You Asked for Perfect, Laura Silverman

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so very very much. Queer Jewish boy dealing with the bullshit academic pressure put on high school students is totally my jam. Even better, Ariel is a religious Jew who obviously finds great comfort in Judaism and the Jewish community. Do you know how rare that is in media of any kind?? In a lot of ways this was a love letter to Judaism and it was so beautiful. I especially liked that Ariel's queerness wasn't an issue at all. His family and community accepted it as part of him. I feel like every time I see religious queers in YA it has to be a struggle so seeing Ariel just be bisexual with no negative commentary whatsoever was great. Plus his love interest was a queer Muslim boy whose sexuality was, again, just not an issue. All in all, a lot of real good shit.

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The Afterward, E. K. Johnston

It has been a year since the mysterious godsgem cured Cadrium’s king and ushered in what promised to be a new golden age. The heroes who brought the gem home are renowned in story and song, but for two fellows on the quest, peace and prosperity do not come easily. 

Apprentice Knight Kalanthe Ironheart wasn't meant for heroism this early in life, and while she has no intention of giving up the notoriety she has earned, her reputation does not pay her bills. With time running out, Kalanthe may be forced to betray not her kingdom or her friends, but her own heart as she seeks a stable future for herself and those she loves.

Olsa Rhetsdaughter was never meant for heroism at all. Beggar, pick pocket, thief, she lived hand to mouth on the city streets until fortune--or fate--pulled her into Kalanthe's orbit. And now she's quite reluctant to leave it. Even more alarmingly, her fame has made her recognizable, which makes her profession difficult, and a choice between poverty and the noose isn't much of a choice at all.

Both girls think their paths are laid out, but the godsgem isn't quite done with them and that new golden age isn’t a sure thing yet. 

In a tale both sweepingly epic and intensely personal, Kalanthe and Olsa fight to maintain their newfound independence and to find their way back to each other.

I adore trope inversions and books that look at a genre and say "okay but what's the other half of this equation?" They are so much fun, so thoughtful, and so totally and completely up my alley. So a book whose premise is "the Quest is done, now what?" is definitely gonna be a fave with me.

The majority of the book takes place After (i.e. after the Quest is done), with some chapters set Before (i.e. during the Quest itself). It's told from the point of view of the two youngest members of the Quest: Olsa, a street thief who was spying on someone for the Quest leader when shit went sideways and she got brought along partially for her own protection and partially because it helps to have a thief along when looking for a potentially well-protected gem of incredible power; and Kalanthe, an apprentice knight with a sterling records and similar enough body size to act as a decoy for the Quest leader if necessary. 

I loved that this story was told from their perspective. As the youngest and least experienced members of the party, their reintroduction to normal life following a world-saving quest is the most difficult to manage. The other members of the party have been on quests of some kind before or have more experience with combat or magic than Olsa and Kalanthe. They can continue with their lives or, in the case of one member, retireearly to handle her wounds. Our main characters, on the other hand, are just reaching adulthood and are left to figure out how their newfound fame is going to affect the lives they thought was ahead of them as well as how to fit the new relationship they want into situations that don't seem to leave room for new additions.

My biggest complaint of the book, and the reason I gave it four stars instead of five, is how neatly everything got tied off at the end. The appeal of a book like this is that it's going to address all the complexities and difficulties that come from the aftermath of a quest. So seeing all those complexities be tied up with a dues ex machina bow was disappointing. I really wanted to see Kalanthe actually get married to Edramore. As an aroace person, I just really love the idea of a marriage of convenience for financial/legal/political reasons where both parties are truly happy in the marriage but never love each other romantically. Furthermore, they totally could have some kind of poly relationship with Olsa, and given the right approach, I think Edramore and Olsa could have been happy as metamours, even if that meant Olsa did go to work for one of the other knights from the Quest. That could have been an AMAZING story. Instead they conveniently kill Edramore, have Kalanthe basically marry him posthumously, and therefore leave her open to marry/have a relationship with Olsa with no entanglements. And it just felt too neat and easy. I wanted to to see some complicated poly negotiations actually play out. Even if the book didn't delve quite as deep as I wanted it to, it was still a solid book that raised a lot of interesting questions about what happily ever after actually looks like in a high fantasy setting.

I Wish You All the Best, Mason Deaver

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.

This book was so good. I found myself crying alongside Ben, rooting for them to find a safe place to land and good people to support them as they figured out how to handle being kicked out by their parents following their coming out. I found myself cheering as they grew more comfortable at their sister's house and at school, making friends and losing themselves in their artwork. This was a hard book in so many ways, because Ben's journey was definitely not easy, but it was satisfying as well, to see them move beyond their parents' bullshit and figure out their own place in the world. Everyone should go and pick this book up immediately.

The Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang

Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!

Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.

I loved this! The art was gorgeous, the clothing as amazing, the characters were magnificent and the story was so so sweet. Wang portrayed emotion so well, which definitely heightened the reading experience. I honestly can't recommend this graphic novel enough.

Dryland, Sara Jaffe

It’s 1992, and the world is caught up in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Balkan Wars, but for fifteen-year-old Julie Winter, the news is noise. In Portland, Oregon, Julie moves through her days in a series of negatives: the skaters she doesn’t think are cute, the trinkets she doesn’t buy at the craft fair, the umbrella she refuses to carry despite the incessant rain. Her family life is routine and restrained, and no one talks about Julie’s older brother, a one-time Olympic-hopeful swimmer who now lives in self-imposed exile in Berlin. Julie has never considered swimming herself, until Alexis, the girls’ swim team captain, tries to recruit her. It’s a dare, and a flirtation—and a chance for Julie to find her brother, or to finally let him go. Anything could happen when her body hits water.

I almost don't know what to do with this book. One of the blurbs on the cover described it as "part diary, part dream" which definitely feels right but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. The lack of punctuation for dialogue really threw me off and left me confused half the time. I both loved and hated how open-ended the book was. I wanted some better understanding of what was going on with Julie's brother, but I liked how open Julie's own future and story seemed, not tied up in a neat happy ending. This book has been sitting in the back of my head for almost a week and I'm still not sure how to sum it up or what all to say. Definitely a unique reading experience for me, though.

Daughter of the Burning City, Amanda Foody

Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.

But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.

Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear.

I find myself with somewhat mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, I loved the magic system in this book. It was super interesting and I loved seeing Sorina learn more about what she was capable of as the mystery unraveled. I thought Sorina was an interesting protagonist and I liked her story.

On the other, the side characters weren't super well-developed and it gave the mystery less urgency because the family that she's created has no real depth so it was hard to care all that much when they died. I just wanted to see more of her family as individuals separate from her.

My biggest issue with the book is related to the asexuality rep (which is why I heard about this book in the first place). The love interest, Luca, is demisexual and I was totally cool with the way he was represented until we found out he was another of her illusions and it was implied that his demisexuality was somehow part of the "freakishness" that all of her illusions manifest. Unlike the other illusions, he doesn't have any obvious physical abnormalities. He doesn't have nails in the place of hair, or two heads, or a body structure so rubbery he can flatten himself like an egg. Arguably his magic is his "freakishness" because he can't die. But because Sorina created him to be a romantic partner for her, there was the implication that his demisexuality was his abnormality instead because it would be a cruel twist of fate if the person she created to be a romantic partner wasn't actually interested. And that just didn't sit well with me at all. It just felt like asexuality was being presented as this weird unnatural thing that was supposed to be a punishment of price of some kind and that's just not what asexuality is.

Overall, a reasonably entertaining book, but had some issues that prevented me from really enjoying it.

With the Fire On High, Elizabeth Acevedo

From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award longlist title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

I'm not sure I even have words for how much I loved this book. Emoni is such an amazing character. I was completely caught up in her story, rooting for her to find a way to both support her daughter and follow her dreams to be a chef. All of her relationships - with her daughter, her grandmother, her father, her best friend, her culinary arts teacher, her ex, her love interest - were so well crafted and sincere. Despite the fact that all of her relationships were amazingly written, I loved that the focus of the book remained solely on Emoni and her plans for herself and her daughter. 

I especially appreciated that the romance didn't take over the story to the detriment of everything else going on in Emoni's life. He may have been an important part of her realizing that she's capable of planning for her own future as well as her daughter's, but so was her family and her best friend; Acevedo never tried to make the romantic relationship supersede any of the other relationships and it felt so right. Romantic relationships so often take over everything else and it's always amazing to see them coexist at the same level as other types of relationships.

Also the food in this book!! I am so hungry right now and just want to eat all of it. You can bet I'm gonna try out those recipes included at the beginning of each part because they all sound so good. The way people talked about Emoni's food felt so fabulist and I just adored it. It fit so well with her Puerto Rican heritage and the way she tried to build on her roots to create something new and unexpected. Everything about Emoni's cooking was just magical and amazing.