rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Not only is the world a dumpster fire, but so is my life right now. I've spent several weeks trying to schedule a doctor's appointment (and I'm still trying to schedule it), my apartment is crumbling, and I've been double-taxed for something. Any one of these issues I could deal with, but all of them combined? I can't handle so many problems at once, and having them looming over my head is killing me.

Also, thanks to said recent stresses (but mostly the health issue), I've once more overshot my deadline for querying Novel #3 again. New deadline is by the end of this month, assuming I can finally see a doctor soon, but my anxiety has been worsening over time because I'm, by now, mostly convinced that the agent who gave me the R&R has probably lost interest.

Anyway, I'm back because I wanted to write a review for a book I read recently.


Inside Affair by Ella Frank

Genre: Contemporary romance / romantic suspense, MM romance

Honestly, the main reasons I'm tempted to rate this book 4/5 stars are because it was compulsively readable, I've been in a reading slump for several months, I really liked the fact that one of the main characters was a news anchor and his job was described well, and this is probably the most convincing setup for a "fake gay boyfriend" that I've ever encountered.

The basic summary of this book is that Xander Thorne, a nationally famous news anchor, starts getting threatening messages from an obsessed stalker and needs to hire a bodyguard. He goes to Sean Bailey, the brother of his best friend and detective with the CPD, for advice, and Sean volunteers himself for the job, even though Xander and Sean often get on each other's nerves. Sean decides that they need to draw the stalker into the open and, therefore, his cover story for sticking by Xander's side 24/7 is to pretend to be his boyfriend, even though Sean identifies as straight.

Again, the writing style was probably the best part of the book. I've had trouble getting through a lot of romances lately, and reading a book that I could blow through in one day was a breath of fresh air.

Yet I'm conflicted with this book, because even though I was entertained by it, there were some parts of it that were...not so good.

My main issue is that this book reads a lot like a "gay for you" story, a trope that was mostly rampant in the early days of MM romance but that I thought had died down with the rise of bi/pansexual awareness. Now, to be fair, Sean doesn't settle on a label in this book (which ends on a cliffhanger, by the way), so maybe he'll identify as bi in the future. But I went to Amazon and skimmed the summaries of this author's other books, and, uh...it seems like she has a thing for the "gay for you" (or at least, straight-identifying man suddenly realizes he's attracted to guys) trope in general, so I'm a little wary.

This goes hand in hand with the fact that Inside Affair is one of those MM romances that gave me a sense, while I was reading it, that if I hadn't known the author's name, I would've assumed she was a straight woman. It's not the worst offender in this respect, but again, there's something about the way the romance develops that reminds me of how MF romances are written.

Finally, a detail—there was one plot event that didn't really seem to make sense (if Xander's stalker wants him, why would he try to kill him all of a sudden? At least, without a "if I can't have him, no one else can" monologue to accompany it), and that seems to have been included just for the sake of moving the romance forward via a brush with death, which I always feel is sloppy plotting.

(I was also somewhat disappointed by the stalker's identity, though I guess it made sense.)


I wanted to expand for a moment on Inside Affair as a "gay for you" book / book that reminds me of MM romance in the early 2010s. I don't identify as a gay man, so I won't speak for them, but I frequently see on Twitter how gay men have pushed against the tropes and writing styles that dominated the genre earlier on, when many straight female authors were being published.

And "gay for you" is a good example of a trope that has been popular among straight women, due to the way it incorporates a sense of "forbidden" romance—at the cost of erasing bi/pansexuality, and also only focusing on one possible bi/pansexual experience. (There is also something a little creepy about constantly wishing straight men would turn out to be gay.)

When I talk about "books that make me think the author is a straight woman," I'm often thinking of books that have two male leads, yet the way they act is very similar to how a MF romance would be written; specifically, one of the men seems to map on to the female lead and the other one maps on to the male lead in a MF romance. This is of course a subjective standard without bright lines, but whenever I feel that way while reading a gay romance, I get really uncomfortable. (As I mentioned above, Inside Affair just about toes the line—Xander's character seemed to me that it would've been almost identical if he was a female lead in an MF romance, with Sean taking on the unambiguously "male lead" role, although at the same time Xander's behavior was totally believable as someone who's been targeted by a stalker.) (Another way a gay romance can make me think the author is a straight woman is based on how the sexual attraction is written—though that's even more nebulous since I'm not only not a gay man, I'm also ace. But it's a feeling I get sometimes when I compare these books to ownvoices gay romances.)

Again, I thought these tropes had largely died out because of general queer activism, yet apparently they're alive and well in the form of Amazon self-published books. I look at the reviews and ratings for books like Ella Frank's, and it's clear these tropes are still popular among, shall we say, a certain audience.

And isn't that discomfiting? That despite how much actual gay men and bisexual/pansexual folks have pushed for better representation, there are still people who want to read these kinds of books.

Sigh.
rainwaterspark: Icon of Wei Wuxian playing his flute from The Untamed (the untamed wei wuxian)
Welp, I haven't posted in a while. The COVID-19 situation pretty neatly upended my life, as I'm sure it's done to most people. I've been working from home, which is something I actually dislike (and which usually doesn't result in more free time), and the ongoing stress and uncertainty about how long the pandemic will last has meant that I haven't been able to be very productive, writing-wise.

I'm still aiming to enter RevPit with Novel #3, so I'm trying to finalize some last edits this weekend. I hope I can do a full read-through before the submission window opens, but to be honest I've been having problems with my eyes ever since I started working from home, so I don't want to count on that.

In other news, I've been obsessively watching The Untamed. For anyone who's unfamiliar with the show, I would describe it as "Chinese Game of Thrones, except with more humor and a central gay romance." Words can't express how much I love this C-drama (which is only the second C-drama I've ever seen in my life, by the way). It's put me in the mood to watch more C-dramas and read more #ownvoices Chinese fantasy novels.

Between my love for The Untamed and reading—or more accurately, attempting to read—Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie (a space sci-fi novel that has been openly advertised as an original fic version of Finn/Poe fanfic from Star Wars), I've started thinking about how to go from fanfic/paying homage to a fandom you love to original fic. I mean, it's not a new idea; as much as I loathe even mentioning Fifty Shades of Grey, that was one of the first high-profile conversions of fanfic to original fic.

The difference between Bonds of Brass and Fifty Shades of Grey, though, is that FSoG acknowledges its fanfic roots, yet is considerably different enough that you don't really think about Twilight when you read it. The main characters aren't terribly reminiscent of Bella and Edward. (Note: This is all based on what I've heard, since I've never read FSoG myself.) BoB, however, has the audacity to portray its main characters on its cover as looking eerily similar to John Boyega and Oscar Isaac (which had to have been deliberate because, uh, just to state the obvious, not every black person has to look like John Boyega, and not every Latino person has to look like Oscar Isaac). The author herself has heavily marketed BoB as basically a Finn/Poe fanfic.

This resulted in a problem for me when I read it, because I was constantly thinking about not only the characters in the book, but how they compared to Finn and Poe from Star Wars.

Taking inspiration from other stories is fine; I mean, nothing is original, and people do it all the time. But I would be hesitant to straight-up advertise a book as basically a "fix-it fic" for another series, just with the serial numbers filed off.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Why non-interracial POC romances?

I've started to feel like, when POC appear in category romances, they overwhelmingly appear in interracial relationships (especially with white people), so I'm starting to keep a list to test my theory.

* denotes as of yet unpublished book.

(Work in progress.)


Traditionally published

- A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
- Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
- The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
- Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
- The Takeover Effect by Nisha Sharma
- Temporary Wife Temptation by Jayci Lee
- *A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee


Indie/self published

- Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau
- Man vs. Durian by Jackie Lau

rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Redoing this post again because apparently I can't remember what my favorite books are...

Indie/Self-pub
  • The Artist's Touch and Tested in Fire by EJ Russell
Genre: Paranormal
Rep: cis gay M/M

I really don't know what it is about these books in particular, but I am such a fan of Luke Morgenstern and Stefan Cobb(e) and their relationship, which manages to feel conflicted but not in a gratuitously melodramatic way. Also, the writing in these books is phenomenal.
  • Defiant Loyalties by Elizabeth Wilde
Genre: contemporary, suspense
Rep: cis gay M/M


1) This is an assassin romance, so my catnip, and 2) the writing is gorgeous, and I don't say that very often about books.
  • Rule of Thirds by Aidan Wayne
Genre: Sci-fi (light)
Rep: cis gay M/M/M [the MC is sort of implied to be asexual but I found the rep slightly problematic]

My favorite soft, gentle PTSD recovery book ever (outside of my own work, of course *cough*).
  • The Witch Stone by Jasmine Hong
Genre: Urban fantasy
Rep: cis gay M/M, trans side character, MC is demisexual by word of god

My go-to recommendation for books about QPOC by QPOC (outside of myself). It's just a really cool urban fantasy novella.
  • Under the Knife by Laurin Kelly
Genre: contemporary
Rep: cis gay M/M


I like this book mostly for the cooking competition rather than the romance per se, but damn is the cooking competition spectacularly written.
  • The Executive Office series by Tal Bauer
Genre: Suspense, political thriller, contemporary w/ light sci-fi elements
Rep: cis gay/biromantic demisexual M/M

There are a few caveats to this recommendation: (1) I enjoyed the first two books but less so the third book; and (2) the global politics are depressingly Western-centered. That being said, this is still a great political thriller series with a queer romance overall.
  • The Fog City series by Layla Reyne
Genre: Mystery/suspense
Rep: cis gay/bisexual M/M

Similar to the Executive Office books, I recommend this as a "suspense with queer romance subplot" rather than a queer romance per se. But I really enjoyed these books.



Honorary mentions
  • Empty Net by Avon Gale
Genre: Contemporary
Rep: cis gay/demisexual M/M

I'm really, really iffy about the demisexual rep, but this is probably my favorite cheerful character/grumpy character romance. Also, it made me interested in hockey, so there's that.
  • The THIRDS series by Charlie Cochet
Genre: Paranormal, police procedural, mystery/suspense
Rep: cis gay M/M

This is...kind of a weird rec? There are things I really, really like about the THIRDS books and things I dislike about them. (Also, I'm mostly a fan of the first 3-5 books and less interested in the series after.) But it's a unique genre-blending premise that is done well for the most part, even if I have my complaints.
  • Not Dead Yet by Jenn Burke
Genre: Paranormal
Rep: cis MLM/gay asexual-spectrum M/M

A weird rec since I really liked this book but...wasn't really interested in the sequels (I'm really not into the idea of mates).
  • All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher
Genre: Contemporary
Rep: cis biromantic asexual M/M

I...feel kind of bad not having an ownvoices ace book as my favorite (I can't count my own stuff :P), plus I'm more hesitant about recommending this book because of some Bad Things the author did. But sex-averse asexual romances are still so rare that this still has to be my favorite. Sigh.


Traditionally published
  • These Rebel Waves & These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: cis gay MC, cis bisexual love interest, cis WLW & MLM side characters


One of the three protagonists in this series is a gay prince with an awesome slow-burn romance. Same-sex partnerships are completely normalized in this fantasy world, which was lovely. I also liked the worldbuilding, the plot, and the exploration of how grief and trauma impact the main characters.
  • The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: cis bisexual MC


I didn't uniformly love all the books in this series, but I did love the first book. And Apollo is bisexual as heck.
  • The Never-Tilting World by Rin Chupeco
Genre: Fantasy
Rep: cis lesbian MC, cis bisexual MC (both of whom are QPOC)


This was a great fantasy book, and one of the two main pairings is F/F.
  • Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Genre: Contemporary romance
Rep: cis gay leads


Hilarious while still being touching at certain points, and a great fake dating story.
  • Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick
Genre: Contemporary romance
Rep: cis gay leads


A gay take on the “royal falls for a commoner” trope. Take the self-deprecating, slightly over-the-top voice of Boyfriend Material and kick it up ten notches to get the laugh-out-loud voice here.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger

Genre: Fantasy (Adult)

I have...mixed feelings about this book. In terms of rating, I'd probably give it 3 out of 5 stars.

It was written very well; I devoured the entire book in a weekend. The Asian-inspired fantasy worldbuilding was a breath of fresh air.

Ultimately, though, what spoiled the book for me was that I didn't know what the message was in the end.

If you make a mistake, many innocent people will die? (The rest under a cut for major spoilers.)

MAJOR SPOILERS ahead )

So...yeah. Sadly, that confusion spoiled the book for me in the end.



Prince of Killers & King Slayer by Layla Reyne

Genre: MM romance, suspense

Oh, this was good.

It's been a while since I've read a MM romance book that I really, honestly enjoyed. To be honest, I enjoyed these books more for the suspense than for the romance—but the suspense was utterly brilliant. I was utterly hooked on the mystery of who was betraying Hawes Madigan. And the romance did add another layer of tension to the plot.

I can't wait for the third book to answer all of my questions.



Twice Shy by Sally Malcolm

Genre: MM romance, contemporary

I really liked the first book in the New Milton series, Perfect Day (though what can I say, I'm a sucker for Persuasion retellings), and I enjoyed the second book, Between the Lines, though a little bit less so.

Twice Shy reminded me a lot of Between the Lines in terms of the climax and resolution. I have to say it's not my favorite, but I am generally not a fan of stories about young, single parents, just because they depress me on some level.

Also, I found it kind of...weird...that the climax involved a bisexual character, whose whole arc was that he was afraid of being seen as promiscuous/all the bad bi stereotypes, accusing his gay lover of being...promiscuous.

Oh well.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
I will probably remake this list a ton, but I thought I should start jotting down books I want to read that are coming out next year...
 
(YA, fantasy) I've been waiting for the sequel to The Epic Crush of Genie Lo forever!
(YA, sci-fi) 1 of 2 YA retellings of Persuasion coming out next year.
(Adult, romance) #ownvoices POC romance? Helllllll yeahhhhhhhh.
(YA, fantasy) I really enjoyed Chupeco's The Never Tilting World so I'm excited for this!
(Adult, fantasy) I've been extremely wary of Veronica Roth after Divergent, and especially after the Carve the Mark fiasco, but the premise of this book sounds really intriguing...
(Adult, sci-fi) I heard cyberpunk heist and I was in.(Adult, sci-fi) I haven't actually read the first book in this series, but I saw a mystery taking place on an underwater planet with an icy surface and I got super curious.
(YA, fantasy) Umm yeah I have to admit I'm mostly interested in this because of the cover.
(Adult, romance) A retelling of Persuasion? With POC??? Yes please!
(YA, contemporary romance)
(Adult, romance) Ditto Temporary Wife Temptation.
(Adult) I enjoyed the author's debut, plus this cover is gorgeous.
(YA, fantasy) really enjoyed Sara Raasch’s previous series, These Rebel Waves and These Divided Shores, so I’m curious about her new book.(YA, fantasy)
(Adult, fantasy)
(YA, fantasy) I enjoyed The Gilded Wolves so I'm looking forward to this one.
(YA, fantasy) Sequel to The Never Tilting World, which I loved!
(YA, fantasy)


rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
This will be about the M/M author Charlie Cochet in general, but I'm also going to include a review for Love in Spades below.

Charlie Cochet is one of the M/M authors launched to fame by Dreamspinner Press (which is now having problems with paying its authors, but that's a different story). She's most well-known for the THIRDS series, a paranormal procedural (?) series about a law enforcement agency for shifter-related crimes.

I read a bit of some of the THIRDS books last weekend. The premise is interesting—I'm all for stories in which the paranormal element isn't hidden from society, but fully integrated into it. However, the writing wasn't super great, and the men in her stories aren't portrayed very believably.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about male characters who are soft, who cry, who talk about feelings and show affection. But her male characters are 30-something experienced law enforcement guys...who are written to sound like campy teen boys.

It's...weird, to say the least, and it totally breaks immersion.



Love in Spades by Charlie Cochet

Gah.

That's my reaction to this book: Gah.

The premise—an ex-Special Forces soldier-turned-bodyguard who falls for his client—is great. I really liked the tension between Ace and Colton, who has a Thing about other people controlling his life even if he's getting death threats, as well as all the discussion about what hiring a private security contractor entails.

But the writing lets this book down.

In general, the writing isn't horrible, but it's not as good as it could've been to elevate a rock-solid premise. But the main problem was the characterization. Colton is the CEO-to-be of a massive corporation, and by all accounts he's competent at this job...yet he goes around throwing tantrums about having Four Kings Security in his life.

What the hell?

I just can't get over that.
rainwaterspark: Image of Jim Hawkins solar surfing from Disney's Treasure Planet (treasure planet jim hawkins solar surfin)
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Genre: NA, contemporary, queer romance

DNF ~25%

I talked a bit about this book in my previous post, but I had a few more thoughts.

I love the enemies-to-lovers trope, but it's also difficult to pull off well. This book was a major disappointment in that regard, because it went almost straight from hate to lust.

And...I hate that. I really do. Enemies-to-lovers is fascinating to me when the story spends time showing how the characters overcome their initial hostility toward each other, which lends itself to a kind of slow burn. When the romance goes straight from "I hate you" to "but you're hot so let's bone," I feel cheated of all that potential for interesting character development.

I already talked about how the book gave me a voyeuristic feeling in my previous post, but to recap a little: Reading this book made me feel like the author just really wanted to write about a First Son of the US and a Prince of Wales banging a lot.

Apparently this book has a forced public outing later on, and learning that killed my desire to continue reading for good. The "forced public outing for drama" trope has been done to death in indie queer romance already—it's become, in many cases, a tired, unimaginative, almost stereotypical cliché. (I know it's kind of a spoiler, but I'm including it here as a content warning.)

I know this sounds like sour grapes, but...I'm more than a little salty about the fact that the few traditionally published queer romance books get SO much more attention and accolades for doing things that...indie-published queer romance books have already been doing. For years. When I picked up RWRB, I expected to be blown away based on the hype, and...I wasn't. It was just a very average queer romance, not so different from the books I've been reading for literally 4 years now.

I would enjoy tradpubbed queer romances more if I didn't read indie. But I do. And it kind of feels unfair that there's honestly a HUGE pool of queer fiction that most people don't even touch and then talk about how starved they are for queer lit.



Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Genre: YA, fantasy

DNF ~50%

This book definitely gave off strong Beauty and the Beast retelling vibes (especially the emphasis on books and the magical mirror) (and maybe it's just me, but when I see "demonic servant," I think of the anime/manga Black Butler).

This book started out so promisingly—magical books! sorcerers!—but it had the opposite problem as RWRB: the enemies-to-lovers setup went from "hate" to "avoid each other for [at least] half of the book."

And it's not that I demand romantic A plots in every book I read (far from it!), but the plot started to sag around the halfway point, and I felt that developing the relationship between Nathaniel and Elisabeth could've propped up the story. As it was, when I saw my copy was due back to the library next week, I decided (a) I wasn't going to be able to finish the book, and (b) I had no desire to re-reserve it in order to finish.



Nocturna by Maya Motayne

Genre: YA, fantasy

DNF ~33%

Another book that started out so promisingly.

I loved the Latinx fantasy* aspect of this. And the characters! And the plot! Finn was a bit "generic spunky female thief" for me, but I adored Alfie and his vividly drawn grief over the disappearance of his brother. The card game scene was fantastic, demonstrating how intriguing the magic system was.

And then, at the end of Act I, it all went...(sigh).

Several reviewers have called this book a "rip-off" of A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I actually didn't like ADSoM (apparently I'm the only one who didn't)—I thought the worldbuilding was shallow and the characters uninteresting. I was okay with overlooking the fact that Alfie had portal-opening magic like Kell and Finn was a thief like Lila, because I thought Alfie and Finn were far better-written characters and the worldbuilding in Nocturna was way more interesting than that of ADSoM.

Then came the plot twist that highly resembles ADSoM.

And I'm disappointed, not (only) because of the similarity, but also because I didn't like that plot point in ADSoM, either (I finished reading that book very slowly and only because (a) I had a free copy, and (b) I had nothing to do at my day job for a few weeks).

And the thing is, the plot shift also feels like it came out of nowhere. Maybe there's an explanation later that ties it all together, but right now it just seems like a random plot direction change, as though ADSoM was the "template" the author was using for the plot.

Which is such, such a shame, because like I said, I loved the book up to that point.** I wanted more scenes like the card game or Finn's heist in the palace. I don't want to read about sentient magic trying to possess a host and destroy the world.

So yeah, that's my reaction in a word: disappointment.


* I really liked that the book dealt with colonization, but—and this is out of my lane, FYI—I wondered a bit at the choice of an England-analogue as the colonizing country, while Castallan—which sounds an awful lot like Castilian of Spain, and the native language is based off Spanish—is supposed to be Latinx-based. And yet, IRL, Spain was the colonizer of Latin America, conquering (and attempting genocide of) the indigenous people. Just a thought I had.

** My only other quibble was that I felt the writing style sometimes relied on telling rather than showing, robbing the reader of a more immediate, visceral reading experience. But it wasn't that bad overall.



Under His Protection by LaQuette

Genre: Adult, queer romance, contemporary

Okay, this is cheating a little since I DO intend to finish this, but it's just taking me forever to get through this book (which is highly unusual for me), so I'm putting down some thoughts here.

I wanted to support a black author in this genre, and the premise was really cool, but this romance just feels so...melodramatic in the way it's written. The explicit scenes are difficult for me to take seriously because this is one of Those Books that talk about how it's *so different* and *so special* when it's with your soulmate, and the scenes also go on and on FOREVER.

So...yeah. Sigh. I'm disappointed.



Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Genre: YA, fantasy

Finally! A book that I didn't DNF!!

I enjoyed this a lot. The twists and turns are genuinely surprising (although it's weird that this book is considered a standalone when the ending is pretty cliffhanger-y). There were maybe two revelations that came out of nowhere without much setup, but otherwise the plot was quite well done. Definitely worth checking out if you want some good Chinese fantasy.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (assassin's creed iii bow and arrow)
(Re-post because I ended up finishing another book yesterday.)


Re-Entry Burn by Katey Hawthorne

Genre: superhero (light sci-fi), M/M romance

Hmm...it's not often that I take a chance on books like this one, but I had a stressful day and LT3 was having a sale, so I decided, why the heck not.

Overall, my feelings were mixed. I love the idea of a protagonist who was trained to be a supervillain (sorta), and I really liked the introspection from Mal's point of view regarding how he's been changed after experiencing prison. His voice was really well-written.

But the book is basically entirely Mal's introspection plus his lust-heavy romance with Theo. Introspection-heavy books don't inherently bother me, but they're definitely tricky to pull off well and can rely more on meeting readers' subjective tastes than other narratives. And because erotic romance isn't something I automatically enjoy, the introspection wasn't really balanced out by something more engaging for me.

So...yeah. It was okay. I did think the ending was touching, though.



Under the Knife by Laurin Kelly

Genre: contemporary, M/M romance

This book got off to a rough start, but once the competition started, I couldn't put it down. In fact, I'd recommend this more for the cooking competition narrative than the romance, which I found a bit superficial, and I ended the book a little bit disappointed that Zachary's character was lacking in depth.

But honestly, I'm not even that upset about it because the cooking competition narrative was so phenomenal. The challenges were inventive and the contestants' dishes even more so. Major props to the author in that regard.

One last note: Because the bulk of the story was so great, I was even more disappointed that the editing was a bit lacking. There were a few language issues in the beginning, minor formatting issues throughout, and at least one typo I noticed. Nothing huge, obviously, but an extra layer of polish would've made this story shine even more.



A Cut Above the Rest by Talya Andor

Genre: contemporary, M/M romance

I've been on a food romance kick in order to do some research, so to speak.

This book was...eh. The first chapter, which described a fine dining meal in detail, was by far the best; everything else was not as engaging. It *does* go into quite a bit of detail about what it's like to work at a fine dining establishment, if that's what you're looking for.

But mostly, this was a story about how protagonist Alex kept screwing up over and over, which was not enjoyable for me to read. Also, the writing style wasn't that engaging.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Redoing this post again due to some new additions.
  • The Artist's Touch and Tested in Fire by EJ Russell
I really don't know what it is about these books in particular, but I am such a fan of Luke Morgenstern and Stefan Cobb(e) and their relationship, which manages to feel conflicted but not in a gratuitously melodramatic way. Also, the writing in these books is phenomenal.
  • Rule of Thirds by Aidan Wayne
My favorite soft, gentle PTSD recovery book ever (outside of my own work, of course *cough*).
  • The Witch Stone by Jasmine Hong
My go-to recommendation for books about QPOC by QPOC (outside of myself). It's just a really cool urban fantasy novella.


Honorary mentions
  • Empty Net by Avon Gale
I'm really, really iffy about the demisexual rep, but this is probably my favorite cheerful character/grumpy character romance. Also, it made me interested in hockey, so there's that.
  • All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher
I...feel kind of bad not having an ownvoices ace book as my favorite (I can't count my own stuff :P), plus I'm more hesitant about recommending this book because of some Bad Things the author did. But sex-averse asexual romances are still so rare that this still has to be my favorite. Sigh.
rainwaterspark: Image of Link at the Earth Temple in Skyward Sword (legend of zelda skyward sword earth temp)
Pyre at the Eyreholme Trust by Lin Darrow

Genre: 1920s fantasy; M/NB pairing with genderfluid character

This novella was really well-written and the heist was fun...but for some reason, I put it down at the 1/3 mark for half a year and only picked it up again when I had nothing else to read, so I have no idea how to rate this.


Rule of Thirds by Aidan Wayne

(Content warnings: PTSD, implied past torture, implied past sexual assault)

Genre: Science fiction; M/M/M pairing

Aw, I liked this. I've had problems with Wayne's writing style in the past, but it seems much more engaging in this book. This book is straight-up PTSD coping hurt/comfort for about 50k words (with a low-steam M/M/M pairing). If that's not what you're looking for, you're likely to be disappointed, but if that's exactly what you want, I recommend this read.


Adrift by Isabelle Adler

(Content warnings: PTSD, torture)

Genre: Science fiction; M/M pairing (bisexual & demisexual leads)

Hm. I have mixed feelings about this book, so I guess my rating would be about 3/5 stars?

I liked elements of this space sci-fi, but I also felt like there was so much description that, ironically, I couldn't picture a lot of it. I'm the kind of reader who really needs concise description over long and comprehensive in order to be able to picture things vividly.

I...didn't really like the demisexual rep so much in that (1) it was linked to genetically engineered humans, and I'm not sure if I'm overreacting, but I feel a similar kind of discomfort as I would feel for books that connect asexuality to aliens or non-human-ness; (2) the non-ace MC kept obtrusively trying to get into the demi character's pants, including by getting him drunk, which was just all sorts of uncomfortable to read; (3) unnecessary jokes about how dying a virgin is the worst thing ever (sigh).

(Side note: It was really weird that this space sci-fi had zero POC.)
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
(Trigger warning: The following post discusses sexual assault used as a plot device, and the specific example of sexual assault comes from a book that features childhood sexual assault between an adopted parent and child. If any of this is triggering for you, please take care of yourself.)

Previously, there has been heavy criticism of men who use sexual assault of women to motivate male protagonists. Nowadays, sexual assault is used in other ways—by women and nonbinary authors, of male characters, in ways claimed to be #ownvoices narratives.

But in my experience as a reader, by and large, sexual assault narratives still lean heavily on “shock factor” presentation, often to shock both the reader and the survivor’s love interest.

Let's talk about The Fever King by Victoria Lee (which I read early courtesy of Amazon First Reads).

See TWs above. Also, spoilers, even though I don't believe sexual assault/CSA should ever be treated as spoiler content. )
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (assassin's creed iii bow and arrow)
I'm 75% of the way through the story, so this isn't technically a review, but I doubt my thoughts will change too much so I've decided to jot them down now.

Hidden under a cut due to spoilers. (Also, content warning for discussion of sexual assault & childhood sexual abuse.)

(Spoilers) )
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (assassin's creed iii bow and arrow)
Since I have a difficult time finding fantasy books that I like, in general, I thought I'd make a list of my favorites so I can articulate what I look for in fantasy.

(Note: By "fantasy," what I mean for this list is "alternative world" fantasy, a.k.a. fantasy that doesn't take place on Earth in any fashion. I'm not sure if "epic fantasy" is technically the most accurate label for the books below.)

  • The childhood faves: Tamora Pierce, Garth Nix, T.A. Barron
I haven't reread any of these books in a while, but for me, these were the archtypal examples of fantasy with deep worldbuilding.
  • Of the Abyss by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
I haven't read the other books in this series (yet), but I really enjoyed the level of worldbuilding in this book, especially as the world seemed based on a more early modern Europe rather than medieval Europe.
  • These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch
The best fantasy I've read in recent times in terms of plot and worldbuilding. (It's criminally underrated, in my opinion.)

rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
It's been a while since I've done one of these, and there are quite a few books I'm itching to read that come out next year, so here's a list.
I've never read any of Chokshi's works before for...reasons (totally personal, nothing on the author), but hearing this book described as "like Six of Crows but with a diverse cast of POC by an actual author of color" has made me want to give this book a try.
I'm always interested in non-Western sci-fi.
  • Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons - 2/5/19
Hmm. Okay. I'm not as excited by this book as I once was, because based on the opening excerpt, this seems to be another case of White Authors Trivializing Slavery In Fantasy. But the writing style is engaging, so I may finish this just to see where the story ends up (and so I can write a review).
  • The Fever King by Victoria Lee - 3/1/19
This is...another book that I plan on hate-reading. I am very, very salty that this white author is getting praise for writing about QPOC and also tackling racism, immigration, and deportation (seriously, wtf), which I have never seen a white author ever do well because they obviously don't have the experience, so I need to see this trainwreck for myself.
The cover. It's so pretty.
Another beautiful cover.
This book OWNED me the moment I heard that the male lead is a tortured, reluctant assassin. (Yes, I have a fictional type. *cough*)
Hngh I neeeeeeed this book.
So I'm pretty tired of European-inspired fantasy by white authors these days...but this one sounds like it might be up my alley, so I'll give it a try.
Asian-inspired steampunk sign me the hell upppp
Yes, I would like to read about delicious food.
"NIGERIAN GOD-PUNK"? FFFFF THIS SOUNDS AMAZING!
Very curious about this book since it's being billed for its depression rep.
I read and enjoyed Heart of Iron, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this story ends.
"1920s fantasy" + Mexican mythology = I gotta check this out.

I was a major fan of These Rebel Waves, so I'm excited to see where this book goes!

Committing myself to reading more African ownvoices YA fantasy #1.
I heard there is aroace rep in this.
Committing myself to reading more African ownvoices YA fantasy #2.

rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (assassin's creed iii bow and arrow)
The Storm Runner by JC Cervantes

I have mixed feelings about this book—specifically, about the disability representation.

In general, I think this was a pretty successful "Percy Jackson" take on Maya mythology. It's very Rick Riordan-esque...though not quite exactly the same.

But I'm here mostly to talk about the disability rep, so, here are my thoughts.

Although the story concludes with Zane being okay with his shorter leg, there are parts of the book where Zane temporarily gets his disability "fixed" and goes into detail about his feelings of elation, and I worry that still sort of reinforces ableism, maybe. Especially since Zane's cane is often described as an object of his hatred instead of an object he needs/heavily relies on.

Anyway, those are my (brief) thoughts.
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
Undertow by Brooklyn Ray

(Trigger warning: this book heavily implies a character is physically abused by their parent)

Full confession: I've read only about 15% of this book so far, but what I read made me so angry I had to stop and blog about it.

I had a bad time with the first book in this series, Darkling. In general, this author has serious issues with portraying PoC and Asian American characters in particular, even though they frame themselves as kind of the "champion" of the queer community on Twitter (really, mostly a champion for white queer Twitter + their few QPoC friends).

In Darkling, Tyler Li—the only Asian American character—is the antagonist. He is portrayed as the least tolerant, most bigoted person even though he is literally surrounded by white characters. He is also pitted against the book's only other PoC character. Because Ryder is the protagonist in Darkling, the reader is essentially positioned to hate Tyler Li and think he's a massive jerk.

In the beginning of Undertow, it's heavily implied that Tyler is a jerk because his father is physically abusive toward him.

Let's unpack this.

Abuse within Asian American families is a sensitive issue. It happens, and it's often swept under the rug as a normal "tiger parents" thing. It's on the spectrum of Asian Americans who have difficulties with their parents. I'm not against the portrayal of Asian American characters with difficult or even abusive parents.

But for a white person to insert themselves into this intracommunity issue is swerving out of their lane to the extreme.

And it's not just that in Undertow; I'm sensitive to portrayals of abusive relationships in fiction, and the whole thing is treated in a way that felt incredibly disrespectful to me: Ryder (the protagonist of the previous book, remember) essentially mocks Tyler for being abused by his father.

What. The. Actual. F**k.

Author—how dare you? How dare you make the Asian American character the most intolerant and reviled one out of your majority white cast, how dare you decide that his jerkishness is due to him being a survivor of parental physical abuse, and how dare you then have the previous (white) protagonist mock him for it?

What is wrong with you??

How dare you call yourself an ally to POC???
rainwaterspark: Moon Knight from Moon Knight (2021) title page, drawn by Alessandro Cappuccio (Default)
I read These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch this weekend. Having disliked her previous book, Snow Like Ashes, and having seen mixed reviews for TRW, I was prepared to dislike it, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. This is probably the first fantasy book I've read that I've enjoyed in...maybe a year?

I didn't find the infodumping to be intrusive or slowing the pace down. An overly-explanatory style doesn't always work, but it worked for me in TRW because of the dense history of the world, and it was fine. At first, I was uncomfortable with Grace Loray as a close analogue to the United States, but I was really glad when the author actually provided more complexity later on, showing that Grace Loray wasn't a utopia, either.

I also find it surprising that people have called this book "boring" or "dry." I will quit reading books within literally a few pages if I think the writing style is boring, but this book captivated me with a killer first line and didn't let up (although there were admittedly some questionable word choices sprinkled in). I did skim some of Lu's passages because hers seemed the slowest, but that was about it.

Each of the three main characters was fairly complex and multifaceted. Lu was my least favorite, if only because she was kind of the predictable Strong Female Character, but she was still well-drawn, and I appreciated that the author challenged Lu's naïveté about Grace Loray. The portrayal of various kinds of PTSD for the three leads felt realistic and was a touch of depth that I'd given up on expecting from YA.

The way Ben was written, as a queer (gay?) character, bothered me a lot in the beginning because he seemed so sexualized compared to the straight characters. (When the author cited C.S. Pacat as an inspiration, my reaction was less surprised.) But he got a lot better later on. Lu and Vex's relationship bored me because it felt like a very typical, very obvious M/F enemies-to-lovers dynamic. However, I am ALL FOR what looks like it's going to be a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers relationship between Ben and [SPOILER REDACTED] in the next few books.

Ultimately, though, this book inspired me to try my hand at writing fantasy again, and for that reason I feel more favorably toward it than simply viewing it as the sum of its parts. It captured some of the magic I remember from reading fantasy as a kid and that I lost in YA fantasy of recent years; namely, deep, complex characters and a well-thought out world that feels like it actually lives and breathes, not that it's just a cardboard set.

*

I've been reflecting a lot on writing and what I should write next.

In recent years, it's been something of a battle between my desperate desire to write something "mainstream," something that can get picked up by a traditional publisher, versus what my brain actually wants to write.

I think I could push myself to write a "mainstream" YA novel. Being a relatively experienced writer by now (not just in terms of fiction writing, but also because I've had a lot of practice writing for my day job), I think I could do it and have it turn out to be okay enough to query. In other words, I could treat writing as a job.

The deep reflection I've done after my first book was published has led me to some of the conclusions I've feared: That writing a book that is 100% what I want is apparently unpopular in this market. I thought a queer romance with assassins and mysteries and corporate corruption would be interesting to people...but I guess it isn't, since I've been having a ton of trouble with marketing and complaints that the book doesn't fit neatly enough into one genre. So it makes me think that maybe I shouldn't write a book based solely on what I like, if I ever want to turn writing into a full-time career.

But writing is such a hard, lonely endeavor that if you don't have the strongest love and passion for your work to sustain you...what else can?

I like speculative fiction. I like a touch of mystery. I like exploring how people cope with a damaging past. I like angsty but also tender interpersonal relationships. I like sarcastic nerd protagonists. I like exploring the use of narrative to reveal and hide information. I like healing narratives.

I can't change what I like.

Embracing that is hard when I can't be certain that it will lead to success. But maybe it's the only way forward.

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