It's basically the most standard romance novel you can imagine, and there's not really any creative plot ideas.
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 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!
Enum & Valerie reviewed Laylayland by Christian Vogt (Wasteland, #2)
Enum & Valerie reviewed Regency Park by Amalia Zeichnerin
Leider etwas flache Plots
3 stars
Pluspunkt allerdings für »sier« bei einem der Hauptcharaktere. Ansonsten liest es sich wie ein früher Entwurf zu einem Buch, das noch ein paarmal durch Lektorat und Revisionen gehen muss.
Enum & Valerie reviewed Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
Amazing, obviously
5 stars
Okay, maybe not obviously. In fact, this is the first Albertalli book that I actually like. But it is amazing, and I've read it in just two days.
Oh, btw, from the beginning it looks like this is a cheap girl-stumbles-into-the-wrong-conversation-and-jumps-to-conclusions-and-throws-away-everything plot - don't worry, it's not. It's really not :3
I also loved all the references to other sapphic authors. Casey McQuiston is named explicitely many times, and Imogen has three copies of One Last Stop in her bookshelf. The teacher is called Ms Dugan. And the book is dedicated to Sophie Gonzales. I love stuff like this, it's so cute. It's what I usually read the Acknowledgements chapters for (which I love).
Enum & Valerie reviewed Jenseits des Grabes by Fred Vargas
Enum & Valerie reviewed Just visiting by Dahlia Adler
Enum & Valerie stopped reading Erdsee by Ursula K. Le Guin
Enum & Valerie reviewed Everything Under the Sun by Lydia Schmölzl
Na hömma, vergiss Kitchen Tables, dat hier is Ommas-Schrebergarten-Polyamorie!
5 stars
Ich shippe heimlich schon Rafael und Jonas, die wären schon cute zusammen... Und das ganze Ruhrpott-Setting fühlt sich einfach gut an, genau wie Lydias humoristischer Schreibstil. Auch du verdienst alles unter dieser Sonne.