To read is to belong.

A little about me

In a nutshell i’m a queer human with messy feelings and thoughts, living in a messy world – which makes for the most perfect mental health cocktail. And so, i read, alot, in the pursuit of trying to make sense of myself and my place in the cosmos. Or at least feel less alone in my messiness. Books afterall, are safer than other humans.

And yet sometimes a rare occasion occurs, in which those other humans carve out spaces for us all to belong, where we can identify with words written in ink (or digital 1’s and 0’s) from and for our community. Where the pages of books feel a great deal like home.

My foray into the world of lesfic is in it’s infancy (2018 to be exact) and reviewing books from the lgbtq+ community even more so. Two fantastic humans got me started on those paths and i’ve never looked back – coming from an old Yorkshire mining town, it was an invite to a whole other world that i never knew existed.

Reviews

For me, reading is synonymous with learning and understanding – myself, others, society, the world.

And so for that reason this blog/review site centers on queer writers, authors and readers and not just those within the lesfic communities. Equally reviews won’t always be on works of fiction, in time you’ll find non-fiction reviews for those of you, who like me, enjoy learning about others lived experiences.

My reviews focus on what a book meant to me, what did i enjoy or dislike, what did i take away by the end, did it make me think about or question anything, was i impacted by what i read etc.

Genres

I’m pretty fluid with my choice of what i read, fiction stories don’t have to be a romance or feature a HEA/HFN. In fact the only genre i’d put at the top of any reading list would be post-apocalyptic/dystopian. There’s something about a world that’s in a worse state than ours, coupled with enduring love or heroic survivalism that never fails to sucker me. A therapist would probably say it’s something to do with darkness and finding the light, believing in hope. They’re probably right…

I also adore a good series – i like to keep characters with me and really get to know them, the downside is i usually want to reread the series before the next book comes out!

Ratings

I personally find ratings to be quite arbitrary – what one person loves someone else might hate and without an explanation i.e. a review, a rating on it’s own won’t tell you the whys and what fors. But for those humans who do like to see star ratings, here’s a brief explanation of why i choose the ones i do;

5* – Loved it. Impacted me in some way or left me wanting more. Highly likely to be reread and/or purchased if read on KU.

4* – Enjoyed it. Likely to be reread at some point but not a top contender. Usually these are great books which i felt could have given more in some shape or form.

3* – Liked it on a surface level but unlikely to reread.

I’ve yet to come across a book that i’d only rate at 2*/1*, so we’ll cross that bridge when i come to it!