DANYREADS

21 ● mexican ● undergrad student ● design major ● infp ● aspiring writer/animator/illustrator ● avid reader hello!! i’m dany and i love books and movies more than life!! i mostly read YA/(high) fantasy/sci-fi but i love to delve into the adult & general fiction genres every once in a while. 2019 Reading Challenge - ̗̀ DANY ̖́- has read 1 book toward her goal of 70 books. hide 1 of 70 (1%) view books

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TITLE: Tweet Cute AUTHOR: Emma Lord RELEASE DATE: January 21st, 2020 READ DATE: January 14th, 2020 PUBLISHING HOUSE: St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books RATING: ★★★★☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books!!)

sometimes it’s easy to forget how genuinely enjoyable a well written rom-com is. I feel like I often drift off into the world of drama and dark/high fantasy merely for the complexity of the characters and the world building, but honestly? reading books like Tweet Cute is such an underrated pleasure and I can attest to this because I swallowed this book whole in a SINGLE SITTING and I literally can’t stop smiling since I finished!!

the beautiful story elements that make up the world of Tweet Cute are SO GOOD. the tropes and the cliches work so well together, the heartfelt dynamic between the characters and their incredible chemistry are obviously a bonus, as is the fact that the plot line fit the pacing of the book exactly right. Emma Lord did an amazing job and I can’t wait to read more from her, her characterization skills are TO DIE FOR. Tweet Cute is heartwarming and adorable and extremely amusing and a such a pleasant surprise. thanks again to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for providing a free copy for me to read!!

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TITLE: Infinity Son AUTHOR: Adam Silvera RELEASE DATE: January 14th, 2020 READ DATE: January 10th, 2020 PUBLISHING HOUSE: HarperCollins RATING: ★☆☆☆☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you HarperTeen and HarperCollins!!)

it’s honestly such a relief to find reviews that share my same feelings about Infinity Son, because—as I was reading—I truly thought I would be alone in thinking that this book was a hot mess with awful, uninteresting characters and genuinely terrible and confusing world building. alas, this is not an unpopular opinion.

I wanted to love Infinity Son so much. I’ll be the first to say that Adam Silvera is an incredible writer and such an honestly sweet guy. I’m not the biggest fan of his books, but I truly admire him as a writer and potentializer of LGBT characters being properly represented in such a hugely impactful way in the media. however, Infinity Son felt like it was written by a completely different person. no character depth, (not to mention an odd sort of interchangeability within the characters—everyone had so little depth that it literally wouldn’t matter if you placed whichever any two characters in a scene and switched them amongst each other in the middle of the scene because nothing would change. and there were SO MANY CHARACTERS), poor and cringy dialogue, and truly confusing, underdeveloped world building.

it honestly felt like I was reading maybe the second or third book in a series because everything felt so out of place with the world building and it was just so BAD. there was no information at all!! you could ask me about any particular details from Infinity Son and I just wouldn’t know!! there’s no introduction to either the characters or the world, there’s wands (??), there’s different types of magicians with no apparent distinction between them and no information to back them up, there’s a supposed “Blackout” that the characters keep talking about and referring to as one of the most tragic events to have happened in their world BUT THEY NEVER EXPLAIN WHAT THE BLACKOUT ACTUALLY IS.

it came down to a point where I just didn’t care about what I was reading. characters died and got kidnapped repeatedly and in different situations and I just... didn’t care. the plot felt completely empty. that’s besides the fact that I couldn’t grasp the storyline enough to actually understand what was going on, and also that I found every character in this book unlikeable.

I feel so disappointed about this book because even though I’m not Adam Silvera’s biggest fan I truly was excited about his fantasy debut and have been aching to read it since I got an ARC a few months ago. but, and I say this wholeheartedly, Adam PLEASE stick to contemporaries. please. I can’t deal with how much I didn’t enjoy this book, irregardless, thanks again to HarperCollins and HarperTeen for providing a free copy of Infinity Son!

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TITLE: Jane Anonymous AUTHOR: Laurie Faria Stolarz RELEASE DATE: January 7th, 2020 READ DATE: January 7th, 2020 RATING: ★★★☆☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books!!)

what a whirlwind!! Jane Anonymous is a very difficult book to review because of its subject matter, but I’ll be the first one to say that its morbid nature makes it one hell of a compulsively readable book. it’s entertaining and addictive and dark and I found myself coming back to it the more time I spent away from it—I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I guessed the plot twist early on, though. and I felt like, other than Jane, every character in the book was so beyond one dimensional and underdeveloped that I couldn’t really and fully immerse myself in the story because the characters just kept pushing me right back out. I also understand the need for “Jane” to change the names of people and places in her story and I understand why the author chose to do so, but “No Name High School”, “Suburban Town”, make it so difficult to read the book without feeling like you’re excluded from the events. it’s like you’re never really going to completely know the truth because you will ALWAYS be missing important details. at best, it felt like being shut out from the story. at worst, it felt like reading an early draft of the book where the author isn’t sure yet what names they’ll choose for certain characters and locations.

still, Jane Anonymous is a compelling and unique read that you’ll probably devour in a single sitting because of its entertaining and gripping storytelling style. also a very interesting take on character psychology, which I really liked!! thanks again to St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for providing a free copy of Jane Anonymous!!

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TITLE: Find Me AUTHOR: André Aciman RELEASE DATE: October 29th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Farrar, Straus and Giroux RATING: ★★☆☆☆

you guys, I’m struggling to reconcile my love for Elio and Oliver with how boring this book was and how 60% of it wasn’t even Elio and Oliver but some manic pixie dream girl fantasy of André Aciman’s and how I hated every second of it up until the very last chapter of the book.

but honestly, was it worth it? I was happy with the ending but, I mean, did I really have to read through that huge chunk of the book about Miranda and Samuel and then read about Elio not being with Oliver and Oliver not being with Elio only to read a tiny little sliver of what the entire book was supposed to be about in the first place? did I read a truly thought-through book or just word vomit from Mr. Aciman’s psyche until he remembered what the book was allegedly about and slowly drifted back into the story only to realize he had about 20 pages worth of material and just said “whatever” and published it?

I may sound harsh but I think I would’ve just been better off not reading this book and making up scenarios in my head about their story instead of having to sit through this entire ordeal which was, in my opinion, fully unnecessary. and this is today’s tea, my children: just because the first installment was great and the film adaptation was a huge deal and it won a few awards doesn’t mean you HAVE to write a sequel, much less if you literally have nothing to write about. I’m disappointed but not surprised.

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TITLE: It AUTHOR: Stephen King RELEASE DATE: September 15th 1986 READ DATE: November 10th, 2019 RATING: ★★★★☆

I really want to know how this book came to be. I imagine it going something like this:

Stephen King: hey so I want to write about this killer clown entity from outer space who is godlike and omnipresent but resigns itself geographically to a small town in Maine, lives in the sewers of said town, and thrives off of frightening these 7 twelve year-olds specifically. also, he kills everyone EXCEPT for these 7 twelve year-olds. publisher: ok, I’ll bite. tell me more about this book you want to write. Stephen King: there’s a sexually explicit scene involving all 7 of the twelve year-olds. publisher: BRILLIANT. SOLD. 

I mean… IT is a really, really, REALLY weird book. it’s unnecessarily long and overly descriptive and made me feel extremely uncomfortable at some points—but I believe these are also some of IT’s greatest strengths as a novel. the length makes way for every single character, down to the most unimportant ones, to become familiar. the precision and meticulousness with which Stephen King describes every detail in Derry makes the town come to life vibrantly and dreadfully. the unbearable and frightening parts of the book make it truly remarkable and unforgettable in its own particular way.

IT is not my first time reading Stephen King, but it is my first time diving into one of my deepest childhood fears (I was absolutely TERRIFIED of Tim Curry’s Pennywise growing up) and I’ve come out of it feeling so psychologically refreshed and relieved because IT wasn’t actually as scary as I thought it would be—it was fun! the flawless writing style and immaculate transitions between past and present made it such a fascinating read and I’m genuinely so glad I convinced myself to get over my fear of both Pennywise and the intimidating length of this book to actually pick up and read it. it’s such an iconic part of horror pop culture conceptually and visually and I can’t wait to rewatch both adaptations with all my newly acquired context of this horrifying world.

I’m not ignoring or condoning the terrible way in which Stephen King writes women or that one scene between all the kids, but hey, at least I can check this book off my TBR and rely on the fact that I spent the entirety of this month-long reading experience knowing that there was really nothing to be scared of now. I’ve been cured of my fear of Tim Curry in a damn clown costume and that’s all that matters now.

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TITLE: Wayward Son AUTHOR: Rainbow Rowell RELEASE DATE: September 24th, 2019 READ DATE: September 21st, 2019 RATING: ★★★★★

I finished reading this book almost a month and a half ago and I still can’t truly wrap my head around it. I can’t stop and think about it long enough to write a review and it’s made me stop writing altogether because I seem to be absolutely stuck because of this one review that I can’t write and I just can’t bear it any longer. I don’t know how to put my thoughts into words but I’ll try my best.

I finished Wayward Son in a single sitting after waiting years for it to come out, and I also received my copy in the mail almost a week earlier than I was supposed to. it was exciting to get to dive into this book long before anybody else could and it felt like Rainbow Rowell and I were in on a little secret—I knew stuff that could potentially spoil the reading experience for everybody else (it isn’t something that I would actually do, but it was nice knowing that I was one of the few people in the entire world who knew what lied ahead for Simon and Baz).

and then the book actually did come out. days passed. then weeks passed. then a month passed, and it was around that time that I realized that I genuinely couldn’t write ANYTHING about Wayward Son that actually represented how I felt about the book because nothing has ever really come close to it. it isn’t what I expected from a sequel to such a remarkable first book, but I think that kind of was the point of it.

the tone and rhythm of Wayward Son was so different from Carry On but it worked. knowing before anyone else did that a third book was on its way also helped, because I was able to see this bit of the story as a sort of bridge between what happened in book 1 and what’s going to happen in book 3, which we get little hints of throughout the book: healing, restoring, finding the place and the people that make you feel safe. the realistic aspects of Simon’s depression and his dwindling relationship with Baz as a consequence of it were one of my favorite parts of Wayward Son, because it felt authentic. it was so different from Carry On in every way you can think of, but I loved every second of it.

Wayward Son gave these characters and this world the time they needed to fully flesh themselves out. it brought them to life in a way that I didn’t know was possible, and I hate that it took me so long to figure out how to write this review when it was actually so simple: I love how this book is about growth and love. God, I just love everything about it. the third book can’t possibly come soon enough.

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TITLE: Serpent & Dove AUTHOR: Shelby Mahurin RELEASE DATE: September 3rd, 2019 READ DATE: September 1st, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: HarperTeen RATING: ★★★★★

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you HarperTeen and HarperCollins!!)

truthfully, all I want in life is well-written 17th century french ambience and perfectly executed trashy tropes—and Serpent & Dove PROVIDES.

lord, what a debut. I confess, based on the cover alone, I went into this expecting a super-dark fantasy bordering on the adult end of things, but I was so surprised to find a light and fun romance with gorgeous and rich world building, amazing characters, and such an intriguing premise overall!! Shelby Mahurin really made this universe entirely her own and her writing just shines off the pages of the book. I absolutely love every aspect about the witches and the Chasseurs and the magic system and—GOD I could honestly swallow this book whole.

I also love a book that isn’t afraid to paint religion in a bad light. although I’m personally devout, I find the exploration of the negative aspects of Christianity to be soooo interesting, and, again—I was a huge fan of the fact that Shelby Mahurin ALSO chose to give the witches a sort of villainy vibe, as if truly there aren’t any good guys. there isn’t a good side in the game, no black and white, and that’s such a unique aspect of this book that I don’t think I’ve ever encountered before!! we love morally-gray characters!!

anyway, I genuinely had so much fun reading Serpent & Dove and I can’t wait for the sequel. I was so crestfallen to find I’d already reached the acknowledgements and I just wanted to keep reading more and more and more—not a single boring page in this 500+ page book, and that’s no easy feat. thanks again to HarperTeen and HarperCollins for providing a free copy of Serpent & Dove!!  

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TITLE: The Grace Year AUTHOR: Kim Liggett RELEASE DATE: October 8th 2019 READ DATE: August 10th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Wednesday Books RATING: ★★★★★

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books!!)

I am absolutely obsessed with this book.

being feared and becoming fearless because of it. the rage in every girl’s heart. the flowers. the magic. the plot twists. the repression and the consequential revolution. the handmaid’s tale vibes. just…. the powerful and dreadful energy that this book irradiates—I literally love every single thing about it.

The Grace Year has, without a doubt, become one of my favorite books of the year. the characters are brilliantly built and fascinatingly written. the world they live in, no matter how horrid and repulsive, comes to life vibrantly and vividly in every page in a way that’s so rare, I could literally count on one hand the number of books that have made me feel so intensely involved in their universe that putting the book down feels like coming out of a fever dream. I haven’t read anything by Kim Liggett before but I definitely will be checking out the rest of her books because LORD, I AM DEAD. she’s so good!! thank you St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday books for a free copy of The Grace Year!!

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TITLE: Kingdom of Souls AUTHOR: Rena Barron RELEASE DATE: September 3rd 2019 READ DATE: August 1st, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: HarperTeen RATING: ★★★★☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you HarperTeen & HarperCollins!!)

it doesn’t come as a surprise that a book inspired by African folk tales and imagery is so rich in world building, so intricate in its epic storytelling. Kingdom of Souls is one of the most intriguing books I’ve ever read and it’s driving me CRAZY.

this book reads the way imagination feels—completely free of boundaries and inhibitions. I know I probably sound like I’m exaggerating but Kingdom of Soul’s rich universe and character development truly feel like a fairytale book come to life. it’s so much to take in and at the same time it’s something that feels so intuitive and ultimately elementary. I truly can’t find better words to describe this book and I feel like I’m not making any sense, but Rena Barron writes so exquisitely that Kingdom of Souls almost reads like something found in mythology books. like it truly belongs inside the culture it’s inspired by.

Kingdom of Souls is impossible to put down. I’m writing this review days after having finished the book and I still can’t fully seem to stop thinking about it, the next book in the series truly can’t come soon enough!! thanks again to HarperTeen and HarperCollins for providing a free copy of Kingdom of Souls!!

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TITLE: Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters AUTHOR: Emily Roberson RELEASE DATE: October 20th 2019 READ DATE: July 31st, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Farrar, Straus and Giroux RATING: ★★★☆☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Macmillan!!)

you simply HAVE to give Emily Roberson extra kudos for originality. never in a million years would I have been smart enough to come up with a concept that takes an ancient greek myth, reality TV like Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and The Hunger Games and blends them in such a dark and seamless way. I was a HUGE fan of the concept and I’ve been thinking about it for days because this book truly could’ve been amazing. at least it looks amazing on paper!!

however, the execution is sort of brutish. the characters come across as crude and tasteless, with r*pey intentions and crass personalities merely for shock value. I know this was probably done on purpose to make Ariadne stand out as virtuous and angelic in comparison to the world she lives in, but I can barely stop to think about the metaphysical conceptualization I’m supposed to be focused on when literally every single character is unlikeable. there were a TON of scenes that I couldn’t even fully stomach.

so what’s the verdict? I can’t stand the characters but I love the story. I’m generally feeling a little disappointed because this book wasn’t really what I expected it to be at all (not in a good way) but I still feel like it might be one of the most original reads I’ve come across. I don’t know how to quantify my feelings enough to say whether I would recommend it to other people or not, because I genuinely didn’t enjoy myself while reading….. BUT THE STORY!! anyway, thanks again to Farrar, Straus and Giroux & Macmillan for sending me a free copy of Lifestlyes of Gods and Monsters!

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TITLE: Descendant of the Crane AUTHOR: Joan He RELEASE DATE: April 9th, 2019 READ DATE: March 14th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Albert Whitman Company RATING: ★★★★★

ARC provided from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review (thank you Albert Whitman & Company!!)

this book legitimately left me speechless. I’ve been trying to write this review for DAYS and I just can’t seem to get any words out?? it was beyond anything I’ve ever read, on so many levels. it’s a murder mystery disguised as a fantasy disguised as a deep study of power and family dynamics and mythology and palace politics, heavy on Chinese imagery and aesthetics, all without ever feeling like a slow or tedious read. it’s a stunning book and a genuinely BRILLIANT debut.

WOC are really taking the publishing world by storm in this good year of our lord 2019, and Joan He is right there at the very top thriving and I couldn’t be happier about it. I mean, I’m in complete AWE of Joan He. everything from characterization to world building literally SHINES off the pages of the book. the utter complexity of this universe and how genuinely gorgeous every aspect of it is, my GOD. the writing is to die for, I can’t get my thoughts in order and coherently express how I feel for every word in this book, how badly I was seething for more. I could CRY.

also, I deeply appreciate an unexpected read. I like not knowing what’s going to happen, and I like being truly surprised by plot twists instead of rolling my eyes and muttering “I called it from page 22″ (that’s just boring!! and dumb!!!) give me all the plot twists!! all the unexpected villains!! all the betrayal coming left and right!! all the complex characters struggling for power!! all the political intrigue!! all the character development!! give me Descendant of the Crane a thousand times over, I’m MELTING INSIDE!!

from the bottom of my heart, I’m overflowing with love for this book. this is now my emotional support Chinese-inspired fantasy and I’m never letting go. I never want to stop talking about how much I love Descendant of the Crane and Joan He. thanks again to Edelweiss+ and Albert Whitman & Company for providing a free copy!!

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TITLE: The Musician and the Monster AUTHOR: Jenya Keefe RELEASE DATE: September 30th, 2019 READ DATE: August 2nd, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Riptide Publishing RATING: ★★★☆☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you Riptide Publishing!!)

I’m gonna be honest, this book is a lot. almost TOO much on my pure, faint-of-heart and kink-free life. does that mean I didn’t enjoy it? of course not. but it’s definitely SO out of my comfort zone that I repeatedly found myself almost putting it down because it was just. too. much. if you know what I mean.

surprisingly, though, it was also so meticulously thought-out and well outlined that it was almost baffling. I know I shouldn’t underestimate romance books, but I was genuinely impressed with the level of detail that the world building in The Musician and the Monster has. the fae lifestyle, Oberon’s small traditions and rituals, the whole thing about the skin and communication between their species, the podcast—I was taken aback by it. I’m not about to condone the invasion of privacy Ángel is forced to go through, or the narrator’s use of the word “fatless” to describe Oberon’s athletic body (why you would even use such a term is beyond me, it really irked me out), but what I’m trying to say is that it wasn’t all that bad. Jenya Keefe’s writing style was fine and I was genuinely impressed by the world building.

again, though, I’m simply just not sure that this kinky-as-hell book is my kind of deal, so I’m gonna go for the safe route and rate it a very clean three stars. The Musician and the Monster is a fun read, but far too much for my taste. thanks again to Riptide Publishing for providing a free copy of The Musician and the Monster!!

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TITLE: Windwitch AUTHOR: Susan Dennard RELEASE DATE: January 10th 2017 READ DATE: July 6th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Tor Teen RATING: ★★★☆☆

strangely, Windwitch is just as tedious as the previous installment, but moves forward with world building and characters tremendously. I have a genuine love/hate relationship with this series now because it just continues to feel so generic to me, like there really isn’t anything unique about it, yet I enjoy reading the characters. I’m not as invested in the story as I feel like I could be, but I don’t want to leave it behind.

the lack of flow between one storyline and the other is what I personally think is killing the Witchlands for me. there’s no real connection between one character’s adventure and the next one, and to any extension of detail I can’t really say off the top of my head what the great plot is supposed to be. just… a bunch of characters with random powers, uh… fighting? or not? it sucks, if you get what I mean. I want to read and enjoy the rest of the series but I’m not largely interested in what happens.

generally, though, Windwitch is a better book than Truthwitch. Susan Dennard is a great writer and she has a fantastic grasp on characters—not quite as much on story, unfortunately. but for now, I’ll continue reading the series and I’m really, really, REALLY hoping that all my continuous “cons” about the Witchlands somehow are dealt with, and I can fully enjoy the next book without having to nitpick at all the negatives, like I have with the first two books. I just want to ENJOY this series so bad and I can’t seem to fully invest myself in it, but I’m hopeful, and I’ll try my best I suppose.

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TITLE: We Contain Multitudes AUTHOR: Sarah Henstra RELEASE DATE: May 14th 2019 READ DATE: July 12th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers RATING: ★★★★★

if love like this really exists out there in the world, if two people can really come to love each other so wholly and beautifully like this, then, God, I’m here and I’m ready. HIT ME WITH IT, PLEASE.

We Contain Multitudes is the dictionary definition of tender. it’s sincere and wholehearted and passionate and I craved for just a tiny little bit more every time I had to put the book down to go to work. I loved every minute of it intensely, and I already want to reread it if I’m being honest. it’s a book that will stay with me for a really long time, but I’m happier because of it.

but I’ll be honest first and foremost, I wasn’t a huge fan of the format. I’ve read books before where the characters write to each other and we read the actual literal letters, but a full-fledged novel written entirely in letters? as in, 100% epistolary? if I’d known beforehand, this book would’ve been a hard pass for me. but I didn’t know before picking it up, so I rolled with it. I never really totally came to “dig” it, for lack of a better word, but I got used to it, and most importantly, the format for this book eventually begins to work with the story. the letters are intrinsic parts of the characters, particularly in Kurl’s case, and We Contain Multitudes wouldn’t read the same or feel the same if it wasn’t for the format, and I’m glad I pushed through just enough to realize so.

We Contain Multitudes is heart-wrenching and heartwarming all at once and it’s rare these days to find books like these, that don’t feel like a parroting of the same romance I’ve read a million times before. it’s different and familiar and, yes, wholesome to the most. I want to read this book again and again for the rest of my life.

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TITLE: Truthwitch AUTHOR: Susan Dennard RELEASE DATE: January 5th, 2016 READ DATE: July 3rd, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Tor Teen RATING: ★★★☆☆

I’ve been debating with myself about whether I liked Truthwitch or not. going into it blindly, the characters and the world building where a little bit of a hot mess. I couldn’t quite get a grasp on the mechanics of this universe because no one ever really bothers to explain anything to the reader, Susan Dennard pretty much throws you into it without a worry in the world. it eventually becomes a fun book, sure, but the dynamic Truthwitch sets for itself from the very first page is generally just very patchy and inconsistent.

safe to say I wasn’t a huge fan. the plot was all over the place and the multiple POVs weren’t working very well in tandem with each other. I also feel like the aesthetic of the book changed several times, which was weird, because I couldn’t fully develop a strong image of this world in my brain since it kept changing so often. Iseult and Safi fighting for their lives, morphed into Iseult’s home, then Safi in a royal environment, Merik’s ship, Aeduan’s travels, Merik’s ship again now with Safi on it, etc. I never could quite get ahold of what I was supposed to picture as a whole.

I’m not saying Truthwitch is a bad book by any means. it was entertaining and I did end up liking most of the characters. but by far, Truthwitch’s saving grace is its emphasis on female friendship. Iseult and Safi have a relationship like nothing I’ve ever seen in any other YA book, which basically boils down to an established connection between two girls, built on mutual trust, love and communication. it’s weird to me that this is such a rare trope, and that such a simple thing as a female bond feels revolutionary and unique when it really shouldn’t be. either way, Susan Dennard nails it.

all I can say is I’m happy I’ve finally got this book out of the way. there’s so many “staple” YA books I’ve missed through the years and Truthwitch was definitely one of them, so I’ll definitely continue on with the series in hopes that the world building and general ambience concretes itself as the story grows. I’ve got my fingers crossed!!

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TITLE: We Are Lost and Found AUTHOR: Helene Dunbar RELEASE DATE: September 3rd, 2019 READ DATE: June 26th, 2019 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Sourcebooks Fire RATING: ★★★☆☆

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (thank you Sourcebooks Fire!!)

I don’t know how to balance my feelings for We Are Lost and Found over its objective importance and relevance because of the subject it encompasses, so I’m just gonna go somewhere in the middle with my rating here. my opinion is obviously relative and completely subjective so I wouldn’t take it to heart if I were you.

I’ll just rip the bandaid off—I wish this book hadn’t been written the way it’s been written. the reality of the AIDS crisis is represented stunningly, but Helene Dunbar’s choice of writing this book in spatters and vignettes, and following it up by excluding quotation marks altogether? I don’t know. it made the characters distant, impersonal and scattered. I couldn’t connect with Michael’s voice at all no matter how badly I wanted to because I literally couldn’t tell when he was narrating and when someone else was speaking, and to be honest it was just a weird choice? it didn’t help the story flow. it didn’t add anything to the prose. so why exclude such an intrinsic part of the narrative? and why write it in such a choppy and disjointed way in the first place? it broke any existing relationship between the characters and the reader, or at least that’s what it felt like to me.

still, We Are Lost and Found is beautiful in its preservation of LGBT+ history, and I respect that. I love how well researched this book is and I love the end notes from people who actually experienced the AIDS epidemic firsthand. there’s unfortunately something about the writing in We Are Lost and Found that doesn’t make Michael’s experience quite as tangible and impactful as these particular end notes, but I’ll bite. this is still a gorgeous book, and it’s staggeringly breathtaking in the message it gets across. I just really, genuinely wish it hadn’t been written the way it’s been written. thanks again to Sourcebooks Fire for a free copy of We Are Lost and Found!

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[danyreads]

I read A Little Life because my friend was talking about it and it turns out she heard about it from you! It was devastating and wonderful and I’m glad I read it. I love your blog and the way you review books and it makes me feel like I’m in on a smart person secret when I see your posts in my feed :D

OH MY GOD this is the second time someone’s told me they’ve read A Little Life because of me, I'm so happy you guys liked it!! and you are too kind!! such a sweet message to wake up to, thank you for reading and following 💖✨