I really loved this book! I liked it a lot more than Take a Hint, Dani Brown!! I think that my enjoyment of this book over the previous one really boiI really loved this book! I liked it a lot more than Take a Hint, Dani Brown!! I think that my enjoyment of this book over the previous one really boils down to the kinds of representation we see here. In Take a Hint, Dani Brown, Danika and Zaf fall in love. Zaf is a Muslim (at least culturally) man who falls in love with a queer witch, and his family is more or less completely cool with it. I won't go into it too much in this review, but as a queer Muslim woman myself, this absolutely would not fly without any discussion whatsoever of religion, family/cultural expectations, guilt/shame, etc. Maybe Zaf is living within an extremely progressive family (seems kind of unlikely since both his mother and sister chose to wear the hijab + dress modestly although it is entirely possible), but honestly I felt like there was a disservice done to his character and to the book as a whole to completely ignore the reality for most muslims. I would have appreciated it a lot if there were at least one discussion about how his religion / culture would perceive his relationship, and how he and Dani could navigate that as a couple. To ignore the reality of the muslim experience seems to be (at least to me) hopeful na茂vet茅 at best or willful ignorance at worst. Perhaps I'm too sensitive to the representations of one of my identities, but truthfully, the representation of muslim culture in that book felt unrealistic to me, and pulled me so far out of the narrative that I couldn't enjoy the story.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown seemed to me like a much more believable book. Talia Hibbert writes dialog between characters well, and more importantly, she treats mental health with the gravity and importance that it deserves. Both of the main leads in this book have had traumatic experiences that shape their interactions with each other, and I found the representation of their internal and external conflicts to be really realistic. Both Chloe and Red are absolute joys to read - they're both total sweethearts and I'm so happy for them!!! Chloe has a chronic illness that influences the lens through which she sees the world, and I think the author did a really wonderful job of getting into the head of the character and representing what it's like to want to avoid burdening family members, to not have enough spoons to deal with everyday struggles, to be abandoned by those who do not believe your reality. Red (unsure if this is a spoiler - it's pretty clear early on in the book!) is recovering from an abusive relationship that destroyed his self-worth. Their triggers are realistic and well-written, and the affirming conversations between to two of them are healing both for the characters, and for the reader! The discussion about seeing a therapist and the emphasis on the importance of mental health were wonderful to read about.
Anyways, tl;dr this book is great and definitely better than the next one in the series (in my humble opinion, haha!)! extremely excited for Eve's book coming out soon!...more
I mean it was a fun distraction and Gron's cute and all, but I found this to be kinda boring most of the time? Might still try out the second book.I mean it was a fun distraction and Gron's cute and all, but I found this to be kinda boring most of the time? Might still try out the second book....more
read the whole thing in a day! our boy Zylar is a cinnamon roll, and honestly, I found the treatment of Beryl in this alien society to be really fun aread the whole thing in a day! our boy Zylar is a cinnamon roll, and honestly, I found the treatment of Beryl in this alien society to be really fun and refreshing!!! Really hope that Helix gets his own story soon!!!...more
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