Tag: LGBTQ

Audiobook Review: Something Like Gravity by Amber Smith

Something Like Gravity
Author: Amber Smith

Narrators:
MW Cartozian Wilson

Sandy Rustin
Published: June 18, 2019
Audiobook: 9 hours 7 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: October 21-25, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars

Book Description:

Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start.

A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her.

But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds.

But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?

Jessica’s Review:

I saw this one in my Audible account and it was available until October 30th, so I decided to go ahead and listen to it. And it was just ok.  I didn’t really connect with Maia as she was just so… I’m not sure but poor Chris. He had experienced so much bad in life already at a young age! But really both Chris and Maia are going through losses.  They are two traumatized teens who meet when Chris almost hits Maia with his car!

I had no issue with one of the characters being transgendered, we need more of those books for trans youth. But maybe they should be written by trans authors. Authors who know what these characters are going through. The author is in the community, but not trans herself, so it may have been some of the issues I felt. I did not know this about the author until I went to go write my review. I have read some books about trans characters written by trans authors and I felt what I was supposed in those books!

There is a little bit of spice for a YA novel, but nothing too much. Its two young people having their first relationship and experiences.

The narrators MW Cartozian Wilson and Sandy Rustin both gave fabulous jobs in their narration!

Overall, I give this novel a solid three stars. It was a good effort with intended love written by the author that just overall did not work for me.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

ALC Review: The Hidden by Kiersten Modglin

The Hidden
Author: Kiersten Modglin

Narrator: Gail Shalan
Audio To Be Published: November 5, 2024
Audiobook: 5 hours 7 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: October 16-19, 2024
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars

Book Description:

When Sophie Thatcher wakes up in a room she doesn’t recognize after a night she can’t remember, she assumes she had too much to drink and went home with a date.

Except…the date is nowhere to be found.

No one is.

The space she finds herself in is completely nondescript—the walls bare, fridge empty.
And just when she thought things couldn’t get bleaker or more confusing, she realizes the doors are locked from the outside.

Trapped inside an unfamiliar place and faced with a clock counting down to a mysterious deadline, Sophie tries desperately to recall the hours missing from her memory and formulate a plan to escape, but each attempt proves more futile than the last.

Hidden away from the world and unable to contact the people who would care that she’s missing, Sophie has two questions ringing in her mind: Who would bring her to this place? And why?

When she’s joined in her personal prison by someone she never thought she’d see again, everything changes and the idea of her being a random target instantly vanishes.

Whoever brought Sophie to this place has plans for her and, if she can’t figure out a way to escape before time runs out, her fate may be to remain hidden forever.

Jessica’s Review:

The physical and kindle versions of The Hidden are already out and the publisher was wonderful in granting me an alc (advanced listening copy) to listen to and review.

This one has a freaky premise that I did overall enjoy.  It wasn’t the worst but also not the best I’ve read, but K. Mod can always do it with her shorter novels that just keep you reading, or listening in my case.  There are some LGBTQ+ themes in the novel, but I did not have any issues with that.  There was also an intensity and urgency in this one along with some fears and truths being faced that Sophie never expected to face.  Sophie and her companion in terror go through some things that most people would never want to deal with. The ending did seem a bit rushed, but I did like the final chapter than put everything together afterwards.

The narrator did do a good job except for one of the characters:  When she was narrating the ‘bad guy’ it was like she was trying to muffle her voice and sound like a man, but it did not work for me. She was extremely hard for me to understand him when she narrated his voice.

Overall, The Hidden was not the best I’ve listen to from K.Mod, but I am still a fan of hers!

Many thanks to the publisher Dreamscape Media for the alc!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK 

 

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Audiobook Review: Pageboy by Elliot Page

Pageboy: A Memoir
Author: Elliot Page

Narrator: Elliot Page
Published: June 6, 2023
Audiobook: 8 hours 24 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: June 6-9, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars

Book Description:

Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood.

Jessica’s Review:

Memoirs are a hard thing to rate and review.  It is someone’s life and they are telling their story in their way. And with Pageboy Elliot Page tells his story.  I just didn’t really feel I learned much listening to him actually tell his story. And he does actually tell his story to the listener as he is the narrator for the audiobook. 

The memoir is nonlinear so we are going back and forth through time throughout.  It was at times a bit confusing and didn’t really seem to go where it was meaning to.  Page does show how child actors are treated in Hollywood and it really isn’t something that kids should go through.  Page even had a stalker at a young age. When he talked about that it was scary to hear, as it was early in the internet days where this stalker came from. And the things this stalker said to a young person are just scary!

Most of the memoir dealt with Page being a closeted lesbian to the public, but those in Hollywood knew.  Page came out in 2014 as a lesbian with a speech that Ellen at the time made.  Page does a lot of ‘kissing and telling’ with intimate details with many partners but there are two actresses that he names. I would assume he got permission to tell those tales/names.  One relationship was mentioned more in depth. It also seems like Page may love the idea of being in love with all the details he shares over all the many ‘relationships’ he had. 

Page makes it clear early on in life he knew that he was not a girl but a boy and dressing in ‘girl clothes’ didn’t work for him. That even went into acting jobs in Hollywood that he had.  Page knew he was different from others when he was younger.  Several times he asks others if they think he is trans when he was still Ellen.  Maybe he was looking for support and acceptance from others.

We also see the bigotry and more that Page experienced before and after he was out as Ellen and a lesbian.  We see the anger that Page had with his reactions to those which could make those situations worse.  

There are some stories that Page starts that really don’t get finished and the last part of the memoir dealt with his top surgery. I was wanting to hear more of his transformation process, but it was just skimmed over.  It just seemed like he was telling a lot of different stories that he may or may not have finished. He didn’t really seem to know where he was going with this memoir.

I do applaud Page for telling his story in the way he wanted even if it was not really for me. But I am also not the targeted demographic for this memoir being a heterosexual CIS female. I am sure there are those who are closer to the target demographic that will fully enjoy the memoir. Page was brave by coming out not once, but twice in his still young life and I hope he continues to be an example to others and increase awareness in the LGBTQ community.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

 

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