Same old plot. Someone is out for revenge, wraps their entire life around it, gets lost in the cause, and has to accept that maybe it's not worth it and getting their life is more important than vengeance. The implementation is okay. Noor is a nice character. That's all.
Reviews and Comments
@vivavaleria@eldritch.cafe on the mammooth site. Reading mostly wlw rom-coms, with the occasional exceptions. I try to rotate languages, but it isn't really easy to find queer romance books in other languages than English. Reviews and comments usually in the same language as the book.
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Enum & Valerie reviewed For she is wrath by Emily Varga
Enum & Valerie reviewed Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott (Penguin Science Fiction)
Nostalgia
3 stars
I read this originally in high school age, when my computer science teacher recommended it to me. It's entertaining and it did feel good reading it again, however disguided and fascist the described society may be.
A Guide to US-American 90s Queer Cultures
2 stars
Damn this book felt long and boring. Mostly, nothing happens except that Paul/Polly moves around Iowa City/Michigan/Provincetown/San Francisco and fucks around. No tension, no bigger story. I do have to appreciate however, how this book visits quite some different sides and forms and subcultures of gay and lesbian communities. Paul's shapeshifting allows it.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Tatort Ponyhof by Jule Ambach (Die drei !!!)
Enum & Valerie reviewed The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
American view on Europe
2 stars
Let me first stress how fucking American this is. The entire book plays during a “European Food and Wine Tour”, with the following stops: London, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Because, of course, food and wine culture only exists in France, Northern Spain, Italy and .... London.
Oh, no, excuse me, London is not a proper stop on this tour. There's no food and wine served in London. The tour only starts in London, and the first thing they do on the tour is a bus ride to Paris. Wait what? Who the fuck travels to London first, if the real start is Paris? One of the protagonists actually even lives in Paris, but travels to London for the tour start and the bus ride to Paris. Holy hell.
Of course, there are Europeans on the tour (from …
Let me first stress how fucking American this is. The entire book plays during a “European Food and Wine Tour”, with the following stops: London, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Because, of course, food and wine culture only exists in France, Northern Spain, Italy and .... London.
Oh, no, excuse me, London is not a proper stop on this tour. There's no food and wine served in London. The tour only starts in London, and the first thing they do on the tour is a bus ride to Paris. Wait what? Who the fuck travels to London first, if the real start is Paris? One of the protagonists actually even lives in Paris, but travels to London for the tour start and the bus ride to Paris. Holy hell.
Of course, there are Europeans on the tour (from Sweden, Norway and Germany), totally stereotyped, and the author tried to incorporate words from the respective languages. And failed. No, Casey, Swedish does not have the character ü. Did you not have any editors and ARC readers?
Of course, Swedes, Norwegians and Germans are the totally typical audience of a "European Food and Wine Tour" that pretends European Food and Wine only exists in France, Spain and Italy. And totally the typical audience for a tour that starts with a bus ride from London to Paris, because Swedes, Norwegians and Germans don't know shit about European geography.
And of course everyone's bisexual in Europe. Okay, well, I love a queer-normative world, but the literally say "everyone's bisexual on a European vacation", as if that's somehow a Europe-specific property. Come on....
But mostly, I am just disappointed. I learned to love McQuiston's books "One Last Stop" and "I Kissed Shara Wheeler", with really creative and amazing plots that I love. This one however, is really uninspired.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Isola by Isabel Abedi
Jugenderinnerungen
4 stars
Ich erinnere mich noch genau, wie ich dieses Buch früher im Sommer-Lese-Club der lokalen Bücherei verschlungen habe, und ich habs damals geliebt. Als ich es dann Ende letzten Jahres unter den aussortierten Büchern einer anderen Bücherei gesehen habe, musste ich es einfach mitnehmen, und nochmal lesen ♥
Enum & Valerie reviewed Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan
Enum & Valerie reviewed Not Just Gal Pals by Elizabeth Luly
Enum & Valerie reviewed Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The bar is too high
4 stars
This is a good book, for what it is. However, not much of it is really unique and mindfuckingly excellent. In fact, Casey McQuiston's other books, specifically One Last Stop and I Kissed Shara Wheeler, are full of such amazing ideas and moments, that Red, White & Royal Blue just cannot keep up. They've set the bar too high.
Then again, AFAIK, Red, White & Royal Blue is McQuiston's first book, so one could see this as evidence that they only get better and better.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Conni und der Liebesbrief by Julia Boehme (Meine Freundin Conni)
Enum & Valerie reviewed Rani Choudhury Must Die by Adiba Jaigirdar
Cute light read
3 stars
... as always with Adiba Jaigirdar's books. I like her writing style and can consume book after book of hers.
However, I just really dislike mono people's obsession with "cheating" and the entire drama and demonization about it. I don't get it, really, not at all. Yup, some guys are absolute jerks, and I love stories where the girls just team up and date each other instead. But is Zak's bigest flaw really that he had some dates with someone else?
Also, since when is app coding the top notch discipline of science? And usually spyware is an instrument of shitty dudes, not against them.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan
Nice read
3 stars
Though I didn't really like the plot structure. In romance novels, I like extensive, well-engineered falling-in-love-montages, and this one didn't really have any. Instead, it's all about the first conflict, which isn't really that deep, and could've been solved within 10 minutes of just talking to each other. Honestly, why?
Magical world full of good vibes
4 stars
Ever wondered where your mind wanders when you're asleep, and where the dreams come from? There's a whole world of dreammakers and supply chains who can deliver you exactly what you need. The book is full of little stories about different dreamers and dreammakers and life in the shop, and it's all a feel-good atmosphere.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou
She cuts the thread and the world ends.
5 stars
I absolutely loved Threads That Bind, so I was very excited for this sequel. And it was so good! She really managed to find a continuation and an ending that is actually satisfying! Oh also, I didn't really like the "love is fate" stuff in the first book, but this sequel finally gets over it!