I still have a lot of Netgalley reviews to share, so here’s another batch! You can expect more of these soon, but probably not until after June, since I’m already going to be posting every day for #PrideLibrary20.
I was sent eARCs of all of these books in exchange for my honest review.
You can find my previous Netgalley reviews here:
- Netgalley Mini Reviews #1
- Netgalley Mini Reviews #2
- Netgalley Mini Reviews #3
- Netgalley Mini Reviews #4
- Netgalley Mini Reviews #5
Kate Weston – Diary of a Confused Feminist
As a teenager, I was a big fan of the Georgia Nicolson books. I thought they were absolutely hilarious. This book reminded me a lot of those – because of its style, and because of the diary entries. At the same time, it’s a very welcome modernized update, that deals with feminism and mental health in a light-hearted, open manner.
Speaking of mental health, I had no idea this book would have anxiety and depression representation, and I thought it was handled very well. It was amazing to see such supportive parents, and to see positive therapy sessions in a YA book.
I think this is a really great book for a younger YA audience.
Rep: MC with anxiety and depression, Black side character, gay side character
CWs: depression, panic attacks, bullying, menstruation
Cory McCarthy & Amy Rose Capetta – Sword in the Stars
I have this problem where often, when I love the first book in a series, I’ll end up sorely disappointed in the second book. This often makes me very hesitant to pick up any sequels.
But because I loved Once & Future, I did really want to read the sequel. And I’m so glad I did, because this book was at least as fun as the first one. I love how queer and diverse a cast this duology has, and I loved the way it showed that history was a lot more diverse than we’re taught.
Where Once & Future is mostly a sci-fi reimaging on the King Arthur stories, Sword in the Stars is an interesting mix of historical fantasy and sci-fi. I thought this genre mix was very well done.
One thing I missed in the first book was seeing the character’s personalities fleshed out enough. I was glad to see that this was done more in depth in the sequel, and the book packed more of an emotional punch than the first book did, at least for me.
All in all, this was a really great end to a super fun duology.
Tom Ryan & Robin Stevenson – When You Get the Chance
A downside to reviewing for me is that I often feel like I’m only allowed to dislike a book if I have a good reason for it. But the reality is, reviewing is subjective, and sometimes you just won’t click with a book. I’ll do my best to explain my thoughts, but overall this book just didn’t work for me, for no particular reason other than the book and I just didn’t click.
In theory, I would have loved this book. I love books about family, and here, the family is forced to come together after the death of Mark and Talia’s grandfather, to clean out their grandparents’ summer home. I usually love books with these types of settings, so it was a shame to me that I didn’t enjoy this one. My best guess as to why I didn’t like it is that there was a lot of negativity: none of the people actually want to be in the summer home, and that made me not really want to be there either.
Another reason is that I really disliked Mark as a main character. I did really like Talia but Mark was so self-absorbed and he never did anything for anyone else. I always try to not be too harsh on teenage main characters – they’re human, they’re young, they’re allowed to have flaws. But the problem for me was that there was nothing that made me root for Mark to become better, there was wasn’t really anything that redeemed him for me.
The reason that I’m still giving this book 3 stars rather than 2, like I’ve contemplated, is that I really really liked the Pride aspect of the book. It was amazing to see so many different LGBTQ+ people, and it was lovely seeing how queer history and queer culture were woven into the book here.
Meryl Wilsner – Something to Talk About
This was one of the romances I was most looking forward to this year. Did I enjoy it? Yes, definitely. It was an entertaining read with a lot of heart, and very loveable main characters. But. I also kept waiting for more. More of a spark, more banter and flirtation, just more. I think the main issue was that the writing style didn’t quite work for me. But I also just kept waiting for the book to really start.
Spoiler warning! I personally really like a slow burn. But, I also need my romance to actually have scenes where the characters are together. I need dating, and domestic stuff. So when a book ends when the characters are just getting together, that leaves me pretty unsatisfied.
Rep: lesbian Chinese-American MC, bisexual Jewish MC
CWs: sexual harassment, asthma attack, homophobia, racism
Have you read any of these books? Are they on your TBR?
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Anniek's Library 