queerreadss's reviews
8 reviews
Greedy: Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much by Jen Winston
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This book was a fun inside look to the inner workings of going through a sexuality crisis and all the times the author allowed comp het to factor into her decisions, even subconsciously. I really enjoyed the instances where the author talked about problematic views she had or lack of education about topics that she then rectifies with giving out a wealth of nuanced takes on various topics. Coming out and experiencing queer relationships when you're older is something I feel is extremely lacking in representation so this was refreshing to read that experience.
While I did enjoy this book, I felt like there was something missing. Of the memoirs I've read so far I don't think this is one of the best ones but it is still pretty good. I would definitely recommend for queer people over the age of 18 to pick this up.
While I did enjoy this book, I felt like there was something missing. Of the memoirs I've read so far I don't think this is one of the best ones but it is still pretty good. I would definitely recommend for queer people over the age of 18 to pick this up.
My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?: A Memoir by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This book was a new, more human side to the larger than life drag queen we met on Drag Race and All Stars. Alaska gets very personal in this debut, with tales from her failures, abusing drugs and alcohol, her toxic relationship with Sharon Needles and her complicity in her and Sharon's racist past actions.
"My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?" reads like a diary with its vulnerability shining in every page. I love that Alaska chose to use this platform to bring up a few controversial things others may have avoided. She validated trans drag queens, expressed opinions on RuPaul's and other drag competitions transphobic rules and mindsets, and the discomfort of former partner Sharon's racism. She also highlighted how toxic drug and alcohol use became for her and how that tarnished relationships with her lifelong friend, coworkers and Sharon. Alaska didn't shy away from the uncomfortable truths of her doing bad things throughout her stories.
Pictures included were really great as well, they were a great selection to accompany Alaska's writing.
I do think there could have been a bit more accountability for racist acts that Alaska herself admits to having done and maybe use her platform to speak more on her being complicit in it.
"My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?" reads like a diary with its vulnerability shining in every page. I love that Alaska chose to use this platform to bring up a few controversial things others may have avoided. She validated trans drag queens, expressed opinions on RuPaul's and other drag competitions transphobic rules and mindsets, and the discomfort of former partner Sharon's racism. She also highlighted how toxic drug and alcohol use became for her and how that tarnished relationships with her lifelong friend, coworkers and Sharon. Alaska didn't shy away from the uncomfortable truths of her doing bad things throughout her stories.
Pictures included were really great as well, they were a great selection to accompany Alaska's writing.
I do think there could have been a bit more accountability for racist acts that Alaska herself admits to having done and maybe use her platform to speak more on her being complicit in it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse
Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister and the Truth of her Murder by Rachel Rear
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
An incredibly unique blend of personal and objective. Rear does a phenomenal job walking through the timeline of her step sisters murder. Each suspect and person involved in the case is laid out with extreme attention to detail and a thorough investigation.
The amount of factors that tie into how Stephanie's murder went unsolved for so long is sadly not unique. Even so, the journey and historical breakdown of this town and a few others that Stephanie inhabited were extremely interesting. The amount of interviews and people included in the novel really emphasized how one person can impact so many and created a better big picture.
Rear did not shy away from showing the full truth, the good and the bad, of each person revolving around Stephanie and including Stephanie herself and Rear's late stepfather. Rear highlights the true complexity of each person and does justice to the full story of Stephanie's life and death.
While I was fully engrossed in this book from the beginning, there is some extremely ableist sentiment near the end of the book regarding the person who is talked about then which did not sit well and in fact cheapened the integrity of that part of the book for me. If I understood it correctly, it was not even necessarily the opinions of Rear but those of the officers involved in the case but there was some nuance that needed to be added after the fact to balance that. Many other places Rear adds the nuance, this instance was a large hole to miss for me.
The amount of factors that tie into how Stephanie's murder went unsolved for so long is sadly not unique. Even so, the journey and historical breakdown of this town and a few others that Stephanie inhabited were extremely interesting. The amount of interviews and people included in the novel really emphasized how one person can impact so many and created a better big picture.
Rear did not shy away from showing the full truth, the good and the bad, of each person revolving around Stephanie and including Stephanie herself and Rear's late stepfather. Rear highlights the true complexity of each person and does justice to the full story of Stephanie's life and death.
While I was fully engrossed in this book from the beginning, there is some extremely ableist sentiment near the end of the book regarding the person who is talked about then which did not sit well and in fact cheapened the integrity of that part of the book for me. If I understood it correctly, it was not even necessarily the opinions of Rear but those of the officers involved in the case but there was some nuance that needed to be added after the fact to balance that. Many other places Rear adds the nuance, this instance was a large hole to miss for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was a really interesting and complex book. I think the author aims to show the duality of her main character and show the problematic and outdated ideals she has with an interesting stream of consciousness. I would say in hindsight not a lot happens in this book until the absolute extreme obsession comes to its fullest fruition. Even when nothing is happening, the absolute in depth feel of the main characters mind makes you keep turning pages. So stream of consciousness, at times it feels as though you’re reading your own thoughts.
There are some really interesting self critiques about the harms of fat phobia and diet culture and how childhood instances can add to that for the rest of your life. Overall the main character is very intelligent while also still being an ignorant white woman with questionable morals.
The main character is a complex multi faced flawed person. While reading I can see the harmful and unhealthy (and at time toxic) behaviors and so can she. The chase is more intoxicating that the catch. This book is a great inside look at how you can quickly put someone on a pedestal of your own fantasy that you eventually realize doesn’t match up to reality.
This book was interesting but I feel like the ending is rushed and doesn’t even necessarily make sense. There’s an air of anticipation while reading, wondering where exactly this is going to go. Then it doesn’t really go anywhere. Overall, a good debut attempt with interesting main character.
There are some really interesting self critiques about the harms of fat phobia and diet culture and how childhood instances can add to that for the rest of your life. Overall the main character is very intelligent while also still being an ignorant white woman with questionable morals.
The main character is a complex multi faced flawed person. While reading I can see the harmful and unhealthy (and at time toxic) behaviors and so can she. The chase is more intoxicating that the catch. This book is a great inside look at how you can quickly put someone on a pedestal of your own fantasy that you eventually realize doesn’t match up to reality.
This book was interesting but I feel like the ending is rushed and doesn’t even necessarily make sense. There’s an air of anticipation while reading, wondering where exactly this is going to go. Then it doesn’t really go anywhere. Overall, a good debut attempt with interesting main character.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Toxic relationship
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Sexual assault
The Fields by Erin Young
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book is an exceptional debut. For the most part, it felt well developed and tied up its lose ends. There was a lot of different plots happening at once in this book, inevitably leaving some things to be rushed. The plot lines did feel quiet busy in some parts but I did like how it came together and answered almost all questions going on in the book.
The beginning scene definitely was a strong way to draw readers in and build suspense that the author upheld extremely well throughout the book. The author was able to capture the true sinister feel of the grizzly crimes throughout the novel as well. The detail of the crimes and crime scenes were very disturbing and not for the faint of heart.
Main character Sergeant Riley’s traumatic past was told in parts that kept me guessing and was important to the plot as the sight of her old friend as a victim to an unknown killer brings decades of trauma to the surface. There was definitely a level of subplot about how exactly trauma can ruin your life and the lives around you which was, at times, extremely raw. Even still, I don’t know if the book fully handled that but it was an interesting dynamic as things in Riley’s smallish town just kept getting more and more bizarre.
All of that said, this book was very thrilling and did a good job of executing the multiple POVs. I wouldn’t say all of the twists/ how it came together was necessarily extremely hard to guess but the plot felt unique up until I realized a lot of the key points of the final solution were similar to the movie “Zootopia.” While obviously this book has a lot more adult themes and storyline, there were obvious similarities and it made the plot feel less unique once I realized it.
Overall, I would still recommend this book as a pretty decent thriller/mystery. This book will obviously be continued and I would be very interested to read the next one as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Car accident
Extra Salty: Jennifer's Body by Frederick Blichert
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
“Extra Salty” does a great job of explaining the symbolism of many of the iconic moments of Jennifer’s Body. There was a lot of summary, a bit more than I think people who have seen the movie need but within that are a lot of good specific examples of whatever point the author was making.
The author excelled at providing background information on each of the top people that eventually ended up mattered to why Jennifer’s Body wasn’t a box office success. Blichert also adds some information about other pop culture information during the time of release which adds some needed context to paint a better picture of the time.
Blichert spent a good portion of the book focusing on the queer romance, subtext and outright queer moments of the movie which is refreshing as it is an often ignored part of the movie by mainstream reviewers. Blichert also did a great job of portraying the two main characters as fully formed complex women who subvert a lot of stereotypes. It was refreshing to see the woman writer and director, one of whom was queer, highlighted. Blichert excelled in this section as well by really breaking down the commonly accepted stereotypes of women in horror and how having women behind the scenes making their own movies provides more accurate and genuine horror/emotions in horror movies.
With all that said, I have to mark off a star for how disorganized this book is. I think it needed a lot more structuring and focus. At times it felt like topic was jumping to a few different topics within a short few sentences.
This read was a bit odd in other ways as well. The authors writing and claims made in the book, multiple times, was immediately followed up by a quote saying exactly what he said right above but in the sources’ words. I think this book either needed to be less opinion and focus solely on being a book of research, providing even more on the background of the movie and the top people involved with it or provide more complex points of why Jennifer’s Body deserves a better rep. There was a lot of repetition.
Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was an extremely captivating read. From the very first chapter it draws the reader in. The incessant curiosity that drives a read into this multi plot mystery is parallel to the main character Sofie's journalistic need to find out more about the books FLOTUS.
"Our American Friend" essentially features a president in office causing continued damage to the entire U.S. and even beyond, with out a doubt modeled after Trump. The added small details spread in the book— how President Caine was backed by Russian ruler to ensure election, how he loathed the press and made up grand conspiracies, how teflon he was no matter what weekly scandal— all added up to a not so subtle nod to Trump. While I appreciated those moments, the real story lies with his Russian born wife, Lara, whose father was a leader in the Soviet Union's SGK. What follows is a riveting story of intrigue, mystery, love and loss, spanning from Lara's childhood to how she ended up as FLOTUS to an exceptionally cruel man. I loved how this story really focused on the stories and connections made in the shadows.
Most refreshing about this book was PItoniak demonstrates exactly how important her craft is in this novel with an intricate storyline containing many twists and turns. The history and timeline of FLOTUS Lara is so intriguing and well spread out it reads of a real jounralistic feature piece, where all the time lines compel the reader further into the plot. Each plot line and time jump from past to present was well thought out and added together quite great. While there were few true shocking reveals in this book, the plots perfect pacing, storytelling, and mystery were incredible. The books plot came together much like how Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" movie did, minus the more shocking twists the movie had.
This is probably one of the best historical fiction books I've read in a while.
The only aspect of the book I didn't like was the eventual depiction of the CIA as an unlikely, underdog hero doing the best it can when the CIA has its own shady history of doing many wrong things. This is somewhat acknowledge in one of the sacrifices that comes from the CIA's actions but not enough when the organization as a whole looks like a hero.
"Our American Friend" essentially features a president in office causing continued damage to the entire U.S. and even beyond, with out a doubt modeled after Trump. The added small details spread in the book— how President Caine was backed by Russian ruler to ensure election, how he loathed the press and made up grand conspiracies, how teflon he was no matter what weekly scandal— all added up to a not so subtle nod to Trump. While I appreciated those moments, the real story lies with his Russian born wife, Lara, whose father was a leader in the Soviet Union's SGK. What follows is a riveting story of intrigue, mystery, love and loss, spanning from Lara's childhood to how she ended up as FLOTUS to an exceptionally cruel man. I loved how this story really focused on the stories and connections made in the shadows.
Most refreshing about this book was PItoniak demonstrates exactly how important her craft is in this novel with an intricate storyline containing many twists and turns. The history and timeline of FLOTUS Lara is so intriguing and well spread out it reads of a real jounralistic feature piece, where all the time lines compel the reader further into the plot. Each plot line and time jump from past to present was well thought out and added together quite great. While there were few true shocking reveals in this book, the plots perfect pacing, storytelling, and mystery were incredible. The books plot came together much like how Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" movie did, minus the more shocking twists the movie had.
This is probably one of the best historical fiction books I've read in a while.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent
Getting His Game Back by Gia de Cadenet
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a really successful debut novel by Cadenet. "Getting His Game Back" is a romance novel that deals with mental health issues, the dynamics of interracial relationships that can be problematic and objectifying, and the building of a relationship between two successful adults. This book deals with a lot of complex situations in a very successful and natural way. I loved the challenge this narrative posed to baggage you carry from past relationships, expectations of masculinity and emotions, and an accurate depiction of what having anxiety and depression is like. This novel is mainly a character driven plot with some glimpses at great side characters like Darius. Please note this book has some serious subject matter near the end, please look up trigger warnings before starting.
The connection between the main characters barber franchise co-owner Khalil and App Goddess Vanessa was really good, the author was phenomenal at capturing that initial attraction, sexual tension, and excitement of first meeting someone. While you can definitely tell main character Khalil is a man written by a women, how great of a guy he was did come across as unrealistic sometimes which took me a bit out of the story. None the less, I feel the author did an excellent job at balancing his and Vanessa's relationship. In the beginning of the book Khalil was doing the most and providing the most effort toward the relationship and that role switches to Vanessa near the end when Khalil is no longer able to do so. I feel this really symbolized the positives of a healthy relationship where sometimes one person needs more help than the other and vice versa.
Vanessa is an amazing character that is the epitome of a successful Black woman who strives for the best in her professional career. Her perspective on interracial dating and the extremely gross comments and behavior she has had to deal with in her personal and professional life is a lived experience of many Black woman professionals and was a well fleshed out point of reservation within her story arc. Vanessa and Khalil's experiences of objectification really bonded the pair while the author made it clear that Khalil not being Black or a woman would never fully understand exactly what Vanessa has been through.
Their connection was often strengthened by open communication which was refreshing as most romances often have miscommunication at the core of their conflict. Instead this book had the very real reality of mental illness and self doubt at the core of its major conflict. Mental illness affects so many people and for this book to have a successful man with a mental illness and all the unpleasant things that come along with that is so important.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
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