Author: Rach @ Anxious Nachos

Educational publisher, writer and cat mama.

Book review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Rach @ Anxious Nachos2 Comments

Title: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company

Publication date: 9 April 2019

Genre: Fantasy | Young Adult | Political

Page extent: 416 pages

Goodreads blurb: Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own.

Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she engages the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

So I think I’ve only now realised that political fantasy might be one of my favourite genres to read. As a genre it produces slow and detailed, powerful and emotional books – and Descendant of the Crane was all of these and more. 

What a story! What an ending! What an everything! I was in shock at the end of this book, just in awe of what I’d read. What an incredible debut from He and what I hope is the start of many more books from her. 

Descendant of the Crane follows Princess Hesina in the wake of her father’s death – or murder. Hesina, convinced her father has been murdered, goes to see a seer, someone with magic who are vilified in the kingdom. If she’s discovered, she’ll be branded a traitor and sentenced to death. But Hesina’s loyalty to her father and her own desire to discover the truth lead her betray her kingdom and find a seer to help her uncover the murderer.  

With the information from the seer, a trial is held to investigate the King’s death. But as the investigation deepens, scapegoats are found and lost, a war is brewing on the edge of the Kingdom, and Hesina no longer feels she can trust those closest to her – they were after all, also closest to the King. 

In an absolutely stunning tale, this intricate political fantasy weaves an exciting and intriguing murder mystery. The prose is absolutely stunning, and was everything I wanted. There is so much detail put into the world building. I loved the quotes from ‘One’ and ‘Two’ at the start of each chapter, the two individuals who overthrew the old empire. They provide such an amazing lead up and hint into one of the biggest reveals in the book and after it happened, it seemed so obvious and of course nothing else could be! 

I loved all the characters! Hesina is such a great lead: she’s so strong and determined, and she finds herself having to go against her own morals time and time again for her kingdom. It slowly breaks her as she gives up all of herself and what made her her, to this unappreciative kingdom. I loved all of the sibling relationships, the complicated and stormy Sanjing who’s never really felt loved by Hesina after he did something awful to their adopted brother Caiyan when they were younger. Caiyan, oh my beautiful Caiyan I adore you. Seemingly so principled but willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of his sister. And Lilian, strong fiesty Lilian who is always there for Hesina and getting her hands dirty to help her. Each relationship is so different and interesting in its own right, and I loved all their interactions with each other. 

Akira, the representative of Hesina’s for the trial, was so mysterious and dangerous. I wish we’d seen him a bit more on page and were able to see his relationship with Hesina develop. He seems like such an enigma and I wish there’d been just a little more attention on him.

This book was just absolutely incredible. That ending is not just an ending: it’s a series of ending upon endings upon endings which twist and turn and destroy you so thoroughly you don’t quite know what happened. This was an absolutely marvellous debut and I can’t wait to see what He does next! 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Author interview: Gabriela Martins, Keep Faith (and GIVEAWAY!!)

Rach @ Anxious Nachos2 Comments

So today I’m here with quite possibly THE most exciting post I’ve done on my blog so far! You may have heard of the soon to be published Keep Faith, a short story anthology written by the most amazing group of authors, all about the intersection of faith, religion and queerness. Well today I am here with the absolutely lovely Gabhi Martins, editor and author of Keep Faith to chat about this brilliant anthology that you 100% are going to want to read.

Oh, and did I mention we’re having a GIVEAWAY?! Stay tuned to the end of the post to find out how to win a copy of this marvellous anthology! And thank you again Gabhi for speaking with me about your new anthology and what faith means to you.

Rach: Could you tell me a little bit about where you got the idea for this anthology from? What made you want to talk about faith and queerness? 

Gabhi: I was talking to a friend, and they told me that their girlfriend had been expelled from home and church for being queer. I really wanted to help, but I didn’t have the $$$ to make an impact in the situation. So I asked my friend if they thought it was a good idea to get a group of badass authors together and start an anthology, with all proceeds going to their girlfriend. My friend was thrilled, and so I started talking to authors I thought would like to help!

You have such an amazing group of authors! Can you describe some of the stories we’ll expect to see in the book? 

Oh yes, yes they are amazing. I am so excited for everyone to read their art, because they truly took it to the next level with these stories. They are so different and so incredible. We have everything from science-fiction to high fantasy to contemporary and romantic comedy. One of the stories made me cry. One of the stories made me laugh so much my belly ached. One of the stories made teenage me feel seen. Honestly, they are just good concepts. I couldn’t have chosen a better group of people, and they couldn’t have chosen a better way to tell their stories. I honestly believe there’s something for everyone in there.

The blurb for Keep Faith says “and faith meaning whatever you want it to mean”. So if you had only 5 words, what does faith mean to you? 

Believing and trusting in yourself.

I was drawn to this anthology as soon as you described it to me because faith is something close to so many people and in my experience, when it intersects with my queerness, it has often caused difficult challenges that I have sometimes struggled to cope with it. Was it challenging to write/edit something that is so personal?

We definitely have some very personal stories in the anthology, and reading the doubts and fears of being queer while religious (or while inserted in a religious context), there’s a part of me that felt uncomfortable. But the authors were very skillful in approaching faith and queerness in a way that felt respectful and rawly honest at the same time. I tell a little of my own personal journey with faith in the editor’s letter, but spoiler alert: not very pretty. It saddens me because what I’ve learned is that faith is never judgmental, is never almighty-and-righteous in the sense that it knows all. Faith is kind and loving. At the core of any religion or spiritual practice there’s love. Love for yourself. Love for people. Love for your god. But when religion translates from concept into a practice ruled by humankind, we humans have a tendency of spoiling it just a bit with what we personally believe, prejudice and all. We are imperfect. We are judgmental. We think we’re better than our peers. Not god. (Or God. Or Allah. Or the Universe. Or Nature.)

What would you say to child you about faith and queerness, knowing what you do now?

It doesn’t matter what you call it and it doesn’t matter what rituals you practice to be reminded of that. We are here to love each other, and we are here to grow together. Progress and love are the universal laws.

The book

Goodreads blurb: Keep faith, in the broad sense of the word. It doesn’t have to be a religion, unless you want it to be. It doesn’t have to speak about the universe, unless you want it to. It doesn’t have to be about anyone but yourself. Keep faith, in other planets and other houses; be it in the face of danger, grief, or while you spread your arms and laugh. Keep faith the same way you keep hope, bright and shiny, ever present. Keep faith in all your queer, beautiful self. Because you deserve it.

This is an anthology of 14 short stories, by 14 queer authors, where faith and queerness intersect. Incidental, purposeful, we-exist-and-that’s-why queerness. And faith meaning whatever you want it to mean.

Keep Faith has an absolutely amazing team of authors, all who bring such a unique perspective and voice to the anthology. Hear from Adiba Jaigirdar, Bogi Takács, C.T. Callahan, Elly Ha, Gabriela Martins, Julia Rios, Kate Brauning, Kess Costales, Mary Fan, Mayara Barros, Megan Manzano, Shenwei Chang, Sofia Soter, and Vanshika Prusty.

Keep Faith is publishing on September first, as ebook only. You can preorder the anthology on gumroad here! As Gabhi mentioned, all proceeds go towards an amazing cause so please do spread the word about Keep Faith to reach as many readers as possible. To hear more about this wonderful anothology, check back into my blog on Sunday to see a full review!

Giveaway time….

I hope this post has made you as keen to read this as I was! Hence I am SO incredibly excited to be hosting a giveaway to win a copy of Keep Faith. To enter, comment below, or quote retweet to my announcement tweet (here) telling me in five words what faith means to you. For an extra entry, you can follow myself and Gabhi on Twitter! The giveaway closes next Wednesday (4 September) and a winner will be randomly selected and annouced on Twitter on Thursday 5 September!

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Books I don’t talk about enough

Rach @ Anxious NachosLeave a comment

Hi again, for this week’s Top 5 Tuesday! And what an interesting topic it is this week… There are definitely books I shout about constantly so I’m so glad to sing about some of the books which I 100% need to talk about more often. Because they are awesome.

Love from A to Z by S.K Ali

I read this book earlier this year and it is one of the most beautiful love stories ever. It is just so incredible and utterly perfect! Love from A to Z follows Adam and Zayneb as they meet and fall in love. There is such as strong Muslim voice in this book – I adored seeing how religion guided the relationship. Zayneb is one of the fiercest, stongest characters – she refuses to back down from what’s right and is so driven. As well as a love story, this book also discusses topics such as Islamaphobia and discrimination, with the author using her own experience for several scenes in the book. Love from A to Z is such a powerful story about love and strength and the strength of faith. You can read my full review of this title here.

I Still Dream by James Smythe

So this book actually featured on last week’s Top 5 Dystopian but I’m also featuring it here because it is one of my absolute favourite sci-fi, dystopian novels but I never seem to talk about it which is so wrong. It’s a brilliant tale about artificial intelligence and what happens when humans choose to input morality and control (or not….) into AI. It’s a very character driven story, like most of my SFF favourites, and follows Laura, who creates her own AI, from her teenage years until she’s an old woman. It’s a brilliant look at how humanity will likely destroy itself for power.

Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan

Keep This to Yourself is a queer murder mystery, set in a small country village by the sea. The setting really shines in this book – it creates such creepy and tense scenes, with rough seas and caves and the small-town village vibe which always seems kind of creepy to me. (I grew up in a tiny village so clearly this is something I picked up from my years there…) The fourth murder by serial killer ‘The Catalog Killer’ in this small town was that of high school hero Connor, beloved by the inhabitants of Camera Cove. After this murder, the serial killer disappeared. Mac, best friend of Connor, is unsatisfied with the resolution of the case so begins his own investigation, but it reveals more than he could ever have wished for… Great mystery, awesome to see a queer relationship and such an interesting setting!

The Afterward by E.K Johnston

The Afterward has such a different feel and tone than any other fantasy I’ve read – instead of focussing on the quest, it focusses on what happens after, on how the heroes settle back into everyday life. It’s a very quiet book and really does feel a breath of fresh air in such a heavy, action central genre, hence I really want to give this book the praise it deserves because I think it might often be overshadowed by those more action heavy books. This is another superb queer story – I love both Kalanthe and Olga, our two very different MCs as they try to forget their feelings for each other that developed during the quest and move on with their lives. Fantastic characters, brilliant relationship and awesome female knights! Check out my full review of this book here!

Birthday by Meredith Russo

Oh god this book is just an emotional and heartbreaking read. What a spectacular book! The book follows Eric and Morgan each year on their shared birthday. This is a brilliant way to tell the story, which focuses on Morgan and her journey to transition. This book has such a harrowing and honest depiction of depression, and really shows how strong Morgan is to survive her journey. It is a potentially triggering story, with a graphic depiction of attempted suicide, transphobia, homophobia, and depression so please take note of warnings if you do want to read. A powerful, incredible story of survial and strength.

That’s it for this week’s Top 5 books I don’t talk about enough! Let me know if you love any of these books as much as I do!

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Title: The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Publication date: 28 May 2019

Genre: Dystopian| Young Adult

Page extent: 352 pages

Goodreads blurb: Welcome to the Kingdom… where ‘Happily Ever After’ isn’t just a promise, but a rule. 

Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species–formerly extinct–roam free.

Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful “princesses” engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time… love.

But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana’s memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty–and what it truly means to be human.

This was one of my most anticipated reads this month, I have been giddy with excitement to read because it sounded so deliciously creepy and horrible. And it didn’t disappoint! Whilst I think it would’ve worked better with a less hopeful ending, I understand there will be a sequel which will continue this creepy and haunting not-so-far future world. 

The Kingdom is the world’s most magical theme park. Happy ever afters aren’t just a dream or wish, they are the rule. Ana is one of seven fantasists who work at the park, engineered to make people’s wishes come true. But there’s something wrong with the park. Below the seemingly perfect facade of the theme park, is a seedy and haunting layer. Fantasists are beginning to lose memories, the engineered hybrids (extinct animals who have had DNA merged with technology to bring them back to life) are becoming violent, and at the heart of all this is Ana. Ana, who spends her nights strapped to a bed so she doesn’t escape, who is always watched via camera, who has to create a secret language to talk with her sister fantasists and who, until now, hasn’t questioned her life. But Ana, along with the other hybrids, are beginning to change. And then she’s charged with murder. 

The Kingdom is broken up into Ana’s POV, where we see from her eyes the events before the trial, what led to the murder and her slow discovery and realisation of the horrors of the park; and then excerpts from the trial, from CCTV, and a post trial interview with the terrifying Dr Foster. I thought the way this was structured was absolutely fantastic. These glimpses of interviews allowed the reader to gain a glimpse of the horrors of the park before Ana realises, which meant we could see a lot of the creepy and darkness in the events of her POV before she did. This made for a tense reading experience and a state of shock and horror at what happens at the park and Ana’s naivety. These excerpts, in just a few pages, paint Dr Foster as this terrifying nightmare man. It’s fun realising the similarities between him and a certain character you meet in Ana’s POV and brilliant when you realise you were right and they’re the same person.

The Kingdom feels very dystopian in the way it questions society’s behaviour and treatment towards these hybrids who aren’t quite human. It raises questions about what makes something human: the ability to feel? To love? To kill? I did feel the ending let this intention down a little. It might just be me, but I kind of wanted a much darker ending that could really drive home this message about humanity’s darkness. The book felt very Black Mirror and I love that show because it doesn’t always have a happy ending, they showcase the truly awful parts of humanity and I kind of wanted more of that in the ending. I know there will be a sequel so the ending is setting up the next book, I just think this would be worked really well as a standalone. 

In saying that, I did really enjoy this book. It was creepy and dark and I thought the structure of Ana’s POV interspersed with these trial excerpts was fantastic! 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Title: We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication date: 14 May 2019

Genre: Contemporary| Young Adult

Page extent: 377 pages

Goodreads blurb: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets I’ll Give You the Sun in an exhilarating and emotional novel about the growing relationship between two teen boys, told through the letters they write to one another.

Jonathan Hopkirk and Adam “Kurl” Kurlansky are partnered in English class, writing letters to one another in a weekly pen pal assignment. With each letter, the two begin to develop a friendship that eventually grows into love. But with homophobia, bullying, and devastating family secrets, Jonathan and Kurl struggle to overcome their conflicts and hold onto their relationship…and each other.

This rare and special novel celebrates love and life with engaging characters and stunning language, making it perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson, Nina LaCour, and David Levithan.

Please note this review contains spoilers.

Content warnings: homophobia, abuse, cheating, consent issues

Well this is a book I struggled to rate. I’m still not sure of my rating and at any moment could drop it down. 

We Contain Multitudes had so much potential. It could have been incredible. It contains some interesting perspectives on trauma, brilliant prose, some good characters… Unfortunately problematic content really let this down. Just because prose is lovely doesn’t mean you get a free pass to include shitty things.

We Contain Multitudes follows Kurl and Jo, as they write letters to each other, after being paired in a penpal assignment. Kurl is re-doing his senior year. He’s a football star and gets in fights. Quintisentially Tough Guy. Jo is a 15-year-old, openly gay Walt Whitman fan. He dresses as Walt, talks like Walt, and writes like Walt. We read Jo and Kurl’s letters as they open up to each other, and slowly become more than just penpals.

First off, let’s start with what I liked. As I said, it does have a brilliant writing style. It was beautifully written, I really liked the voice of the whole book. Whilst I don’t think the prose really reflects the way teens write, it was beautiful. I enjoyed the way the book is written as a series of letters between the two main characters. It’s the first time I’ve read a book like this and I did really like it, more than I thought I would! It was a little repetitive at times as each character recounted the same events to each other in letter, but not too massively. I liked seeing Jo and Kurl as they got to know each other. Kurl helped Jo become more confident in himself and who he was, whilst Jo helped Kurl face his trauma and abuse he has suffered.

But. But. But. 

Throughout the book, there are some uncomfortable and unaddressed issues towards consent. First, when Kurl is drunk with Jo; secondly the horrific and completely unnecessary drunk sister cheating scene (which is problematic for a whole host of reasons and is where this book lost me for good). Both these events don’t ever really address the lack of consent involved; it’s just seemingly brushed over as okay and forgiven and neither is properly even acknowledged as ‘this is not consent’. 

In addition, god I don’t even know where to start with the cheating scene. Another event just never addressed, sister never apologises, it’s just brushed over and forgiven by everyone. These characters already had issues before this moment, and it really wasn’t needed. It felt very much added for shock value as opposed to actually impacting the story. Add to the fact it literally isn’t resolved, his sister never apologises or even addresses the events, pretends to be Kurls gf, ugh it’s just not good and I didn’t care at all how the story ended after it happened. I just wanted to stop reading completely. 

I also want to mention the age of the characters – at 15 and 18, this is a little problematic and really, I don’t think there would be any huge issues if the characters has been closer in age. Or at least Jo had been older than 15. 

I am quite disappointed in this book. I really did enjoy the first third of the book; loved the prose and style; but sorry, I just couldn’t get past this content. 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Top 5 Tuesday: Dystopian

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

So I missed the first August Top 5 Tuesday because life was sucking and blogging was hard, but I’m back now for Dystopian week!

I thought this would be waaaaay easier, but I seem to have not read very many dystopians?! And I didn’t want to choose the more obvious ones like THG or Handmaid’s Tale, so there may be one or two debatable choices on this list – but I consider them dystopian so here they are!

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

What a shock, The Fever King is the book I want to talk about first on dystopian week. This isn’t just the best dystopian novel ever, I currently consider it my favourite book EVER, and I cannot keep recommending it to everyone. The Fever King is set in a future US, where a virus (magic) has wiped out most of the population. Several hubs of survivors have risen out of the wreckage, including Carolinia, where Noam, our MC lives. The son of an immigrant, Noam survives the virus and wakes up with technopathy, an ability to control technology. He is recruited by one of the most powerful men in Carolinia, Calix Leher, and goes to train at a special school for magic-wielding survivors. There he meets Dara, Ames and the rest of a crew, tries to take down the government, and falls in love.

This book is just everything. It is such an amazing story, with lots of action and drama, and characters I would die for. What it does not have: the SEQUEL which isn’t out until MARCH. C’mon time, please hurry up. You can read my full review of this book here!

I Still Dream by James Smythe

I Still Dream is probably more sci-fi than dystopian, but I think the topics discussed in the book do make it dystopian, hence it’s appearing on this list. I Still Dream tells the story of Laura, who at 17 created an artificial intelligence called Organon. Laura uses it almost like a diary, inputting her thoughts and desires into Organon who supports her as she grows. Meanwhile, the world advances, technology changes, and corportations develop their own AI. But their AI is very different to Laura’s. Laura’s was only ever designed for her; and as Organon has developed, it has done so with Laura’s humanity and her morals. The mega-corps? Of course they didn’t care about putting controls in their AI! Why would they do that?!

This is probably my absolute favourite AI book I’ve read. Despite the plot revolving around Organon, the book really focuses on Laura which I love. We follow Laura throughout her life as she and Organon grow and develop together, from her 17 year old self, to when she’s old. I Still Dream discusses what it means to be human, and shows how we can destroy ourselves for power. It’s such a brilliant tale, with incredible character development in Laura, and a brilliant look at how technology and humanity might interact in the future.

Sealed by Naomi Booth

Sealed is a very creepy, horror-esque dystopian novel set in a future where pollution has damaged the enviornment. Cities are covered in smog; food is grown only in sterile labs, and now a virus which causes skin to grow over any openings on your body is infecting everyone. To escape, pregnant Alice and her partner escape to the mountains, where she hopes the cool, fresh air will protect her from the epidemic. Of course, things aren’t quite as expected in the mountains. Something is very wrong.

Sealed is such a fantastic book – it had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through, and is one of the most terrifying books I’ve read. I actually found the ending a little disappointing, but a lot of people LOVED the ending so it’s probably just me… I wanted a bit more resolution of the virus, which is why I picked up the book (because I have a really weird obsession with media about virus epidemics), but we didn’t. Otherwise, this was a super suspenseful and chilling book.

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Natural Way of Things is a very Handmaid’s Tale-esque, feminist dystopian. Yolanda and Verla wake up drugged in an abandoned property in the middle of the Australian desert. Along with 8 other girls, they’ve been kidnapped from their lives and left there, forced to do hard labour each day. Two jailors and a nurse accompany them, watching over their every move. As they begin to bond with each other, we discover that each girl has a secret, a history of a sexual scandal with a powerful man – and this is what led to their kidnapping.

This is an extremely dark and uncomfortable novel discussing gender, the patriarchy, and misogyny. You can see the Margaret Atwood inspiration, but it’s such a modern look at the issues Atwood wrote about 35 years ago.

It’s pretty depressing this shit never seems to change.

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

I just finished this book last week, a book I have been looking forward to read for months, and it didn’t disappoint! The Kingdom is new theme park, one where wishes come true; where happy ever after isn’t just a hope, it’s enforced. Ana is one of seven fantasists, extremely human-like robots who are employed by The Kingdom to make wishes come true. Ana is also standing trial for murder. The Kingdom is split between Ana’s POV in the years before the trial; and in snippets of interviews and videos from the trial.

What a brilliant concept and great mystery! This book was pretty dark and gritty, despite how it first seems. Ana is very naive and unaware of The Kingdom’s seedier side, and so we discover along with her. This book has such brilliant discussions about what makes someone human, about how choices make humanity, and how dark and awful we really can be. I did wish the ending had been a bit darker – it felt a little too hopeful for me for the concept, but as it’s setting up a sequel, I’m interested to see what happens next. I have a full review of this book coming soon!

And that’s it for this week’s Top 5 Tuesday Dystopians! Let me know what you think of these books – and if you haven’t added The Fever King to your TBR yet, DO!

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

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Title: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication date: 7 May 2019

Genre: Contemporary| Young Adult

Page extent: 400 pages

Goodreads blurb: With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain — and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life — and all the rules everyone expects her to play by — once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.

Firstly, this book was my first try out of Australia’s inter-library loan service and I am seriously impressed by just how well and quickly it went! Secondly, what a book!! This was firey and delicious and I just want to eat so much food now. 

With the Fire on High tells the story of teen mum, Emoni, as she juggles her studies, her love of cooking, parenthood and the dreaded question of what to do with her future. In her last year of high school, a new elective opens at her school, a cooking class with a trip to Spain. But Emoni, willing to give up her love of cooking to support her child and grandmother, doesn’t know whether to follow her dreams or not.

This book is so brilliant, with such a fantastic MC I can’t even describe.  Emoni is just wonderful. This book really portrays a teen in a way I don’t think has often been shown in YA I’ve read recently. Emoni is so responsible and just a brilliant mum. She accepts all of her competing responsibilities and really works her butt off with school, a part time job, as well as looking after her daughter. She has desires and dreams but knows that everything comes second to making sure her kid is healthy and safe and loved. She is so absolutely brilliant and I adore her. Throughout the story, Emoni refers lots to what people assume and think about her because she had a child so young, but she constantly fights to break these stereotypes and show both the characters in the book, and the reader themselves, who she really is.

“I’ve had a lot of things to feel ashamed about and I’ve learned most of them are other people’s problems, not mine.” 

It’s really clear Elizabeth Acevedo has a poetry background, because the language and style of the writing is just absolutely beautiful. It constantly conjures so many images and emotions and is so poetic. I loved the addition of the recipes at the start of each section and will of course totally try making them all because they sound delicious! 

I thought the secondary characters were as well thought out and developed as Emoni. Malachi, the boy who Emoni doesn’t want to fall for but finds herself liking more and more; Angelica, her fierce, lesbian friend who is so supportive and a brilliant artist; Tyrone, the father of Emoni’s daughter, who I disliked so much for all the reasons why he was so realistic – a man who cheats and spends time with girls but of course Emoni can’t spend any time with a boy at all. And of course, Emoni’s parental figures. Her absent father, someone who we can never really forgive for his absence despite his loss, and her grandmother, who has raised Emoni and has supported her throughout her pregnancy.

This was just a beautiful book with so many unique characters and a poetically delicious prose. With such a hopeful and positive message, it is no wonder the rights to a screen version have already been bought!

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The Afterward by E.K Johnston

Rach @ Anxious Nachos3 Comments

Title: The Afterward by E.K Johnston

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Publication date: 19 February 2019

Genre: High fantasy| Young Adult

Page extent: 352 pages

Goodreads blurb: It has been a year since the mysterious godsgem cured Cadrium’s king and ushered in what promised to be a new golden age. The heroes who brought the gem home are renowned in story and song, but for two fellows on the quest, peace and prosperity do not come easily. 

Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart wasn’t meant for heroism this early in life, and while she has no intention of giving up the notoriety she has earned, her reputation does not pay her bills. With time running out, Kalanthe may be forced to betray not her kingdom or her friends, but her own heart as she seeks a stable future for herself and those she loves.

Olsa Rhetsdaughter was never meant for heroism at all. Beggar, pick pocket, thief, she lived hand to mouth on the city streets until fortune–or fate–pulled her into Kalanthe’s orbit. And now she’s quite reluctant to leave it. Even more alarmingly, her fame has made her recognizable, which makes her profession difficult, and a choice between poverty and the noose isn’t much of a choice at all.

Both girls think their paths are laid out, but the godsgem isn’t quite done with them and that new golden age isn’t a sure thing yet. 

In a tale both sweepingly epic and intensely personal, Kalanthe and Olsa fight to maintain their newfound independence and to find their way back to each other.

This was my first EK Johnston book after trying one of her others a few years back and not really vibing it – and I am so glad I decided to go back to her! The Afterward is just a beautifully calm and relaxing high fantasy, set after ‘The Quest’ has happened and looking at what happens to the characters in the aftermath. 

The Afterward follows a group of knights who have just saved the kingdom, using the godsgem, a powerful stone created by the New Gods to destroy the evil Old God bent on destroying the world. But what happens after the quest is over? Kalanthe, apprentice knight, has to go back to her studies so she can finish qualifying as a knight. But, as the daughter of a poorer family, Kalanthe must pay the debts for her knight training by marrying a noble who will agree to pay off her debts in exchange (usually) for children. But Kalanthe is torn. Though one of the most honest and true knights, extremely bound to the honour of knighthood and hence the vows she made to pay her debts, Kalanthe fell in love on the quest. Enter Olsa, a street thief who joined the quest to help find the godsgem. Kalanthe is torn between her feelings for Olsa and her honour, and in this time of confusion and struggle, a noble offers her his hand in marriage.

Olsa is a thief, one of the best in the city of Cadria, someone who never expected to go on a quest with knights. And though the success of the quest allowed her to pay of her own debts to the local thieves guild, she doesn’t know what else to do. With no skills, no home, and no family to go to, she returns to living on the street and thievery. Olsa takes on more and more dangerous tasks for the guild, and is arrested regularly, knowing she’ll be pardoned due to her service to the realm during the quest. As Olsa struggles to find her place, Mage Ladros, fellow companion on the Quest, comes to her with a new journey that she hopes will give her purpose.

The Afterward follows Olsa, Kalanthe and the other Knights as they fall into life after saving the world. The story switches between ‘Before’, where the moments before the Old God was destroyed play out, and ‘After’, where we see the characters settling into their new lives. With the action very much not the main focus of the book, it makes for a very different and unusual high fantasy novel, and one which I really enjoyed. I find most high fantasies urgent and full of panic and tension, and this was like a breath of fresh air! It was such a calming book to read, and really felt like a lovely breeze compared to other novels in this genre. The focus is on the characters, their relationships, feelings and morals. 

We still get pieces of action, but even then, the focus is more on how the relationship between each of the Knights develops, with a particular focus on the queer as fuck, totally amazing, relationship between Kalanthe and Olsa. THIS is what I’ve so been looking for in fantasy. The diversity is just there and plays out as simply and naturally as any other relationship might. There is no queer trauma and homophobia in the worldbuilding, no struggles in the existence of their relationship, it just simply is. I really admire E.K Johnston’s way of making diversity so simple and I wish more authors could take note of how easy it is to do this. We have trans characters, sapphic relationships, characters of colour, female knights, and they all just exist without being there solely for their aspect of diversity. And I absolutely love it!! 

This book really was an absolute delight, and such a breathe of fresh air from usual high stakes fantasy. (Which I do still love but it’s great to take a break every now and then!) 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

Book review: The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Rach @ Anxious NachosLeave a comment

Title: The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Publication date: 8 March 2018

Genre: Contemporary| Young Adult

Page extent: 337 pages

Goodreads blurb: Izzy O’Neill is an aspiring comic, an impoverished orphan, and a Slut Extraordinaire. Or at least, that’s what the malicious website flying round the school says. Izzy can try all she wants to laugh it off – after all, her sex life, her terms – but when pictures emerge of her doing the dirty with a politician’s son, her life suddenly becomes the centre of a national scandal. Izzy’s never been ashamed of herself before, and she’s not going to start now. But keeping her head up will take everything she has…

So this book is now one of my all time favourites. It is so fucking funny and so topical and just utterly fantastic in every single way. This book had me completely sold from around page 20 with “Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep and doesn’t know where to find them, largely because Little Bo Peep is fucking irresponsible and should not be in charge of livestock” which I could not stop laughing at for 5 minutes straight.

The Exact Opposite of Okay follows Izzy O’Neill, a sex positive and hilarious teen as pictures are released online and sent around her school of her having sex with a politician’s son. Izzy tries to ignore the constant calls of ‘Slut’ and ‘Whore’ with limited success as the situation spirals out of control.

I loved absolutely everything about this book – Laura Steven is one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read, and I am so excited for everything else she does. The humour really helps lighten the otherwise very heavy and topical subject matter which crosses revenge porn, feminism, gender equality, the friendzone, slut shaming, and ‘Nice Guy’ syndrome. It’s an utterly captivating and wild comedic journey through the life of a teen girl who actually enjoys having sex. And is obviously therefore vilified for it. The discussions around the treatment of men and women (‘player’ vs ‘whore’) are nuanced and throughly feminist. I particuarly enjoyed the introdution and development of the ‘nice guy’ syndrome – the age old truth that if you have to say you’re a nice guy, you really really aren’t. This book is the perfect starting point for so many discussions with teens about these issues which are so goddamn important.

What an absolutely spectacular range of charcters as well. Izzy, the MC, is extremely sarcastic, full of sass, so honest about herself and so so brave in the face of unimaginable odds. Ajita, her best friend, who is just amazing – so supportive. Danny, Izzy’s friend who seems to now be falling for her and doesn’t get why she doesn’t like him. Everyone knows a Danny. I dislike him more than I dislike the more openly hostile men – the nice guy/friendzone jerks are just so much worse somehow. At least the regular jerks openly admit they only want to fuck you… Betty, Izzy’s grandma, was lovely as well – though I did feel she needed to do a little more parenting.

Laura Steven takes some really dark, tricky topics and has created a book filled with humour and hope and so much anger and passion. It is both a feminist manifesto and comedy gold and I adored every single page.

“What do I want to be now? Bold. Fierce. Honest. A fighter. A revolutionary. A bitch. Because the way the world treats teenage girls – as sluts, as objects, as bitches – is not okay. It’s the exact opposite of okay.” 

Paws out,
Rach + Draco

P.S I of course immediately bought the sequel and I’m planning to read it this month and cannot wait!

Book review: Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Rach @ Anxious NachosLeave a comment

Title: Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication date: 6 Sept 2016

Genre: Contemporary| Young adult

Page extent: 400 pages

Goodreads blurb: All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty. But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth–that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

I really struggled to decide how to rate this book – there were parts I really liked and parts I really didn’t. I struggled a little to get through the book, given the misogynistic language from the main character, but there was a really great brother-sister relationship, and a unique exploration of gender in a way I haven’t seen previously.

The book follows Pen, a girl who doesn’t want to be seen as a girly girl. She likes gaming and cuts her hair short, and wants to be seen as one of the boys (even though she doesn’t want to be a boy). We follow Pen as she becomes friends with her best friend Colby’s ex, and finds a girlfriend of her own. The book has some quite deep content discussing gender, sexuality, teen pregnancy, sexual assault, and homophobia.

Let’s start with the good. I don’t think I’ve ever read someone like Pen in YA before, so this does give a very unique look at gender fluidity. Pen’s struggle throughout the book to be who she wants as her school, her friends and her parents all fight against her is at times difficult to read. She faces a lot of discrimination and hate – all her friends and parents are truly awful. Pen does grow throughout the book as she realises how to stand up for herself and be true to her identity.

I also loved the excellent brother-sister relationship. Johnny was probably my favourite character. He’s a very protective brother but not in one of those really terrible ‘I know better than you’ ways. He’s protective of her but still allows her to have agency and be herself. I also thought Blake was great – I loved how their relationship developed, it was very cute!

Unfortunately, I found most of my main complains about the story with Pen herself. Pen has some very misogynistic views, regularly using words like ‘pussy’ as an insult, and thinking girly girls are lesser than her. Whilst Pen becomes friends with a more ‘girly’ girl, I don’t really think these views were challenged much. I also just generally thought Pen wasn’t a very nice person. Despite the excellent brother, Pen isn’t very nice to him until the very end of the book, always shouting at him and using him as a barrier between her and her parents – in Johnny’s words, being ‘a hotheaded little idiot’. Her friends are also just awful people, and Pen is perfectly fine with this and their treatment of others – including one of her oldest friends! – until it begins to affect her more directly.

I was really disappointed with this book, I expected to enjoy it a lot more. For a book that has such great gender rep to then have equally bad gender rep, it just didn’t work for me. But a big shout-out to a really great older brother. Oh, I did also like all the video game references! Blake trying to get Pen to like Zelda was awesome.

Paws out,
Rach + Draco