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Enum & Valerie

enumeration@kirja.casa

Joined 2 years, 1 month 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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Enum & Valerie's books

Currently Reading

2024 Reading Goal

44% complete! Enum & Valerie has read 22 of 50 books.

Zoe Hana Mikuta: Gearbreakers (2021, Feiwel & Friends) 5 stars

No logré engancharme. Tal vez es que la realidad de la guerra es demasiado punzante …

Dust in their hair, fire in their cheeks, draped over our common room's worn, moth-eaten furniture like they were kicked into place, at too-fucking-early o'clock, every single kid of my crew is a sight for sore eyes. And - unfortunately - I wouldn't be doing my job right if I weren't constantly sore. Nova, our driver, is settled on the splintering table, her tiny form balanced on her toes, legs tucked in her usual precarious perch. She's having popcorn for breakfast again, chucking the burnt pieces into the mousy fluff of Theo's hair. Neck lolled over the side of the fraying love seat, legs kicked over its puckering back, our marksman grumbles obscenities as he hunts for the wayward kernels. On the couch, Arsen lies either dead or asleep, limp and facedown in Juniper's lap. June's face is turned, cheek to the back cushion, a faraway look in her brown eyes as she twists the demolitionist's curls around scarred, hazel fingertips. Behind them, Xander hovers near the single window that allows entrance to only a sorry amount of light, face pressed far too close to the filthy glass, breath spreading clouds that match the ones outside.

Gearbreakers by  (Page 27 - 28)

Average fedi polycule

Meryl Wilsner: Mistakes Were Made (2022, Little, Brown Book Group Limited) 4 stars

WAT

3 stars

The good part: This entire scenario is incredibly sick (yes, hahaha, YES). Fucking your best friend's mom? Fucking your daughter's best friend? Oh boy, this could be a riot.

The bad part: It's a very very slow burn. You'd expect a buildup, then drama when the daughter/friend finds out, then reconciliation. Instead, it's 300 pages of sex, secret dates and a good old relationship escalator (of course, marriage is just what this story needs 🥴). At some point it really got boring. If you really wanted this story, make it shorter. And scrap the epilogue.

Karen M. McManus: One of Us Is Lying (AudiobookFormat, Listening Library (Audio)) 4 stars

All the secrets of the Bayview Four will be revealed in the TV series soon …

One of Us is Lying

4 stars

I liked it, but I already liked the TV series, so I knew what to expect. Now I can compare!

Things I liked better in the book: There is no omnipotent, omniscient being as in the series. Everyone just knows what they see and hear about, and works with mundane methods. Also, Luis, Ashton and Eli are amazing extra characters! Also, yes, Simon is definitely a channer.

Things I liked better in the TV series: How the entire situation came to happen. Jake's role, Simon's, and most of all, Janae's! Also, the entire ending. That version is just way more satisfying.

Miranda Sun: If I Have to Be Haunted (Hardcover, 2023, Little, Brown Book Group Limited) 4 stars

Cara's just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, …

If I Have To Be Haunted

4 stars

Better than I'm used to with straight romance. There are plotholes (why did the white snake comply and tell them how to undo its actions??), but the story is interesting and funny. Its nature is pretty episodic though, and many of the places in the liminal world are described very graphically - so I can't stop thinking it would make a great cartoon series! Add a few more steps and details, and voila, here's 50 episodes about the quest to find the antivenom ouroboros!

Miranda Sun: If I Have to Be Haunted (Hardcover, 2023, Little, Brown Book Group Limited) 4 stars

Cara's just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, …

Zach coughed. "Loser."

If I Have to Be Haunted by  (Page 370)

I'll counter-quote from Bring It On (2000): "Was that the loser sneeze I just heard right there? Guys, come on. I mean, what is that, from like the 80s? Nobody does that anymore. I don't think anybody does. When I lived in Kentucky - Did they still do the loser sneeze in Kentucky? No. They had, uh, guns and homemade bombs. What about L. A.? There was attitude in L. A. , but no loser sneeze. I'm pretty sure the loser sneeze is officially dead."

Miranda Sun: If I Have to Be Haunted (Hardcover, 2023, Little, Brown Book Group Limited) 4 stars

Cara's just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, …

Content warning cannibalism

Isabel Ibañez: What the River Knows (2023, St. Martin's Press) 3 stars

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.