March Reviews

March was. God, March sure was a month. I got vaccinated, so that's cool. Well, technically I get my second shot tomorrow, so I'm not done cooking yet, but I will be.

That's it, that's all I've got, let's do those reviews!

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

This book was very much a typical love story romcom-esque romance novel, but it was GAY, and honestly, that made all the difference.

Elle and Darcy have absolutely nothing in common, and after a disastrously blind date, they figure that's the end of it. Except, Darcy's brother (who is also Elle's new business partner) has been pushing for Darcy to get out there and find someone, so she lies and tells him they hit it off. But that little lie spirals into a bigger one, so Elle and Darcy concoct a plan to get both of their families off their backs. A little fake dating scheme never hurt anybody, especially when they're so ill suited for one another, right? No one ever fell in love while pretending.

But then they did! Wow! I do love fake dating, it's one of my absolute favorite ridiculous tropes. You have to pretend to be in love with each other? You think you're getting away with it but also catching feelings because everyone around you is saying how perfect for each other you are? And spending time together has made them seem not that different after all, in fact maybe even someone you could see loving forever? That's the good shit.

Darcy and Elle were both interesting characters striving for a happiness they feel cannot be dictated by other people. They had complicated families and jobs they loved and were thrown together with one of them actively searching for a soul mate and the other having sworn off love for good. Darcy was a no nonsense actuary who secretly loved soap operas (hard shell exterior with a secret soft side) while Elle was a colorful astrologer who made memes for zodiacs signs (literal ray of sunshine). It shouldn't have worked but it also totally does. I do love a good opposites attract moment.

The overall story had it's moments of typical romance that are not always my favorite things. I complained about this a bit in my The Duke and I review, but it's a persisting issue in romance for me where there are so many little moments focused on sex or things that could lead to sex or appreciating the other person's body at kind of a weird time. This book was Explicit, but only in two short places, so that was manageable, but there were some sort of intense staring and thigh touching moments that I could've maybe done without. But that's on me, because this sort of thing is par for the course in romance novels. Just because it's two women doesn't mean it all suddenly makes more sense to me (though I did think this story was so much better written than most of the straight romance genre books).

There were some truly lovely moments of connection in this book, as well as some real heartbreak. We gotta have the miscommunication before the true reveal of feelings, and while that can sometimes feel tedious or annoying (because miscommunication is an annoying trope and I hate it) this one was handled pretty well. It was more about the characters and their emotional state than too much miscommunication. They got to grow with each other a little bit and then were willing to put in the work to bring them back to each other.

Overall, this wasn't a bad time. It was a great trope, gay, and had a lot of really funny moments. If you like that sort of thing, you will probably enjoy this.

Similar to Hallmark movies, except GAY, and, wow, I really don't read a lot of adult romance genre books

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers

A good friend that has incredible literary taste and who I trust wholeheartedly recommended this book, and honestly she was right this book is amazing.

Grace Porter has a plan. She just received her doctorate in astronomy, and she's going to get the best job and be the best astronomer she can be. She is the epitome of collected and driven, and nothing is going to get in her way. But then her plan falls apart. But then she meets a girl in Vegas and they get drunk and get married. And Grace's plan is falling apart, and so is she, so she packs her bag and goes to New York to be with the woman she married, to spend a summer seeing what best really means to her. But Grace can't run away from all her problems, especially not the ones that live inside her head.

Holy shit. This book is written so, SO beautifully. Almost every line is poetry, even the ones that made me snort with laughter. Because this book was beautiful and funny and so full of heart.

The characters are amazing and complex, and every single one of them was flawed and wonderful and learning to grow. Grace is anxious and driven and smart, living as a queer black woman in a field that does not want her there. And this book doesn't shy away from the struggles she faces, both externally and internally. She has parental trauma and anxiety and so much to work through that resonated with me and undoubtedly with so many other readers. All the other characters are amazing too, in their own flawed and loving ways, and I adored how Grace interacted with them and how they cared for her.

And Yuki! Oh man, Yuki deserves her own paragraph. She marries Grace in Vegas and then goes back to New York, where she runs a radio show about monsters and myths. She lives with three guys who are all wonderful and more than willing to open their home to Yuki's wife for the summer. She's sarcastic and earnest all at once, creative and chaotic, and watching her and Grace fall together and in love was such a treat.

This book was just as much about Grace's journey with Yuki as it was about her journey with herself and her reckoning with her relationships and family. It's a love story, yes, but it's just as much about self and familial love as it was romantic, and I loved that. Sometimes a family is a collection of lesbians living in an apartment loving each other so much it hurts. Sometimes a family is a tea room staff all trying to find a way to be happy without disappointing one another. Sometimes a family is three dudes and a tiny lesbian, making crafts and hunting monsters and saving people. Sometimes a family is all of those things tied together by a queer black doctor who just wants to study the stars.

I really don't have enough good things to say about this book. It was beautiful and uplifting and heavy and raw and queer and I want to read eight more books just like it right now.

Similar to: this book was beautiful and explorative in a way that I haven't gotten to read a lot about, so these are kind of close? Ish? How to be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters and We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

The Falling In Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

This book was delightful and I'm so happy that I read it

Saoirse has decided she'll never fall in love. Her mom has early onset dementia and there's a very high chance it's hereditary, and after watching her parents break up and her own relationship ending, it's not worth it. Then she meets Ruby, who's visiting for the summer, and they decide to do the relationship thing without the drama; a falling in love montage without actually falling. But if romantic comedies show anything, it's that the montage usually leads to falling in love.

This book had a lot of heart. Saoirse is going through a bunch of stuff, with her mom forgetting who she is, her dad getting remarried, and her fears about leaving for university are making it harder to pick a future she might not get the chance to have.

There were a lot of really great funny moments in this book, a whole montage of them you could say, and each one was heartwarming and hilarious, interposed with moments of emotional depth. Saoirse tried to shy away from her feelings and the deeper conversation, but it's hard to hide from something that's inside of you. Watching her fall in love with Ruby, start to connect with her father's fiancée and her somewhat nemesis Oliver was so wonderful, even in the hurt moments. Saoirse was trying to take on the world by herself, and while she may have felt alone at times, she had a support system that she was slowly rebuilding.

Her relationship with her mom was both heartbreaking and lovely, because Saoirse clearly cared for and loved her mother, even if she was also angry and bitter that this was all that was left of her. There was also the constant reminder that whatever life she could try to build would more than likely be cut short by the very same disease. Saoirse's self imposed rules and isolation was an attempt to protect herself, but it made it all the more difficult for her to live with the time that she had. She fought with her dad a lot, and there was so much resentment buried in that tension, anger and betrayal for putting her mom in a home and remarrying, all the while the implications of what that meant for Saoirse's future hanging over them both. It put perspective on all of her relationships, especially the ones she had let fall apart for fear of being left behind. I was glad she had a summer of love to recognize the things she didn't want to lose.

This is gonna be short review for a long book, because it really was just a good time. It was full of rom-com references and sarcastic comments and dates that go wrong, as well as moments of real heart and pretty awesome older characters. The quirks and fun moments really did make it seem like a romantic comedy, even in moments of sadness and grieving. It was witty and clever and very much an Irish summer romance, even if it did have to come to an end.

Similar to Save The Date by Morgan Matson and Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

I was so stoked about this book when it was released, but it took me a bit of time to read it. I don't know how I waited now that I've read it.

Pony's going stealth at his new school. He's transgender but tired of that being all he's known for, so at his new school he's keeping it a secret. Or, at least that's the plan, until he meets cheerleader Georgia, who's trying to keep up her image while striving for more than what she has. The two of them collide and sparks fly, but keeping up the "ruse" is harder than Pony expected, especially when it comes to encouraging the girl he's falling for to live her truest self.

This book has so much heart. Pony is such a fun character, witty and trying so hard, and I was rooting for him the entire time. He just wants to be a normal teenage boy, and that's understandable with all the scary stuff that society tends to thrust on transgender people (especially teenagers). For the most part this book focuses on Pony getting to be a "normal" teenager, falling for a girl, making new friends, living his life. There is a consistent undercurrent of feeling outside of everywhere he goes, though, like a glass wall separating him and everyone else.

Now, I'm cisgender, so please understand that anything I can say about this should not be listened to instead of actually reading stories from or listening to transgender voices. BUT, this book deals a lot with the conflict of coming out and living as a proud and true individual vs the terrifying reality of being in danger just by existing, and Pony struggles with that just like every single real transgender person does. Because society as a whole is not doing the work to provide safety and tolerance for folks that aren't considered "normal."

The characters in the book are at times transphobic in ways that span from microaggressions and offensive comments to actual physical violence. And it's everyone from Pony's new friends to the football jerks at school to his own father. Luckily he has a support system with his sister and some friends, but there was a pretty consistent barrage of moments that made existing hard.

But this is a hopeful book! Not to spoil the ending, but (spoilers) Pony survives! He gets the girl and is given the acceptance he needs and deserves from his family and community. And there will still be bullies and hateful people, but Stay Gold paints an optimistic and very attainable future for transgender teenagers, where violence and statistics don't have to be what they are.

I loved the witty banter between Pony and Georgia, and Georgia's clever stories to give her a wall to hide behind. Watching Pony live his truth helped Georgia find hers, and that was so fun to read. I also adored the old actor that Pony worked for, Ted London, and his friend Matt (even if Matt's ultimatum felt incredibly harsh). This book was full of teenagers that felt very real, telling a story that felt very real.

Similar to: I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver and Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Upside Down by N R Walker

There aren't a lot of books out there about asexual characters, but by god am I gonna read them all.

Jordan has a lot of labels: introvert, geek, gay, and he's not really interested in another one, even if asexual might be the fit he didn't know he was looking for. Then he meets Hennessey, leader as an asexual support group. They hit it off spectacularly, but between Jordan's label insecurity and Hennessey's break-up inspired rule to only date asexuals, a relationship might not be as simple as it sounds.

This story was so fun. I don't read a lot of romance storylines, despite what the rest of this month's reads might say, mostly because it sort if feels inevitable that at some point I'll get lost. The characters will start making out and build to something that feels sudden to me, or unwanted. But this book was clear from the get go that it was a love story without sex, and it turns out I want that more than I knew.

The characters are hilarious, almost like a sitcom, and that's always a good time. I love ridiculous, over the top nonsense and character traits and situations, and this book was full of them in a fun, somewhat more realistic way. Wacky nonsense and quirky characters were delivered, and I had a great time. Jordan and Hennessey were both lovely and awkward and their conversations felt real abd dreamscape esque all at once. They clicked, and the whole thing just made my heart happy. I loved Merry and Angus too, and the way they were so supportive of Jordan, even when he was being melodramatic. Hennessey especially felt like the posterboy for asexual love interests, being respectful and informative, including the emphasis that there's no one right way to be ace.

Jordan's breakdown at the ace support meeting was so familiar to me. I felt seen and finally like I belonged when I first found the label, and I definitely cried, but I still struggle sometimes with that it means and who I am. I sort of wish there had been more support group scenes, but maybe I also just want a support group.

There were other relationships portrayed in this book; Angus' throuple, Merry's lesbian singledom, but all of them were given equal respect and importance. Overall I felt like this book did a great job of showing a type of ace relationship without holding to the top standard of what it means to be ace.

And while I did think parts of the story were a tad rushed in places, that didn't take away from rge overall enjoyment of the book and plot. I don't know anything about Walker, but she either gets part of the ace experience because she is ace or did her research.

Similar to Let's Talk About Love by Claire Khan

I sure did read those books! And maybe you will to!

Keep writing, friends!

Sam

Literary recommendation: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Media recommendation: Listen, I've been very into Star Wars lately, and I know the original trilogy is older than me but it's more fun than I remember it being