Audio Book – Mask of Shadows

Schlagwörter

Audio book, Book, Buch, David Levithan, Deryn Edwards, Every Day, genderfluid, genderfluid characters, Hörbuch, Jay Kristoff, Linsey Miller, Mask of Shadows, Nevernight, Review, Rezension

This review is in English, as the book / audio book only exists in English (so far).

^{Quelle: https://www.amazon.de/Mask-of-Shadows/dp/B074NG8FY4/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=, abgerufen am 10.06.2020, 14:55 Uhr}

Author: Linsey Miller; Narrator: Deryn Edwards; Year of Publication: 2017; Duration: 09h28; Genre: Fantasy, LGBT+

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Slightly changed English covertext:

I Needed to Win.
They Needed to Die.

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But genderfluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class—and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand, the Queen’s personal assassins, Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal starts to succeed in the competition and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future.

My review:

The story sounded really interesting, but I was careful in getting my hopes up as there are quite a few negative reviews. But I’m glad I gave the book a chance, because I really liked it.

The concept reminded me a bit of the first Nevernight book by Jay Kristoff, but it can’t quite reach that level – still, it’s different and very good in its own way. The story is action-packed , but we also get to know Sal quite well, and a few other people, too – their servant Maud, their love interest Elise, a few of the other contestants and the members of the Left Hand, testing, teaching and evaluating them.

I especially liked Maud and her relationship with Sal – both very ambitious and focused on the goal, learning to trust each other and work together. Their backstories were quite tragic and directed Maud’s and Sal’s actions. In general, the history and world was really well thought out and felt real, everything fit well together.

And then of course, we have a main character who is genderfluid. I think the only other book I read witch a non-binary character was Every Day by David Levithan (I’d describe A as agender?). Sal’s feeling of their gender just shifts from time to time, and they use she/him/they according to it. To make it easy for other people, they „dress how they feel“. It’s amazing to have some representation of other genders in books, and I really liked this version, because it’s not a big deal or about their gender, it just is how it is. But at the same time it does come up a few times, e.g. when another contestant misgenders Sal on purpose.

My Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: Entertaining, well-written fantasy book, good story and interesting characters. I’ll listen to the second book as well!

Book – Lavender In Bloom

Schlagwörter

Bücher, Book, books, Buch, Englisch, English, favs, Lavender In Bloom, lgbt, Lily Velez, NetGalley, Review, Rezension

Diese Rezension schreibe ich auf Englisch, da ich das Buch von der englischen Seite von NetGalley kostenlos bekommen habe und die Rezension dort auch veröffentlichen werde – und keine Lust habe, es zweimal zu schreiben. 

This review will be in English, because I got the novel from the english site of NetGalley for free and want to post my review on there, too – and I don’t feel like writing it two times.

– Quelle: https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/97521

I was able to read this book as a review copy, thanks to NetGalley, House of Capet Publishing / Xpresso Book Tours and the author Lily Velez.

Author: Lily Velez; Published: 2016; Publisher: House of Capet Publishing; Number of Pages: 276; Genre: Romance, LGBT+, Historical, Fantasy; Price: Paperback: 12,57€, eBook: 2,99€

My Rating: 10/10 Points (5/5 stars)

Summary:

„It’s the year 1802 in Avignon, France.

Noah Capet has spent most of his young life living simple and unvaried days in the hushed countryside of southern France. Quiet, reserved, and diffident, his preference for existing is to do so in solitude, keeping to himself both in town and on his family’s farm–a predilection that’s altogether disrupted when a newcomer to town by the name of Jeremie Perreault begins an unremitting quest to befriend him.

Jeremie is everything Noah is not. Charismatic and gregarious, he leaves a trail of charmed admirers in his wake wherever he goes. Expressive and idealistic, he talks without end about his deep love for old books and his spirited dream to one day travel the world on a literary pilgrimage.

Over the course of a single summer, the two form an unlikely friendship, but just as quickly as it develops, it soon entirely dissolves as they’re forced to face the truth of what has unexpectedly emerged between them.

Lavender in Bloom is a tender and tragic coming-of-age story about first love and self-discovery, and a poignant reminder that time is fleeting and always takes with it the choices we’re too afraid to make.“

My Opinion:

Ooooooh my. So many feelings! Such great characters. A few days ago I finished the novel and don’t you think I’m over it, I’m still feeling all these emotions. But from the start.

When I requested the book, I somehow missed the fact, that it’s set in the past? Or forgot it until I finally started to actually read it? Especially because the story wouldn’t make any sense in the present? I have no idea what I was thinking – however, I was mildly surprised when I started reading and found it to be set in 1802. :D In the beginning I was a bit sceptical about it, but very soon I started to love it.

The story is so pure. The main character, Noah, is a character I have never read about in any other book before. He is so reserved, only talks if he needs to, so happy with just being by himself and with the animals on the farm, so quickly so unsure around other people. And so loveable, so amazing, so kind, so pure – I just had to love him, Lily Velez gave me no other choice, from the very start on. Just for this character it’s already worth reading the book.

Then there is Jeremie. As the summary says – he’s quite the opposite, being charismatic and open and so lively and can’t stop talking about his books – and I fell in love with him just as much as with Noah. These two have one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read – so true and pure and forbidden (at that time) and strong nevertheless.

Then there are all the other characters – Noahs family and Jeremies family. One to love and one to hate. And within Noahs family so many different characters, especially his sisters – Camilla, the youngest, whom I didn’t like in the beginning but then found myself to like her more and more as the story progressed, and Margaux, such a great character as well, just as her relationship to and her understanding of Noah.

Lily Velez is an amazing writer. I love her style of writing – so easy to imagine everything, and she has a talent for making the reader feel exactly what her characters are feeling. The story is very gripping (it made me miss my bus stops five (5!!!) times, can you believe that), has some very beautiful and pure parts, some dangerous ones, some sad ones, some funny ones – everything is there. Backstories, historic accuracy as far as I can judge, character development, and oh, did I mention all the feelings? I laughed, I cried, I loved, I mourned, I was angry and happy, and sometimes all at once.

I just want to add a quote I especially loved – Jeremie is talking about Noah’s quiteness:

„Different, yes, but not at all exasperating. In my experience, I’ve found that our differences are what make life fascinating. Imagine, for instance, if all the flowers on your farm looked completely identical from one to the other. What beauty would there be in that? None, I should think. It’s the same with the human race. Our differences shouldn’t divide us. They should be cause to celebrate. They should be something we marvel at. Besides, if everyone in the world only talked, then who would be left to listen?“  (eBook Pos. 574, Chapter 7)

Conclusion: 

I’d like to conclude my review with a quote from NetGalley, which describes it very well: 

„A gripping and heartbreaking tragic love story that examines friendship, family, fear, and […] the finality of loss. With writing that exudes striking beauty and poetic elegance, Lavender in Bloom is an exceptionally emotional and unforgettable read.“

And also, such amazing characters, so many emotions, I can’t.

Just read it.

Book – Follow Your Heart

Schlagwörter

Book, Buch, English, Follow Your Heart, Kevin B. Tirrell, lgbt, Review, Rezension

Diese Rezension schreibe ich ausnahmsweise mal auf Englisch, da ich das Buch von der englischen Seite von NetGalley kostenlos bekomme habe und die Rezension dort auch veröffentlichen werde – und keine Lust habe, es zweimal zu schreiben. :D

This review will be in English for a change, because I got the novel from the english site of NetGalley for free and want to post my review on there, too – and I don’t feel like writing it two times. :D

Quelle: https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/96065

I was able to read this book as a review copy, thanks to NetGalley, The Langdon Street Press and the author B. Kevin Tirrell.

Author: B. Kevin Tirrell; Published: 2016; Publisher: Langdon Street Press; Number of Pages: 410; Genre: Romance, LGBT+; Price: $15.95-21.99

My Rating: 6/10 Points (3/5 stars)

Summary:

„Rusty Jackson spent years crafting the perfect life with his high school sweetheart, Jenny; his own construction company, and a house he built with his bare hands. When an oddly intriguing police officer named Jason Lane shows up bearing tragic news, Rusty’s world is turned upside down. Months later when he encounters Jason again, both men find themselves in a surprisingly different spot. While Rusty doesn’t fully understand his attraction, and Jason fears falling for a confused straight guy, they play an electrifying game of push and pull, hoping to find their way to happily ever after. When they run into a family foe in Las Vegas, Rusty’s confidence is tested. Can Rusty wrestle down his insecurities for Jason or are some habits too powerful to break?“

My Opinion:

Yes, it is just one more love story, but it has some depth in it – several problems occurring due to the fact that the two main characters falling in love are both men and have very different experiences with this and their ways of handling it differ very much as well.

I liked the novel – you don’t have characters as amazing as here that often. They are both really well written, so real and vivid and so lovable. But not only the two main characters – they both have a very good friend (one female, one male) and we get to know them as well. I found it very interesting to have one character who is fully confident in being gay and one who isn’t aware of his attraction to men at all.

The story is completely cute and I was so emotionally engaged that I missed my bus stop not once, but twice. Oops. But still there were some things bothering me – firstly, it partly felt a bit like… fanfiction? I don’t know how to describe it, but the niveau of the writing wasn’t the highest all the time. I mean, it was very well written, but at some points…

Then of course the story wasn’t something groundbreaking, but I could have lived with that. But than we have that sort of love triangle thing? Rusty’s best friend has been in love with him for, like, forever, and I really felt that to be unnecessary and annoying, eventhough I really liked her.

And another thing that really bothered me – when Rusty or other characters start to speak or think about his romantic/sexual orientation, they started to say that yes, he probably is gay. But. Before the novel starts he was married to a woman and they all mention like a thousand times that he really truly loved her. So for heaven’s sake, no, he is not gay! He might be bisexual or pansexual or whatever, but no, he is not gay, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to fall in love with a woman. This might seem to be a minor critic point, but it really bothered me and I think that this representation and clarification is really important. And there was some missing logic because of this later on.

Conclusion: A very cute and nice story, amazing characters, very emotional engaging, interesting, but had a very unnecessary love triangle thing, had some mistakes and sometimes felt a bit not-so-well-written.