Reviews and Comments

Enum & Valerie

enumeration@kirja.casa

Joined 3 years 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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Leah Johnson: You Should See Me in a Crown (Hardcover, 2021, Thorndike Striving Reader) 5 stars

Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in …

#FuckYourFairyTale

5 stars

It's really messed up, how in the US people can't study without a scholarship or a lifelong credit. For fuck's sake, build a better education system. Anyway, Liz really needs that Prom Queen scholarship. And heck, does she conquer that crown, despite being black and bi on a very white, very heteronormative school. Of course she also conquers a girl's heart in the process.

Tess Sharpe: Six Times We Almost Kissed (Paperback, 2023, Hachette Children's Group) 5 stars

Six fun facts about Penny and Tate: 1. They've known each other their whole lives. …

I love both of them so much.

5 stars

A lot of trauma processing happens here, and it's affecting P. & T. a lot. Some are coping in more healthy ways, others in less. But what I find fascinating is that everybody in this book has the most wonderful people in their back who're regularly dropping everything to be there for them. Well and after all it's a wlw romance and they both get the girl.

CN for the book: parental death, parental abuse, PTSD

Michael Ende: Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch (German language, 2007, Thienemann) 5 stars

Silvester. Der geheime Zauberrat Beelzebub Irrwitzer und seine Tante, die Geldhexe Tyrannja Vamperl, haben ein …

Sehr niedliches Märchen

5 stars

von einem Kater und einem Raben, die es mit vereinten Kräften schaffen, einem bösen Laborzauberer und einer Geldhexe das Handwerk zu legen und dabei Frieden, Gesundheit und Wohlfahrt für die ganze Welt zu schaffen. Alle vier Hauptcharaktere wachsen einem dabei ans Herz, auch die beiden Bösen, sodass ihr Schicksal fast schon traurig ist. Der Humor ist 1a und wholesome, gerne wieder.

Wendy Heard: She's Too Pretty to Burn (2021, Holt & Company, Henry) 5 stars

An electric romance set against a rebel art scene sparks lethal danger for two girls …

This book has been moving me

5 stars

It's been a while since I read this book, but every time I see it on the shelf, I still think about it. And I think this is a sign of quality. Of course, it features a wlw romance plot, and yes, the girls do get each other.

It's still not a light-hearted fun story. Main char gets evicted from her home. People are killed. People commit actions they really damn regret. “She's a girl on the edge”, heck yes she is.

Content warnings before you start reading: homicide, stalking, parental abuse

Ciara Smyth: Falling in Love Montage (2020, Andersen Press) 5 stars

Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, …

To all the fans of classic rom-com movies...

5 stars

... be prepared to make a checklist, because The Falling in Love Montage is full of references to all of them! Some explicit, some not, but certainly all on purpose. And I love the humour, and specifically Saoirse's "mortal enemies" - Oliver the Sex God who always misses his own parties; Beth the Evil Queen who steals Saoirse's father's heart (and mine); and Super Barbara, with her emergency sewing toolbelt, and her heroic entrance with smoke and background music.

Well, on the other hand, it's not entirely light-hearted: the other big topic in the book is early-onset dementia - both in family members, but also in the main chars own future. A topic to be confronted.

reviewed Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Rebecca Ross: Divine Rivals (Hardcover, 2023, Magpie (HarperCollinsPublishers)) 3 stars

Two rivals. Two stories. Two hearts. One fate.

When two rival journalists find love through …

I'm conflicted

3 stars

In the beginning I thought this book was simply amazing. The story consists of three parts that could each stand on their own, with great ideas. With big life-changing events separating the parts. Some original mythology. And an absolutely enchanting writing style.

But then again, this is not just a romance story, but also a war story. With war logic, war values and war events, inspired by WW1. And I really don't understand why people like to fill their leasure time and literature with such horrible stuff. Yes daddy, there's nothing more romantic than trenches full of bodies, and then the sudden introduction of chemical weapons.

Nonetheless, it could still have been a great book if the author had chosen the easy way of writing a predictable happy end. Instead she chose one you just cannot predict, not even in your wildest phantasies, not even after reading this review. And …

Torrey Peters: Detransition, Baby (hardcover, 2021, One World) 4 stars

A whipsmart debut about three women--transgender and cisgender--whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces …

this book is so trans!

4 stars

This book actually consists of many little stories, and all of them are so trans, i feel seen. One of the stories is in the foreground, stretched over the entire book, while the others are told as anecdotes from the characters' past. I liked many things in the book. But it is a slow read, nothing to consume in one weekend.

Ruth Ware: It Girl (2023, Simon & Schuster, Limited) 4 stars

It was Hannah who found April's body ten years ago. It was Hannah who didn't …

So many plot twists

4 stars

Every time I had plausible ideas about who the murderer might be, i had to stop myself because there were still so many pages left. There was no lack of tension.

One point deduction because a girl went back to the guy who literally hunted her, and who is suddenly portrayed as a hero and saviour. The straights really aren't okay.

Adiba Jaigirdar: Dos and Donuts of Love (2023, Hachette Children's Group) 5 stars

The ex she still has feelings for. An exciting new crush. And the competition of …

Adiba Jaigirdar never disappoints

5 stars

This book is full of puns, full of delicious baking goods, and full of wonderful people with character development during the story. And there isn't a single person-walks-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-into-conclusions plot antipattern, the queen of YA WLW romance doesn't need that.

Taleen Voskuni: Sorry, Bro (2023, Penguin Publishing Group) 4 stars

An Armenian-American woman rediscovers her roots and embraces who she really is in this vibrant …

Cute, but I'm missing more story and tension

4 stars

What I liked: All the Armenian culture references, and the proverbs at the beginning of each chapter! That's so cool!

What I found boring: The tension curve is missing. The romance story is pretty straightforward, step by step without fallbacks, and at about 50% they're a couple and I asked myself "the story is already over, why are there so many more pages, oh no, please don't do a person-jumps-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-to-conclusions" and well, what followed was a person-jumps-into-wrong-situation-and-jumps-to-conclusions.