sarahfa's reviews
43 reviews

Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding by Maia Kobabe

5.0

Such good and really important work. ❤️

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

This is the second book I’ve read by Martha Wells. I liked it because it reminded me of one of my favorite YA series I read as a teen, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy. The main character of Witch King was similar to Bartimaeus in that he wasn’t human, used magic that humans can’t use, and was distrusted by most humans. Also he didn’t really have a gender like humans do. But both characters do care about the other characters who are mostly human.

Witch Kind did the thing where it presented (what we would consider) non-traditional gender roles (for one community, women are traditionally warriors, also most men in the series wear skirts) and queer relationships as “normal”. Sometimes this doesn’t work and feels forced and like the author is trying to say, “Look at how good I am because I am writing my book this way!” But it worked here, but the details were not as fleshed out as in say Gideon the Ninth.

I read a reviewer that stated that they were confused by the plot, and I def agree with that. But I wasn’t going to back to reread things when I was confused. Did the story tie up all the loose ends? I don’t know? Yes?

If you are wondering if all the questions the story raises are going to be finished by the end, the answer is they will not be. But I liked it. Solid vibes. I really don’t know if it will be a series, but it is good either way. I hope it will be!

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

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dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Frankie and Vanya‘s relationship was hot and felt realistic and genuine. By the end, the body horror went too gross for me, but that is me. I love when authors describe very detailed things (like parasite life cycles, pregnancy kink). It gives the writing so much life.

Content Warnings

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin

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

5.0

Content Warnings

X by Davey Davis

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is the kind of book I’m always looking for: where everyone is queer and trans and life is messy and complicated. I am very happy to add X to my list of liked books with a transmasc and/or butch protagonist. I liked the first half of the book better than the second. The ending was not for me.

Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Lovely! The main character is an archivist, and the author’s enthusiasm for it is infectious. The gender conversations and feels were very relatable and realistic.

Content Warnings