OH I‘ve read the classics

DNF‘d this book bc although I love fake dating, in the beginning one of the MC‘s identifies as straight and openly says they will fake it for the sake of their job, while the other MC is gay. idc if he eventually comes out, it‘s not cool to perpetuate a straight man faking gay or a gay man “turning” another man gay. probs would have loved this plot if he was just bi or closeted but this was an immediate no.

Petra dreams of being a storyteller like her grandma but a comet is about to destroy earth. her family gets chosen and she gets put to sleep for 300 years & wakes up in space an orphan & seems to be the only person to remember Earth & anything at all about the past. she tells other children her stories, cuentos, to try to rouse their memories and get them to escape with her. interweaving of Mexican folklore and a mythical stand of science fiction.

this is hands down one of my favorite romances I‘ve read this year. it‘s so freaking good.
Charlie is the new “Bachelor”™️ and Dev is a producer/handler tasked with making this very awkward man into a prince. Dev starts to get Charlie to open up to him so he can open up to the women he‘s dating on the show but also like what women??? positive gay relationship, mental health rep, no gay panic, I can‘t say enough how much I loved this book

what does India put in these books? why are they so good?? all your fave characters back from the first one but this time we have a witch and a pirate who should hate each other but it‘s not just the pickpocketing that‘s preventing them from keeping their hands to themselves. I just love everything about these books and characters. Charlotte is great. Alex is great. Ned and Cecilia are adorable. I will read this series for as long as it goes on

did not realize this is book 3 of a series, glad they‘re not connected lol. this was cute though and had surprising depth and surprise feminism from a historic romance, shocked and thrilled. love a good brooding Scotsman.

this book was … fine?
for a book sold on being about 2 divorced people falling for each other, it spends A LOT of time on their past relationships. the 2 MC‘s relationship truly isn‘t the focus of the book & there was less musical aspect with Laylas character than I was made to believe. (with this cover I expected more daisy Jones & the six and did not get it)& her ex is so awful I don‘t believe that she would have married him for even a second

OMGOMGOMG
Declan(he/him)has commitment issues but agrees to help a new friend, Sidney (they/them), by participating in The Love Study on their YouTube channel. Small problem, Declan is starting to like Sidney more than any of the dates he‘s going on. LOVE Declan‘s friends. LOVE the awkward cuteness. This is the first romance book I‘ve found where the couple doesn‘t follow conventional dating structures bc it doesn‘t fit them & it‘s so stinkin good

loosely based on an old Persian myth, Soraya is the princess and she may also be the monster. her skin is poisonous to the touch and she‘s been hidden away her whole life because of it. until someone shows her the way out. but why do they want her powers gone? and once they are, why does she feel empty without the poison in her veins? honestly the ending left some to be desired, just wrapped up too quickly but this was throughly entertaining

ummmm I do not know how I feel about this book.
from the MC‘s insta-gay moment, to her immediately diving into S&M and a poly relationship that ended up being abusive was all very intense. and they didn‘t acknowledge or face real problems that the LGBTQIA+ community faces in society. parts were funny and entertaining, parts were cringey, idk I didn‘t hate it but something isn‘t totally sitting right either

well shit lol
Iris & her 2 sisters went missing when they were kids, they came back a month later but their hair was white and their eyes black & had no memory of what happened. except now the eldest sister, Grey, is missing again &she did remember the whole time what happened. Iris & Vivie now have to go looking for her & try to figure out their past
this book is dark gothic/fantasy & kinda gory. a bit slow and glossed over in some parts but good

this book is very accessible and easy to read and makes it clear this book is purely the author‘s perspective and relates to his culture as a member of the Ojibwa Nation. it presents with varied perspectives and discusses how respect for indigenous activism is not only rational but necessary and briefly the intersectionality of indigenous rights with other movements, specifically BLM. a good read.
(and this cover is beautiful)

beauty and the beast retelling. Beau is shut up in his mansion not writing the book he said he would, so Isabelle shows up at his house to give him some pep talks and prove her worth at her job at the publishing house, but they do not get off on the right foot. this book was sweet and the reveal at the end to get her to come back was just everything.

Emily‘s mom just died and now she‘s completing her mom‘s senior bucket list in her own senior year.
one thing about me, if it‘s sapphic, I‘m gonna read it.
honestly this was fine, fairly predictable, does a decent job of dealing with grief and social pressures of coming out etc. 2 major things I didn‘t like, Emily being a bitch while having a moment of gay panic and someone being outed when it wasn‘t clear if that‘s what they wanted.

this story is a meandering journey through one couple‘s life, together and before they knew each other. this book is split up into 2 parts, part 1: fates, part 2: furies. i like the way this was written and the story was very good, I wasn‘t super in the mood for this type of story when I read it so maybe that‘s why I‘m not overly in love with it but it is good and understand why so many people like it.

Katie‘s fiancé just left her, for her best friend. Enter Cassidy, a fellow lawyer & Katie‘s opposite, as a confident, mens-suit-wearing lesbian. Katie & Cassidy are immediately drawn to each other but Cassidy‘s out of the ordinary desire for more than a one night stand & Katie‘s out of the ordinary infatuation with a woman, can‘t actually work out bc Katie is straight. isn‘t she?
honestly Katie starts out kind of insufferable but she gets better

Nora is the workaholic city-dwelling girlfriend who gets dumped when her bf finds himself on his hallmark movie small town adventure. i mean seriously, how has it happened 4 times? when her sister convinces her to take a trip with her, she runs into an editor there that she knows & clashes with. Emily Henry may be the queen of witty & funny characters whose banter just sucks you right in. this book is perfect for all book lovers 😉 & rom-com fans

kind of like if Gilmore Girls took place in New Delhi. Nooren takes a gap year to India with her mom to honor her aunt that just passed away. while there she meets Kabir, and they begin to fall in love and explore New Delhi. this book is a meandering travelogue that discusses topics such as grief, feminism, philosophy, racism, islamophobia, the Me-Too Movement, the partition of British-India and much more but isn‘t overwhelming or heavy

Win is a British-Indian actress trying to make it & starts an on-again-off-again fake relationship with socialite Leo, leading to a seven-year-long public relations scam that reactivates whenever one of them needs a career boost, though the lines between strategy & obsession are continually blurred. this book blurs the line between general fiction & romance while doing a thought-provoking deep dive into celebrity culture & race and relationships.

Laila Z is a Syrian-American artist who paints birds and though she disappeared sixty years ago, a closeted trans boy who doesn‘t yet know his name, found evidence that Laila saw the same unidentified bird his mom did, and was trying to prove existed before she died. following his mom‘s ghost, he goes on a journey to find himself, his name, validate his mom‘s work and find how Laila is connected to not only his mother, but his grandmother.

Evie becomes disillusioned with love after her parents divorce and then she starts seeing couple‘s love stories and their subsequent ends when she sees them kiss. is she forever burdened to see heartbreak or will she learn it‘s more about enjoying the present? who better to show her than her cute new rocker dance partner who always say yes to opportunities? this book was sweet and enjoyable up until it made me sob at work but this is a good book

retelling of You‘ve Got Mail centered on a Canadian Muslim community. this is so good. the characters are so vibrant and funny and enjoyable and real.
I read her first 2 books in 2 days. Uzma just became an auto-buy author for me.

did Pandora really open a box full of all the bad things bc she was too curious or simply vindictive? or maybe it wasn‘t a box, maybe it was a jar that was top heavy and just fell off a table accidentally. also. who gave her a jar of bad things and how is this not their fault ???
a collection of essays on some of the most prominent women in Greek Mythology and whether they‘re a villain, victim, or monster, they‘re always a convenient scapegoat.

this focuses on a Muslim-Canadian community and reads like an Indian soap opera with a dash of Shakespeare but is actually a Pride and Prejudice adaptation. this story is more than just a P&P retelling though, it validates the experiences of many South Asians and Muslims today. the character growth was done so well and the tension was everything. can‘t wait to read Uzma‘s next book (tomorrow, that‘s how excited I am)

loved. obsessed. don‘t care that they‘re for a “younger audience”. Greek mythology (if you (mortals) don‘t believe it‘s real) is so cool. took me a minute to collect all the old covers but alas, as Percy does, I prevailed.

a novel written through letters that Jacob writes on his deathbed to his estranged son. explaining how he grew up, the things he was taught and why he was the way he was, and struggled to except Isaac‘s queer identity. at times he seems to seek redemption and at others he makes no apologies for his ways.
I did find myself wishing to know if Isaac ever got or read the letters and his response but this book is poignant being one sided as is.

Jade has dreamed for years that the slasher movies she‘s obsessed with would devastate her hometown. When bodies actually start dropping, she tries to warn Letha, who Jade believes is the final girl. But Letha is more concerned with what happened to Jade to make her use slasher films for coping & also why she tried to take her own life. this book is gory, mythical, and heartbreaking. while I got bored sometimes, overall enjoyed. PLEASE CHECK TW

Kemi (high power exec), Brittany-Rae (former flight attendant), and Muna (refugee) don‘t know each other but soon their lives unexpectedly intersect through the same influential white man in Sweden. Fast-paced with complex characters. This book explores racism, tokenism, and more, through the nuanced experiences of three Black women living in a white-dominated society. She pulls no punches. Emotionally SO HEAVY but SO GOOD.

“I am dying, come collect your inheritance”
this book feels like a YA version of encanto with some darker themes in places. the world is so brilliant, the characters, the magic, the multi-generational story telling is all so well done. I really enjoyed this and was trying to figure out Orquídea‘s past the whole time, but Marimar, Rhi, and Rey were such great characters to focus on as they grow and learn about their grandma postmortem & their magic

Queenie is so frustratingly human. while it‘s easy to say from the outside that you‘d never make these decisions while you‘re seemingly spiraling after being dumped and kicked out of your apartment and misunderstood by your boss and your family, you never know. this book is character driven so it can be a bit slow but Queenie‘s growth was commendable, standing up for herself and admitting she needed help to a family that didn‘t get it. well done.

this book is supposed to be feminist literature about finding your path in life & in the movement, & even though this book is long, I don‘t think it says much. this book is inherently white feminist & catered towards the issues the movement has in privileged circles. it‘s so much build all for our MC to end up with a husband, baby, a brownstone & a best-seller spouting ideas similar to the mentor who betrayed her. no intersectionality in sight.

the lives of 3 generations of women in a Palestinian/Palestinian-American family and how they see the world differently and what they want for themselves and the women in their lives. what they‘re willing to put up with to survive bc “a woman is no man”, and where they have to draw the line and fight. this book was so emotional and made me cry MANY times but it is so beautifully done, jumping through time and through each woman‘s perspective.

we love Desi rep in a romance, not sure I know of many others. this second chance romance was more slow burn than I anticipated but the characters were sweet, the growth was set to a more realistic timeline and one of the MC‘s forcing them to actually talk things out and not just yell at each other once and all problems solved. definitely enjoyed.

a re-imagining of Peter Pan. honestly, I didn‘t start enjoying this book until the last hundred pages maybe? i like the premise, the new take on Peter Pan as a person, the magical realism of it buuut it just felt really slow for most of it with not much happening until it all blew up. but I still enjoy his writing and am a die hard fan of Cemetery Boys so I‘m not giving up on Aiden yet.

a novel written in verse about a Black teen wrongfully convicted and sent to prison. Amal narrates his story as he goes through this traumatic event and the parallels he sees in prison and school and the various racial based aggressions he faces.

*please check TW first, which is ironic as she discusses trigger warnings as helpful but also not to assume what people need protecting from*

“I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn‘t make certain choices for ourselves.”

“I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all”

“It‘s hard to be told to lighten up because if you lighten up any more, you‘re going to float the fuck away.”

what happens when a failure of a bank robber is forced into creating a hostage situation. this book went from making me laugh out loud to pondering some deep thoughts. overall, a gentle reminder that everyone is going through something you don‘t know about. almost everyone in this book is connected to someone else in some way and I spent the majority of the book confused and trying to figure it all out, but in a fun way. mostly.

new girl boss just dropped !!! Zetain fights so hard against patriarchal definitions and heteronormative ideals that she becomes the opposite of all of them, becoming the Iron Widow, a female pilot who sacrifices the men who are supposed to be using her as a sacrifice. she is angry and brutal and bloodthirsty and you will bow down

Lillian is in her 80s and has lived in New York for 60 years. she was once the highest paid female advertising writer, until marriage, motherhood and a mental breakdown ended her career early. on New Year‘s Eve, she walks 10 miles through the city, interacting with people from all walks of life, thinking about her past and the present. a bit slow and didn‘t go where I was hoping it would but ultimately, it‘s a love letter to big city life.

i don‘t enjoy true crime so I don‘t know why I read this. while the author was trying to be humorous, it felt a little too girl-boss for me sometimes, I mean, they were murderers ya know? but it was interesting to hear about the public perceptions of them and how they potentially used them to their advantage.

Alicia is a famous painter who has been accused of murdering her husband, but she hasn‘t spoken a word since. several years later a psychotherapist, Theo, becomes invested in her case, wanting to get her to finally speak about what happened.
I made it through most of the book before I finally started to figure out what was going on, twisty turny plot for sure and very worth it. how I looked for the end of part 3 and part 4: 🤯

Logan‘s dads are paranormal investigators and when they take her back to their hometown and local teens start going missing, she has to question everything she thought she knew about herself and her family, to protect them all. and why does the first victim‘s girlfriend, Ashley, want to team up with her? a dark and suspenseful paranormal mystery, with LGBTQIA+ rep. tbh this book could have been shorter but I enjoyed it still.

happy women‘s history month
some of these were interesting as hell, funny how much women can get away with bc they‘re inherently more trustworthy and less threatening

Delilah agrees to photograph her estranged step sister‘s wedding and wedding week festivities, only to find out her sister is about to marry a man who sucks, their relationship may be more complicated than she knew oh and also, her sisters best friend is hot and single. more serious and emotional in some parts than anticipated when discussing her childhood and her love interest‘s hardships as a single parent but still loved it, 10/10

a memoir of Michelle‘s life and losing her mother to cancer, she dives into her complex relationship with her parents, growing up as a Korean American, and finding her identity. Michelle is a great writer and story teller, her memoir could read like a story, and her music is really good too.

London & Dahlia are both competing in a cooking show, but their growing connection quickly becomes as important as winning, especially when either of them could go home anyday. really loved the inclusion & authenticity of London as a non-binary character. I liked that there wasnt too much turmoil, that they got to focus on themselves and their growing relationship. thoroughly enjoyed. I‘ll even allow the 3rd act break up bc of how they made up

this book is told by the journalists that broke the Harvey Weinstein story. the survivors‘ stories and journalistic and legal details that went into gathering information and breaking the story.
they also were involved with Christine Blasey-Ford‘s journey.

absolute killer of a dedication. this book allows us to journey with Gloria as she reveals the extraordinary in ordinary life and her call to action for the freedom of all. she shares her life as a global freedom fighter, inviting readers to continue the journey - and the struggle. a revolutionary woman who helped steer the women‘s movement while acknowledging her privilege as a white woman to take on that role.

a story about the heavy and sometimes toxic expectations set on the backs of first-generation children, the pressures of the family dynamic, socially and culturally, and the weight of childhood secrets. and ultimately the liberation that taunts all young people and leads Ada to brush off the destiny others have tried to assign to her and claim ownership of her body and her future.

a collection of short essays by Hunt and others that together form a chorus of Black diasporic voices across continents, covering the politics of Black hair, self-acceptance and white beauty standards, activism, motherhood, “the abysmally poor maternal health outcomes of Black women,” and more. speaks on current social moments such as Black Panther and Aretha Franklin‘s funeral. really enjoyed Kenya‘s writing and story telling.