TagLGBTQIA+

Beautiful and Empathetic: Thin Girls by Diana Clarke

B

Series: Standalone

Release Date: June 30, 2020

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
A dark, edgy, voice-driven literary debut novel about twin sisters that explores body image and queerness as well as toxic diet culture and the power of sisterhood, love, and lifelong friendships, written by a talented protégé of Roxane Gay.

Rose and Lily Winters are twins, as close as the bond implies; they feel each other’s emotions, taste what the other is feeling. Like most young women, they’ve struggled with their bodies and food since childhood, and high school finds them turning to food—or not—to battle the waves of insecurity and the yearning for popularity. But their connection can be as destructive as it is supportive, a yin to yang. when Rose stops eating, Lily starts—consuming everything Rose won’t or can’t.

Within a few years, Rose is about to mark her one-year anniversary in a rehabilitation facility for anorexics. Lily, her sole visitor, is the only thing tethering her to a normal life.

But Lily is struggling, too. A kindergarten teacher, she dates abusive men, including a student’s married father, in search of the close yet complicated companionship she lost when she became separated from Rose.

When Lily joins a cult diet group led by a social media faux feminist, whose eating plan consists of consuming questionable non-caloric foods, Rose senses that Lily needs her help. With her sister’s life in jeopardy, Rose must find a way to rescue her—and perhaps, save herself.

Illuminating some of the most fraught and common issues confronting women, Thin Girls is a powerful, emotionally resonant story, beautifully told, that will keep you turning the pages to the gratifying, hopeful end.

<strong>Ending</strong>
On road to healing
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Lesbian main character
• Bisexual supporting character
• Gay side character
• Lesbian side character
• f/f main romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Anorexia (on-page)
• Bulimia (on-page)
• Physical abuse (on-page and off-page)
• Emotional abuse (on-page and off-page)
— Lily’s boyfriend manipulates her into dieting (read starving herself)
• Bullying (on-page)
• Death as a result of an eating disorder (off-page)
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Discussion of BDSM relationships (the line between consent of S&M and abuse)
• Detailed sex scenes (including Rose walking in on Lily practicing BDSM)
• Explores toxicity of diet culture: fine line between dieting and harming yourself
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Heartfelt and Nostalgic: Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

H

Series: Standalone

Release Date: July 14, 2020

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
The Hating Game meets Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by way of Morgan Matson in this unforgettable romantic comedy about two rival overachievers whose relationship completely transforms over the course of twenty-four hours.

Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he’s much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she’s sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow…maybe she’s already fallen for him.

<strong>Ending</strong>
HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Latina biracial main character
• Lesbian supporting character
• Bisexual supporting character
• FF side romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Anti-Semitism
<strong>Safety Rating:</strong> Safe
• No cheating
• No OW drama
• Does have OM drama
— The Heroine has conversations with an ex to get closure. It stirs up past regret.
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing each other away
• No separation
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format:

Rating: 5/5 stars

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Crucial and Authentic: Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

C

Series: Standalone

Release Date: January 21, 2020

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Two-time Edgar Award finalist Lamar Giles spotlights the consequences of societal pressure, confronts toxic masculinity, and explores the complexity of what it means to be a “real man.”

Del has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge.

His dad thinks his wires are crossed, and his best friend, Qwan, doesn’t believe any girl is worth the long game. But Del’s not about to lose his dream girl, and that’s where fellow pledger Jameer comes in. He can put in the good word. In exchange, Del just has to get answers to the Pledgers’ questions…about sex ed.

With other boys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move fast. But as he plots and plans, he neglects to ask the most important question: What does Kiera want? He can’t think about that too much, though, because once he gets the girl, it’ll all sort itself out. Right?

<strong>Ending</strong>

HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Black main character
• Black supporting characters
• Black side characters
• Gay supporting character
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Slut-shaming
• Discussion of r@pe and sexual assault
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Sex, including unprotected sex
• Masturbation
• Porn
• Teen pregnancy
• Underaged drinking
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle

Rating: 4/5 stars

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Brilliant and Indispensable: What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape by Sohaila Abdulali

B

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 25, 2019

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>
Thoughtful, provocative and intelligent, this game-changing book looks at sexual assault and the global discourse on rape from the viewpoint of a survivor, writer, counsellor and activist.

Sohaila Abdulali was the first Indian rape survivor to speak out about her experience. Gang-raped as a teenager in Mumbai and indignant at the deafening silence on the issue in India, she wrote an article for a women’s magazine questioning how we perceive rape and rape victims. Thirty years later she saw the story go viral in the wake of the fatal 2012 Delhi rape and the global outcry that followed.

Drawing on three decades of grappling with the issue personally and professionally, and on her work with hundreds of other survivors, she explores what we think about rape and what we say. She also explores what we don’t say, and asks pertinent questions about who gets raped and who rapes, about consent and desire, about redemption and revenge, and about how we raise our sons. Most importantly, she asks: does rape always have to be a life-defining event, or is it possible to recover joy?

<strong>Ending:</strong> Non-Fiction

 Powerful
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Author describes herself as: “A brown bisexual middle-aged atheist Muslim survivor immigrant writer without a Shame Gene”
• Discusses the rape culture of India (as well as many other non-Western countries)
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Discussion of rape culture
• Discussion and description of Rape including,
– Gang rape
– Child rape
– Marital rape
– Casual rape (Perpetrator wants sex)
– Damage rape (Perpetrator wants to cause pain)
• Child brides
• Suicide
• Violence
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Sex work
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• BDSM
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

Trigger Warning: This review discusses topics that can be triggering for some. Please read the ‘Possible Triggers’ tab above for details.

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Brilliant and Kickass: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

B

Series: Dread Nation

Release Date: April 3, 2018

<strong>Synopsis:</strong>

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

<strong>Ending</strong>

• Plot – Cliffhanger
• Character – HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Black biracial main character
• Black biracial (white passing) supporting character
• Black side characters
• Bisexual main character
• Asexual supporting character
• Lenape side character
<strong>Possible Triggers: </strong> Yes
• Violence (Blood and gore)
• Torture (whipping)
• Corporal punishment (of children)
• Allusion to sexual violence and assault
• Racial slurs
• Unwanted experimentation (“vaccination”)
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• References to sex
• Allusions to drug use
• Discussion of prostitution
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Kindle Unlimited

Rating: 4.25/5 stars

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The Weekly Wrap: July 20th to July 26th

T

I’ve decided to start doing a weekly, monthly and yearly wrap up/review of my reading habits. I have so many books I want to read that I’ve purchased and still need to read, books I need to investigate and books I want to review. I also only review two books a week on my blog, which is not indicative of how many books I’m reading during the week.

Hopefully, by doing this weekly and monthly wrap, I’ll be able to expose more readers to some excellent books!

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Impactful and Reflective: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

I

Series: Standalone

Release Date: October 8, 2019

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

<strong>Ending</strong>
Bittersweet
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Lesbian supporting character
• LGBTQIA+ side character
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Murder
• Death
• Cannibalism
• Rape
• Sexual assault
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Allusions to sex
• Slut-shaming
• Teen pregnancy
• Girl-hating
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

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Lovely and Relatable: When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk

L

Series: Standalone

Release Date: March 10, 2020

<strong>Synopsis</strong>
You can’t rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again.

It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded.

Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again.

Now, Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex-best friend. But pretending Layla doesn’t exist isn’t as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor. Despite budding new friendships with other classmates—and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom—Cleo’s turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both.

Alternating between timelines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love.

<strong>Ending</strong>
HFN
<strong>Representation</strong>
• Black MC (main character)
• Muslim Bengali American SC (supporting character) with a stutter
• Black SC
• Chinese American SC
• Lesbian Korean American SC
• Hijabi Bengali SC
• Indian American SC
• Gay SC
• FF side romance
<strong>Possible Triggers:</strong> Yes
• Death of a loved one
• Grief
• Bullying
• Divorce
• Adultery/cheating
<strong>Mature Themes</strong>
• Allusions to sex
• Underage drinking
• Discussions of statutory rape
• Slut-shaming
• Teen pregnancy
• Absentee parents
• Girl-hating
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 4.75/5 stars

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