Books

Book 1,043: Northranger – Rey Terciero & Bre Indigo

I don’t know how I didn’t know about this one sooner. I mean, I do. Life has been incredibly busy and non-stop post-pandemic, and 2022-2024 was a blur of classes and life, which explains how this 2023 release slipped under my radar, but OMG I’m so glad I found it. Terciero takes Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and turns it into a wonderful MM romance while Bre Indigo does a fantastic job of capturing a Texas ranch in this adaptation.

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Books

Book 1,027: Heartstopper, Vol. 5 (Hearstopper #5) – Alice Oseman

Where do I even start with this series. I’ve read the first four volumes multiple times. With each new release I hold my breath and cross my fingers that Oseman doesn’t somehow pull the rug out from under us. She definitely didn’t this time, it’s just more unadulterated queer joy and I am here for it.

In Volume 5, Nick and Charlie have to come to terms with the fact that Nick is wrapping up secondary school and has to start thinking about his future. And that future includes university options all over the country. What that means for their relationship has yet to be seen.

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Book 980: Out of Character – Jenna Miller

I requested a copy of this from NetGalley the second Jenna mentioned it was available for requests.* You see, Jenna and I started book blogging around the same time all those years ago and I remember bonding over some of our aligned reading tastes, but I also remember when she started to talk about writing and NaNoWriMo and all the other things that went into the drafts and early works of the novel and we’ve stayed in contact on Insta, oh hey internet friend.

So when she announced not only that she got an agent, had a novel accepted, AND that it was about internet friends. I was like OMG I have to read it. And y’all it was 100% worth the read. There is a spoiler or two after the jump so if you want to read it and don’t want to know anything skip it until you’ve read it.

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Book 965: Flamer – Mike Curato

I was not expecting this one to be such a gut punch. I don’t know why because looking at the cover with the flames, the derogatory name, and the unhappy boy scout it should’ve been obvious, but still it got dark.

There was so much in this that I identified with from growing up as a boy scout, being chubby, and figuring out my sexuality. It was like looking in a very unflattering mirror with added identities for the protagonist who was half Filipino and making the transition from private middle school to public high school.

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Books

Book 942: Shaun’s Salvation (Maine Men #5) – K.C. Wells

And Wells pulled me back in! Yes!!! I wasn’t sure she was going to be able to do it after the two lackluster offerings of Seb’s Summer and Dylan’s Dilemma, but she did with Shaun and Nathan’s stories.

Shaun is another member of the core group of friends that no one knows what his sexuality is. There are a couple of friends that are sort of nebulous/fluid and he’s one of them. He put his personal (and sexual) life on hold after his mom died of cancer in high school and his dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

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