Friday Fics Fix - Vampires and A Smidge of FrostIron

 

'"Science waits for no man, Steve! Also Loki there's a welcome basket on your coffee table, let me know if you need help with anything!"'

 

This is some good, ol' fashioned, Avengers fanfic.

...Only Tony Stark is a vampire, because why not?

Nerd Church - Rich Vamps: Dracula and The Blood of the Poor

 Warning: this is probably obvious, but we're gonna talk blood, death, and murder

You ever notice that vampires are filthy stinking rich?

I was talking about this topic with Em @ The Paperback Princess a while back (...I can't find the conversation, but it exists, I'm sure! 😅):

You rarely see fiction or media with vampires who struggle to pay the bills

 - which does mean that they're in line to combine with a dozen or so other tropes to make romance novels titled 'The Alpha Bad-Boy Motorbike CEO Billionaire Daddy Vampire's Baby Surprise.' 

Apologies if that's the title of your novel - because I feel like this thing exists somewhere.

And if it didn't before, it does now 😅

But moving away from romance novels and things that would even make fanfiction writers wonder if you may have overdone the tropes...

Friday Fics Fix - Who We Meet In The Shadows

 

'Nandor blinked at his question, almost owlish. “You want to see your human mother?” As if he had another kind.'

 

A little over a month ago, I explained to all of you that What We Do In The Shadows (WWDITS) is an amazing vampire-mockumentary work of genius that occupies space in my head, rent-free.

It continues to squat and not pay me a penny for its living quarters.

Friday Fics Fix - Friends We Have In The Shadows

 

'He was hurt alright. That look wasn't a new color on him; Nandor seemed to be hurt quite a lot lately. Laszlo didn't want him to be alone.'

Vampire. Mockumentary.

Do I have your attention?

Good. 

Comics Wrap-Up - Taking A Ride To My Old Haunts

 

It's Thursday, it's November, let's get some comics-y superhero-y goodness, right here on Dora Reads!

Friday Fics Fix - Just Can't Lose Him

 

'The first time Michael saw him after it happened was on the boardwalk. Three months, two days.'

This is the last Fics Fix of October, and Halloween is just a few days away, so it seems like the perfect time for some Queer vampires!

So this week we're talking one of my faves - the film The Lost Boys. (Which, yes, is Queer af - deny it all you want, you can't change the truth.)

Friday Fics Fix - A Queer Horror Fanfic Rec List

 

Since it's October, and therefore a time for all things spooky and gothic (woohoo!) I thought I'd give you all a little taste of some horror fics.

Some of these are horror in that the specific piece of fanfiction is horror-based, and some of them are actually based on horror media/fandoms. OK? OK.

Oh, and they're all Queer af.

As I’ve mentioned before, Queer people love horror.

(Not all of us, obviously, that would be a sweeping generalisation, and everyone’s different, but a lot of Queer people do love horror. And I mean LOVE it.)

So, horror's Queer, fanfiction's Queer, let's pull some monsters outta the closet! 😉😎😅

Friday Fics Fix - My Stand-Out Fics of 2020

 

It's December in a matter of days, which means that Friday Fics Fix will be going on its annual Christmas holiday.

...So what better opportunity to look back on the fics that've really stood out to me in 2020?

(Don't answer that. It's rhetorical. I'm gonna do it anyway. 😎)

2020 has been 2020.

So, I've totally been reading a butt-tonne of fanfiction as self-care. 

Because fanfiction is excellent for all the self-care purposes - whether you need deep and angsty, or sweet and fluffy, or you want to fulfil some very um, specific, tastes: fanfiction has it all!

(I don't judge. But if I never read another pumpkin sex fic, it'll be too soon. And yes, it happened again in October - how do they keep finding me?!)

Friday Fics Fix - Lost and Found

(Warning: this post discusses Homophobia/general Queerphobia, and negative stereotypes of LGBTQ+ people.)

'Watching David watching him and not really knowing if he was only picturing David there, or if David actually was there.'

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

If you've faffed around the nerd part of the Internet, or the bookish part of the Internet, or the Queer part of the Internet, (amongst others, I'm sure,) you'll know that it's spooky season, i.e. October leading up to Halloween 👻

A lot of Queer people love horror and/or all things Gothic. I mean LOVE it.

Even if, as a genre, it's always had a somewhat love/hate relationship with us, painting us as either villain or deserving victim in more shameful stereotypes than I have the energy to go into here. 

And even that was often a coding (i.e. implied,) rather than explicitly Queer characters.

Friday Fics Fix - Undead, Not Unreasonable

'There is a key scraping the inside of the lock, and the door was swinging open, the monster standing inside of the doorway, blocking any other view. He is smiling, his horrible fangs fully shown, in the flickering candlelight of the room.'

The established king of vampires is, and always will be, Dracula.

Since 1897, it's been adapted time and again, becoming the fundamental core of vampire fiction and media.

Comics Wrap-Up - Think You're So Criminal

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

It's Thursday, we've nearly reached the end of another week - let's enjoy some comics-y goodness! 

And this week is full of villains and anti-heroes for your nerdy perusal!

I Watched The Film First! *Gasps* - 5 Books That I Read Because I'd Seen The Adaptations

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

You know the voice that's just like: 'you've read the book, now see the movie!'

...that voice doesn't know me at all.

I read a butt-tonne of books. 

Like, I read at the 200-per-year kind of speed.

But I watch loads of film and TV adaps. before I read the book.

Friday Fics Fix - Murder House Party!

“You guys seem really chill about all this,” observed Ben. “By this point most people are running around screaming.”

“Occupational hazard,” said Klaus.

“I’ve lost a lot of blood,” said Diego. “I’m just accepting everything at face value right now.”

If there's one thing that Netflix has got me obsessed with as much as Umbrella Academy, it's American Horror Story.

(Only on season 2 #NoSpoilersPlease!)

Really Mini-Reviews - Escorting the Escort by Lyss Em and Babyvamp by Lyssa Dering

You want some awesome M/M New Adult romance novellas?

Of course ya do!

Today I've got reviews of Escorting the Escort by Lyss Em and Babyvamp by Lyssa Dering - which are both written by the same author, just under different names.

They explore orientations beyond just Gay or Straight, and are pretty damned awesome t'boot!

Friday Fics Fix - Gimme Gimme Some of that Vampire Money, C'mon!

So, we're still in October - so I figure that more Harry Potter is in order.

We're going further down the fanfiction rabbit hole though, because this week we have a vampire fic.

Comics Wrap-Up - Live Without the Sunlight

TV Trailers




Another little video clip for Marvel's Inhumans!!!! (Iwan Rheon totally rocks dammit!!!)

Friday Fics Fix - Fanfiction in Koru Mag

Do you want to read a whooooole magazine issue inspired by fanfiction and fan art and all that jazz, including a fic by your dear darling book nerd (i.e. me)?

Of course you do! Why in hell's name wouldn't you?!*

*Don't answer that.

Review Time! - The Voices of Martyrs by Maurice Broaddus

Title: The Voices of Martyrs

Author: Maurice Broaddus

Genre: anthology, short stories

Genre (of individual stories): historical fiction, contemporary, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, vampires, urban fantasy, horror, dystopian, magic realism

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

Honestly, I like me some short stories - and I never fail to be impressed by Rosarium Publishing - so I figured, why not? And decided to give this a shot.

Premise:

A collection of voices - an unforgotten collected memory that encompasses the past, present, and future.

These short stories are tales of strength, pain, sacrifice, and life. These are the voices of martyrs.

Review Time! - Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

Title: Santa Muerte

Author: Lucina Stone

Genre: New Adult/NA, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Witches, Vampires*, Werewolves*, Historical Fiction* (*ish)

Series: The Daniela Story #1

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book from the author, Lucina Stone, who I'm in contact with on Twitter.

This does not affect the content of my review; my review is fair and honest.

I agreed to read this with only the vaguest of notions of what it was about - I had read Naz @ Read Diverse Books' review of it, but had mostly forgotten about it by the time Lucina Stone contacted me.

I definitely didn't realise that it was urban fantasy - so that was a pleasant surprise!

I love urban fantasy - a subgenre of paranormal which involves magical-type-people (witches, vampires, etc.) faffing about in cities and/or towns in which they have their own societies (sometimes open to human society, sometimes hidden.)

It's strange, really, since I don't like cities in general - too much of a rural kind of girl. *shrugs* But there you have it.

Premise:

Turns out there's more to Daniela's family than she thought there was.

In the year 2030, Daniela sees no end to the pain. Depressed and hurt by an abusive relationship, she tries to take her own life...

...and wakes up somewhere strange.

This can't be happening. She can't be in the 1920s... right?

Dani doesn't get this time period, has no idea about magic, and, with a farm-girl named Daphne in tow, is being chased by a bunch of people who want her dead - or at least in jail.

All she wants is to go home to her mothers, but that seems almost impossible from here...

Best bits:

I love the chatty tone of this book. Stone grabs hold of you and says, 'come on guys, this way!' Which is spot on.

And the time travel element is well done! DID YOU HEAR THAT???? THE TIME TRAVEL ELEMENT IS WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!

Too often, time travel gets unnecessarily messy, or even just plain naff, but not here.

Here we have the reality of suddenly finding yourself in a world full of racism and rigid gender rules (Daniela ends up posing as a dude because of her short hair and trousers.)

And it's an element which is missing from your average time travel plot: the day-to-day-ness of living in that period, especially as a person of colour (PoC) in the USA.

I liked the Mexican variations on the stalwarts of urban fantasy.

All of the different species of the paranormal and urban fantasy worlds - vamps, wolves, witches, etc. are removed from their White European stereotypes and instead seen through the lens of Mexican folklore.

Most notably we have the brujas - the Mexican witches - who are written with skill and intrigue, and are far removed from the average urban fantasy witch-chick (who is normally a white goth-girl and/or biker-chick.)

The depression representation is good overall, devastatingly realistic as a whole - but I did have a minor issue with it, which I'll write about in the next section.

The sense of hopelessness and worthlessness depicted is accurate and heart-breaking, and Daniela doesn't magically get better the moment she ends up in 1923, meaning it's not treated as just a plot point.

And we get a same-sex, lesbian, parenting couple - which is awesome.

Not so great bits:

First thing, as ever, is first, here's the potentially distressing content from this book (hold on, there's some stuff to get through):

• depression
• attempted suicide
• suicidal thoughts
• hanging
• abusive relationships
• low self-worth/self-esteem
• racism
• racial slurs (including the 'n' word)
• the KKK
• lynching
• segregation and discrimination
• sexual abuse
• child abuse
• sexual assault
• rape
• torture
• kidnapping
• burning (as a form of torture)
• attempted murder
• homophobia
• grave-robbing
• missing persons investigation

I think that's everything - v. sorry if I've missed anything out.

There's swearing and violence; if you can handle all the other stuff though... *shrugs*

At one point, the phrase totem pole is used in as a metaphor in a non-native setting, which is seen as cultural appropriation, affecting some First Nations tribes (this piece by Robin R R Gray explains more.)

It was only once, but was still disappointing, and I hope won't occur again in future books.

Also, and this one is more of a personal preference, the relationship between Dani's mothers is referred to as a lifestyle. I don't like this.

I'm aware that a lot of LGBTQ+ people are ok with it (especially from older generations,) but I am personally not a big fan of the term.

But then, a lot of LGBTQ+ people find the term queer very offensive, but I personally identify as both sexually fluid and queer.

I guess you just have to understand that some people will be offended by both of these terms, and you need to examine how and why AND WHETHER YOU SHOULD use them in any given context.

Occasionally it felt like the representation of Daniela's depression was a little bit hit-and-miss, simply because at the times when it wasn't affecting her so much it was almost as if it didn't matter any more.

Honestly though, the representation of depression was, overall, heartbreakingly affective.

Verdict:

This is a great book - a strong foundation for the series, with great characters and interesting paranormal elements.

If you're an urban fantasy fan, this is a must. But those not so familiar with the genre will love it too.




UPDATE 22nd APRIL 2017:

A couple of people have raised issues with the lesbian and depression representation in this book, as well as a few other matters. Some people have equated Dani's lesbian mother having sex with a man with biphobia.

I personally don't agree with the lesbian rep/biphobia criticism - because if anyone knows that sexuality is fluid, it's yours truly. But I see the validity of the points made.

For an overview of the issues that some people have with this book, see C T Callahan's Goodreads review.

I do find C T Callahan more than a little harsh on this book, but you guys all know that I believe in having all the cards on the table so that you can make up your own minds.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

Liked this post? Try these:

• My 7 Top Picks of 2016's Books
• Review Time! - Eyes of Persuasion by Adrienne Monson
• Review Time! - Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi
• Review Time! - Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

My 7 Top Picks of 2016's Books

(This post contains a flashing/fast-moving gif which may cause problems to those with photosensitive medical conditions.)

2016 wasn't 100% bad - just, like, 85%, or something. Anyway, there were some pretty awesome books!

I've purposefully picked books with 2016 release dates here - but I should point out that I also read some pretty great 'back-list' (pre-2016) titles during the year, they're just not on the list.

So, these are my picks of books released in 2016, that I read in 2016. Everyone got that? Great.

(And yes, I know this post is technically 'late' - but I make my own rules dammit!)

via GIPHY

I'm also uber-pleased to note that most of these are diverse books - so anyone who says diverse books are lower quality needs to go and ask themselves some serious questions 😇

They are also all written by women - girls rock!





Here we go then (and in no particular order, because I am a wuss who can't rank books over each other):

Nina Is Not Ok by Shappi Khorsandi

Amazon links: UK - US

For my international readers (and boy is that a phrase I'm never going to get used to,) who may not have heard of her, Shappi Khorsandi is an Iranian-British comedic genius.

Her first novel though, is not light-hearted. It's not funny. It's not for the faint of heart. And it's freaking incredible.

Seriously, this is one that I'm sooooo happy I had a digital review copy of, because I was so privileged to be one of the first people to read it.

Since then, I've basically been like 'read the thing!' whenever it's been possible to recommend it.

And I'm clearly not the only one, since it was recently nominated for the inaugural Jhalak Prize - though Khorsandi unfortunately withdrew the book from the longlist out of concern that drawing attention to her ethnicity might alienate white readers.

It's a disappointing decision, but it's far from my place to tell a person of colour (PoC) how to market their own book.

And it really is a fantastic book guys! You can see my full review here.

Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan

Amazon links: UK - US

Nikki Sheehan is a definite talent. I can't wait to see what she comes up with in the future.

Swan Boy is a remarkably artistic and lyrical kids' novel (middle grade/MG) and it's just... a stunningly beautiful read.

Honestly, it's amazing.

Check out my full review of Swan Boy here.

Blood Stain, Vol 1 by Linda Sejic

Amazon links: UK - US

Linda is an amazing person who writes awesome and oh-so relatable comics that make me laugh and bring me smiles when I need them.

You will love the hapless Elliott as she tries to make her way in this bizarre world of adulting (and she has levels of clumsiness and bad luck that most of us will recognise!)

You can see my full review of Blood Stain, Vol 1 here.

Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening

Amazon links: UK - US

ORHGUIREJNGOIRGHNKETMNHOEIROIJTGGWMKRNGHTOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are very few books which I consider '5 star' books guys.

(And I have issues with the arbitrary and restrictive nature of star ratings anyway - which is why I don't use them on this blog!)

But, if there is such a thing as a five-star book, then THIS IS A 5 STAR BOOK.

It has everything - fantasy, world-building, a disabled Asian protagonist, and stunning artwork.

And I want to adopt the small fox child. Soooo cute!

The ladies in charge here - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda - have a lot to be proud of.

You can see my fangirling ramble review here.

Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

Amazon: UK - US

One which I haven't reviewed yet (but I will dammit! I will!)

Santa Muerte is an awesome-sauce first instalment in a new-adult urban fantasy series by the lovely Lucina Stone.

What is urban fantasy? It's only an uber-incredible sub-genre of paranormal and fantasy that involves paranormal-types faffing about in cities and/or towns!

Add in the focus on brujas (witches,) and a chatty prose-tone (that's totally a phrase now. Shh,) and what more do you want?!

Luna the Vampire: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh

Amazon: UK - US

Do you want grumpy internet-style humour with bright colours and a millennial attitude? Of course you freaking do!

Seriously, Luna makes me smile. And will make you smile too.

Check out my review here.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Amazon: UK - US

Another bruja book, although a lot different to Santa Muerte, Labyrinth Lost is the beginning of a YA series about a bisexual Brooklyn Latina girl, Alex, who has a big mess to clean up.

This one is so involving, and those of you looking for a new YA obsession and/or fandom need look no further!

You can see my review of Labyrinth Lost here.

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• 5 Diversity Myths Debunked
• The Happiness Tag
• 5 Diverse Poets For You To Check Out on YouTube