Summary:
It's summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can't be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy's only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk...until she's matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.
Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others-like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom-and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they'll stand for...and who they'll rise against.
My Thoughts:
I saw this at a bookstore and immediately ordered it from the library. I'm so glad I did. Tammy and Sharon are such well built characters, and so is Sharon's brother. I love the formatting of the book as well, although at first it was kind of confusing.
While I don't have anyone throwing antigay campaigns, I know what it's like to have a conservative family, go to a Christian school, and have to pretend I'm someone that I'm not. So it was really nice being able to finally relate to a main character in a book.
Tammy ends up running away to Sharon after her family finds out that she's gay. Sharon comes to terms that she's bisexual and in love with Tammy.
This was my first LGBT-centered book I have read, and I absolutely loved it.
My Rating: 5 stars
01 July 2020
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake REVIEW
Summary:
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: he kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead-keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed every person who has dared step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares his life.
My Thoughts:
I actually bought the sequel without realizing that it was a sequel last year, so I borrowed this book from my library. It was just as good as I hoped.
Cas is one of the few male narrators in books that I have actually liked. His father was killed when he was young and he secretly plans to get revenge once he gets enough experience to do so. What he doesn't know, is that he'll get revenge a lot sooner than he thinks. It turns out Anna is just a scared girl who was cursed to stay in the house and kill everyone, and that she never wanted to in the first place. The romance between Cas and Anna is so well written, although I wish the author explored their relationship a bit more.
Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes reading/watching things about the paranormal.
*also, it's definitely NOT a children's book. It is implied that Anna's stepfather did things to her, as well as other things that would be spoilers*
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: he kills the dead.
So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead-keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed every person who has dared step into the deserted Victorian house she used to call home.
But she, for whatever reason, spares his life.
My Thoughts:
I actually bought the sequel without realizing that it was a sequel last year, so I borrowed this book from my library. It was just as good as I hoped.
Cas is one of the few male narrators in books that I have actually liked. His father was killed when he was young and he secretly plans to get revenge once he gets enough experience to do so. What he doesn't know, is that he'll get revenge a lot sooner than he thinks. It turns out Anna is just a scared girl who was cursed to stay in the house and kill everyone, and that she never wanted to in the first place. The romance between Cas and Anna is so well written, although I wish the author explored their relationship a bit more.
Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes reading/watching things about the paranormal.
*also, it's definitely NOT a children's book. It is implied that Anna's stepfather did things to her, as well as other things that would be spoilers*
My Rating: 4.5 stars
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