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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Like Water in Books

Dec 17, 2018

Like Water

Rebecca Podos | 2017 | Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I'm always interested in queer young adult books, and this one especially caught my eye with its mention of "performing mermaids." Because y'all know I love my mermaid books! So Savannah isn't a real mermaid, she just plays one at a water park. But it was enough to make me pick up the book, and it's a good book. Young adult books about discovering your identity are always needed, and this book is about Savannah realizing she's bisexual.

Much of the angst in this book comes from Savannah not knowing if she has the same disease her father does, and she's not sure if she wants to know. Altogether, in this book we have chronic illness, hispanic teens, bisexual, lesbian, and genderqueer teens, small-town angst....there's really a LOT of demographics covered in this book.

I like Savannah, but I don't like her love interest, Leigh, very much. Leigh does NOT have her shit together, and between drinking and doing drugs, all while underage, she poses a very real threat to Savannah's well-being.

I'm a little nonplussed by the ending of the book. It leaves a few questions unanswered, but not in a cliff-hanger-y way. It's more of a possibilities-left-open kind of way. Which makes sense for a "first love" romance. It's not necessarily a "true love" story. It reminds me of John Green novels in that way.

So - it's a great book for representation, but don't expect a tidy, wrapped-up ending. You won't find that here.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com

Kudos

ClareR (5864 KP) rated Always Greener in Books

Feb 27, 2020 (Updated Feb 27, 2020)

Always Greener

J.R.H.Lawless | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Always Greener is about a reality TV show in the near future, where everyone is permanently glued to their screens through visual implants or AR glasses (if they haven't got the money). How bad is your life? Because if it's REALLY bad, you're more likely to become a contestant on The Grass is Greener, where you'll be watched 24/7 through your visual implants. There's no off switch, there's no privacy - the public want to see everything.

The first couple of chapters were a little hard-going, but I'm glad I persevered. It's a satire of the reality TV that we have today, and J. R. H. Lawless has taken it to it's furthest point, it's most outrageous end. To be fair, I'm sure it could probably be even more heartless, invasive and damaging, but the contestants are saved, to a certain extent, by a host with a conscience.

I did really enjoy this - but I can't say as it made me feel particularly positive about the future: people used as guinea pigs for drugs and procedures untested on anyone else, with fatal consequences; suicide so commonplace, that it has become a steady job for a group of people who clean up after them - what a way to make a living; the total lack of empathy for people who are less fortunate, reduced merely to a prime-time, all-the-time, streaming slot.

Not a future I would want, but a great book, nonetheless. Its a good read!

Many thanks to NetGalley for my copy of this book to read and review.