Blanca y Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore | Book Review

February 11, 2019February 9, 2019 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf6 Comments

Blanca & Roja, by Anna-Marie McLemore, retells two of my favorite fairy tales, Snow-White and Rose-Red and The Wild Swans, with two Latina girls and a non-binary prince. Blanca and Roja del Cisne are the next two girls in a long line of women who were born in their exact pair because of a blessing and curse from the swans who raised their great-great-great-grandmother. This was a blessing to the original bisabuela, but it has been a curse for every pair because….

Movie/Television · Review

My Thoughts on ‘Love, Simon’

November 19, 2018November 17, 2018 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf6 Comments

I really liked Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli, when I read it in 2016. So, I was elated to see the first trailer for the movie. Now that HBO has it, I finally watched Love, Simon a week ago. It’s an okay but bland movie. What I liked: The movie largely sticks… Continue reading My Thoughts on ‘Love, Simon’

Contemporary Realistic Fiction · Review · Young Adult

Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake | Book Review

September 3, 2018September 3, 2018 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf2 Comments

Mara is a music student who is close to her brother, madly in love with her ex, and writes for an empowering magazine that she founded. While she has been dealing with the aftermath of asking Charlie to be best friends instead of together, her twin brother, Owen, raped one of her best friends, Hannah, at a party. Now she has to figure out how….

Contemporary Realistic Fiction · Review · Young Adult

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard | Audiobook Review

March 15, 2018March 14, 2018 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf7 Comments

Several months ago I was looking for an audiobook, and OverDrive suggested M-E Girard’s Girl Mans Up. After listening to the sample, I gave it a shot and loved it.

Girl Mans Up is about a high school girl trying to be who she is. Pen plays video games, supports her friends, wears her brother’s shirts, and wants to be one of the guys. Her Portuguese parents want her to dress like a “girl” and….

Contemporary Realistic Fiction · Review · Young Adult

Take Your Medicine by Hannah Carmack | eARC Review

March 5, 2018February 26, 2018 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf1 Comment

I received this electronic Advanced Reader Copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. In this Alice in Wonderland retelling, Alice Liddell has “vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly.” Her mother, a cardiothoracic surgeon, cannot cure her, but some new witchy friends think they can.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction · Graphic Novel · Review

Blue Is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

December 11, 2017December 10, 2017 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf4 Comments

Ever since I saw the review for Blue Is the Warmest Color on From Isi, I wanted to read it. Before this, I only saw the movie listed on Netflix. I checked the book out from the library and enjoyed it. In a colorless world, Clementine, a high school junior, has a family, friends, and a boyfriend she can’t reciprocate feelings for. She breaks up with him. Her gay friend takes her out to a gay bar where she meets Emma, the confident art student with blue hair. This event starts Clementine on the path of self-discovery and love. Narrated in diary entries, this graphic novel is a love story about two women in France in the ’90s.

Book Tags

Six Degrees of Separation from It to Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

December 2, 2017December 2, 2017 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf4 Comments

It’s Saturday, the first one of the month, which means it’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation. This month my chain linked to fantasy and contemporary YA books. In case you don’t know, 6 Degrees of Separation, hosted by hosted by Kate @ Booksaremyfavoriteandbest, is where we connect the book Kate gives us to six other… Continue reading Six Degrees of Separation from It to Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

Contemporary Realistic Fiction · Review · Young Adult

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

November 27, 2017June 16, 2018 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf3 Comments

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, and her radio evangelist father has been supportive. All of that changes when he remarries and they move to conservative Rome, Georgia. He asks her to do the impossible: to lie low for her senior year. After she reluctantly agrees, she falls for Mary Carlson, the sister of her new friend. She doesn’t want to break the promise to her dad, even if Mary might return her feelings. Maybe. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, by Jaye Robin Brown, shows characters openly being themselves and ties faith into loving everyone.

Nonfiction · Review

Trans Voices by Declan Henry

September 25, 2017September 25, 2017 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf1 Comment

Trans Voices: Becoming Who You Are, by Declan Henry, compiles the words of trans individuals and explanations of issues. The book discusses everyday experiences, transitioning, treatments, surgeries, discrimination, and legal and healthcare issues. In this book, Henry attempts to educate the cisgender population about the lives and experiences of trans individuals to increase acceptance and understanding.

Book Tags

Book Traveling Thursdays: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

August 17, 2017August 17, 2017 Carrie @ Cat on the Bookshelf3 Comments

About a year ago, I posted my review of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. This week’s BTT is a freebie, so I would like to compare the covers of this book. In case you don’t know, Book Traveling Thursdays is a weekly meme hosted by Danielle at Danielle’s Book Blog and Catia at The… Continue reading Book Traveling Thursdays: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda