Nice use of Persian mythology but really, really, REALLY boring.
      

        [Arctic Monkeys' You're So Dark playing
      

        I read this because Meave Wiley recommended it. her taste in books never disappoints me.

This book is a good sex education course. Exactly like a class, so that you don't mind the way it's sometimes repetitive, and it's fun and easy to read, evidence based and convincing and reassuring. It gave me all the crucial information about female sexuality, and especially female sexual pleasure, that I never got in school (but should've).
      

        Sweet and withcy and humorous. I loved everything about it, Nova's grandmas and the weird bird uncle and Tam's "wolf time" alarm and the fact that even the evil villain respected Tam's pronouns.
      

        This book is a very intense emotional rollercoaster, filled with adventure and piracy and homoeroticism, and it shows the internal journey of self-discovery and self-love being made while on an actual, external trip, which is one of my favorite literary tropes. It's funny, and it's beautifully written, but it is also so much more. I didn't expect racism being discussed so well in a novel about a white person written by a white person, but I was very happily surprised, as the main character, Monty, gradually understands his own privilege over his black best friend (and also his sister). There are some pretty heavy subject being discussed, too, like mental illness, abuse, internal and external homophobia, et cetera, and they're all handled very well, and very touchingly, so that the book has a lot to say while not feeling like too much. 
Overall, book is a blessing and I will be rereading it many times after now.
(P.S: I started listening to the audiobook right after I finished reading, because I heard the author say it's the best version of the book and because I really wanted to hear a hot British voice say 'darling' more times than it's necessary. I wasn't disappointed.)
      

        4.4
[Charlie Dalton's voice: TO INDEED BE A GOD.
      

        آیا قرآن از برابری جنسیتی حمایت می‌کنه؟ جواب این سوال، که می‌دونیم به احتمال زیاد «نه» است، برای زن‌های مسلمون چه معنایی داره؟ 

این کتاب جنبش تفسیرهای فمنیسیتی قرآن رو توضیح می‌ده، این که چطور زن‌های مسلمان آمریکایی تو چند دهه‌ی اخیر تلاش کرده‌ن یه جوری بعضی آیه‌های به طور خاص مشکل‌ساز قرآن رو توجیه کنن که با ایده‌ای که ما امروز از عدالت و برابری داریم جور دربیان. بعد هم نقدشون می‌کنه. من به عنوان کسی که سال‌ها خودم رو مذهبی می‌دونستم قدم به قدمِ این کتاب رو تجربه کرده‌م: مواجه شدن با آیه‌های زن‌ستیز، شوک، انکارشون، دلیل تراشیدن، خوندن و شنیدن دلیل‌تراشی‌های بقیه، و در نهایت قبول کردن این که شاید قرآن واقعاً اون چیزی نیست که من می‌خوام باشه.
در نهایت البته این کتاب نه کمکی بهم کرد و نه جوابی بهم داد. به خصوص که مسئله‌های مطرح‌شده توی این کتاب با مسئله‌های منی که فقط با اسلامِ شیعه سروکار دارم خیلی فرق دارن. آخرش هم داشت تقریباً بهم خوش می‌گذشت از این که نویسنده حین نقد کردن نظریه‌های تفسیر فمنیسیتی گفت یکی از ایرادهای این تفاسیر اینه که تعریفی از جنسیت ارائه نمی‌دن، با جنس یکی می‌دونندش و با «زن» و «مرد» به عنوان دو قطب مخالف و متقابل رفتار می‌کنن. ولی خب بعدش برگشت گفت «قصد ندارم با استدلال علیه تفاوت‌های ثابت، ذاتی و دقیقاً یکسان میان زن و مرد، از برخی شکل‌های دوجنسی بودن یا محو تفاوت بین زن و مرد طرفداری کنم. جنس را هم مفهومی خیالی تصور نمی‌کنم که هر ادعایی درباره‌ی عدالت برای زنان را غیرممکن می‌کند (وانگهی، اگر هیچ زن واقعی وجود نداشته باشد، چطور باید به دنبال برابری با مردان باشد)». چرا بعضیا این‌قدر اصرار دارن ترنسفوبیاشونو با جوهر قرمز رو پیشونی‌شون تتو کنن؟ =)) 
بگذریم. این کتاب به خودی خود برای من به‌دردبخور نبود. اما الان می‌دونم باید پژوهش‌های این شکلی بیشتر بخونم. تفسیرهای فمنیسیتی قرآن از دیدگاه شیعه، و تفسیرهایی که نگاه و نظر قرآن و حدیث رو به دگرباشی بررسی می‌کنن. فکر نمی‌کنم از چیزی که قراره بهش برسم خوشم بیاد ولی خوشبختانه دیگه چنین انتظاری هم ندارم، که همه چیز رو راحت‌تر می‌کنه.

پی‌نوشت: ترجمه‌ی کتاب شلخته است، و طرح جلدش واقعاً خیلی زشته. :>
      

        I always prefer to start my reviews with a general picture of the plot. In this case, there is no plot. Nothing happens in the first two-thirds of the book, and nothing unpredictable or even a tiny bit interesting happens after that. The main character is a disgustingly annoying, unrelatable piece of pick-me trash, and the rest are as by all means stereotypical as you can imagine.
Still, the first book in a series is always way worse than the rest, so I don't blame this failure on the Grishaverse as a whole. I really hope it makes up for this one.
      

        I don't know how to describe this book. it's an epic, and a poetry book, and a love story, and something impossible, and something real. Everything was composed so beautifully, each word in place, each sentence a promise of fear and awe and excitement and pure joy. I think of it as an honor, getting to read this masterpiece of art.
      

        I genuinely believe this book is going to be the end of me but we'll see
      

        Wow.
Agent of Asgard was my firt experience with comic books, and now that I'm finishing with it I can say that it was an amazing choice for a start. While reading, I had my doubts: I didn't know if comics were for me or if they could ever be. But the ending satisfied me immensely. I liked the way that almost everything that didn't make snese throughout the volumes was decently wrapped up in the end, while there were a lot left to be discussed in the future. I liked the way it was full of surprisingly profound dialogues. I liked how so freaking epic the art was, and how so funny, sometimes, and how so beautiful. I loved the way all the Lokis wore nail polish, and not just the ones who were supposed to be the bad guys, as it's expected from a piece of media, unfortunately. I even think I will probably reread this at some point, and I might as well go get more into comics after this.
I'm so happy I read this and I cant stress that enough.
      

        You know when you're reading a book, and it's SO GOOD that you don't want it to end, but also want it to end ASAP so you can start rereading it? This book was like that for me. And for many reasons:
1. This was the queer representation i needed all my life.
There was this post somewhere that said you can say a queer character is written by a queer person when the streotypes in the story are the right ones. I didn't quite get the meaning until i read this book.
It all started in like, chapter two, where Alex was "sitting upside down with his feet on the back of the couch". I don't care if I'm being unreasonable, i lost my SHIT reading that. We have a right to get to read non-straight characters who can't sit straight (even though there are of course some who can) (i haven't seen any though).
They're both awake at all ungodly hours of day and night and at some point they call out JK Rowling, which are both Very Queer things to do, and i appreciate them so much. And Henry has a habit of calling things gay. Which is indeed a very gay habit. My single favorite line in all book is when he's talking about his favorite writer (which is a paragraph i live for in general) and he says truly, what is gayer than a woman who languishes away in a crumbling mansion wearing her wedding gown every day of her life, for the drama?
2. The whole process of Alex's bisexual awakening, which was written perfectly. I was actually surprised that he thought he was straight, because he certainly didn't act like it. He was obsessed with Henry since childhood and made gay jokes about him from the very beginning of their interactions, he actually used these words about Shaan's "sweet sweet ass", and he straight up (not really though) told Henry that his dad was a total babe. Don't even get me started on the whole Liam thing. My oblivious boy was like well, yeah, we once made out for an hour in his bed and we used to watch porn together and finish each other off, but it was totally a bro thing, wasn't it? No homo in the slightest. it was hilarious. But the thing is, living in the heteronormative universe that we do, almost all of us have experienced what Alex did. It doesn't take the same amount of time and energy to find out for everyone, but we struggle with getting to know our sexuality/gender in a way the cishet never do. And we look back on those days and we laugh, we keep making shitty jokes about that era of our life because now we can't believe there was ever a time when we didn't know we were queer. The experience is so real and universal and reading it written so accurately both made me laugh out loud and warmed my queer lil heart. 
3. All the mentions of queer historical figures. I got a little bit worried about myself though because i almost knew about all of them skskak. Because history is so not straight, even though very few people know or care; and it was nice to read about people who do know and care.
4. Writing love letters when you can just make do with texting and snapchat is just so gay, dude. I'm sorry. I don't make the rules. I will probably never forget the happiness and pure fucking joy reading these letters and the little quotes from other queer people's letter at the end of them gave me.
5. I'm not even American but reading about a world where Tr*mp doesn't exist made me so happy. I can see why some people say it's not realistic, and i low key agree, but at the same time, aren't we getting enough of the reality already? I want to think that somewhere in a parallel universe the president of the United States is a woman whose half-mexican son is dating the prince of England and they all try their best to make the world a better place than ours is. 
6. all the side characters are gReAt. Many of them are queer: Luna, Amy (who is a BADASS trans woman who was EMBROIDERING pansexual flag on her wife's jacket or something? Ma'am I'm in LOVE), Nora, probably June, and Liam, and I'm not even a hundred percent sure I'm not forgetting about anyone. Ellen Claremont is the coolest person to ever exist (also a milf) and Bea is a rebel queen. I can't even choose whose character i like more or who is written better. Zahra, Shaan, Cash, Pez. I love all of them.
7. That scene between Zahra and Shaan where he met her hand in a high-five WITHOUT LOOKING UP. Do you have any idea how hard it is? That's love, kids.
8. The humor throughout the whole book was just *chef's kiss*. At some point i was laughing so hard that i had to go read the rest outside so i wouldn't wake my mom up and get murdered.
9. Everything about the sex scenes. Especially that time when Alex told Henry to hang on, and he immediately stilled.. It was such an important moment.

Overall, i loved everything about this book and the author is now one of my favorites of all time and i cannot even begin to express how excited i am to read their new book.
And sorry about the excessive use of this spoiler hiding thing. I've only discovered it now and have no idea how I'm supposed to use it.
      

        Lana's poetry is filled with everyday life, and her everyday life seems to be more poetic than the concept of poetry itself. "My life is my poetry, my lovemaking is my legacy", as she herself puts it in one of her poems. This book, like her music, is an exploration of passion and grief, of diamonds and neon ligts and tired mornings, and of living and of death, and of remembering young love, and of art and of humanity.
      

        Sounded too much like a mlm romance written by a straight woman for straight women (though i know the author is queer), somewhat stereotypical and utterly unsurprising. But other than that, so relatable and so youthful, Pretty nice sense of humor and SUCH BEAUTIFUL ART. I enjoyed my time with this novel, and even though I don't think it was a masterpiece I do think it was super duper cute. I'm probably going to read the rest of the series, too. Let's hope it'll be better than this first one.
      

        3.5
What would you do if you knew you had but one more day to live?
This question is pretty much what's going on in this book. It does a good job showing the absolute inevitability of death, the fact that it comes whenever and however it wants and doesn't wait for a perfect moment like in fiction. The worldbuilding is smart, fun, imaginative and also incredibly realistic (there are big corporations making tons of money out of people who've been informed they're on their last day. Looks like the author understands capitalism, I guess), and the characters and plot and everything else are thoughtful and well-written and just okay enough.
My expectations were relatively low, but surprisingly, I did enjoy my time with this book.