sertzo19's reviews
11 reviews

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What a beautiful fucking novel. Station Eleven is a masterpiece of storytelling. I had seen the HBO series back when it came out and loved it so much that I stupidly avoided this book expecting to be disappointed but it’s actually 1000x better than the immaculate series. The world-building, the characters, the inner dialogue… beautiful written! It really is crazy though how well Emily St. John Mandel was able to capture the psychology of a pandemic that happened 6 years after she wrote this book… felt myself chilled to the bone a few times just reminiscing on those early months of 2020.
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Dirty Poole: The Autobiography of a Gay Porn Pioneer by Wakefield Poole

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious fast-paced

5.0

Dirty Poole was an excellent slice of the life of a queer icon whose films shattered records and ignited the silver screen with thought provoking eroticism. I really enjoyed reading about Wakefield Poole’s early days and was shocked to learn how his career started as a dancer, eventually catapulting him onto Broadway and choreography before he took a left turn and landed in the porn industry. Poole shares an unflinching look at his life that is sometimes devastating, particularly in the last third of the memoir. Even so, I’m so happy I was able to learn so much about this man and the influence his movies had on queer culture in the 70s and beyond. 
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Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Hot Milk was a weird fucking read. I’m not sure if it was brilliant or terrible but could it be both and also boring at the same time? 😅 Having studied anthropology and read a shit ton of ethnographies I think I understand the writing style the author was going for but ultimately it didn’t work for me. There are some passages where you can’t discern a single thing that’s going on or distinguish between what’s happening, the narrator’s POV or the writer’s prose. The book had me for about half the novel despite problems I had with the writing style but once we moved to Greece, the story stopped dead in its tracks and it never really recovered. I do have to say that as the child of a parent who is struggling with depression, there were some really insightful passages here that helped me put into words things I’ve felt but could never say, which makes this review so much harder to write. I was rooting for you Hot Milk… WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!!!!!!
The Blade Between by Sam J. Miller

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

The Blade Between is a MASTERPIECE of literature and an instant favorite. Wow, hats off to Sam J. Miller who created a rich and vibrant world of complex characters that all felt relatable at one point or another, despite some of the horrors waiting to be unleashed. I found myself panicking as I felt myself getting to the big finale because I just wanted to live in this version of the Hudson Valley forever.
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Hide by Kiersten White

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

I really enjoyed HIDE. My biggest problem with it was the constant shift in perspective which made it really hard to follow in the first act. Once the cast of characters begins to dwindle, it becomes less of a problem and I found myself riveted going from person to person. Kiersten White is a really exciting author and between this and Mister Magic, she’s definitely one I will be reading for years to come. Fantastic first entry into adult literature for Kiersten and it’s fascinating to see how quickly she grew from Hide to Mister Magic. This was a really fun, quick moving thriller with some deep themes about systemic trauma. If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, A Quiet Place or The Most Dangerous Game, Hide is for you!
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The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? No

5.0

I love Adam Sass so much. This is now my third book by this author and I love how rich and detailed his world-building is. On top of that, he has a gift for writing authentic queer voices that feel like they’re speaking directly from my heart. I was hesitant to read Adam’s second novel because I’m not really into romantic novels, and the fact it was YA made me feel even more adverse but I needed a lighter read to cap off June and kick-off July and I’m so glad I went with The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers.

This novel was way out of my comfort zone but I absolutely adored it. Reading this novel was therapeutic for my 15yr old, closeted repressed self. I had so many sad, lonely and sleepless nights back then wishing I knew if there were other people out there like me. If books like this had existed when I was that age, my God would my adolescence have been different. I’m so jealous of all the LGBTQIA+ teens out there who get to read this novel and know that there’s a world out there just waiting to be discovered by them. 

This story brought me instant joy and I’m so grateful I read it. Absolutely pumped and ready for Adam’s follow up, CURSED BOYS AND LONELY HEARTS, which is only a few weeks away from release.
The Only One Left by Riley Sager

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I started this book on vacation and really only got the chance to read like 10 pages at a time. Eventually I hit a point where I couldn’t put it down and found myself trying to read it as often as possible and then BAM- I hit the third act and could not put it down. Is THE ONLY ONE LEFT soapy and silly? Yes. Did I have to suspend a looooot of disbelief throughout? Also yes. Did I mind having to do any of that to enjoy this novel? Not one bit! As an avid fan of telenovelas, I was fully strapped in for this story and the third act full of shocks and twists had me squealing gleefully until the very last twist which left me with more than a few tears in my eyes. If you’re into gothic mysteries, you will devour this book. It was an excellent beach read!
And the Category Is...: Inside New York's Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

AND THE CATEGORY IS is a fascinating dive into the past, present and future of ballroom culture. It’s a wonderful supplement to all the media we know and love surrounding the movement including Pose, Paris Is Burning, The Queen and Legendary. Ricky Turner does an excellent job at capturing so much history that’s been lost and beautifully ties together so many thought provoking questions about the meaning and the value of art. 

Would have rated it higher if the author hadn’t spent so much of the story talking about himself. 🤷🏽‍♂️ This book really flies high when Ricky is immersed in ballroom and kinda loses steam anytime he dives into his academic antics or pulls focus from the main subject. Still, it’s a great read that should be required for all LGBTQIA+ people who find themselves even just casually interested in ballroom, voguing and the history of BIPOC in NYC.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

In The Dream House is one of my favorite memoirs in recent memory. Carmen Maria Machado is a literary genius and the poetic style in which she pieces together such painful moments in her life pierces right through the heart. This is not a story for the faint of heart. It’s a story that is full of grief and pain but that is also filled with light and meditative reflections.
The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.5

The House of Hidden Meanings will be an interesting read full of valuable nuggets of wisdom for the uninitiated or even casual RuPaul fan. For those of us who have followed his career for decades, either through Drag Race, his podcast, talk shows or even just his music… there’s not much here we haven’t already heard ad-nauseam. The first 3/4 of this memoir feel a little too perfectly curated and designed to help us understand that RuPaul was a superstar from before he was born and ok cool great fantasy but where’s the substance? Thankfully, once Ru hits NYC he hits on a nerve of vulnerability we’ve never really really explored throughout his journey. I really appreciated and enjoyed reading about his real struggles with friendships, trying to make it in the city and with his partner Georges. Sadly, as soon as the story really hits its stride, it’s over and we haven’t really dug deep enough to make this as reflective an experience as I think RuPaul thinks he’s written.