Review: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Published: 11th March 2021 | Publisher: Hodder Children's Books | Source: Bought
Sophie Gonzales's Website

In Sophie Gonzales' Perfect on Paper, Leah on the Offbeat meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back.

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
• Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
• Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
• Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
• Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke... who is in love with someone else.
• Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong? From The StoryGraph

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features .

Continue reading Review: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Review: For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Orbit Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Published: 1st June 2021 | Publisher: Orbit Books | Source: NetGalley
Hannah Whitten's Website

The first daughter is for the Throne. The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole. From The StoryGraph

Continue reading Review: For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (#Ad)

Review: The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Published: 20th August 2020 | Publisher: HarperVoyager | Source: Bought
Ausma Zehanat Khan's Website

The Companions of Hira have used their cunning and their magic in the battle against the patriarchal Talisman, an organization whose virulently conservative agenda restricts free thought. One of the most accomplished Companions, Arian, continues to lead a disparate group in pursuit of the one artifact that could end the Talisman’s authoritarian rule: The Bloodprint.

But after a vicious battle, the arcane tome has slipped once more beyond her reach. Despite being separated and nearly losing their lives, Arian’s band of allies has remained united. Yet now, the group seems to be fracturing. To continue the fight, Arian must make a dangerous journey to a distant city to recruit new allies. But instead of her trusted friends, she is accompanied by associates she may no longer be able to trust.

Building on the brilliance of The Bloodprint and The Black Khan, this third volume in the Khorasan Archive series ratchets up the danger, taking the conflict to a darker, deadlier place, and setting the stage for the thrilling conclusion to this acclaimed #ownvoices fantasy. From The StoryGraph

My other reviews of The Khorasan Archives Series:
The Bloodprint | The Black Khan

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features racism, violence against women, and male rape.

Continue reading Review: The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Bisexual YA with F/M Relationships

Ad: Titles with an asterisk (*) were gifted to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Links with a circumflex (^) are Ad: Affiliate Links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Bisexual YA with F/M Romances

Recently, there was some controversy on YA Book Twitter when, after Sophie Gonzales discussed Perfect on Paper and it's f/m relationship, the book was criticised for being labelled as an LGBTQ* because the main character, Darcy - who is bisexual - ends up in a relationship with a guy. A lot of biphobia and acephobia ensued, with implications that unless a character was having sex with someone of the same gender, it wasn't queer enough (see threaded tweet, too), started by an author who writes queer erotica.

This made me incredibly angry. Bisexual people exist, and they're still bisexual even if they're in a f/m relationship. They're relationship isn't a straight relationship, because they are not straight. What's funny is that this whole controversy came about because Gonzales explained that her book was about... biphobia and bi-erasure. Many people have already said a lot on this topic a lot more eloquently than I can. So instead, I'm going to share with you a list of books featuring bisexual characters in f/m relationships. Not all of the books are romances, or have the romance as the main focus, but they feature on page f/m relationships. And, of course, I'm starting with Perfect on Paper itself.

Continue reading Bisexual YA with F/M Relationships