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amelianotthepilot's reviews
802 reviews
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
5.0
i think this will be my favorite book of the year. its unabashedly queer. its about travel. its about love. its about good food.
this book has everything: a euro tour, childhood best friends to lovers to exes to lovers, second try romance but in the pretties places in Europe all ✨ paired ✨ with wine and food.
Theo and Kit were supposed to go on a Euro food and wine tour together four years ago but on the flight there, they break up. Four years later, and four years without talking, they coincidentally end up on the same Euro food and wine tour. Their vouchers were expiring and they both separately decided to go solo on the trip until they show up and see each other on the bus. Since their breakup Kit never returned to the US and instead graduated from a fancy patisserie school and has become labeled a sex god by his classmates. Meanwhile, Theo has started a bartending side hustle and is training to pass the sommelier test. Together they decide to act like adults and continue on the trip with perhaps a little sexy competition. They eat and drink their way through London, Dover, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint Jean De Luz, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinqueterre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Napoli, and Palemero.
Some of the hottest and spiciest scenes I've ever read. 10/10 (poly, bi, nonbinary, queer)
this book has everything: a euro tour, childhood best friends to lovers to exes to lovers, second try romance but in the pretties places in Europe all ✨ paired ✨ with wine and food.
Theo and Kit were supposed to go on a Euro food and wine tour together four years ago but on the flight there, they break up. Four years later, and four years without talking, they coincidentally end up on the same Euro food and wine tour. Their vouchers were expiring and they both separately decided to go solo on the trip until they show up and see each other on the bus. Since their breakup Kit never returned to the US and instead graduated from a fancy patisserie school and has become labeled a sex god by his classmates. Meanwhile, Theo has started a bartending side hustle and is training to pass the sommelier test. Together they decide to act like adults and continue on the trip with perhaps a little sexy competition. They eat and drink their way through London, Dover, Paris, Bordeaux, Saint Jean De Luz, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Cinqueterre, Pisa, Florence, Chianti, Rome, Napoli, and Palemero.
Some of the hottest and spiciest scenes I've ever read. 10/10 (poly, bi, nonbinary, queer)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
4.0
didnt realize how gay this book is
what makes a monster and what makes a man?
what makes a monster and what makes a man?
Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
4.5
A fun addition to the PJ universe. I will say this is maybe my least favorite from the whole series. It read as more of a fun holiday novella but still with that fun PJ charm. I think because these ones are only set in NYC area I'm finding the adventures not as epic or thrilling but at the same time having them set in my home is fun.
The book takes place over Halloween weekend in NYC. Percy has to do his second quest for a college recommendation letter and this one is a request to pet sit for Hecate while she parties it up around the world during her holiday, Halloween. Can Percy, Annabeth, and Grover with cameo help from some other CHB heroes keep the chaotic pets inline while also hosting a fun Halloween party?
The book takes place over Halloween weekend in NYC. Percy has to do his second quest for a college recommendation letter and this one is a request to pet sit for Hecate while she parties it up around the world during her holiday, Halloween. Can Percy, Annabeth, and Grover with cameo help from some other CHB heroes keep the chaotic pets inline while also hosting a fun Halloween party?
The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
1.0
this book was insane. how do these keep getting worse and why are they published at 1k+ pages.
now that Culloden has ended the author has really lost the plot but decided to continue on, her new goal: the Revolutionary War. Jamie and Claire really can't catch a break.
At this point however, Claire and Jamie are no longer the fun little couple we know and love, Jamie is now a macho controlling man and Claire now lets him get away with it while she toils away with all the women doing 'womanly things'. What I liked about the story no longer exists.
The plot goes as follows:
-300 pages of nothing happening at a big Scottish gathering on the side of a mountain
-200 pages at Fraser's Ridge Jamie recruiting a militia and then disbanding it (with the most horrific graphic cabin discovery I've ever read)
-300 pages of nothing happening at Jocasta's wedding
-finally, something happens! but all in one chapter: a murder, fire, and evil man with everything resolved
-200 pages of militia from a random person's journal perspective
-Roger hung and then saved (yet again the most horrific thing and all the characters are super insensitive towards his recovery for 100+ more pages)
-100 pages of this weird climax with the dumbest plan I've ever heardto kill Stephen Bonnet (SPOILER unsuccessful)
Ending with the revelation thatJem can indeed go through time and also the return of Ian !who they've been talking and moaning about all book but then ask him 0!ZERO! questions when he shows up!!!!
Not only was this books train wreck it was full of spelling mistakes and continuity errors!!! But honestly that tracks cause there's clearly no editor for a 1000pg book.
now that Culloden has ended the author has really lost the plot but decided to continue on, her new goal: the Revolutionary War. Jamie and Claire really can't catch a break.
At this point however, Claire and Jamie are no longer the fun little couple we know and love, Jamie is now a macho controlling man and Claire now lets him get away with it while she toils away with all the women doing 'womanly things'. What I liked about the story no longer exists.
The plot goes as follows:
-300 pages of nothing happening at a big Scottish gathering on the side of a mountain
-200 pages at Fraser's Ridge Jamie recruiting a militia and then disbanding it (with the most horrific graphic cabin discovery I've ever read)
-300 pages of nothing happening at Jocasta's wedding
-finally, something happens! but all in one chapter: a murder, fire, and evil man with everything resolved
-200 pages of militia from a random person's journal perspective
-
-100 pages of this weird climax with the dumbest plan I've ever heard
Ending with the revelation that
Not only was this books train wreck it was full of spelling mistakes and continuity errors!!! But honestly that tracks cause there's clearly no editor for a 1000pg book.
Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler
3.0
you know i love tea...and perhaps my fault. this does not have the tea you're looking for but instead made me reflect on being a woman in society and in the limelight.
Anna Marie addresses her mental health struggles during the pandemic, her pup Petunia's health journey and loss, and her approach to harvesting her eggs even without having plans of ever having kids.
Anna Marie addresses her mental health struggles during the pandemic, her pup Petunia's health journey and loss, and her approach to harvesting her eggs even without having plans of ever having kids.
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
2.0
gay
i don’t know how this is considered a modern classic the writing isn’t very good and the characters are very flat and boring. the tv show and movie really bring the characters to life and create a dynamic story where this is just a pedophilic rambling queer bait story.
what do you mean “her breasts crushed against his chest”?!?!? she’s 5!!!!!
i was informed that Anne Rice named claudia after her deceased child. Yes, the heavily sexualized female vampire stuck in the body of a 5 year old named after her very own child. perhaps she should go to therapy instead of writing a book.
also dear god why are there no chapters in this book!!?
The plot follows Louis recounting his vampirical life story to a reporter with a tape recorder. An interesting premise that sadly is boring to read but great to watch/listen to. Louis is changed by another vampire, Lestat, who is very selfish and largely frivolous in manner. Lestat wanted a mindless companion which is very queer coded and although Louis does seem attracted to Lestat it is overall an abusive and unhealthy relationship that peaks when Lestat baby traps Louis with a 5 year old vampire, Claudia.
This book can be credited for creating the modern vampire story and I find it interesting how even here vampires are inherently gay but over all the story was lacking and extremely uncomfortable to read with multiple instances of weird pedophilic behavior (ie. Claudia sexualized all the time, the two boys that Claudia presents to Lestat as a present, and the young boy Armand keeps). My only conclusion is that Anne Rice herself is a pedophile.?
i don’t know how this is considered a modern classic the writing isn’t very good and the characters are very flat and boring. the tv show and movie really bring the characters to life and create a dynamic story where this is just a pedophilic rambling queer bait story.
what do you mean “her breasts crushed against his chest”?!?!? she’s 5!!!!!
i was informed that Anne Rice named claudia after her deceased child. Yes, the heavily sexualized female vampire stuck in the body of a 5 year old named after her very own child. perhaps she should go to therapy instead of writing a book.
also dear god why are there no chapters in this book!!?
The plot follows Louis recounting his vampirical life story to a reporter with a tape recorder. An interesting premise that sadly is boring to read but great to watch/listen to. Louis is changed by another vampire, Lestat, who is very selfish and largely frivolous in manner. Lestat wanted a mindless companion which is very queer coded and although Louis does seem attracted to Lestat it is overall an abusive and unhealthy relationship that peaks when Lestat baby traps Louis with a 5 year old vampire, Claudia.
This book can be credited for creating the modern vampire story and I find it interesting how even here vampires are inherently gay but over all the story was lacking and extremely uncomfortable to read with multiple instances of weird pedophilic behavior (ie. Claudia sexualized all the time, the two boys that Claudia presents to Lestat as a present, and the young boy Armand keeps). My only conclusion is that Anne Rice herself is a pedophile.?
The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
5.0
A woman trapped in the attic of a holiday house for 'her own good'. Does his treatment make her insane or is she innately insane, as a woman.
Our Hideous Progeny by C.E. McGill
4.0
This was a really fun Frankenstein-adjacent story! The plot follows Mary an orphan who happens to be the great niece of Victor Frankenstein. From a young age she's always been interested in science but being a woman in the 1800s the best she could do for her future was marry a scientist who respected her as an equal, or so she thought. Her marriage quickly falls apart with her husband after a miscarriage and gambling problem. As a result, they move up to his family home in Inverness and begin a desperate project of attempting to recreate life from the inherited Frankenstein notes Mary has.
A wonderful queer and age of science story with murder, scientific politics and racism and sexism of the time.
It was a bit slow and the beginning and my only disappointment is I wish Nessie was more heavily referenced/alluded to.
A wonderful queer and age of science story with murder, scientific politics and racism and sexism of the time.
It was a bit slow and the beginning and my only disappointment is I wish Nessie was more heavily referenced/alluded to.
The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
2.5
Cozy fantasy Gilmore girls and practical magic book this was not.
This book had so much going on man. Gilmore girls and practical magic vibes sorta yes but also Christianity, cancer death, family reuniting, and a baby entrapment plot.
Our main character Sadie is a casual witch in a small town, she runs a witchy bakery with her Grandma in town and all of the townspeople ?are vaguely witchy as well? or at least accepting and don't care. Sadie has been told all her life that in order for there to be balance in the world, as a result of her having magic, she will go through four heartbreaks in her life. She has already been through two heartbreaks, her boyfriend dumping her and leaving town and her twin brother Seth randomly leaving one day, but now she's faced with a family member dying of cancer and the return of both her ex and her brother. All this while learning about an absolutely insane curse on her family and having to solve that too.
This book has so much going on really. Between every chapter, there's a recipe for whatever food was mentioned in that chapter. This was frankly really annoying, but also unwanted. If she wanted to write a cookbook, do that instead? Or maybe include all the recipes in the back, or on a blog? On top of that there's basically three different plots happening: Sadie reuniting with her sibling Seth and reconnecting with her family, Sadie reuniting with her ex and coming to terms with his new relationship but also falling in love again, Sadie coming to terms with her grandmother Gigi's death, and her family's overall curse and restoring balance. Overall definitely needed better editing and maybe a few of the plots taken out completely.
I also found the Christianity element bizarre. They went to church and were part of the church community which is fine and good as character traits and values but what jarred me as a reader was everyone in awhile the author would make some sort of really specific Bible reference that would completely loose me. (I am not religious and only vaguely know Bible stories)
All in all this book was messy and overhyped.
This book had so much going on man. Gilmore girls and practical magic vibes sorta yes but also Christianity, cancer death, family reuniting, and a baby entrapment plot.
Our main character Sadie is a casual witch in a small town, she runs a witchy bakery with her Grandma in town and all of the townspeople ?are vaguely witchy as well? or at least accepting and don't care. Sadie has been told all her life that in order for there to be balance in the world, as a result of her having magic, she will go through four heartbreaks in her life. She has already been through two heartbreaks, her boyfriend dumping her and leaving town and her twin brother Seth randomly leaving one day, but now she's faced with a family member dying of cancer and the return of both her ex and her brother. All this while learning about an absolutely insane curse on her family and having to solve that too.
This book has so much going on really. Between every chapter, there's a recipe for whatever food was mentioned in that chapter. This was frankly really annoying, but also unwanted. If she wanted to write a cookbook, do that instead? Or maybe include all the recipes in the back, or on a blog? On top of that there's basically three different plots happening: Sadie reuniting with her sibling Seth and reconnecting with her family, Sadie reuniting with her ex and coming to terms with his new relationship but also falling in love again, Sadie coming to terms with her grandmother Gigi's death, and her family's overall curse and restoring balance. Overall definitely needed better editing and maybe a few of the plots taken out completely.
I also found the Christianity element bizarre. They went to church and were part of the church community which is fine and good as character traits and values but what jarred me as a reader was everyone in awhile the author would make some sort of really specific Bible reference that would completely loose me. (I am not religious and only vaguely know Bible stories)
All in all this book was messy and overhyped.
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew
5.0
Wyatt grew up surrounded by cult activity on her family's farmhouse in Maine in the middle of the woods. Every summer men would come to the house and do odd things all summer with her father leading them. With the men came too boys her age, Peter and James. James was a posh English kid and Peter an abused shy kid.
It's been three years since she's seen them, three years since she's been to the house since her mother took her and left to Salem. Wyatt's never heard a word from either of her 'friends'.
Not until now, when James's father shows up on her doorstep to tell them her father's dead and she has inherited the house and his 'business'. She returns to the house alone with plans to burn it to the ground and all it stood for only to find Peter tied up with branches in the basement for who knows how long. She has no cell service but somehow a call from James gets through telling her not to do anything until he get's there, it's dangerous and he's on his way from London right now.
This book was spectacular, ooky spooky, and super dramatic and I loved every second. Spooky woods, a Gothic haunted farm house, untrustworthy everything-what more could you want?
Also it had big marauders influence vibes to me: James a posh English golden boy and Peter a shy forgotten quite boy. Big maruader's energy which I of course loved.
It's been three years since she's seen them, three years since she's been to the house since her mother took her and left to Salem. Wyatt's never heard a word from either of her 'friends'.
Not until now, when James's father shows up on her doorstep to tell them her father's dead and she has inherited the house and his 'business'. She returns to the house alone with plans to burn it to the ground and all it stood for only to find Peter tied up with branches in the basement for who knows how long. She has no cell service but somehow a call from James gets through telling her not to do anything until he get's there, it's dangerous and he's on his way from London right now.
This book was spectacular, ooky spooky, and super dramatic and I loved every second. Spooky woods, a Gothic haunted farm house, untrustworthy everything-what more could you want?
Also it had big marauders influence vibes to me: James a posh English golden boy and Peter a shy forgotten quite boy. Big maruader's energy which I of course loved.