#crystal cestari

[the-final-sentence]

It's a magical place to be.

Crystal Cestari, from Happily Ever Island

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer YA Superhero Novels, Part II

Fave Five: Queer YA Superhero Novels, Part II

For part I, click here. The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy I am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki (text) and Yoshi Yoshitani (illustration) Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari Cute Mutants by S.J. Whitby Bonus: Can’t have superheroes with super villains… Check out Harley Quinn: Reckoning by Rachael Allen for one of those!

View On WordPress

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Happily Ever Island

Author: Crystal Cestari

Genre: New Adult Fiction | Drama | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: N/A

Overall Rating: 9.8/10

Personal Opinion: If you’re a Disney fanatic, you’d probably love this book and its concept. An island where you can embody (almost) any iconic character from the grand house of mouse. But even a casual enjoyer such as myself can fall in love with the adventures Madison and Lanie embark on on this island. It’s full of magic and wonder and romance. It’s tough to find a more enchanting book than this.

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- I’m not a Disney fanatic. I’m more of a casual enjoyer. But as a casual enjoyer, I really love the references and the magic in this book. Everything from the way the island was built to the concept of “hero moments” were just lovely. I wish I could’ve read about every hero moment from the intimate point of view of the characters involved. But the backstage perspective on “Let It Go” and the romantic scene of Madison and Val watching the floating lanterns was more than enough for me.

- I also love that all the titles are Disney songs. It didn’t hit me until “Be Prepared” (the second chapter) and even then I thought it was a coincidence. I think it’s so clever and I love the way Cestari incorporated them into the chapters.

- Madison and Lanie have a wonderful friendship. Proof of that is that when they had a fight, Lanie was trying to think of ways to repair it while Madison was already barreling toward her ready to fix it. The fact that not even 24 hours later and Madison was willing to go to great lengths to say sorry shows what a great person she is.

- Speaking more on Madison, I love that we saw her creative mind at work from the start. Way before she even made it to the island. She’s a full-on romantic with a head full of grand gestures. It’s no wonder that she’s such a natural fit as a Disney cast member. That’s foreshadowing done correctly.

- Lanie’s anxiety is represented so accurately. To me. For a hot second, I was on Madison’s side until Lanie said she “didn’t want to bother Madison.” And then I was like, “ohhhh, that’s me.” I hesitate to rely on my own friends too because they have so much on their plate and I don’t want to dump anything more on it. So I get Lanie and I love that Madison is always there for her to be a shoulder to cry on or lean on. I love that Ethan didn’t question anything when she was crying and just held her. I love that she got that support because she deserves it.

- Sal and Dorothy are so cute. I especially love the imagery of this middle-aged man reciting lines from a Disney film to himself on a plane. He is adorable. I love them and I wish them nothing but the best.

- Madison’s “stepsisters” are great too. They’re genuinely nice people and honestly, I just think that’s pretty cool.

- Something else that’s cool are the activities. A canoe trip around the riverbend? Going snorkeling in King Triton’s sea? Those sound like so much fun. And I just could not stop myself from laughing out loud when the canoe intruded on the “Kiss The Girl” hero moment. Like that was genuinely so funny. Can you imagine watching “The Little Mermaid” and then a boat containing Prince Charming and Merida bursts onto the scene? And the way the musical score kept going just cracked me up.

Dislikes:

- I have my issues with Disney. But I would love to do this. But sadly, I don’t think I’d get the role I want. Would Disney allow a man to play Belle? Because I want to be surrounded by books and to slow dance with the Beast.

- You know a role I do not want? Cinderella. I cannot believe that Madison willingly put herself in a situation where she would be surrounded by an “evil” step-family. Especially with a Lady Tremaine that horrible. Granted it just so happens to be this specific Tremaine. If it was a woman who was less intense about live-action roleplay then maybe it’d be more fun. But yeah anyway, fuck that Lady Tremaine.

- Does Lanie’s mother actually say “disappointment” in that one scene before they head off for vacation? Because if so, fuck that. Bruh, Lanie was right to hang up on her. I want nothing to do with a parent like that.

[ninja-muse]

Finished this one but can’t recommend it.

[brewdarrymore]

BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2021: Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari

“I may not be a hero, but I can’t watch the world fall apart.”

[once-adaydream]

2020 / 10 of 40 / Super Adjacent

Review: I was really excited about this one as it seemed like a fresh take on superheroes (aside from Renegades by Marissa Meyer which is on my TBR, I’m not aware of any other superhero YA), but it didn’t start out good. Claire was annoyingly eager (far too many exclamation marks for my liking). And I didn’t really connect with or find anything particularly compelling about Bridgette either. I spent most of the book waiting for the heroes to go missing (as promised in the blurb) and felt that the structure was a little off. I lot of things just didn’t feel built up enough. I wasn’t really convinced of Claire’s relationships with either Joy or Bridgette and the world building felt a bit flimsy at times. I debated giving up on this, but towards the end the action did pick up, and I wanted to keep reading. I had high hopes for this premise, it’s just a shame that it didn’t deliver for me.

I got this advanced reading copy through the bookshop I work at.

[radedneko]

Everything leading up to the victory is hard, dark, a world I never even considered.  A world I don't like.

Super Adjacent ~by Crystal Cestari

[booksbeyondimagining]

I was so stoked to receive my box from @shelflovecrate yesterday that I took a picture of each item as I unboxed it!! So many magical things and a book I cannot wait to start reading!!