Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Buckle up, old sport! The Great Gatsby has entered the public domain, leaving the door open for any author to submit their take on Fitzgerald’s classic. A myriad of sequels, prequels and retellings of the novel have already been published in 2021, or are slated to be releasedRead More
Carolina reads A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
“Dark Academia” is a cultural trend sweeping Tumblr and Tiktok, an eclectic sub-community gauzed in stark, academic aesthetic and darkly gothic themes. On any dark academia moodboard, you can find androgynous tweed suits, dark libraries, sepia-tined cigarette smoke. However, the trend has little place for female characters or sapphic relationships, as it primarily focuses onRead More
Carolina reviews We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
Jen Silverman’s debut, We Play Ourselves, satirizes the contemporary art scene through the eyes of Cass, an embittered former drama wunderkind turned hapless millennial, as she uncovers the secrets behind an up-and-coming feminist documentary. However, behind that beautiful cover and biting wit, We Play Ourselves fails to balance criticism and nuance, and falls prey toRead More
Carolina reviews One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston [Out June 1, 2021]
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Casey McQuiston’s first novel, Red, White and Royal Blue, changed the new adult literary romance genre with its compelling love story of the prince of England and First Son, cementing queer stories’ places on bestseller lists, bookstore shelves and the general public’s hearts. Their follow up, One LastRead More
Carolina reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
It seems apt to begin 2021, a time of reflection and introspection for many, with a YA novel that feels fresh and timeless at the same time. Malinda Lo’s new novel, Last Night at the Telegraph Club echoes with the same beats as my favorite “baby gay” first lesbian novels (e.g. Annie on My MindRead More
Carolina reviews The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan
I’m ashamed to admit I have always preferred boy bands to girl groups. I was a massive One Direction fan back in the day, and still have so much love for each of the boys (especially Harry <3). However, despite my unfamiliarity with the girl group/pop genre as a whole, when I saw The UnravelingRead More
Carolina reviews The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
“Your characters begin to live the way you do, unrepentant. Never reduced to their queerness, only expanded by it. It infuses them in many ways, sometimes subtle, others loud.” What does it mean to be invisible? As queer people, most of us are familiar with invisibility in many forms. For some of us, it’s beingRead More
Carolina reviews The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo
I’ve always felt drawn to queer history; there is a certain comfort in seeing parts of you echoed throughout history, reminders that we have always existed. I’ve always felt attracted to these historical ghosts, found in the coded language of long-gone poets and in unearthed love letters written in candlelit secrecy. Vito Russo’s classic TheRead More
Carolina reviews The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee
“What you do when no one is guiding you determines who you are.” It seems that Avatar: the Last Airbender is the show on everyone’s minds after its addition to the Netflix lineup; this renaissance of Avatar fan culture has sparked countless memes, TikTok dances, and the announcement of a new live action adaptation ofRead More
Carolina reviews The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
“People who say change is impossible are usually pretty happy with things just as they are.” In today’s world, amidst the ongoing tensions caused by the fight for racial equality, isolation from the Coronavirus, and political dissent in the aftermath of a negligent administration, it seems that humanity is more divided than ever. N.K. Jemisin’sRead More