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smokedshelves's reviews
483 reviews
Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer
5.0
thank you to putnam’s sons books for young readers and penguinteen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
this was my perfect zombie story. i’m not typically one that gears towards most zombie/post-apocalyptic stories since it veers so heavily into the horror or the gore elements. but this niche of quiet dystopia is right where i strive. don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot of violence on the page, a lot of close calls and on page action. but the majority story follows the rehabilitation after the apocalypse has happened and how quickly it can stray.
it’s focused on survival. on rebuilding connections. and it’s a beautiful story at that. rory and mara’s story is so damn compelling. i could feel the tension, i could feel their yearning and their overwhelming urge to not only survive but hopefully thrive. and, god, just put some sapphics in the same room getting their second chance at love (and life) and oh boy will they pine!! and i eat it all UP. i mean, genuinely, their love story might be one of the best ones out here.
i really don’t want to give too much of the plot away for this story since it’s one that i think is best going in fairly blind and just experiencing what the hardships these girls go through. so let me just leave y’all with this. if brooke decides to make this into a series, where we can explore more of this world, of this post-zombie existence, i would be the FIRST in line to read it up. i think this world has so much potential to share more stories, more regions, hell, even just more of mara and rory’s story is plenty!! i truly see (and hope) this world extending much further.
this is easily one of my top books of the year, i have no doubt. it’s just so damn beautiful and heart wrenching.
this was my perfect zombie story. i’m not typically one that gears towards most zombie/post-apocalyptic stories since it veers so heavily into the horror or the gore elements. but this niche of quiet dystopia is right where i strive. don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot of violence on the page, a lot of close calls and on page action. but the majority story follows the rehabilitation after the apocalypse has happened and how quickly it can stray.
it’s focused on survival. on rebuilding connections. and it’s a beautiful story at that. rory and mara’s story is so damn compelling. i could feel the tension, i could feel their yearning and their overwhelming urge to not only survive but hopefully thrive. and, god, just put some sapphics in the same room getting their second chance at love (and life) and oh boy will they pine!! and i eat it all UP. i mean, genuinely, their love story might be one of the best ones out here.
i really don’t want to give too much of the plot away for this story since it’s one that i think is best going in fairly blind and just experiencing what the hardships these girls go through. so let me just leave y’all with this. if brooke decides to make this into a series, where we can explore more of this world, of this post-zombie existence, i would be the FIRST in line to read it up. i think this world has so much potential to share more stories, more regions, hell, even just more of mara and rory’s story is plenty!! i truly see (and hope) this world extending much further.
this is easily one of my top books of the year, i have no doubt. it’s just so damn beautiful and heart wrenching.
Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding by Maia Kobabe
3.0
thank you to dutton books and penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
i honestly don't have much to say about this one. it was short, fairly informative, and can definitely be helpful for a young person beginning their journey of binding. i wish there was a bit more breakdown of each participant's stories that they included, but that's just me wanting more science surrounding why it's not good to bind in certain ways.
i think, overall, i think there may have been better ways to structure this as it is essentially an informational handout that happens to be in the form of a graphic novel. but maybe that's just personal preference
i honestly don't have much to say about this one. it was short, fairly informative, and can definitely be helpful for a young person beginning their journey of binding. i wish there was a bit more breakdown of each participant's stories that they included, but that's just me wanting more science surrounding why it's not good to bind in certain ways.
i think, overall, i think there may have been better ways to structure this as it is essentially an informational handout that happens to be in the form of a graphic novel. but maybe that's just personal preference
The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic
5.0
i did in fact drop everything to read this and it was totally worth it.
original review
i WILL be dropping everything i’m doing to read this as soon as it’s out.
original review
i WILL be dropping everything i’m doing to read this as soon as it’s out.
The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
4.0
thank you to dial books and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
this book was truly such a blast! my previous experience with adib khorram was with their short story included in an anthology collection, which i had adored. instantly, i knew i wanted to read more from him and especially a full length novel. so when i saw that he was publishing the breakup lists, a book about a theater-loving, queer teen i had to get my hands on it!
and i’m so so glad that i did. not only was the theater nerd out in full force in this book, but there was competitive swimming AND disability representation (which i truly had no idea what present in this book). i wish there was more people shouting about how khorram portrayed our deaf main character (who is wearing hearing aids on the cover i just totally didn’t realize!). while i can not speak personally on the representation as i’m not deaf/hard of hearing, khorram’s depiction of jackson’s disability felt quite accurate. he doesn’t hear everything which is representative has jackson physically missing the words and attempting to fill in the black. his assumptions aren’t always correct. people will get frustrated with him. he communicates with his friends through ASL. it was so incredible to see and was truly the highlight of this books.
as for the writing structure, while i didn’t personally love jackson’s internal monologue crossing things out on page, it does get toned down as we progress through the story. and did sometime’s lead to a laugh. so while it took a while to get used to that stylistic choice, it did become quite workable.
okay, moving onto liam. i love liam. i think he is the sweetest soul, and while he think’s he is a people pleasure, i just know he has the best intentions, even if it does end in disaster. i was so curious to see how his story would play out and i loved how it was executed. while jackson can be very strong with his lists, and his worries, i loved seeing liam’s calm demeanor. i think they were such a great pairing and while they took a while to get where they were, it was worth the trouble.
this book was truly such a blast! my previous experience with adib khorram was with their short story included in an anthology collection, which i had adored. instantly, i knew i wanted to read more from him and especially a full length novel. so when i saw that he was publishing the breakup lists, a book about a theater-loving, queer teen i had to get my hands on it!
and i’m so so glad that i did. not only was the theater nerd out in full force in this book, but there was competitive swimming AND disability representation (which i truly had no idea what present in this book). i wish there was more people shouting about how khorram portrayed our deaf main character (who is wearing hearing aids on the cover i just totally didn’t realize!). while i can not speak personally on the representation as i’m not deaf/hard of hearing, khorram’s depiction of jackson’s disability felt quite accurate. he doesn’t hear everything which is representative has jackson physically missing the words and attempting to fill in the black. his assumptions aren’t always correct. people will get frustrated with him. he communicates with his friends through ASL. it was so incredible to see and was truly the highlight of this books.
as for the writing structure, while i didn’t personally love jackson’s internal monologue crossing things out on page, it does get toned down as we progress through the story. and did sometime’s lead to a laugh. so while it took a while to get used to that stylistic choice, it did become quite workable.
okay, moving onto liam. i love liam. i think he is the sweetest soul, and while he think’s he is a people pleasure, i just know he has the best intentions, even if it does end in disaster. i was so curious to see how his story would play out and i loved how it was executed. while jackson can be very strong with his lists, and his worries, i loved seeing liam’s calm demeanor. i think they were such a great pairing and while they took a while to get where they were, it was worth the trouble.