• 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

    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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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    BLAINE FOR THE WIN by Robbie Couch | ARC Review

    12th April 2022
    Illustrated cover of Blaine for the Win (Robbie Couch).

    BLAINE FOR THE WIN by Robbie Couch

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    I couldn’t put down Blaine for the Win and finished it in two sittings. The vibe of it reminds me of TJ Klune’s The Extraordinaries (my review) but without superpowers.

    Blaine Bowers (~16, achillean) cannot believe he got dumped by Joey Oliver (gay). On their one-year anniversary. At the fanciest restaurant ever. Joey said he didn’t want to date the mural painter who isn’t the kind of Serious Guy he needs to become President of the United States one day. Blaine will win him back by showing that he can ditch his mural painting gigs and be serious… by signing up to run for senior class president? Enlisting the help of his best friends Trish MacIntosh (sapphic, Black) and Camilla (sapphic) as well as the not-friend-only-acquaintance Danny Nguyen (bi, Vietnamese American) for an insider perspective from the student council, Blaine is ready to prove himself to be worthy of Joey. As the race kicks off, is winning Joey back still going to be Blaine’s goal?

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    THE INFINITE SUMMER by Morgan Lee Miller | ARC Review

    26th December 2021
    Cover of the Infinite Summer (Morgan Lee Miller)

    THE INFINITE SUMMER by Morgan Lee Miller

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    3.75 stars rounded up.

    There is something about Morgan Lee Miller’s writing that gets me every time. Despite seeing the obligatory conflict coming all the way from Europa, I enjoyed getting to know all the characters, except for Theo (duh). The Infinite Summer is so nerdy and I love that.

    Remi Brenner (bisexual, white) dreams of becoming an astronaut, and enrolling in MIT’s aerospace program is her first step to realizing the dream. But her father threatened Remi to spend the summer with him and celebrity chef stepmother Serena DeLuca or else he wouldn’t pay for her college tuition. What started out as an involuntary trip to Gaslight Shores turns out to be a life-altering journey for Remi as she meets Harper Herbert (lesbian, white), whose parents own the po’boy shop Acadian.

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