No One Dies Alone by Stephanie Tyo

Rating:

DNF

Themes:

Dystopian Fiction

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I was really looking forward to this longer book as I’ve enjoyed all of Tyo’s short stories and the idea behind the book was so interesting to me. I was initially really pulled into the world and the dystopian aspects are so jarring. However, as the story developed it became more complex while Marianne tries to decipher what is happening to her in the system, it became too complex for me and I started to get a little lost. But I’m sure it will be great for those who are used to more complex worldviews who are able to keep it all straight in their own heads.

Favourite Quote

“The system is so efficient that even her own memory becomes less real than the record.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

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Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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