![luce [is reading]](https://wishfullyreading.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/9429655-1.jpeg){kind=small}
-
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
“I’d be able to move out of my car and rent my own apartment; I could live like a fully formed twenty-first-century North American human. I needed this.” Being a big fan of collections of short stories following the same character/s, I was keen to read If I Survive You. Each chapter in this debut…
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, adulthood, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, belonging, Black & Black heritage authors, black diaspora, brothers, Caribbean, CHILDHOOD, collection of short stories, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, family, fathers & sons, FLORIDA, gritty realism, growing up, HIGH SCHOOL, homelessness, HUMOR, interconnected stories, intergenerational, jamaica, Jonathan Escoffery, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, masculinity, Miami, migration/immigration, music band, natural disasters, PRIVILEGE, published in 2022, RACE, read in 2022, satire, short stories, snapshots, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, work culture -
Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater
2022 is officially dead to me. look, i don’t know what to say or write besides me not liking this book is one big & unwelcome twist. having loved every TRC book and book 1 and 2 in this dreamer trilogy, i wasn’t even worried about not loving this. ah. what a fool. the more…
3 STARS, 3rd pov, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTISTS, brothers, cambridge (us), confusing for the sake of being confusing, Contemporary, Dreams, f/f side, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, Harvard, lgbtq+, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, PARANORMAL, published in 2022, queer, queer side characters, read in 2022, series that went downhill, the dreamer trilogy, the raven cycle, unreliable narrative, URBAN FANTASY, virginia -
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang
“Languages aren’t just made of words. They’re modes of looking at the world. They’re the keys to civilization. And that’s knowledge worth killing for.” Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution is an fierce indictment against colonialism. Within this superbly written slow-burner of a bildungsroman, R.F. Kuang presents her…
1820s, 1830s, 19TH CENTURY, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, 4 STARS, abuse, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, alternate history, anxiety-inducing reads, atmospheric, babel, Babel or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, child abuse, CHILDHOOD, China, chinese american author, class, cliques, colonialism, coming of age, cultural dissonance, dark academia, DEATH, england, FANTASY, fathers & sons, female authors, friendships, great storytelling, growing up, GUILT, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, identity, India, language, lgbtq+, LONDON, loneliness, Longing, MAGIC, morality, MURDER, muslim side characters, My reviews, MYSTERY, orphans, oxford, philosophical, politics, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2022, queer undercurrents, R.F. Kuang, RACE, read in 2022, reading, revenge, secret societies, secretiveness, ship, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, SUSPENSE, teachers, terrific prose, tragedy, travel, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, URBAN FANTASY, war -
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater
“Your Boyfriend Called, He Thinks You’ve Joined a Cult, Please Advise.” Mister Impossible may be Stiefvater’s trickiest novel. I inhaled it in just a day and part of me knows that I need to re-read in order to truly absorb everything that went down. This is the kind of novel that leaves you feeling pretty…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, adrenaline fuelled reads, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, BOSTON, brothers, cambridge (us), chronic pain, Contemporary, dreamers, Dreams, f/f side, fairytalesque prose, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, great storytelling, Harvard, heist, lgbtq+, loneliness, m/m, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, Massachusetts, My reviews, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, road trip, Ronan Lynch, self-destructive, series that went downhill, tarots, tdr, the dreamer trilogy, trauma, unreliable narrative, URBAN FANTASY, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
“My stepmother had broken me. She’d cast me away from my brothers, my family, my home. Even from myself.” First things first: that cover. I mean….words cannot describe how beautiful it is.Ever since watching early 2000s Barbie movies reading Juliet Marillier’s spellbinding books I’ve had a soft spot for retellings and I’m happy to say…
1st pov, 4 STARS, adventure, AMERICAN AUTHOR, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, chinese inspired setting, curses, Elizabeth Lim, evil stepmother, FAIRY TALES, FANTASY, female authors, great storytelling, high fantasy, japanese inspired setting, MAGIC, My reviews, myths, netgalley, palace, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, RETELLINGS, ROMANCE, royals, siblings, Six Crimson Cranes, the brothers who were turned into birds, YOUNG ADULT -
Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen
“How unrecognizable America had made them, she was thinking, all of them.” Subtle yet deeply evocative Things We Lost to the Water is a novel about belonging and displacement. In a similar fashion to Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists and Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth, Eric Nguyen’s novel does not adopt the traditional structure that characterises family sagas…
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3.25 stars, 3rd pov, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, cultural dissonance, Eric Nguyen, family, FAMILY SAGA, FRANCE, gay, HIGH SCHOOL, HISTORICAL FICTION, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, male authors, middle school, migration/immigration, mothers & sons, My reviews, New Orleans, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, sea, SEXUALITY, Vietnam -
The Witch’s Hand by Nathan Page
The main reason why I read The Witch’s Hand was Maggie Stiefvater’s 5-star review for it (what can I say, I trust in Stiefvater). And I’m so glad I did! Way back when I had an ahem Scooby-Doo phase (not only did I watch 20+ Scooby-Doo animated films but I also ended up devouring the…
1960s, 4 STARS, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, canadian artist, canadian author, cliques, DETECTIVE, Drew Shannon, FANTASY, gay, ghosts/spirits, Graphic Novels, HISTORICAL FICTION, lgbtq+, light reads, MAGIC, male artists, male authors, MYSTERY, Nathan Page, New England, occult, PARANORMAL, published in 2020, read in 2021, SMALL TOWN, summer reads, SUPERNATURAL, The Witch's Hand, twins, uplifting reads, WITCHES, YOUNG ADULT -
The Survivors by Jane Harper
Alas, figuring out the murderer’s identity in the first 15% made this book kind of a drag. Having highly enjoyed Jane Harper’s The Lost Man, The Survivors felt by comparison vaguely uninspired. While the setting is just as atmospheric and vividly rendered as the ones in Harper’s other novels, the characters and mystery were very…
-
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
“Creature was a good word for him, Ronan thought. What the hell am I?” Every time I read this I am ｂｌｏｗｎ ａｗａｙ. This novel, I swear, is something else. The Dream Thieves is pure adrenaline. Ronan Lynch is my favourite asshole, which is probably why The Dream Thieves is my favourite book in The…
3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, adrenaline fuelled reads, adventure, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, boarding/private school, brothers, class, cliques, Contemporary, curses, dark academia, dreamers, Dreams, FANTASY, favourite authors, female authors, friendships, gay, great storytelling, henrietta, HIGH SCHOOL, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+, Maggie Stiefvater, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, male friendships, MYSTERY, occult, PARANORMAL, queer, re-reads, read in 2014, read in 2020, read in 2021, rich people, ROMANCE, Ronan Lynch, SMALL TOWN, Summer, tarots, The Dream Thieves, the raven cycle, TRC, virginia, YOUNG ADULT -
The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters
“Secretly, he wants to be the hero. He wants to be the difference-maker. All his life, he’s wanted to be the person rescuing someone or something. But who rescues the rescuer?” The Summer of Everything tells a very wholesome story, part coming of age, part romance, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Our protagonist, Wesley…
3.75 stars, 3rd pov, ace side characters, America, American, bi side characters, Black & Black heritage authors, brothers, California, coming of age, Contemporary, drama, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, gay, HUMOR, identity, Julian Winters, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, m/m, male authors, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, ROMANCE, santa monica, Summer, summer reads, The Summer of Everything, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT
luce [is reading] 