Tag: romance
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Never Again
A hot mess of a book I deeply regret finishing. Featuring inconsistent characters, an encyclopedia’s worth of forgotten setups, and a positively offensive ending. Read at your peril.
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Unconditional Love
Oleander by Scarlett Drake This book was such an unexpected pleasure. It was written as a modern retelling of Great Expectations (Charles Dickens). I am afraid I have to admit to having never read GE (or in fact any Dickens novels) so I can’t really tell you how well it did as an adaptation. But…
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Losing the Plot
Trilogy crashes and burns in a mess where the characters have no consistency, the plot goes nowhere, and 50% of the words are internal narration. What a waste.
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Subversions and Systemic Inequality
This book took the magic-school premise, walked it over to the dark side and then dialled it up to 11. Its a book about systemic inequality, racism, and being f*** angry at the world.
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The Wrong Vehicle
An author more interested in forwarding a political agenda than delivering a good story.
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Who’s story is it?
A story with excellent vibes and gut-renching betrayals of trauma, but with no structure it limps to a listless halt.
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Taking Period Romance Seriously
The historical intensity of a Georgette Heyer, a complex plot which feels more serious than it is, and brilliantly lived characters. Takes gay period romance to the next level.
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The Greyness of Consent
Writing good dubious consent is about depth and caring. I explore books that get it right, and that get it appallingly wrong.
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Oblique Conversations
Nuanced, immersive, and macabre. This book delivers so much more than the first. Settle down for a long discussion of what it all meant and why I loved it.
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Undermining Your Own Themes
Not worth the hype. A story that is constantly undermining its own themes with strange changes of direction.