#collaged chapters

[collaged-chapters]

The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

(LGBTQIA, fantasy, historical) Interesting things about this book:

• The magic system is interesting. It's not discussed in depth in this book, but it has witchcraft vibes. There are ghosts, something similar to voodoo dolls, and police for the magicians.

• It deals a bit with homophobia and religious traditions due to the historical period in which it's set.

• There's basically a fight for magical power.

• There are tattoos that move; the rest of that would be a spoiler.

Crane's sense of humor is 10/10; he has no filter, and the romance is based more on something casual due to the conditions of each character, something different from the fantasies I've read lately.

[collaged-chapters]

Moth by Lily Mayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

(LGBTQ+, monster romance, post-apocalyptic)

Interesting things about this book with spoilers?:

• The book talks about the discrimination Moth experiences as a half-human/half-monster. Both sides reject him; he's too monster for some, too human for others. It also shows the shame he feels about his own story.

• ⁠On the same note, it touches on the shame he feels about his body. He always hides the features that make it more obvious he's not human, and throughout the story, Charlie helps him overcome his self-loathing.

• ⁠It's also worth adding that Moth is illiterate because he never had anyone who could teach him to read or write, and that adds to that feeling of inadequacy. Charlie never judges him for this.

Once again this series touches on some pretty difficult themes (about the human condition) that are reflected in the monsters, the idea of ​​a character that is the union of two races, who sees himself as different and has no skills that are taken for granted, like reading and writing, seeing himself as a disgrace, a being that shouldn’t exist because he is rejected by everyone around him and who lives with a great feeling of shame for being different and along comes this person who doesn’t reject him and re-signifies that image of not belonging… 10/10, I love this approach through the “other” which is something that has been seen in the other books only with different themes.

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“To look up at the nighttime sky is to become a part of a long line of people throughout human history who looked above at that same set of stars. It is to witness time unfolding.”

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that you’re watching something that happened millions of years ago, like you’re inside a time machine, you’re watching the past, and you’re sharing the sky view with hundreds of humans that are long gone. That is immensity.

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Currently crying for fictional characters… more like bawling but okay

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The Exorcism of Faeries: a dark academia romance- J.L. Vampa

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“You bind books when you’re upset?”

🫠 he has my artistic heart ♥️

Came for the faeries… stayed for Sonder…

And this book also made me reconsider the importance of cups 🙂‍↕️

Instagram

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Seraph by Lily Mayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

(Monster romance, LGBTQ+, post-apocalyptic)

Interesting things about this book:

• Human experimentation…

• Seraph's psychological development, the idea of ​​bringing back a bit of humanity after all the trauma he experienced, and, because of that, the effects of traumatic events.

This book has a very dark side that I feel the rest of the series lacks. Everything related to turning a human into a monster to be a weapon, the experiments, the gradual disintegration of what makes you who you are, the degradation of the mind, the savagery, the pain…

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Soul Eater by Lily Mayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

(LGBTQ+, dystopia, monster romance)

The apocalypse began when several portals opened and monsters began entering the world. Now the military controls everything, and there are two ways to live: in coastal cities in extreme poverty and overcrowding, or in camps outside the cities within reach of the monsters, who are enemy number 1. Danny (being a soldier) falls in love with one of them.

Interesting things about this book:

The idea that what is not understood by humans falls into two categories: either you control it or you destroy it.

“Throughout history, our response to the unknown—and therefore feared—had always been ‘kill it or control it’.”

The conversations surrounding love, homophobia, rejection of “the other” (the different), value judgments based on ignorance, the status quo and appearances, different bodies.

Being a book that's categorized as "hee hee, ha ha," those books that aren’t “taken seriously," I was surprised that it addressed such critical issues. The relationship between the two characters is violently rejected for being unnatural, because it represents a betrayal of race, of human principles, and what should be expected in the romantic and sexual realms... you get the idea. In addition to the author's creativity in creating monsters, a 10/10, it makes the world extremely interesting as well as entertaining.

[collaged-chapters]

Lor by Lily Mayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

(Monster romance, LGBTQ+, fantasy)

Interesting things about this book:

• The story doesn't take place in the human world; most of it focuses on the monster world.

• It happens much earlier than all the previous books.

• I think it's the most tragic story of them all. 🫠

• Now it's a human discovering how the monster world works: the food, customs, etc.

• There's more politics and betrayal.

This book focuses much more on the relationship between the two main characters. They're kind of in a bubble, but it's more tragic than the others, less violent, but much sadder 🥺.