Maddison's Musings

We're two weeks into 2021 and things have been a mess, but there's also been some good. I think I'm going to try something new on the blog this year and introduce book reviews. For some reason, the Goodreads option to rate a book and leave a review right after you finish it makes me nervous, so I thought I would take some time after reading a book so I have enough time to process it before I leap into a review. This will probably be a bit of a learning process, so stick with me here (or don't if that's not your cup of tea).

I got Cemetery Boys for Christmas last year, and I used all of my restraint to leave it for the new year so it would be the first book I read in 2021 (also because I read 45 books in 2020 and that was such a satisfying number to end on, but that's beside the point). If you haven't heard of the book, here is a quick synopsis brought to you straight from the Goodreads page: 

One of my friends recommended this book to me since I had watched Julie and the Phantoms, and they thought I would like the similar ghost vibes (which I very much did). All I knew before I started reading was that it was very gay and that the main character Yadriel summons an annoying ghost that he ends up falling for. It took me a little bit to get into the book at first since the first chapter or so had a lot of worldbuilding and characters to establish and my brain kind of short circuits with so much information upfront, but once I got into to the story, I couldn't put the book down. I loved Yadriel's characterization so much as an anxious gay character and I fucking latched on to him so fast. I'm pretty sure this was also the first book that I've read with a trans protagonist and it made my little non binary heart sing. I was ready to throw punches whenever Yadriel was (accidentally) misgendered and I thought the author did a really good job of balancing being deadnamed and misgendered without it being malicious. Sometimes it just takes others time to get used to, and my heart ached for Yadriel as he struggled with that. I also appreciated that that was just a small part of the story, so I didn't have my guard up the whole time thinking "oh my god, he's gonna get deadnamed/misgendered/hate crimed/etc," which I very much appreciated.

The two other main characters, Julian and Maritza, were fully fleshed out and fucking adorable. I absolutely fell in love with Maritza, Yadriel's vegan, queer, witchy cousin with split colored hair. Julian has a very tough exterior/reputation, but as Yadriel gets to know him, he realizes how kind and loving Julian is. Also I really vibed with Julian's energy since he couldn't sit still and got bored super easily. The whole dynamic between the trio was really sweet and well written and I would die for each of them. I very much felt like that Rosa Diaz quote that was like "I've only had [these characters] for a day and a half, but if anything happened to [them] I would kill everyone in this room and then myself." Wait, hold on, I'm going to make that meme. Hold on.

I hope you're all staying healthy and sane, and if you need a new read to keep you company and add some joy to your world, then I highly recommend Cemetery Boys by Adien Thomas.

~Maddison 

Why hello girls and gays, how's 2020 treating you so far? I thought I'd take this leap day and share some of my updated queer book recs, this time focusing on lesbian young adult fiction. Since my final thesis for my senior project is about tracking tropes in lesbian young adult fiction since the 1970s, I thought I'd share some of my favorite books that I read for the project with y'all. All of these books have been published in the last ten years and I would recommend them more than the older novels mostly because these are generally happier/less traumatic. I did a queer book rec post in 2018, and looking at it now, I realize that two books are in both posts, but I already took, edited, and finished this thumbnail so fuck it. Also, this post is in order of when each novel was published and not necessarily in order of how much I liked them.

Written by: Emily Danforth

Published: 2012

470 Pages

I figured that I should include at least one angsty/sadder book because some people like that. Although the topic is pretty heavy (Cameron Post gets sent to a religious conversion therapy camp), I didn't find this book too hard to get through. I feel like the novel doesn't focus too much on the traumatic aspects of conversion therapy, which I appreciated because I'm a wimp when it comes to angst for queer characters, but I did enjoy the hopeful ending and the found family trope (what gay isn't a sucker for a found/chosen family tbh).

Written by: Nina LaCour

Published: 2014

307 Pages

You Know Me Well

We Are Okay

Written by: Isabel Sterling

Published: 2019

320 Pages

I think this book is my personal favorite out of these seven books, partially because I loved the plot and the story itself, but also because it's packed with meaningful queer characters. I also just really appreciate when the main character calls herself a lesbian. It fills my soul with warmth and peace. This story is focused mostly on the problems facing the witches in modern-day Salem, but it also involves the main character trying to deal with her ex (who is also a witch so they have to see each other a lot) while also developing feelings for a new girl in town. Also, the main character is out to everyone, and she recalls being out to her parents on the first page. Her big secret in this novel is that she's a witch, not that she's a lesbian. She's also a cute disaster gay who doesn't realize when a girl is flirting with her and I relate to that a lot oops.

Her Royal Highness

This month's post is brought to you by two of my favorite things: books and things regarding the LGBTQ+ community. I've found that finding books with LGBT+ characters is becoming easier now a days, but there's still a ton of room for improvement. For example, out of the eight books I have in today's post, only two have main characters that are queer and female. That being said, I have read all of these books and I do genuinely enjoy them. I would also like to state that these books aren't in any particular order, so they're not ranked by how much I like them.

Source

How Pride Month is already nearly over, I have no idea, but I thought I would take the opportunity of the month ending to share some of my favorite things from the past month, but with a LGBTQA+ twist. Also, if you might recall, I wanted to make a Pride Chat post each Sunday of June, but I went to California last week and missed last Sunday, so I thought I could do it today and at least get four little chats out there. Without further ado, let's see what some of my favorite things are.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which you can learn more about in my disclosure HERE.

Books

I was originally going to make this a book vs film adaptation type of post, but decided that both the book Thirteen Reasons Why and film/Netflix adaptation 13 Reasons Why are both equally important. As a book lover and a writer, I love the book. Each time I read it I find myself unable to put it down, fully invested in the story. When I first started the Netflix version of the show, I was annoyed with how much the show differed from the book, but after a little research, where I learned that the author of the book was apart of the whole process, I was able to separate the book and the show in my mind, and enjoy the show a lot more. In the book, the main character Clay listens to all the tapes in one night then passes them off the next morning, so we really only hear Clay's commentary and how he processes everything, unlike in the show, where he takes days to finish the tapes, but we get to learn more about the other characters and their struggles. Either way, Hannah's story gets told, and that's what's really important. When I first read the book a few years ago, it changed my outlook on how I view the world and how I treat people. You never really know what people are going through and what someone else is struggling with, so it's important to treat everyone fairly and nicely. Now, a few years later, the show is giving the same message. I think it's important that this book was also made into a show because it allows people who maybe don't like to read to get this important message as well.

All differences aside, both the book and Netflix adaptation are super important, especially to young teens/adults. They book/show deal with the heavy concepts of suicide, rape/sexual assault, slut shaming, guilt, etc, and it's not something to be taken lightly. In her tapes, Hannah mentions the snowball effect, which is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as "a situation in which something increases in size or importance at a faster and faster rate" it can also mean "everything leads to everything," which is accurate in Thirteen Reasons Why. While figuring out what happened to her life and why it went to shit, Hannah makes a list of everyone who ever mistreated her, then she narrows down the list to thirteen people, her thirteen reasons. Each story she tells is connected somehow, and she shares that everything is connected, and whether the person thinks what they did was insignificant or not, it was significant to her.

Thirteen Reasons Why is not a book/show to be taken lightly. It deals with triggering topics, so I thought I should include links to posts where people listed triggers (they'll also be embedded below). This post is more general, with descriptions of triggers in each episode, while this post breaks it down with specific time stamps for the most triggering scenes.

Also, can we just take a minute and think about how diverse the cast is? I mean, just look at this picture. It's beautiful!! Justin is the only white character in this entire screenshot!! It's so beautiful and powerful to have such an important show have so many people of color. Also, there's gay/LGBTQ+ people!! And not just one!! It's truly amazing, and I'm so proud of this show for being so diverse- that deserves an award itself.

Overall, no matter who you are, I think it's important that everyone reads the book and/or watches the Netflix adaptation. The story being told is way too important to be passed on, even though it deals with heavy concepts and triggers. The story makes you look at your life and evaluate how you treat others and how you see the world. Hopefully, the story can help shape you into a more thoughtful person, or at least into someone who can learn to recognize that your actions have consequences, no matter how insignificant you feel they might be. Also, I hope that if you're feeling how Hannah did, you know that there's always a reason to stay alive.

~Maddison

Growing up, I read a lot. I mean a LOT. I was always reading and it was fantastic. But for the past few years, especially since I entered high school, I've found that I don't read that often anymore. I simply "don't have the time" (yet I find the time to mindlessly scroll Tumblr for hours...). In all honesty, I have plenty of time- I have all of the time in the world, yet I simply just spend all of that time on the internet.

I wanted to change this habit, so last year for one of my goals I wanted to read at least 100 books. Yeah, that totally didn't happen. I had the intention to, I really did, but alas I had a ton of homework and was constantly on the internet. I think I read a total of about ten books last year, nowhere near the hundred that I wanted to read. 

I'm proud to say though that this year, I've read about thirteen books so far! That's three more than I read in all twelve months last year. Bringing books to school really helps. You never know when you're not going to do anything in class, and having a book you actually want to read on hand is a lifesaver.

Granted, I am a naturally fast reader and I love everything about reading, so it's definitely nice being able to just read and save my phone battery sometimes. Reading is a nice way to escape the real world and dive into a world that someone else has created. As long as I'm reading, I'm not thinking about life, I'm just focused on my book. It's truly one of the best feelings.

I've been thinking about doing a few book reviews on here just for fun, so I might just do that soon (or not, who knows). But, if I don't do reviews, I'll definitely try to list some of my favorite books and such every once in a while.

~Maddison

My favorite books I've read so far this year:

The Giver- Lois Lowry 

Any of Ellen Degeneres' books 

We Should Hang Out Sometime- Josh Sundquist

And anything by John Green

Hey y'all, it's Maddie! Unless you have lived under a rock your entire life, you would know that just a few days ago was Christmas! I had an amazing Christmas, and I got everything I wanted, plus more! I got a lot of movies, some books, and a few other things, and I had a really nice Christmas. Then yesterday my family and I drove up to go see my dad's side of our family (since my mom's don't live in our state), and I actually had a good time. It was nice and calm, and I had fun. Also, since my grandma is an author (published and everything) I sent her a book I'm working on and she loved it. Then she brought it up yesterday and everyone went crazy. They practically fought each other over it, and I even got my twelve year old brother to read it! Now they're all demanding I finish it! Haha, it's pretty funny, but it's also really encouraging.

I went and got my eyes checked today, and they told me I needed readers glasses. They also dilated my pupils- which was pure torture. It was not fun. But, at least I picked out a cute pair of glasses, which I should get in about a week.

So if you know anything about me, you might know that I love the UK and Ireland (well you know know)! After my eye appointment today I went to Half Priced Books and I got a 2014 Ireland calendar and three UK/Ireland Travel books (along with two other normal books). Praise the Lord they are having a 20% discount on everything in the store (until the 30th!), otherwise I would have spent a lot more money! The total for me was around $33 with the discount!

Happy (soon-to-be) New Year!

~Maddie