faintingviolet – Page 3 – Cannonball Read 17

“I don’t want fine… I want a connection. I want you to care as much as I care. I want you to need it and want it and mean it. I want it to matter.”

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

February 19, 2022 by faintingviolet 3 Comments

I wasn’t sure how I was going to rate Boyfriend Material until I realized that I was actively putting off finishing it because even after nearly 400 pages I didn’t want to be done with the world Alexis Hall had created. So, five stars it is as well as relief that the follow up Husband Material will be published later this year (August 2022 to be exact). Boyfriend Material is the story of Luc and Oliver, but its really Luc’s as he’s the one we’re […]

“Never mix vodka and witchcraft.”

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

February 12, 2022 by faintingviolet 1 Comment

When I started reading this book it wasn’t very far in before I was thinking to myself “hmm… I’m not sure he’s such a bad guy, ladies” as Vivienne is (accidentally) drunkenly hexing her ex, Rhys. This could be a function of any number of things including my age, my own romantic history, the fact that I waited three months on my library’s hold list to get a copy, or the general state of the world. But it did affect my enjoyment because the thing […]

A Pair of Novellas for the February Holidays

A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau

A Big Surprise for Valentine's Day by Jackie Lau

January 31, 2022 by faintingviolet 2 Comments

When I read Donut Fall in Love two weeks ago I was reminded almost viscerally of two of Jackie Lau’s novellas from her Holidays with the Wongs series. The chemistry between Donut’s Ryan and Lindsay had the same sort of feeling that A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year’s Zach and Jo did, and it made me want to revisit them, and with Chinese New Year this week (February 1st) I needed no further inducement to pick it back up and give myself a Monday […]

The way these characters can understand what isn’t being said, while being delightfully snarky is just the best.

And They Lived Happily Ever After by Therese Beharrie

January 26, 2022 by faintingviolet 1 Comment

Representation on the page matters, and while finding representation that feels exactly like you can be some of the most affirming experiences out there, finding representation that speaks to a component of your life that isn’t exactly how you experience it is also incredibly important. Beharrie includes in her acknowledgements that a lot of what we see on the page in And They Lived Happily Ever After draws from her own experiences with Anxiety, and as usual, when an author so very obviously writes from […]

A quiet book with a powerful story of connection and survival

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

January 18, 2022 by Mobius_Walker 4 Comments

This was the second book that the marvelous and generous faintingviolet got for me last year during the Holiday Book Exchange. This book is outside of what I usually pick up to read, but I’m thankful that I gave it a chance. Agnes Magnusdottir has been convicted of murder and sentenced to die in the early 1800s of Iceland. While she awaits her execution she is sent to live with a district official and his family. There’s his wife Margret, a very sick woman who […]

For the love of all the things, correctly labelling genre and providing content warnings matters.

Always, in December by Emily Stone

January 15, 2022 by faintingviolet 6 Comments

I don’t normally suggest reviewing a book while angry at it, but here we are. I should probably wait to further reflect on why I’m feeling this way. But. But I have already angrily thrown it into the return slot at the library and after four hours of being annoyed, and having it come right back to front of mind the moment I was done watching the finale of the Station Eleven adaptation I have decided to try to purge my anger into digital ink […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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