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The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsley
in The Dove in the Belly, it’s all about the 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 “A moment of happiness could feel almost like a wound.” The Dove in the Belly is a work of startling beauty that presents its readers with a piercing exploration of male intimacy and a mesmerizing study of queer desire that beautifully elaborates the many…
1970s, 20th century, 3rd pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, atmospheric, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, books about books, break-ups, campus, DEATH, desire, drama, family, first love, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, gay, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, illness, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, jealousy, Jim Grimsley, journalism, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love can be ugly, m/m, masculinity, melancholy, mothers & sons, My reviews, NEW ADULT, North Carolina, obsession, published in 2022, queer, re-reads, read in 2022, read in 2023, reading, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, Southern America, strong sense of place, The Dove in the Belly, toxic relationships, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, youth -
The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
“Yes, of course. It is always him they want to know about—the father, not the other mother.” The Other Mother is an affecting and nuanced multigenerational tale unearthing long-buried family histories. The author’s interrogation of motherhood challenges the heteronormative archetype of the nuclear family, as she focuses on the experiences, choices, and parenting of single-women…
1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, addiction, Adult, America, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, break-ups, campus, Contemporary, drama, f/f, family, FAMILY SAGA, fathers & daughters, female authors, FLORIDA, forgiveness, gay, grandfathers, GRIEF, heartbreak/breakups, identity, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, Longing, Miami, motherhood, mothers & sons, musicians, My reviews, New England, parenting, Providence, published in 2022, queer, Rachel M. Harper, read in 2022, reading, rhode island, siblings, The Other Mother, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, unrequited love -
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
I will begin this review with a disclaimer that will hopefully fend off Vuong devotees: I do not read a lot of poetry. In fact, one could say that in my 25 years on this earth I’ve barely read any poetry. The last collection I read was by Sylvia Plath back in 2014 (very angsty…
2.5 STARS, Adult, America, American, ANGST, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, gay, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, male authors, mothers & sons, My reviews, Ocean Vuong, POETRY, published in 2022, purply prose, queer, read in 2021, reading, SEXUALITY, stylised prose, Time is a Mother, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park
Brimming with humor and life, Love in the Big City makes for an entertaining read. I found its protagonist’s lighthearted narration to be deeply compulsive and I was hooked to his story from the very first pages. Similarly to Frying Plantain and The Nakano Thrift Shop Love in the Big City is divided into self-contained…
1st pov, 3.25 stars, Adult, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, Contemporary, conversational style, friendships, gay, heartbreak/breakups, HUMOR, interconnected stories, Korea, Korean, korean author, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, Love in the Big City, m/m, male authors, mental health, mothers & sons, My reviews, published in 2019, queer, read in 2021, reading, Seoul, sex, SEXUALITY, SLICE OF LIFE, TRANSLATED FICTION -
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob
Mira Jacob’s Good Talk is a small gem of a memoir. Jacob combines different media to discuss a number of issues and topics. Jacob transports to the page the difficult conversations she’s had with her son about race, while also recounting her own experiences growing up as a first-generation Indian-American. Much of Good Talk takes…
2000s, 2010s, 4 STARS, Adult, America, American, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, colorism, Contemporary, dialogue heavy, family, female authors, Good Talk, Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations, Graphic Novels, India, indian american author, MEMOIR, migration/immigration, Mira Jacob, mothers & sons, My reviews, Nonfiction, politics, published in 2019, RACE, read in 2021, reading, Sequential Art, social issues -
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
“To understand the world at all, sometimes you could only focus on a tiny bit of it, look very hard at what was close to hand and make it stand in for the whole.” The Goldfinch is an emotional rollercoaster spanning 700+ pages and proof that literary lightning can indeed strike twice. Fully deserving of…
1st pov, 2010s, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, academia, addiction, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, anxiety, anxiety-inducing reads, ART/CREATIVITY, beautiful prose, big books, bildungsroman, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, CHILDHOOD, class, Contemporary, CRIME, DEATH, DEPRESSION, donna tartt, existentialism, fathers & sons, favourite authors, female authors, forgiveness, friendships, GRIEF, growing up, GUILT, introspective, las vegas, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, MEMORY, morality, mothers & sons, museums, My reviews, Netherlands, nevada, NEW YORK, orphans, paranoia, philosophical, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2013, Pulitzer Prize, pulitzer prize winners, queer undercurrents, re-reads, read in 2017, read in 2021, reading, rich people, strong sense of place, suicide, SUSPENSE, terrific prose, the goldfinch, trauma, unrequited love -
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
“Sometimes you are erased before you are given the choice of stating who you are.” Ocean Vuong’s strikingly lyrical debut novel is a work of transient beauty. Within On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous there are many arresting passages that are, quite frankly, beautiful. At times this beauty derives from Vuong’s subject matter, at times it…
1st pov, 2000s, 3.25 stars, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, autofiction, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, coming of age, Connecticut, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, existentialism, family, first love, gay, growing up, intergenerational, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, lyrical prose, m/m, male authors, migration/immigration, mothers & sons, My reviews, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, POETRY, published in 2019, queer, read in 2021, reading, sex, style over character, trauma, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
“A part of me wanted to run away from all the complications of being in love with Dante. Maybe Ari plus Dante equated love, but it also equated complicated. It also equated playing hide-and-seek with the world. But there was a difference between the art of running and the art of running away.” This one…
1980s, 1st pov, 3.5 STARS, America, American, arc, aristotle and dante, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, Aristotle Mendoza, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, coming of age, dialogue heavy, drama, el paso, fathers & sons, favourite authors, friendships, gay, HIGH SCHOOL, HISTORICAL FICTION, latinx author, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, loneliness, m/m, male authors, MEXICAN AMERICAN AUTHOR, mothers & sons, My reviews, netgalley, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, ROMANCE, social issues, texas, YOUNG ADULT -
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson
“People were like that, though. Basically good until they thought they could get away with shit without being caught.” A one-sentence summary for Son of a Trickster could go something like this: slacker boy spends his days getting drunk, high, and/or puking. “The world is hard, his mom liked to say. You have to be…
2010s, 3 STARS, 3rd pov, abuse, addiction, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, british columbia, canada, canadian author, Contemporary, Eden Robinson, family, FANTASY, female authors, haisla author, HIGH SCHOOL, indigenous, indigenous author, Kitimat, MAGIC, MAGICAL REALISM, mothers & sons, My reviews, native american & first nation, Native American & First Nation authors, Poverty, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, reading, toxic relationships, trickster #1, URBAN FANTASY -
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
luce [is reading] 