sicilyjoywrites
Sicily Joy Writes
Jack of trades, Master of none. I write what I want.
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5 out of 5 stars.
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When Oceans Rise by Robin Alvarez is a very powerful book. In the novel, Malaya is cursed to fall in love with a dangerous boy. Wanting to escape the abuse and emotional ties she has with him, she makes a time altering deal with a sea witch.
When Oceans Rise, is full of Filipino culture and mythology. It is also a retelling of the little mermaid and with a splash of science fiction particularly different timelines and alternative selves.
I love the rich cultural elements throughout the book. It definitely makes me want to dive into more Filipino media.
The little mermaid theme mixed with Filipino monsters and Gods was expertly done and captivated me. I believe the plot also aligned with the original Hans Christian Anderson’s story as Malaya struggles with a doomed love and the sacrifices she must make to protect others.
As far as the abusive relationship that the plot centers around, it is painfully realistic to how abusers can tangle you to them. Also, how family bonds can become broken because of these relationships.
However, the novel takes Malaya on a healing journey both for herself and her family. Although at the beginning, I found the book difficult to read, I eventually found my own realizations and some healing while reading about Malaya’s path to freedom.
I highly recommend this book to young and older adults. I think readers of fantasy, mythology lovers, and family drama readers will love this novel.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this novel in exchange for my honest review.
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Well, this was a wild, ridiculous and completely unrealistic ride but that’s exactly what I love about this series!
In Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, they changed locations again but still managed to include the majority of the ensemble of weirdos. Finlay’s mother, ex husband, kids, police, and even the FBI manage to highjacked Finlay’s and Vero’s trip to Atlanta City. There were even dogs who are critical characters in this book.
Atlantic city was a fun new location with things like strip clubs & psychics🤭. A perfect place for the hijinks ensue.
Finlay and Vero must investigate a kidnapping, protect a young hacker and of course solve a murder without the family and law enforcement finding out.
With all the deaths, the series remains cozy and hilarious. Also especially in Rolling the Dice, the series gets a bit steamy as Finlay’s life starts to mimicking her romantic suspense novels.
The novel is also a page turner. Although, Finlay and Vero have managed to the stay lucky throughout the series, there was so much suspense around how they were going to get out of this disaster. Will they get caught by the police? Will they stay under the thumb of the mob? Then there were all the will-they-won’t-they storylines to keep us guessing.
Now, what everyone loves most about this series is the relationship between Finlay and Vero.Finlay and Vero remind me of the amateur detectives version of Grace and Frankie ( if you haven’t seen that show do it). I love that they are a found family who are basically raising Finlay’s kids together.
Specifically In Rolling the Dice, I’m love seeing Finlay and Vero finding romance and getting success. They deserve their flowers.
I have read and enjoy all the books in the series and I can’t wait for the next installment.
Thank you to Netgalley for gifting me this novel in exchange for my honest review.
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Video Review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLrbEggr/
Well, this was a wild, ridiculous and completely unrealistic ride but that’s exactly what I love about this series!
In Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, they changed locations again but still managed to include the majority of the ensemble of weirdos. Finlay’s mother, ex husband, kids, police, and even the FBI manage to highjacked Finlay’s and Vero’s trip to Atlanta City. There were even dogs who are critical characters in this book.
Atlantic city was a fun new location with things like strip clubs & psychics🤭. A perfect place for the hijinks ensue.
Finlay and Vero must investigate a kidnapping, protect a young hacker and of course solve a murder without the family and law enforcement finding out.
With all the deaths, the series remains cozy and hilarious. Also especially in Rolling the Dice, the series gets a bit steamy as Finlay’s life starts to mimicking her romantic suspense novels.
The novel is also a page turner. Although, Finlay and Vero have managed to the stay lucky throughout the series, there was so much suspense around how they were going to get out of this disaster. Will they get caught by the police? Will they stay under the thumb of the mob? Then there were all the will-they-won’t-they storylines to keep us guessing.
Now, what everyone loves most about this series is the relationship between Finlay and Vero.Finlay and Vero remind me of the amateur detectives version of Grace and Frankie ( if you haven’t seen that show do it). I love that they are a found family who are basically raising Finlay’s kids together.
Specifically In Rolling the Dice, I’m love seeing Finlay and Vero finding romance and getting success. They deserve their flowers.
I have read and enjoy all the books in the series and I can’t wait for the next installment.
Thank you to Netgalley for gifting me this novel in exchange for my honest review.
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Spoiler Alert: This book is a fun time for a Harley Quinn Fan.
Basically, Harley Quinn goes to her dream school: Gotham Academy and becomes an intern for Arkham. She also pledges a sorority, gets into a love triangle and has to solve a case of who is experimenting on the patients at Arkham.
What I loved about this story are the characters. All the main characters are well written and developed. Harley Quinn’s characterization makes her a person I would want to read about even if she wasn’t a DC character. Her backstory, her existential crisis, and her personality make her a loveable and related character. The love triangle between her, Winn, and Ivy was believable because the relationships were written well. If I was torn between sweet Winn and understanding Ivy, then it made all the sense that Harley was too.
I also love a moment in the book where Harley rejects patriarchy and the idea of being “not like the other girls.” Harley is truly a girl’s girl in this novel. The novel also quickly addresses biphobia and challenges the false narratives about who is really bisexual. There is a social justice theme throughout that questions policing and prison culture and the idea of who are criminals and who are heroes.
Unfortunately, this book isn’t quite a 5 star read for me. I think the gen z slang used in the book will eventually date the novel in a bad way. Also, the slang was actually AAVE and sounded weird coming from Harley Quinn. But the bigger issue is the amnesia (this is in the beginning chapter, therefore not a spoiler) trope was unnecessary. This book could have been told completely from a present day perspective and it would have been more thrilling. The memory loss angle made the story drag on. It felt like a trick to extend the word count when a shorter book would have been more enjoyable.
But I really enjoyed the characters, the plot (minus the amnesia), and the messages about social equity. Therefore, I give Ravenous four out of five stars.
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How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis.
Wow! Here is a book less than 3 hours on audiobook about how to keep your home and life functional during the hardest of times, and because of this book, I had plenty to reflect on in therapy.
Let's back up: How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis shares tips on getting care tasks done such as cleaning your home and yourself. But it’s also about how to let go of the moralizing and shame about these tasks. KC Davis says many times that care tasks are morally neutral. The tips are really helpful to those of us who are disabled, chronically fatigued and chronically in pain, especially how to prioritize the important stuff like dealing with trash and taking our medicine. But the suggestions are helpful to anyone, whether they are stressed, overworked, raising kids, etc.
I think the real gems of the book are where she gets the reader to reflect on possible shame and even trauma around these tasks. Whether your parents shamed you around cleaning or you grew up in neglect or you experienced other forms of toxicity around care tasks, this book is for you.
I had a moment where I just said " oh" as I realized that's why I can’t clean the bathroom, especially the toilet. It’s a trigger for me. Now that I know, I have no problem asking my spouse to be in charge of toilets.
The book also talks about how guilt around environmentalism impedes disabled people taking care of themselves and their spaces. It talks about how to create equal rest time in the household and other tools to have a functional life and house. I honestly knew this would be a 5 star read when I heard her say, "Throw it away." And it just got better from that point on. This book is for everyone: 5 stars!
#book review#How to keep house#KC Davis#NonFiction#Cleaning#Care Tasks#disabled life#neurodivergent#Disabled writers#Neurodivergent writers
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Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life
Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life by Sarah Edmondson, Kristine Gasbarre:
Scarred is a memoir of Sarah Edmondson’s experience in the high control group: NXIVM. I knew nothing about NXIVM before reading this memoir. I came across this title from TikTok. It was a well-written book that pulled me right in and I enjoyed the narration (by Sarah herself) since I listened to this title on audible. Sarah Edmondson’s experiences fascinated me because she seemed to have a pretty good and frankly privileged upbringing. In fact, her mom is a psychologist. So, how did NXIVM captivate her along with other well-known people? What was missing from her life that she joined NXIVM? The best part of the story was when she honestly shared her background and how the leaders of NXIVM used female friendships to trap her.
However, the parts of the book I questioned were the lack of accountability on Sarah Edmondson’s part. As a recruiter, where was her self-reflection when the group showed clear signs of misogyny, heterosexism, and even elements of white supremacy? Sometimes she continues to defend herself and others past the point of reason. In fact, towards the end, it reads like either a lawyer said “Don’t show any actionable remorse,” or she was so stuck in her idea of being a good person who she just couldn’t admit to her mistakes. I honestly don’t want to be judgemental here because who knows what I would have done in a similar situation. Also, she might have taken more accountability outside of her book. But, just judging from the book, I have to give this one a 3.5 star for being well written, interesting and good vocal narration. However, the lack of accountability was quite frustrating.
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Day 2 recap and tips from a spoonie
#amwriting#people with disabilities#disabled writer#nanowrimoer#writing#notes on writing#writers of tumblr#disabled writers#spoonie life#nanowrimo
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My NanoWrimo cover for my scifi fantasy YA thingie:
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Take frequent breaks (drink water too!) and do your goddamn wrist stretches
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do write ins at youtube for motivation. or your local ones. Tamara Woods is my favorite writetuber and also nanowimo will have ones at their youtube.
i’m doing nanowrimo this year and i’ve never done it before, send ur best nanowrimo tips
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Book Review: Surrounded by Narcissists by Thomas Erikson
** I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
Surrounded by Narcissists by Thomas Erikson is a Pop psych/self-help book about dealing with Narcissistic people. In the book, Erikson discusses Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), how to deal with Narcissistic people and how social media encourages Narcissistic behavior.
I am writing this review awhile after I read the book. It is hard enough to give a critical review, but since this book is about psychology; I had to process my feelings about it. And my biggest feeling is that while there were some helpful and interesting parts to this book, it is more harmful than anything. But let’s start with the “good”.
I think Erikson’s description of NPD seemed to be correct. But he is not a mental health professional and neither am I, so I don’t know. But, it is in line with what I have read previously and the DSM. He also gives some useful advice on how to deal with narcissistic people in your life.
Where it goes off the rails is the rants about narcissism in social media culture. Which really ends up sounds like the old man complaining about kids having too much fun.
Pop psychology is going to keep beating this dead horse about how social media harms us, even though there really is not enough evidence to support any of it. And truly when he gets into this section of his book, there is nothing evidence based on it.
He says weird things like how protecting yourself from narcissism is realizing you are not special. Then he goes up to say they are a few special people like Kim Kardashian and Bill Gates. He says don’t be an influencer, work hard. Then actually says people like Kim Kardashian worked hard! She is the definition of a jobless influencer.
He also blames parents for letting their children wear shirts that said spoiled or letting their daughters think they are princesses. Why do I want this harmfulness? Because there are little girls, queer kids and BIPOC need to be told they are special. Because people keep complaining about selfie culture as if the upper class did not have things like “portrait culture”. There have always been “selfies” but now the working classes can do it and feel special too. But, of course, that would rub self-help authors the wrong way. What if people did not feel bad about themselves? Fewer book sales. No, I don’t think Thomas Erikson has bad intentions, but he does not seem to have the expertise for the subject. Therefore, this book appears opportunistic, to cash in on the current obsession with narcissism.
Since I found a few parts of the book helpful but overall did not enjoy it, I gave in a two out of five stars.
#Book Review#Dall-e art#amwriting#netgalley#Surround by Narcissists#Thomas Erikson#Books#booksbooksbooks#booklr
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I am doing NanoWrimo the right way. Which is to say I haven't the slightest idea what the hell I'm doing. Woohoo.
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NanoWrimo Prep Week
October started NanoWrimo Prep month. Totally optional since the traditional version of NanoWrimo was NO prep. Anyway, the past week, they have been focusing on the plot.
I am still trying to figure out my which story I will do:
Traditional Nano: Write a New story. SFF with fairies.
Nano Rebel: Editing my old ass novel. Occult-spy romance.
Nano Traditional/Rebel (I started a couple of scenes). Cozy mystery.
All the above. Work on what I want when I feel like it.
What are y'all thoughts? I am lending towards 4 because I am a rebel.
vimeo
#Nanowimo#Nanowrimo prep#writing#writerslife#notes on writing#writers of tumblr#writers#disabled writers#Vimeo
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accidentally posted wrong blog and too lazy to correct
Book review: Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh
*I received this book from NetGalley for my honest review:
Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh was just what I needed: a fun, funny and fabulous kissing book. In this meet-cute, Manni doesn’t know much about her Indian roots. In fact, her parents had her focus mainly on achieving all the success she deserves as an American. They had seemed to leave all of India in the past and so had she. But then her business Break Up (a business that helps couples break up and move on) starts soaring. Manni gets a tremendous opportunity for a front cover in a famous magazine.
While Manni should be over the moon, her cover page was white washed! Her Fiance,who seems to never be around, doesn’t seem the problem with it. Suddenly, Manni longs to feel connected with being Indian. And the perfect opportunity rolls in with Sammi. Sammi wants a temporary break-up with his white girlfriend because he can’t bring her to his brother’s wedding. Manni and Sammi strike a deal. He teaches her how to be Indian and she gets him his break.
To be clear, I don’t believe in self-made rich CEOs or bosses that everyone loves. And I definitely do not believe in the American Dream. But for this book, I let go of my bitterness, and enjoyed Manni’s character arch. BreakUp is this fast-growing multimillion company. Manni is a great boss whose team loves her. The author crushes the self-made myth with a cast of best friends/co-workers such as Rob (CFO) and Anaji (badass in everything). And there is good diversity in the book with queer characters.
Besides, my dislike of “Rich people” I loved the creativity of the plot. A breakup business is a fascinating idea to use for a fake-dating trope. I also loved that there was a little of hate to love. The perfect combination of snark without being too cruel and, therefore, an unbelievable love story.
The novel has a taste of Bollywood/Indian soap opera, which is awesome because I was turning the page late a night because of the drama. Yet, there was never too much drama or nothing unforgiveable. Singh does enough conflict to keep the story interesting, but the connection between Manni and Sammi is the real treat. Sammi’s family is quite entertaining. If you ever wanted to be a part of a weird bid family. You are going to enjoy this story.
One downside was the reader got to see very little of the brother’s wedding. I wanted a more bollywood wedding. But we get some showmanship at the end.
Also, while most rom-coms have parts that are cheesy, I did eye roll a few times at the cheese levels.. Mainly; the romance seemed too quick. But whatever, not the greatest sin in romance.
I love the friend characters and I am hoping this will be a series. I am giving it a 4.5 out of 5 stars for being a fun romance with a message about diversity. There were a few issues with the romance feeling rushed, but that is not uncommon for this genre.
I recommended this for people interested in an adult, clean (no sex scenes, sorry), fabulous Indian (can’t be someone who doesn’t see color) romance comedy.
#book review#netgalley#Sari#Not Sari by Sonya Singh#books#romcom#romance#book reviewer#book blogger#booklr#indian writers#asian writers#we need diverse books
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[“Living in a FTM transsexual body is, of course, living in, with, and through corporeal incoherence. Very few FTMs can afford successful lower surgery as most phalloplasties remain simply cost prohibitive. Enough Man, and Casey in particular, both take those private masculine anxieties about living with indeterminate bodies (that is, bodies that might pass as male in public but could not pass visual inspection) and refuse the social shaming by allowing the camera to film the physical site that is quietly and euphemistically identified among FTM men as “the tranny bonus hole.”
In his interviews with FTMs as well as with intersexed folks, Colin Thomas teases out the way that transitive folks rearticulate gender possibilities based on a decoding of the binary gender system even as that system attempts to limit its subjects. “Hanging out with gender-variant people,” Thomas writes, “can quickly dislodge one’s concepts of what it means to be male or female, gay or straight.”
In fact, one of his interview subjects notes how these limits of language mirror the limits of bodies when “he” says: “If there was a tranny pronoun, I’d use it . . . I’m male, but I’m not suddenly this biodude either [ . . . ] I do plan on keeping my tranny bonus hole [though]. That’s staying.” This is not the same site of physicality that equally defines heteronormative femininity and some radical-fundamentalist feminisms (the vagina-as-sheath-for-penis) and by implication lesbianism (the for-women-only vagina); this is the paradoxical space that defies existing gender and sexual taxonomies but which uses their imperatives as foreplay.
As a way to pay homage to the early feminist porn workers, and to Annie Sprinkle in particular, as a queer trans son of this post-porn movement, Casey does a performance piece in the film that he calls his “Andy Sprinkle.” With partner Natalie holding a flashlight, Casey puts his feet into stirrups and invites the viewer, assisted by Natalie and through the camera’s gaze, to quite literally look at his genitals and into his vagina or what he calls his boy hole. Narrated through a voice-over by Natalie—a voice-over narration directly evocative of Sprinkle’s in Linda/Les and Annie—“Andy’s” scene puts that productive space of nothingness and impossibility fully on display, situating his body within a public representation while challenging its essentialisms at the same time. There’s something vertiginously incoherent about Andy’s body literally in motion between sexes, reducible to neither, bearing traces of both, and owned, and narrated, in queer representational circuits of desire, by his femme top. Gendered discourses of shame might compel the composition of the sexual scene but their work is rendered mute.”]
bobby noble, from Knowing Dick: Penetration and the Pleasures of Feminist Porn’s Trans Men, from the feminist porn book: the politics of producing pleasure, edited by tristan taormino, constance henley, and celine perreñas shimizu, 2013
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White women don't be locking their door but have some super security systems and be on next door about every unknown Black or homeless person they see.
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