read harder – Cannonball Read 17

Which is worse: colorism and classism or ghosts?

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

March 7, 2023 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

If you search for this book online the first sentence you will read from nearly every review is “Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca” (and now this review maintains that pattern). Truthfully this is the best summary that one can give. Now, I didn’t like Mexican Gothic all that much, but I enjoyed the film version of Rebecca immensely, so I was a little wary of this going in. However, The Hacienda Isabel Cañas is enjoyable. I listened to this book as an audiobook, and the voice cast did a great job. Beatriz […]

“Boomerang arrow, Kate — It comes back to you in the end. Boomerang. Respect it.”

Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, David Aja (artist), Annie Wu (illustrator), Chris Eliopolous (letterer)

Hawkeye, Volume 2: Little Hits by Matt Fraction, David Aja (Artist), Francesco Francavilla (Art & Color), Steve Lieber (Artist), Jesse Hamm (Artist), Matt Hollingsworth (Color Artist), Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer)

November 26, 2021 by faintingviolet 2 Comments

Before diving into Disney+’s Hawkeye show I decided to pick up the Matt Fraction run from 2012-2016. One of my friends read them as they were releasing and she raved, suggesting them to me then as an entry into the larger comics world, but I took her up on Northanger Abbey instead. In the years since I’ve dipped my toe in, reading Chelsea Cain’s Mockingbird run, a Star War, and deep diving into Saga in all its gorgeous, heartbreaking glory (and I’m eyeing a 2022 […]

“Reagan already felt hard enough. She didn’t need any accessories. She didn’t need to telegraph it out to the world.”

If the Fates Allow by Rainbow Rowell

November 18, 2021 by faintingviolet 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I saw an announcement on Rainbow Rowell’s Instagram that she was releasing a holiday short story this year and I rejoiced. I like Rowell’s short form work as much as I like her novel length ones. I’ve read Kindred Spirits, her 2016 take on fandom and waiting in line for Star Wars. Rowell also has holiday themed ones: Almost Midnight, 2017’s collection that includes both Kindred Spirits and Midnights. Midnights tracks a pair across several years’ worth of New Year’s Eves […]

Affectionate Glares All Around

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

November 14, 2021 by faintingviolet 5 Comments

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb is Sebastian’s trade paperback debut and I’m excited for the people who get to discover her work with this outing. There were times during The Queer Principles of Kit Webb that I was reminded of the first Cat Sebastian I ever read (her debut) The Soldier’s Scoundrel. There’s a class difference, one character making their living on the wrong side of the law, and a major injury. Plus, I really, really liked it. Sebastian writes steamy, upbeat historical romances […]

“Love couldn’t solve everything, but without love, there was nothing to solve.” (Bingo #3!)

40-Love by Olivia Dade

October 19, 2021 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I think I laugh the most whenever I read an Olivia Dade romance, her humor hits all the right notes for me. Even when I’m not expecting a laugh, Dade delivers them through her characters who are achingly self-aware, or sometimes not. Following a meet-cute involving a runaway bikini top and the need to keep from flashing nearby children, we get the story of Tess and Lucas. Lucas, 26, a former top-level tennis pro now giving lessons at a Florida resort, fled there after the […]

“And then, inexplicably, you had the absolute audacity to love me back. Can you believe it? Sometimes, even now, I still can’t.”

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

January 9, 2020 by faintingviolet 6 Comments

Next up on my Diverse Romance reads is Red, White, & Royal Blue. McQuiston wrote Red, White, & Royal Blue with the intention of making it queer, and making it queer in the way she wished she had read for herself as she was finding her own identity. Her care shows in every step of the novel and its going to be tough for another book to be better than this one this year. Red, White, & Royal Blue has a great premise – what […]

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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