Book Review: Proud; cur. by Juno Dawson.

Ever since Stripes Publishing announced this anthology I've been looking forward to it. Especially as I knew that it was being curated by trans icon Juno Dawson! It was well worth the wait!

SOURCE: NetGalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Proud
AUTHOR: Juno Dawson
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Stripes Publishing
PAGES: 352
GENRE: LGBT, Anthology, Short Stories, Poetry

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
A stirring, bold and moving anthology of stories and poetry by top LGBTQ+ YA authors and new talent, giving their unique responses to the broad theme of pride. Each story has an illustration by an artist identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Compiled by Juno Dawson, author of THIS BOOK IS GAY and CLEAN.


A celebration of LGBTQ+ talent, PROUD is a thought-provoking, funny, emotional read.


What I Liked:

• The collection itself was such a great mix of talents - authors, artists and poets combine to create a pretty awesome contribution to the LGBT+ movement. I liked that the collection was not solely based around contemporary stories and that it also included some fantasy and retellings. I also liked that there was so much trans rep, and that the book didn't just focus on one part of the LGBT+ crowd.
• I had a fair few favourites - 'Penguins' by Simon James Green was the perfect high school romance and Alice Oseman's accompanying art was EVERYTHING, 'On The Run' by Kay Staples perfectly demonstrated what acceptance in a relationship was all about, 'The Phoenix's Fault' by Cynthia So was everything my fantasy and mythical creature loving heart could have desired, and 'I Hate Darcy Pemberley' was THE queer retelling of 'Pride & Prejudice I've been waiting for.

What I Disliked:

• I didn't fall in love with every contribution in this book. That is to say, I adored some pieces more than others. That's to be expected in any anthology though, and I think it happened more with the poetry because I don't read much of it.

Overall Conclusion:

This was a great collection, full to the brim of inclusivity and the kind of rep that I expect to see and am actively seeking out in published book. Publishers, if you are reading this, we WANT more LGBT+ in our reads! I loved the trans rep especially because it's so hard to find any books with trans characters in and there were so many here! I'd love to read more collections like this in the future.

Daily Shenanigans, 01/07/2014: I have passed my Degree!

Today has been quite a day and I'm both really happy and totally exhausted all at once! To start with, I spent the morning typing out my Planned Reads For July post and my Top Ten Tuesday list this week! Both were a lot of fun to make and while I did that, I got ready for work in the afternoon. My shift went quickly but I had so many jobs to do and so I ended up getting a little stressed out. But when it was over, I got home and received some of the best news of my life! I have officially passed my BA Hons Degree in Performing Arts. In fact I've done more than just pass. I received a First Class Degree! I am immensely relieved that all the hard work and stress has turned into such a good result and I'm actually really proud of myself (I don't often say that). I drove over to Mat's and spent the evening at his, which was really good and a lot of fun after such a stressful day turning into a really good one!

Tomorrow I'm seeing my friends Rosie and Imogen again and we plan to spend a really good day together. I've seen them both fairly recently I suppose, but have missed them immensely! I can't wait to catch up with them and hang out like we used to! I plan to really make good progress on Divergent too, in order to have a review up soonish!

Daily Shenanigans, 31/05/2014: I did it!

I can't quite believe I managed it, especially as I worked today, but I managed to start and finish 'Shadow & Bone' in one day! I'm a very happy girl right now because the book was so good and I really want to read the next one! My day has basically entirely consisted of reading and work, and not a lot else. Once I had finished 'Shadow & Bone', I did have to quickly do my monthly wrap-up post too! While doing that I realised I haven't read a single physical book this month, I've read from the Kindle instead! This isn't exactly surprising as I did want to get through a lot of my Netgalley reads but I'm still a little sad and really would like to hold a book in my hands again so I'll be reading 'The Luminaries' by Eleanor Catton next. I'm borrowing it from my very generous sister and I'm extremely excited! I can't wait to review that one for you guys. After that, I'll be reading 'Stolen Songbird' by Danielle Jensen, yet another book that everyone seems to have read except me! I figure I really need to catch up with the Blogoverse!

Tomorrow is my day off so I'll spend the day reading, blogging (my 'Planned Reads for June' post and my 'Weekly Wishlist' will both make an apearance tomorrow) and generally relaxing. Then in the evening I'll be seeing Mat and we plan to go and watch Maleficent at the cinema! How exciting!