ARC Review: Invasions | A Shining Example of Queer Speculative Fiction

TITLE: Invasions.
AUTHOR: Calvin Gimpelevich
SERIES: N/A
RELEASED: October 2018; Instar Books
GENRE: Speculative Fiction
FORMAT: Paperback

KEY INFO: short stories, queer fiction, bodies, debut collection, #ownvoices
REPRESENTATION: trans women, trans men, amputee, m/m relationships, f/f relationships, transracial adoptee, people of colour, 
CONTENT NOTICES: eating disorder, body dysmorphia, body dysphoria, non-consensual bodily interactions, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, body horror, abusive relationships, gaslighting, potential pedophilia, sexual realignment surgery, humiliation, police violence

amazon // instar books // goodreads

Discussion| Negative Reviews

Sadly I had to put my discussion feature on hiatus for a little bit as I work long hours at the weekends and am usually too tired to post on Sunday evenings (and too disorganized to schedule beforehand!), but it’s back this weekend with something that’s been on my mind a lot over the past month – negative reviews.

Of course, there will always be negative reviews of books no matter how good the book may be to you. Every reading experience is individual and every reader will take away something different, which is why reviews are so great! I love reading reviews by reviewers who have a different opinion or take on a book we both read or are planning to read to see what they think. There are times when these reviews can be really helpful, such as calling out problematic representation, but are there times when negative reviews can be unhelpful or even harmful?

Let’s Discuss | Non #ownvoice reviews

I’ve been thinking a lot about hosting this discussion as it’s something that has really, really bothered me over the past few months. As I’m trans I will use specific examples that I’ve seen of reviews by cis reviewers to demonstrate my points!

I remember reading a review not long after I started book blogging by a fellow #diversebookblogger who had rated a book with trans characters in it very badly. With my curiosity piqued I decided to check the review out to see why the reviewer had rated it so badly as it was a book that I had never heard of or read myself.  The reviewer called the author (and the book out) as being transphobic because they felt that the language used in the book was discriminatory towards trans people and that a lot of the characters were really tropey. Luckily, the reviewer provided multiple quotes and examples to back up their points of how transphobic this book was.

ARC Review: Starfish | Healing, Identity, and Belonging

TITLE: Starfish
AUTHOR: Akemi Dawn Bowman
SERIES: N/A
RELEASED: September 2017; Simon Pulse
GENRE: YA Contemporary
FORMAT: e-Book

KEY INFO: #ownvoice, coming of age, healing, family, romance, artistry
REPRESENTATION: bi-racial, female MC, anxiety, survivor
CONTENT WARNINGS: anxiety, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, parental racism, suicide attempt

amazon // book depository // goodreads

ARC Review: Planetfall | Anxiety Rep in Sci-fi, Bisexual MC, and an Addictive, Character-Driven Plot

TITLE: Planetfall
AUTHOR: Emma Newman
SERIES: Planetfall
RELEASED: November 2015; Ace/Roc
GENRE: Science Fiction
FORMAT: e-Book

KEY INFO:  Founding of a new colony, character-driven, #ownvoice, political secrets, grief
REPRESENTATION: bisexual woman MC, anxiety, hoarding disorder, f/f romance, people of colour
CONTENT NOTICES: depiction of severe hoarding, forcible public intervention against hoarders will, feelings of shame around hoarding, descriptions of hoarding

amazon // book depository // goodreads