lil book nook!

sharing stories with tumblr one book at a time! mainly queer books but I'm open to all!

[lilbooknook]

Red White and Royal Blue: Casey McQuiston

423 pages

Summary: First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

[lilbooknook]

Carry On: Rainbow Rowell

528 pages

Summary:

Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here — it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

The Rise And Fall of Simon Snow is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

Review:

If there's one book that I will never get tired of reading over and over and over it is Carry On. Rainbow Rowell tells the story of these young and rough kids through the points of view of various characters throughout the story. When the focus of Simon shifts to Baz a quarter of the way through the book, a new lights shifted. Baz came in and it was like my world blew up because he is just the most beautiful and hard headed and tender character. Heart wrenching, angst, tenderness, and love are floated through the novel from start to finish; With a special touch of magic and another world. Rowell sends these teens on an adventure that changes all of their lives, and simultaneously changes our lives as well.

[lilbooknook]

We Contain Multitudes: Sarah Henstra

377 pages

Summary:

An exhilarating and emotional novel about the growing relationship between two teen boys, told through the letters they write to one another.

Jonathan Hopkirk and Adam "Kurl" Kurlansky are partnered in English class, writing letters to one another in a weekly pen pal assignment. With each letter, the two begin to develop a friendship that eventually grows into love. But with homophobia, bullying, and devastating family secrets, Jonathan and Kurl struggle to overcome their conflicts and hold onto their relationship...and each other.

Review:

I never thought that I'd get interested into a book that's told through letters. I'd assumed they would be told without in depth detail (because I love detail). However I was proven so ungodly wrong after reading this book! Kid you not I started reading it in a bookstore and continued to spend 6 hours finishing it because I couldn't buy it! The spirit, characteristics, and difference of both Adam and Johnathan in the book is shown so well because of the contrast that Henstra puts between each characters writing styles. I was left with so much surprise and heartache and love from start to finish and this is an absolute must read!

[lilbooknook]

Fangirl: Rainbow Rowell

445 pages

Summary:

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review:

Rainbow Rowell has this type of ability to make us feel without even noticing it. To fall in love with characters before we're aware. That's what she does with Cath, Wren, and Levi. We, as people in our own fandoms, understand what it's like to love characters as deeply as Cath does; Fic writers get the struggle of staying up late to finish off chapters, writer's block, and certainly the struggle to create our own characters in place of fanfiction like Cath does. Wren is out trying to live it up in this new freedom that is college and honestly both twins are so relatable with so much of the tumblr communiy which is what makes this book so interesting and special. Because if Cath gets to find her place, why can't we?