#ya asian book

[jacedotl]

I finished Eleanor & Park and it's apparently controversial for its racial stereotype and sexualization like "His skin's like honey", "sexy Asian man", or one scene where she mentioned that she might be attracted to Asian men. Apparently, it didn't sit right with many readers especially Asian readers. Describing it as harmful and racist. Here are my thoughts: I don't think it was that bad. I think it's funny. Quiet flattering.

To say it's racist is a stretch. The term is often misused. I would say insensitive in a slight. People are only shitting on it was written by a white woman. C'mon, it wasn't that bad 🤷🏻‍♂️

Or maybe I'm so desperate for Asian male representation that whenever a progressive poc libexplains, I'm like "Shushh man stfu, this our only moment in representation" 🤫😁

[previouslyafangirl]

"The memories of spirits and gods may be hazy, but not the memories of books. Stories are eternal."

- Axie Oh, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

[moghedien]

the Poppy War is a book that is somehow historical, historical fiction, and high fantasy, while also being both adult and young adult, yet the most important genre you should actually warn people about before they read it (grimdark) isn't on the list unless you click through to a separate page and comb through dozens of tags

this is why you shouldn't trust goodreads' categorization tools

[opal-stars]

they might or might not have to fake date, and they might or might not be salty about it 🫣

🍧 Sarang and River from “Bingsu for Two” by Sujin Witherspoon

instagram 🍧 @ opal.stars

[elliepassmore]

Song of the Six Realms review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, quests, music magic

I particularly enjoyed the first part of this book and getting to know the House of Flowing Water. I thought all the information about the musicians, dancers, and artists was interesting, and I liked learning about the way the patronage and apprentice levels worked. I also liked the camaraderie between the girls, even if some of it turned out to be false.

Once Xue leaves the House and begins traveling with Janglang there's fewer people and less worldbuilding for a while. Like Xue, I also began to get frustrated with the lack of answers and how she was consistently left alone with nothing but her qin. There was little action for a while there in the middle so while the descriptions were nice, I did feel my attention drifting somewhat.

I did enjoy the parts about music and the musical magic Xue uses to try and solve the mystery. The poetry wasn't my favorite, but the descriptions of the songs themselves were interesting and I liked the way Xue thought about and described the musical pieces. The music was definitely interesting and I wish it and the way certain songs could 'unlock' things was more of a focus of the story. Sure, it played a big part, but I definitely wanted more music magic.

Xue is left in the dark about a lot of things and so she tends to just float along trying to learn the Meng Manor and fill her days to prevent boredom. She's obviously destabilized by the change from apprentice in the House of Flowing Water to a guest at an esteemed lord's manor, and especially a Celestial's manor. Xue really shows her mettle and personality in the beginning of the story and at the end. Her strength comes through in different ways and I appreciated getting to see the different sides of her, from her love of beauty to her protective streak. I did wish there was more plot in the middle to continue showing those sides of her though.

The other characters kind of come in and out of the story at different times, so I don't totally feel like I got to know any of them very well. Janglang is supposed to be the love interest, but aside from some mild attraction, I'm not really convinced the two are in love. Xue spends half the book thinking he's grieving a fiancé for god's sake! I did like the addition of Chenwen and and Linwei, but would've liked it more if they'd been around more. I enjoyed Chenwen's humor and the way he teased Xue, which I feel like she reacted disproportionately to.

For a book focused on figuring out what Xue's uncle and Janglang's shifu had discovered, the two actually do very little investigating and there's often little adventure to be had. As other reviewers mention, different things keep coming up as oh-so-important plot points and then end up being minor aspects of the story. Xue getting presented to the Sky Emperor (King?) and Consort but then it goes over quickly and well, and there doesn't seem to be much of a lasting effect from her performance. Likewise, there's this whole thing with Janglang's mother....but in the end she's diabolical and evil but not particularly menacing.

I also found the 'mystery' to be a bit obvious. I clued in to the 'who' as soon as they're introduced and I also clued into the red herring as soon as it came into the story as well. Unfortunately, it takes Janglang and Xue almost the entire rest of the story to figure it out, leaving me smacking my head when they trust certain people or fall into certain traps.

Overall, this is a good neutral read if you're looking for something light to occupy your time. It's entertaining enough and I find myself feeling pretty neutral on the matter. I did like it, but the beginning and ending were the most interesting to me, and things in the middle kind of lagged.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Welcome, Caller

a cute small town m/m romance

a 20-something trans man whose routine and comfortable life with his friends starts getting disrupted when a guy he had a vague rivalry with in uni keeps running into him

he finds some stability by regularly calling in to a late-night radio show, which becomes a strangely comforting relationship, despite the anonymity

explores mental health (adhd, autism) & friendship

[beemovieerotica]

"THIS is why I only read fanfiction--" bro there are books written before the year 2020 that are good. I know booktok has been a disease and recent publishing trends are awful and it's becoming increasingly difficult for writers to pitch work that doesn't adhere to the very few specific Tropes of the Year, but you've gotta keep looking.

[wahlpaper]

Forget Me Not Review

Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick - 5/5 - Contemporary YA WLW

Having recently met Alyson Derrick at a Rachel Lippincott event (pictures of me and the couple below!), I was made aware of a book Derrick had written without her wife. That book is called Forget Me Not. It's an amnesia love story for two young adult women in a small town. I had assumed it would be too serious for my liking, but I was hooked from the very start. I'm happy to report that this story is not a tragedy! 

Stevie and Nora are going to get out of their bigoted small town, escape to California, and leave their past completely behind. Except, just a few months before, Stevie falls and hits her head. When she wakes up in the hospital, she can't remember the last two years! When she starts trying to fill those gaps, she's shocked to find how many secrets she's been keeping and how much life has changed in just 2 years. Stevie doesn't remember her relationship with Nora or discovering that she isn't straight, but she's drawn to her anyway. Will Stevie get all the answers she's looking for or will she be stuck in that town forever? 

...

Read More:

[thebellekeys]

sick and tired of reading books by brown writers that are just about pain and intergenerational trauma. sick and tired of the abusive uncles and the dead mothers. sick and tired of the white man who’s the only one that makes the brown girl happy. sick and tired of the sexually repressed women, the culturally ingrained misogyny, the omnipresent racist abuse, the sinister family pasts. sick and tired of this revolving literary door of pain and anguish.

[annelisreadingroom]

Do you have any books based on Asian mythology that you would recommend? I recently read A Mortal Song and I quite liked it. It's a story about Japanese kami who live among humans.

[desdasiwrites]

One thing I love about Nora is that she oozes passion. Pure unfiltered passion, for all kinds of things. It’s easy to get excited when you’re around her, even about stuff you never cared about before.

– Alyson Derrick, Forget Me Not

[princessofbookaholics]

currently reading 🎮

[sapphiclitarchive]

If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So

Just a few minutes ago, I finished reading If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So and I ran here immediately to rave about it because I need more people to pick up this wonderful book!

Summary: 

Elsie is a bisexual lover of comics who is trying to win over her fandom crush during the summer before she heads off to university. At the same time, she is surprised by an old childhood friend who moved back to England from Hong Kong, having grown into herself as a handsome tomboy lesbian. Elsie and her friends spend the summer on a queer adventure while she puzzles together the family drama that led to her and her immediate family not returning to Hong Kong to visit her grandparents for 8 years. 

Thoughts: 

This book hit so many marks for me! Our protagonist, Elsie, is proudly bisexual and deeply cherishes queerness. Our love interest, Joan, is a tomboy lesbian, and is labeled as such in-text!! The novel even uses the word lesbian a whopping 7 times, which is such a major victory when so many sapphic novels balk at the word! Also the presence of a masculine lesbian character in a sapphic novel was incredible to see!!! Truly a rare win! I also adored the character’s love of fandom spaces and fan fiction as a means to explore queerness and find community. The presence of queer elders in this novel was also such a joy. Finally, Elsie’s family, both immediate and extended, brought so much life and depth to this novel. I can’t say too much more without spoiling it. 

Anything I disliked?

Nothing major! If I could change anything I would use the word lesbian a bit more for Joan but honestly that’s probably just me being greedy! For reference, the word “queer” appears 44 times and “gay” appears 50 times. However, these are both umbrella terms so it isn’t entirely unsurprising! 

Final Thoughts:

I REALLY JUST WANT EVERYONE TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!! IT IS SUCH A STUNNING DEBUT NOVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[opal-stars]

Eliza and Caz from “This Time It’s Real” by Ann Liang (aka my new best friend bc I’m in love with her books!!!!!!!) 💖🌸☁️✨

instagram • @opal.stars

[elliepassmore]

The Girl with No Reflection release!

Princess Ying Yue believed in love...once upon a time.

Yet when she’s chosen to wed the crown prince, Ying’s dreams of a fairy tale marriage quickly fall apart. Her husband-to-be is cold and indifferent, confining Ying to her room for reasons he won’t explain. Worse still are the rumors that swirl around the imperial whispers of seven other royal brides who, after their own weddings, mysteriously disappeared.

Left alone with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. Movements in the corners of her mirror. Colorful lights upon its surface. And when, on the eve of her wedding, she unwittingly tears open a gateway, she is pulled into a mirror world.

This realm is full of sentient reflections, including the enigmatic Mirror Prince. Unlike his real-world counterpart, the Mirror Prince is kind and compassionate, and before long Ying falls in love—the kind of love she always dreamed of.

But there is darkness in this new world, too.

It turns out the two worlds have a long and blood-soaked history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they discovered what their role was, it was already too late.

Waterstones

Barnes & Noble

This book has the perfect amount of creepy and fantastical. There's both the immediate horror of realizing your reflection is trying to attack you, then later on there's the more tense kind of horror where you're waiting to see what's around the corner. I really liked the balance between the different kinds of horror, as well as between the horror parts and the more fantasy and royal-oriented parts.

I really liked Ying as well and enjoyed having her be the narrator. I was a little on the fence about the Prince, but I grew to like him as the book progressed. He's just a bit awkward and it comes off as gruff/terse in his interactions. There is a love triangle in the book, but I actually didn't mind it and think it worked well.

Want to know more about this book? Check out my full review!

[maepolzine]

My Thoughts on Foul Heart Huntsman (Foul Lady Fortune, Book 2) by Chloe Gong

Sharing my thoughts on the final book in the Foul Lady Fortune duology (Foul Heart Huntsman) by Chloe Gong

Foul Heart Huntsman is the final book in the Foul Lady Fortune duology by Chloe Gong inspired by Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, which is a story about Rosalind, Oliver, Orlando (changed to Orion in this series), and Celia. In the original play, everyone ends up married. Oliver to Celia, Rosalind to Orlando, and Phoebe to Silvius (changed to Silas in this series). As I mentioned in my previous…