• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    THE TELL TALE by Clare Ashton | ARC Review

    1st October 2021
    Cover for THE TELL TALE (Clare Ashton)

    THE TELL TALE by Clare Ashton

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    The Tell Tale is a historical fiction with many awesome queer reps, and it is the quality mystery we need!

    The year is 1971 and Beth Griffiths (~38) has returned to the village of Foel with her daughter Nia at the same time people start getting anonymous notes that reveal secrets of their past. Lady Sophie Melling (~38), who recently inherited a manor from her late father Lord Melling, is also back in the village. And the villagers are pointing fingers, desperate to find out who is the tell tale as more and more details about what happened in Foel twenty years ago begins to unveil.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Catch Lili Too by Sophie Whittemore | ARC Review

    29th April 2021
    Cover of Catch Lili Too (Sophie Whittemore)

    Catch Lili Too (Gamin Immortals #1) by Sophie Whittemore

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: death, blood, gore, cancer, murder, HP reference, attempted arson, drug abuse, vaping, alcohol (recreational)

    This is a whimsical story with a very funny and entertaining narrative. I love all the jokes threaded throughout even though a lot of important things were happening and I couldn’t really keep up with them all. I do think there are scenes that do not line up or are a tad bit confusing, but that might just be an ARC issue.

    Told in the first-person POV, the story follows an immortal, asexual, depressed Siren, Lili, who is haunted by her past and sick and tired of living, seducing people, and killing. Yes, you read that correctly: an asexual Siren. She arrived at Gamin after two murders of humans—a young girl Anna Snow and a poet Byron López (gay). After stumbling upon Byron’s body and his ghost (whom she fails to seduce because, ta-da, he’s gay), Lili is persuaded to help the town solve this murder mystery. But then supernatural beings start getting murdered, too.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga by SJ Whitby | ARC Review

    19th December 2020
    Cover of Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga (SJ Whitby)

    Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga (Cute Mutants Vol 3) by SJ Whitby

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    This review contains minor spoilers to Cute Mutants Vol 1: Mutant Pride and Cute Mutants Vol 2: Young, Gifted & Queer.

    Content warnings: hate crime against LGBTQ+ people, homophobia/homomisia, trans/non-binary discrimination, misgendering, murder, death, gore, outing, religious extremism/cult, brainwash/mind control, gunshot wounds, bombing, fire, dismembering, mention of conversion therapy

    If you haven’t heard me scream about how much joy the previous two books have brought me, please check out my reviews for Vol 1 (here) and Vol 2 (here).

    This third installment of the series is way heavier than the first two. While the previous books were mostly happy and warm, Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga certainly took a darker turn and I am left worried, in shock, and wanting more upon finishing. I feel like a restless parent or older sibling concerned about these teens, and Cute Mutants Vol 4: The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants cannot come fast enough. As the powers of the Cute Mutants grow, their world becomes darker and more shady organizations are coming after them. Everything escalates quicker and turns more dangerous and deadly.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Cute Mutants Vol 2: Young, Gifted & Queer by SJ Whitby | ARC Review

    15th December 2020
    Cover of Cute Mutants Vol 2: Young, Gifted & Queer (SJ Whitby)

    Cute Mutants Vol 2: Young, Gifted & Queer (Cute Mutants Vol 2) by SJ Whitby

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    This review contains minor spoilers to Cute Mutants Vol 1: Mutant Pride.

    Content warnings: kidnapping, self injury, dismembering, reference to HP series, acid attack, misgendering, homophobia, death, death of prominent character, murder, blood, gore, forced hospitalization, forced captivity, nonconsensual medical experiment, mind control, manipulation/threats, talking people into suicide, mention of deceased family member, off-page amputation

    Do you ever feel like there is something missing in your life, like, maybe an ancient, noble Japanese sword who is by your side at all times? Even if you didn’t, I’m sure you do now. In this sequel of Cute Mutants, you can live vicariously through the mutants and see Onimaru “Oni” Kunitsuna (鬼丸國綱) work his magic.

    At the end of Cute Mutants Vol 1: Mutant Pride (my review here), Yaxley Corporation coerced the Cute Mutants into joining their training programs. Since we all know that powerful corporates and the government are often shady and cannot be trusted, nothing goes smoothly as the gang struggles to do what is truly right under Yaxley’s incessant tracking and fights fiercely to keep each other safe and alive.

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