M. K. England

Overall, I liked this book, but I couldn't quite love it. The story and world-building were great, with a group of rebellious teen thieves going up against a corporation in a world plagued with earthquakes, natural disasters, and dangerous magic. I liked the combination of technology and magic - there are techwitches and devices that run on magic. What I found frustrating is the central character of Diz, who (likely because of being orphaned at a young age) lacks confidence in her show more relationships with her friends and spends much of the book thinking they were about to abandon her or were mad at her. I really wanted her to work through some of her emotions a little quicker, but I guess she and her friends were somewhat distracted by their attempts to save the world. I suspect this book is the first in a series and I might just have to continue reading to discover more about this world. show less

Warning: this book is addictive, invigorating and a genuinely heartfelt and beautiful expression of love between two humans who couldn't come from different worlds. All you need to know is to stop scrolling, stop window shopping and buy this asap! In case you need a bit of a nudge:

One fandom convention, complete with costumes, dyed hair, tattoo's and loud crazy parties between events. One teen beauty pageant, evening gowns, high heels, staged choreography and one college scholarship on the show more line. These events aren't even on the same planet as far as both groups are concerned so what happens when they collide and frenzied anxious pageant girls meet the fandom who couldn't care less about the noise and interruptions the collision has on the pageant girls

I read this all in one night. Then read it again before writing my review. I cannot express how incredible this story is, nerd love, desire, passion, talent, and an unlikely mutual attraction make this absolutely impossible to put down.

The One True Me and You is an absolutely amazing story. We get to follow along as Tegan a devoted pageant competitor who happens to be gay, a fact she feels she has to keep a secret from the masses until the scholarship is awarded in fear of losing everything she's worked for. Enter Kay a spunky fanfic author attending the convention with a few friends Kay is unsure of where she falls on the gender and sexuality spectrum but is determined to find out, and this convention is the perfect time to try asking people to use they/them while and exploring the possibility of being with a girl.

The story is told in alternating points of view from Kay and Tegan respectively. We have the immense delight of experiencing both sides of exploring your identity and a new relationship, the eagerness, the doubts, the chemistry. This is the first book I've come across that embodied the insecurities and confusion of exploring yourself and another person, as well as the first novel I've read that uses they/them and Remi K. England did a beautiful job of crafting the prose so it seems like the most natural, beautiful thing in the world, which is exactly the message that needs to be heard loud and clear by every human being. '

Im not sure its possible to explain the magic of this book, how much I needed it, and why it's perfect, I will be telling every person who will listen about this book and I cannot wait for my own physical copy to sit on my shelf so I can pull it down often to reread over and over because this is exactly what every reader is going to want to do with this one.

Five our of Five stars!

Thank you to netgalley for providing an advance digital copy for me to read and share my honest unfiltered opinions. show less

Reviewed By: Sarah W. (12th grade)
Grade Range: 6th grade and Up (Some descriptions of death may alter grade range depending on the student.)
Genre: Science Fiction
Literary Merit: Excellent
Characterization: Excellent

Nax was so close to seeing all of his dreams realised when he entered the elite Ellis Station Academy. He was finally going to be a pilot, finally going to escape his own personal hell called Earth to create a new Nax on one of the colony planets. Then he was kicked out. It always show more happens this way, he’s never been good enough to do anything right, or so he thinks. As Nax is boarding the flight home surrounded by four other rejects, something strange happens. The station alarms start going off and Nax and the others hear gunshots! The station is under attack. Fighting for survival, Nax and his group of mismatched friends must travel to the different colonies in search of some way to warn Earth of the station’s mysterious takeover, all while running into the possibility of death at every turn. In this adventurous sci-fi novel Nax must come face to face with evil, good, family, friends, and the scariest thing in all the worlds - attractive girls and boys.
The Disasters by M.K. England is a thrilling sci-fi comedy surrounding the story of space pilot captain Nax Hall and his four quirky friends. The novel is set in the year 2194, in a world where Earth has developed international space travel, as well as intergalactic space travel. Others still live on Earth, but numerous colonies also exist on other planets, in numerous different solar systems. This futuristic society falls in line with everything that’s happening in the present, while being just on the verge of unrealistic to keep the reader in a science fiction world. The characterization was my favorite part of this book. England somehow managed to create five likable, realistic characters who are all extremely different in personality, background, ethnicity, and intelligence. The characters are extremely diverse with different sexualities, gender orientations, religions, and personal beliefs mixing in a natural way. The sexuality aspect of the characters, specifically the bisexual protagonist Nax, is addressed in an amazing way, not putting too much focus on it, but acknowledging it as if it’s the norm. I also enjoyed the interaction between Nax and his older brother. They are shown to have a somewhat strained relationship over events that Nax has fixated on from his childhood. The audience can tell that there is a lot of resentment between Nax and his older brother, leading to intense jealousy and a hint of betrayal since they were so close when they were younger. Overall I believe M.K. England did an amazing job in creating a dystopian world any and all readers can fall into.

Recommendations: Anyone interested in a diverse sci-fi with thrilling twists and turns. show less

4.5 stars

I read this book almost a month ago, and my immediate reaction was "Ahgdfdhgjhfdsfghfdfs I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! NEW FAVOURITE!! I LOVE! LET ME FLAIL! I WILL BE OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK FOREVER!! AHGGFGFHGJGHFG."

Meanwhile, the reasonable part of me that knows I react that way to about half the books I read, and then two weeks later have forgotten they exist was just like "No Iris. You are being silly. This book was good sure, but I don't think anything about it really stood out show more enough to be a favourite. Give it a week or two and you'll have forgotten it existed."

Because really. I do this every time, and I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when a book is a lasting favourite, and when a book will only be a "favourite" for a week or two.

But I clearly haven't quite perfected that art, because almost a month later, I'm still just as obsessed with this book as I was when I first finished it. Or even, dare I say it? More obsessed.

For the most part this book is pretty typical. It's well written and engaging, but the writing didn't exactly blow me away. The world building was solid and well thought out, but it didn't stand out or anything. The plot was fast paced and exciting, but not super twisty or unique.

So why did I love this book you might ask?? Two reasons.

1 - The humour.

This book was HILARIOUS. I spent the entire book just losing it. Because oh my god, this book just perfectly appeals to my sense of humour. Both the snarky banter and Nax's internal monologues were SO FUNNY.

Whether he was noticing Rion, or trying not to crash the spaceship and kill them all, or overhearing a completely nonsensical (to him at least) conversation about "some old classic book series I've never read" (aka Harry Potter)(Hush this book totally didn't win me over with Harry Potter references), he always had some sort of funny commentary about the situation.

2 - The CHARACTERS

The characters were what really made the book for me. Because they were all so wonderfully fleshed out and wonderful and I LOVE THEM.

- NAX. I already talked a bit about Nax, but my god he was SUCH an amazing character!! He's a snarky disaster bi, who managed to flunk out of the prestigious Ellis Academy (despite being a brilliant pilot). He's hella flawed, and he's an utter disaster, and I LOVE HIM SO MUCH MY PRECIOUS CHILD.

- ZEE. Zee is WONDERFUL. She's badass and talented and feisty and AHHHHHHH I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!

- RION. Agh I love him so much!!! I'm realizing now that I... don't have the slightest clue how to describe him, but I swear he's amazing!! (And also I ship him and Nax SO MUCH.)

- ASRA. Asra is a sassy wonderful hijabi girl who saves all their lives and basically the entire universe because she's badass and amazing! (And also by far the most competent of the five.) I really really love her!!

- CASE. I have to say, Case was not personally my favourite, but she was well developed. I just didn't really feel she had quite the same spark as the others.

Overall? I FREAKING ADORE THIS BOOK GO READ IT! Do you like found families and groups of misfits? Fast paced space adventures? Sass and snark and banter?? A super diverse cast of characters?? Then you need to read this book!! It's fantastic and funny and AHJGHFDFSDFHJGHGFSDGDHFJGFGFDGFH!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!

***Initial Reaction, January 2, 2019***

THIS BOOK. SO GOOD. It was fast paced and hilarious and OH MY GOSH I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! I highly recommend this book. SO GOOD. This was the perfect first read of 2019, and I'm SO GLAD I picked this one up! RTC. show less