Gun Brooke

First off let me say that I am an aspie and I read it primarily for this angle (while appreciating the genre as well). You can get the gist of the story from the summary or other reviewers.

This is the first book written by a neurotypical featuring a character with Asperger's that is done in such a classy and respectful manner that I have ever read. I got to sleep late last night as I was up finishing this, because of the aspie angle. Highly recommended. The writing is superb and so are the characters. Now, the aspie character here is a bit more extreme on the angles showcased than I am, but it is not as extreme as usual, I can still see myself in it. What I think I liked most was that the author was bright enough not to attempt to characterize the inner world of someone with AS when she is neurotypical. I loved that because most that do, do it horribly. This was excellent. Very well done. I hope to see others including AS characters and doing it in a similarly excellent manner.… (meer)

A bitchy, successful and unpredictable ice queen as a leading character? That's a big YES from me. These characters are my absolute favourite characters in books. There is nothing better than being totally frustrated because you just don't understand the person's behaviour ;-) Joking aside, I like it when a character has several layers that you have to struggle through to understand them.

Here it's Susanna, an extremely successful businesswoman. She is a bit arrogant, is under constant stress and is a single mother. The last two characteristics alone create a lot of tension.

And what would a queer story be without a younger, more grounded counterpart? Exactly, nothing. However, here this is, Aislyn, a school counsellor. In a café, she meets a young girl named Cynt, which turns out to be Susanna's daughter. When she faces the older woman, Aislyn remembers that their paths had crossed much earlier under different circumstances.

I liked the story. Of course, Susanna often comes across as very demanding and distant. And she has difficulties understanding her daughter's problems or taking them seriously. Nevertheless, her character grows on you, and I think I loved her more with each chapter. The same goes for Aislyn, who I found very loving from the beginning.

Both have a different social status, and as expected, this leads to tension. But (!) Susanna and Aislyn know how to communicate with each other. Thank God, because there is nothing I hate more than misunderstandings that nobody talks about.

Of course, the story isn't perfect and raised a few minor questions that the author didn't quite answer. But that didn't bother me too much. Even though I wasn't happy with the ending, I have to say it's an excellent book for anyone who loves the Ice Queen characters as much as I do.

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Check out my blog to find more reviews.… (meer)

Romi is a homeless young woman who goes to the closest place to home she knows in Rhode Island when she finds herself on the run from the law. She knows of a secret room in her Aunt's old house and goes there.

Only there's one problem, Gail has bought the house and is moving in. Oops. Gail has problems of her own too. She used to be a violinist, but, because of a car accident her bow hand has been destroyed.

Their journey towards each other isn't quite like others I've read. At some moments I was a little worried that it was going to far in the mother-figure sort of way, and on more than one occasion Romi read way younger than 24. But, I think Brooke for the most part fixed the former problem and by the end I mostly believed Romi and Gail's relationship.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to Bold Strokes Books.… (meer)