crackedspines_'s reviews
149 reviews

OVERALL: I adore this book. Hannah Moskowitz NAILED the Dirty Dancing vibes! Add in the unapologetic Jewish rep, lesbian journey of discovery, and Trans Dad and Sugar Summer is (almost) the perfect book.
PLOT: My one major problem with the book is the romance. Yes, I knew from the start who the couple was going to be. It’s a Dirty Dancing retelling. But Mara is 20 and Esther is 17. Obviously that’s an adult and a minor. But my issue is not with just that. It’s with the way Mara treats Esther throughout the first half of the book - she constantly called Esther young and a baby and treated her like a child. That dynamic plus their ages made the relationship really uncomfortable.
SETTING: I love that Moskowitz took the classic Dirty Dancing setting and wrote it as a Jewish summer resort.
THEMES: Sugar Summer is full of comforting, important, honest themes. It explores antisemitism, racism, classism, queerphobias, and self-discovery. My only issue was the scene where the POC love interest spent pages telling the white main character how she’s “different” and not like other white people. Moskowitz is light skinned, and Mara is not, so that was very uncomfortable and white-people-pleasing.
WRITING: The writing was solidly okay. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t dislike it. There are a fair amount of typos. It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me because the book is so good, but it could’ve used another round of edits.
CHARACTERS: I love the characters. Esther’s development is amazing. It’s really powerful to read about her journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Tristan is literally one of my favorite characters EVER. He is the ultimate Wise Older Queer, and his character was infinitely comforting to me.

Rep: many lesbians, panic attacks/disorder
The only saving grace of this book was that it’s sapphic. There were MANY lesbian characters, and their queerness was fully normalized. Which was really nice. The anxiety rep was *okay.* I loved the normalization of mindfulness/grounding/coping techniques that a lot of people dismiss as silly or childish or unrealistic. These are things that genuinely do help a lot of people with anxiety and panic disorders (myself included), and we need to stop making fun of them. But overall the rep felt a bit forced and stilted? It’s certainly not bad rep, and I won’t say it’s inaccurate, especially since the author based a lot of it off her own experiences. What I mean is the way it was written was awkward and forced.
Other than that, I won’t hesitate to say I hate this book. I went into it hoping to just laugh at the ridiculousness of a reindeer shifter romance, and obviously that part was indeed ridiculous. The main character ate hay in human form, and the shifters don’t own actual clothes?? They just morph to be wearing whatever outfit they want instead of putting on clothes. But the entire premise was really creepy and uncomfortable??
The plot of this book is that someone is going around and talking people out of believing in Santa. The reindeer and elves have magic phones that allow them to track who believes and who doesn’t and who’s naughty and nice (including lists of exactly the “naughty” and “nice” things they do). So to “fix the issue,” the reindeer and elves stalk the people who stopped believing, and convince them to believe in Christmas again. It’s not okay to fully STALK people, use that information to visit them at their houses, places of work, etc., and take it upon yourself to change their beliefs.

Rep: pansexual main character, lesbian* Chinese love interest, sapphic side character, genderfluid side character
OVERALL: There’s Magic Between Us was a sweet, enjoyable read centered on magic, self discovery, and queer joy. I had some issues but overall I loved it and highly recommend it.
PLOT: The pacing worked really nicely for this story, and the plot twists! Every one surprised me even more than the last, but there was enough buildup to each one that they felt realistic for the story + characters.
SETTING AND WORLD-BUILDING: There are two main settings, Fairbrooke/the forest and

Fierborne

, and they’re both so captivating. The settings and magic system are very well-developed. The magical elements are strongly present, but not so much that it’s overwhelming. I’d still categorize this as magical realism. I wish I could spend more time in the forest!
WRITING: Overall, the writing was nice. I don’t have any strong feelings about it. But there were parts that were repetitive, where I wish the author had come up with a different detail to focus on or way to describe the situation. There was also one line that felt somewhat trans exclusionary. When Lydia and Eden meet, Lydia thinks “I do sort of want to find out if she’s into girls, though. It’s always good to know if your friends are some flavor of queer or not.” It’s not blatantly transphobic or anything, but it does imply that by finding out if Eden likes girls she will inherently know if Eden is queer or not.
CHARACTERS: Lydia, the main character, is headstrong and fierce, and she made for a fascinating POV character. I loved her at the beginning of the book, but also loved seeing her development. I also loved Eden’s character; her backstory was very well-developed! But I had some issues with the Asian rep there. Eden is Chinese and is described several times as having “golden skin,” but she’s depicted as very pale on the cover. If she has gold skin, the cover should reflect that, and it’s not realistic for her to blush, which she did once towards the end of the book. If she’s pale-skinned, gold is not an appropriate descriptor.

*the word “lesbian” is never specifically used, but when the love interest is asked about what she looks for in a potential partner, she only mentions girls.

This book is so far out of my comfort zone. It’s an adult romance, it’s about cowboys in the south. I was excited, but also a bit hesitant, to pick it up. But I’m so glad I did. Caroline’s Heart is a strange little book, and I say that fondly. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever read.
The characters are so strong and well-developed. Cecily is introduced as a prickly, aloof witch, and throughout the story she both grows and reveals more of her story. Roy is the absolute SWEETEST. He may be 25 but he is my BABY.
Despite the historical, south setting, Caroline’s Heart is full of trans joy and acceptance. A little thrill went through my heart when Roy was met with complete acceptance and understanding.
The magic system in this book was utterly fascinating. The more I learned about how magic worked in this world, the hungrier I grew for more! Maybe I just don’t read enough fantasy, but I thought the magic was so cool and very different.
At under 100 pages, Caroline’s Heart is an extremely quick read. It took me a while because I am disabled but for most people it would be quick. And I did read the last four (out of nine) chapters all in one go.
I can’t wait for this book to go back into print in July so I can buy a physical copy and annotate the SHIT out of it.

OVERALL: I adore this book. It’s one of the best books I’ve read. The complex, thoughtful exploration of grief + loneliness was beautiful. I cried multiple times while reading and used a ridiculous amount of tabs.
STRUCTURE: I really liked the dual, sorta-non-linear timeline. It made a lot of sense for this story.
THEME: This book explored a lot of complicated, emotional themes. It was a very authentic representation of grief, loneliness, and family.
WRITING: Mason Deaver’s writing was striking. They put so many elusive feelings into words so perfectly.
CHARACTERS: The characters were dimensional and unique and real - Marcus and Ethan both had many layers, as did Vanessa and Joel, but in a very different way. The characters had full, satisfying arcs and all felt like their own individual people. I especially enjoyed the raw, honest portrayal of Liam’s grief. He was not always a likable character in the most strict sense; he fucked up sometimes. But I liked them more for it. It felt REAL, to show them reacting that way to the loss of their brother.

OVERALL: This is a really cute, informative book that would be so great for children. I love the illustrations as well as the factual information included.
STORY: It was so fun to follow Jack and Michael’s journey and learn more about America’s first legally married gay couple, as well as the battle towards marriage rights for all queer couples.
STRUCTURE: The blurb about the real Jack and Michael and timeline at the end were nice! However, I wish there was slightly more info included in the timeline. For example, it mentions the Defense of Marriage Act, but doesn’t explain what the act was, so a reader who hasn’t previously heard of DOMA has no idea if that’s good or bad for queer couples. The other issue I had with the book is that the text was REALLY small. This makes it inaccessible to many disabled readers, including myself; I was only able to read it because I had a digital copy and could zoom in.
ILLUSTRATIONS: I absolutely love the art style of the illustrations! the muted, vintage color palette added such a nice vibe and the drawings were so detailed.

This review is going to be very unstructured since this book is nonfiction and heavily based around the author’s life experiences.
This book was really really good. I’ve heard so many people talk about it, and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to read it! Alok Vaid-Menon put to words so many experiences I’ve had but never knew how to describe. They did such a great job of explaining what it’s like to be non-binary/genderqueer and/or gender non-conforming. Vaid-Menon’s writing is beautiful and emotive.
This book is great for both trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people as well as cis people. I think a lot of non-cis people will find much of the book relatable and familiar, as I did, while cis people will learn a lot from it. The author uses a lot of helpful metaphors to help demonstrate concepts and experiences. Even if you consider yourself an ally/well versed in trans issues, you’ll learn something. I’m non-binary and consider myself pretty aware, and I still learned quite a bit!
Beyond the Gender Binary is certainly an educational book, but it’s also a celebration of gender diversity and non-conformity, and it was an absolute delight to read.

OVERALL: I was really excited for this book but it was a disappointment. Between the harmful rep, Harry Potter references, toxic relationship, and general bad writing, I didn't much enjoy this book.
PLOT: The plot was very weirdly paced, specifically the romance and Scottie's arc of healing from Tally. Both of these plot threads started out veeeery slow, and in the last 10-20% of the book suddenly were resolved with little to no buildup or exploration.
SETTING: Grandma Earl was a really cool setting! I liked it a lot. It was really unique and interesting, and I also enjoyed the contrast between Grandma Earl and Candlehawk.
THEME: I was really hoping for and expecting a nice, thoughtful exploration of toxic relationships and healing from them, but instead I got whiplash from how quickly Scottie went from loving Tally to being completely over her. I didn't see any growth or learning on Scottie's part; instead, I only knew how she was feeling and stuff because the author told me.
CHARACTERS: I really liked Honey-Belle. She was so sweet and authentic, and I love that she was an "innocent" character who was allowed to stay innocent and happy as opposed to being "introduced to the real world." I also liked Irene a lot - she was also very authentic, and she was determined and strong and honest. However, I really didn't like Scottie. Throughout the first ~80% of the book, she was selfish and very rude to Irene, and she made a lot of really stupid choices. Throughout the book, she didn't really have a proper growth arc; instead, the author basically just told the reader that Scottie had learned and was better now. Additionally, the rep was really bad. The Indian rep was SO harmful. It played into many stereotypes - e.g. very strict doctor/lawyer parents, Indian parents highly valuing grades and not supporting "frivolous" activities like art or cheerleading for a career, etc. - and it was also inaccurate. There are several instances in the book where Irene blushed. Indian people rarely blush, especially someone as darkskinned as Irene is based on the cover. It was also a really weird choice for the author to make Irene and her entire family devout Catholics. Obviously some Indians are Catholic/Christian, but the majority of Indians are Hindu or Muslim, and Irene mentions that her family is from Kerala, where less than 19% of the population is Catholic. It felt like the author just wanted to pick something easy that didn't require research. Also, I do not want to overstep, but the Black rep seemed pretty harmful to me based on what I have heard many Black bookstagrammers talk about. Danielle seemed to exactly fit into the harmful "supportive Black character" stereotype.

CWs for this review: rape (in PLOT)
OVERALL: I very much did not enjoy this book. Throughout the first half, I only had minor issues, but from there it went steadily downhill. I love the concept and wish I’d been able to enjoy it more.
PLOT: The main/overall plot was really good, and I liked it. But the middle was reeeally slow. Also, the entire Arthur subplot was very disturbing and made me really uncomfortable. The way the Zarrins treated him was shitty (it was addressed at the end, but it still bothered me), and also the fact that practically the entire Zarrin family was either romantically or sexually involved with him was weird. It’s also unclear whether some of those relations were consensual.

For example, towards the end of the book when Arthur explains everything that happened to him, he makes it sound as though he had no choice in being with Persephone just because she wanted it. And when Persephone recounts those same events, she doesn’t seem to have gotten his consent, and she was also physically violent towards him.

I think the homophobia towards Rhys was never properly addressed. And lastly, this is more of a personal preference, but I thought it was ridiculous how much of the plot relied on Eleanor being really oblivious. Most of the events of the book never would’ve happened if Eleanor just stopped consciously ignoring all of the signs in front of her.
STRUCTURE: No major issues with structure, but the long monologues at the end just didn’t work for me. It was hard to stay interested/invested.
THEME: There was an underlying conflation of violence with romance in this book, which is obviously not good.

What really solidified that for me was Persephone telling the story of the time she first went after Arthur to “know what Miklos sees in him”.

CHARACTERS: I liked the queer rep, but I didn’t like the way it was handled. Idk if that makes sense. For the most part it was pretty casual rep, but Eleanor also reacted pretty poorly to finding out that certain characters were queer. And it seemed as if the author/characters were avoiding saying the words “gay” or “queer.” Specifically,

when Eleanor sees Arthur dancing with her father, she thinks “Maybe Rhys meant something to him, something I didn’t. Something I could never mean. Maybe Father had, too, once. Arthur was...I didn’t know what Arthur was.” Now obviously Arthur being attracted to men doesn’t mean he’s GAY, but the phrasing makes it seem like Eleanor is specifically avoiding saying gay <i> or </i> queer <i> or </i> bi, etc.

I read this for school. It was okay, very creepy for sure, but honestly I think the writing was lazy and sloppy. The good idea was there but the executionw as short. I expected much more from Stephen King given how popular he is.