A Year In Books With Zoe
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Review: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Friday, May 19, 2023
Review: Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick
I received this book from Simon & Schuster as a part of their book club favorites program.
Forget Me Not is the story of two young women who have made plans to leave their closed-minded hometown and move to California to be together. Just before they're about to move, Stevie (our point of view character) visits Nora on her farm and has an accident. Stevie wakes up in the hospital with no memory of the past two years. No memory of Nora or coming out. Stevie has to figure out life with no memories in an older body. She finds that things aren't as they were two years ago. She doesn't hang out with her friends, she doesn't hang out with her mom, and her dad is mostly uninterested in talking to her. To relieve some of the pressure of remembering, she hangs out with Nora, who she believes she doesn't have a past with. As the two spend more time together, Stevie starts to feel things she hadn't felt before.
This was a great coming-of-age story that I really enjoyed reading. The love was very sweet, but it was really about Stevie finding herself again. The small town they live in is reminiscent of the small towns I've lived in, where people grow up to be closed-minded. I think many queer people and people of color have had experiences like Stevie's where their friends are much more open-minded when they're younger but grow up to be just as awful as their parents. I read this book in two days. I was absolutely in love with it from the first few pages. The author actually co-wrote another book with her wife recently.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, but especially to queer people and people who are struggling with their own identity. Despite a lot of the harder stuff, it really is a feel-good read. I was sobbing by the end of it (in a good way). As far as content warnings are concerned, there is homophobia, xenophobia, Asian hate, mild sexual content, bodily injury, memory loss, and more. Please check out StoryGraph for a full list of content warnings as provided by other readers.
As always, happy reading!
Monday, May 15, 2023
Review: Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás
Let me tell y'all one thing from the start, the description of this book on Amazon was very misleading. I was not prepared for the way this book took me and broke me. Before I talk about this book, I'm going to give a content warning that this can bring up some religious trauma. Please be kind to yourself when choosing to read this review and this book. Also, if you're religious, this book may be offensive to you, so again, this may be a review you want to skip. Also, I can't talk about this book without SPOILERS so I apologize in advance.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Review: The Blessed and the Cursed by Jade Musto
I reviewed this book for Reedsy Discovery.
A forbidden romance between two young men who've loved each other for years. One, the prince, is dependent on the other, the nature blessed. Blossom is a man with rare powers that allow him to harness the powers of all nature's deities. Asher is the prince, but he was born with a death mark that only Blossom can heal. The two have been in love for years, but something keeps Blossom from acting on it. As the two's feelings grow and Blossom's secrets emerge, they find that Blossom might not be the only one hiding things.
This book was very easy to like. The romance is lovely and tender and drew me in right away. Blossom's secrets are kept from the reader for a long time, making them more interesting as they begin to piece together. I found the character's to be well-developed and unique. What I liked most was the magic system established in this book. The sun, moon, earth, fire, or water deities bless can the characters. These blessings give the people that are able to receive them abilities related to the blessing. Only Blossom has the ability to be blessed by all deities. Despite some of the more intense content in the book, it was a cozy read for me. The world sounds beautiful, and the characters seem like good friends. Musto did a great job balancing character growth, world-building, magic system creation, and the story. I also really appreciated the LGBTQIA+ characters in the story. In this world, they seem commonplace with same-gender partners and people who use they/them pronouns.
I recommend this book for LGBTQIA+, fantasy, and romance lovers. I found the balance between romance and fantasy to be well-maintained. A nature lover will likely also enjoy the aspect of nature powers. I think this is a book to check out. I enjoyed reading it. There are some content warnings to be aware of, and I will list some here. There are descriptions of physical abuse, sexual assault, bodily injury, and sexual content (mild). Overall, this was a great read, and I can't wait to see what else Musto puts out.
You can use my Bookshop.org to order the book. This will help support indie bookstores, and I get a portion of the sale.
As always, happy reading!
Monday, April 24, 2023
Review: Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Update!
For any lovers of my writing, I have a story up on Kindle Vella now. The first two episodes are available now, and another is scheduled to release on Friday. The first three episodes of Kindle Vella stories are completely free. The fourth episode will release Monday, 4/24/23.
I would very much appreciate you trying it out and maybe even giving it a like. Writing is a big passion of mine, and I'm hoping to break into the field.
Happy reading!
Monday, April 17, 2023
Review: Blood of the Orc Prince by Lionel Hart
Friday, April 14, 2023
Review: Claimed by the Orc Prince by Lionel Hart
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Review: Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Review: That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming
This is yet another Kimberly Lemming book. Check out my review of That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon if you haven't already.
In this book, Cinnamon's friend Brie finds herself getting unwanted advances from her neighbor and when he attempts to get her with a love potion, she accidentally throws it at Felix, the werewolf. Felix instantly falls in love with Brie thanks to the potion and declares she's his fated mate. The main problem is that the love potion is likely why he feels this way and they tend to do serious damage to the person who takes it.
Felix is all over Brie, entering her home (kind of uninvited), and obsessing over her. Brie on the other hand finds herself starting to fall for Felix, but needing to break this love potion, she consults with her friends on how to break the curse. In their efforts to remove the spell, things get a little hot and heavy and a tentacle monster is accidentally summoned. As things get more complicated between the two of them, women are going missing in the village as well and it's up to them and their friends to figure out what is going on.
Lemming is a hilariously funny writer. Her characters are relatable, her fantasy is interesting, and her sexy scenes are spicy. I found myself highlighting way more quotes in this book than I did in the last one as I laughed uncontrollably throughout the read.
This book does contain adult content, bodily harm, kidnapping, and more. Please check StoryGraph for a full list of possible content warnings as provided by other readers.
As always, happy reading.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Review: The Death God's Sacrifice by Jenny Nordbak
I recieved this book with a Kickstarted I bought back in October. It's the Peculiar Tastes Kickstarter that Bonkers Romance did. If you'd like to see a video of the books and art I received, an unboxing video is available on my Youtube channel.
This is the first Jenny Nordbak book I've read and I absolutely loved it. We follow Stheno, older sister of Medusa, and monster slayer. She has been tasked with killing a druid in order to save her younger sister from Medusa's killer Perseus. Stheno agrees to be a sacrifice to the druid, but is drugged with and aphrodesiac powder. She and the druid engage in adult relations before she is able to kill him. She fails her task because of this, but manages to turn him to stone and run off to try to save her sister. On her way back, she finds Perseus who of course fights her. But then the druid isn't as dead as she thought. He fights Perseus and returns Stheno to his home. He makes a deal with Perseus to get Stheno's sister back but it means she and the druid will be staying with each other for the next two days.
As the two spend more time together, Stheno has to decide if she's going to let this man in. She's attracted to him, he's kind, but can she really let herself weaken for a man?
I really enjoyed this book. I liked Stheno's badass character traits and feirce love for her sisters. The druid's Scottish accent was delicious as well and his protective characteristics very sweet. I enjoyed the story building and mythology present in this book as well. It was a very quick read for me, I finished over 50% of it in a day and the rest I finished the day after. If you're looking for something, quick, spicy, and interesting, I'd recommend this book to you.
As always I would recommend checking content warnings before reading. Content warnings include but are not limited to murder, violence, blood, adult intimate relations, and more. I recommend checking out StoryGraph for a full list of content warnings as provided by other readers.
Happy reading and I will see you soon.
Review: Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
I picked this book up during the Trans Rights Readathon. I do have a Youtube video where I talk about it and my own experience with gend...
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I was able to read this book through a website I do book reviews with called Reedsy . I have done some other reviews with that site but t...
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Let me tell y'all one thing from the start, the description of this book on Amazon was very misleading. I was not prepared for the way t...