Our Favourite Media of July 2019

[helloladies]

Each month, we look back over the media we loved in the previous month, from books to film to video games and more.

Jodie

America Is Not The Heart by Elaine Castillo

America Is Not The Heart is a very slow-burn, layered, circuitous story full of technical skill and intense, quietly expressed, emotion. The novel, which tells the story of Hero, a young woman, cast out by her immediate family, and marked by an oppressive regime, is so insightful it's almost painful. Yet, at its core, it is a very humane story, told gently, and with great care for its characters, including the branch of Hero's family who take her in while dealing with their own displacement, and trying to heal, or come to terms, in their own quiet, difficult ways. It walks a delicate line between realistically presenting painful subjects (often including descriptions of physical pain) and enabling the reader to access the story without tapping out. It also features the loveliest of developing relationships between Hero and Rosalyn, a younger woman who helps Hero come back to life. This is the book from my 2019 reading pile that I want more people to read right away!

Sonny and Me by Ross Sayers

Sonny and Me is so much fun! Told in a Scottish dialect, this delightful book centres on the friendship between Sonny & Daughter; two young lads who uncover a conspiracy against their favourite teacher. Determined to save her job, after she covers for them when the boys retaliate against a homophobic teacher who picks on Sonny, the two boys set out to unmask the truth behind certain allegations made against her. Along the way, this book covers friendship, family, and loyalty.

While the mystery part of this book provides a plot spine, what made the story so compulsive for me was how natural, and real, the teenager's voices and friendship sounded. I had to keep turning pages because I wanted to see Sonny and Daughter spend more time hanging out together. I also loved all the subtle feminism that Sayers popped into this story about two boys. If you're tired of YA thrillers, a feeling that I very much get at the moment, this may be the antidote.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

This is How You Lose the Time War is a book basically custom made for me. The story of two women, Blue and Red, and their antagonism, which quickly turns into a burgeoning romance, is told in letters (letters!!!) written in delectable, image rich prose that has fun playing around with references and surrealism. I want to read it again to track the timeline, but I thoroughly enjoyed just sinking into the words, and the lushness of the imagery, on my first read. Much like Helen Oyeyemi's work, This is How You Lose the Time War is a book designed to sweep you away. I advise that you let it.

Comments

[auroracloud]

I just read This is How You Lose the Time War, too, and it's so wonderful I can't describe it. ♥

[bookgazing]

It's so good! And so different.