Book Reviews

Falling somewhere in the area between being creatively genius vs a festivity-induced fever dream, The Nightmare Before Kissmas is light-hearted and cute dramedy that hits all the right beats one would expect for a holiday romance novel. Personifying popular holidays as magically inclined individuals reminiscent of Rise of the Guardians paired with the familial expectations and burdens of royalty akin to Casy McQuiston’s Red White and Royal Blue, the Nightmare Before Kissmas is constantly a lot of fun and a feel-good escapism read. And while it’s frequently cheesy and often tap dances on the line between being endearing and cringy, the plot is solid, featuring surprisingly ambitious commentary on the materialism and purpose of holidays as well as holiday politics in this fantasy-leaning version of the world. Despite initially being a bit of a box office bomb, the 2012 animated film Rise of the Guardians and its source material The Guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce have since become sleeper hits thanks to the creative and charming way they personified popular holidays as magical beings and culture associated with said holidays. The Nightmare Before Kissmas features a lot of similar concepts but utilizes them for an adult romantic dramedy…

Necromancers, cavaliers, copious amounts of magic and challenges, oh my! Tamsyn Muir’s debut novel and the start of her Locked Tomb series, on paper Gideon has everything going for it. While featuring many hallmark elements of fantasy epics such as an emperor with numerical houses/factions, pseudo magician + knight pairings, and an unknown challenge for representatives to ascend to the “Lyctor” status, Gideon the Ninth separates itself from the rest of its genre firstly by setting the series not in the traditional fantasy-realm past, but instead in an interstellar futuristic expanse. Secondly, this novel’s reputation featuring “lesbian necromancers” proceeds itself and has that instant hook for booktok and social media recognition (though important to note, while having a wandering queer eye, this is not a romantasy novel). While technically being classified as fantasy and sci-fi, Gideon’s second half functions more as a whodunnit survival thriller meshed with dark academia elements and is very compelling when Muir gets it just right. Unfortunately, despite the ambitious plotting and creative ideas found throughout the story, Gideon the Ninth is held back by a few but very notable flaws with its approach to storytelling as well as its confusingly vague and messy world-building. Additionally,…

Erik J. Brown’s sophomore YA novel following his heartwarming post-apocalyptic coming of age debut All That’s Left In the World, on the surface Lose You to Find Me appears to be an entirely different kind of book considering the very different genre and relationship dynamics of its main characters. I previously reviewed and loved All That’s Left In the World and while Lose You to Find Me wasn’t originally on my to-be-read radar, I was intrigued and interested to see if Brown’s excellent character work and relatable writing in a more straight-forward (get the pun) m/m coming of age story without the survival adventure angle would be as successful. To be honest, I went in with tempered expectations due to how negative some of the reviewers for this novel were, but I was relieved to find that yes, Erik J. Brown is a fantastic YA author who is far more well-rounded than I expected. Leaning more into the comedy aspect of what Brown himself dubs “Rom-Dramedy” while still having dramatic and occasionally romantic moments, this novel certainly has a different flavor and character narration voice from his first novel, along with different themes and focus. However, do not listen to…

An appropriate title for a unique and colorful twist on the familiar Ocean’s Eleven formula, Makana Yamamoto’s Hammajang Luck is a futuristic, high-tech, Hawaii-inspired queer romp that I never thought to want yet quite enjoyed. A scrappy breaking-and-entering story at its core featuring an entirely queer roster, Yamamoto’s debut is full of social and cultural representation. Incorporating very strong community and family values, local Pidgin English, and a familiar blend of cultures that can only be found in Hawaii, this unorthodox pairing with a cyberpunk space station aesthetic is unlike anything I’ve read before. Growing up and living most of my life in the islands, Hammajang Luck has that hidden element that only long-time locals can tap into and has my full Hawaii-resident stamp of approval. Yet underneath all the science fiction elements, queer reworking, and Hawaii cultural flavor, Hammajang Luck’s story is surprisingly simple, predictable, yet comforting. However, from a narrative perspective I often found myself wishing Hammajang’s story and cool concepts went further or more time was spent exploring the Kepler station’s intriguing world. That said, the flavors and decorative details around the story are so fun, they can almost sell the premise on their own. When I…

Like my reviews for other very well-known books and authors, I’m going to skip the usual introduction and pre-amble and get right into my impression and thoughts on Verity. Colleen Hoover is probably one of the most polarizing authors with such big-name recognition that I felt the need to try at least one of her books, picking Verity as the one that had the best match for my reading genre preference. Yet despite that, my feelings while reading Verity ranged from utter bafflement, to eye-rolling embarrassment, to irritation, and finally shock, but not in the way the novel hopes it to be. One of my earliest notes while reading this novel was “Verity reads like the literary equivalent to Stranger Danger, and I don’t like this at all.” Whether it was an early sign or not, the overall vibe of the novel just felt uncomfortably questionable which is something I very rarely experience, even extensively reading horror and serial-killer murder mystery works. I’ve read and watched a lot of dark series that explore the depths and shadows of the human mind so I had no problems with Verity‘s content on paper, but the tone and vibe felt all wrong. Paired…