videojames

By the time you’re reading this I’ll have started classes, so I’m both very excited and also slightly terrified as I’m writing this. Weirdly, I feel like I usually read more during the school year because it feels like more of an escape than it does while I’m on break. That being said, I didn’t get through much this week (by my standards), partially because I was busy and a little stressed getting ready for classes and partially because the pharmacy wouldn’t refill my meds and I had to go without for a few days. Rest assured, I am now medicated and well-rested, but there’s not much to show for this past week. We have two new releases, one audiobook, and one reread to talk about so let’s get into it!

The Divine Gardener’s Handbook by Eli Snow

suffocating life. Cyprin is desperate to escape her life in the slums and get a job in the Gardens—so desperate that she cheats her way to winning the annual flower pageant, beating out Purcell, the new head gardener and previous winner. Now working in the Gardens, Cyprin and Purcell are engaged in a fierce rivalry, but God and the Gardens are not all they seem and the secrets they uncover might just bring them together as their world falls apart.

One thing this book has going for it is how god damn weird and inventive it is, and I did mostly enjoy learning about this weird little world, especially at the beginning. That being said, you can definitely tell that this is a debut because it needed a lot of work. Cyprin and Purcell’s relationship is kind of entertaining but it’s totally insta-lust and eventually insta-love once they finally stop bickering, so I didn’t find it very convincing or compelling. Both of them are fine as characters, but all of the other characters are a little thin and I think this could have benefitted from a stronger supporting cast. The actual plot is kind of a mess, structured bizarrely at points but overwhelmingly giving you that feeling of “well, it’s time for the characters to do this/be there, so that’s what’s going to happen” without a real sense of cohesion or agency to their actions. The mystery/twist was somehow nonsensical and also entirely predictable, so that didn’t really do anything for me. It’s a fun idea and I would say it’s fine to read, but there are undeniably a lot of issues and despite being so weird I found it pretty forgettable.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And Other Questions About Dead Bodies by Caitlin Doughty

I’ve read Caitlin Doughty’s other books Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory and From Here to Eternity, the former of which is one of my favorite nonfiction books, packing a perfect combination of silly, pop science and pretty dark, emotional memoir elements. I didn’t have particularly strong feelings about From Here to Eternity, but I’m working on a task at one of my jobs that is very well-suited for audiobook listening so I thought I’d give this short little book a shot. It has Doughty’s trademark humor which is charming and a little cringey at points. It’s packed full of fun, weird facts, some of which I already knew from her other books and similar books I’ve read like Stiff by Mary Roach, Working Stiff by Judy Melinek, and All That Remains by Sue Black, all of which I would recommend. (I’m aware that I’ve read a lot of books about dead bodies but it’s an interesting subject with lots of potential for dark humor, so it’s just kind of up my alley.) There was also plenty of information that was new to me, and I always like Doughty’s focus on “there’s not actually anything wrong with this, we just have a cultural taboo” when it comes to things like corpse blood donation. I’d recommend it if you want something quick and fun (assuming you’re the morbidly curious type—If not, maybe skip it).

The Demon Star by Jesse Aragon

DNF – No Rating

struggling with his faith and alcoholism, and Ysira, a woman who somehow survived being sacrificed to the gods and must use the knowledge she gained to protect her son when he is chosen as a vessel for demonic possession.

This was a soft DNF. I didn’t hate it and I wasn’t entirely bored, but there was nothing that made me want to keep picking the book up. It’s pretty long and dense, and between that and being stressed about classes and exhausted from being off medication, I just decided it was best for me to put it down. I’ve heard lots of good things, and I think I would enjoy it in the right mindset, but in my current mindset I would have been forcing myself through it. I only made it about a quarter of the way in before I put it down to pick up Red, White & Royal Blue (hell of a one-eighty, I know), so I can’t confidently say if it is or isn’t worth your time. I might be willing to pick it up again in the future, so if you think it’s like the best thing ever, by all means let me know and maybe I’ll give it another shot.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

(reread)

rivalry with the youngest prince of English, Henry, but the two are forced to play nice after knocking over the royal wedding cake in the midst of a tiff. As they get closer, Alex and Henry end up hurtling into a secret relationship, risking Henry’s royal standing and Alex’s mother’s chance at reelection.

I read this book for the first time in 2019 when it came out, and it was one of the first straight-up queer romances (really, one of the first truly queer books) that I ever read. Being thirteen, queer, and not having a lot of queer people around me, I can’t stress enough how formative it was to read a story that is as joyous and celebratory of queerness as this one is. Objectively, the premise is ridiculous and some of the humor is a little cringey, but I simply could not give less of a fuck because I love this book so much. It’s such an enjoyable relationship to see develop and as someone who needs high stakes, the whole first-son-and-prince-of-England-in-a-secret-relationship thing really does it for me. McQuiston also always does an amazing job with side characters. Every single character feels like they have so much personality and add so much joy to the story. In general, McQuiston really knows how to write joy because the scenes in the karaoke bar or at the lake house just glitter with so much love and happiness.

This isn’t my first time rereading this, but it’s definitely been a few years, and I think it was the right time given both my mindset and *gestures vaguely* the state of the world. To state the obvious, it is not the happiest time to be a queer person in the US, or in the world for that matter. (If you haven’t heard, recently Welsh health officials had all gender affirming care services paused and cancelled many gender affirming surgeries only days or hours in advance, some of which people had spent years waiting for. In place of any real support or the opportunity to reschedule, people who had their surgeries cancelled were just given the number for the suicide hotline.) In these circumstances, a little escapism is truly needed every now and then just to get through the day, because unfortunately there isn’t much we can do right now other than wait. It’s a relief to momentarily live in a world where the first son of the US and the prince of England could come out to massive support, even if it’s only for the length of the book.

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Pretty meh week but I always have hope for brighter days ahead (at least, when it comes to reading). I’m currently making my way through an audiobook of The Rest is History, based on the podcast by Tom Holland (not that Tom Holland) and Dominic Sandbrook, which I’m enjoying well enough even if I suspect I’m not the target audience. I didn’t read any ARCs this past week so this upcoming week I should probably get hopping on Buzzard by Inez Ray, a dystopian novel, and The Henchperson’s Guide to Unionizing by Michael J. Moore, a humor fantasy novel, both of which I mentioned at the end of my last roundup and which are both out September 22nd. I still have Headlights by CJ Leede checked out from the library and I also checked out The Devil Knows Her Name by C. N. Vair, both of which are horror/thriller novels that I’m not totally sure about but I’ll give them a shot. I have a few books checked out from Kindle Unlimited as well which I mentioned in my last roundup: The Mercenary and the Mortician by Alexandra St. Pierre and The Poet Empress by Shen Tao. Once I’ve finished The Rest is History, clearly I’m feeling nostalgic so I checked out an audiobook of The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan, the first book in the Magnus Chase trilogy. Don’t attack me, but Magnus Chase was my favorite Rick Riordan series and I’m pretty confident it will hold up, hopefully giving me something nice to listen to at work as I unwind from the craziness of the beginning of the semester. Speaking of which, I have some reading to do for classes so I need to wrap this up!

Have you read any of these books? Did I convince you to read one of them (or not to read one of them)? By all means, let me know what you’ve enjoyed recently or what you’re looking forward to!

Happy reading!

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