The Melody of You and Me (Lillac Town, #1) by M. Hollis

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Okay, first and foremost, you all need to know that I ID as pansexual. And my friend, Alexis, who I buddy read this with identifies as pansexual. And this is a story about a pansexual girl falling in love. And if that’s not one of the cutest things you’ve seen this Pride, I don’t have words for you. 💖💛💙

“…when people doubt her sexuality. Or the times when she needs to explain why she just feels more comfortable using pansexual than bisexual”

But real talk, this is honestly a story about a pansexual music-loving girl, falling in love with a Filipina lesbian ballerina, while they both work at a bookstore together. This book even shouts out Melissa de La Cruz, Mina V. Esguerra, and Rin Chupeco! Like, does that not already sound like a masterpiece?

The Melody of You and Me is a sweet, heartwarming, beautiful novella about two girls coming together and discovering who they want to be and who they want to be together. It’s quick, and fast paced, but I was smiling the entire time while reading. And there are a couple really steamy and sexy scenes in this, too!

“When you grow up hearing that you are not tall enough, not skinny enough, not white enough, you always wonder about how the world would be if you didn’t need to conform to all these ridiculous standards.”

But this book also has a lot of important things that it discusses! This book talks about masturbation and how we normalize it for boys, but never for girls. This book talks about coming out to your family, and how sometimes it feels like you can’t do it alone, no matter what age you are. This book talks about how society puts so much pressure on kids to go to college straight out of high school, never giving them a chance to breathe and think about the choice they are about to make that will change their very lives forever. This book talks about white privilege and the way white people can react when people of color are in those “white spaces”, especially if they are excelling in those spaces. Like, there is so much good in this book!

“Why do they never let young people stop to think? Why is it unacceptable to take a little time to figure out what she wants to do for the rest of her life?”

I see a few people saying this book is hard to read, but I didn’t feel that way at all. Do I think this book reads easy and somewhat simplistic? Yes, very much so. But never difficult to read. And obviously other people’s opinions are valid, but I want to also say that M. Hollis is a Brazilian author, who wrote this book in a language that is not her first. Honestly? It blows me away how well written it is.

Overall, I can’t tell you how much this meant to me. I can’t believe that it took me over twenty years of reading to finally read the word “pansexual” in a romance novel. I could write an entire review on how depressing it is to make an entire TBR of LGBTQIAP+ reads for Pride, but to only be able to pick from five mainstream books that have the word “pansexual” even in them. This book honestly feels like it was written for me, and it will forever and always have a piece of my heart. And I will cherish it being in my library forever. And this is the cute, happy, fluffy, validating, love story that I’ve been looking for my whole life!

“She wishes they could stay like this forever. Just the two of them; telling stories and sharing secrets without a care in the world.”


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Buddy read with Alexis at The Sloth Reader! ❤

June 2018 TBR

Hey, loves! June is Pride Month here in The United States. So, I’m going to read a lot of books this month and guess what they are going to be? 🌈

This June I’m going to read as many LGBTQIAP+ stories as I can, and I’m so hyped for it. And hopefully you all will be excited too, because I have some amazing books on this list. And I hope and pray my pan heart loves every single one of them! 💖💛💙

These Rebel Waves (Stream Raiders #1) by Sara Raasch:
ARC – August 7th, 2018, by Balzer + Bray
It’s been a hot second since I’ve read Snow Like Ashes, but wild horses couldn’t keep me away from anything that makes all my Goodreads friends scream “gay pirates” in all their prereviews! I’m so here for it.

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand:
ARC – October 2nd, 2018, by Katherine Tegen Books
I’m here for “girls loving girls, girls kissing girls, girls being friends with girls, girls helping girls.” Claire Legrand is blessing us in 2018. I really enjoyed Furyborn, but I think I’m going to absolutely love this one.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan:
ARC – November 6th, 2018, by Jimmy Patterson Books
This is my third most anticipated release of the entire year. Asian inspired fantasy about two girls that are escaping a demon king but also falling in love? Okay, I feel personally attacked because that’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a book, honestly. I can’t see how that premise alone won’t make this book end up on my best of 2018 list come December.

Ruin of Stars (Mask of Shadows #2) by Linsey Miller:
ARC – August 1st, 2018, by Sourcebooks Fire
Mask of Shadows wasn’t my favorite read of 2017, but I’m always here for gender fluid main characters, and I hope this second installment completely wins me over. Especially now, since a big adventure should be happening!

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera:
This is actually the first ARC I was ever approved for on Edelweiss, but I requested it a couple days before it came out since I wasn’t sure if the site even worked like Netgalley. Well, it does, and it did, and now I’ve been sitting on an ARC of what I’m sure will be a masterpiece about two boys who are both told they are going to die. Also, this will be my first Adam Silvera book and I have no words to express how excited I am!

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera:
ARC – October 9th, 2018, by HarperTeen
And speaking of Adam Silvera, I then can’t wait to move onto this book that he cowrote with Becky Albertalli (Who I also haven’t read anything by)! And I believe this is also about two boys falling in love. Also, I am so obsessed with this cover. Talk about perfect color palette.

Blanca y Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore:
ARC –  October 9th, 2018, by Feiwel & Friends
After reading the first short story in All Out, I am now even more hyped for this sure to be masterpiece. Anna-Marie McLemore is one of my all-time favorite authors and I fully expect this to be one of the best books I’ll read in 2018, just like Wild Beauty was in 2017.

The Melody of You and Me (Lillac Town #1) by M. Hollis:
This is one of the very few pansexual representation books we have. A lot of people aren’t huge fans of it, because it’s hard to read, but I think that’s because English is not the author’s first language. But not only is this a f/f story featuring a pansexual lead, I am pretty sure one of the love interest is Filipina, and they fall in love in a book store. Like, that sounds like everything I’ve ever wanted.

But I hope to get to so many more queer reads in June, because I have so many on my backlist! And feel free to tell me your favorite LGBTQIAP+ book in the comments! Also, be on the lookout tomorrow for some of my favorite queer reads and recommendations! Happy reading and happy Pride, loves! 🌈

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