Welcome back to book reviews! As we approach February, everyone seems to be searching for their Valentine, that special person in your life. During the season of love, I thought it appropriate to review some romance books! Romance is a wide genre intertwining itself through others like fantasy, mystery, and really anything. Here are some untraditional books with romance that I read in February.
The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends – Jamie D’Amato
Brennan Brooks is a recently turned vampire who is already stressed enough by college and recovering from mental health struggles. Turning into a vampire is the cherry on top, and the rules of vampirism are totally unclear. He discovers more about himself, partially via fiction and also through trial and error. Initially trying the ‘Vegan Vampire’ route of finding small animals in the wilderness near the school, he ultimately resorted to stealing packs of blood from the school’s Health Science building. Upon his escape, he’s caught by Cole, another student who works at the library and comforts struggling students, known as “Cute Library Blanket Guy”. Cole tells Brennan he’ll keep his secret only if he reads Twilight, which Brennan deemed the cringiest of the vampire books. The exchange is fishy to Brennan, who doesn’t trust Cole despite his kind nature, but agrees regardless. Once leaving, he gets a mysterious text saying they know his secret, and he must meet them somewhere. Hyping himself up for the meeting, he’s surprised when he gets there and three other vampires greet him, throwing guidance pamphlets at him on how to live as a new vampire through all sorts of resources, including providing blood through covert blood drives in the area.
Among the other vampires he meets is a woman, Dominique, whom he remembers being at the event of his turning. She was turned alongside him, but lacks Brennan’s moral standing on the worst aspect of vampirism, consuming blood. Brennan returns to Cole to help him sort through the pamphlets. As Brennan becomes more involved with New England vampiric society, he grows closer to Cole, who finds the fact that Brennan is a vampire to be unique and cool. Brennan’s vampirism is another mental struggle he faces, confronting newfound immortality, and knowing he will outlive his mother and loved ones. Brennan also faces knowing that he must drink blood to survive, and if he’s a monster because of it. Cole is the perfect supportive boyfriend for him, and their relationship is realistic (despite one being a vampire) and heart-warming. This book was an 8/10 for me, charming and sweet. They both uplift and help each other through respective issues. This book has great queer representation, and Brennan’s vampirism is also an allegory for mental health struggles. The small New England college setting was very cozy, and made for a fun supernatural and modern romance story.
The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
Set up by powers beyond their control, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair have been locked in a magical competition since they were young children. In the 1880’s-90’s, Celia is the daughter of a magician, who is not just a traveling performer but a real, true magician, capable of incomprehensible feats. Celia’s father teaches her magic mostly in a trial-by-fire manner, and she spends her youth as a shy and sad girl behind the curtains. Marco Alisdair is an orphaned boy who is taken in by a man in a grey suit, and told his purpose is to be a competitor in a special game. He studies magic in secluded libraries and city flats during his youth, never discovering the true identity of the man who adopted him. Both children are bound to the game when a ring is placed on their finger, tightening and burning till it is suddenly gone. As they grow into their young adult years, Celia takes over performing for her ill father, and Marco is sent to work with the rich, eccentric Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre, who has dreams of making a fantastical circus that defies the viewer’s sense of reality. Pulling his resources (and fellow rich associates), he creates the circus and gathers unreal performers, including the illusionist Celia Bowen. While the circus travels, more tents are added, each more fantastical than the last in different ways. While performers within the circus add these, most were created by Celia and Marco. Each display of magic and power is another entry into their competition, but each exhibit is also extensively appreciated by the other. Celia marvels at Marco’s Ice Garden, and Marco longingly wanders through Celia’s Hall of Mirrors. The rules of their competition are vague, followed but not forced upon them by their guardians who constructed the competition. In collaboration, Marco and Celia create a tent together, The Labyrinth. Ever expanding rooms and doors that lead forever on, willing the viewer to get lost inside. The circus ages to be 13 years, but the performers and makers are still the same age as the night of the first Bonfire lighting. The Bonfire is Marco’s conduit and magical connection to the circus, and his spell keeps them sustained, in a way, caged. Together, they create most of the mystery around the circus, Celia controlling the near-instant manner of travel the circus takes to move cities. They meet more over the years, Marco watching Celia’s performances from the shadows, Celia seeing him while attending dinner parties of Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre, where Marco waits in the shadows, hiding from everyone but Celia. Their relationship is discouraged not only by their guardians but each time they seriously consider abandoning their game to run off together, their bindings burn and pain them, forcing them to know there is no escape. As secrets come to light, Celia and Marco become more desperate than ever to end their game, and more desperate for each other. Their romance is powerful and full of tension, each magical display is a love letter to their other half. All the forces of the world try to keep them apart, but with their abilities, the two triumph regardless. The romance in The Night Circus is just as mystical as the magic of the book, and as heartwarming and welcoming as the circus itself. I give The Night Circus a 9 out of 10 rating. The setting is mystical, and the romance is charming.
Ace of Spades – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
February not only includes Valentine’s Day and the season of love, but is also Black History Month. The best way to engage is to educate and support black authors and creators. This month, I read Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. Ace of Spades follows the only two black students at a prestigious private school, queen bee Chiamaka Adebayo and loner musician Devon Richards. Chiamaka has hopes of getting into Yale for pre-med, and weighs her worth on her grades and social dominance at their school, Niveus Private Academy. She comes from a rich Italian family, lives in a large house, and does everything to prove herself to the white student body. Devon is totally opposite of Chiamaka, focusing his time on piano, composition, and Juilliard applications. Devon is from the hood, has two younger brothers and a mother who works three jobs to afford his school and bills. He knows that if his mother or the neighborhood boys found out he was gay, he would get beaten for it. At the start of their senior year, an anonymous figure going by Aces starts sending messages to the student body, targeting Chiamaka and Devon, revealing their secrets. Chiamaka’s life is thrown upside down when Aces tells the school she got rejected by her (more than?) best friend, Jamie. Jamie was her ticket to security and privilege, being from a rich family far above the rest. When Jamie starts dating another girl, Belle, Chiamaka has to contend with their relationship while hating the girl. But is what she’s feeling truly hate, or something else? Devon’s life falls apart in bits, losing his best friend (if he could be considered a friend at all), Jack, the only other kid from the hood at Niveus. When Devon’s private images and videos are leaked by Aces, the whole school knows he’s gay. Jack is not so welcoming to this fact, despite knowing Devon since they were little, they’ve drifted apart year by year. Jack’s not the only person driven away by the malicious Aces, Devon’s secret boyfriend, Andre, cuts ties when their relationship is exposed. Devon is left struggling, ostracized at school by everyone, and alone. Chiamaka finds herself on the other side of the glass from everyone she’s known, and it’s all because of Aces. Who is Aces? Who has the motive to harm them so much? Is anyone really trustworthy? This book was a 9/10, a really gripping read, there was always another question to be answered. It displays the harms of systemic racism on black people, how it traps and tortures the good and bad out of them. Like real life, there was no true, perfect resolution for Chiamaka and Devon, but they fought their way out and exposed this specific system that targeted them so much. Black authors have so much to offer, so many stories and perspectives. Make sure to pop by the library during Black History Month (and all year!) to pick up a book by a black author!
