Ricky
Added to listSaw The Filmwith 151 books.
This is the book that the film PILLION is based on. It's very different from the movie. The plot goes in very different directions although some of the characters and situations are similar. I enjoyed this. The narrator has a very engaging voice. I don't know if I was completely satisfied, but I liked getting to know this character. there's a very melodramatic thing that happens in the movie and maybe it's even more melodramatic here. I'm not sure how I feel about either narrative choice.
This is the book that the film PILLION is based on. It's very different from the movie. The plot goes in very different directions although some of the characters and situations are similar. I enjoyed this. The narrator has a very engaging voice. I don't know if I was completely satisfied, but I liked getting to know this character. there's a very melodramatic thing that happens in the movie and maybe it's even more melodramatic here. I'm not sure how I feel about either narrative choice.
Added to listPsych Sw Etcwith 221 books.
Imagine hearing the story of Marsha P Johnson and queer and trans liberation from a drunk millennial on an Instagram live. That is the experience of reading this book.
More of hagiography/pep talk/folk history than a true biography. It's really all over the place. meandering, and every anecdote is related like an inspirational story. The breathless tone is mostly to its detriment. If Marsha had any foibles or flaws, you would not be able to tell from this book. She is the Mother Teresa of the tristate area. It's interesting because in the other accounts of her that I have experienced, people have been very unanimous in that she was quite the storyteller and that is something that we don't really see reflected here. It's unfortunate that we need this person to be a hero so much that we can't tolerate their actual humanity. It's one thing to shoe-horn the past into 2020s language, but the way the author presents Johnson's mental health struggles feels patronizing.
I'm always interested to see how Stonewall is described in narratives about Johnson since what people like to believe seems to be quite different from what actually happened. To her credit, the author here hedges before reinforcing the myth. Presenting the myths but acknowledging that they may not be true, before ultimately doubling down. I was excited to see this had come out, but there's a lot of millennial excess going on here. It falls into the trap of presenting history as though it is shaped by individuals instead of groups. More the anything, the fever for casting the event as the setting for a one woman show deemphasizes the crucial role of butches that first night.
I gave this book 2 stars just for existing and having good intentions, but I really dislike it and feel that it would have benefited from having a cowriter more experienced in writing about history. There's just no sense that this author understands the historical context very well at all, which is bizarre because she isn't that young and she seems to have done a lot of research for this book.
Imagine hearing the story of Marsha P Johnson and queer and trans liberation from a drunk millennial on an Instagram live. That is the experience of reading this book.
More of hagiography/pep talk/folk history than a true biography. It's really all over the place. meandering, and every anecdote is related like an inspirational story. The breathless tone is mostly to its detriment. If Marsha had any foibles or flaws, you would not be able to tell from this book. She is the Mother Teresa of the tristate area. It's interesting because in the other accounts of her that I have experienced, people have been very unanimous in that she was quite the storyteller and that is something that we don't really see reflected here. It's unfortunate that we need this person to be a hero so much that we can't tolerate their actual humanity. It's one thing to shoe-horn the past into 2020s language, but the way the author presents Johnson's mental health struggles feels patronizing.
I'm always interested to see how Stonewall is described in narratives about Johnson since what people like to believe seems to be quite different from what actually happened. To her credit, the author here hedges before reinforcing the myth. Presenting the myths but acknowledging that they may not be true, before ultimately doubling down. I was excited to see this had come out, but there's a lot of millennial excess going on here. It falls into the trap of presenting history as though it is shaped by individuals instead of groups. More the anything, the fever for casting the event as the setting for a one woman show deemphasizes the crucial role of butches that first night.
I gave this book 2 stars just for existing and having good intentions, but I really dislike it and feel that it would have benefited from having a cowriter more experienced in writing about history. There's just no sense that this author understands the historical context very well at all, which is bizarre because she isn't that young and she seems to have done a lot of research for this book.
Added to listGoodreads Challengewith 22 books.
When I started this I was initially pretty optimistic. I like stories about gay expats. As it went on, I found myself rolling my eyes more and more often until I eventually just became annoyed by it. It's hard not to compare it to the work of Garth Greenwell, and the comparison doesn't do any favors for this book. I found myself really appreciating how comparatively well written and constructed Greenwell's books are, even the one about his hospitalization. Tbh, the writing kinda felt amateurish to me, and I get impatient with books where so many of the interpersonal interactions feel petulant. There are also longish sections that felt completely pointless to me. I just kept thinking about how smooth Greenwell's first two novels were. I suppose my biggest trouble though is that the characters and situations seldom felt real to me. From my perspective he doesn't have a good ear for dialogue. While reading this, I kept thinking the author must be another navel-gazing millennial, though I haven't gotten around to finding out if that's true yet.
When I started this I was initially pretty optimistic. I like stories about gay expats. As it went on, I found myself rolling my eyes more and more often until I eventually just became annoyed by it. It's hard not to compare it to the work of Garth Greenwell, and the comparison doesn't do any favors for this book. I found myself really appreciating how comparatively well written and constructed Greenwell's books are, even the one about his hospitalization. Tbh, the writing kinda felt amateurish to me, and I get impatient with books where so many of the interpersonal interactions feel petulant. There are also longish sections that felt completely pointless to me. I just kept thinking about how smooth Greenwell's first two novels were. I suppose my biggest trouble though is that the characters and situations seldom felt real to me. From my perspective he doesn't have a good ear for dialogue. While reading this, I kept thinking the author must be another navel-gazing millennial, though I haven't gotten around to finding out if that's true yet.
Added to listQprestgewith 80 books.
Added to listGay Stuff I Actually Thought Was Goodwith 80 books.
Added to listQueer Timelinewith 36 books.
It's hard to rate a book like this that has such mixed qualities. a lot of it is pretty good and for most of the book I thought I would rate it four stars, but unfortunately a lot of the weaker writing comes toward the end, from my perspective. and then some of the false notes toward the end made me question some of what came before it. It's an engaging story. largely historical fiction but certainly romance as well. I always like stories about literate people who use their understanding of literature to understand themselves and the world around them.
It's hard to rate a book like this that has such mixed qualities. a lot of it is pretty good and for most of the book I thought I would rate it four stars, but unfortunately a lot of the weaker writing comes toward the end, from my perspective. and then some of the false notes toward the end made me question some of what came before it. It's an engaging story. largely historical fiction but certainly romance as well. I always like stories about literate people who use their understanding of literature to understand themselves and the world around them.
A hellhound falls in love with his neighbor, a writer of supernatural novels. It's actually pretty readable despite a worldview I would describe as muddled at best. The hellhound is sort of like Dexter in a world where all of the villains are involved in the sex trafficking of moral panic. Then there's a lot of weird stuff I assume is probably grounded in Omegaverse tropes. As much as I think of myself as someone who is entertained by transgression, interspecies intimacy is one kind of transgression that largely just makes me uncomfortable. I kept wondering if the author was a sexual assault survivor or if she just consumes a lot of material that creates the sense of a world that is consistent with whatever moral panic is the current rage. An author's unresolved personal issues bleeding all over the page can be an uncomfortable thing for me. Sometimes it can be compelling, but it often just makes me uncomfortable. Another thing that makes me uncomfortable is that way the female authors of this genre often seem to fetishize possessiveness and protective violence. It's definitely one of those things on my list of things in an MM romance that makes me feel like the book was written by and for women. I'm sure some gay men like that sort of thing, but it feels weird and heteronormative to me.
A hellhound falls in love with his neighbor, a writer of supernatural novels. It's actually pretty readable despite a worldview I would describe as muddled at best. The hellhound is sort of like Dexter in a world where all of the villains are involved in the sex trafficking of moral panic. Then there's a lot of weird stuff I assume is probably grounded in Omegaverse tropes. As much as I think of myself as someone who is entertained by transgression, interspecies intimacy is one kind of transgression that largely just makes me uncomfortable. I kept wondering if the author was a sexual assault survivor or if she just consumes a lot of material that creates the sense of a world that is consistent with whatever moral panic is the current rage. An author's unresolved personal issues bleeding all over the page can be an uncomfortable thing for me. Sometimes it can be compelling, but it often just makes me uncomfortable. Another thing that makes me uncomfortable is that way the female authors of this genre often seem to fetishize possessiveness and protective violence. It's definitely one of those things on my list of things in an MM romance that makes me feel like the book was written by and for women. I'm sure some gay men like that sort of thing, but it feels weird and heteronormative to me.
Added to listQueerwith 281 books.
Added to listAudiobookwith 682 books.
Added to listLibrary Bookswith 354 books.
Added to listQueer Genrewith 111 books.
This was engaging enough that I listened to the audiobook in one day, but didn't quite go where I was expecting it to go, which may be a good thing or maybe it's not. I don't know. I guess the last hour of the audiobook I wasn't really that into but in retrospect it's fine. in general, I liked the quality of the writing and I found the characters engaging enough, but I didn't always love every narrative choice. I had certain expectations because it seems to follow certain genre conventions, but some of those expectations were violated which was sometimes frustrating but ultimately maybe it's more interesting to do what it did than what I was expecting it to do.
This was engaging enough that I listened to the audiobook in one day, but didn't quite go where I was expecting it to go, which may be a good thing or maybe it's not. I don't know. I guess the last hour of the audiobook I wasn't really that into but in retrospect it's fine. in general, I liked the quality of the writing and I found the characters engaging enough, but I didn't always love every narrative choice. I had certain expectations because it seems to follow certain genre conventions, but some of those expectations were violated which was sometimes frustrating but ultimately maybe it's more interesting to do what it did than what I was expecting it to do.
¡Justicia, señor gobernador!
Added to listQueer Literature: Notable LGBTQ+ Fictionwith 850 books.
probably one of the better books I've read by this author. the writing here is better than in some of her other books. interested to see how their story progresses. it was nice that the plot wasn't just about relationship drama. I also enjoyed the way that it ends in a kind of open ended sort of way. makes sense since it's a series, but it's also just a nice way to end a story like this.
probably one of the better books I've read by this author. the writing here is better than in some of her other books. interested to see how their story progresses. it was nice that the plot wasn't just about relationship drama. I also enjoyed the way that it ends in a kind of open ended sort of way. makes sense since it's a series, but it's also just a nice way to end a story like this.
This was all right. There's a charm to her writing, but it dragged for me in the back half. I never felt like these characters seemed real.
This was all right. There's a charm to her writing, but it dragged for me in the back half. I never felt like these characters seemed real.
DNF @ 25%
seems like a promising idea but I could never connect to the writing. everything felt too anachronistic for me grab on to. somehow it never felt consistent enough for me too engage with. I can't deal with all of this historical fiction in which all the characters think and talk like they are from a post-tumblr world. The characters never felt like real people to me.
DNF @ 25%
seems like a promising idea but I could never connect to the writing. everything felt too anachronistic for me grab on to. somehow it never felt consistent enough for me too engage with. I can't deal with all of this historical fiction in which all the characters think and talk like they are from a post-tumblr world. The characters never felt like real people to me.
One thing I began to contemplate while reading this mess of a book is the way the younger people today are obsessed with assigning blame and categorizing people as good or bad, villain or victim, virtuous or culpable. I just wonder if they'll ever discover Solzhenitsyn's admonishment that the line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every person. I wish these people would discover Buddhism but I'm sure they'd find a way to completely distort that as well into yet another cult of the fragile ego, which is at the end of the day the primary thing that seems to motivate world events anymore.
I've had really mixed experiences with this author to the point where I wonder sometimes if she has co-authors or something. I hated the writing here. I found it annoying and tiresome and the level of anachronism in the thoughts and speech of the characters made this book read like nonsense to me. The characters never came alive for me and their words and actions felt silly. It's too bad, because I when I picked up the paperback in the library and read the first couple of pages, I thought it seemed like it could be good.
One thing I began to contemplate while reading this mess of a book is the way the younger people today are obsessed with assigning blame and categorizing people as good or bad, villain or victim, virtuous or culpable. I just wonder if they'll ever discover Solzhenitsyn's admonishment that the line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every person. I wish these people would discover Buddhism but I'm sure they'd find a way to completely distort that as well into yet another cult of the fragile ego, which is at the end of the day the primary thing that seems to motivate world events anymore.
I've had really mixed experiences with this author to the point where I wonder sometimes if she has co-authors or something. I hated the writing here. I found it annoying and tiresome and the level of anachronism in the thoughts and speech of the characters made this book read like nonsense to me. The characters never came alive for me and their words and actions felt silly. It's too bad, because I when I picked up the paperback in the library and read the first couple of pages, I thought it seemed like it could be good.
