Jack of Hearts (and other parts)

"THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 I don't even know where to start!!!!!!!!! I love it so so so so much. The characters, the plot, the romance, the safe s*x advice, the stalker, the mystery, the representation -- it all rolls up together into a perfect young adult read. I love this book with my whole heart. L.C. Rosen never disappoints. 🏳️‍🌈🥰"

"I’ve never wanted to throw away a book so badly. -Rant Review Incoming- Okay. It’s already rare for me to not rate something with five stars. And there is in fact a lot to like about this book. There’s a tense unnerving mystery, a bit of a plot twist, and good characterization and world building. And of course it’s always nice to see a queer book written by a queer person, and it’s nice that they don’t demonize sex. And this would have checked all my boxes if they’d left out the drinking, smoking, drugs, and constant f****t bombs. This book features high schoolers ages 16-18 at most. Sexual acts or talk is on pretty much every page, and the characters smoke, drink, and do drugs and get laid a lot, and include college guy hookups. (Which uh, that’s an adult with a minor…) The problem with this is that it’s seen as the normal thing to do, minors smoking and getting high or drunk every day, and the parents even encourage it, and not just in a ‘well if you’re going to have sex, wear a condom’ way. When I read this as a high schooler, I got it in my head that I was weird for not doing those things, and I felt broken and alone when I was the odd one out, and books like these can warp a teenagers mind more than people think. I read this when I was 13 since it’s listed as a YA book, so it was in the teen section of the library, and it severely warped what I thought I was supposed to be doing in high school, and since they claim every seemingly straight girl fetishizes gay men, (that is true for certain groups of people, and it turned out to be true in this book, it’s important to note that the same doesn’t hold for everyone) as a young gay baby transboy, I was filled with hatred and disgust with myself, thinking me as a villain. While this was specific to me, I still think it’s important to keep in mind how teens are in fact very susceptible to the power of suggestion in books and media. "