nerdyrowan

Queer AuDHD Millennial over 30, stopping the doomscroll by rediscovering books and libraries || participating in @thisstoryaintover's anti brain rot challenge for 2026

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My Taste

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)

Reading...

Vulture Capitalism: How to Survive in an Age of Corporate Greed

46%

nerdyrowan commented on nerdyrowan's update

nerdyrowan TBR'd a book

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)

Shelley Parker-Chan

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

nerdyrowan commented on a post

courtinthepages

Edited

PSA/TW for anyone planning on reading for the Spring 2026 badge

I know that this is in the premise, but the main characters are very homophobic. However, it's not just offhandedly mentioned in the beginning, nor is it background noise—it's there, it's real, and it can be very triggering seeing the way they think of their sons.

I'm pansexual myself and I wish that I was made aware of how heavily homophobic this novel was before starting, so I hope you can all take this PSA and understand what you're getting into before you start. I just began reading this and am at page ~50 so I cannot speak to what occurs beyond this point, but so far, it's very very hard.

Much love 🫶🏽🫶🏽

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Spring 2026 Readalong

Read at least 1 book in the Spring 2026 Readalong.

nerdyrowan made progress on...

Babel

R.F. Kuang

46%

nerdyrowan TBR'd a book

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

Akwaeke Emezi

Fresh and seductive novel about a young woman seeking joy while healing from loss. Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again. It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career. She’s even started dating the perfect guy, but their new relationship might be sabotaged before it has a chance by the dangerous thrill Feyi feels every time she locks eyes with the one person in the house who is most definitely off-limits. This new life she asked for just got a lot more complicated, and Feyi must begin her search for real answers. Who is she ready to become? Can she release her past and honor her grief while still embracing her future? And, of course, there’s the biggest question of all—how far is she willing to go for a second chance at love? Akwaeke Emezi’s vivid and passionate writing takes us deep into a world of possibility and healing, and the constant bravery of choosing love against all odds.

nerdyrowan TBR'd a book

He Who Drowned the World (The Radiant Emperor, #2)

Shelley Parker-Chan

How much would you give to win the world? Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor. But Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband―and she’s strong enough to wipe Zhu off the map. To stay in the game, Zhu will have to gamble everything on a risky alliance with an old enemy: the talented but unstable eunuch general Ouyang, who has already sacrificed everything for a chance at revenge on his father’s killer, the Great Khan. Unbeknownst to the southerners, a new contender is even closer to the throne. The scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang has maneuvered his way into the capital, and his lethal court games threaten to bring the empire to its knees. For Baoxiang also desires revenge: to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history―and in so doing, make a mockery of every value his Mongol warrior family loved more than him. All the contenders are determined to do whatever it takes to win. But when desire is the size of the world, the price could be too much for even the most ruthless heart to bear…

nerdyrowan TBR'd a book

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)

Shelley Parker-Chan

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nerdyrowan wrote a review...

nerdyrowan

Mar 01, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

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I think Mexican Gothic was written for my personal tastes - weird mansion on a hill, creepy vibes, family secrets, mysteries galore!

nerdyrowan commented on emma.thinks's update

emma.thinks made progress on...

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

15%

nerdyrowan commented on nerdyrowan's review of Razorblade Tears

nerdyrowan

Mar 01, 2026

2.5

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 2.5Characters: 2.5Plot: 2.5

For context, I'm not much of a one for revenge thrillers so my reaction is a bit muted for that reason.

In terms of plot, it felt paced reasonably and met what I expected but the twists were on the predictable side if you've subjected yourself to a lot of police procedurals or similar. The characters were consistent and did grow/learn/change over the novel, and I enjoyed the buddy not-cop dynamics of the dads. The writing was fine, but not dazzling to me (but I'm someone who enjoys lyricism and revenge thrillers rarely do that, so again that could be a matter of taste). So on that front, as a book in a genre I don't typically love, it was fine and met my expectations.

IMPORTANT: the amount of homophobia/transphobia/racism in here is really hard to stomach, including the associated slurs for those phobias and isms and graphic homophobically motivated violence. I get that that's part of the point, but damn, it was hard to get through. In particular, I would imagine this is probably going to be a very difficult read for anyone who has a negative experience of coming out to their parents, because, while it does portray the homophobic dads going on a ✨️journey✨️, I'm not certain I'm satisfied that journey at all - a lot of it does feel very woe is me for being horrifically cruel to my gay son, just full apologia for being crappy homophobic parents? Im not even sure I like the idea that a posthumous revenge arc is how you redeem yourself for messing up the parent-child relationship just because your kid is queer, y'know? But I also get that that is the premise of the book I chose to read, so i can hardly be too mad about that 😅 in addition, a lot of the commentaries about racism and homophobia feel incredibly surface level, and lacking the depth that shows the characters actually changed?

So yeah, it's one to be careful with and to take care of yourself while reading, if these are topics that may affect you, and maybe not worth it for a kind of mid thriller?

nerdyrowan made progress on...

Babel

R.F. Kuang

16%

nerdyrowan started reading...

Babel

R.F. Kuang

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . . Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

nerdyrowan TBR'd a book

Don't Let the Forest In

C.G. Drews

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him. High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more. But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories. Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…

nerdyrowan left a rating...

nerdyrowan

Mar 01, 2026

2.5

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 2.5Characters: 2.5Plot: 2.5

For context, I'm not much of a one for revenge thrillers so my reaction is a bit muted for that reason.

So yeah, it's one to be careful with and to take care of yourself while reading, if these are topics that may affect you, and maybe not worth it for a kind of mid thriller?

nerdyrowan finished a book

Razorblade Tears

S.A. Cosby

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here. A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.Provocative and fast-paced, S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption.

nerdyrowan made progress on...

Razorblade Tears

S.A. Cosby

100%

nerdyrowan started reading...

Razorblade Tears

S.A. Cosby

nerdyrowan finished a book