citrus_seasalt's reviews
302 reviews

(Merged review.)

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the eARC! I’ve been keeping up with Sonora Reyes’s books ever since their debut, and them writing a gay fake dating romance intrigued me. Don’t be fooled by the tropey premise, though— the issues front and center of Han and Kenny’s respective arcs give “The Broposal” too much gravity for it to call itself a rom-com—or, at least for me to do that, more like. (Even if it’s overall hopeful, and ends well.) Although, I feel some of the over-the-top writing present in the awkwardness of the romance (especially at the beginning) resulted in the tone wobbling on a tightrope line between lighthearted and emotional.

I was disappointed by how there was very little done with the idea of Han figuring out his “homophobia” towards Kenny was just jealousy. The crossed-out words in Han’s internal monologue made his (comedic) sexuality crisis too obvious a realization for it to be actually funny. It felt a little fanfic-reminiscent? I think in general, though, the first third or so of the book was awkward to read, the narrative was trying its damndest to ship the main characters together, and it was so obvious from some of the dialogue. 

I thought the parts of the romance that involved Han and Kenny actually realizing they had romantic feelings (but were fumbling around it) were cute, though. (I think part of that also came from Han having to drop the “bro” out of every other sentence.) I appreciated the weekend rituals and casual moments they had with each other that fitted the kind of dynamic two long-time friends would have. I also enjoyed the inclusion of drag! That resulted in a really cute bonding moment, and in addition, the drag element (subplot?) was a neat way to introduce Leti, as well as show more of Kenny’s self-expression! But I didn’t like the miscommunication that made up a bulk of the plot. It was extremely frustrating to read— especially with a moment in the book where Jackie basically assaults Kenny but it NEVER gets properly called out as such, EVEN WHEN KENNY TELLS LETI WHAT HAPPENED?!?! 

Speaking of Leti! I feel like their purpose as a character was literally just to drop in to offer advice or be like “NOW KISS”! (Not an exaggeration! In the slightest!) They barely have personality outside of that, and as much as I know they’re just one representation of a very common romance media trope, conceptually they were cool, and I was bummed as a nonbinary person who enjoys (and occasionally does) drag.

Branching out about side characters— of course I have to talk about the Caucasian elephant in the room, Jackie. I’m basically with every other reviewer on that she was cartoonishly evil. Like, her one personality trait was being manipulative. While I appreciate how Kenny was able to have these surprisingly realistic, conflicting feelings about a partner he was in denial about being abusive, and that his POV chapters can show why it’s so hard for someone to leave a toxic relationship, it was unfortunately wasted on an incredibly one-dimensional character. 

But—making for a very clunky tone and topic change, how fitting— I did really enjoy the sex scenes. The kink elements were super light (appropriate, since Han’s never done anything kinky before) but I like the way Reyes writes consent, while keeping things a little hot and having these two (Han and Kenny, of course) being very sappily, incredibly in love with each other. Again! Fanfic-reminiscent! (Different connotation, this time.) 

While my feelings are mixed, and my rating isn’t high, as always, Sonora Reyes has a compulsively readable writing style. I do hope that “The Broposal” means we can have more nuanced, mentally ill, casual queer representation in publishing, and I can see it easily finding its audience. (It already has, so.)

Interesting allegory, decently twisty in the short period where the cursed forest was part of the plot, and the characters were fun, but this was surprisingly draining. I’m gonna blame the constant, plot-relevant transphobia for that. 

While I feel a lot of these messages are important for kids to read, eventually it started to feel like therapy-speak (particularly with the two major “I can still love you and feel ___” discussions, which, in the case of the first one, I think a twelve year-old should’ve taken a couple more chapters, or maybe even a book??, to get to that conclusion), and I feel like the Big Emotional Discussions took up way more pages than the action. I am conflicted as to what to think of them, though? Because while they were long, and they were frequent enough to be a little annoying, they were also pretty plot relevant despite messing up the pacing. 🤔I’ll attribute that to this being a debut novel.

Also, regarding the boys being forbidden to use magic, and them being physically harmed into not using it anymore… did anyone else catch onto that being a conversion therapy allegory?? I mean, come on!:

(I am hoping that means that Edwyn and Willow are canonically queer!! That would add to the metaphor/allegory.)

Also, Elowen and Callie’s romance was very cute. I loved the longing, and the queerification of the brave knight + princess(/occasional damsel?) trope LOL. I do understand if some people think it fits a bit too well into heteronormativity (Callie being the more masculine one and putting on this heroic persona and whatnot), but I think they each had their moments of saving each other, in more than one definition of the word. Ugh, I wish it was a slow burn, though!! I’ve gotten into so many series but none so far where they canonize a romance in the second or third book. Can we bring that back in fantasy, please😭😭💔💔

AND!! BISEXUAL DAD, LETS GOOO!!! I feel like Papa was a little too perfect, but I liked his maturity. Some of his more snarky lines kind of feel like when you revisit a kids book as an adult and start realizing the unresolved ethics issues in it. (I think the main reason I liked those parts is because they reminded me of my own late dad, though.)

On the topic of dads, Lord Peran was a pretty good depiction of emotional abuse and how parents can manipulate their kids(biblically accurate fatherly guilt-tripping)(look. I never said Papa was the only dad in the book to sometimes remind me of my dad ok), but also, his evilness was so repetitive. It made him a very one-note character. Who am I to complain, though. Some kid readers probably need an on-the-nose personification of toxic behavior—without the morals or toxicity being muddied— being called out and exiled. But, I’m sure book 2 is gonna address Elowen and Edwyn’s complicated feelings about that. 

Gonna be reading book 2, too. Hoping for more magic, Elowen to maybe take on that deal from the dragon because she was considering it for a little too long, and a lot of trauma. 

Was reading too many books and lost track of how much time I had on my loan, I can’t finish 300+ pages before 5pm tomorrow, my QLL account wasn’t working and neither was the verification link so I can’t even read it if I tried, and I’m about to cry. this seemed fun :(

Cute overall, but I wasn’t sold on the relationship beyond their sexual chemistry (good lord. Communication), and the writing style was a little cringy. The two smut scenes had some… interesting… euphemisms LOL. (Also, this book did the fanfiction thing where they described brown eyes as “chocolate orbs”, I had to put my copy down to giggle😭) Speaking of fanfiction, I was going to give an extra .5, but I do not think the Spanglish was proofread?? 

Would’ve been nice to see the contestants more? Only Tanisha popped in, and that was to try and stir a nonexistent love triangle. The reason I didn’t rate this low, though, is that the fluffiness and queer joy was enjoyable. I think the rapid acceleration and development of the main relationship, as well as the hijinks part of the plot, would make this great material for a movie adaptation. (Ideally not low budget, though, as much as I want to joke about this being Hallmark material but a smidge more scandalous.)

deleted my review. I don’t think the intricacies of someone’s craft matters when they somehow wrote an entire collection about anti-colonization while faking their race

I actually liked this slightly more than the previous book!! The pacing was much better, since the mystery around Aaron was solved at the end of book 1. Yes, there were more slightly mysteries than vampire fighting in this book, too, but Boog didn’t have to question if the vampires existed like she did in the first one, so it was a lot easier to dive into the training and lore. Anyhow. 

Like its predecessor, “Secret Of The Reaping” had plot twists that were all very predictable, with the exception of a couple details. I still enjoyed a couple of the reveals, though, and seeing the vampires create actual destruction and be threatening was pretty cool. (But even if a few parts made me nervous, I didn’t fear for the main characters, really? It’s pretty clear they’re gonna turn out alive, if a little emotionally scarred.) Also, while I said this before it’s so easy to see why “Stranger Things” is a comp title LOL. Sketchy government agencies? A friend group with one of the members changing for the monstrous, but still remaining an ally? Kids being amateur detectives about the paranormal? Rings a lot of bells except for the 80’s nostalgia. 

But a nitpick—well, I guess the issue is bigger than that— I have is that this series doesn’t really… feel like a series?! Because of each book happening right after the other, and there being a few less plot points than I’m used to reading in middle grade novels, it feels like one arc split into several parts. While I think this would work spectacularly as a single-season show, actually reading it is disorienting because it makes every ending feel abrupt. I’m a little scared to read the final book for this reason, especially because there’s so much plot to cover and I can already tell that it probably would’ve worked better as a quartet. (A reviewer pointed this out, but this and book 1 feel like they were written without a clear idea of how many books there would be?) 

Also, while I liked reading about Boog, Cedrick, Aaron and Jules again, I think there should’ve been a couple more pages to show how the different bonds within their friend group changed with everything they’re going through. There isn’t really time to focus on the different pairs/parts of the group like in book 1, and while Boog and Aaron had some really cool moments, they had the most development of everyone?? 

I’m still planning on finishing this series. The casual representation and the creepiness are very fun.

Genuinely not sure what rating to give this, but I’m settling on  3.5 or a 3.75 stars. Some parts were undoubtedly cringy, but a bit less so than the reviews made me anticipate (thank god). The story was knowingly and unabashedly silly, the characters were made more of gimmicks than well-rounded personalities, and yet, there was still a very earnest discussion about nonbinary representation and figuring out what it’s like to be trans outside of the gender binary. I also appreciated there being a transfemme MC that doesn’t dress completely androgynous!

I have a lot of passionate feelings, but because I have a personal rule against swearing in middle grade reviews, my wording will be comically limited. Sorry.

While I think it’s common knowledge for queer people, particularly youth, to have these long-standing parasocial relationships with queer celebrities because they become lifelines of a sort, I don’t see many fiction books cover that. Yes, this was done in a lighthearted way that doesn’t dissect any of the ways that can go south and, yes, it was very self-indulgent. But Elle’s fanby naïveté, and them placing so much of their gender identity and expression around this fictional character and their actor, to a point where they have a couple thoughts about forging their own definition of their gender (and they’re kinda frustrated abt having to do that?) is just… so damn relatable???!!! I even appreciated the short conversation they had with Nuri! Elle didn’t get every single answer they wanted—that was kind of impossible—but, like, they still got to have support from both Nuri and their stepdad. (Jerome being emotional support was so sweet.) And also, their conversation was quite short and straight to the point, like fan interactions typically are. So while Elle continued to idolize Nuri, it didn’t feel like they crossed any lines, y’know? 

Long, unnervingly personal rant aside, I also really enjoyed the representation in this novel. There’s some scumbag teachers in the first quarter, but to be honest, their appearances are minimal and a lot of the story is very full of queer joy. I enjoyed that a lot. (The laser tag plot was hilariously convoluted, but I loved Dawn and Elle’s interactions. They were cute, and totally gave away that the author only wrote comics before this.) I can see people being a little exasperated by Elle’s long gender-related internal monologues, but as another nonbinary person I found them relatable in a kinda soothing way, and also, they seemed to be appropriate for Elle’s age (+ where they were in their personal journey as a little baby queer). Curious to know what the target demographic or what the parents reading it alongside them would think, though. 

Not much else to say other than this was a lot of fun to read (also, I laughed a couple times!), and I thought Elle and their mom were very sweet. I know she doesn’t interact with them for the second half of the novel, but the way she incorporated supportiveness of her kid’s identity into her mom rants was very sweet. (I’m not sure how else to word that, lol. Read the beginning and you might understand??)

A very fun introduction to Benjamin Dean’s work!! The main characters were full of heart, the writing engaging (and great! I really liked how familial relationships and grief was captured throughout), and the story light and humorous while avoiding being embarrassing. Was the ending clichéd? Absolutely.

(*cough* Rita’s turnaround *cough*)

But to be fair, a lot of the book is. I found it charming, and the lively illustrations scattered throughout definitely added to it! 💕

Rita was a very fun villain!! Very classic children’s book™️. Comically evil, but in a silly way, and I kind of loved how despite the whole conflict revolving around her being vehemently against Pride happening, it’s… not for any queerphobic reasons, she just hates not being the center of attention (and fun) LOL??? 

My main issue, though, is that the pacing is a mess. The first half is great at introducing the characters and building them up, but the pride itself isn’t introduced until halfway through. I was anxiously checking the page numbers by the end, because SO MUCH had to be resolved so quickly! I would have also liked to see more of Norman and the townspeople. 

Tbh I didn’t think I’d get to read this, but my library listened to my materials request, and I’m very glad they did! My town didn’t even have Pride until 2021 (I was part of that! I made the T-shirts! Haha!), so I wonder if there will be some other kid in my district that draws parallels to this book and really enjoys it. 

I might lower this to 3.5 stars because although I thought a lot of the stories were written well, quite a few of them became forgettable by the end. With a specific theme such as bicycling sci-fi, you’d think this collection would get repetitive, but every author managed to be creative and bizarre in some way. Sometimes I vibed with it, sometimes I didn’t, because although so many of these worlds were unique, the shortness of this anthology meant the depth they could’ve presented was compromised. 

My personal favorites were “Clashing/Complementa” (that one was very cute but also action-packed!), and “Beyond” (I felt it was a strong end to the collection, and the mix of optimism and melancholy reflected the overarching theme of change. I also thought that of all the exposition-heavy stories, the worldbuilding was the most creative here).