Dona's Book Blog

Thank you to the author Raquel Willis, publishers St. Martin's Press, and SMPInfluencers, for an advance digital copy of THE RISK IT TAKES TO BLOOM. All views are mine. Three (or more) things I loved: 1. I love that the author talks about the term "queer" and the queer community's efforts to reclaim the word. 2. I think one of the most important things she discusses is straight spaces and how queer people don't belong in them, are actually made to feel unsafe in them. 3. Raquel Willis Offers such grace and love to to the people who hurt and reject her. She is completely grateful for every drop of grace she receives in return at all stages of her journey. It is wonderful to read about such a courageous person! 4. The story of Raquel, having transitioned fully, seeing her grandmother, who had dementia, and whom she hadn't seen in a long time, is so heartwarming and fulfilling! Loc. 1731 Three (or less) things I didn't love: This section isn...

Thank you to the author Naomi Alderman, publishers Simon & Schuster, and also to NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of THE FUTURE . All views are mine. I really really love A.I. and I'm a proponent of its development. So when I heard about this book and heard such good things about it, I was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, I think it just makes too many stylistic and narrative choices that kept me from engaging! I was excited when THE FUTURE started describing the differences between human and computer consciousness. I wanted this book to also explore the moral and intellectual tether humans have to A.I., the similarities between us, the responsibility we have to each other... but the narrative didn't go there. It's undoubtedly strange and wonderful, but I couldn't pay attention with this one. DNF 68% Three (or more) things I loved: 1. The suggestions of uses for Metadata is completely eye-opening and amazing, table at loc. 1204. The au...

Thank you to the author Kacen Callender, publishers Hachette Books, and NetGalley an advance digital copy of STARS IN YOUR EYES. All views are mine. As much as it is a romance, STARS IN YOUR EYES is a story about sexual assault, how we define it, and how to support a partner who has experienced it. For me, these topics trigger, but thanks to a thorough content warning in the front matter, I was able to go into the book prepared. Characters drove this one, so I was often shocked, but never surprised, about where the story traveled. Reading this story was both challenging and rewarding, traits the best books possess. Three (or more) things I loved: 1. I respect and appreciate that the author and publishers include a content warning in the front matter. Take care of yourselves, readers! 2. The experimental form of this book is exciting and engaging. Chapters in multiple perspectives interspersed with chapters in description of multimedia.  3. Really excellent description...

Thank you to the editors Shelly Page and Alex Brown, and publishers Kensington Books, as well as NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS. All views are mine. I enjoyed many of the stories in this collection, but a few fell flat. Below is a sentence or two about each story. Introduction: [Halloween is] a time for... acceptance, remembrance, celebration, and rebirth. It's when many people feel they no longer have to hide the best parts of themselves. loc10 1. Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia - Mexican Gothic, spooky hotel, lots of ghosts and spirits, it all stands for something else, but what isn't clear enough, this one is a little anticlimactic.  2. The Visitor - I had to listen to this one with the screen reader like 8 times. It really doesn't come together well. 3. A Brief Intermission - This is a story that becomes worth it in the final lines. 4. Guested - What a perfectly miserable execution of the second person narrator, but a ver...