Reviews and Comments

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Enum & Valerie

enumeration@kirja.casa

Joined 3 years, 5 months ago

@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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commented on What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Isabel Ibañez: What the River Knows (2023, St. Martin's Press)

Bolivian-Argentiniantinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and …

Side fact: The book is dedicated to Rebecca Ross, another author, and indeed many elements reminded me of "Divine Rivals": The 1900 nostalgia (+/- 20 years). Ladies being courted by Gentlemen. Discussions about what is proper. No dating before marriage. Soldiers are sexy. Male family members decide freely over their sisters'/nieces' lives. Strong women falling in love with shitheads of disputable integrity, who are still portrayed as desireable and romantic etc. No, the straights are not okay.

reviewed What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

Isabel Ibañez: What the River Knows (2023, St. Martin's Press)

Bolivian-Argentiniantinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and …

What the River Knows

I'm not really sure what to think of this. It's all so inconsequent. For context, this book plays in colonized Egypt, in the year 1884. And the two character alignments are: good archeologists who want to preserve everything and thus have to keep it secret so future Egyptians can learn about it - and the bad people who sell everything they get their hands on. So this is superficially anti-colonialist, yet all the relevant people are Englishmen, Frenchmen or Argentinians. Only two Egyptians in the book have names, and they're entirely replaceable, with no plot relevance and no agency.

And the "evil" side who's illegally trading artifacts is so flat, not even the motivations make sense (if it's money then why did Lourdes risk losing her giant fortune to Ricardo???)

reviewed Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Sasha Laurens: Youngblood (2022, Penguin Young Readers Group)

Two queer teen bloodsuckers attending an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all …

Vampire Politics for revolutionaries

Great story in a well-engineered universe with so many little aspects. If you like gay communist vampire revolutionaries schemeing their ways to overthrow the conservative vampires elites, this book is for you.

commented on Youngblood by Sasha Laurens

Sasha Laurens: Youngblood (2022, Penguin Young Readers Group)

Two queer teen bloodsuckers attending an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all …

One thing I love about this book is Taylor's and Evangeline's enemies-with-benefits relationship. Like hatefucking your bully and nemesis every week is a totally normal thing that people just do. And no, it's not an enemies-to-lovers plot.

reviewed Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake (Bright Falls, #3)

Ashley Herring Blake: Iris Kelly Doesn't Date (Hardcover, Piatkus)

Everyone around Iris Kelly is in love. And she's happy for all of them, truly. …

What offense, sweet Beatrice?

Everybody who's read 'Delilah Green Doesn't Care' or 'Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail' already knows that Iris Kelly is an absolute goddess. If you haven't read those, do that first, it's a trilogy.

Now imagine our beloved Iris in a goddamn Fake Dating plot! Yes okay, I see, the Fake Dating trope is quite common these days and it's always the same predictable main arc, but I love well-written Fake Dating stories, so let me enjoy this treat. And it is really WELL MADE.

AHB just doesn't disappoint, this book is entertaining and full of well working side arcs. Turns and twists that feel "just right", instead of easy choices. Mostly.

What I cannot really stomach is Iris moving to New York. For fuck's sake, Ms Blake, you moved Delilah from NY to Bright Falls and into the friends group just to move Iris away from them two books later?? How …