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crow-caller · 2 years

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Tiktok sensation LightLark is the final boss of bad fantasy YA— a failure built on aesthetic boards and tropes, unable to pretend it has a heart

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A full summary with spoilers, analysis, quotes- and so much more on the subject of a book you should never read. This is a long piece. Like ‘Youtube Video Essay’ long.

Lightlark is joyless, a husk beyond parody, a checklist of every Island of Blood and Bone and Glass and Hearts that has come out in the last five years, built and sold on tropes and aesthetic boards. This is a book written by an author who is not a writer. It would fit in on the dregs of an amateur writing site with eerie perfection.

But Lightlark is more than that. You see, Lightlark is… a TikTok book.

EDIT:

Thanks :')

There's now a video version. I heard Tumblr likes video essay long watches on obscure very specific content... may I introduce you to:

youtube

I'm not making a dime on this, I have no horses, only like 70 hours of work looking at this mess of a book and I just want to make sure everyone knows how bad it is. Let's be bitter at this multimillionaires flop together.

#Alex aster #Book drama #Book Review #booktok #fantasy #fiction #Lightlark #Review #romance #writing #YA #YA books #YA fiction #young adult #Youtube

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reedreadsbooks · 30 days

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Book Review: Dreadnought by April Daniels ✨🏙️⚡️

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

(5/5)

After Dreadnought, the world’s greatest superhero, is killed in combat, closeted trans girl Danny Tozer inherits his powers and is transformed to have the body she’s always wanted to have. Now she has to deal with having superpowers and being an out trans woman, all the while hunting down the supervillain who murdered her predecessor.

This book was phenomenal, and I’m kind of at a loss for words to describe how much I liked it.

To start, I love the world of this book. This is such a classic superhero story. Daniels uses the conventions of the genre without making things feel like a parody and subverts tropes just enough to make the story distinct.

I also really love Dreadnought as a trans narrative. This book doesn’t shy away from transphobia. Between Danny’s parents, kids at her school, and other heroes she meets, we get a pretty broad and realistic representation of the types of abuse a young trans woman might face. There’s also so much trans joy in this book. It was really nice to see Danny come into herself, and it was cathartic to watch her realize that no one could take her transition away from her. This is the type of story that will give trans kids hope for the future.

I would recommend this book to literally everyone. In fact, I plan on recommending this book to literally everyone. But because that’s not helpful, I’ll be more specific and say I highly recommend this book to fans of Andrew Joseph White. Obviously, it’s very different from his work, genre-wise, but I think the themes are really similar. If you like Hell Followed with Us and The Spirit Bares It’s Teeth, I can definitely see you liking Dreadnought.

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purplebunnyreads · 4 months

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👾Radio Silence👾 by Alice Oseman

“It’d take hours to explain,” I said.

“I’d listen to you for hours,” he said.

“Being friends with Aled made me feel like I’d never had a real friend before, ever.”

“I couldn’t quite believe how much i seriously loved Aled Last, even if it wasn’t in the ideal way that would make it socially acceptable for us to live together until we die.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“Because I’m an angel.”

“You are.” He stretched out his arm and patted me on the head. “And I’m platonically in love with you.”

Oh, to have a friendship like theirs.

Alice Oseman understands me on a fundamental level. Reading this book, especially the first half of it, felt like someone had invaded my soul and put it on paper. I related to Aled and Frances more than I’ve related to any characters possibly ever. Put them together so they are one person, and they are me. You wouldn’t be able to spot a difference.

Here are some quotes from the book that I especially related to:

“You’re an idiot,” said Mum, when I relayed to her the entire situation on Wednesday. “Not an unintelligent idiot, but a sort of naive idiot who manages to fall into a difficult situation and then can’t get out of it because she’s too awkward.”

“Yeah, he’s that sort of person.”

“What sort of person?”

“The sort of person who doesn’t speak spontaneously.” She folded her arms. “Who won’t say anything if you don’t ask.

“Honestly, I need to stop being scared of being a normal teenage girl.”

“Long ago, I was afflicted with a terrible predisposition to never say a word, and I honestly cannot understand why or how that happened.”

I love this book more than I can put to words. Even though I literally just reread it, I'm itching to read it again. I think it's my favorite of Alice Oseman's books. Maybe even one of my favorite books of all time. If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.

If you liked anything else Alice has written, if you are/grew up a weird, quiet, fandom-obsessed kid with a minimal amount of friends, or if you're tired of only seeing romance in the YA genre and are looking for a book that centers around a platonic relationship instead, then please, please, PLEASE read this book.

“Art reflects life,” said Carys. “Or… Maybe it’s the other way round.”

#book review #bookblr #alice oseman #radio silence #aled last #frances janvier #osemanverse #young adult books #lgbtq #thank you alice oseman

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rainlov3r · 2 years

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i loved aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe but i don't like that it's only seen as a "queer romance" i feel like the romance in this book wasn't even the main focus. this book is about loneliness and family trauma and growing up and understanding the people around you and then the main characters fall in love and that is ONE of the things they have to come to terms with besides so many other things. but for example ari didn't have problems opening up because he is gay but because he has to carry his family's trauma. i loved the romance part of this book so much. but the book would have also worked if dante and ari were just two friends who loved each other a lot, because the book is so much more then just a romance.

#aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe #ari and dante #book review #queer romance #coming of age #young adult

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xxsweaterweatherrxx · 3 months

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Hi!! It's been a while since I've been on here so I don't know if this will reach anyone--BUT. I'm here to promote an online book club I've started! ♡

https://bookclubs.com/clubs/6021847/join/89e066/

It's super new and trust that we will have an exciting TBR list!! For the book tok girlies, this is for you!! We'll have loads of fun in this safe space & great discussions. I've been finding it difficult to connect with people after graduating from uni, so if this sounds like you, join us!!

Share this link if you'd like! <3 I'm in Calgary, AB but this is open to anyone!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

#bookblr #books #reading #bookworm #booktok #book club #goodreads #book review #booklr #book recommendations #tiktok #young adult #20s #women #bipoc

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thatstonerfriend · 5 months

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I’m not sure if anyone who follows me is big on reading, but I’m just getting back into it (I’m terrible at feeding my hobbies). Anyways, I’m a HUGE lover of young adult books. It’s one of my top favorite genres, I just think the writing in Y.A. is unmatched and transformative.

I just read Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White. When I tell you I devoured this book. The plot, the characters, everything was perfection. The education and insight it gives into the LGBTQ+ world, especially for young adults; it’s amazing. I wish I’d had a book like this growing up. One that made me realize the differences and fluidity in sexuality and gender and how beautiful every aspect of our community can be.

I highly recommend this book if you like Y.A. Fiction with a post apocalyptic feel. Normally I’m not an apocalyptic girly but everything about this from the religious turmoil and family trauma, to the romance and community is utter perfection.

#hell followed with us #andrew joseph white #young adult #fiction #young adult fiction #bookaddict #book of the month #transgender #trans community #lgbtq+#lgbt #queer #queer books #lgbtq books #book review #book reccs #book recommendations #bookworm

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thebooksareeverywhere · 1 year

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bookmail💌

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biandlesbianliterature · 1 year

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In a social media graphic for the book, the author describes Imogen as having "queer discourse brainworms", which is a good way to put it. She tries to educate herself about queer issues, but just ends up thinking that there’s only one right way to be queer. She doesn’t feel the same way about girls as she does in her crushes on guys, so she concludes that means she doesn’t like girls at all. Even when faced with obvious evidence to the contrary, she convinces herself that she’s just trying to be bisexual for clout and that she’s a bad person for appropriating queerness.

Imogen longs to be part of the queer community, and while I’m sure there is some 100% straight and cis person this applies to in the world, it’s such a relatable queer experience. I was in middle school when I excitedly talked about looking forward to joining the Gay/Straight Alliance in high school, and how if I could choose, I’d be pansexual and panromantic. But, of course, I too was "hopelessly straight"…

The Enthusiastic Ally to Bisexual Pipeline: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli was reviewed at the Lesbrary

#queer books #sapphic books #bisexual books #LGBTQ books #bisexual #ya #young adult #reviews #becky albertalli #imogen obviously #Jewish #lesbian love interest #bisexual main character #bisexual author #coming out #queer friend group #queer community

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aroaessidhe · 1 year

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2022 reads // twitter thread

Every Bird A Prince

MG about a girl dealing with amatonormativity from her friends and mother, who are all obsessed with crushes and relationships

meanwhile the forest kingdom of birds she’s discovered have named her as their champion to save them & her town from anxiety-targeting frostfangs

#Every Bird A Prince #aroaessidhe 2022 reads #this is so so good perfect aro book for young readers #and also me an adult reader #aroace books #aromantic books #asexual books #all birds are princes. zero monarchy or gender just vibes #aphobia warning also #i would have liked a bit more of the bird kingdom tbh!!!! but like obv it’s more of a side fabulism thing #interesting that ppl are saying ‘kids aren’t all into crushes and kissing in elementary school; that’s too early’ growing up aroace i promis #you that when you’re aroace you notice this happening very early LMAO #(in reviews i mean)#having said that they easily could have been a little older

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lovelyylittleladyy · 2 years

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• Currently Reading•

Hi lovelies,

I am currently reading “It Ends with Us”.

I am on Chapter 3 and this is what I am imagining..

I’m excited to read how Lily’s flower shop turns out! 🤩

Let me know if you have read this book!! 🤍

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submissive-and-readable · 14 days

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Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publisher: Levine Querido

Release date: 16 April 2024

Genre: young adult historical/urban fantasy (70s rural Texas)

If you like:

dogs (ghost dogs!)

various ghost animals, existing and extinct

no romance whatsoever

hope and community in the midst of grief and loss

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back.

Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Content warnings

Colonisation

Loss of close family members

Illness

Natural disasters

Grief

Review

I found out about this book while scrolling through NetGalley, and the second I saw that it was a prequel to Elatsoe, I had to read it.

This is a prequel about Elatsoe's grandmother Shane as a 17 year old girl, but you don't have to read Elatsoe to know what's going on, and both books can be read in either order as standalones.

This book is so well-crafted and thoughtful; it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the story, because the setting and vibe is so different from Elatsoe, and it is a little slower paced, but once I got into the groove, the story flowed over me.

We follow Shane as she tries to figure out the mystery of her mother's and a child's disappearance, and along the way we learn about her history, as well as explore her relationships with her family and friends.

A strong focus of the book is on Shane's grief; grief from losing not only her home and her family members, but also losing her culture and language. This book tackles the harms caused by colonialism, which goes beyond stealing land, but also erases culture and peoples.

At its heart, this book is about family and community. At times Shane may feel alone, like she has to take on her burdens by herself, but her friends and family are always there for her (dead or alive).

I also loved Rovina Cai's lovely illustrations at each chapter heading; they tell a story parallel to the main story, and they add another layer of depth.

Overall, this is book was written full of heart, and it shows <3

#sheine lende #darcie little badger #booklr #book review #rovina cai #readblr #elatsoe #native american #indiginous authors #urban fantasy #own voices #young adult #ya books #ya fantasy #ya fiction

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jessread-s · 3 months

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Thanks to @ireadyabooks for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

✩💌💻Review:

This is the second ya rom-com I have read by Ann Liang and I cannot get enough of her writing!

“I Hope This Doesn’t Find You” follows Sadie Wen, the perfect student who channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. While some are addressed to her teachers and classmates, most are directed at her infuriating co-captain Julius Gong. When they are accidentally sent out, her carefully crafted reputation begins to crumble. But amidst the chaos, the one boy she is sworn to hate begins to fall for her true self.

I have never connected with a character as deeply as I connect with Sadie Wen. I felt so seen by her need to be perfect and her people-pleaser tendencies. Julius calls her out for being fake, because she never allows herself to express how she truly feels, and she undergoes so much growth because of it. I loved seeing her begin to prioritize herself towards the end.

Julius and Sadie’s relationship is top tier. The pace of the romance in this book is so deliciously slow with the most satisfying pay-off. Liang takes her time in establishing their decade old rivalry, even going so far to explain its origins and the point system attributed to it. It felt so real and her gradual blurring of the line between loathing and love is so well done. I especially enjoyed reading the contents of Sadie’s emails after Julius committed them to memory because they are what made them both come to the realization that they were meant for each other.

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

#i hope this doesn't find you #ann liang #sadie wen #julius gong #academic rivals to lovers #rivals to lovers #ya contemporary #contemporary romance #ya romance #forced proximity #slow burn #booklr #book blog #book blogger #book review #young adult literature #young adult books #young adult #romance books

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undervmountain · 2 months

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The Absinthe Underground - Book Review

#ya books #books #young adult books #book review #bullet journal #handwriting #the absinthe underground #jamie pacton

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richincolor · 12 days

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Review: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier Clarion Books

Publisher Summary: In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope had gone, the tale came with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time-hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

My Thoughts: Dragonfruit captured me and wouldn’t let me go. This is an action packed fantasy that is just as vivid and gorgeous as the cover would lead you to believe. It was an extremely satisfying read and I appreciated that though it could have a sequel, one isn’t necessary.

Readers get to learn about the seadragons through Hanalei’s perspective. They are dangerous, but they are also beautiful and fascinating. Hanalei studies them for multiple reasons. Her life is all tangled up with the seadragons and even as she searches for the dragonfruit, she wrestles with herself because using these beings is not without cost to both the person and the dragonfruit. Seeing the characters work through their ethics around what they are willing to do to help a loved one is quite interesting. Along with ethical questions, there are also questions about science and belief in the gods. Can you practice science while believing in intervention from gods?

I don’t want to spoil anything so I will only say that the bat on the cover was a delight and the other animals like it that show up add a special dimension to the tale. The images on the cover really are fabulous. The illustrator is Tran Nguyen and the designer is Molly Fehr. There are wonderful details throughout including designs on Hanalei’s hand, neck, and face. The rope and spear winding around her and all of the moving boats hint at the large amount of action on the water.

It is nice to see the different relationships developing or progressing whether they were friendships, romantic, or familial. The characters learn and grow even in the brief time we get to spend with them.

Recommendation: Get it as soon as you can. Lucier has told a enchanting story that will stick with readers. And also there are seadragons so of course it’s a must read.

Review copy: Final copy via publisher

Publisher: clarion Books

Availability: On shelves now

Pages: 368

#young adult books #book review #ya lit

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rogue-indshadows · 28 days

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Books recommendation 📚😇😊🥰

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parallel-2-anywhere · 2 years

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World of Wyldrvir A Wholesome TTRPG

Hey! Have you wanted a Tabletop Roleplaying Game about a magical roadtrip through a wild and everchanging landscape with you and your best friends, without the worries of fighting or combat impeding your journey? If so consider checking out World of Wyldrvir! An indie TTRPG made over the quarantine! Wyldrvir is a totally free TTRPG that has been working in a combat free and wholesome Saturday morning cartoon style of world with adorable art and simple roleplay focused storytelling!

Wyldrvir is made with the express purpose of fun, lighthearted escapism into a world where magic is new, everything is ready and ripe to be discovered, and people seek only the best interests of one another. Conflicts will arise, of course, but Worldsoul willing, everything will always work out for the better in the end. In this world where magic is directly linked to nature, and everyone works together to keep the natural world clean and bright. Your characters only goal is to explore!

The game is super simple with only a few basic roles to remember, and a massive ability for customization. You can make your own skills and make them as strange and wonderful as you would like.

At the moment the core book exists both on Itchio and Drivethru RPG. (The Drive Thru version has the chance to purchase the book physically as well!) prices for all versions are all under 20 dollars so you can pick it up painlessly! There is also a pirate themed expansion out as well for more nautical adventures! There are plans for a lot more expansions coming out as well! We have an active Discord server for the project so you can organize one-shots, and a mini podcast so you can hear a group playing it as well! You can check it all out on our Youtube channel!

There is also 2 custom made music tracks for the world! You can listen to those here! There is so much more we can talk about but I am going to point you to the reviews we have received from all these wonderful TTRPG creators!

We hope our paths cross out on the road fellow travelers!

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