lupetuple's reviews
1209 reviews

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I'll give it points in the entertainment department, particularly in the beginning, but it dove into inanity, and not the endearing kind of inanity, not the kind I can excuse or tolerate where it trivializes real-world issues.

It's strange to read, as a Mexican man specifically, so much enthusiasm toward reaching out to vulnerable populations by using one's upbringing and identity, when the United States is and always will be a parasitic empire. It's like a childlike positivity and hope that dresses up the horrors that empire is guilty of; yes, the book makes reference to and admonishes them on the part of both the United States and England, but it's as if redemption is possible, without an entire dissolution of both empires as a whole. It's like "the system just has to be replaced with the Most Diverse War Profiteers and Settler Colonists" essentially.

They really treat these atrocities as fun jokes at times, or like a didactic, let-me-get-on-my-soapbox sort of thing that has no impact because... well, they don't really want to destroy empire, do they? Only rid the legacy, and replace it with something better. But you still have empire! So I don't buy it, guys.

"Why can't you just enjoy the cute gay romcom?" Because this is how homonationalism thrives and tries to justify empire, only with a rainbow flag.

All this aside, a few characters struck me as maddeningly inconsistent, most notably being Alex's mom. June especially paints her as someone who took a utilitarian approach to parenting because of her career in politics, thus the tension within the family, but then when

Alex and Henry's affair is publicized as a sex scandal, she's suddenly super cool and won't dispose of her son and forces a meeting with the royal family, when earlier, she straight up fired him from the campaign when they hadn't even been outed? Huh? There was not a scene leading up to that development to make it believable.

Some characters veered toward racist stereotypes as well, such as Zahra, who McQuiston essentially writes as a mean, violent Black woman. Pez is the exotic Nigerian who is the fun of the party. The characters of color are largely without substance and are defined by those one-dimensional character traits.

Then I thought it descended into ultimate cheese in the end

when the entire world starts shipping Alex and Henry as Han and Leia from Star Wars, a franchise I've come to loathe, which may be why I couldn't stand the representation.

I had the most fun reading the first half because I'm gay I guess, but I identified it as trash from the start... I stopped feeling entertained after that, when it became a slog of incomprehensible and shallow depictions of (the ever thrilling) US politicking, and doe-eyed repetitive expressions of love.

Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls by Kai Cheng Thom

hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

I have to say that I admire Ms. Thom for writing that Jesus likes to get pegged. Flippancy aside, the will to choose love despite witnessing and experiencing so much violence, because one is capable of the same thing and indulges in it daily, is striking and while I wasn't impressed with the cliches, a few letters made me rethink quite a few of my regular behaviors.

Original Plumbing by Cooper Lee Bombardier, Amos Mac, Rocco Kayiatos

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.5

Brought me immense comfort and hope, built upon my transition and life goals… it left me aching for more, to read the entire issues of Original Plumbing… A few contributors had astounding and provocative ideas toward gender and identity itself which I have grappled with and want to explore with new perspective. I also now inexplicably (desperately) want many tattoos and piercings and to go around topless or with my chest showing once I get top surgery. I wish there had been more fem trans guys featured though; the flamboyant guys were definitely my favorites.

His Dark Materials Omnibus by Philip Pullman

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I can't say I've been touched by anything quite like this in a long time. I cried, I laughed, I was brought to think about so many questions that the themes pose, issues recurrent in my life... Lyra and Will have become such dear characters to me; there are certain lines that I will retain forever, how they struck me the moment I read them.

Pullman's writing is mythical; every sentence holds weight. It balanced between points of view and evocative description so well.

I had issues with a couple of scenes toward the end of The Amber Spyglass, regardless of my affection for the character it concerns, as they seemed to address an imminent threat all too cleanly--I'm talking about

Father Gomez and the foreboding he inspired, yet he was easily and quickly disposed of, and the children had not a single hint about it. I did tear up when Balthamos vanished, though.

I also felt that Pullman's use of other religious traditions like I Ching divination and vague shamanism to interact with the phenomena of Dust was superficial.

There's also the matter of how his handling of Mrs. Coulter struck me as misogynistic at times (she became one of my favorite characters, either way). It's most obvious in the first book, when Lyra is paraded around and made to act like a "proper girl", and in my view, it implied that womanhood, growing up to be a woman, meant shallowness and a preoccupation with appearance. Lyra also showed her disdain toward the female Scholars.

It's hard to describe my experience with these books. It feels too revealing, or impossible to put into words, because I did not expect to love them so much, or be so overcome with feeling.

Comet by Carl Sagan

challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.75

It by Stephen King
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.

I am not strong enough to hateread Stephen King, particularly after the triggering homophobic scene and the questionable portrayal of internalized antisemitism. And something like “penis shot up like a exclamation point” alright.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.

Got to a point where I couldn't stand Lyra's voice, then the realization that I just don't wanna commit to audiobooks checked out from the library (or at all) especially when there's a waiting list. The urgency is insane. I will finish this in print, though, because the story is so fascinating.

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ms. Suri doesn't pull any punches... honestly the most enthralling and appropriately brutal fantasy series I've had the pleasure of reading in recent years (though I can't say I actively seek them out). In the previous book, the theme hanging over the plot was the idea of destiny, which seamlessly led into devotion, faith, and, inevitably, sacrifice, in this installment. While I think the delivery became a bit too hammy toward the end with the writing choices, specifically in the punctuation, the plot elements came together so effectively that it hurt--because I became so attached to the characters, particularly Bhumika.

Many of the predictions I made after reading the first book became true, but I didn't necessarily feel triumphant because oh boy... what utter devastation and horror... I did not expect the extent of the horror, though I felt like it was employed and thus exaggerated too much at times, in terms of the yaksa's physical features.

Incredible that everything has fallen apart! I have no idea what to expect in the final book, and I can't say I'm ready at all, but... I'm ready.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

There's a line of people waiting to borrow it and I need more time for audiobooks... plus, it didn't truly capture my interest, hence why I was waffling on making time to listen to it.

Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes, Donald A. Cress

funny reflective fast-paced

1.5

Are all Western philosophers pompous as a rule? Funny that Descartes refuses to question noble presuppositions on the nature of God, but will go about asserting that bodies are essentially ignorant because they attribute the same sensations to what may belong to different causes, like pain. Plural beings will have a lot to say about his conclusion that mind is "indivisible", as well. And how are "pure mathematics" the thing of truth, when such things are also abstractions that humans have imposed on the world around us, to make sense of celestial bodies, forces which may not even "exist" as we deem them?

While "body as machine" may be seen as insult, it only fuels my cyborg manifestations...

The final line damns this stage of capitalism and of course, I had to make note of this in my copy: "But because the need to get things done does not always permit us the leisure for such a careful inquiry, we must confess that the life of man is apt to commit errors regarding particular things, and we must acknowledge the infirmity of our nature." Marx wants to have tea with you, Mr. Descartes.