Kirjakasa

Enum & Valerie started reading Ei kaikki pinnat kireällä by Taru Luojola

Taru Luojola: Ei kaikki pinnat kireällä (Finnish language, 2018)

Ei kaikki pinnat kireällä by Taru Luojola

Enum & Valerie finished reading Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Abdulrazak Gurnah: Afterlives (2021, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc)

While he was still a little boy, Ilyas was stolen from his parents by the …

The book tells the life stories of a hand full of people in Eastern Africa (mostly what is now Tansania), stretched over more than 100 years. Their lives intertwine, it's written from different perspectives, and they're affected by world events in different ways. There's not really much tension in the story - but it's not boring either, it's a nice read. Though I found it a bit hard to imagine how old all the people were at any given time, because the book stretches over many decades. People are born, they age, have a life and eventually they die.

Enum & Valerie finished reading One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Casey McQuiston: One Last Stop (Paperback, 2021, St. Martin's Griffin)

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: …

So fucking gay, and there was so much representation of so many kinds and examples of queerness and queer community and queer history. And I loved the writing, all the hilarious little details and comments, all these amazing misfit characters with their flaws that you just have to fall in love with - it's just very rewarding to read. Content warning for all the queermisic and racist violence in Subway Girl's previous life though.

There are some details though that I can't stop wondering about. First of all, how long is the distance between the subway station on the Q??? Judging from all the things that happen on the train between the stations, there must be several kilometers O.O Second, why on earth would anybody donate and give charity to a restaurant owner, who's never there and doesn't work, just to keep his profit running, and even make him the …

So fucking gay, and there was so much representation of so many kinds and examples of queerness and queer community and queer history. And I loved the writing, all the hilarious little details and comments, all these amazing misfit characters with their flaws that you just have to fall in love with - it's just very rewarding to read. Content warning for all the queermisic and racist violence in Subway Girl's previous life though.

There are some details though that I can't stop wondering about. First of all, how long is the distance between the subway station on the Q??? Judging from all the things that happen on the train between the stations, there must be several kilometers O.O Second, why on earth would anybody donate and give charity to a restaurant owner, who's never there and doesn't work, just to keep his profit running, and even make him the new landlord - i don't get that o.O

Enum & Valerie started reading One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and …

Enum & Valerie rated Wilder Girls: 3 stars

Rory Power: Wilder Girls (2020, Random House Children's Books)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled …

Enum & Valerie finished reading Wilder Girls by Rory Power

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since …

I honestly kinda hated it, even though there's queer love. Apocalyptic szenario at a girls' school on an island, but instead of working together, everyone is just focused on themselves and their close friends. 90% of the people in this book could have survived if everyone had just been a good leftist and cared about one another. But no, it's this right-wing setting of "in the apocalypse, everyone's on their own".

Enum & Valerie rated Henna Wars: 5 stars

Adiba Jaigirdar: Henna Wars (2021, Hachette Children's Group)

Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this rom com about two teen girls with …

Enum & Valerie finished reading Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this rom com …

I loved it very much and recommend it to everyone who loves queer romances as a story on their own (it's the main plot). The setting is very similar to “Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating” by the same author (queer Bengali school girls living in Ireland going to a Catholic Girls' School, dealing with both racism and queermisia), but they're both independent books with absolutely wholesome stories. If you love Hani & Ishu, read the Henna Wars; if you love the Henna Wars, read Hani & Ishu :)