alyssa
“Sparks,” the interlude short story between Ember Boys and Queer Fires, is out now to GA's newsletter subscribers! just your average neighborly, bite-sized lead-in to new adventures - nothing at all like putting salt in an already necrotizing wound
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>> behold! my fumbling attempt at a spoiler-free review because i have many, MANY thoughts and am legally bound by The ARC Rules to disclose none of them except that i would read another quintillion words of this. that being said, i do talk about the mcs of this series and their well-established personalities, so if you haven't read Hollow Folk yet and are seriously considering doing so in the near future, please come back around then. i'll be waiting for you with a beverage of your choice for as long as you need. take your time, pal <3
[4.4~4.5] ah yes, nothing brings me back into the world of Flint & Tinder faster than a front row seat to Emmett's shitstirringsips tea with a satisfied hum
an absolute snarky rascal of a whippersnapper. tell me he founded the Brats of America Society under the holy title of Father of Brattiness, and i would not only believe you, but i'd also enthusiastically donate to the cause.
never has anyone known exactly which gears to grind, which buttons to push, which knobs to turn, to manipulate those around him into a mad rage with such compulsively destructive finesse. Emmett is a master puppeteer, having Jim routinely prance about on puppet strings as they both purposefully skirt around topics in the age-old ritual of avoidance.
but when self-sabotage has been the name of the game for so long, it makes sense for escape to feel futile.
if i were to ever cross paths with the Holy Father of Brattiness myself and he somehow put me in the crosshairs of his volatile blast of sass, i'm putting money on my reaction sequence being affronted bewilderment, frustrated crying, followed by a slow descent into lunacy. sounds about right.
JIMMY JIMBO JIMBALAYA, MY ROMANTIC POET. his inner thoughts speak to the poorly hidden romantic within me and compel me to stan (phone, please stop choosing violence by autocorrecting stan to stab
the potential!!! give me a story that carries the initial cuddle vibes from this book till the very end, and i will devour it like a buffet. i was sitting at a 4 star rating at the start, because even if it required a step back from reality, the characters' interactions were cute! but then there must've been a typo in the recipe, because suddenly we were hit with an unsatiable emphasis on steamy scenes, half-baked mental health rep, and a sprinkling of casual gunslinging as a pastime (AMURICA).
part of me wants to call it quits here, but i'm also morbidly curious to know what the rest of the series is like
4.5* (rounding up to take into account the billion plus stars to the author for putting the spotlight on asexuality in such a kind and empowering manner)
gosh, it feels so wonderful to be seen without drowning in the need to justify myself at every corner. there's no feeling broken, incomplete, less human for feeling the way i do. just an informative sit-down chat with a good, highly empathetic friend. dear book, validation is thy name.
i am what you might call a baby demisexual who took up the label one morning, stapled it to her hat, and went about her day without thinking twice about it, and i love that this book validates my seemingly blasé approach. labels are not the enemy, some measure of your validity to pit yourself against. labels are not about exclusion or othering, about ticking all the boxes to be “enough.” labels are meant to be fluid, as ever-changing as we are as people, and as such, it is perfectly natural to reassess how we see ourselves as we learn and evolve with each new experience. labels are tools of self-discovery containing the immense power that comes with putting feelings into words. that's it.
this book includes the best acknowledgement and breakdown of the stress and microaggressions acespec individuals face on the daily that i have read to date. be it pressure from media or casual, offhand remarks we hear on the daily - funnily enough, i somehow seem to receive the most unnecessary reassurance when i'm in the presence of medical professionals - he helped me deconstruct years and years of frustration (and to be honest, embarrassment) in a therapeutic manner. i also learned so many words for things i never thought to distinguish in my head, such as the various kinds of attraction (sexual, romantic, aesthetic, emotional, sensual, intellectual, alterous, oh my!), the reminder that they work independently, how to establish boundaries, and so much more.
there is a chapter that directly addresses coming out that i see brought up frequently in other reviews. my personal take is that the author, being a very public figure on social media creating acespec-centered content, is understandably a strong advocate of coming out, of living your truth to not only empower yourself, but others in your vicinity who may be questioning, scared, unsure. for some who have accepted a label but have not publicly shared this intimate part of themselves with the world, it has the potential to feel like a noose. therefore, it makes sense for him to layer on so much effusive positivity on the act of coming out, because he wants us to feel the same liberation as he has and create a world where we are just as visible and accepted as an allosexual. his interpretation is the best case scenario, spoken from a place of self-acceptance. the bias is there and he doesn't pretend otherwise.
but of course, this also has the potential for his intentions to be misconstrued as a way of belittling those who are still in the closet, which is why i believe he started off the section acknowledging individuals who are on the fence, who don't think it's the right time for them, or who may choose to never come out. he offers his support no matter what path they choose, so long as they are the one making that decision. he reiterates time and time again that coming out is something we must do for ourselves.
We are not obligated to share certain truths of our identities in order to be considered legitimate. Our truth doesn't become a lie simply because we keep it to ourselves.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of the book - this is my honest review :)
[3.4~3.5] rather than your run-of-the-mill romance, this is a life story in the mid 1980s about two men living in Chicago whose spheres occasionally collide as they maneuver through the trials and tribulations of family, self-discovery, and living one's truth.
only the author knows to what extent scenes from this “semi-memoir” are derived from his personal experience, but the story captures the anxieties and emotions of gay men on multiple fronts, such as living in the midst of the AIDS epidemic. i could feel the roots originated in a very personal place. thankfully there is an HEA reserved for the very end of the story paired with a worthwhile epilogue, but i know the arduous path to that point won't be for everyone.
as for the audiobook, what an interesting experience! i've never encountered one with this much post-production editing brought into play, including bg sounds to set the ambience, echoing voice effects to denote inner thoughts, etc.
now could it have been applied with a lighter touch? definitely. there was one distinct bg sound set on loop - i believe in the bar? - where some person was making some kind of indecipherable commotion, and i found myself more intrigued by what was happening out of the spotlight
[3.6] best friends since the beginning of time who are well aware of their own feelings for the other party but are too afraid to take the next step clash in a will-they-won't-they slow burn battle! the fight has raged on for years...until a new challenger enters the ring to break the standstill: our friend, forced proximity
me hitting the streets, innocently peddling Greg's books
given that The Sophistries of June is one of GA's earliest publications, there are bound to be areas in his writing that are rougher in execution compared to his more recent work, but take the objective age of the series with a grain of salt - Alex's journey still managed to capture my attention above many other fantastical reads i've tried over the past few years. join me in smothering this absolutely underrated adventure with all the attention it deserves!
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It was one of those moments that, even as it was happening, I knew I was going to remember it forever. The look of him, the sunset painting his cheek and his lips, the line of his jaw, and his snowflake eyes reflecting a patch of violet sky.
“I had tried so hard not to rock the boat that in the process I'd forgotten that some motion was necessary in order to move at all.”
[3.25] took three false starts, but i finished this at long last! even though something was missing from their relationship development for me, that last list gesture from Gray was so heartfelt and cute
[3.25] when i learned we were getting a double helping of Grinchy grumpsters in this novella, you bet i hopped on The Humbug Holiday train with all the fervor a girl can muster in the middle of the holiday season's hustle-and-bustle.
this year, Lane Hayes established herself as one of my go-to's for fluff and alluringly fun banter. this tale was no different, absolutely delivering on those two fronts. however, the rest fell back on too much telling and not enough showing for me to connect with the story on more than a superficial level. i understand there are constraints that come with working with a limited number of pages, but i imagine swapping out a few of those steamy scenes (which, don't get me wrong, were undeniably hot and sweltering like a humid, summer day!) for more time dedicated to building their relationship's credibility and allowing for a less rushed ending in the final chapters would've done wonders for my personal reading experience.
nevertheless, none of the above changes the fact that this story was still entertaining in its own right and would be a great candidate for anyone looking for a quick holiday read - i was just hoping for a little something more.
Thank you to GRR and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of the book. This is my honest review :)
Life was full of wounds. But some of them, just a very few, were wounds I could take for the people I loved. And those were worth feeling, no matter how much they hurt.
[4.4~4.5] i highly recommend reading this after [b:The Indifferent Children of the Earth|13362266|The Indifferent Children of the Earth (The Sophistries of June #1)|Gregory Ashe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325897073l/13362266.SX50.jpg|18590833] (book 1) so you have more context as to who these characters are and where Alex is at mentally in the present timeline before doing a deep dive into his backstory. why you might ask? so you can better internalize how quickly good things can crumble to dust from Alex's pov, of course!
you may have just done a double take and are now asking, “but Alyssa, i thought your Gregory Ashe journey was over until his upcoming January release?”
i thought so too.
but then thanksgiving came, and i found myself in a food coma as one does after consuming more than a person should ever consume in a single sitting, and my hands reached for my phone to take decisive action. i dug as far back as i could go into his backlist and unearthed his oldest series still up for sale.
this is the first book of said series, and its publication date is November 18, 2011.
you read that right: TWENTY FLIPPIN' ELEVEN. borrowing the words of John Milton, “How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, / Stol'n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year these past 11 years!”
