paperbackwh0re's reviews
209 reviews

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

Go to review page

4.75

oh boy oh boy OH BOY. 

thank you to NeyGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc!!!

I went into this knowing nothing except it was about a trans autistic teen living in West Virginia Appalachia and it made my experience so great. 

White has always been amazing and each book keeps getting better in my opinion and this may take the spot for my favorite book of the year. I really enjoyed seeing the family dynamics throughout this and found myself relating heavily to what the mc was feeling as a fellow autistic person. It always makes me happy that White continues to make his mcs trans and autistic to represent own voices and also allow a gateway for relatability for so many people. 

Since I went into this knowing practically nothing about the plot it made for a WILD ride that kept getting crazier. I really recommend going into this knowing nothing, it made for such an amazing read and always kept me on the edge of my seat. 

This absolutely would have been a 5 if it weren’t for two small things. 
*****Spoilers below*****

The first being how quickly Cooper turned into a bad guy. I can totally see how it makes sense but I feel like an extra chapter or two on seeing him delve into becoming bad would have been a good addition. 
Secondly is something that happened very quick at the end but had me going like “what was that for?” 
It was the moment when Davies was able to see Saint’s ghost and again, I can totally see why it makes sense. It allowed a pause for our mc to get out of the situation, but again, it happened to quick and with no reasoning that it caused a sour feeling for me. 

Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed this and would definitely recommend this to anyone. The politics were great, the characters had growth and reliability, and it brought so much representation the table. 

4.75/5 ⭐️ 
(rounded up to 5 on NetGalley)
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 16%.
in the middle of too much physically and mentally 😭 I promise I will come back to you soon 
We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen

Go to review page

3.75

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc!

I really enjoyed this. the art style and the fact that alien giants were in it is what immediately drew me in, but I’m also a sucker for an apocalypse story, so this was hitting all my marks. 
However, even though this is short it did take me a couple days to finish because I struggled slightly at the beginning to care about the characters and the situation. Despite that I do feel like a 3.75 rating is best. 
I thoroughly enjoyed this art style and really want to look at the artist’s other works. It was beautiful but chaotic at the same time and it felt so appropriate for the story. I enjoyed seeing this giant’s colors be so bright compared to the world and human characters. it’s add to the character design for them to stick out so much since they are alien and it worked really well. 
I would definitely be interested in this as a series so we can learn more about the giants and see the characters travel and what they come across, but this felt satisfactory enough for a stand alone.
 This was a great story, though a bit slow and short so be prepared for that, but at the end, the story’s message of kindness and the love it can grow from it was very well done and I enjoyed myself. 

3.75/5⭐️
Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath

Go to review page

5.0

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me and e-arc!

this was so much fun!!!!! I love it when the main character is a freak!!!! 

this story immediately gripped me and didn’t let me go until the last page. I have no words except for saying “that was so good” over and over again. 

the art style was so cool and unique to me too! I would definitely love to see more from this artist! it was cutesy enough but also detailed enough to leave you perplexed and shocked by the murder scenes. 

I definitely recommend this to people who love a good gorey murder mystery (mystery for first half) and love it when the freak main character does what they must to come out on top. but don’t forget to check the content warnings! 

even though we’re not supposed to root for her, I really enjoyed the mc of this story and couldn’t wait to see what her mind would figure out and accomplish next. 

5/5 ⭐️
The Pirate Princess by Luca Frigerio

Go to review page

2.75

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc!

I was very excited for this book. pirates are a special interest of mine so I thought this would be an easy and fun read. it was quite easy to get through, but there were still some troubles I noticed. the plot seemed to bounce all over the place and there were never any smooth transitions between places and scenes. this led to some confusion. there was always still a basic plot line to follow, however jumping from characters in one setting to new characters in a new setting without much explanation was confusing. 

around the 75% mark the art style also lacked definition for the characters for a good few pages and they lacked seemed to lack some distinguishable features, I’m not sure if it’s because it’s an arc or if this is just how they draw their characters sometimes, if it simply something I noticed. 

to me, there wasn’t nearly as much pirating about as I would have liked, mostly the mc running from characters and getting caught and escaping. 

while this read was quick and easy, it had some flaws, but I could see myself picking up the next book to see how it progresses. 

2.75/5⭐️
Gay the Pray Away by Natalie Naudus

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
idk. May come back to it at some point. took so long to get halfway and I haven’t had the want to pick it back up to finish it. I usually am able to read romance when it’s LGBTQ+, but this just wasn’t hitting :/