Disability Pride Month has come to a close, and that brings us to the end of this Readathon as well. Thank you all so much for participating–it’s been such a wonderful experience and everyone’s excitement has meant so much to me. 

I want to do a little wrap up of everything I read for the readathon, but first a few reminders:

• DON’T FORGET TO SUBMIT YOUR BINGOS!

• The International Bingo Raffle closes for entries at 11:59pm PST TONIGHT AUGUST 1st! Books must have been finished by midnight yesterday, local time, but you have until tonight to submit your Bingo board to the #bingo channel on the discord!

• If you do not have discord, you can send your Bingo board to me via email at kaleyreads@gmail.com instead.

• This raffle is open internationally! If the winner is from the US or the UK it will be a $25 USD Bookshop.org giftcard, if they are from somewhere else it will likely be Amazon.

• Remember–each book can count towards TWO prompts!
  

As for my own little wrap up–I managed a blackout! I read 17 total books this month, all of which featured disabled main characters. This was the most books I’ve read in a single month all year, so I am very proud of myself! Let’s get into the books:

You Started It by Jackie Khaliliah IBS, anxiety, and undiagnosed autism representation (all own voices)

I started off the month with an audiobook of You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh which I absolutely adored! Khalilieh’s debut is a favorite and her sophomore novel lived up to my expectations and more. These characters were so messy in a way that so perfectly encapsulates teenagerhood, especially neurodivergent teenagerhood. Jamie was so easy to love and root for that I was watching through my fingers as she made the most terrible decisions–but they were decisions that made perfect sense for her character. I cannot wait to see what Khalilieh does next!

Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll dyspraxia representation (own voices)

Like a Charm is a sweet middle grade fantasy about a neurodivergent girl who discovers the existence of magic when her grandfather wills her a magic book upon his passing. It was fast paced and reminiscent of many of my own favorite childhood books. There were some aspects of the magic system, and how it was tied to neurodivergence that I was unclear on. There were a few times when characters spoke of neurodivergence and magic being the same, and I could not tell if it was meant in the way that “they are similar because both cause you to be othered by society and see the world differently than everyone else” or if it was meant in a literal “neurodivergence is magic and neurodivergence is caused by being a witch” the latter of which falls under the mystical minority/mystical disabled character trope, of which I am not typically a fan. I’m hoping this will be clarified in the second book–and that it is more in line with the former.

A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena chronic pain, dizziness, and fatigue representation (inspired by the author’s experiences with EDS, POTS, and other disabilities)

This book was a highly anticipated release, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. It was an interesting premise with a lot going on, but the execution was shallow. I never connected to either romantic subplot, the pacing was rushed, and the writing was overly flowery without actually describing anything. So many abstract metaphors and almost no grounding details.

I enjoyed the disability representation in the beginning, but as the book went on that aspect became almost nonexistent. While it was clear that while the author was writing from a place of lived experience, she lacked the skill to balance the disability representation with the plot and character arcs, and that left the representation feeling shallow and at times haphazard (please note I say this as somebody with many of the same disabilities).

I’ll Pretend You’re Mine by Tashie Bhuiyan anxiety representation (own voices)

This was such a cute, fun, and easy to fly through YA romance! The anxiety representation was definitely more on the back burner here, but it was still a present part of the story. I loved that the book acknowledges that Summer’s anxiety is “high functioning” while still showing how it affects her on a day to day basis in her relationships and career.

Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang limb difference and chronic illness representation

This is another one with an interesting premise and lackluster execution. The scope of this story is far too much to accomplish in 150-odd pages. It felt more like the outline of a novel than a completed novella. The disability representation in this one is essentially non-existant. In the first chapter, our main character suffers an injury that permanently costs her the mobility in her dominant hand, only for it to pretty much never be mentioned again for the rest of the book.

If We Survive This by Racquel Marie OCD representation (own voices)

Racquel Marie’s zombie apocalypse road trip novel starring a main character with contamination OCD was…hard to read. In the sense that it was so incredibly well written that Flora’s anxiety and OCD were visceral and far too similar to my own. I read this in one sitting, my skin crawling the entire time, because I could not put it down until I knew what happened. Racquel Marie is a master of character, which I had known from her YA contemporaries, but her world building, pacing, and plotting were flawless in an apocalyptic world as well.

True Biz by Sara Nović Deaf representation (own voices)

True Biz is a contemporary, borderline literary, fiction novel set at a school for the Deaf that immerses the reader in Deaf culture. It’s a timely, politically driven story that is deeply character focused as well. I am not someone who is very familiar with Deaf culture, and I loved learning more about that throughout this book as well as connecting with the cast of characters.The anarchist elements did lose me at a few points, I wasn’t entirely sure what Nović was trying to say in those instances, but overall I enjoyed this one.

For One Night Only by Jessica James anxiety representation (own voices)

For someone who doesn’t tend to love celebrity romances, I did in fact read three of them this month (I’ll Pretend You’re Mine, this one, and Some Kind of Famous), though this was the weakest of the group. I enjoyed the anxiety representation here, though I found it a bit difficult to connect with at times, as I generally found the characters in this one a bit rote and difficult to connect with. I can’t quite put a finger on what fell flat for me here, I was simply left unsatisfied.

Accidental Demons by Clare Edge type one diabetes representation (own voices)

The premise of this book–a preteen blood witch who has just come into her powers and just been diagnosed with T1D keeps accidentally summoning demons every time she tests her blood sugar–was so clever and the execution was exactly what you would want in a middle grade novel, fast paced and engaging with a heartfelt focus on friendship, family, and coming-of-age.

Fighting Spirit by Anna Harrison ADHD representation (own voices)

Have you ever been called out by the rep in a book? Because that was me when Ruth was talking about how she doesn’t use her ADHD accommodations because the paperwork overwhelms her (I really need to do that ASAP before the quarter starts…) This was a fast paced, fun, sports romance following a mascot and the QB of a rival college’s football team. I enjoyed the themes and premise of this story, but the connection between the characters was ultimately a little lacking. I wanted a bit less forward progression and more time spent really diving into the emotional interiority of our characters.

A Smile in a Whisper by Jacqueline Middleton crohn’s disease representation

This was the second in a string of four underwhelming romances that I read for this challenge. This book felt like the literary equivalent of a Hallmark movie with spice, and I’m not a fan of Hallmark movies. It was overly cheesy and oftentimes felt shallow and the connection between our main characters felt like it never developed beyond a schoolgirl crush. The writing itself felt very young, which made the explicit scenes feel out of place and almost uncomfortable. I did enjoy the chronic illness representation in this one. I thought that was the strongest aspect–though the way the past storyline culminated (and the way that reveal was handled in the present) was ridiculous.

A Love Like the Sun by Riss M. Neilson kidney disease representation (own voices)

I really enjoyed the chronic illness representation in this one–well, enjoyed may be the wrong word because it absolutely pissed me off how Laniah was treated by her doctors, but it portrayed that in such a realistic and far-too-relatable way. I enjoyed Laniah as a character and narrator as well, but as a romance, this book didn’t quite work for me. I found Issac’s character to be pretty one-dimensional, and never connected to his and Laniah’s relationship on either a platonic or romantic level. I felt like, for a romance novel, the two of them rarely shared page time. I think this story would have worked better as a contemporary/women’s fiction, because as a romance, it was lacking.

Love Flushed by Evie Mitchell crohn’s disease representation (own voices)

At a little over 200 pages, this book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a novel or a novella, and thus the execution of plot, pacing, and character development was far too rushed. I really enjoyed Mitchell’s prose, and the crohn’s representation in this one was fantastic–I’ve read many books with crohn’s and colitis rep, but I have never read any that are so unafraid to get into the more “socially unacceptable” sides of IBD, and I think in order to have a truly realistic portrayal of the chronic illness, you need to be willing to go there. I wish that this book had another 100 pages fleshing out the plot and character work, because it had so much potential, but in the space allotted, there simply wasn’t time to adequately tackle everything that Mitchell tried to take on.

Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong multiple disabilities (all own voices)

I am not completely sure what I was expecting from this anthology. I’ve had it recommended to me more times than I can count, but the actual book itself was not quite what I expected. Some of the essays are personal stories, others are political calls-to-action. Some essays were easily accessible to the average reader, others were steeped in disability studies academic lingo. Overall I did enjoy the anthology, and I definitely recommend it, but I sometimes felt as if the essays didn’t quite feel cohesive as a collection.

The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs autism and chronic pain representation (both own voices)

This book started off so strong–the Legally Blonde references were fun easter eggs as I read, the world building was interesting, and I enjoyed the Gaelic inspiration and the fact that Jacobs actually used the Gaelic words and names instead of americanizing the fae mythos. I also appreciated how, from the beginning, we see Clía experiencing sensory overload in the crowded ball rooms she must navigate as princess. As the story went on, however, I found the pacing to be a bit too quick. This is a book that felt more like two 350-400 page novels edited down into one 500 page book, one plot beat after another, and much of the character depth and supporting storylines rushed or condensed in order to fit everything into one novel. That said, I did still enjoy my time reading it, and I am excited to see what Jacobs does in the future whether it is expanding this world, which was left open-ended, or creating a new one.

A Theory in Dreaming by Ava Reid depression, PTSD, and psychosis representation (all own voices)

I was not the biggest fan of A Study in Drowning, so my expectations for A Theory in Dreaming were pretty low. However, I ended up loving this book. Ava Reid’s prose is lush and evocative, but unlike in the first book of the series, it does not overshadow the characterwork or story but adds a layer of depth that further drew me in. There isn’t much I can say about this book without spoiling book one in the series, but I highly recommend this book–even if you didn’t love Study–however, please check the trigger warnings before reading if you are sensitive to any potential mental health related triggers.

Some Kind of Famous by Ava Wilder addiction and BPD/c-PTSD representation

The characters in this book, especially Merritt, are so wonderfully, realistically messy. This has led to mixed reviews, but I thought it added so much to the story. Merritt felt like such a real, well developed character, and I was invested in unraveling her backstory and what led to the dissolution of her music career, and also in her current journey to finding love. I did find Merritt and Niko’s connection to be a bit on the shallower side, especially at first, relying a bit too heavily on instalust. I was never quite convinced of their actual feelings for each other, and most of my enjoyment of the book was motivated by Merritt as a character as opposed to the romantic story arc.

I hope you enjoyed the Disability Pride Readathon, read some fantastic new books, and maybe even got some additional recommendations to keep reading disabled books all year long! I hope you’ll join us in our book club reading Behooved by M. Stevenson (romantasy with celiac rep!) this August in the Discord, and best of luck to all those who entered the raffle!