Book Review: hello (from here) by Chandler Baker and Wesley King

hello (from here)

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hello (from here) 〰️

I’m a little unsure how to rate this book. It was slow to begin with but slowly got better over time. Though for a romance, this book was a bit depressing (primarily because of the time it takes place in). 

This book was published during COVID-19 and occurred during the first big spike of the pandemic. While I read this in 2023, this book felt a little too… fresh. I’m not sure of the right word. We read romance stories that take place in other big world historical events like WW2, but the COVID-19 pandemic is too close to home and feels too soon. The world was challenging for a while, and I don’t know if people want to relive that wound so early. Having had COVID-19 myself (thankfully a milder version), I didn’t really need a reminder of all the craziness we all lived through in recent years. 

Covid-19 aside, the book itself was a bit depressing. I mean, I get it. A lot of people died or were sick, and many other tragic things happened during 2020. But for a romance book, I wasn’t expecting it to be this dark. I will say, though, that Jonah’s anxiety was done really well, and I love the LGBTQ+ rep that was treated so normally. But there were a lot of things that made this book a downer. It works for the time it takes place in, but yeah. I was hoping for some extra cute lockdown moments. We had some, but then they got depressing again.

I also really hated the font. I don’t blame the authors on this one, though. I blame the publisher’s poor choice in font selection. It worked for the texts we see, but it’s super ugly for the main story.

I think this book would be better if I had read it a few years from now as opposed to the world finally returning to somewhat normal. I’m not sure I would feel any different about it, as, again, lots of depressing things, but I think I would have enjoyed it more in a few years regardless. 

It’s not bad. It’s not super good. It’s alright. I think if you’re in the right headspace, however, you should give it a go.

Book Review: The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas

The American Roommate Experiment

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The American Roommate Experiment 〰️

We get it; Lina and Rosie are best friends. You don't have to state that every time they even think about each other.

Okay, that snarky comment aside, this book. Urg! I loved it so much! As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I prefer reading "gay" romances, though I do enjoy reading about "the straights," too. Just not as much. Until now. The only thing that would make this romance book absolutely perfect (for me) was if the two MCs were of the same gender. (Though I love that there was an LGBTQ+ rep, and it wasn't made a big deal, so props for that).

Seriously though, how could Rosie NOT fall in love with Lucas? Even me, a lesbian, was in love with him. I can see how everything in this book could be considered cheesy, but I'll be honest, I'm a massive sucker for over-the-top cheesy romance, and this book nailed it.

The only thing I wasn't 100% on board with was that Rosie was already super-crushing on Lucas before he entered the picture. I love a good friends-to-lovers trope; I even wrote a whole book about it, but having her already be into him is like having the ending spoiled. Yes, we know they're going to get together. It's a romance, after all, but I wanted to read about her falling in love with him from scratch and not already having a leg up in the competition, so to speak. Even Lucas was immediately infatuated with her. Which kind of made me want to smash their lips together because they were both not being adults and not communicating how they truly felt. Lots of heartache could have been solved early on if they didn't have simultaneously excellent and poor communication skills. (I get the miscommunication trope is excellent for tension in this genre, but still).

When I bought this book, I wasn't aware that it was kind of a sequel/spin-off of another book, The Spanish Love Deception. But I read it anyway. Thankfully, it works just as well as a standalone in case you are an idiot like me and don't realize this was book two. (But since I loved this book so much, I obviously had to get the other book so I could read about how Lina and Aaron fell in love. I mean, I guess that's a spoiler for The Spanish Love Deception, but not really. It's a romance. If they didn't end up together at the end, it's not a romance).

That said, I loved reading these two fall harder for each other as the novel went on. It's the kind of romance fantasy I can escape into (and secretly wish I had, haha). I'm not sure if the first book can top this one. I truly loved these cheaters and their stories. But now I have to read book one to see Rosie from Lina's POV and read her story.

If you're looking for a cute romance, this is for sure worth the read. You don't even need to read The Spanish Love Deception to enjoy it! (Like me!) Though I'm still going to read book one now. I want more of these characters in any way I can.

Book Review: Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang

Yellowface

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Yellowface 〰️

What a wild ride! There were so many good quotes in this book that I agree with.

Though June was a dick most of the time, I still wanted her to succeed. I desperately wanted her to succeed even more with something wholly her own, with no "inspiration" from Athena. She was close to that with her sorta memoir, but then it seems like she never finished it, which is a shame. It would allow her to come clean about everything, all while telling an original and engaging story.

I'm not sure about the ending, however. She says all the things that can happen with her new book, but we don't know for sure if it will even see the light of day.

That said, this book contains a lot of excellent, thought-provoking questions! Should people be able to write people who are not of the same culture and race and tell a story that is not their own lived experience? (Provided it's not plagiarized). June makes an excellent argument about that, though I sadly forgot which page it was on to quote it, but I totally agree with her. Yes, I'm a white woman myself, but that doesn't mean I can't write people of colour (which I have in my novel, SOUTH). If I wrote a story entirely of white people because I'm white, then I'd also get called out for lack of diversity. So, as you can see, this book poses lots of questions in regard to the writing world, in who can write what and why. It's an excellent book for discussion.

Back to the story of Yellowface, yes, June made it her own story, but the idea and the skeleton of the story were Athena's and therein lies the ethical debate. She took the story, a very rough first draft, edited the hell out of it, added to her writing, completely made it her own and used Athena as her biggest inspiration. But it wasn't entirely her work, and thus, she should have credited Athena as a co-author or something. What she did was wrong, but maybe also not. It toes the line of right and wrong (more on the wrong side).

As a writer myself, I love reading about the publishing industry. I feel like this book had great insights into what it's like to be one of the authors who made it big, because not every published author gets a six-figure book deal with potential movie rights and earns out their advance. This book indeed shows the hardships of being an author in general, and I respect that.

I love all the work Kuang put into making this book. It deserves all the recognition it received, and I highly recommend it. Probably an excellent book for some book club debates, too.

Book Review: The Prom by Saundra Mitchell

The Prom

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The Prom 〰️

What a cute, sad, emotional, funny, and heartwarming story. This short book was packed with all the feels.

It's sad to know that homophobia exists as strongly as it does in this book. It's sad to know that Emma's story is a reality for most queer kids with parents kicking them out after they come out. Or the constant bullying that usually follows. I'm very fortunate and blessed to have not experienced any homophobia despite being openly out for years. But sadly this can't be the case for everyone. But I love how this story explores that reality that a lot of people have to go through. (With some comedy to lighten the mood).

I'm very happy to see such a cute and happy ending. Would this happen in real life? Maybe. Maybe not. All depends on the bigots and how fast they can learn. I can see how the MCs peers came around to acceptance and admiring their wrong after learning what did they about the Bible from Barry. But I don't believe the whole school (and basically town) would turn a new leaf basically overnight, especially after Emma released her song. I mean I do think it would happen, just not as fast as the book suggest. But for the sake of the story and pacing, I'll allow a bit of suspension of my believe this one time. Plus it's just really nice to see everyone come together and realize that love is love in the end.

It's a very YA book with a heavy emphasis on homophobia done with some humor along the way. And because of how the book deals with such a hard subject for it's younger audiences, I applaud it and highly recommend this read.

Now excuse me as I go watch the Netflix musical that I just learned excited.