Respectable by Kate Beaumont Review

I've been on a kick of reading a lot of LGBTQ+ books and graphic novels, some for enjoyment and others for my YouTube writing channel, and it's wonderful to reintroduce myself to some of the superb talent in the LGBTQ+ community.

Respectable by Kate Beaumont is another title in a long list and very crowded genre of books that take a look at life in the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. What Beaumont has managed to do here is create a story that really makes you care about the characters themselves and also offers a really interesting take on feeling trapped in the mundanity of life. We can all feel trapped sometimes with the routines that we get stuck in. It's no different for the character of Toby. On paper, he has it all, including the beautiful girlfriend, the job, and even an eye to the future. That's also part of the problem. The world, his life, feels like it's closing in around him, leaving Toby feeling claustrophobic.

To some, such a story might feel a little self-indulgent on the character's part, but that's not the case here. It's written with such honesty, sometimes to a rather blunt level, that you can't help but feel involved with it all. My only complaint, character-wise, is that I would have liked a little more of some of the side characters, but that's a personal taste, not a knock on the graphic novel itself.

Speaking of characters, one of the things I liked best about 'Respectable' was that not everything was neatly tied up in the end and that not everyone had the "happy ever after" that can sometimes be found in graphic novels. The only part of that that bugged me slightly was it was a little too abrupt with the ending. I think that, personally, that only bugged me because I wanted more of the story and to see more of the characters.

If you like books like 'Heartstopper," then I think that you will like this one. It almost felt like a look at their lives once they were older, and I really liked that. It came out three or so years before Osman's wonderful collection, but it really feels like it would be a good companion in that genre.

You can check out Kate's other work at the Cosmicminds Comics Page

NPC Tea: Volume One by Sarah Millman Review

After picking up issue one of the series at a comic con, I was extremely eager to read the entire series again.

NPC Tea is a superb comic collection. One of the things I like the most about it is how uniquely it tells the story and makes you care about the characters. Unlike some other fantasy stories, each character has a reason to act the way that they do, and they each have a voice that is unique to them, even the side characters. It's a wonderfully fleshed-out world of captivating characters and places that makes you really feel, at times, that you're part of their world and watching everything unfold.

One of the ways Sarah Millman does this is by changing the background colours. I’d never seen it done that way before, and it works beautifully here with the art on display. The changes denote the different places, points of view, and even emotions of the characters.

There are also some wonderfully heartfelt moments in the story that really stay with you after you’ve finished the story, and some very well-written LGBTQ representation as well, something that has been sorely missing from the fantasy genre, especially in the comic book world.

With its description being that it's a love letter to the Final Fantasy games and Lord of the Rings, it wears its influences on its sleeves, but in a way that really piques the reader's interest. It's not one of those overly long or overly self-indulgent fantasy stories. Instead, it really does read as a love letter to the genre and to the joy of going to a local teashop.

NPC TEA is one of those types of books that you can read again and again, noticing something new each and every time.

Buy It Here!

Now, as always, remember one thing for me. Just one.

Mother, Dearest: Chapter Six - Read by Tony Carpenter, Now on YouTube.

Hi everyone,

Me again, your friendly, neighbourhood pansexual/nonbinary author.

Over on my YouTube page, you will find a new video of the wonderful Tony Carpenter reading what may be one of my favourite chapters in the whole of the first Mother, Dearest novel.

Chapter six is is where the character of Trent shows his true self and it was one of my favourite ones to write. I tried to give it the vibe of a 1980's horror movie without going too over the top with it. Hopefully that was successful.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how amazed I am at the job that Tony Carpenter did at bringing my characters to life. He's perhaps best known for his turn as Stan Laurel in the stage shows by Lucky Dog Productions and other such stage shows. He's an actor, and voice artist, with a great calibre and level of talent so I honestly feel so lucky to have had him read the book itself.

The audiobook itself is available now from My Gumroad Shop Now!

Now, as always, remember one thing.