#tlosc

Problematic Summer Romance (Ali Hazelwood) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,75/5

I started the month with the newest Hazelwood book for the simple reason that her books are always a joy to read. They are funny low-stakes stories and at the start of the month I really needed that. I had many laughs with this one, it was a fun read!

Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès (Maurice Leblanc) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️,75/5

My French book of the month was the second Arsène Lupin novel, which I liked a lot more than the first one. This one was less a collection of short stories and have more of an over arching plot, which I liked. It was also quite humourous for a book written in 1908, did not expect that…

And now, it is FINALLY time for the queer books I read this month in honour of pride month!!!

The Last Bookstore on Earth (Lily Braun-Arnold) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The greatest sin this book committed was not being what I wanted it to be. Which, granted, is definitely a me problem. I picked this book up because the premise reminded me a lot of the book “If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come” by Jen St. Jude, which is one of my all time favourite queer books. But this book was not like that, which left me quite disappointed. But again, that’s a me issue.

I did like quite a few bits about this book. I liked that the main character was not this tough badass as you’d nomally see in these types of survivor books. She was soft and sweet and nice. She traded books with other survivors, she had a sort of postal system for people looking for loved ones. Compare that to how the group of people in the woods acted and… yeah. I found the romance in this book lacking. I didn’t really feel that big a connection between Liz and Maeve, they were both just there and it kinda felt like one day they decided to be together. It was quite weird. Their main conflict was also one I was not very invested in (although I will admit, I did not expect Maeve to leave as she did… but once she did I did expect her to come back which she did so HA!)

Over all, this book was okay. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad, it was okay.

The Luis Ortega Survival Club (Sonora Reyes) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I hesitated to read this book because I found the first book from this author (The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School) to be… okay. Not good, not bad, just kinda there. But I’m glad I picked up this book because this one was much better! Firstly, the story was much more interesting and I loved how the main character was autistic. I don’t know anything about the author being autistic or not, but I found her depiction of autism to be both good and bad. The way the main character Ariana herself described her autism and how she felt and experienced things, was really really well done. But at the same time it sometimes felt like the author opened a textbook on autism and copied all the common symptoms. Hey, they are common for a reason and I am aware that some people experience autism like this. It is a spectrum, after all. But at times it really did feel kind of forced and it took me out of the story a bit.

I loved the friendship between the characters. I liked it a bit less how every character but the main one were kinda one dimensional. They each had like one specific character trait (maybe two) and their whole character was written around the thing connecting them all (Luis Ortega) and that one other thing (like dance or drama or robotics class). I get that there’s only so much you can do in one book, but I found the side characters so interesting that I would have loved to learn more about them.

Onto the actual story, it was a good one. I don’t know what else I can say about it other than that it was good. The character development Ariana went through to realize what had actually happened to her was well done and I loved it. Every character in the group having a unique story of how Luis Ortega abused them was also good. I liked how their plots for revenge didn’t work from the start, how they had to work to get their justice. Not because I think survivors need to fight to get their justice, but because this seems like a more true representation of how it would happen in real life. It also showed the resilience of the characters to keep going, to keep trying and not to give up. And they got their revenge, they got their justice, and I couldn’t be happier for them!

The Map that led to You (Ella McLeod) - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This book is CRIMINALLY underrated! It only has 41 reviews on Storygraph, one of them being mine, and I simply do not understand. I got so confused about this that I looked up the author to see if maybe she was a horrible person and people were boycotting her but no! She seems like a genuine nice person! And I am so so confused about why I don’t see anyone talk about this book!

“The Map that led to You” is a fantasy novel written in three POV’s/timelines that all intersect. It is a combination of lyrical prose and contemporary storytelling. The POV in lyrical verses are all from characters of the island Xaymaca, where magic is still alive. These poems were more an addition than an actual storyline, giving more context to past events (like how the River Mumma and Ezi got together) or current events (like when the fairy queen was defeated). The second POV is from a storyline in the past. It is the main POV of the book and follows main characters Levi with his sister Vega and his companion Kano. And the third POV happens in the present as characters Reggie and Maeve uncover the past of the island they live on. Also this POV is written in the second person which is definitely a first for me and it was super weird but I did love it.

The best storyline by far was the one with Levi, Vega and Kano. The world building in these chapters was amazing and the development of the characters was great. Vega is my favourite character by far but I love Levi too because he is one of the softest and most caring characters I have ever read. The contrast between him and Vega is big, as is the contrast between him and his second form when he shapeshifts!

Reggie and Maeve’s storyline was harder to get into (I just wanted to go back to the queer pirates, yall), but once I was immersed in it, I found great joy in it. This storyline dealt with more current themes such as homophobia and learning to accept your sexuality. I thought both of these things were well done. I loved how the character who went through this acceptance fase was not Reggie (the “you” from whose POV this storyline is). By having Maeve go through it with Reggie watching from the sideline, it kind of feels like a story about a lesbian trying to deal with the girl she loves struggling to accept herself (someone put “Good luck, babe” by Chappell Roan on pls).

Reggie also dealt with bullying, which was written in a rather cliché way that, admittedly, had me rolling my eyes sometimes, but this could definitely be forgiven given how good the rest of the book was.