lgbtq+

SPACE! The Final Frontier! A tale of two reviews!

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Alright, I missed a couple here, and so I am making up for it. Forgive me!

First we have Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Absolutely phenomenal, if I do say so myself.

Rating: 5 out of 5 missions

I am fairly certain that this is my first book by this author and holy moly did I pick a good one. Atmosphere is just as much about the 1980’s NASA space missions as it is about love and family and friendship. I truly cannot fathom anyone giving this less than 4 stars. This was an emotional rollercoaster. So much of the highs from finally having women in NASA, to women on space flights, to the lows of family not being who you want them to be and of the old thinking of queer people being “deviant”. The whole gamut of feelings were expressed in this book. I appreciated that the author tried to both keep the NASA language as technical as it needed to be and show how high pressure it truly was, with making sure we actually knew what was going on. That she did so much research, even going so far as to interview and work with former NASA folks, is amazing. Obviously, some liberties are taken but honestly it seemed pretty true to form for the 80’s. I was rooting for Joan and Vanessa and Frances the whole book. Barbara could kick rocks, I’ve never wanted someone to fall off a cliff as much as I needed her to. You have this amazing kid and you do all that to her?! Ugh. I had my kid young and he just graduated high school with honors. I was there for EVERYTHING. I hated Barbara.

Gosh, but the ending? THE ENDING?! I sobbed. Full out sobbed. Had to blow my nose and everything. What a punch. But my god was it beautiful. I can’t wait to read more work by TJR.

Next up, we have Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I was trying to finish this BEFORE it left theatres but alas, I missed the deadline on that one. HOWEVER, my partner actually read this before me which is a MAJOR WIN!

Rating: 4 out of 5 astrophages

Ok. Ok. I can see why there is a wide range of reviews on this one. I have watched The Martian, read Artemis, and now have read Project Hail Mary. I have to say, this was very science-y, moreso than I feel that Artemis was, so there were definitely large chunks of the science that my mind just glossed over. That didn’t take away from the story though, so I am not mad about it. Overall, I enjoyed the plot. I definitely felt like this one had me suspending my disbelief so much more (because who is truly going to learn a language that fast??)
but I did enjoy the pacing of the book. The flashbacks of learning what is happening to Earth and why Ryland was out in space, really helped to flesh out his character in a way that I found to be more believable. Was he still written like a weird science nerd? Sure, he also felt a little bit like a self insert character, but he was…tolerable. I definitely enjoyed his relationship with Rocky and their banter definitely made me giggle a few times. Overall, this was an enjoyable book, I would likely read it again, but I wouldn’t say I loved it, mostly because there was a lot more science mathing that frankly, I didn’t care about.

Ok, here is my space page reviews, and from here, I will be back with some horror reviews!! See you on the flip side!

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa

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Rating: 7 footballs

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.