• Book Reviews,  Nonfiction

    A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

    3rd August 2018
    Cover of A Thousand Mornings (Mary Oliver)

    A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

    I feel guilty for rating it 2 stars. While the thoughts and observance of nature are quite impressive, I have zero connection with Mary’s words. There are still a few lines here and there that I really liked, and I am happy that I had decided to pick up this book to read. However, while the praises for both this book and the poet are high, it is definitely not something that truly calls to me.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

    22nd June 2018
    Cover of How to Make a Wish (Ashley Herring Blake)

    How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

    In short, this book is about wounded characters doing their best to heal each other with love. Ashley captures every possible emotion for the readers to experience: we get annoyed at how incompetent Maggie is, astonished by Grace’s unrequited love for her mother, compassionate towards the recovering Eva, warmed by Luca’s forever-loving family, etc.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

    15th June 2018
    Cover of Dumplin’ (Julie Murphy)

    Dumplin’ (Dumplin’ #1) by Julie Murphy

    If you go in there and you decide that this isn’t for you, then you never have to go back. But you owe yourself the chance, you hear me?

    The message this book tried to convey is clear enough, but the details of the plot are not. Some of the conversations were slightly unnatural and the sense of time was a bit weird. The characters would change subjects without proper pauses and a several-minute drive would be over in a 10-sentence talk. I was left in confusion.

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  • Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Starting from Scratch by Jay Northcote

    12th June 2018
    Cover of Starting from Scratch (Jay Northcote)

    Starting from Scratch (Housemates #5) by Jay Northcote

    accurate trans portrayal, hot sex, awesome people

    Most people were obsessed with genitals. Gay guys were all about the dick and straight guys were all about tits and pussy. It was something you took for granted, a fact of life, until you realised you were trans and then suddenly began to see gender through a totally different lens. Definitions of masculinity and femininity became more flexible, less rigid, and not so focused on body parts.

    This is my first attempt to read a sort-of-erotic M/M romance fiction, and also a first novel with a trans lead.

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