Self-Isolation Read - Boy Queen

• Title And Author: Boy Queen by George Lester
• Publisher: Macmillan
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical and eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Both gifted by publisher in exchange for an honest review/reaction
• Length: 400 Pages

I’ve followed George’s video on writing, book reviews and other stuff for quite a while. Hell, I’ve met him once and twice through book blogging events and he is lovely and fun to chat with. So, when it was announced that he had signed a publishing deal and his first book was coming out this summer, I knew I had to get my hands on it. 

So, was thrilled when I managed to get my hands on a physical copy and, because I need to learn to STAY AWAY FROM NETGALLEY (!), an eBook ARC. And, even though I have nearly 300 other books to read (review, bought, gifted, etc), I pushed everything aside and devoured this (self-isolation. What else am I going to do but read all the books that siren call my heart?) 

Robin Cooper’s life is falling apart. While his friends are ready to go to uni, all he seems to be getting is rejection letters from most/all drama schools of the UK and Robin’s life seems to be spiralling. Unsure of himself and his talent, he and his best friends take him to a local gay bar on his birthday to cheer him up and, when there, they watch a local drag show. And Robin gets a strong reaction and he should, in the words of RuPaul, Sashay away. 

But how can he get to grips with drag performing when he has a secret boyfriend who won’t acknowledge in public, his mother can talk for England, his best friends are planning their futures without him and the new boy at school is making Robin’s heart beat a little faster?

DNFing There's Someone In Your House

Surprise PICK MY NEXT NETGALLEY READ!!! (Pics of covers in next tweet to help you out!)

— Andrew Hall (@PewterWolf) August 27, 2017

After I binge-read Doctor Jekyll and Mr Seek (review for that not coming out just yet, I decided to ask Twitter what I should read. I wanted something fun, addictive and edge of your seat. You guys voted for this (though it was a very VERY close call. It changed in the last two minutes as it was a two-way tie!).

And I read. I kinda wanted to read this as soon as I heard of it. A nod to slasher-horror movies by an author who wrote Anna And The French Kiss. Ok, that's going to be an interesting fish-out-of-water read. So when you guys voted for it, I was surprised but was "Yes!" at it. It's outside my (and the author's) comfort zone and I wanted something fun and different.

And I read. I got to the first 15/18% into my NetGalley and I realised that this wasn't the book for me.  And seeing that I don't like lie to hiding this from you guys (I want you to know that it's ok to go "Ok, this book isn't for me" or "You know, I am not in the mood for this now. Let me put it down and come back at a later date"), I better tell you why I'm leaving this.

I just didn't click. I don't know if it's the voice or what was happening in tone but, when I started this, I thought it was going to be Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. I expected it to be tense. I might not be a horror fan, but I like a good psychological scare. But it didn't come across that way. The prologue felt like it fitted this, but it didn't go as far as I was expecting. In fact, we don't see anything. Hell, I'm not even sure we saw the character realise that something awful was about to happen. Then, the genre switches and it went romanic. I get why this switch happened - to build tense and to make us care for these characters - but it felt like a misstep.

The one thing I do like in this is diversity. That is the main thing I approve of, but this book feels like a misstep in advertising. It doesn't feel like a horror/slasher, like I was lead to believe, but a romantic with a serial killer edge.

Now, I am not saying this book is bad. I have read reviews where people have raved about this book. Loved it. But, it's just not for me at this moment in time. And that's ok. Just because I didn't click with it doesn't mean you won't either. You might read it and go "This is good. What was that Andrew guy talking about?!". If you like this, good for you. Read what makes you happy.

Am going to put this down and move on. I will return to this one day when I'm ready. But not yet. I want to blitz my NetGalley eProofs in next few weeks as I can focus on Fate of the Tearling, Origin and The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage at the end of September/throughout October... 

Book Review - Kindred Spirits

World Book Day tomorrow! So, let's chat about one of this year's World Book Day titles: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell!

Set a few days before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Elena joins the line to see the movie. Shame the line is three people, including herself. Nor did she imagine that she might have to pee behind a dumpster or meeting someone who "gets" her...

This is very much a Rainbow Rowell story. It's sweet in tone, has engaging characters and leaves readers wanting me. It has the feel she created in Fangirl (if you liked Fangirl, this is totally up your street). And the relationship between the three characters happened quickly yet naturally - something I really enjoyed.

My only nitpick is that I wanted more. The story ended and I wanted to see what happened next between Elena and another character. We might have to tweet Rainbow and demand another book about this couple...

But this is a fun read! A good gateway into Rainbow Rowell and a lovely ode to fandom.

GoodRead - Fangirl

IT FINALLY HAPPENED, INTERNET! I must be one of the last YA bloggers I know who has only got round to reading this - my first Rainbow Rowell book and the big mama of her books, Fangirl! And I have known about this since its publication date and I have own (ok, won) a copy since the end of last year. But two things happened that made me go "Ok, I need to read this now".

1. I wanted to read Carry On. I mean, wizards. Kissing. Magic. And it's same sex kissing. But I was told that if I might want to read Fangirl before I consider buying Carry On to "get" it.
2. It felt like time. I felt ready to tackle it. I mean, the book must be good to get the hype and attention it's getting. But the hype worried me a little - what if the book didn't live up to my standards? Well, I won't know if I don't read it, will I?

So, *deep breath* here we go...

Cath and Wren used to do everything together. But they're off to uni now and Wren wants to be dance, drink, meet boys, leave Cath behind. But Cath would rather write her Simon Snow fanfic.

But going to uni will have to force her to be more open. Whether she wants to or not, life isn't going to stand still.

Ok, that's not the best description of this book. I'm sure a ton of blogs have written it better, but I don't want to talk about Cath's fan fiction writing. I want to address that later.

Once I got into the story, I liked it. I didn't hate it - but I didn't love it either. I liked it to see why everyone I know loved this book. I get why you love this book, Internet! I do! But, I did have issues with this book - and I will blame the hype around this book for this.

Let's talk about the positives of this book. I liked the characters. Well, all bar one - but I got why he was the way he was. I liked these characters because these characters were refreshingly flawed. They were flawed to a point which, at times, I did go "No one can be this messed up". And that's nice to read about. Humans are flawed and messy and we have more than one flaw. And the characters in Fangirl are flawed. I had mixed emotions over these characters - at times, I was totally on their sides and on others, I wanted to throw the book across the room (I feel sorry for Lucy aka LucyTheReader for, when we met at the Young Adult Weekender a few weekends ago, I had a rant at her about one of the characters. Did I, Lucy? Or was I quite kind? I can't remember - too nervous over our talk)

And I really liked Rainbow's writing. Once I found my stride, I sped through.

But it did take time to get into her writing. Now, I can't tell you if I had problems getting the hang on Rainbow's writing or if I had trouble getting into the book in general (aka the hype around this book). Let me explain. This book has been sold as the book to read if you have been inside a fandom. That this book gets a fandom. And as someone who has/is still part of the Harry Potter fandom, I should be totally on board with this.

But this book ISN'T about fandom. Let me make this perfect clear. This book is about a girl who is figuring out her life - trying to figure out her life and her place in the world now. And oh, she writes fan fiction. The fandom has NOTHING to do with this book - it's part of this girl's life but it isn't the driving force of this book - Cath is.

Now, I have one tiny nitpicking thing which annoyed me - it's no biggie. But it bugged me and I have no idea why. In my edition, it has bonus content. On the inside cover at the start of the book, there are cartoon drawings of the main characters in the books (see right). Which is cool. I like seeing them. Up to a point. I like imagining the characters in my head, but these drawings pushed themselves into how I saw these characters. The only character that fought tooth and nail to be different from the cartoon was Reagan. In my head, she was black (so was Professor Piper, actually). But she wasn't in the cartoon - she was white. Maybe these drawings should have been at the back (but then, where would that cartoon strip on the back inside cover go? It's revealing a scene and that could be seen as a spoiler...).

So, yes. I have read this book and I liked it. Not loved it like the rest of you guys (sorry - actually no. I'm not sorry. We are all allowed to have our own opinions). But I am going to read Carry On sooner or later. Maybe I can be brave and read one of Rainbow's other books *eyes Eleanor and Park...*