Short AF Book Review | I Who Have Never Known Men

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "I Who Have Never Known Men" by Jacqueline Harpman. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

" 'For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changed'

Deep underground, thirty - nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcase in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground."

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I have been recommended this so many times on booktok. Friends, I just think literary fiction is not the genre for me. As with the last few literary fiction books I've read, I was very 50/50 with this one. I loved the story, I loved the relationships between these women and the feminism that is thoroughly portrayed. I think the premise behind it was incredible and left me wanting more. That's just the problem though, these books always leave me wanting more. They always leave my questions unanswered and I know that they do this purposefully to make you think. However, I just want to know what on earth happened to cause the series of events, and I feel truly unfufilled when they're not explained. So for me, was this book good? Yes. Was it one of my favourites? Absolutely not. Am I still gonna keep trying to find a literary fiction book that I love? 100%.

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Dream Girl Disaster | ARC Received By Netgalley

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Dream Girl Disaster" by Balazs Lorinczi. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Netgalley synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Two rivals put aside their differences to help their friend make a student film. Easy, right? In your dreams!

Jo and Susie are best friends. Helen and Susie are also best friends. Helen and Jo, however... well, let's just say things can quickly get out of hand when the two are in the same room... or the same set, shooting Susie's action - movie project for film school.

As the lead actress, Helen is nailing it, while Jo is struggling to come up with music for the film. But when Jo's nights fill with eerily vivid dreams that transport her into the story alongside Helen's gruff heroine, she wakes up full of tunes. Is there something more than just hatred between Jo and Helen? What will Susie think about all this? Will they be able to finish the film before the tension on set becomes explosive? Or are these three dream girls headed for disaster?"

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read "Dream Girl Disaster" is because it popped up on Netgalley's graphic novel section and the moment I saw it was queer I knew I wanted to read it. Friends, this was such a cute little graphic novel. I loved the premise of the story. The idea behind it was wonderful, and magical, and genuinely made me wish there was a whole series around this friend group. The artwork was beautiful and the colours were genuinely perfect and dreamy (pun intended). However, sadly, this story was just too short for me. It genuinely felt a little rushed and I wish there was more to it. Everything was just resolved far too quickly for my liking, and personally I felt like it could have been flushed out more. Don't get me wrong, I'd still recommend this graphic novel if you want something cute, lighthearted and queer to read. However, I'm just greedy and want more.

I gave this a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Our Wives Under The Sea

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Our Wives Under The Sea" by Julia Armfield. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Our Wives Under The Sea ia the haunting novel from Julia Armfield, The critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It's a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep, deep sea.

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. But it soon becomes clear that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home.

Memories of what they had before - the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers - only reminded Miri of what she stands to lose. Living in the same space but suddenly seperate, Miri comes to realise that the life they had might be gone."

So the reason I wanted to read this book is honestly because this has been pushed forward as such a good queer horror book on booktok. Friends, I was very 50/50 with this one. This book certainly was interesting enough to keep me reading. The writing was beautiful, flowery, truly heartbreaking at times and continuously left me wanting more. I love that we got the dual perspective of both Miri in the present tense and Leah in the submarine, giving us the context of what they're both currently going through and have been through. I loved the raw emotion throughout the majority of this book. So why was I 50/50? I wanted my questions answered and simply put, they just weren't. I'm sure there's meant to be a metaphor to the unknown, but your girl just either isn't that smart or the metaphor truly isn't making sense, and unfortunately for me the unanswered of it all was a huge let down. Personally, as much as this kept me interested throughout, the ending just wasn't worth it. 

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | You X Me | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends!  So today I'm going to be doing a review on "You X Me" by Ayla Vejdani. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Love finds a way - through dating apps, shared playlists, inherited recipes, and sweat - soaked dance floors. In this interconnected collection of modern sapphic stories, six singles navigate the beautiful chaos of finding romance across cosmopolitan cities from Los Angeles to Montreal. Noura swipes right on Luna with a little help from her friends. Maryam and Nilou fall hard after a meet - cute in the copyshop. Paz and Ale rediscover each other, and rehash a decades - old heartbreak. Each story stands alone as a perfect escape, but together they weave a gorgeous tapestry of connection. Hot, hopefull, and unapologetically glamerous, You x Me celebrate love between queer women and nonbinary people of colour, in all its sparkling, complex, and irresistble forms."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read "You X Me" is genuinely because I saw this on Netgalley and the cover and the description caught my eye. Friends, this was such a perfect before bed read. Each of the stories are about 40-60 pages and honestly (other than the final 2 stories) I ended up reading a story a night. This book was so flowery and gorgeous and truly had me giggling and rooting for all of the characters, even the "smutty" scenes were written beautifully and had so much emotion behind them. I was surprised to see so many queer characters that were older than me represented, because as much as I love queer romance, we typically don't see people above their 30s in many stories. It was also incredible to see so many stories of queer POC all in one place. The diversity in this story was incredible and definitely has something for almost everyone in. This book definitely highlighted how important it is to recognise that even within our own communities we are still lacking in what it means to be equal. I really enjoyed getting to learn about the characters cultures, and how they intermingled with their queerness/relationships. I really enjoyed this book, and I definitely would recommend picking this one up, especially if you love queer romance.

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.

This book comes out on the 26th May 2026!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!