crackedspines_'s reviews
149 reviews

I haven’t read this book since Sept of 2020 when I started it for school but didn’t want to admit it was a DNF until now. It is just as incredible as everyone says but given Everything I haven’t had the capacity for it. I *will* be finishing this book but I want to wait until I can do it justice, and at this point I will have to restart anyways.

Please accept this list of Heartstopper volume 1 moments that I love or made me emotional or pulled on my heartstrings or just made me happy in lieu of a “proper” review. Spoilers for the book below!

- “Hi” “Hi”
- “My pen..er..exploded”
- Nick freaking out when Charlie said he might cut his hair
- “Well *I* like you and want you on the team”
- “❤️” “❤️”
- Nick carrying Charlie when he’s going the wrong way during rugby
- OBVIOUSLY EVERY SECOND OF THE SNOW DAY PAGES?????
- “You seem much more like yourself around him” “Do I?” “You do!”
- Charlie teaching Nick the drums 😭😭😭
- Nick trying to hold Charlie’s hand during the movie and bi panicking SO HARD GLSHDJSNGKD
- “You look so cuddly like that” *hug*
- Nick, a blanket burrito: “help me…”
- “WE WON” *run* *picks up Charlie and throws him around*
- Miss Singh telling the rugby lads to shut up about Nick’s sexuality
- “I’m gay […] that’s my girlfriend over there”
- “DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH ME.”
- THE RACE I’M ALFJSJGNS “I’ll race you!” “To where?!” “Anywhere!” and “I’m DYING!” “it’s because you’re old”
- “You’re just gonna assume they’re a she?”
- KISSSSSSSSS
- Nick and Charlie’s journal entries about the day in the snow

OVERALL: Sugar & Spice is a sweet, comforting story full of warmth and trans joy. It’s a short, easy read but still has some depth to it.
PLOT: The book follows Mason in their journey to learn how to bake gluten-free cookies for their crush, Natalie, and it is so cute! I loved watching the two slowly grow closer and lean into the romance. One quick note I have is that there is one line where Mason is referred to using he/him pronouns despite being referred to exclusively as they/them every other time. It’s never explicitly said that they only use they/them pronouns but to only have he/him used once and it not being started that they use multiple sets of pronouns it made me a bit uneasy.
THEME: Both characters are trans and there are themes of trans acceptance and identity woven throughout the story. It’s truly a story of trans joy; Natalie and Mason find comfort and understanding in each other and I appreciated the nuanced portrayal of gender as well as the joy of two trans people feeling safe and accepted. There were so many little details that made the romance even sweeter - the characters asking each other where they want to be touched, turning away while they change, validation of found family.
CHARACTERS: Mason is the absolute sweetest and so lovable. They were also super relatable, both in their anxiety and their experience of gender. Natalie was the same - both characters are the very definition of cinnamon rolls.
I highly recommend Sugar & Spice if you are looking for a short, lighthearted book of trans acceptance and love with cute, cliche-in-the-best-way romance scenes.

ARC REVIEW
Thank you so much to @candlewickpress for my ARC!
REP: agender bisexual main character, demisexual transgender/non-binary love interest, many queer central side characters (trans woman, several polyamorous characters, a pansexual drag queen, etc), Black, Latine, and other POC side characters
OVERALL: This was one of my most anticipated of the year and it did NOT disappoint! It’s my ideal book. Queer-normative, an almost entirely queer cast, sweet, comforting + easy to read. This is a new comfort read for me. I can see myself rereading it whenever I want the familiarity of a reread or to escape.
PLOT: I’m obsessed with the premise of this book. It was so much fun to watch Syd figure out Syd’s magic and try to clean up the messes made by it. The romance was also really cute.
SETTING: the Proud Muffin sounds incredible - freshly made baked goods in a cozy bakery with a queer community space. I’m obsessed with it.
WORLD-BUILDING: The world-building is very light, which I loved. For most of the book there’s minimal explanation of the magic system; just Syd exploring and slowly learning. Towards the end there’s a short explanation that goes a bit more in-depth. I enjoyed the light world-building. It made the book more relaxing. But the explanations at the end were also fun! It was the perfect amount to answer some questions without a complex magic system.
STRUCTURE: The recipes are so fun!!! The recipes for genders and things like “the best day” were fun to read, and all of the baked goods sound delicious. I’m excited to bake my way through this book.
THEMES: Despite being a lighthearted, fun read, The Heartbreak Bakery also delves into some more thoughtful, emotional topics. We follow Syd’s journey of learning Syd has magic and falling in love with Harley, but also of learning more about Syd’s own emotions and facing hard truths about Syd’s ex + their relationship.
WRITING: The writing is absolutely beautiful. The book is full of food/baking metaphors and it really made it feel like I got to see the world through Syd’s eyes.
CHARACTERS: I mentioned this above but Syd has such an amazing character arc. And I loved all of the characters - Harley, Marisol, Jessalee…all of them are well developed, lovable, and fun.

OVERALL: BPAR is an incredible book. The trans rep was so relatable for me, and it covered a lot of important topics. The writing style wasn’t my favorite, and I had some issues, but overall I really enjoyed it. I’m so glad I was able to read this book and I’m excited for Ray Stoeve’s next one!
PLOT: Dean’s growth as a character was so heartwarming to read. I was rooting for him through the entire book and I was very satisfied with the way the book ended.
THEMES: Something I really enjoyed about this book was the discussion of how Dean’s trans identity affected his relationship with Zoe. It’s a difficult topic to discuss but Stoeve did it gracefully. There’s also a strong theme of queer family and community, and it was so sweet. However, there is one scene I didn’t like: when Dean goes to a queer group, he’s too nervous to say his pronouns are he/him, so Jade says he hasn’t picked pronouns (which is what he told her). Then Isaac, the group leader, says “‘No problem […] you have options. He? She? They?’” This positions those as the only options, and it’s not okay to pressure someone into picking pronouns. Some people don’t use pronouns, and some people just aren’t ready yet.
WRITING: I didn’t really like the writing much. Stoeve relied on run-on sentences as well as long sentences that were technically grammatically correct but read as incomplete. This is fully a personal preference though, and even though I didn’t love the writing it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book too much.
CHARACTERS: I have SO MUCH love for all of the characters. Dean, our flawed, trying-his-best trans main character. Ronnie was the absolute best friend, and I love him for that. And while I hate Zoe, she was a complex, well-developed character. I do wish that Allison’s behavior was addressed more head-on, and it was very strange that it wasn’t mentioned that she was Japanese until Chapter 15. Her Japanese identity felt like an afterthought.