• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    HEAT WAVE by TJ Klune | ARC Review

    20th August 2023
    Cover of Heat Wave (TJ Klune)

    HEAT WAVE (The Extraordinaries #3) by TJ Klune

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    I started reading Heat Wave some time last summer and got stuck about a third into the book when I ran into elements of mind control. This is primarily a personal preference, but I have to admit that mind control is one of the things I’d rather not read about.

    The first two books of The Extraordinaries trilogy (The Extraordinaries & Flash Fire) were such a fun and wild ride as we follow Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz along their adventure. I love these precious babies! If you also love fierce, disaster queer teens, you’d especially love the epilogue of this series like I did.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    FLASH FIRE by TJ Klune | ARC Review

    13th August 2023
    Cover of Flash Fire (TJ Klune)

    FLASH FIRE (The Extraordinaries #2) by TJ Klune

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    This review contains MAJOR spoilers (in spoiler tags) for The Extraordinaries (book 1). There are no spoilers for this sequel.

    Cute Mutants meets One Last Stop (kind of) but achillean.

    First and foremost, I love how queer this book is! There are mentions of different gay cultures, discussions of safe sex, etc. It is written by a queer author for queer teens. Also, I love the friend group so much! The ever chaotic Nick (17, gay, ADHD), his hot boyfriend Seth (17, bisexual), Jazz (17), and Gibby (18, lesbian). I also love some new Extraordinaries, especially the drag queen Miss Conduct. She brings having super powers as an analogy for being queer to the next level.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    DANIEL CABOT PUTS DOWN ROOTS by Cat Sebastian | ARC Review

    15th November 2022
    Cover for Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots by Cat Sebastian

    DANIEL CABOT PUTS DOWN ROOTS (The Cabots #2) by Cat Sebastian

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    genre   : historical romance (achillean romance series)
    MCs     : 26yo cis white m-spec man + 30yo neurodivergent cis white gay man
    POV     : dual 3rd-person
    location: New York City, NY, USA (1973)
    indie?  : yes

    This is my first Sebastian book, so no, you don’t have to read the first book or prequel of the series to read Daniel Cabot, but it might help you recognize some of the characters that took me several paragraphs to identify.

    Set in New York City, 1973, Daniel Cabot (26, m-spec) and Alex Savchenko (30, gay, Ukrainian) have been best friends since Alex stumbled upon a post-fight Daniel one and a half years ago. Daniel is charming, fun-loving, and enjoys breaking up abandoned empty lots in the city for gardening. Alex is a pediatrician, dedicated to make healthcare most affordable for his patients (the sliding-scale pediatrics clinic he opened with fellow pediatrician Mary), and doesn’t like to be out and about like Daniel does. The two of them are inseparable: Daniel brings lunch to Alex, and Alex makes sure Daniel takes care of himself. Everyone else around them seems to think they’re boyfriends, but oh no, they are definitely not, nor are they in love with each other. Nope.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    BOYS, BEASTS & MEN by Sam J. Miller | ARC Review

    14th June 2022
    Cover of Boys, Beasts & Men by Sam J. Miller

    BOYS, BEASTS & MEN by Sam J. Miller, introduction by Amal El-Mohtar

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    If light horror speculative fiction is your jam, Boys, Beasts & Men should be on your TBR.

    There are 15 stories (not including the interstitials) in this collection. The majority of them shared themes of family tension with young gay boys where the parents go to great lengths to fix their relationships, anger and/or injustice manifested as physical forms, AIDS, etc.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    I KISSED SHARA WHEELER by Casey McQuiston | ALC Review

    3rd May 2022
    Cover of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston: an illustration of a young blond woman holding a pink envelop covered in lipstick prints on matcha green background.

    I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, read by Natalie Naudus

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

    Chloe and Shara are both so terrible, and I love them dearly.

    When Shara Wheeler disappeared after prom, her nemesis (kind of, they are fighting for valedictorian) Chloe Green (lesbian), boyfriend Smith Parker, and neighbor Rory Heron embark on a journey of tracking her down. What do they have in common? They all kissed Shara. In the small-town Christian high school run by Shara’s father, Chloe has to figure out this puzzle Shara left behind without being caught, and maybe she will find out more about Willowgrove, too.

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