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Marie’s Proof of Love by Mieko Kawakami
“Love doesn’t belong to any of us—it exists elsewhere, complete, from beginning to end. We simply have the privilege of coming into contact with it every once in a while.” The dreamlike mood permeating this short story by Mieko Kawakami is reminiscent of Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House, Sylvia Plath, and Fleur Jaeggy’s Sweet Days of…
abuse, all girls school, boarding/private school, dreamlike quality, female authors, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, JAPANESE AUTHOR, loneliness, Marie’s Proof of Love, melancholy, Mieko Kawakami, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2021, read in 2022, sapphic, short stories, the female malaise, trauma, unnamed country -
The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
this is my fault. i should know by now that titles claiming to have dark academia or sapphic vibes should be approached with extreme caution. DISCLAIMER: I did not like this book and my review reflects of that. I will be brutally honest about my thoughts on this novel so if you want to read…
1 STAR, 3rd pov, academia, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, cheesy, Christianity, cliques, Contemporary, dark academia, drama, eating disorders, f/f side, female authors, horrible friends, lesbian side characters, Longing, maine, MELODRAMA, music, My reviews, MYSTERY, obsession, philosophical, published in 2022, queer, read in 2022, reading, Religion, sex, SEXUALITY, SUSPENSE, Tara Isabella Burton, teen angst, The World Cannot Give, toxic relationships, unrequited love, weak prose, weak worldbuilding -
Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
Where the Drowned Girls Go is a relatively compelling if inoffensive addition to the Wayward Children series. Once again Seanan McGuire sticks to the same formula: we have a focus on aesthetics, a fairy-talesque atmosphere, and a story revolving around a girl who is either lonely or made to feel different or insecure about something.…
3.25 stars, 3rd pov, adventure, America, American, atmospheric, boarding/private school, body positivity, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, bullying, FAIRY TALES, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, it’s about the *aesthetics*, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, magic school, MAGICAL DOORS, MAGICAL REALISM, mermaids, My reviews, published in 2022, read in 2022, reading, Seanan McGuire, trans side characters, URBAN FANTASY, Wayward Children, Where the Drowned Girls Go, YOUNG ADULT -
Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy
Sweet Days of Discipline is a slim dagger of a novel. Written in a prose so sharp it will cut you, Sweet Days of Discipline is a work of startling and enigmatic beauty, a study in contradictions: order and chaos, sublimity and abjection, clarity and obfuscation, illusion and reality. Fleur Jaeggy is in absolute command…
1950s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, all girls school, ambiguous protagonist, atmospheric, beauty, bildungsroman, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, CLASSICS, cold tone, dark academia, Dreams, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, first love, Fleur Jaeggy, girlhood, HISTORICAL FICTION, Italian classics, Italy, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, melancholy, modern classics, My reviews, nostalgic reads, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, obsession, psychological, published in 1989, queer, re-reads, read in 2018, read in 2021, reading, sapphic, SEXUALITY, Sweet Days of Discipline, swiss italian author, Switzerland, terrific prose, unnamed narrator, unreliable narrators, unrequited love -
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
And so my latest TRC re-read has come to an end. What an outstanding series. Truly. I cannot even begin to articulate how much this series means to me and how much I love it. In this finale, the stakes are higher than ever and a lot of things Stiefvater has hinted at in the…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, class, cliques, coming of age, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, DEATH, DEMONS, dreamers, Dreams, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, ghosts/spirits, growing up, henrietta, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, My reviews, nature, occult, PRIVILEGE, queer, reading, rich people, SMALL TOWN, tarots, terrific prose, the raven cycle, the raven king, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons
“He wasn’t sure if parents had limits to their love, but he was worried that one day something would push them too far and he’d find out.” After a horrible experience at his old high school Spencer Harris is ready to turn a new leaf. He’s Black, fifteen, a bit of a nerd, and good…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, America, American, Black & Black heritage authors, boarding/private school, bullying, Contemporary, FLUFFY READ, friendships, HIGH SCHOOL, Isaac Fitzsimons, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, m/m, male authors, netgalley, neurodivergent side characters, non-binary side characters, ohio, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, Religion, ROMANCE, sports, The Passing Playbook, TRANSGENDER, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT -
Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
Her Royal Highness is the book equivalent of cotton candy: fluffy and sweet. This was an exceedingly cute, occasionally silly, and thoroughly enjoyable f/f romance. Her Royal Highness is escapist fiction at its finest. Her Royal Highness is an easy read that delivers a sweet romance between two very different girls: we have Millie, an…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, academia, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boarding/private school, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, f/f, female authors, FLUFFY READ, Her Royal Highness, HUMOR, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, light reads, published in 2019, queer, Rachel Hawkins, re-reads, READ IN 2019, read in 2021, ROMANCE, royals, sapphic, scotland, texas, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT -
An Ordinary Wonder by Buki Papillon
“With no words, Yeyemi says, I am the strength and fire in you, I am everything that is and was and every will be. You are the stuff my stars are made of. I am you and you are me.” An Ordinary Wonder tells a moving coming of age, one that will definitely appeal to…
1990s, 20th century, 3 STARS, An Ordinary Wonder, Black & Black heritage authors, boarding/private school, Buki Papillon, bullying, CHILDHOOD, coming of age, curses, family, female authors, FOLKLORE, friendships, gender identity, gods, growing up, identity, intersex, lgbtq+, MAGICAL REALISM, mothers & daughters, Nigeria, Nigerian author, published in 2021, read in 2020, twins, YOUNG ADULT -
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
Readers, I am disappointed. Plain Bad Heroines was one of my most anticipated 2020 releases…maybe I should have ‘hyped’ it so much. This is certainly an ambitious novel, one that is a few hundred pages too long. There were elements that I liked, but these were ultimately outweighed by my frustration toward the tone of…
1920s, 2.5 STARS, all girls school, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, big books, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, boarding/private school, books about books, books about writers, Contemporary, creepy setting, curses, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Emily M. Danforth, f/f, f/f/f, film industry, films, GOTHIC, haunted house, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, influencers, jealousy, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Mary MacLane, metafiction, modern gothic, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, Plain Bad Heroines, playful style, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, SUSPENSE, teachers, YOUNG ADULT -
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
“This thing they were doing. This thing. Gansey’s heart was a gaping chasm of possibilities, fearful and breathless and awed.” Blue Lily, Lily Blue is probably my second favourite book in TRC series. Bittersweet and magical Blue Lily, Lily Blue is a truly enchanting novel. Like its predecessors, this instalment in TRC series is characterized…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adventure, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, blue lily lily blue, boarding/private school, class, cliques, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dreamers, Dreams, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, ghosts/spirits, great storytelling, henrietta, HIGH SCHOOL, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, loneliness, Longing, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, published in 2014, queer, re-reads, read in 2016, read in 2020, read in 2021, rich people, ROMANCE, SMALL TOWN, strong sense of place, tarots, terrific prose, the raven cycle, TRC, YOUNG ADULT
luce [is reading] 