archie
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up - was rly excited for this & i did enjoy a lot about it but not as much as i expected to. think compared to hell followed with us i just wasnt as invested in the world the story was taking place in & think it would've benefitted from more world building. will always enjoy queer trans autistic characters being represented & the twists & turns of the story was rly well done
4.5 ⭐️ rounded up - i appreciated the authors thoughts at the start & end of the book, & at the start & end of each interview but did feel it become a bit repetitive by the end of it.
i've seen a few reviews criticizing the author for sharing their own experiences & perspectives in the interviews, & some people saying that they were trying to force their ideas onto the people they were talking to but i did not see it that way at all. the interviews felt more conversational & back & forth, with everyone involved bouncing off of each other to share without being overbearing, it felt less sterile or clinical than interviews can be.
i've also seen a lot of people expressing discomfort with the author discussing genitalia in their personal blurbs & in the interviews themselves, & it's okay to be uncomfortable with those topics, but i think they were handled with care & genitalia for a lot of trans people is a huge aspect of identity & its interesting & helpful to hear individuals experiences & relationships with their trans genitals.
& one final thought, the author mentions at a few points how allies often won't have sex with trans people & i've seen some reviewers taking that sentiment to mean that if you are an ally you MUST fuck trans people. i think it's been misconstrued & the authors intention was that people often feign support for trans people, but won't view them as viable sexual or romantic partner options. okay that's all
twirling my hair & kicking my feet
this was really sweet & had a lot of momentum, i ripped through it. there were a lot of eye-roll parts of it as far as story & dialogue & the vocabulary used goes, but if u don't think about it too much & let it be a silly little romance book its a really enjoyable read
edit: also ! there's no hate crimes or homophobia in this which is just Nice. sometimes gay media doesn't have to be about having an awful time bc ur gay !
i'm not the target audience for this so i didn't get much out of it but is a quick little read & suitable for someone in their early teens, would've been very useful for me to have something like this as a lonely queer 14 year old
prior to this year i hadn't read consistently for pleasure since middle school, & i ended up reading 102 books :-) a little more than half of them were graphic novels/manga but i'm still very proud of tht! i got more into nonfiction & still wanna push myself to read more nonfic that's out of my comfort zone like longer research-based stuff. i also read some poetry & listened to a few audiobooks & am proud of the variety of genres i picked up this year! here's my list of titles read each month if anyone is interested ⭐️
january
1. slapstick - kurt vonnegut
2. hell followed with us - andrew joseph white
3. boyfriend materiel - alexis hall
4. raybearer - jordan ifueko
5. legend & lattes - travis baldree
february
6. heartstopper, volume 1 - alice oseman
7. heartstopper, volume 2 - alice oseman
8. heartstopper, volume 3 - alice oseman
9. heartstopper, volume 4 - alice oseman
10. nick & charlie - alice oseman
11. i was born for this - alice oseman
march
12. i'm glad my mom died - jennette mccurdy
13. redemptor - jordan ifueko
14. solitaire - alice oseman
15. this winter - alice oseman
16. seven days in june - tia williams
17. the complete chi's sweet home, part 1 - konami kanata
april
18. red, white & royal blue - casey mcquiston
19. venomous lumpsucker - ned beauman
20. paris: the memoir - paris hilton
21. the magic fish - trung le nguyen
22. the ocean at the end of the lane - neil gaiman
23. bloom - kevin panetta & savanna ganucheau
may
24. gender queer: a memoir - maia kobabe
25. we both laughed in pleasure: the selected diaries of lou sullivan - lou sullivan, ellis martin, zach ozma
26. taproot - keezy young
27. saga, volume 1 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
28. saga, volume 2 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
29. saga, volume 3 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
30. saga, volume 4 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
31. saga, volume 5 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
32. saga, volume 6 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
33. saga, volume 7 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
34. saga, volume 8 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
35. daisy jones & the six - taylor jenkins reid
36. shubeik lubeik - deena mohamed
june
37. saga, volume 9 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
38. saga, volume 10 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
39. akira, volume 1 - katsuhiro otomo
40. akira, volume 2 - katsuhiro otomo
41. nausicaä of the valley of the wind, volume 1 - hayao miyazaki
42. pageboy - elliott page
43. akira, volume 3 - katsuhiro otomo
july
44. akira, volume 4 - katsuhiro otomo
45. akira, volume 5 - katsuhiro otomo
46. yellowface - r.f. kuang
47. homie - danez smith
48. nausicaä of the valley of the wind, volume 2 - hayao miyazaki
50. akira, volume 6 - katsuhiro otomo
51. the song of achilles - madeline miller
52. nausicaä of the valley of the wind, volume 3 - hayao miyazaki
53. a history of my brief body - billy-ray belcourt
august
53. how y'all doing? - leslie jordan
54. long shot - kennedy ryan
55. all boys aren't blue - george m. johnson
56. kindred - octavia e. butler
57. finding me - viola davis
58. true biz - sara nović
59. a court of thorns & roses - sarah j. maas
60. a trans man walks into a gay bar - harry nicholas
61. uzumaki volume 1 - junji ito
september
62. maestros - steve skroce
63. lakelore - anna-marie mclemore
64. gender explorers - juno roche
65. queer: a graphic history - meg-john barker
66. crying in h mart - michelle zauner
67. crush - richard siken
68. stay true - hua hsu
69. sensory: life on the spectrum - bex ollerton
70. moomin volume 8 - lars jansson
71. the new queer conscience - adam eli
72. moomins and the great flood - tove jansson
october
73. moomin volume 1 - tove jansson
74. comet in moominland - tove jansson
75. finn family moomintroll - tove jansson
76. yours cruelly, elvira: memoirs of the mistress of the dark - cassandra peterson
77. sheets - brenna thummler
november
78. war of the foxes - richard siken
79. delicates - brenna thummler
80. lights - brenna thummler
81. the spirit bares it's teeth - andrew joseph white
82. time to shine - rachel reid
83. convenience store woman - sayaka murata
84. trans power: own your gender - juno roche
85. queer nature: a poetry anthology - michael walsh
86. paper girls, volume 1 - brian vaughan
87. paper girls, volume 2 - brian vaughan
88. paper girls, volume 3 - brian vaughan
89. paper girls, volume 4 - brian vaughan
90. paper girls, volume 5 - brian vaughan
91. paper girls, volume 6 - brian vaughan
92. self-made boys - anna-marie mclemore
december
93. i kissed shara wheeler - casey mcquiston
94. maus 1: a survivors tale - art spiegelman
95. an absolutely remarkable thing - hank green
96. as the crow flies - melanie gillman
97. maus 2: and here my troubles began - art speigelman
98. golden rage - chrissy williams
99. saga, volume 11 - brian vaughan, fiona staples
100. spectators, volume 1 - brian vaughan, niko henrichon
101. heartstopper, volume 5 - alice oseman
102. its lonely at the centre of the earth - zoe thorogood
