January & February 2020 Wrap-Up: Begone, Cursed Months! (Feat. Pretty Lights)

Happy March, everyone! These past two months felt overly short and dragged out at the same time. And I'm torn between wanting to re-do them or wanting to stuff them into a burlap sack filled with rocks and hurl them into the nearest lake. I ended up re-reading a lot of old comfort books, partly …

Review: The Infinite Noise – Fine with a Dash of Soft & Sweet and a Landing that Doesn’t Stick

Title: The Infinite Noise Author: Lauren Shippen Publisher: TorTeen Release Date: September 24th 2019 Genre(s): YA Sci-Fi Subjects and Themes: LGBTQIAP+, Mental Health, Superpowers Page Count: 336 (hardback) Rating: 6.0/10         Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing …

Review: Missing, Presumed Dead – A Gritty Queer Paranormal Mystery that I’m Side-Eyeing

Title: Missing, Presumed Dead Author: Emma Berquist Publisher: Greenwillow Books Release Date: May 21st, 2019 Genre(s): YA Paranormal, Mystery Subjects and Themes: Mental Health, LGBTQIAP+ (f/f) Page Count: 384 (hardback) Rating: ???         With a touch, Lexi can sense how and when someone will die. Some say it’s a gift. But to …

Broken, Awkward, Incompetent, Mismatched Heroes: Why We Need Them in Stories

I'm not sure what the umbrella term for these types of characters should be. Atypical heroes? Messy heroes? Well, whatever the term, I adore them. And my love grows stronger every time I come across a protagonist who's graduated from the academy of perfect heroes. You know--the shiny put-together ones. The ones whose mistakes are …

Interview with Sam J. Miller – Destroy all Monsters

A crucial, genre-bending tale, equal parts Ned Vizzini and Patrick Ness, about the life-saving power of friendship. Solomon and Ash both experienced a traumatic event when they were twelve. Ash lost all memory of that event when she fell from Solomon’s treehouse. Since then, Solomon has retreated further and further into a world he seems …

Review: Last Bus to Everland – Life Sucks But We’re in it Together

Title: Last Bus to Everland Author: Sophie Cameron Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Release Date: June 18th, 2019 Genre(s): YA Contemporary, Portal Fantasy Subjects and Themes: Mental Health, LGBTQIAP+ Page Count: 336 (hardback) Rating: 8.0/10       Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely …

I’m Back! – Health Nightmares, Weird Analogies about Canadian Health Care, and Queer Mermaids

Hey everyone! I'm back (possibly? hopefully?) from my completely unintended hiatus! Sigh. Let me be blunt: these past two and a half weeks have been the absolute worst. You know the saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb"? Well, June came in like a beautiful flying unicorn spraying rainbow …

Review: Magic for Liars – Ivy Gamble is Not Magic and She Wants Everyone to Know

Title: Magic for Liars Author: Sarah Gailey Publisher: Tor Books Release Date: June 4th, 2019 Genre(s): Fantasy, Mystery Subjects and Themes: Siblings, Mental Health, LGBTQIAP+ (Secondary) Page Count: 336 (hardback) Rating: 5.0/10       Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it. Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life – or …

Fantasy Books & Games for Mental Health Awareness Month (Why I Need More Mental Health Rep in Adult Fantasy)

  May is Wyrd & Wonder and mental health awareness month, so it only makes sense to celebrate the 31st by smooshing them together into one post. I meant to write this on Wednesday for Top 5 Wednesday, but I've been zonked out on allergy meds all week (one day the pharmaceuticals will develop a …

Review: The Mortal Sleep – Stripped Me Open and Healed Me Anew (Why I’m BEGGING You to Read this Series)

Title: The Mortal Sleep (Hollow Folk 4) Author: Gregory Ashe Publisher: Independent Release Date: April 5th, 2019 Genre(s): Paranormal, Mystery, Romance Subjects and Themes: Mental Health, Abuse, LGBTQIAP+ Page Count: 491 Rating: ∞/10 Brief overview of Books 1-3: A gay psychic teenager named Vie Elliot moves into a small rural town in Wyoming and gets …