Historical Fiction – Enby Yourself

Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Year: 2017

Genre: Fiction, romance, Historical Fiction, Queer, Hollywood

Queer shit: SO MUCH! You got gays, you got lesbians, you got bisexuals.

Vibe Check: Glam, queer, struggle for love, our self that we put into the world and our self we truly are. What we do and give up for what is most important to us. Dignity.

Pile of Opinions: I read this book right after an overly heterosexual romance and had very low expectations of loving this book. This one was recommended by people and kept popping up on social media. Every so often I have to buy books that have been haunting me and pop up everywhere. I knew nothing about this book when I started it other than it was about a hard tear who was a famous actress in the 50’s. This book is about a 79 year old woman who was a famous movie star for decades and disappeared from the spotlight years ago, and she is finally ready to share her full story. This story is the journey of her telling her life story to a biographer. Her life, relationships, secrets, and most importantly the truths behind her seven husbands and who her true love was. I enjoyed this story for the characters and the stories. I loved to see character growth and hear the stories of these people across decades of their lives. The friendships in this were as good as the romance, which is not as common in books as I’d like and also one of my favorite things. Books that have friendships as interesting and important and nurtured as much as the romantic entanglements give me life. I finished this book and was ready to read it again immediately. This would be a great book to bring on a weekend away or vacation because the storytelling feels best read in a few sittings (or one sitting if you really want it). Looking forward to reading this book again soon.

Buy The Seven Husbands of evelyn Hugo

Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: The Witch Haven

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith

Year: 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy? Paranormal Fiction (according to google), witchy, historical fiction

Queer shit: Supporting character is implied lesbian

Vibe Check: Kinda murdery, very witchy, nice and empowering. Don’t read before bed.

Pile of Opinions: This is a book I chose purely based on about 80% judging it by its title and cover and 20% actually reading the description and being interested. I’ve found I like doing it this way sometimes, knowing nothing about the book or the author other than what the book’s sleeve tells me. This book was dark and sad and had way more murder than I was comfortable with or prepared for. I also could not put this book down! I connected with the characters quickly and it was no time at all before I was speaking out loud my smart ass commentary of whether or not I think someone is trustworthy or up to no good and asking why people make stupid decisions. This is when you know I am sucked into a book. The quick summary is that this book is about a school for girls who find out they have magical powers. The school works to help them train their skills and of course people get into some adventure and shenanigans. Book 2 (I think there are only two books) comes out later this year (2022) and I am looking forward to it. Maybe #2 will be less murdery? Haha I doubt it. I enjoyed the storylines of finding our community and nurturing friendships through whatever life throws at you. I found this a very sweet and authentic view of the complications of friendship.

Buy The Witch haven