Book Review: "Bury Your Gays" by Chuck Tingle

Please clap. I have read two books outside my comfort zone this week.

I am a gigantic coward, which is why I generally steer clear of horror as a genre. (I’m still scarred from a prank my college roommates played on me related to the book “IT.”) But when I saw a few friends raving about this book, I figured I’d give it a chance. The fact is, this was more creepy and disturbing than all-out frightening, so I may be ok.

Misha has been a horror screenwriter for years, always hoping he’ll hit it big. And he finally does, in the form of an Oscar nomination, even though he jokes that it’s in a category they don’t televise. But despite this success, the studio bosses want him to kill the gay characters in his long-time streaming series—or don’t make them fall in love. This should get them even bigger ratings.

The demand is clear: kill them or be in breach of his contract. Misha cares more about the characters, so he’s willing to sacrifice his career. But suddenly he realizes he and his friends are being stalked—by monsters he created onscreen. Can he survive this onslaught? He’s going to need to face up to some secrets first.

This was really compelling, both as a story and a commentary on queer representation in the media. It’s a great way to convey this message.

Many thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for the advance copy! The book publishes 7/9.

Book Review: "A Cosmology of Monsters" by Shaun Hamill

A Cosmology of Monsters is powerful, emotional, and creepy.

“Life makes monsters of everyone, but it’s always possible to come back. Pain and death are real, but so are love, and family, and forgiveness.”

As some of you may know, I record a monthly podcast called “Fully Booked” with my dearest friend Amy for her Patreon (www.patreon.com/momadvice). At some point late last year, she raved about this book. It sounded intriguing but I usually avoid dark and creepy books, so I added it to my TBR and moved on.

But I got tired of being the one person who keeps saying “I don’t read creepy or spooky stuff,” so I decided to give this a shot. This was so unlike anything I expected and it honestly blew me away. It’s as much a story of family, grief, longing, resentment, love, and forgiveness as it is a creepy story. (Trigger warnings abound so please reach out if you’re curious.)

This is a difficult story to describe, but at its core it’s about the Turners, a family we follow from the strange courtship of the parents, Margaret and Harry, to Harry’s obsession with building a haunted house on their property, from the birth of their three children to their middle age. Oh, and Noah, the youngest, has a friendship with a monster. But it’s not what it appears.

The beauty of this book for me was letting the story unfold knowing very little. It’s not a book for everyone but boy, it was a book for me. Unforgettable.

Book Review: "Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Yeah, I’m about 15 years late to the party on this one!

I don’t know why I never read these books before. I was a huge fan of Harry Potter and other books like it, and I really liked the mystery series Rick Riordan wrote before he reinvented himself, but for some reason these never made it on to my radar. So when a friend suggested a buddy read of the series, I jumped at the chance.

I’m not going to do my usual plot summary because I’d imagine most of you know what these books are about, either because you’ve read these books or your children have. But suffice it to say that Percy Jackson is a kid who can never seem to stay out of trouble, because it always seems to find him. When he gets kicked out of yet another boarding school, his mother takes him to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods. The next thing he knows, he's on a quest to the underworld to try and get back Zeus' master lightning bolt, which has been stolen.

I thought this was a fun way to bring mythology to life (seeing as it has always intimidated me). I really enjoyed the characters, particularly Percy and Grover. While I felt the book took a long time to get to the real exciting stuff, I liked the journey that Percy and his friends had to take.

Since this was the first book in the series, there was a lot of explanation about things, a lot more telling rather than showing, but I’d imagine that will change as the series progresses.

Does this feel a little like a Harry Potter imitation? Maybe, but it's not too distracting.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series next month!

Book Review: "The Gay Teen's Guide to Defeating a Siren, Book 1" by Cody Wagner

The key to survival is...being gay. At least it is in Book 1 of The Gay Teen's Guide to Defeating a Siren.

Fourteen-year-old Blaize Trales (yep) doesn’t want anyone in his tiny Texas town, including his parents, to know he’s gay. But when he inadvertently outs himself, his parents immediately pack him up and send him to Sanctuary Preparatory Academy, a school that promises to “heal” gay teens.

As if trying to be “healed” isn’t bad enough, and dealing with the usual high school problems—class work, bullying, a crush on someone seemingly unattainable—Blaize discovers that the school is hiding a major secret. Apparently there’s an old enemy at the loose and it’s wreaking havoc, and Blaize might be the only one who can stop it.

Does he have what it takes to save the day?

This was an interesting book, with shades of Harry Potter and dashes of sarcasm. A lot of the story was setting up for the sequel but there definitely was plenty going on.

While I enjoyed the concept of the book, at times it was a little too silly for me. (It almost felt at times like the book should have been accompanied by a laugh track.) I felt like the book just wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. But the fantasy elements were fun, and it was nice to have a gay hero of sorts.

This was definitely an interesting selection for Pride Reads!!

Book Review: "Our Dark Duet" by Victoria Schwab

You know when you want to absolutely devour a book, but it's the last book in a series you love, so you're torn between reading it in practically one sitting and savoring it for as long as you can? That's the way I felt about Victoria Schwab's Our Dark Duet, the second and apparently final book in Schwab's Monsters of Verity series. (The first book, This Savage Song, was pretty fantastic, too. See my original review.)

"There were two kinds of monsters, the kind that hunted the streets and the kind that lived in your head. She could fight the first, but the second was more dangerous. It was always, always, always a step ahead. It didn't have teeth or claws, didn't feed on flesh or blood or hearts. It simply reminded you of what happened when you let people in."

Kate Harker and August Flynn should never have known each other, much less become friends. Kate's father was a notoriously power-hungry man who harnessed the monsters that roamed the half of the city he controlled, and then charged the city's residents for his protection from them. August is the adopted son of Henry Flynn, who wants to keep the residents of his half of the city safe by controlling the monsters, not harnessing them as pawns in a shakedown.

August is also a monster, the rarest of the three breeds, who can steal a person's soul by playing his violin. He simply wants to to be kind, to live a good life, and not face the reality of his familial responsibilities, but he cannot escape what he is. He and Kate were thrown together, and after weathering fear and mistrust of one another, they built a relationship, more than a friendship, and each became indebted to the other in a bloody battle for survival.

Six months later, after fleeing her home city, Kate has become the monster hunter she always knew she was destined to be. But when another breed of monster appears, the so-called Chaos Eater, one who feeds on bystanders' emotions and fears in order to reap violence, she finds she has some sort of dangerous connection to it, and it lures her home to Prosperity, where old and new nemeses await her. Meanwhile, August has assumed his rightful place as heir apparent to his father's task force, but he is still conflicted between what is expected of him and what he wants from his life.

"And here in Prosperity, Kate had found a purpose, a point, and now when she met her gaze in the mirror, she didn't see a girl who was sad or lonely or lost. She saw a girl who wasn't afraid of the dark. She saw a girl who hunted monsters. And she was damn good at it."

Kate's return to Prosperity drops her back into the thick of the war between the monsters who wish to rule the city and those who wish for peace. She faces the resentment of those who hate her for who her father was, and don't believe in her capabilities. She doesn't understand what happened to August, where the boy she once knew has gone. And she knows that in order to fight the Chaos Eater she must unleash her own inner monster, and there may be no turning back once she does.

There's a lot more to this book, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone. I would say if this interests you, read This Savage Song first, because this book builds on that one. I know this series isn't for everyone, but if you've ever thought about giving YA fantasy/science fiction a try, here's a series worth cutting your teeth on.

I loved Our Dark Duet immensely, because Schwab pulled me right back into the amazing, dark world she created, and gave me even more emotion, conflict, and epic battles. I haven't read her other series but I definitely will have to, because she is an incredible storyteller. I loved these characters and their relationships, and my only frustration is that the series ended so soon.

I'm not a fan of so many books being adapted into movies and/or television series, but I'd love to see these books get adapted. Schwab's words and imagery deserve to be read, but this incredible world she has created deserves to be seen as well. I'd love to see how August and Kate, their family and friends, and those monsters translate onto the screen. So sad to see this end, but Schwab has a huge fan in me!!

Book Review: "This Savage Song" by Victoria Schwab

So when I finished devouring this book last night before I went to bed, I tried to think of the best way to sum up my feelings. Sometimes when I'm at a loss for words I turn to those more articulate than I am, so:

Ah, thanks, Oprah!

It is a time in the (hopefully very) distant future. At one point, monsters tried to take control of a city. It led to massive destruction, but ultimately a truce was reached which divided the city. One half is run by Harker, a ruthless man whose ambition and lust for power are nearly as dangerous as the monsters he allows to roam free, so he can then charge the city's residents for his protection from them. The other half of the city is run by the more noble-minded Flynn, who wants to keep his residents safe by controlling the monsters, not harnessing them as pawns in a shakedown.

Neither side has complete support, as the truce seems to be weakening. Harker's daughter, Kate, who has gotten herself expelled from her sixth boarding school in five years, has returned home, much to her father's chagrin. She wants to prove that she is just as ruthless as her father, and wants him to finally let her stay with him, and take her under his wing. But she must battle not only her father's ambition and his memories of her late mother, but also the monster he has trained as his second in command.

When Kate is sent to another school in town, Flynn and his followers jump at the chance to get someone close to her, to watch for signs the truce may be breaking. Flynn's youngest son, August, who wants simply to be kind, to live a good life, is pressed into service. The thing is, August is a monster, the rarest of the three breeds, who can steal a person's soul by playing his violin. He needs to hide his secret from everyone in school, especially Kate, but for the first time in his life, he feels as if he belongs, he starts to make friends, and he is fascinated by Kate's intelligence—until she figures out what he really is.

When an attempt on Kate's life sends them both fleeing, they must make a truce of their own. August wants only to protect Kate, and Kate wants to live, although she isn't sure if capturing August could be the prize she needs to cement her relationship with her father. As they seek freedom and safety, they still long for the comfort of their families, even as they realize their families may not provide the safe haven they thought. They must fight not only the enemies they expect but enemies they don't, and they face the toughest battle of all—the enemies within themselves.

Right off the bat, I'll say that obviously this isn't a book for everyone. If you don't like this type of fantasy story, Victoria Schwab's storytelling, no matter how strong a spell she casts, probably won't lure you in. But don't rule it out because you think it's going to be all Twilight-y (a new adjective), because the monsters in this book don't have the Cullenesque shimmer, and more importantly, one of the best things that Schwab does in this book is keep the lovesickness and most of the angstiness out. That makes This Savage Song a much stronger story instead of some YA-ish soap opera.

I love authors who can take you into another world and immerse you so fully. That's a credit to Schwab's incredible creativity and the imagery she uses. There is a vividness to the pictures she paints, and I'd love to see this made into a movie to see just how closely what I saw in my mind's eye while reading this book hews to the film adaptation. Is it a little overly dramatic at times? Sure. A little predictable? Of course. But it doesn't matter, because the characters she has created fascinated me, flaws and all.

When you add to your stress level at work by taking a longer lunch than you should so you can keep reading, you know you've found a good book. (Lucky I'm the boss!) When you find yourself taking your glasses off during the NCAA championship so you can race through the remainder of the story before bed, you know you've found a good book. This was tremendously entertaining and well-done, and I'll be all over the sequel when it comes out this summer!

Book Review: "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness

Well, it didn't take long to find the first book to make me cry in 2016...

"Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both."

Every night, 13-year-old Conor O'Malley wakes up from a terrible nightmare, one which leaves him screaming, crying, and gasping for breath. One night, at exactly 12:07, there is a monster at his bedroom window, calling his name. But it's not the monster he's been expecting, the one from his nightmares. This is a different type of monster, one from the elements around him rather than from the horrors he sees while he sleeps.

"In fact, he found he wasn't even frightened. All he could feel, all he had felt since the monster revealed itself, was a growing disappointment. Because this wasn't the monster he was expecting."

This monster promises to tell Conor three tales, each which carries with it a powerful lesson. And when the monster is done, it will demand that Conor tell it his own tale. But with that tale, the monster wants something Conor cannot even fathom. The monster wants the truth, which is far more dangerous than anything.

A Monster Calls is a beautifully moving, emotional story about a young boy dealing with a struggle he cannot handle. He doesn't want people to look at him or treat him differently, but he wants to be seen. But most of all, he wants the path his life is veering toward to change, quickly. And sometimes confronting the truth is the most painful struggle of all.

Patrick Ness blew me away with his latest book, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, which made my list of the best books I read last year, but I was utterly unprepared by the sheer emotional power and anguish of this book. Ness based this book on an idea created by author Siobhan Dowd, who died before she could do anything with it, and knowing that adds an extra note of poignancy to this story.

Ness is a fantastically talented writer, and I will be slowly but surely working my way through the rest of his books. While this is a sad and, ultimately, hopeful book, in the wrong hands it could have turned maudlin. This is just so good, so beautiful, and it truly moved me. Get a box of tissues and read this—you may be sad, but you'll feel so lucky afterward that you found this book.

Book Review: "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is definitely an author whose books I have loved over the last few years. Her books Eleanor & Park and Fangirl both made my list of my favorite books in 2013, and her novel Landline definitely appealed to my not-so-inner sap.

Needless to say, when I heard she had a new book coming out, I was tremendously excited. And when I heard that the concept of Carry On was the expansion into novel form of fan fiction written by a character in Fangirl, I was intrigued, and wondered how this meta-concept would work.

Simon Snow is apparently the most powerful magician in the world. And that's not bad for a teenager who never knew his parents, who found himself being enrolled in the Watford School of Magicks, and was taken under the wing of The Mage, who oversees all of the magic in the world. It's been prophesied that Simon will be the magician to save the world—all he needs to do is be able to harness his magic properly.

While Simon has the support of his much-smarter best friend Penelope, and his girlfriend Agatha, he faces two major challenges: the world is being threatened by the Insidious Humdrum, a magic-eating villain who looks like Simon as a child, and Simon's biggest nemesis, his roommate Baz, is missing at the start of their last year at Watford. And when Baz returns, he and Simon enter into a shaky truce to solve a mystery that changed Baz's life and affected his entire family, if not the whole magickal world. What's the world's most powerful magician to do?

So yes, the story feels more than similar to the Harry Potter series in so many ways. In fact, I'll admit that through most of the book I couldn't shake the images of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Tom Felton, even though these characters weren't completely like Harry, Hermione, and Draco. For about the first quarter of the book I couldn't really understand why Rainbow Rowell had decided to write this particular story, and I felt that I was dropped into the story in about Book 7.

Then Baz returned, and (ironically) breathed life into the whole shebang. The dynamics between Simon and Baz were absolutely fantastic, and the action, magic, mystery, and romance all ratcheted up from that point on. Rowell once again proved she has a knack for creating memorable characters and touching your emotions, even in a story that feels a little too familiar, although with a twist. Carry On is a little braver emotionally than the Harry Potter series, although the latter definitely has more to offer in the magic-and-evil domain.

Carry On is fun, sweet, and perfect for those of us who haven't quite felt the same since we said goodbye to Hogwarts and Fillory (if you haven't read Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy, it's pretty fascinating). It's not a perfect book, and while I'm still not 100 percent sure if the gimmick worked (especially some of the slang and exclamations the characters use), I still wouldn't mind another installment in the adventures of Simon, Baz, and Penny.

Book Review: "Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith

I would have never believed that a book could appeal to the 14-year-old boy inside of me while also having a lot of heart, until I read Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle. This is a crazy, puerile yet utterly enjoyable book which honestly surprised me.

Sixteen-year-old best friends Robby Brees and Austin Szerba are growing up in the small town of Ealing, Iowa. There isn't much to do, so the boys mostly skateboard and smoke copious amounts of cigarettes. Robby is gay; Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, as well as Robby, and that's difficult on all of them, especially considering that nearly everything in the world makes Austin horny.

They start to notice weird things around town—Shann hears a constant ticking noise behind the walls of the new house her family has moved into (a house that originally belonged to her late uncle, who was a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur in Ealing) and the boys discover the noise is from an antique teletype machine, constantly repeating a warning message that doesn't make sense. And then they stumble upon an underground shelter that is unlike anything they've ever seen, built to protect people from an unimaginable disaster.

But that disaster is no longer imaginable, as the town suddenly is struck by a plague which turns those it comes in contact with into six-foot-tall praying mantis-type insects with insatiable appetites for two things—food and sex. As Robby and Austin discover how this plague came to be, they realize that the future of the human race may depend on them and few additional people, and they figure out how to defeat the insects. But it's a messy (and dangerous) proposition.

Grasshopper Jungle is zany and tremendously entertaining, but as much as Smith's characters like to say "Uh" a lot, and there's a lot of talk of sperm, and balls, and horniness, at its heart this book is about the beauty of friendship and trying to be comfortable with who you are. It's also a book about how our histories—no matter how bizarre—affect our lives and our futures.

This is definitely not a book for everyone, but if you are in the mood for a crazy but sweet story and aren't phased in the least by horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises, or if your inner teenager is looking for a fun read, you'll definitely enjoy this.