Ok. So I’m giving this 4 stars ONLY BECAUSE at some point near the end…I got completely confused as to what Nhung was supposed to look like? And it totally skewed how I was perceiving everything happening. That said. HOLY SMOKES. The lyrical prose of the novel, the descriptions of everything, from the desolation of Mercy to the vagueness (yet unmistakable chill) of Nhung’s assault, everything built up to this astonishing yet fitting end. I had some serious misgivings about Covey but oh my, she was everything and then some. I was so glad for the others who were found, and I loved that the adults were portrayed as the flawed people they are. Jimmy, who is cruel and callous but thinks he’s doing it all for his daughter, who he clearly doesn’t understand resents him, to Nhung’s mother, who because of her lack of communication, almost utterly destroys any relationship with her daughter, under the guise of the ultimate protection. I really did enjoy this. I will absolutely be reading more by this author.
*To see this and other reviews, please visit my Goodreads page here.
If I could give a book 6 stars…7 stars…more…this would be the one. For all that is holy (and in some scenes, NOT holy, if you know what I mean), this was an incredible book about self discovery, combating homophobia, sports homophobia, finding friends and supports with your family. I mean, there was just so much happening, but I am so thankful I saw this book at the bookstore and bought it. I will so read this over and over again.
Gabriel Piña (Gabi, Gabo, or Piña, for short) is a football player. Not American football, but international football (soccer, if you will). He is a freshman starter goalkeeper on the Texas A&M Corpus Christi team, which is not something that happens very often. He is having a great season. He met a cool girl, Leana, and a cool guy, Vale. He ends up hooking up with Leana, and just as he is getting ready to ask her to go steady and be a couple, she lets him down, not because of anything wrong, but because she wants to grow and explore while she is in college. He meets Vale at a random party when Vale is playing a drinking game and is dared to kiss a stranger. He asks Gabi…and Gabi is quite literally blown away. Now all he can think about is Vale. Then he finds out Vale is in his Intro to Philosophy course and offers to tutor Gabi, since he can tell he is struggling. They get close…then closer. Gabi has to come to several realizations about himself, but the problem is, Mexican culture? Very machismo, very homophobic. He isn’t even sure if he would be supported by his teammates, or his roommates, and finally, it all comes to a head. Gabi has to choose: football or being himself?
This went into ALL of Mexican cultures machismo and homophobic-ness, which is so very real. It is extremely true that fans at Mexican fútbol games are horribly homophobic, with horrid chants that have had their own clubs fined because they use them. Our culture is so repressed with toxicity, I even had some of it in my own family (I am fairly certain most of it has finally been outgrown, but I can’t be certain). I actually cried a few times in this book, just thinking about all mis hermanas y hermanos who might be hiding themselves because they simply do not feel safe. As a cis, het Chicana, I can’t even imagine the horrors they must live through because of hate. I have to say, though, that Gabi had some INCREDIBLE support, and not everyone has that. The scene at the lake, with Pérez and Kat and the broccolini had me CRACKING UP! Pérez and Kat’s support, I think, is what really helped Gabi with overcoming himself and being ready to tell his team and his captain Barrera (which, FTP) about himself. I do wish we had gotten a little more about Vale, maybe even a chapter or two of his viewpoint, just so we could see him fall for Gabi like Gabi does for him, but I also understand that this was Gabi’s story to tell and so yea, that will kind of make Vale a background character.
Anyways, if you like sports, specifically football (soccer), if you like reading good bisexuality centered books, if you are an ally, if you are POC, then this book is for you. If you are not these things…then maybe you should pick it up any ways…see through the others eyes, and maybe you’ll become more empathic. We need more empathy in the world these days.
Whew! I’m on a roll! I have not one, but TWO book reviews here! I’m part of the Probably Smut monthly book club (don’t @ me!) and I am finally all caught up and ready for September’s book! In the meantime, my reviews for both Shadowed Obsession (July) and The Bad Boy Rule (August) are here!
Shadowed Obsession – 2 stars
The nice thing about the PS book club is that we get GORGOUS special edition covers! This was no exception! The colors were *chefs kiss* Perfect! However, the inside of the book, the meat, if you will…left some to be desired. There were many a grammatical and editing mistakes that really take you out the book once you see them. Things like quotation marks not being completed, a whole PAGE being copy/pasted…it was just kind of a mess? The story line could have been stronger too, like the premise was great, but overall? Eh.
*sigh* I REALLY wanted to like this. The smut was smutting and the MC’s had some depth to themselves. But their actual chemistry went from “stalker/stalkee” to “domestic bliss” once the mask came off-literally. Not to mention times when italics were used and then just not turned off. At some point, the emphasis on the Spanish words was annoying. It’s just dialogue like any other, yet it’s italicized. Every. Single. Time. As a non-native Spanish speaker but a Chicana, this was probably the most irritating. In her effort to make the character not othered, she othered his language the whole book.
Unfortunately, those items made the book slightly unbearable and while I finished it, I really only did because the redeeming parts were alright. (See my Goodreads review here)
The Bad Boy Rule – 4 stars
Whew! That was…hot. Like fire! I think I spent more time tabbing all the dirty talk than paying attention to the plot!
Lennon is a socialite, someone who’s parents are the who’s who of New Orleans. She is incredibly privileged and knows it. She is also rebelling against her parents…the blinders are off after a series of events, including forcing her to quit ice skating, her one escape, forces her to acknowledge that her parents are grooming her to be a trophy wife, nothing more.
Saint is a hockey player who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His adolescent years spent in a trailer with his mother and his abusive and alcoholic father, Saint is well aware that he could end up like his dad and is trying everything in his power not to be. So he gives himself a new persona, “The Playboy” and has sex with basically any girl but with one rule: no getting attached.
Our MC’s meet at…the skating rink. Because of COURSE they do. Of COURSE they have the same time slot by mistake! Lennon, in her effort to rebel, asks Saint to be her fake boyfriend, unknowing that Saint has his own reasons why he says yes. They begin to see that neither is what they seem.
Seriously, this was so good. The tension and the banter between Saint and Lennon was so good. There wasn’t TOO MUCH of the pet names, which can really make or break a book. The only issue this time? A couple of plot holes that really made me question my own sanity, and a couple of grammatical and editing errors. So because of those, this went from a 5 star to a 4. (To see this and other reviews, check out my Goodreads profile here)
Ok, that’s all folks! I am hoping to get to 100 books by the end of the year…I’m currently standing at 67! Can I do it?! YES I CAN!
So. After gathering my thoughts, and reading some other reviews, I realized I will not be as eloquent as some here. However, I enjoyed this book. SO MUCH. The folklore, the horror, the gore. How Cora was able to rise above that, make connections with friends after the horrific murder of her sister, with whom she had a complicated relationship with. Re-connecting with her Asian heritage through her one aunt after being forced into accepting Christianity by her white aunt. The racism. THE RACISM. Like holy smokes. During COVID, racism towards Chinese (and by extension, those in other asian countries like Korea, Japan, etc. since white people think they all look the same) was at an all time high. No different than after 9/11, when people (usually white) blamed ANYONE that even looked remotely like those horrible terrorists. For Cora, and by extension, her friends/co-workers, enduring that during the early days and then height of the pandemic and not do anything about it because they knew it would make it worse was heartbreaking to read.
Cora, after the death of her sister, becomes a forensic crime scene cleaner. The past few cleans, though, have shown a pattern of brutal deaths of Asian-American women, and the calling card of dead and mutilated bats. The last thing Cora remembers was someone calling her sister “bat-eater” before throwing her in front of a train and decapitating her. Remember, this story it GORY and it STARTS with that death. We then move into her and her co-workers trying to figure out just WHO could be doing this, when Cora divulges to them that she is being followed by a Hungry Ghost. Something Cora didn’t believe in because she didn’t really believe in anything from her Asian heritage. Not that I blame her, she was definitely in the category of “not Asian enough, not white enough”, since it was something she was basically told her whole life. Once they decide that they need to get rid of the ghost, who Cora believes is her sister, they think it’s over. But it’s just the beginning.
I can’t even decide just how much I loved this book. It hit all the feels, all the tropes, all the checkboxes for a great horror novel. Horror isn’t always gore and jump scares (which this had a LOT of and I’m so glad I read it during the daytime haha) but sometimes the horror is in the everyday people. Of the people you think should be protecting you (looking at you cops) who are instead, covering up crimes by those higher than them, at the cost of the people dying. It was a crazy read, but a great one. I would absolutely read this again.
Lupe's Book Nook 