Review: yes, and? - Ariana Grande

★★★★☆ - 4 stars

"Yes and? Say that shit with your chest, and be your own fuckin' best friend."

'yes, and?' is an iconic, new single from Ariana Grande's latest album eternal sunshine. A mixture of house and pop, and a similar vibe to Madonna's Vogue, this upbeat track is guaranteed to give you an instantaneous confidence boost. Alongside the affirmations spoken in a whispered and soothing tone (almost like spoken word poetry) and Grande’s signature vocals that embody the very nature of self-confidence, the lyrics encourage self love, the power of becoming your own best friend and not caring what others think. Bell tolls, angelic harmonies, a consistent drumbeat that imitates clapping and the occasional shimmering synth line only add to the glamorous and empowering essence of the track. Fierce and fun, yes, and? is the perfect song to belt out the lyrics to in the car, in the shower or while you're dancing around your house happily.

Cassie Ainsworth Playlist

Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies

Everytime by Britney Spears

Sad Girl by Lana Del Rey

pretty isn't pretty by Olivia Rodrigo

4st 7lb by Manic Street Preachers

Nobody by Mitski

Play Date by Melanie Martinez

Michelle by Sir Chloe

Prom Queen by Beach Bunny

Show & Tell by Melanie Martinez

Blue Hair by TV Girl

Anorexic Beauty by Pulp

Feel Better by Penelope Scott

Cold Cold Cold by Cage The Elephant

Painkiller by Beach Bunny

Review: Feather - Sabrina Carpenter

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"I feel so much lighter like a feather with you off my mind"

Sabrina Carpenter's Feather, - the 14th track of her 2023 album emails i can't send fwd - is an enchanting fusion of dance pop, synth and angelic harmonies that captures the listener's soul within every second of its cheerful beat. The cascading piano notes feel like a stairway to serenity as Carpenter describes the feeling of getting over someone and realising your self worth - that it's truly their loss rather than yours. The freedom of moving on is expressed in every word, using a feather as a symbol of the lightness and tranquility that arrives when you leave someone behind who was dragging you down. With its brutally honest lyrics: "You're signals are mixed, you act like a bitch / You fit every stereotype, 'Send a pic'", Feather is practically a free therapy session. Carpenter's relatable lyrics feel like a verbal expression of the thoughts nobody can quite put into words, making it extremely cathartic to sing along to. This is the perfect pop hit to scream along to when you finally get over the toxic ex or seemingly neverending crush and will definitely have you blithely dancing around the room.

Review: Our World - James

★★★★☆ - 4 stars

"Our world isn't your world. You just stole the world, just been free. Our world isn't your world. We don't own the world, she came for free."

Our World is the second single from James's upcoming album, Yummy, which shines a light on the fickle nature of our lives and the lasting impact we have on "our world". A cheery whistle opens the track - the carefree nature of humanity - though it quickly fades out as Booth's vocals enter the scene, accompanied by a cadenced drumbeat and a heavy presence of the creative synth arrangement. Criticising the human hand in our world's demise and the malevolent actions of climate change, the lyrics of the first verse are a brutal political diatribe that strike the very core of the listener's soul. The second and third verses have equally significant messages - exclaiming the equality of all people ("Why obsess with nationality? We're all mutts, we are family.") and deploring the state of the Capitalist, consumer driven world we live in. Though disguised in a sunny instrumental facade and maintaining James' undying ability to have you up and dancing, with it's catchy, yet cutting chorus, the message of Our World is an eminently important one. It goes without saying that the world cannot wait to hear the rest of Yummy.

Review: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"If violet-eyed men are a gift from God, violet-eyed women are an unfortunate side effect."

Andrew Joseph White's sophomore novel, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is a Victorian-based, queer, fantasy-horror piece that divulges details about real-world issues, and tells a powerful tale of gore, ghosts and friendship. In a world where the veil between the living and the dead has thinned, we meet Silas Bell. We follow him as he attempts to escape an arranged marriage; is diagnosed with the mysterious 'Veil sickness' (that only effects people of violet eyes) and is shipped off to Braxton's Boarding School, where the ghosts of missing students plea for his help. All the while, Silas undergoes a powerful journey about identity, the power we weild and the importance of finding friendships with those who are of a similar mind to us. Throughout, White uses beautifully poetic writing to express profound ideas about the world we live in, such as Silas' feelings about his identity and the fear of death many are akin to. Even so, it remains a painfully sorrowful tale, and its depictions of medical gore are graphic, detailed and horrifying; it is certainly not for the faint of heart. The diversity in this book is outstanding with an autistic, transgender (female to male), bisexual main character and a transhet (t4t) relationship at its heart. The characters are authentic, multifaceted constructs that express feelings that many will relate to, and open your eyes to a completely new world-view. As this is a historically accurate Victorian novel, sexism, abelism and transphobia runs rife within the society we are presented with, and yet, Silas questions and denies these ideas perfectly and in a way that we can all learn from. Ghosts, boarding schools and missing girls in a terribly twisted society - The Spirit Bares Its Teeth has it all. An exceptional and spellbeing piece of literature: this is the perfect book for every horror lover out there to pick up from their local bookshop and to spiral down a rabbithole of reading.

Madeline Hatter: A Playlist

Mad Hatter by Melanie Martinez

Fine by Lemon Demon

space girl by Frances Forever

Wonderland by Taylor Swift

Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper

Hello Kitty by Avril Lavigne

Lollipop by The Chordettes

Teacup by Jack Stauber's Micropop

My Ordinary Life by The Living Tombstone

ME! by Taylor Swift

Tea Party by Kerli

Always Forever by Cults

So Am I by Ava Max

Here's To Never Growing Up by Avril Lavigne

Mad As Rabbits by Panic! At The Disco

Tea Errors by Jack Stauber's Micropop

Hermit The Frog by MARINA

Alice by Avril Lavigne

Wonderland by Caravan Palace

Do You Wonder? by Ever After High

Lesbian Books

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

Love At First Set by Jennifer Dugan

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko

All The Things She Said: Everything I Know About Modern Lesbian and Bi Culture by Daisy Jones

Don't Want You Like A Best Friend by Emma R. Alban

She Gets The Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Outdrawn by Deanna Grey

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata

Girls Can Kiss Now by Jill Gutowitz

What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart

SPIRITED AWAY (2001) dir. HAYAO MIYAZAKI

Books for Melanie Martinez Fans

Switched by Amanda Hocking

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

All Good Things by Amanda Prowse

Sailor Moon Vol. 1 by Noako Takeuchi

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

Alice by Christina Henry

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

The Spirit Bares It's Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

A Wonderlandiful World by Shannon Hale

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia Of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Review: Woman Much Missed - Thomas Hardy

★★★★☆ - 4 stars

"And one - has shut her eyes for evermore."

Thomas Hardy's Woman Much Missed is a collection of poems that each in turn express an overwhelming feeling of heartbreak and an immense love for his wife. It is the lyrics of his grief scratched into paper, words of love and sorrow simultaneously, and a mixture of his heartwarming memories and his soul deep grief. We traverse through stages - from the hopeful, starry-eyed When I Set Out for Lyonnesse to the sublime poem that inspired the title, The Voice, to the gloomy send off we are given with Days to Recollect. Throughout each and every poem, Hardy walks the reader down a road of wonder made of equal counterparts sadness and beauty. This melancholy collection of Hardy's poetry will wrench at your heart within your chest as his sorrow touches the very corners of every page.

GUTS: An Inspired Reading Recommendations List

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (all american bitch)

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (bad idea right?)

The Awakening by L.J. Smith (vampire)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (lacy)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston (ballad of a homeschooled girl)

Solitaire by Alice Oseman (making the bed)

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (logical)

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzalez (get him back!)

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (love is embarrassing)

Betting On You by Lynn Painter (the grudge)

Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given (pretty isn't pretty)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (teenage dream)

Review: To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcisms. My letters set me free. Or at least they’re supposed to."

Jenny Han's To All The Boys I've Loved Before is a tale of love, heartbreak and the chaotic nature of being a teenager. As Lara Jean Covey, our shy and socially awkward daydreamer, enters her junior year of high school, she combats the chaos that her life becomes when the love letters that she never intended to send reach their recipients. Combining the tropes of fake dating with the law of opposites attract, the relationship Jenny Han weaves between Lara Jean and Peter is astoundingly and unexpectedly adorable. Peter Kavinsky is a sporty, popular boy who is a genuinely kind-hearted person and Lara Jean is a bookish introvert who bakes and lives in a daydream... yet, they work. Mostly because who wouldn't want to be written notes every day by your adorable fake boyfriend and chased down the corridor (in Harry Potter and Marvel costumes obviously) on Halloween? Not only is this book a perfectly adorable romance, but it's a discussion of grief and the detrimental impact that loss can have upon a family. The relationship between the three Covey sisters - Lara Jean, Margot and Kitty respectively - is at the heart of the book and adds to the coming-of-age feel that flows through the pages. Alongside all of her romantic drama, Lara Jean is concerned with trying to set a good example for her younger sister Kitty in the absence of Margot being at university and their mother having passed away. Through the Covey sisters, Jenny Han highlights the importance of family and the ways in which we impact upon those we love dearly even with the smallest, heartfelt things we do. To all of you out there who dream of the perfect romance; of love letters; and fit into the band of socially awkward introverts - this book is for you.

Review: Breakfast - Dove Cameron

★★★★☆ - 4 stars

"So you wanna talk about power? Let me show you power. I eat boys like you for breakfast."

Dove Cameron's Breakfast is an alternative, indie track that embodies the very definition of dark feminine energy. Opening with a violin, tension flows through this song like an unwavering line, from the very first second of its orchestral battlecry. The uncomfortable nature of the truth that Dove speaks, as she subverts the stereotypical phrases and ideologies blindly professed by the patriarchy, is ever-present and wonderful. Throughout the track her vocals are angelic and heavenly contrasting the darkness of the lyrics - words that feel like they're straight out of Jennifer's Body (2009): "I eat boys like you for breakfast, and I know that you tried your bestest. Never said it's right. But I'm gonna keep doing it". The steady beat of the drums is powerful and all-encompassing, as though the message that women can be powerful too is being subliminally drilled into your mind with every second you listen. In a previous interview Dove described how she thinks her music is "for the villain who is the main character". Breakfast is truly the epitome of this statement - the femme fatale underworld of a feminist revolution. It's safe to say that Breakfast is a feminine rage anthem that will define a generation of modern feminists.

Review: Betting On You

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"I had huge feelings for Charlie Sampson. Shit."

10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That meet the Taylor Swift infused, hopelessly romantic daydreams of Lynn Painter in her latest novel Betting On You. Lovers of all things romance should be called to attention to worship this book, especially those who are fans of Rory and Jess from Gilmore Girls. An amalgamation of enemies to lovers, fake dating and grumpy x sunshine, Betting On You tells the story of two heartbroken, socially awkward teenagers. When sarcastic and cynical Charlie Sampson and logical but romantic Bailey Mitchell meet each other at the airport they immediately despise each other. Yet years later, with friendships and new jobs on the line, Bailey and Charlie meet again, make a life-changing bet, and slowly begin to fall for each other. This is an extremely entertaining and furiously funny read (especially the banter between Bailey and Charlie). As with every Lynn Painter novel, it's full of cats and pop-culture references (from Taylor Swift to When Harry Met Sally to Angelina Jolie). Written in first person and with a dual point of view, Painter allows the reader to experience events through the eyes of both Bailey and Charlie. It makes it so that parts of the novel can completely tear at your heartstrings and make you want to cry enough tears to fill a bathtub - the pain of miscommunication stings more than usual. It's also a heartfelt and important discussion of the effects of divorce on children and teenagers, with both Bailey and Charlie having complicated family circumstances and emotional distress as a result of being deemed 'custody kids', making it an extremely important book for those who can relate to their family issues. Even so, Betting On You remains absolutely adorable until the last page and is guaranteed to have you wistfully dreaming of a love like Bailey and Charlie's.

Covinsky: A Playlist

I Like Me Better by Lauv

Style by Taylor Swift

Make You Mine by PUBLIC

Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

Hey Lover by The Daughters Of Eve

Beginning Middle End by Leah Nobel

Dandelions by Ruth B.

Gorgeous by Taylor Swift

Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears

Mastermind by Taylor Swift

About Love by MARINA

Enchanted by Taylor Swift

All Of Me by John Legend

How You Get The Girl by Taylor Swift

Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars

Lovers by Anna Of The North

Asexual Books

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Sounds Fake But Okay by Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca

Is Love The Answer? by Uta Isaki

City Of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

This Doesn't Mean Anything by Sarah Whaler

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning Of Sex by Angela Chen

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Vanilla by Billy Merrell

Paper Planes by Jennie Wood

Being Ace: An Anthology Of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection by Various Authors

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Rick by Alex Gino

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt

Love, Ace & Monsters: An Ace Anthology by Various Authors

Summer Of Salt by Katrina Leno