Edward is a creepy, homicidal stalker and I wish my teen self had understood this at the time. The whole story is essentially misogynistic with Bella being used as a pawn to hurt Edward at points and Bella being viewed as someone deserving to die just for existing?? Not to mention that gang rape against women is a plot point TWICE.

Just a huge nope as to how this can be viewed as a romance and I hope we can all get that now.

Just about to dive into this and I'm so appreciative of the environment that they're setting up in the introduction prior to what will probably be a somewhat heavy and challenging book.

Reading this book is basically a collision of my teen and adult selves.

FYI for anyone going for the audiobook version of this, it's a whopping 26 hours.

This book is making me confront and consider so many things.

Why is so much of the English language gendered for no good reason? (Waiter/waitress, actor/actress, 'lady judge', 'girl boss', comedian/comedienne etc.) Why are disabled bathrooms not gendered but bathrooms for able bodied persons are? Why are some cis folk against trans people having surgery, but not intersex people?

Just absolutely fascinating and so eye-opening. Would recommend.

This is fascinating so far and in bite sized parts as well.

“Our concepts of gender and class are intrinsically connected because of the way that capitalism attributed a greater financial value to some labour (male, upper/middle-class) than to others (female, working-class).“

Gosh I love this comic so much.

Do I know a thing about fencing? Nope.
Do I like rich boys who think they're better than everyone else? Nope.
And yet I care about all of these characters so much.

How they come together as a team and secretly care about each other is just perfect!! And the mystery of some of the characters and the slow burn between Nicholas and Seiji is just SO good.

There's just something about books that use humour to highlight how abhorrent and widespread racism is that I really connect with. Like D. L. Hughley's books, Think Like A White Man offers a look at racist Britain by exploring the White Man, and how detrimental that is to Black men.

With racism and classism abound, Boulé offers humorous yet informative tips on how best to tackle this. If I could rate this more than five stars then I would.

Been in a bit of a book slump lately but picked this up today and it's SO good. A collection of feminist essays written by Muslim women exploring so many topics.

The media often misrepresents Islam and the amount of free will Muslim women have, and this book sets to right that. Promoting intersectional feminism, these essays are an amazing illumination of the internal and external pressures on Muslim women.

A fascinating autobiography of how a college student who turns to stripping in order to support her education and how both her and the strip club grow over the almost decade that she works there. An intimate and real look at strip clubs, Jennifer discusses all the downsides of being a stripper, but also the invaluable ideals that it taught her.

cw: racism, anti-semitism, misogyny, sexual assault

This definitely had a lot more plot than other histrom f/f stories I've read and it was genuinely a really interesting story with multiple women being leading figures in science in the 1800s. I think in this case I preferred the plot to the relationship, but there were definitely interesting moments in both.

Not my favourite but definitely worth a read due to how well-rounded it is.

So basically, this is a comic about a barista who can see ghosts when she drinks a lot of coffee, the owner of the cafe/coffee bean company that she subsequently falls for, and how their love defeats an evil ghost.

What more could you possibly want from a comic?
Free to read with Kindle Unlimited / Prime.

The colouring for this comic is so strange but also really pretty.

This book warmed my heart so much. A 'disgraced' lady and a servant, both down on their luck, meet and feel an immediate attraction to each other, though they try not to. As they fall for each other they both dream of better lives and manage to get them, whilst blackmailing misogynistic men in the process!

This was sweet and hot and just perfect. Definitely might go on a f/f histrom spree now.

Just seen this is 99p on Kindle so that'll be one of my next reads ($1.24 on Amazon US for those interested)

Whilst Mask Off could've done with a bit more editing (spelling and grammar mistakes), this is a great look at how men can help each other to combat toxic masculinity.

Looking at how race, class, gender, sexuality, and society affect men and how they act towards others. JJ Bola identifies tools and practices that can be used in order to promote self-love and love and respect of others which would be great to actually see implemented.

A collection of 40 life stories spanning a variety of topics including infidelity, addiction, rape, family, mental health, illness and religion, this book is at times a difficult read whilst also being relatable.

It's easy to have sympathy for the subjects, even if they have done something wrong, and every story is fascinating or heartbreaking in its own way.

I loved both King of the Dragonflies and Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender so I thought I'd go back and read Hurricane Child by them. What a great decision that was.

In just over 200 pages this book explores feelings surrounding family, sexuality, AND spirits. What more could you want from a book?

cw: severe bullying, abandonment, homophobia, violence, racism

I didn't enjoy this as much as How Not to Get Shot but D. L. Hughley still brings his signature satire and humour to this in order to discuss racism in America.

I think I need a bit more action and plot in my books than this one offered. Other than one character helping to nurse the other whilst he was ill and the changes in their relationship absolutely nothing happened. I just didn't connect with it as much as the first book in the series.

Definitely giving Cat Sebastian another chance and will be reading her Turner series, especially seeing as it concludes with a f/f book.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first which is a shame. It's definitely a more serious/less fluffy story than the first and I didn't feel the chemistry as much but there were some nice scenes.

cw: past sexual abuse of MC

There is just something about historical romance that really does it for me. This one is set in the 1800s and about a vicar/tutor and a captain. How scandalous.

Whilst not my favourite collection of essays, this anthology featuring women of colour is an interesting read. Covering a variety of topics which have affected their identity, the authors give advice to their younger selves regarding self-acceptance. No matter if you‘re a WOC or not, everyone will find something to relate to whilst reading this.

Wouldn‘t we all though.

Conked out right after finishing this book last night but I absolutely loved it. An incredibly feminist book looking at how the society/patriarchy has contributed to gender roles and double standards for women. Florence looks at how queer women and women of colour are either sexualised or demonised by men and don't fit into the archetype of a 'perfect woman'.

A lot of pushing self-love and staying true to yourself which I loved too.

Definitely the best book in the series and a great conclusion that gave a lot of answers. Whilst I'm not keen on most of the characters, the story is really interesting and I love the clever teen detective solving a mystery.

Book #4 has been announced as a standalone mystery which is going to be really interesting and hopefully keep the story tight and concise.

A book that is part memoir, part non-fiction, Natives is somewhat lyrical in discussing race and class (no surprise really considering Akala is a musician). Taking from his own personal experiences, British society, politics and the general Western world, Akala unpacks how he views the world and his fears on the future.

First and foremost, whilst this is a book about both Marizol and Selenis' lives and Marizol's transition, it is overwhelmingly a book about sisterhood. So many topics are covered in this book including the foster care system, homophobia, transphobia, transitioning, family, divorce, allyship, sex work, intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. Unfortunately, most of these topics are common for trans* folx, particularly POC. An important read.

1. The Dark Deception
2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
3. I do actually. If a cover is interesting or well designed then I'm more likely to pick it up but the blurb is as important, if not more important than the cover.

#weekendreads

This is definitely my favourite Alice Oseman novel yet and I absolutely love that it's an #ownvoices aroace book which seem to be so few and far between. Some parts were cringey but Alice's books always seem to be like that for me. The friendships though were probably my favourite part of the entire story.

A collection of some of the #ownvoices trans* books I've read for this week's #integrateyourshelf

I have a couple upcoming releases as well such as Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo and Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky.

Definitely looking forward to seeing other posts to add things to my TBR.

“I didn‘t know what my hobbies were any more, except yearning for romance and reading fanfiction.”

Catching up on my current library reads starting with Truly Devious ✨

Loved it. An insightful look into how feminism can often only benefit white people (especially white middle class people), how POCs may feel left out and how best to combat this.

A wonderful collection of essays/stories from 21 British persons (including some well known figures) about their own personal experiences on what it means to be BAME in Britain and beyond. Exploring travel, representation in the media, sexuality, education and fashion, every chapter offers an insightful look into the intersection of heritage and nationality and how far some people have to go in order to be truly accepting of others/anti-racist.

Dress Coded is the story of an 8th grader starting a podcast to call out her school's discriminatory dress code and to try and remove it.

I think if I was the actual target audience for this book I probably would've enjoyed it more. The audiobook of this also features different narrators for each guest on the podcast which I thought was a nice touch. It will definitely be an important read for children/young teens to promote activism.

“It doesn't take much to be kind“

So I didn't realise this before starting but this book is actually a 28 day workbook that looks at several topics surrounding white privilege, giving the reader reflective questions at the end of each chapter/day which they should use in order to examine how they personally interact with white privilege and racism.

An interesting read and a unique and involving way to approach white privilege/racism.

D. L. Hughley is an amazing narrator (and author) who uses humour to address the racism inflicted upon black people. All of the books I've read so far on racism deal with it in a stark and serious way, whereas How Not to Get Shot uses humour in order to call out some of the ridiculous ways black people are forced to act in order to deal with institutional racism and the gravity of it. A great mix of humour and truth.

Amazing audiobook 🎧

Yes - this book explores debunking racist myths from a scientific POV, courtesy of Adam Rutherford who is a geneticist. It's an interesting way of looking at a social issue and provides further arguments against racism.

No - the author is not black (he's Indo-Guyanese) and therefore he should not be saying the n word, but he does. He's referencing historical terms and terms used in the media but that does not give him a free pass to do so.

Oh boy. At points I thought this was just okay and at other points it just made me so so giddy. I love books involving fake dating and this one actually had a surprising amount of communication for the genre, but some of the obstacles of Oliver and Luc's 'relationship' felt a little bit silly.

Would definitely recommend this though as it surprised me at moments and was overall pretty cute.

This book was pretty cute, and fits in quite a few themes for its length. I definitely related to Sweet Pea trying to navigate her feelings on her parents divorcing and everything that entails.

My only minor niggle is that Sweet Pea did some pretty selfish things in order to try and get her family back together but it is probably something a 13 year old would do and she definitely ended up learning from it all by the end of the book.

A powerful book exploring the journeys to reporting the allegations on Harvey Weinstein and Brett Kavanaugh. All of the women in this book are so brave for speaking up and helping others speak up and it truly opened doors for other people to do the same as them.

My only gripe with his book is that the pivot from HW to BK seems a bit abrupt, but the content is incredibly interesting.

This cover is absolutely gorgeous!

I guess this book is kind of like Veronica Mars meets The Beckoning Shadow which sounds so appealing to me, but instead it just falls a little flat.

Also the MC's female love interest dying and her getting a male love interest within a week whilst she investigates her murder is a tiny bit iffy. Bi women are absolutely still bi if they date men but the bury your gays trope and general violence towards queer women in this is a little hard to take.

The protagonist's 13 year old sister has just hacked the NYPD and I think I might have to suspend disbelief to get through the rest of this book.