A copy of this novel was provided by Entangled Publishing for review via Net Galley.
I had been excited for 27 Hours from the moment I found out about A copy of this novel was provided by Entangled Publishing for review via Net Galley.
I had been excited for 27 Hours from the moment I found out about it early last year. I saw “queer teens in space” and I wanted it. I found out that many under-represented queer identities were going to show up in this book, as well as intersectional diversity. I thought this book was kind of written for me.
And then I became aware of criticisms of some aspects of the book (mainly from this review, which I suggest you read). The points that Aimal makes are all incredibly valid, and also very… concerning. When I read the book I went in knowing these problematic aspects, and while I don’t know if I would have been as aware of them if I hadn’t read Aimal’s review beforehand I’m very glad I did.
In this world racism between humans doesn’t exist – so much so that a white person explains racism to a POC. This… did not sit well with me. Even if this conversation had to happen in the story, surely choosing a white character to explain racism to someone with Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage is just… wrong. I can’t think of another word. But having a white person explain racism to a POC just comes off inherently wrong.
The colonialist themes in 27 Hours were uncomfortable to read about. Every POV character in the book is a human and all except one has extreme prejudice against the indigenous species of the planet – Chimera. All of the humans use a slur to describe and talk about the Chimera – ‘gargoyles’ – and believe they’re all the same… even when they look different (I’ll leave you to ponder on that one). And we’re supposed to care about the humans when they’ve, you know, invaded a planet that wasn’t theirs, killed the Chimera that lived there, taken their resources, started a war. I’m sorry but I just don’t sympathise with that. I just didn’t care when the characters were talking about how horrible it was for them. The planet already had its own inhabitants. I’m sorry if I’m not sympathising with your terrible actions and continued destruction of a planet that isn’t yours and the killing of a species that just wants their home back.
Beyond these things that made reading 27 Hours uncomfortable and the themes inherently problematic and harmful I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, anyway. It was so long, and there was so much going on, and there were so many POV characters to keep track of. I didn’t feel fully invested in anyone’s storyline and I can honestly say I only really cared about two or so human characters in the book.
The best thing about 27 Hours was the queer rep. All of the POV characters were queer: Rumor is bi (and of Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage), Jude is gay, Braeden is ace (though I felt at times that it was being conflated with aro-ness), and Nyx is pan (and also Deaf and of Cuban heritage). However, there is discussion regarding this important queer rep and how it seems to be prioritised over the treatment of POC characters and the fumbled handling of colonial themes. I accepted this book for review before I read Aimal’s thoughts and criticisms so I don’t know if I would have read it had I not felt obligated. I can only say that we should not prioritise one marginalised community over another. We should not ignore harmful aspects in books just because we’ve found positives in that same text.
All in all 27 Hours was not what I expected – in more ways than one.
trigger warning: colonialist themes, war themes, multiple deaths, depictions of gore, ableism, use of ableist language, graphic fight scenes, fires, explosions, reference to death via drowning, reference to death of parents via cave collapse, reference to death of mother, death of father, absent parents, panic attacks, PTSD, death of a friend, and multiple physical injuries in this novel
Merged review:
A copy of this novel was provided by Entangled Publishing for review via Net Galley.
I had been excited for 27 Hours from the moment I found out about it early last year. I saw “queer teens in space” and I wanted it. I found out that many under-represented queer identities were going to show up in this book, as well as intersectional diversity. I thought this book was kind of written for me.
And then I became aware of criticisms of some aspects of the book (mainly from this review, which I suggest you read). The points that Aimal makes are all incredibly valid, and also very… concerning. When I read the book I went in knowing these problematic aspects, and while I don’t know if I would have been as aware of them if I hadn’t read Aimal’s review beforehand I’m very glad I did.
In this world racism between humans doesn’t exist – so much so that a white person explains racism to a POC. This… did not sit well with me. Even if this conversation had to happen in the story, surely choosing a white character to explain racism to someone with Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage is just… wrong. I can’t think of another word. But having a white person explain racism to a POC just comes off inherently wrong.
The colonialist themes in 27 Hours were uncomfortable to read about. Every POV character in the book is a human and all except one has extreme prejudice against the indigenous species of the planet – Chimera. All of the humans use a slur to describe and talk about the Chimera – ‘gargoyles’ – and believe they’re all the same… even when they look different (I’ll leave you to ponder on that one). And we’re supposed to care about the humans when they’ve, you know, invaded a planet that wasn’t theirs, killed the Chimera that lived there, taken their resources, started a war. I’m sorry but I just don’t sympathise with that. I just didn’t care when the characters were talking about how horrible it was for them. The planet already had its own inhabitants. I’m sorry if I’m not sympathising with your terrible actions and continued destruction of a planet that isn’t yours and the killing of a species that just wants their home back.
Beyond these things that made reading 27 Hours uncomfortable and the themes inherently problematic and harmful I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, anyway. It was so long, and there was so much going on, and there were so many POV characters to keep track of. I didn’t feel fully invested in anyone’s storyline and I can honestly say I only really cared about two or so human characters in the book.
The best thing about 27 Hours was the queer rep. All of the POV characters were queer: Rumor is bi (and of Nigerian/Portuguese and Indian heritage), Jude is gay, Braeden is ace (though I felt at times that it was being conflated with aro-ness), and Nyx is pan (and also Deaf and of Cuban heritage). However, there is discussion regarding this important queer rep and how it seems to be prioritised over the treatment of POC characters and the fumbled handling of colonial themes. I accepted this book for review before I read Aimal’s thoughts and criticisms so I don’t know if I would have read it had I not felt obligated. I can only say that we should not prioritise one marginalised community over another. We should not ignore harmful aspects in books just because we’ve found positives in that same text.
All in all 27 Hours was not what I expected – in more ways than one.
trigger warning: colonialist themes, war themes, multiple deaths, depictions of gore, ableism, use of ableist language, graphic fight scenes, fires, explosions, reference to death via drowning, reference to death of parents via cave collapse, reference to death of mother, death of father, absent parents, panic attacks, PTSD, death of a friend, and multiple physical injuries in this novel...more
Here Lies Olive is a queer YA light horror novel that focuses a lot on grief and death, and also touches on things like the evils of 20th and early toHere Lies Olive is a queer YA light horror novel that focuses a lot on grief and death, and also touches on things like the evils of 20th and early to mid-21st century “mental health care” and colonisation.
Olive died for five minutes, and all she saw when she was gone was what she calls the Nothing. There was nobody in the darkness, and all she felt was a sea of shadows and loneliness. Afterwards, she was determined to cut off everyone she loved, and wall herself off. But despite this, she ended up becoming friends with a woman from the local nursing home. And after she passes, Olive is determined to find out if the Nothing is what awaits everyone after they pass away.
So Olive ends up summoning a ghost so that she can ask them what exactly comes after death. But nothing goes right, and the ghost ends up being one who hasn’t passed on so has no idea what comes next after all. To help the ghost cross over, and therefore find out, Olive promises to help Jay find his unmarked grave in hopes he can give her a message once he passes on.
I really would have loved some more page time and development of Jay. He was a character with a lot of potential but I never felt like he was present enough to become a central character to the story. If the core group had spent more time with him I feel like readers would have really invested in Jay’s journey to crossing over, and the search for his unmarked grave. Instead, I felt like he was sidelined a lot, even though I had thought his story would be a large part of the book. And instead of caring about him and befriending him, Olive just got angry with Jay when bad stuff started happening and she assumed it was because of him.
Jay wasn’t the only thing lacking some development. I would have liked to see some more build up of the relationship between Olive and Maren because I think it could have been a really cute ship, but in the end I felt like it was a bit rushed, especially because Olive hadn’t even figured out she was gay until about two-thirds of the way through the book. It was still cute, don’t get me wrong, but I just would have liked it to be more fleshed out because the goth girl and the preppy girl is a cute ship!
On the other hand, I thought the conversational writing style was really engaging and reminded me of paranormal books from circa 2010, which have all but disappeared. This style makes it really easy to connect to the MC because it feels like they are having a chat with you personally. So I liked that a lot!
Another great thing was how fleshed out Davis, Olive’s best friend, was. He was very central to the story, and also had things going on in his life outside of what he was doing with Olive. His Navajo heritage was also central to his character, and I loved this. He was definitely not a cardboard cutout character who only served the main character.
Overall, I did enjoy Here Lies Olive. There were somethings that could have been improved and then I have a feeling I would have loved it. But as it was, I still liked it and it’s a perfect book for the spooky season – especially if you’re looking to dip your toes into the horror genre but don’t want to be keeping the lights on after you stop reading....more
As with every anthology I read, there were a few hits and misses for me in These Sunken Souls but in the celebration of the spooky season, I’m going tAs with every anthology I read, there were a few hits and misses for me in These Sunken Souls but in the celebration of the spooky season, I’m going to concentrate only on the ones I enjoyed because I would pick this anthology up for these ones only anyway!
Lights by Kalynn Bayron
This one is a bit twisty and majorly macabre, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. I am a personal fan of stories that never reveal any personal details about the main character (kind of like Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier), and Lights did this! I was excited about that because I hardly ever get to read this specific thing except in things I write myself so *cheering*
Be Not Afraid by Ashia Monet
I think this may be the standout story of the anthology. The writing was beautiful and atmospheric, and again there was a bit of a twist and I loved it. I am here for the real villains of the story to get what is coming for them.
All My Best Friends Are Dead by Liselle Sambury
I really liked this one! I love a good teen girls think nothing through and end up summoning something they were 100% not prepared for story. I also really like Sambury’s writing (I loved it in her novel Delicious Monsters) so it was no surprise to me that it was one of my favourites in the anthology
Papa Pearlie by Ryan Douglass
This one did miss the mark just a teensy bit but I enjoyed it overall because creepy dolls. I am always here for creepy dolls. To be honest, I think Papa Pearlie could have done with being a bit longer so that things could have been explained and explored more.
No Harm Done by Circe Moskowitz
No Harm Done was pretty much the most brutal of the stories and I really liked it. Zombie stories are so often told right in the middle of the apocalypse but this one started out completely normal and then BAM – zombies. Kind of reminded me of the beginning of Fear the Walking Dead, which I really enjoyed. Definitely one of my top faves of the anthology!...more
The entire time I was reading This Pact Is Not Ours I thought it would have made a better TV show. There are things that just didn't work in a novel tThe entire time I was reading This Pact Is Not Ours I thought it would have made a better TV show. There are things that just didn't work in a novel that would have worked on screen, like Luca's absolute obsession with Copper Cove, the traditions that the friend group had, their nicknames, and even the scary parts. As it was, a lot of it unfortunately came across as really cringe.
One thing that really came out of the blue was Luca's faith, and the way he talked about prayer and meditation. I guess this was something that I really didn't expect so it threw me a bit. Not saying it's a bad thing, just something that didn't seem to 100% fit into the story.
The horror bits were definitely the strongest aspect of This Pact Is Not Ours, and to be honest I wish there was more horror! Give me more of the creepy entity that, like, eats people. I am here for it!! As it was, the scary moments that were in the book were really good and gave off the perfect vibes of a summer horror story (which actually kind of reminded me of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was fun).
I have to admit the ending did feel a bit rushed considering everything, but at least there was closure because horror endings that leave too much to interpretation really grate on me to be honest.
All in all, This Pact Is Not Ours was a quick and fun horror read perfect for either the spooky season or a nice summer scare....more
I saw this being pitched as a Grinch retelling, and I was THERE for someone learning to appreciate the joy that Christmas can bring into people's liveI saw this being pitched as a Grinch retelling, and I was THERE for someone learning to appreciate the joy that Christmas can bring into people's lives. Unfortunately, there was no joy for me when reading this novel.
Some people may enjoy reading about unlikeable characters, and you do you for them, but for me there needs to be at least something redeemable and/or likeable about the character I am spending multiple hours inside the head of, and there was none of that for Matthew Prince. He was just a selfish, spoiled brat that I could not have cared less about.
The romance was also ... not it. Especially towards the end where Matthew literally calls Hector a "bottom feeder" because he thinks Hector did something shitty and there was no apology, no regrets, nothing. Hector was just like "uwu I understand why you would have felt that way if it was me". I do not stan couples that start with this kind of thing.
All in all, this book was a hell of a disappointment. Traditionally published Christmas books are really not hitting the mark....more
Wicked Little Things is a queer YA horror book with a boy witch main character. I always want more boy witches in YA, and I always want more spec fic Wicked Little Things is a queer YA horror book with a boy witch main character. I always want more boy witches in YA, and I always want more spec fic with boys in YA. So my heart was happy that Dane Craven was the hero of Wicked Little Things!
Dane had a wicked (see what I did there) sense of humour that was interspersed throughout the book. So even though there were a lot of heavy themes in the story, there were some light-hearted moments too. Dane never took himself too seriously, and it was an endearing character trait for me. I found myself rooting for Dane throughout the book, and I wanted him to come out okay at the end.
Dane’s relationships with the people around him were some of the best parts of the book. Grant, his cousin, has been murdered, which is why Dane and his mum return to her home town of Jasper Hollow to begin with. Dane’s relationship with Grant was messy and hard to define, and I thought this was really true to life. His relationship with his mum and his cousin were also realistic in that they weren’t perfect, but the characters were always there for each other.
There is also a romance in Wicked Little Things between Dane and the local barista, EJ. I thought their relationship added moments of sweetness to the book, and I was definitely in their corner. They weren’t always the best at communication but they are teenagers so this is understandable. I definitely want to learn more about EJ, and I’d love to see the two of them get to know each other more too, and also grow as a couple.
Even though I mentioned that there is humour in Wicked Little Things, the author did not hold back on the horror elements. The villain is a dude who wears rabbit skins and also sings a creepy little nursery rhyme about himself. He was spooky and added a lot to the horror atmosphere of the book. I liked that there was an illustration of him on the front cover because it really helped with the imagery, too!
The ending of Wicked Little Things really set itself up for a sequel, which I hope happens! I would read more of Dane’s world and magic and relationships for sure.
rigger warning: homophobia, bullying (physical assault), violence, gore, murder, death, reference to conversion therapy, character outed, missing sibling of side character, reference to transphobia...more
1 - Gay Panic. When Colby’s best friend, Ryan, tells Colby he has a crush on someone, Colby is terrified thThree things in Beta Testing by Cody Burke:
1 - Gay Panic. When Colby’s best friend, Ryan, tells Colby he has a crush on someone, Colby is terrified that person is HIM. But when Ryan eventually reveals it’s one of their friends he’s crushing on, Colby realises HE is the one that likes RYAN ...more
I was so keen for Lavender House when I found out about it because queer historical mystery set in a house where basically no one ever leaves sounded I was so keen for Lavender House when I found out about it because queer historical mystery set in a house where basically no one ever leaves sounded like it promised a good, spooky time. Unfortunately that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Lavender House was filled with characters who were completely interchangeable, and despite the narration being in first person, the MC was completely forgettable and tbh I barely remember his name.
There was also no mystery to speak of. Yes a woman died under mysterious circumstances but mystery novels are supposed to make you guess who it might be from the information given and lovely little red herrings and also INVESTIGATION. All the MC did was have little chats with everyone who lived at the house like he was just expecting them to confess to him ...more
Teach the Torches to Burn is the diverse Romeo and Juliet retelling from Feiwel & Friends’ Remixed Classics series. I was pretty darn excited for it bTeach the Torches to Burn is the diverse Romeo and Juliet retelling from Feiwel & Friends’ Remixed Classics series. I was pretty darn excited for it because the author is Caleb Roehrig, the author of Last Seen Leaving, an incredible queer YA thriller which you need to read if you haven’t already. I was even more excited when I was lucky enough to be approved for an early review copy.
Sadly, that excitement died a swift death from almost the moment I started reading. The writing in this book was over flowery to say the least. It felt like it was trying to emulate a Shakespearean tone but for me it really missed the mark. It didn’t help that there was little to no plot, so the excessively flowery writing was just about Romeo and Valentine and Romeo and Valentine, repeat to fade.
The other thing that really fell flat for me was the fact that this story didn’t stick enough to the story we know in Romeo and Juliet. I understand that it’s a retelling, but when the overarching themes and hugely important scenes from the original are erased, it makes me wonder what the point of the retelling is. For example, when Mercutio dies after Tybalt confronts Romeo (and also dies), he curses both the houses of Montague and Capulet in his dying breath, despite having contributed to the fighting and being best friends with Romeo. This is supposed to hit hard because young people are literally dying in the streets over a pathetic family feud which has no true meaning. But in Teach the Torches to Burn, Mercutio lives, which I think is an interesting choice because that pivotal moment was never delivered. Also, the Mercutio in this book is fully supportive of Romeo and his fight against the Capulets which just… no.
Another element that made me side eye was the fact that Juliet actually exists in this retelling. This move made no sense to me. I think it was a big missed opportunity because, like the move with Mercutio, it took too much away from the point of the original novel. When the love interest isn’t a Capulet then how are the adults in the story supposed to realise that their ridiculous feud resulted in the deaths of their beloved children and thus that said feud was indeed ridiculous and should be ended. With Valentine not being a Capulet none of this was realised. And Romeo and Valentine didn’t have to die for this theme to still come about – the ending still could have been hopeful for the younger audience like the author said he wanted it to be – but it still could have kept with the purpose of the original play.
Anyway, as you can tell I wasn’t on board with this book even though I so badly wanted to be. I’m sure there are folks who will read this and not mind the things I mentioned – I truly didn’t even know I was such a stan for the themes in Romeo and Juliet until I read this book lmao. But if you’re looking for a queer Romeo and Juliet that still holds true the heart of the play then I don’t think this is the one for you.
A copy of this novel was provided by the publisher for review.
If You Change Your Mind is a young adult romcom set at a beachside town with all the perA copy of this novel was provided by the publisher for review.
If You Change Your Mind is a young adult romcom set at a beachside town with all the perfect summer vibes to go with it! The story follows Harry, who is an aspiring screenplay writer, as he struggles to choose between two love interests: the boy who broke his heart last year, or the new boy in town.
I was firmly Team Logan (new boy in town) from the moment he was introduced. Logan is one of the most fleshed out love interests I have read about in a really long time. He was an actual person and not just a vibe that exists for the main character to pine over. Logan had his own life that happened outside of his romantic scenes with Harry, which is one of the reasons he was more fleshed out than a lot of love interests I’ve been reading about lately. Also, Logan genuinely cared about Harry, his sisters, and also his aunt and uncle (who he was staying with to help care for his aunt). I will remember Logan for a long time.
I wish I could say the same for Harry. I wasn’t his biggest fan because he never really treated anyone in his life with much respect, especially Logan. But on the other hand, he was a seventeen year old boy so I could forgive some of his sillier mistakes. I liked that he was a creative who wanted to be a screenplay writer for Hollywood, and the way he procrastinated writing said screenplay was way too relatable. I wish he had stuck to his dreams a bit more in the end though because you don’t just give up after one attempt!
I really liked Harry’s sisters as side characters, and how much he loved them. I would have liked even more time with Harry’s family, though, because sometimes it felt like he had a bit too much freedom as a seventeen year old. His mother was basically absent all of the time, and I did wonder who was taking care of the five year old and fifteen year old sisters when Harry and his mother was at work, especially since they spoke about how irrational the fifteen year old was. If she’s so irrational why is she left to take care of the five year old nearly every day of the week? Sigh. This was just a small grievance though!
All in all, I had a lot of fun reading If You Change Your Mind! It was easy to read, and I enjoyed it every time I picked it up. If you’re keen for a summer romance to warm these cold winter nights then this is definitely the book for you!
