cat_rector's reviews
76 reviews

This book is not for everyone.

I loved this book because it takes a deep look at every character and displays them not as good or bad, right or wrong, but explores each in a way that shows them as multifaceted humans. Each chapter is a different character, some of them from the queer task force and others from the homophobic town. With the exception of one character, each PoV is used once, for one chapter, and never revisited again, allowing the author to explore eleven different lives as snapshots.

What I loved most about it is inevitably the thing others will hate. Every prospective reader has to decide for themselves if they *want* to be inside the head of a bigoted character, or a character who isn't entirely on the right side of history. Having grown up in a town where many of these characters resemble real people that I've met, it was cathartic for me.

It brought a strange feeling of hope as I watch my own town have their first tiny pride parades and hang their own queer flags in the windows of homes. As I watch queer people living openly in a way that I never saw as a tiny closeted teen. The fictional town reminded me that change is hard and slow. In a fast-paced era that's quick to condemn, it reminded me to be safe, and to extend compassion to people who show the promising capacity to someday fully understand.

But again, these things that I valued in this book will be exactly the reason that others stay away, and I absolutely cannot fault anyone for that. If you're still on the fence about whether you should read it or not, understand that as hopeful as it made me, the book is full of difficult, dark material and should be handled with care.

This book is a wild ride. It keeps you enthralled by making you want answers and when it's all over, you're not sure if you can trust the answers you got. For some people, that's going to make it an unenjoyable experience but I personally loved it. I think my view of the book will change a lot over time, but that's part of what makes it five stars to me. This one is going to linger with me and make me ask myself over and over if I can really trust what I think I know about this book.

This is a fantastic book for cis women looking to overcome hurdles in their sex lives. It tackles topics like shame, social influence, lack of desire, stress, and non-judgemental thoughts. The first half of the book is more theoretical, breaking down the concepts that the author—a sex therapist—uses to guide her clients, and the second half contains the more practical advice of how to get to a more fulfilling place with sex.

I found some of the concepts to be things that I knew in theory, but that I felt I had to continually prove to people in my live over the course of my relationships. It was validating to see things spelled out with evidence and science, and to know that I wasn't just making it up.

This is the first step of a long journey for me to take the shame and doubt out of my relationship to sexual topics, and to unlearn a lot of the nonsense that was put in my lap from the moment I was born.

Booktok did this book dirty.

As frequently happens, a book gets recommended or develops a reputation based on a one-liner or other undetailed comment, and then people go "wait... this... this isn't what I thought." We do it all the time, developing expectations about a piece of media based on a tiny facet of it.

I think that's what happened to We Had to Remove This Post.

It's been billed on Booktok as a deeply disturbing, over-the-top story, and my experience with it was exactly the opposite. It was a graciously undetailed fictionalised version of a non-fiction reality. A slice of life, a character study of a piece of our society that's hidden away from the public eye.

The book, in my opinion, strives to pull back the curtain. Being a member of the internet for a long time, and having dabbled in gamer culture, I've seen more weird shit than I'd have liked to. I've understood for a long time that the internet is full of things you would wish you hadn't seen, so none of the examples in this book surprised me or disgusted me. That may say something about my ability to stomach things, but I've read more graphic descriptions in YA novels. For example, if you've read The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee, the first chapter had a scene about sewing a wound that nearly made me faint on a tram, while this book only made my stomach roll minorly in one spot.

That said, this definitely isn't a book for anyone with a weak stomach, or who can't look at the horrors of the world. I'd suggest reading the Amazon preview if you're unsure because the first chapter will solidify it for you. This book will not be horrific enough for horror fans and too horrific for people who can't read horror. I don't believe it's meant to be categorized as strictly horror. I think it's doing its own thing, showing us how there are people who protect us from the worst parts of the internet, and in doing so, they suffer immensely.

I thought it was smart, interesting, and a critical look at the culture we're a part of.

Tread carefully, but not as carefully as Booktok says.

If you love queer rep, compact stories about wormholes, and the critical examination or corporations and capitalism, you'll probably love this book.

Finna follows two (Ikea) employees as they attempt to rescue a customer from an in-store wormhole, travelling through several dimensions to do it. While they're on the move, they're forced to deal with the aftermath of their recent romantic relationship, and how to navigate being in the same room again.

My favourite parts of this book were one main character's nonbinary rep and it's connection to the plot, and the critical examination of capitalism. The second main character felt very relatable to me in her relationship to working under a corporate structure, and that was pretty validating to be honest.

The audiobook clocks in around 4 hours in length, so if you're looking for something tiny, this might be the book for you.

It's everything I loved about Into the Drowning Deep, and I was so thankful to have it after finishing that book. I feel a book hangover coming on.

I listened to this book as part of my research for blind and visually impaired characters in my books, but I got more out of it than I could have imagined. I recommend this to anyone trying to broaden their understanding of the world, and their understanding of what it means to be deaf, blind, or both.

This one isn't for me. It's clearly beloved, but I also came here from a Five-Star read of Into the Drowning Deep so maybe that's not fair of me. I'm listening to Every Heart A Doorway tho, and having a more Me time with it.

I finished this one and I think I'm just off kilter this month. Objectively it was good and I just wasn't into it the way I wanted to be? Too much going on in my head... but I love the author's writing style and can't wait to start exploring more of her Mira Grant collection!

I LOVED THIS BOOK. If you're into science, love a slow-burn style of writing, are a huge nerd, and lean Left in your view of the world, you'll love it too.

The author is clearly a huge nerd, diving into deep scientific detail about nearly every aspect of this book. It was a beautiful surprise to find out that many of the things we're taught along the way come back somewhere later, like the book was unveiling a scientific mystery not just for the characters but for us. There are also culturally nerdy characters who provide the opportunity to drop nerdy references about DnD, video games, and other things that I deeply appreciated.

The book takes lots of time setting up the pins in order to knock them down, so don't jump into this in a rush. It wants you to get to know it before it starts murdering everyone.

The writing also leans heavily to the left, featuring a very progressive cast for the publishing industry. Off the top of my head, the diverse cast includes deaf, neurodivergent, autistic, and disabled characters. ASL (American Sign Language) appears as a primary language among the cast and is important to the plot. The author yells at the reader about marine conservation, capitalism, and exploitation. If you hate the above, you'll hate this book, but I LOVED this aspect.

I didn't find this book Scary, but I find very few horror novels scary. It's definitely weird and gory and off-putting at times, but that's not what sticks out about this book.

The very best part about it is how every single action taken by the characters is motivated by greed, science, lust for knowledge, and other common human sins. There are many horror movies where you think "come on why would they do that??" But the actions taken here made so much sense to me.

ANYWAY I have to go listen to the prequel now, this has been long enough BYEEEE