Theatre Review- Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Title: Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Writer: Stephen Dolginoff

Director: Guy Retallack

Performers: Ellis Dackombe, Harry Downes, and Kris Rawlinson

Seen at: C Too Edinburgh

Review: Nathan Leopold stands before a parole board for the fifth time, having been in prison for 33 years for murdering a fourteen year old boy. The parole board wants to know: why? Flashbacks detail the story of how Leopold and his lover Richard Loeb, progress from petty crime to murder, and where they went from there.

The musical is based upon the true story, with some changes to details. It is very effectively the story of Leopold and Loeb; nobody else appears on stage, not even their victim, Bobby Franklin. The parole board are disembodied voices.   The characterisation is more simple than what I have inferred from a little research after watching the play; rather than both men participating in the crime equally, this Loeb is the ringmaster, continually manipulating Leopold and suggesting a victim and method, and Leopold is a lovestruck accomplice, who will do anything to keep Loeb in in his life.  Sometimes the writing is odd -  Leopold comes out with simple statements that seem out of place considering the more elevated language in other parts, and the high intelligence of his real-life counterpart- but overall it creates characters that are interesting, and compelling to watch.

The writing of the book and lyrics is nothing compared to the writing of the music, which is incredibly  rich and complex, and reminds me of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Kris Rawlinson on the piano creates the perfect atmosphere, heavy and intense, in both the songs and scene transitions.

The two other performers, Ellis Dackombe playing Loeb and Harry Downes playing Leopold,  both make an incredibly strong professional debut. If I had to choose, I’d say Dackombe was stronger, just because I still have the chills remembering his performance of “Roadster”, already creepy considering it sounds like a seduction and we know what  is going to follow it, and made even more disturbing by Dacombe's delivery. However, Downes'

performance is also captivating, especially his pleading in “Thrill Me” and the way he performs Leopold’s revelation at the end. Together, they have great chemistry, both physically and vocally, and they clearly reflect dynamics of the relationship.

Just as the music and the focus on the characters is stripped back, the staging is equally minimalist. All black furniture, a few props on shelves, and very effective lighting work to create a variety of scenes, such as a burning warehouse, a police interrogation, and a car sitting in the dark on night of the murder. The venue is relatively small; the five rows means everyone is close, heightening the intimacy.

This show is definitely one to see if you want to see a show about manipulation and motivation, with three brilliant performers and an atmosphere that is thrilling and intense.  

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Links: Website | Twitter

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Theatre review - I Know You by Sam Moore

Title: I Know You

Writer: Sam Moore

Directors: Rosie Richards, Georgia Reddington

Performed by: Magpie Productions

Seen at: the Burton Taylor Studio

Cast: Sammy Breen, Benjamin Ashton, Joshua Cathcart

Review: Two men stand on a street corner. One remarks that the other looks nice. The other replies that that’s not what he’s looking for. They return home and sleep together. Afterwards, they discuss other men and how similar they actually are and how well one knows the other.

This new writing by Sam Moore is described by directors Rosie Richards and Georgia Reddington as Pinter-esque, postmodern, and about “stigma, repression, mental health, and intimacy.”   We see characters  who have sex with and share lives with each other, but in other ways are detached. As an audience, we may watch characters having sex and panic attacks and we listen to them tell some of the most private stories about their lives, but we don’t ever learn their real names. 

There were apprehensions from the cast about taking on roles so different to what they are used to, with backgrounds in musical theatre, and a lack of experience playing older characters. However, Sammy Breen (Kid),  Benjamin Ashton (John), and Joshua Cathcart (Pumpkin) all embody the characters – the youngish sex worker who’s seen it all, the reserved, shy older man, the ex who comes back and tries to care as best as he can – really well. Learning about the characters is intriguing, and information is   A week of characterisation workshops, the freedom to adapt and develop the script on their own and with Moore, the ability to put in as much of their own personality as they wished, and the challenge to not put too much of themselves into the play, have worked well to bring these characters to life. And how they did that in the full performance. Especially Breen in the breakdown scenes, and in the scenes when both John and Pumpkin are absent. It’s also in the smaller parts, like the transition scenes, as the way the characters look at each other tells you a lot about the relationship between them at the time.  

The writing is clever. In the scenes I saw for the preview, the words "I know you" were said, questioned, and disbelieved many times, with different contexts and meanings each time, and tracks the ways the characters reflect on themselves and each other. But will we ever really know them? Non-verbal language and implications, even from the first few seconds of the play, are also vital to the communication of and between characters. There’s a fair bit of humour, sometimes dirty, sometimes based on jokes, sometimes physical, always feeling appropriate to the situation. It’s an open-ended play, which isn’t really to my taste, but it does as the directors intended in showing how life goes on no matter what, and also shows again, how little we might know someone.  The different experiences of depression were frank, nuanced, and hard hitting in places.

Cathcart calls the play “voyeuristic”; I would totally agree. It sometimes felt too  intimate to watch, especially when it was just me in the audience. This is not because of the sexual content, but because we see the characters in their everyday lives, including at their most vulnerable. The set represents both the street corner and the bedroom, emphasising both the public and private in the play, and transitions are very well executed. The lighting is mostly realistic, apart from some marine club lighting  in some parts, which worked well, especially when it just faded to the naturalistic white light at the end, as real life just carries on. The depiction of mental illness, both the characters experiencing it but even more so the reaction from outsiders, is realistic.  Overall, the cast and crew have developed a piece of theatre that feels incredibly close and genuine. 

Another version of this review might appear in the Cherwell,

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Book Review- Blue is the Warmest Colour by Julie Maroh

Title:  Blue is the Warmest Colour / Le bleu est une couleur chaud

Author:  Julie Maroh

Published:   April 2010 by Glenat

Length:  157 pages

Warnings:  graphic sex scenes

Source: library

Other info: This got adapted into a film, La Vie d’Adele, which won the Palme d’Or.

Summary :  Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.

Review: Clementine, age fifteen, sees a blue-haired girl in the street one day. Further meetings with this girl, Emma,  leads to attraction, eventually love.

I wanted to read this because a) it's a lesbian story that got quite a bit of buzz, and b) I need to practise my French. I was a little wary about reading this because I tried watching the film, got forty minutes in, and got bored. 

I knew I would not be bored by the graphic novel because we are told in the first few pages that Clem dies, and that we'll be seeing the story as narrated by her diary, being read by Emma.  This structure immediately made it more interesting, knowing it would come to an end, whether or not our characters wanted it to. However even though you know Clem's death is coming, the circumstances leading up  and the way we see it to it still build to make it heartbreaking when it happens.

The bulk of the story follows Clem throughout her teenage years. Watching her exploring her sexuality, all the milestones, are shown tenderly.  Although neither she nor Emma are perfect, and don't always fit together, it seems realistic. There is a long timeskip though, and thus while we see the events that leads to Clem's death, the scene the sets it all of is very unexpected, after  not seeing their relationship for about ten years.

I love Maroh's use of colour. In the flashback scenes when Clem is in love with Emma, it's greyscale, apart from highlights of blue. As their relationship changes, other colours are used, the shades and intensities appropriate to the scene. I can see why in my college library this got categorised under art.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a tragic tender love story.

 Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

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National Coming Out Day 2016

National Coming Out Day is the celebration of people coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, an ally to the LGBTQ community, or something else-however you want to define yourself. In coming out, you can increase the representation of LGBTQ people in your community, reduce the silence which can help perpetuate negative stereotypes and hatred because there's no-one to speak out against them, or to remind perpetrators that queer people are real, and everywhere, and not some other alien concept. It can also help you just be happier with yourself and acknowledge who you are for you.

photo credit: trec_lit MmmmmMmmm via photopin (license)

For some people, due to their personality and their surroundings and other things, this is easy. For others, it's difficult.  But there's  books about it, both by showing characters who do so, or by helping you deal with it yourself.  (I'm sorry this preface was not meant to be  this serious in tone but it just happened that way).

Coming out isn't the be-all and end-all of a queer person's life. But it's also kind of a thing that happens whenever you meet new people and you need to judge whether they're going to accept you if the fact that you want a girlfriend ever comes into conversation, or (more likely) when you want to correct them about you getting married to a man.

I'm not especially a fan of books with coming out as the -only- plot line. I live in very liberal societies, where everyone I know of is accepting or at least tolerant, and I've come to expect more exciting things from my books.  But then they can be necessary for those who aren't comfortable comfortable in their societies or to themselves, or who don't know how to go about doing so, or who want reassurance that it won't be awful. Also, they are useful to particularly focus on how different societies may treat people coming out. And like any story, they have the  potential to be amazingly told, and 

Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Will I ever write a post about lgbtq books that doesn't feature Simon? Probably. But today is not that that day. Cute, with some excellent points about coming out in the emails between Blue and Simon, and overall giver of happy feels.

All of the Above by Juno Dawson
This one proves that labels aren't always necessary, which is an important thing to note if you're trying some on for size. In addition, overall giver of intense feels, and a few pieces of brilliant poetry.

Read Me Like a Book by Liz Kessler
Featuring a few queer people in varying stages of outness to themselves and society, I liked following Ashleigh's journey, and the way it resolved. In addition, loved seeing other people's different issues in life, issues I don't see much in YA.

This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson 
Non fiction, an advice guide, written in a fun friendly style not just about coming out, but about love, sex, friendship, discrimination, and other things for everyone.

This post was kind of a mix of everything and I know I missed off books at some point. Comment below- what books would you recommend with coming out as a theme?

Also, if you are coming out today, at all, or especially for the first time, remember only do so if you're safe and happy to do so- and may it all go well!

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Theatre Review: This Much by John Fitzpatrick, performed by Moving Dust

I am aware that my timeliness is terrible. I saw this show eight months ago, I wrote this review eight months ago, I found it again tonight.  
I saw it at Edinburgh, and it's now playing at Soho Theatre as part of the Pride festival. 

Title: This Much (or A Act of Violence Towards The Institution of Marriage)
Writer: John Fitzpatrick
Director: Kate Sagovsky
Performed by: Moving Dust
Cast: Lewis Hart, Simon Carroll-Jones, and James Parris
Seen at: Zoo City





Review:Gar is in a long term relationship with Antony, and they're thinking about marriage , but meets Albert on an app. This leads to a romantic drama exploring the meaning and importance of marriage.
I saw this in the programme. I loved the title and the picture and thought maybe if I have time. I then saw this being promoted on the Royal Mile- three men in wedding dresses standing on plinths- and thought, yes, I have to see this. I didn't really know about the play though.
The drama progresses well. Something's always happening, there's twists, tension and anger is mixed with lighter moments, and aside from the ending which seemed a little abrupt, it flows well.
The actors work together well, and the deepness of relationships came through physically in interacting with each other.
The direction and scene setting was brilliant. They use lightweight boxes which are stacked in various ways to create different scenes, and which hold the smaller props. I think everything there was used at least once, with varying degrees of creativity. The scene changes happen in full view, accompanied by disco music and carried out with the emotion present in the scene. I loved watching them as it added unspoken aspects to the personalities.
There's only three or four lines of seating on three sides of the stage so it's a very intimate show. It's made more so by full nudity, (unexpected for me, expected for anyone who takes note of online warnings) but the close setting was good for really feeling the emotions coming off the play. And for those, wow. It cycles through a full range of feelings and situations you find in a relationship- the excitement of meeting someone new, the ease of living together, the hurt of a betrayal, what happens next- and the closeness of the venue means you see all the effects the events have on the characters, even the really subtle ones.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a very exposed realistic play.
Links: twitter | company | Soho Theatre tickets

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Book Review: The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

Title:  The Art of Being Normal

Author:  Lisa Williamson

Series:   N/A

Published:    1 January 2015 by David Fickling

Length:  368 pages

Source: library

Other info: This was Lisa’s debut

Summary :  Two boys. Two secrets.
David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.
On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.
When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…

Review: David, seen by everyone as a boy, really a girl, is continually teased and misunderstood by everyone bar his best friends, from parents to bullies. Leo is the new guy, with rumours about why he left his old school running around, and he just wants to be invisible. They  become friends after  Leo sticks up for David, and they

I enjoyed watching the friendship between David and Leo, the ups and downs and the things they tell eachother. Both narrations are well fleshed out, and so are most of the side characters.  My favourites were probably Alicia, Essie, and Felix, who are all great in their own way and who I want to befriends with.

I enjoyed the represntation of trans people here. I loved the fact that we see a trans character who has already undergone some of the transition process, and that being trans is not the only facet of their being, they have siblings, families, friends, and romantic issues to navigate too. I also liked the way we saw how gender expectations also influenced the trans characters’ perceptions of themselves, such as David’s despair at his growth spurt, defying his hopes to be small and feminine, because of the expectations society sets for women.

I  really appreciated the look at life as a queer child in a modern, less tolerant environment. I’m really lucky to live in a very tolerant school where our trans community, as far as I know, are treated with respect by both staff and students, and there’s no physical bullying. I know nationwide  figures for bullying, but like with many things, it all becomes more real, more important, if you’re reading a more fleshed out story, be it fact or fiction, than just looking at statistics.

I found  it weird that Leo continues to call David David and he when he’s learn David’s chosen name. I don’t know if that’s internalised cisnormativity or something. I just noticed and wondered why he of all people would continue  with that. It changes by the end though. Eh, I don’t know.

I really liked the look at  complex family relationships. Leo’s quest to find his father. David’s continual hiding and eventual coming out. The support given and not given to each child. It varies, and feeds into each character.

Emotions were had when reading this. Sadness for the environment that allows the continued bullying. Sadness and happiness when Leo and Alicia get together. Happiness and pride for David when coming out. Pure happiness at the Christmas ball they put up and how happy David.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to an eyeopening story about friendship, family, and  being transgender today.

Links: Amazon | Foyles|  Goodreads | Author website |

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Book Review- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

So, it’s Pride Day, or whatever you call the day where really major cities hold their Pride celebrations, being the last weekend of June and thus commemeorating the Stonewall Riots. It’s also the day after the Supreme Court of the USA announced it’s a constiutional right for all people regardless of gender and sexuality to get married if they choose, and states can’t deny this. YAY!! In celebration, here’s a book I read for Faye’s LGBT Readathon and really enjoyed!

Title:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Author:  Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Series:   N/A

Published:    February 2012 by Simon and Schuster

Length:  368 pages

Source: borrowed from friend

Summary : Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Review: 1987. Two very different boys meet and form a friendship. Together they have fun, navigate their teenage years and, learn things about the universe and themselves.

I've had this on my to read list for ages, because it's on many people's lists of brilliant gay teen novels, and it's been hard to find (I don't think it has a UK publisher). Yay for friends who bother buying things off the internet instead!

This is one of those quietly brilliant books. I'm not always into discovering who you are type stories, but I liked this one.

My favourite thing was watching the friendship between Aristotle and Dante grow. It's organic, full of setbacks, but ultimately endures. It's a beautifully close friendship and love, and it just makes you smile for them, because it's the kind that makes you think they're soulmates, and makes it natural for things to progress at the end, but it would be OK even if it didn't because some kinds of bond are so profound they don't need anything else but if there is then that's fine too.

Close second is all the family relationships going on, from the easiness with Dante's father (who is a generally awesome person) to the awkwardness surrounding Aristotle's imprisoned brother.

Then there's  the development of Aristotle and Dante, Dante knowong what he wants, Aristotle figuring it out. They learn a lot, they go through a lot with and without each other.

Also, the final feeling the book left me with. It's not loud happiness, like Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, another gay story I got through quickly and loved. In Aristotle and Dante,  it's more a quiet kind of contentment, that everything's been resolved, that the future will all work out.

This is all becsuse of the writing (OK, all books are what they are because of writing, but here I want to make a point of it). It's narrated by Aristotle, and we see  Dante directly from his letters. We get all of Aristotle's thoughts and questions and emotions and view of the world and it all comes together into a story that feels real and full.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a tender, gentle story about many forms of love.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

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Book Review-This Book is Gay by James Dawson

Title: This Book Is Gay

 Author:  James Dawson

Series:  N/A

Published:  4 September 2014 by Hot Key Books

Length: 271 pages

Source: publisher

Other info: James Dawson has written many things. 

Summary : Former PSHCE teacher and acclaimed YA author James Dawson gives an uncensored look at what it's like to grow up as LGBT. Including testimonials from people 'across the spectrum', this inclusive book explores everything anyone who ever dared to wonder wants to know - from sex to politics, how to pull, stereotypes, how to come-out and more. Spike Gerrell's hilarious illustrations combined with funny and factual text make this a must-have read.

Review: I don't normally review nonfiction, but this is a hugely anticipated book by a brilliant author and a topic I have an interest in. There’s so many things that make this book wonderful.

First, there’s the fact that this book exists, with a bright rainbow cover and direct information and not hiding.  I can only think of one other sex-ed book that addresses queer people as well as cishet people, and that's Scarleteen's book, which I read  once in a library but it later disappeared. The fact  there's a book that speaks directly to a group of people ignored by almost every school when it comes to sex-ed, is brilliant, and I hope this book finds its way into the hands of everyone who needs it.

Then here's the breadth of topics covered; labels and common definitions, biological theories, stereotypes, coming out, dating, sex, marriage, and children, as well as more serious, less happy topics, such as religious opposition, homophobia, transphobia, HIV/AIDS.

James gives clear advice that hopefully will be hopeful to people of all genders and sexualities about how to combat homo&transphobia, coming out,  and many other things.

I love the range of voices from the online survey, especially the longer studies, that talk about experiences such as living with HIV, transitioning, and having children via surrogate mothers. They give a snapshot into many different lives, and, after reading about things like this in fiction, it's fascinating to see real-life perspectives.

My favourite thing is James's voice tying it all together. I read the book straight after James did a reading from this book, and it's so easy to imagine him reading it aloud. There's a lot of laughs in appropriate places, highlights including "a very bad lady-let's...call her Maggie....some years later [there was] a slightly less evil man let's call him Tony",    "what I felt for Dean Cain (whose name I did not change for this book- I mean, I think it's time he knew of my love", and (in the first edition) bullet points 2 and 3 on page 45.

Now, this is going to sound really picky, but I did notice that it sometimes reinforces the gender binary (yes, I'm aware one of my contributions does too, and I apologise for younger, less informed me and cis-centric language) and uses ciscentric language when talking about sex (e.g. a label of a  woman being accompanied by a diagram of a female-bodied person, or the words "gay women get turned on by vaginas" (here not taking into account e.g. gay women with preop transwomen). I do get that it is impossible to cover the full range of identities in one book, and my noticing this is probably a result of me getting used to sites where gender and sex are strictly separated, and this book is wonderful in its existence, but still, a couple of word changes here and there could make this book absolutely perfect.

Overall:  Strength  5, tea to a book that needs to be everywhere.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

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Book Review- Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Hey, it’s International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Go to AllOut for more info on queer rights around the world and things you can do to help improve them.

Also, I wrote a thing for the Guardian on why I ran Rainbow Reads last year. You may want to read it. 

Title: Two Boys Kissing

 Author: David Levithan

Published:  August 2013 by Knopf, March 2014 by Egmont

Length: 239 pages

Warnings: homophobic attack, suicide attempt

Source: library

Other info: Levithan has written other stuff.

Summary : The story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS.

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

Review: Craig and Harry are attempting to break the world record for longest kiss. Peter and Neil kind of going steady, but do have issues in their relationship. Avery and Ryan recently met and started going out. Cooper is alone, but chats to men online. All are watched by the gay men of previous decades as their lives develop.

I was a little apprehensive before reading his because I was told that another of Levithan’s solo pieces, Boy Meets Boy, was good, and I didn't enjoy it, and I found his other work with partners was average or made better by the other person.

Still, within the first few pages it was clear that this was better than Boy Meets Boy because... not all these boys are white and cis! (Intersectionality makes me very happy).

I'm glad the couples and Cooper all got vaguely equal attention. What I found with Levithan’s other stuff is that the side characters were a lot more interesting, so I'm glad we saw more of Cooper than I expected. His story is definitely the most moving one in the book, and thus my favourite. Next favourite, Avery and Ryan. Peter and Neil and Craig and Harry, I didn’t really care much for, apart from the whole “seriously you’re kissing for thirtytwo hours how are you not going to die of thirst or hunger or tiredness or lack of air or something?” when Craig and Harry start and continue kissing.

The narration is hard to get used to at the start, but I got used to it and by the end it was really beautiful. It’s a chorus of men who died of AIDs narrating it which provides perspective on past, current and future generations of gay teens, and it really made me think about how lucky I, as a queer teen, am to be growing up in a world where attitudes towards queer people are slowly changing for the better, and made me more aware of queer history.

I love the fact that lots of different experiences are represented, from the happy to the sad to the painful to the beautiful. As well as the different positions of the characters, there’s also the support, the opposition and emotions and little things that I think lots of teens experience, regardless of their identity.

Oh, and added points to Peter and Neil for impromptu book spine poetry. Adorable levels through the roof.

Overall:  Stregnth 4 tea to an emotional book that lets you into lots of lives.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

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Book review- A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke

Title: A Kiss In The Dark

 Author: Cat Clarke

Series:  N/A

Published:  3 April 2014 by Quercus

Length: 384 pages

Warnings: brings up sexual assault

Source: publisher

Other info: Cat has written Entangled, Torn, and Undone which I read and reviewed. She also wrote Falling, a shorter story, which I read and enjoyed.

Summary : When Alex meets Kate the attraction is instant. Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy – everything that Kate wants in a boyfriend. Alex can’t help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naive… But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives.

Graph: This is a new feature I am trialling which I will use when my opinion of things or levels of devices like scares, tension, interest, fun, laughs (anything really) fluctuate  throughout a  book.  Tell me what you think of it and if I should do more.

Review: Alex gets to know Kate via the internet. Alex meets Kate at a concert. They start going out. They're perfect for each other. Except Alex is a girl (I don’t feel bad for telling you that because we learn this within the first 15 pages). And Kate doesn't know.

Cat Clarke is one of the authors whose name guarantees I'll read a thing. I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but it was totally different to anything I may have wanted to expect.

Cat Clarke always manages to write perfectly real characters, and those in A Kiss in the Dark are no exception. they interact and react well, and all  the  minute of emotions that Alex and Kate feel about being in love is valid and accurate.

I am in love with all characters in the Before. Alex slightly less than Kate because while I see why she would do that, it's quite a big thing to not be open about, and I prefer my romantic couples to not have secrets this big. I didn't like Kate in the After. I get it, finding out your boyfriend is a girl is quite big and she has the right to be upset with Alex for keeping such a big secret. But I really dislike people who do what she did. she redeems herself in the closing pages, but still. My favourite character was Jamie  Alex's brother. He's supportive, a bit funny, and loyal. I found Astrid a little annoying.

The best thing in this was the tension, especially in the first half. From the moment Alex chooses not to tell Kate she's a girl, and they go out, as the romance builds, which I think is one of the most adorable things ever despite my general wariness of romance when they’re keeping such huge secrets from each other, you’re just thinking ahead to what's going  to happen when she finds out; so every kiss and every smile they share, is slightly tainted by the fact you just know it’s going to broken and you just have to keep reading to see how it goes. and  then ohmigosh Cat puts in 14 words that ramp up the tension so much and then it all happens and ugh perfectness. The day I read this, I highly disliked school. It stopped me reading this.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a to a truly unputdownable book.

Links: Amazon| Goodreads| Author website | 

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News! So much has happened!

Argh!! Six weeks until exams! Totally not procrastinating. *procrastinates*  (I am actually getting some revision done. Of the stuff I get. *pretends that the Cold War is not on our syllabus after awful teaching*)

Anyway. Things are happening.

I have books. I have Essence by Lisa O Kane from Netgalley, which I'm reading for my stop on the Countdown to June 5th. It's going to be an epic tour, with lots of authors and bloggers. Thanks to Jim for hosting it!!
I also have Bone Jack (thank you Andersen Press), Hate (thank you, Indigo), and some other books I can't think of right now but will tell you I got from publishers when I  review them.

I also have lots of books I don't want. Shout if you want them. Usual postage costing rules apply.

Divergent premiere. So good. You should see the film when you have the chance. I'll tell you more in another post.

Laure Eve is holding a challenge! Paper vs Pixels! For all of April, we can only consume books in one format. Due to my giant pile, and my need to reduce it, I pick paper! It's going to be hard. Sorry, millions of netgalley things... I am still going to be using my kindle (half my revision stuff is on it!) but books will be paper only. What will you choose?


You know how much I endorse queer fiction. LGBTApril is an event being held by Cayce (Fighting Dreamer) and Laura (Laura Plus Books). You can do anything, as long as you do something related to lgbt fiction. I am going to (after revision) do a post breaking down genre in major LGBT fiction, because off the top of my head, I think queer people are more visible in contemporary and fantasy, and not many dystopians, but then I got suggested a few dystopians and I'm all 1) how did I not know these existed? and 2)how do the numbers really add up?  Look forwards to that in a few weeks.

Marriage equality laws came into effect on Saturday! I am really pleased about this, because it means that queer couples do get their coupleness (actually can't think of a better word right now) recognized in the same way as people with different sexes do. But I can't help but find flaws in the system. Inherently human has a great post on inequalities with gender within the act, and I just think that the push for marriage equality has been at the forefront of lgbt activity, when there are a lot more less pretty, more pressing issues that need to be dealt with too such as youth homelessness and mental health care and suicide rates and intersectionality (lack of). However, marriage equality is a great step towards equality, and I'm happy for all the couples that got a day they'd been waiting for for ages. Here's hoping we can go further.

I'm sure none of you are unfamiliar with Lucy the Reader and Project UKYA. But in case you don't know, April will be a UKYA Extravaganza! Check out @lucythereader and @projectukya for more info.


Campers! Campnanowrimo is here for April! I'm not participating, as I have other things to do and just about have carved out a regular writing schedule. But if you can, and you want to, do. Awesome people will be writing with you.

Anyone here on twitter? If so, you should totally enter this competition held by Quercus.
"Tweet why you want a signed competition copy of Cat Clarke’s A Kiss in the Dark between the 31st March and 4pm on 4th April. Make sure you @Cat_Clarke & include the #AKITD to be in with a chance of winning. The winner will be announced on Friday 4th at 4:30pm. Good luck."
I have A Kiss in the Dark on my To-Read pile, and I'll be reading it for Paper vs Pixels. I recommend you read it because...well, it's Cat, who is a totally awesome author (find my love for her here).


So, that's it for now. Divergent post should be up soon. Reviews should be up soon. Enjoy your week. 

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2013 RoundUp

Woah. It's the end of a year. That went stupidly fast.

First off...how did my resolution keeping go?

1.  Read at least 25 books on my kindle. Achieved!
2. Read at least 30 books from my physical pile. Achieved!
3. Write reviews quicker.  Achieved through some parts of the year.
4. Read review copies on time.  Achieved a couple of times, mainly failed.
5. Read 200 books as part of the Goodreads Challenge. Review at least half of them. Failed.
6. Read at least one British book a month as part of Feeling Fictional's British Books challenge. No idea-stopped keeping track.
7. Housekeeping round here! Achieved!
8. Change the desktop theme! Achieved! I don't like it though...might have another go.  Edit: said that, then spent the next thirty minutes changing it. Do you like it? I still need to sort out the colours and sidebars and everything, but I think it's a much cleaner look now. Also, let me know if the fonts work or not for you.
9. Comment on blogs more regularly. Completely failed. Sorry.
10. Write at least a first draft of a book.  Failed, kind of. Started two first drafts of completely different things, gave up halfway through both.  However, I'm very nearly finished the first draft of a Les Mis fic, which turned out really well, compared to my other fanfic writing attempts (as in it has a plot and uses characters properly and the actual writing isn't awful either). I'll be polishing that up pretty soon, and hopefully putting it on the web one day!

My resolutions for 2014 will be with you...when I've thought of them!

So, how did I do in terms of reading? Well, I challenged myself to 200 books this year. That was...overly ambitious. I got to 168, which is still pretty good.  I also managed to read lots of giant books (Pillars of the Earth, Fall of Giants, World Without End, Under the Dome and Les Miserables, which I think evens out to two or three books each. I don't know. What I did read, quite a lot of it I enjoyed, so yes. This was a good year for reading!

Blogging...well, my commenting was absolutely awful. My blogging also tailed off sometime in October, probably because Rainbow Reads was only meant to take 3 weeks and the fact that everybody did so much for it meant I had to share it all but that took out all my energy because long projects and me don't mix at all.
I am pleased with some things I did around here. I got a lot of people involved in Rainbow Reads, which was awesome to run.  I wrote a few discussion posts, like the one on beauty in YA, and the one on sex and violence and censorship and age appropriateness.

I met some awesome people, both on the internet and in real life. Bloggers I love include

• Megan-The Book Addicted Girl
• Georgia -Books and Writers Junior
• Lucy-Queen of Contemporary
• Stacey-Pretty Books
• Andrew-The Pewter Wolf
• Liz-Planet Print
• Bella-Cheezyfeet Books
• Ryan-Empire of Books
• Cait-The Cait Files
• Beverly-A Reading Daydreamer
• Charlie-To Another World
• Sophie-A Daydreamer's World

and there's more of you, but my memory is terrible and I can't think of you right now. I love you all!

I went to some great places. Thank you very much to everyone who invited me to events, especially Hot Key Books who publish great things and also supply excellent food. Also, thanks to Megan for the invite to the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Awards ceremony-it was an excellent night.

Thank you, publishers, who sent me books for review. I'm sorry I take so long with all of them *buries self* These will be dealt with soon, promise!
So, thank you  Random House, Chicken House, Angry Robot, Harper Collins, Hot Key Books, Picadilly Press, Templar Books, and Quercus!

On a more personal note, I think I did ok this year. I made it through the year, I've made a lot more friends in real life, I got 3 GCSEs,  took up a few new things, got more forceful with myself in keeping to writing habits, and went some amazing places.

Goodbye 2013, which was a pretty awesome year, all things considered. Here's hoping next year will be just as good.

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