Our Favourite Media of January 2020

[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

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett — Full Disclosure joins Simone Garcia-Hampton, a teenager born with HIV, not long after she moves to a new school. After being forced out of her last school when people found out about her illness, Simone is keeping her HIV a secret. As her life revolves around balancing her management of HIV, her friendships, and her life as an inexperienced but ambitious student director it's fair to say it can all get a bit tough sometimes.

When Simone starts to crush on Miles, the injured lacrosse star who works behind the scenes of their student production of Rent, Simone finds her world expanding in ways she was never sure it would. Slowly, she begins to work on opening up to those she trusts. However, as the threats of a malicious blackmailer put Simone at risk of having her HIV status exposed to everyone, and her romance endangers her relationships with her best friends, Simone's world starts to spin out of control.

This book was an absolute stunner. The many different ways that Simone's HIV does, and doesn't, affect her life are succinctly and smartly shown. I never felt like I was reading a didactic book, but I learnt so much. And I loved that Camryn Garrett showed such a nuanced picture of living with HIV; stripping the disease of much of its out-sized horror by showing how manageable it is now while still explaining the real problems the disease can cause, and the barriers it can erect.

What absolutely blew me away about Full Disclosure though was the fact that Camryn Garrett introduced a queer, chromatic community onto her pages. Simone's adoptive parents are gay, one of her best friends is a lesbian and asexual, while the other is bisexual, and Simone is also figuring out her own bisexuality. These characters are also chromatic, and Simone, a young black woman, is surrounded by a community of Latino, asian and black people. The fact that the strength, depth, and intersectionality of Simone's significant attachments was so noticeable to me really highlighted how often I've read stories where chromatic, or gay characters are shown in isolation.

I can see why this book is getting compared to Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Full Disclosure has many of the same elements that made Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda so popular, although those elements are configured in a completely different way. The structure of the story (teen with a huge secret is threatened by an unknown blackmailer), the main character's interest in the theatre, the way the novel places family and friendship right at the heart of its story, plus the fact that this novel contains gay, bi-sexual and asexual characters, makes it a good pick for fans of Becky Albertalli's novel.

Full Disclosure also has such a natural charm and "realness" about it. And Simone is an engaging, fun, smart, thoughtful narrator; the kind of character you want to keep spending time with because they're full of life. I hope lots of readers are going to pick this one up.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid — When Such a Fun Age started getting touted as a 'book of the moment' I knew this was one of those books I wanted to read right away while the hype was big. Sometimes you just need to read a book right now to have your best experience with it.

This novel more than lives up to all the praise heaped on it. When a brick is thrown through her window late at night, Alix calls her babysitter Emira in a panic. Emira volunteers to take Briar, Alix's toddler, to the nearby supermarket to keep her away from the commotion. Dressed for her friend's birthday, Emira, a young, black woman, is accused of kidnapping the white child she's babysitting, and has to ring Alix's white husband to come and verify her identity. Mortified, Alix sets out befriend Emira and it does not go well to say the least. As Alix tries to shield herself from acknowledging her own complicity in racism, she forces herself further into Emira's life with the idea of becoming her friend and "saviour". Without genuine motivations behind her actions, particularly because Emira doesn't seek, or need, anything that Alix is offering, Alix's attentions are invasive, patronising, and racist. Meanwhile, the incident at the grocery store leads Emira to meet a new man, who has connections to Alix's teenage past. Expect consequences.

The plot of Such a Fun Age turns on a few really dramatic, well-executed set pieces, and is well put together. However, I think what I liked best (I know, you will be shocked) were the scenes in-between the major dramas; the parts of the book which build up the character's lives and histories like Emira's nights out with her friends, or her internal monologue when she is working out her life in the midst of babysitting.

Emira, by the way, is the best thing about this book. Her character is so well created. Even though she's drifting through her mid-twenties, and even though she's not the biggest personality in the room all the time, she's so full of life, and quiet energy. And it was interesting to see energy, and longing, separated from traditional forms of ambition for once. While Alix, and her friends, quantify success with landmarks that include prestigious career progression, visibility, and wealth creation, Emira is more focused on professional satisfaction and financial security. I particularly enjoyed how the ending of Emira's story showed how a professional life well-lived at your own pace can make you happy even if others don't understand your path, and how being secure, happy, and proud of yourself can be ambitions in themselves. The sections that focus on Alix's life are just as well written, and alternate between the 'can't look away from the cringe' gripping variety to softer details which humanise Alix and correct the way other people sometimes perceive her. However, Emira rightfully steals the show with her quiet searching for place, the conflict between her certainty and her uncertainty, and her love of Briar. The ending is a knockout, and perfect for the character Kiley Reid has brought to life.

Resurfacing — OHHHH MYYYYY. This documentary about Andy Murray trying to recover from his hip injury is A LOT if you are a tennis fan, especially as Andy and Kim are notoriously private. I said a while back that we have been really lucky with Murray because often injured sports stars don't come back (to win an astounding doubles title) and we don't get to see them achieve any kind of closure. And then I watched this documentary, and it was such a close run thing, this return, that my heart is just so full for him. Anyway, Resurfacing is a really stylish documentary, and if you're at all interested in sports stories I highly recommend it.

KJ

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine — This book has been getting a lot of buzz in my circles, and now I entirely understand why. Mahit, appointed ambassador to an ambitious and growing empire from a fiercely independent space station, arrives at the capital city under difficult circumstances; her predecessor is dead, the out-of-date copy of him she carries in her brain isn't cooperating, and no one will tell her what really happened. This story is part murder mystery, part politicial thriller, and densely packed (but never overwhelmed) with amazing world-building. Mahit also builds some intense and fascinating relationships along the way: most notably with her attache, Three Seagrass, but many other friends, allies, and enemies. I'm glad to see that there will be a sequel, because I could read a dozen more stories about Mahit, Three Seagrass, and their policial shenanigans.

Crisis on Infinite Earths — The 2019-20 Arrowverse crossover event has been teased for a really long time, and a desire to be able to watch with some understanding of everything that was going on was a definite factor in my decision to catch up on the shows besides Supergirl (which I've watched more or less regularly since its premiere) over last summer. Some part of the story were more effective than others — my favorite was how it worked in so many different DC canons from over the years, in particular past Superman stories — but what really pushed it over the edge for me was how it subverted my expectations in almost every way, in particular how it might return each individual show to its pre-crossover status quo (spoiler alert: it doesn't). I'm really excited to see how all the different consequences play out going forward into the second half of the season.

Susan

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey — I may have already mentioned that I loved Upright Women Wanted, but I am still very here for queer librarian spies!

Witch Hat Atelier Volumes 1-4 by Kamome Shirahama, translated by Stephen Kohler — Witch's Hat Atelier is exactly my sort of thing: a young girl discovers magic and accidentally casts a dangerous spell, and has to join an atelier of witches to learn how to undo it. Only with friendship, domesticity, and finding ways to solve problems that don't involve fighting. It's mostly lovely and cute, and has kids learning from each other! There's some dark stuff going on in the background and a constant level of peril, but for the most part there's peaceful solutions and everyone trying their bests!