#bipoc rep

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

5 star reads of 2024 ↳ the principle of moments by esmie jikiemi-pearson

[nose-bl]

i’m rewatching the half of it bc i had only seen it once since it came out and i just need everyone to go watch this movie right now bc it has great and unique queer representation and on top of that, explores the protagonist’s racial identity as an immigrant

[vivienneodusanya]

it’s seriously SERIOUSLY frustrating when some white authors think they’re DiVErSifyING their stories by making their main characters racially ambiguous. none of them are. it usually seems like a way for these authors to imagine their characters as white but simultaneously pretend like they’ve given us bipoc rep.

i mean, describing a racially ambiguous character as having tanned / golden skin doesn’t help, and that’s that. i’m just imagining a white character with a tan

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

[instagram]

Huge thank you to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the CUTEST DANG THING. Oh my gosh, my heart. I loved everything about it.

I loved the way this book tackled so many heavy topics in such a heartfelt, earnest way. Neesha’s disability, both characters races and sexuality, biphobia, Gabby’s PTSD, all of it felt so thoughtful and planned out. Nothing felt tacked on for the sake of it or under-developed. This book made me so emotional.

I loved the story within a story and the way it really brought these two together. Their quest to find each volume was so much fun and getting the last volume genuinely made me tear up!

The romance is so soft and sweet and full of understanding. Neesha and Gabby have such great, open communication. They just really seem to get each other and are comfortable asking for what they need or offering something the other might need and it just made my heart feel so full.

Honestly, I can’t recommend this one enough.

[nose-bl]

The ending of The Half of It isn’t sad, in my opinion. It is a very open ending, that leaves room for so much possibility. There’s so much hope for the future. Ellie goes to a college she really wants to go, she leaves a town that she pretty much despises, she’s getting the chance to meet more people like her and discover herself. It is never made clear if Aster is queer or not, and while it is safe to assume that she is, the beauty of her ending is that it’s literally just the beggining for her. This is the beggining of her own journey with her sexuality, learning what she is and what she likes, and learning how to stop pretending to be someone she’s not just bc of the expectations put on her

Ellie tells Aster they’ll see each other in a couple of years, after they’re both done with college or maybe sometime inbetween their studies, they’ll find each other again. Maybe they’ll get together, maybe not. But they will reconnect, it is not the end. And it’s also not the end of Ellie’s friendship with Paul. They also got separated, but they will reunite and have fun again and he’ll always be there for her

This movie is for me a coming of age more than a rom-com. The narrator (who is Ellie) says it herself: it’s not really a love story, and not one where anyone wins. But the ending doesn’t make me sad, it makes me hopeful. It leaves things to interpretation, it leaves room for imagination and it just makes me really happy

Ellie gets out of that town and she gets the chance to be her own person instead of having to be like his father. Aster gets to go to art school and gets to discover who she is instead of being forced to be the girl that her parents want her to be. And Paul starts to experiment with the things he wants to do, too

It wouldn’t have made any sense at all for Ellie and Aster to get together at this point in their lives, but the ending sends the message that that’s not the end, they have the time and space to discover new things and learn and grow and to find each other again. It is not the right time for them to be together, but in the future they could if they still wanted to

[blossomnom]

🌸 Opinions needed

Hii! I'm writing (or trying to at least) and illustrating my own graphic novel, and I need some help with a few things, specifically:

🌸 Disabled characters

🌸 LGBT+ characters

🌸 BIPOC characters

🌸 Characters w/ mental health issues and illnesses

I want to be inclusive, but I don't want it to take away from the storyline or have it outshine the actual plot.

Give me your thoughts, how you would like something to be represented in media, and what to avoid.

Thank you and take care 🌸

[howdidthatbookend]

Kristina Forest | The Love Lyric

The Book:  The Love Lyric by Kristina ForestPublished: February 4, 2025 by BerkleyDate read: January 13, 2025 Find more February 2025 releases here. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. The Characters:  Iris and Angel Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from…

Kristina Forest | The Love Lyric

[howdidthatbookend]

Alexa Martin | Better Than Fiction

The Book:  Better Than Fiction by Alexa MartinPublished: November 8, 2022 by BerkleyDate read: January 9, 2025 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. The Characters:  Drew and Jasper Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon This page contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. The Plot (from Goodreads): As a self-proclaimed book hater and a…

Alexa Martin | Better Than Fiction