by Monica Rivera Sosa Even in fictional words of paper and ink women are still being oppressed and made to look small to conform to the standards of the patriarchy in the real world. Why are authors finding it so…
by Meg Rady We’ve all heard the old adage, “blood is thicker than water.” Today, the cliché implies that familial bonds are stronger than any other relationship. Whether you think it’s true or not, the common ‘found family’ literary trope…
by Monica Rivera Sosa What is it about a knife-to-the-throat scene that drives us readers crazy? Psychologists will say it’s due to some unresolved trauma or unhealthy coping mechanism but I’d venture a different possibility. Is it possible the reason…
by Monica Rivera Sosa As someone who mainly reads fantasy, it’s become increasingly apparent that world-building is more important than we give it credit for. We must ask ourselves why we read these stories to begin with. For me, I…
By Meg Rady How reliable is Booktok? Today, the social media subculture has taken the reading community by storm. By dictating the latest trends and taking over sections at bookstores, it is hard not to stumble upon a book recommended…
by Guest Writer Monica Rivera Sosa “I am become a blade.” This iconic line from Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone created a surge of TikToks and memes about the Shadow and Bone character, Malyen Oretzev. However, this line is not…
Ana Sophia Garcia-Cubas Assemat // Blog Writer Hijab Butch Blues is a striking memoir written by Lamya H that takes her experiences growing up in the Middle East, along with her early adulthood in the United States, and interweaves them…
Liberty Henry // Blog Writer Whenever men write women— particularly cisgender, heterosexual men— their inability to comprehend them is almost always disastrously apparent within the first few chapters, or even the first few paragraphs, of a book. While writers should…
Isabel DeSisto // Guest Writer Tension, pining, and walking the thin line between love and hate are some of the many aspects that elevate a subpar romance to a fantastic one. Hatred is a strong feeling: my mom used to…
Alli Armijo // Blog Writer The first thing I do when I am interested in a book is turn to a random page and read a passage. It might be a few words or a few sentences, but it usually…
