smallcandlejar

[smallcandlejar]

review: imogen, obviously

imogen, obviously- becky albertalli

summary: painfully straight imogen spends a few days visiting a friend at college only to meet tessa and find that maybe she isn't as straight as she thought...

genre: ya, romance

review:

this. this is my favourite book i've read probably like ever. i know, i know its a lot of hype for another plain old ya romance book but just like, hear me out?

imogen, obviously as a novel covers so many topics that young queer people face today, from sexuality to discourse to keeping and leaving friendships.

firstly, imogen's questioning of her sexuality felt so genuine, real and relatable. as the designated "straight friend" its clear that imogen has always just decided that was her role. so when she starts to think that maybe she isn't what everyone thought she was it brings up some major internal conflicts. as someone who has, and still is, going on this journey its so comforting to be with imogen. you really feel what she feels, understand what she's thinking and eventually come to terms with sexuality as a concept.

my absolute favourite aspect of this book is how it deals with toxic friendship and queer discourse. in the age of online media people always always need to have an opinion on someone else- and for some reason in the queer community some people do have to have trouble with something someone else is doing. at the beginning of th book we see a lot of discourse coming a queer friend- however at this point its framed less as discourse and more as fact. i'm straight so i shouldn't argue, i'm straight and what if i'm appropriating queer culture by being in these spaces? but as we go though and battle the beast that is bisexuality these comments begin to feel weighted, directed and painful.

becky albertalli does a wonderful job at highlighting how everyones journey to queerness is different and criticising another person for when and how they discover that can be really harmful. if you've undergone any questioning of your identity imogen's story hits hard. i felt all her highs and lows physically- like pull that heart rate monitor out and i'd have run a marathon fr.

the friendships (and mayyybbeee a something more) imogen makes throughout the story are wonderful. they are the queer friend group i've always wanted, dreamed of, prayed for (god please please). imogen has some especially heartfelt moments with her best friend who she came to visit that you really feel for.

tessa also, like i fell in love with her with you imogen. damn.

in the end, i love this book not purely because of the way i relate to it- but theres also probably a lot of that. its so validating to hear someone else go through this story and come out (ha!) happy with themselves. the feeling of oh. these takes really are bad, and i shouldn't feel guilty just hit home so hard. i could go on about this book forever, obviously.

rating: 5/5 (biased i knowwww)

TLDR; are you questioning your sexuality? do you feel really guilty about it sometimes? well ive found the book for you! its imogen, obviously.

[smallcandlejar]

review: cleat cute

cleat cute- meryl wilsner

summary: two professional soccer players, grace and phoebe, move from team-mates to friends with benefits, to maybe something a little more.

genre: adult (18+), romance, sports

review:

god do i love women's sports. i know absolutely nothing about soccer and don't think i know anything more after reading this book! what i do know, however, is that this shit slapped.

in terms of characters i loved both grace and phoebe's point of views. it is clear right from the beginning of the book that the two are polar opposites, only connect (at first) by their love of soccer. grace is the veteran, world class player, who's been pro since high school. shes private, serious and obsessed with routine #sudokuqueen. phoebe on the other hand is the definition of an extrovert with a chronic lateness problem solved with 50 different alarms. shes also a redhead so slay!

something i want to comment on right off the bat is the distinct allusion to both characters being neurodivergent. its not even an allusion its like confirmed. as i am not autistic or adhd myself (but, like, lets not get into that...), i wont comment on its accuracy and how good the representation was. i will say that i found grace's character relatable to my own experiences, and understood a lot of her internal monologue.

meryl wilsner does a fantastic job of writing both of these characters. the different p.o.v's were full of each character's personality. they really did a great job of helping you to relate to both characters and understand their lines of thinking. their dialogue was hilarious- who doesn't love a good bit of banter- and their friendship development was really nice to read.

i don't think you can talk about this book without mentioning the smut. (it begins in chapter 12 just as as fyi) but personally i really enjoyed it! did it feel maybe a little fast? sure, but it really did do a good job of further characterisation of grace and phoebe and how they viewed relationships. a lot of smut in books these days is there just because- if i wanted that i'd go to ao3. this, however, felt intentional and full of purpose. also hot af meryl, you do a fantastic job of writing that shit holyyyyyyy.

i have only a few criticisms for this book. firstly- and this is a general modern book pet peeve- but for the love of god STOP PUTTING TIKTOK IN THERE FUCK OFFFFFF. thank you :) secondly, there is a small amout of miscommunication that i didn't actually hate. i can see why this trope would put people off but i actually think it fit the characters very well here- i think maybe it could have been done a little better as sometimes i was really feeling a sense of dread. but alls well that ends well.

overall, this book was a really enjoyable read from start to finish. both characters were entertaining, realistic and loveable. sex scenes duh fantastic (hot obviously) but were not just thrown in there for nothing, they had genuine purpose and weren't overdone. who doesn't love women's sports?

rating: 4/5

TLDR; neurodivergent sportswomen learn to understand each other though heartfelt, witty, conversation and the endless power of good sex. very enjoyable :)

[smallcandlejar]

review: the falling in love montage

the falling in love montage- ciara smith

summary: after a change encounter with rom-com connoisseur ruby, our main character saoirse dumps her romanceless summer plans to live out all the best rom-com cliches.

genre: ya, romance

girl this was cute. look, it was the first wlw book of the holidays and i must say we started off strong. this book is full of sweet, heartfelt and emotional moments that never miss a beat.

saoirse is a wonderful main character. i appreciate that her being a lesbian is never the main focus of the story, for her this is never an internal dilemma. her main conflict comes with the battle she faces at home and how to share that with the people in her life that care about her. saoirse has gone through a bad breakup but really never cared about that lol. ruby too is a really complex character who's does a great job at juxtaposing saoirse being happy, kind and really, really into talking about feelings. she makes for a great love interest. there is this kinda major plot point that. the other side characters are really charming too, they all felt real and compelling sometimes even more than the main characters.

the romance in this book was fine, cute and enjoyable. but honestly was never my favourite aspect of the book. all of the rom-com moments were nice and never felt overused, always refreshing. where this book really shone was its tackling of dementia. saoirse's mother suffers with dementia throughout the book and is a constant source of conflict for her, both internally and externally. its refreshing to see this presented in such a way that really makes you think about what life is like knowing you might have the same fate as your mother, who doesn't even remember who you are.

is life worth living if you're just going to forget it? can someone who remember me know me still love me?

overall, this book is a great first look into the genre for anyone interested. i enjoyed the story, characters and the moral debates the book presented. it does a fantastic job of meshing together the serious and the not-so-serious into neatly wrapped story.

(not to spoil but i wasn't really a fan of the ending but thats just me being a hopeless romantic- which is why i rate this more on the average than being great)

rating: 3/5

[smallcandlejar]

about this blog

hello!

this blog is dedicated to my summer reading of queer literature.

some notes:

i am on a quest to read as many wlw books as i can these holidays and wanted a place to review these books (purely my own opinion)

i am maybe a bit of a hopeless romantic... i'll do what i can to move out of this genre but no promises

my pronouns are she/her

yes, i would love your recommendations :)

yes, please talk to me about them!

and finally, yes, i do have christmas in the summer, no its not that weird because i've never had a winter one! (to me christmas will always smell of sunscreen)

books i've read so far:

the falling in love montage

cleat cute

imogen, obviously

she drives me crazy

she gets the girl