Bitchery, I struggled with this book. Not with the reading of it, so much, but with trying to parse my feelings and opinions on it, which are complicated. I was very excited about this #OwnVoices book about a trans witch bound in a magical engagement with his childhood best friend, a fae prince. And the initial chapters really drew me in. I wanted to like this so badly!!! But I ultimately kind of did not. … Continue reading The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon →
CW/TW: The hero’s client is a piece of work, who sexually harrasses his assistant, among many, many other women. This happens off the page, but we do see the fall out, and it isn’t handled as well as it could be. Proceed with caution. The Way You Hold Me is a gentle, low-tension, second chance romance between publicist Skye Palmer and crisis manager Garrett Steele. They dated ten years ago, but then Garrett’s mother died, … Continue reading The Way You Hold Me by Elle Wright →
With thanks to Tara. The Love Study is a romance between Declan, who swore off romance after leaving his boyfriend at the altar six years ago, and Sidney, who has no interest in dating, but who does have a YouTube channel called ‘Your Spinster Uncle’ where they provide relationship advice. (Sidney is gender nonconforming and prefers they/them pronouns). Declan might be commitment-phobic, but he is also 29 and beginning to wonder if he would, in … Continue reading The Love Study by Kris Ripper →
Content warning: A secondary character is a survivor of domestic violence. Also, the hero makes a living downsizing companies and firing people, which Catherine thinks ought to count as a trigger in this day and age, and makes Sneezy consider the merits of expressing herself with a flamethrower. The Marriage Game is a romantic comedy set in the Indian-American community in San Francisco, and it has an amazing sense of atmosphere and family. It’s also … Continue reading The Marriage Game by Sara Desai →
I adored this book. But it wasn’t always an easy read. It’s a book drowning in grief and desperation, finely wrought and deeply felt, and it’s an understatement to say that at parts it was so good and so sad and so precise in its pain that I was simply made of tears. So fair warning, if your heart can’t handle a story of surviving the unexpected loss of a parent, there’s nothing wrong with … Continue reading Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo →
I know we’re not especially far into 2019 yet, but We Set the Dark on Fire is hands down my favorite book of the year so far. It’s a YA novel about two women who are placed in competing positions inside a toxic patriarchy, then say “fuck that noise,” fall in love with each other, and help foment rebellion. It’s completely gripping, the world-building is excellent, and as a dystopian future, it feels alarmingly possible. I … Continue reading We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia →
Welcome to Book Beat! Think of Book Beat as Hide Your Wallet, Part Two! In Hide Your Wallet, we talk about books coming out in a particular month that we really want to read. But there’s more to good books than just new releases! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list … Continue reading Book Beat: An Anthology, Royals, & More →
Trail of Lightning was preordered around two months in advance and I would have waited triple that amount for this book if I had to. It’s steeped in Native American (namely Navajo) mythology, badassery, and lots and lots of violence. If you’re sensitive to graphic, gritty details, this book is not for you. It was rather early on that I knew this book was going to be amazing. And by early, I meant page two: … Continue reading Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse →
Though Amanda recently read and enjoyed The Kiss Quotient, we welcome this thoughtful and amazing squee from Brooke Winters. Brooke is an autistic reader, writer and activist who loves romance novels. You can find her on Twitter – @BrookeWinters33. …. As an autistic reader of romance I feel like I’ve been waiting for The Kiss Quotient forever. I love romance novels but until recently I never read one that accurately represented me. The Kiss Quotient … Continue reading Guest Squee: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang →
If the Dress Fits is a body-positive romance set in the Philippines. I loved the cultural elements, the food, and the body positivity. However, I was often exasperated by the heroine, who hurts a lot of people by believing that she cannot be loved in the romantic sense. Although this book is body-positive overall, TW for some discussion of fat shaming and internalized fatphobia. Our heroine, Martha Aguas, is an accountant who travels a lot … Continue reading If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman →
I loved this book but fair warning, I have never been so stressed out by reading a novel in my life. This book is written from the point of view of Lily, and is told in first-person, past tense. Lily is a teenager who has very severe ADHD. I have never been more worried about a character – maybe because I’m the mom of a teenage girl so I’m primed to worry, maybe because my … Continue reading The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle →
