The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
What do you get when you combine Chinese mythology with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a magical girl anime?
What do you get when you combine Chinese mythology with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a magical girl anime?
This mystery spans the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s and contemporary America, with 3 narrators (including a disabled Middle Eastern immigrant teen). It was an easier read than expected, though not as engaging as hoped for.
This one started a little slowly, for me. There are 3 layers of mystery, across two time lines, and I just had a difficult time caring about any of the characters for the first third or so of the book. However, when the modern-timeline MC started (awkwardly) trying to befriend other characters, and then when the third mystery kicked in, I was invested. It definitely put me in mind of Real Genius, setting-wise, with a cast of gifted, neurodivergent teenagers getting up to hijinks. This time, on the secluded wooded mountain retreat of a dead eccentric billionaire who loved games […]
A genderbent Three Musketeers retelling where the MC has POTS? Yes, please! This fun YA romp balances disability with adventure in a way I would’ve been more skeptical of, were the author not a fencer with POTS herself.
The Heartbreak Bakery is a sweet, diverse YA that follows Syd, a baker who’s figuring out themselves and love as they emerge from a 4-year situationship.
This book is a charmingly cheeky YA fantasy with heart, Terry Pratchett-esque humor, and a fun take on sorcery.
Bacchanal features African magic, a diverse cast, and fantastical elements. However, it felt too rushed to me and was thus unsatisfying.
This Darkness Mine is a disturbing rabbit hole that captivated me, first for the similarities between high school me and the MC, and then for the MC’s psychopathic behavior.
Night of the Living Queers is a collection of spooky short stories with LGBTQIA+ main characters, and it was 10x better than expected. Seriously, only *one* of the 13 tales in here was weak. Some of them genuinely freaked me out.
Get ready for a roast, kids, because this book had the audacity to waste my limited energy.