Proud by Various Authors - Edited by Juno Dawson - Review

I had of course heard the buzz around Proud, a new anthology featuring LGBTQ+ stories by LGBTQ+ authors. Many of the authors will already be known to you, but, like with previous similar anthology Stripes, the publishers also solicited submissions from new, as yet unpublished authors, and four are featured here. The standard of stories is so high that I've already forgotten who the unpublished authors were, they're all excellent. I read this book in a couple of days while away last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are all kinds of teenagers here and all kinds of stories - a coming out story, a getting comfortable with yourself story, a coming of age story, a running away story - and all featuring queer teenagers of many types. There's trans kids and lesbians and gay kids and kids who aren't sure where they fit in yet. My favourite ones were the ones by Tanya Byrne, Fox Benwell, and Dean Atta. Dean's is a poem and it's right at the end and it hit me right in the feels. I loved it, I thought it was a perfect ending to the anthology.

I loved Tanya's story because it was about music and making friends through music, and I loved Fox's because it was about a fierce warrior and their friends.

This is a gorgeous anthology and I will probably buy myself a paper copy when it's out in March. I received a free copy of the ebook but was not otherwise compensated for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Grave Matter by Juno Dawson - Review

I'd picked this up at the library on my last visit there before Christmas, it's one of those easy to read Barrington Stoke books but I liked the premise of the book so I picked it up.

Samuel has just lost his girlfriend, Eliza, in a car crash that was his fault. He's finding it really hard to move on without her - he can't sleep, he doesn't want to go back to school, and he just feels depressed. His parents - his dad is a vicar and his mum is a doctor - are no help either. But then Samuel remembers his dad's sister, who is estranged from the family, and goes to ask her for help in raising Eliza from the dead.

His aunt can't help, but her assistant tells Samuel to visit a man called the Milkman. There, Samuel gets a recipe to, indeed, raise Eliza from the dead, so he sets about getting everything on the list and digging up Eliza's body to put the potion in her mouth.

I really did like the premise of this book, I liked Samuel and I liked the spell he had to do, and I liked what happened after he did (no spoilers!). However, I thought that parts of it were quite hackneyed and a bit stereotyped, which I didn't like at all.

I'm giving this 3.5 out of five, sorry to be a bit of a downer but the stereotypical bits ruined it for me a bit.

Margot & Me by Juno Dawson - Review

Ack, I'm really sorry, I don't know what's going on with formatting on this site, but I can't make it do what I want it to do! I'm not computer stupid, but everything looks fine in drafts but then when I post, all the formatting is shot. I'm really sorry!

Where did I get it? I bought it on Kindle, it was 99p and although I've never read anything by Juno, I own a few so I thought I'd add this to the collection. I was scrolling through my Kindle and thought I'd give it a go. 

What's it about? Fliss and her mum are moving from London to Wales to live with Fliss' grandma, Margot. Fliss' mum has had cancer and Felicity has been looking after her, but now Margot steps in. Felicity has to start at a new school which is far removed from her private school in London, and she hates how small the new town she's living in is. 

Margot isn't a typical grandma and Fliss struggles to get on with her. But then she finds Margot's diary hidden in the attic, from when Margot was evacuated from London to the very farm she now lives on. Intrigued, Fliss starts to read it. 

For some reason, the novel is set in the late 90s, which I found really bizarre. I think partly it was because it made sense for Margot's age - she's 70ish in 1998, whereas if the novel was set now, Margot would be 90 and it would be strange to move in with her at that age. I thik partly too that it was because the internet was in its infancy, which again makes sense for the story. But otherwise it was just a distraction and wasn't overly well done, I didn't feel.

What age range is it for? 14+, I think

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? They're not main characters, no spoilers though

Are any main characters people of colour? Again they're not main characters, but...

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? I'm going to say that Fliss' mum is due to her cancer, yes

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, it isn't explicit

Are drugs mentioned or used? No

Is there any talk of death? Yes, trigger warning here

Are there swear words? Yes, a few

Would I recommend the book? Kind of? I've heard that this is the best of Juno's novels, so if you already like her stuff, then this will probably be right up your street. For me, it didn't quite gel. I found Fliss to be a pain in the bum, and I really didn't like the 90s setting. Parts of it just didn't ring true. I really liked Margot, though. I'd have liked a whole novel just about her! She was badass!

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? I've just heard a lot of buzz about it

What other books is it like? I think it's quite like A Monster Call, which I reviewed recently. 

How many stars? Three out of five.