LGBTQ – COPPER LANTERN BOOK REVIEWS

Can Everyone Please Calm Down by Mae Martin – A Review

December 30, 2023December 29, 2023by HelenLeave a Comment

Can Everyone Please Calm Down by Mae Martin is a comedy book about sexuality in the 21st century.

“Comedian Mae Martin investigates in this hilarious and intelligent guide to 21st century sexuality. Covering everything from the pros and cons of labels, to coming out and the joys of sexual fluidity, Mae ponders all the stuff we get hung up about – and then a bit more.

Mae’s mission is to ensure that in a world that’s full of things to worry about, who we choose to kiss should not be one of them. And when it comes to sexuality, they ask:

CAN EVERYONE PLEASE CALM DOWN?”

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Addiction, Detective, Environment, Feminist, LGBTQ, Loss and Grief, Memory, Sci Fi, Social Issues

A Murder at the End of the World – A Review (Spoilers)

December 24, 2023December 24, 2023by HelenLeave a Comment

A Murder at the End of the World is a mini series by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who created cult fan favourite The OA. It stars Emma Corrin and Harris Dickinson, with a stellar supporting cast, including Brit Marling herself, Clive Owen, Joan Chen, Raúl Esparza, Alice Braga, Pegah Ferydoni, Jermaine Fowler, Ryan J. Haddad and Edoardo Ballerini. UK viewers can watch it on Disney Plus.

This review is going to be spoiler heavy, so I’m going to put most of it behind a cut. I don’t usually review TV shows, but this mini series profoundly affected me and I feel like I need to write about it.

https://youtu.be/AnPl4PuNb5U?si=xll7VMHeJmMnHaTf

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Banned Books, LGBTQ

V&A Museum Book Ban

July 6, 2023December 27, 2024by HelenLeave a Comment

Book bans have been a hot topic in the news lately, with British newspapers decrying the barbarity of American politicians banning everything from Maus to Jodi Picoult.

UK readers sympathise with Floridian librarians; nod at the bravery of teenagers wearing ‘I Read Banned Books’ t-shirts to their graduations; donate small amounts to charities distributing contraband literature.

Secretly, we comfort ourselves that this is happening far away; we tell ourselves that it would never be us, not in 2023; we lie to ourselves that censorship & book bans are the preserve of humid evangelical backwaters.

And yet book bans are happening, in the UK, in 2023.

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Addiction, Class, Interactive Fiction, LGBTQ, Life, Loss and Grief, Memory, Social Issues, Unreliable Narrator

Tell Me Why, by DontNod Entertainment – A Review

October 1, 2022September 24, 2022by HelenLeave a Comment

Tell Me Why is a narrative game by DontNod Entertainment, following a pair of twins, Tyler and Alyson, with the ability to communicate with each other through telepathy, who reunite after ten years in their hometown in rural Alaska and investigate the death of their mother.

This spooky, fairytale style mystery explores themes of love, loss, memory and acceptance, in a bleak yet beautiful setting.

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Class, Feminist, LGBTQ, Life, Non-Fiction, On Reading

Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me – Review

January 31, 2022December 27, 2024by Helen4 Comments

I’m sure most people have heard of Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy, and the controversy about it. I thought of reviewing the book at the time (which I borrowed via my local Borrowbox library app). However I rarely write negative reviews. And from the language I read she had used, I was fairly sure a review would have to be negative.

I was correct.

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Addiction, Class, Feminist, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Life, Loss and Grief, Novels, Ottessa Moshfegh, Social Issues

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh – Review

November 1, 2021January 12, 2022by Helen1 Comment

Eileen is a 2015 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh. The novel is a memoir of the past, retelling Eileen’s last week in a freezing, miserable Massachusetts town, in the 1960s. It also functions as a rich and disturbing character study.
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Addiction, LGBTQ, Life, Loss and Grief, Novels

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier – Review

October 17, 2021October 17, 2021by HelenLeave a Comment

Pizza Girl, by Jean Kyoung Frazier, is a coming of age novel following a nameless 18 year old Korean American woman working in a pizza place. Her life changes when a struggling stay at home mother called Jenny calls in to her work, looking for a pizza with pickles…

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Environment, Fantasy, LGBTQ, Loss and Grief, Post Apocalyptic, Sci Fi

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

July 10, 2021July 17, 2022by Helen1 Comment

Blackfish City, by Sam J. Miller, tells of a flooded future world, where a mysterious woman arrives in the floating Arctic city of Qaanaaq. Accompanied by an orca and a polar bear, she is one of the elusive and hunted few who have nano-bonded with animals. Her arrival shakes a city already struggling under the weight of corruption, organised crime, and a mysterious disease called the breaks…

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Fantasy, Gail Carriger, LGBTQ, Novels

How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger

January 18, 2021by Helen1 Comment

How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger charts the adventures of eccentric geologist Faith Wigglesworth, as she heads to London after an indiscretion, to find a werewolf husband.

The monsters left Faith ruined in the eyes of society, so now they’re her only option. Rejected by her family, Faith crosses the Atlantic, looking for a marriage of convenience and revenge.

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