spousal loss, biphobia from antagonists, uses of ableist language

    There have been a lot of discussions on how this book closely resembles Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay The American President. Since I have never seen the film, I decided to read Presidential first, rate it, then skim through the script. Therefore, the similarities between the two works do not affect my rating. I consider Presidential as Keeley reimagining a queer, female The American President.

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