Dawn Chen > Recent Status Updates

Not going to lie in so many ways 2 books in, this series is probably the best portrayal of class divide I have ever seen.

Buddy reading with my best friend irl who is aroace. We both watched the TV show version and she said Lenu and Lila are like the ultimate QPR before the concept was invented. And ngl she’s low-key not wrong, although I am also seeing that they’re almost like sapphic (esp in the books, more so than the show adaptation) experiencing compet bc the historical time they were in

Okay from the description I did not realize this is going to be a heist book? It can be interesting though. So far I find the multiple POV friend group dynamic to be very interesting

Just going to say I realized Jihyun Yun (author of And the River Drags Her Down aka the book that you all saw me sob and speechless and said I will read her grocery lists not so long ago) blurbed this and it is a sapphic haunted ghost murder mystery which is like idk I guess this will be how I spend my day now

I’m reading like 5 books at the same time so I’ll probably be updating them simultaneously so this is going to get chaotic

Okay Nick and Jay meet for the first time and the chemistry that’s instantly there??? Also I love how they met at a queer club and the queer club is called the Green Light ahhh. Again I read queer Gatsby retelling before but this version of Nick and Jay definitely has the best chemistry instantly out of all the retellings I’ve read so I’m hooked

“Words are dangerous—true words are lethal.”

I absolutely love this Great Gatsby retelling has Nick as a black queer person who is an aspire writer during this era. This quote (especially considering the current political climate)🙃 is very powerful and hits hard af

Also going to start this as the ebook preorder just landed. I preordered this (sapphic coming of age ghost story lol) from Tiny Ghost Press, a UK located LGBTQ+ indie press that I have a lot of nostalgia and love for. Tiny Ghost Press and Nyx Publishing (the UK queer indie press that originally published A Dowry in Blood before it went trad) are like my comfy food but as in indie queer publishers

Starting this next because I’m on a BIPOC horror binge and this one is a sapphic book as well. And they’re reigniting my appetite for reading because AAA

Holy fuck the way this author writes is RAW EMOTION wow. I have been submerged truly in this the further I go down (pun intended, been crying bc this book holy shit)

I really like details that showcase these characters are definitely Korean, because they’re roasting marshmallows using chopsticks which made my Chinese mind go “???” but then I remembered yeah that would make sense

But yeah Korean chopsticks are the only chopsticks of any Asian country that use metal chopsticks.

Okay kind of surprised this story takes place in modern day, I went in thinking it is kind of fantasy based on the description told to me by my friend. This is a nice surprise

Okay this is sapphic horror!!! Nice.

I’m liking the writing style, and I think the audiobook is helping a lot too. (Chronic flare up has disoriented sleep schedule and that tend to disrupt my ability to read physical books, and I have a whole stack of baihe waiting in my mail lmao). I cannot tell if this is a murder mystery or a horror book but that’s on me for not checking 😅 but hey queer protagonist and eerie nature based atmosphere drew me in

This book is the sapphic romantasy of my dreams????? Honestly almost definitely a 5 stars for sure holy shit I haven’t felt my brain chemistry so altered by a book like this since Angels Before Man

I got an E-ARC of this because i rarely see Chinese-European rep (and with half of my family being naturalized German citizen on my mum’s side and my younger sister being literally Chinese German), a queer romance set in Beijing featuring a Chinese European character in my home city is very appealing

Started this (I don’t know why I put it off for so long because it was one of my most anticipated release last yr bc SAPPHIC ASIAN BOOK)

holy crap the audiobook is SO GOOD. Asian all girls gang set in a historical setting is peak, the way the audiobook narrated the love interest’s voice? I’m in love w the dynamic between the butch love interest and the mc (the CHEMISTRY is off the roof)

I’m really liking this so far because this feels like exactly the kind of slice of story that “days of distraction” would be like. A bunch of seemingly scattered but very sharp observations and documents the author’s daily life with her boyfriend l, with her corporate job, with her family. Fits how I feel right now from

I really am loving how messy this YA queer book is allowing every single person existing in it to be messy as fuck, even the parents, especially the parents. It doesn’t read as a manual but actually kind of in a weird way a more nuanced and human reflection of just…queer ppl in the art scene? I don’t know why but I am enjoying this a whole lot!

OMFG I HAVE NOT FELT THIS TERRIFIED AND SICK OF A HORROR STORY IN A WHILE WHICH IS SAYING A LOT BC I HAVE A VERY HIGH TOLERANCE FOR HORROR BUT WTF THIS IS AAAAAA THIS IS WHY I LOVE AND HATE HORROR SHORT STORIES Y’ALL I AM GONNA LIE ON MY BED AND STARE AT THE CEILING AND FEEL SICK TO MY STOMACH FOR A WHILE TAHNKS

Going to make a bold claim 10% into the book but so far this is like Yellowface by R F Kuang but what if the Asian ghosts come back to like, bite the unreliable white POV character in the face (?)

OK I’M AT THE 60% MARK AND THAT REVEAL OOOOF I LOVE IT LOL. It could be a bit too real for some ppl but gosh darn it is satisfying

Ok I should have expected the emotional devastation

Man this book is uncanny in its depiction of a US breaking down into Civil War that feels uncanny to read atm