This is a fun read for anyone who is into cosplay and fandom. For a young audience, there are a lot of conversations about foster care, anxiety, and relationships with parents. A great read for all!

I loved this book so much! After requesting an ARC months ago, I really did not remember much about the book but even if I had this book would have far surpassed my expectations. Krull paints Jess in such a realistic, heartbreaking way. As a former foster kid herself, she breathes authenticity into Jess' experience which draws in the reader, knits their heart to Jess, and brings them on a character development journey themselves. Even though Jess makes foolish, yet realistic decisions, she ends up with a gorgeous yet flawed found family. I also appreciated the strong mental health representation.
I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to own a physical copy.

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe is the debut novel by Lindsay S. Zrull in which we follow our main character, Jess as she navigates her new foster placement.
A super important novel about mental health and how hard it can be to live with and love a person with severe mental illness. Jess joins a cosplay group to try and get to New York and meet with a woman claiming to be her biological mother.
The writing wasn't my favorite but the story was so important that I was able to look past what I didn't enjoy about it.

My review on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4827180774

This was a delightful book. As someone who knows nothing about the foster care system or cosplay, I was still able to relate to Jess so much. I loved reading her journey and watching her find a family.

[ARC REVIEW]
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For a middle grade book this was phenomenal.

Ridiculously inclusive, adoption, goth, geek, LGBTQ, and more. There’s so much insight here.

I totally connected with the main character and loved her fierceness and “fuck you” attitude.

There is a romantic element that plays out but isn’t the focal point of the story.

I loooooove her foster mom. Period.

Thanks to @netgalley and @fluxbooks for allowing me the opportunity to read this book. #gothgirlqueenoftheuniverse hit shelves on 7/19

Goth Girl Queen Of The Universe
Lindsay S Zrull

Rating 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Favorite Quote:
🔹“Poe showed me that your life can be totally messed up, but you can still create art. I can still influence the world around me. I really needed to hear that in middle school, when I felt lower than low. It gave me a sense of agency. I’d been in and out of foster homes, no one wanted or loved me, nothing I did was ever good enough to make a family want to keep me. Now I don’t let the statistics, or the bad foster parents, or the bullies get under my skin. I’ve turned my skin into my art.”🔹

Review

This book is definitely gonna be a book that I re read for sure, because it has it all! The teenage angst, real life problems, fictional reality, trusting the process, beauty from the ashes, gothness abounding! I loved the book not just because of the back story but I could see how Jess was transforming from the inside out and figuring out how to have a support system, the way she turns from a catterpillar to a beautiful butterfly!

Jess is a foster kid and not trusting people is a rule for the kids in the system, Jess loves being her Goth self but people have tried changing her in the past and it has led to many housing changes the past years. Barbara is her new foster mom and she is okay but Jess finds her to be a talker, she is kind enough but Jess is scared to trust because when she starts trusting and the honeymoon phase is over everything turns to chaos and she ends up hurt so she is wary to trust! She meets acquaintances after school whom she refuses to call friends yet to join a cosplay universe because of Oscar's invite, they start winning but here's the thing her schizophrenic mother contacts her now all bets are off she has to go to New York to meet her mom! But will it be the reunion she expects or will her hopes fail again!

This book made me laugh, cry and literally weep for Jess she's such a beautiful character and she's tough as nails yet so fragile like a petal, I loved the writing style of the book I literally finished the book in two days, the book had many deep themes, the plot was building up to the perfect climax and I just fell in love over and over again with this book! Looking forward to reading more from Lindsay!! ✨

Thank you to NetGalley and Flux Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

“Gothic fashionista Jess is on a mission to reunite with her estranged biological mother—but is she willing to risk her new friends, cosplay championship, and even her future to do so?”

This was a mixed bag of emotions in book form for me. I will preface this by saying that I am not in foster care, I have never been in foster care, and I do not know much about the foster care system outside of what I have learned through my studies & anecdotes. That being said, I do know that each person’s experience with it is incredibly personal and different, and so I cannot speak to how “realistic” the experiences of Jess are with the foster care system, but since Lindsay is a foster alum, I am going to assume things were based on her experiences. With that, I do have experience with mental health and cosplay, as well as goth & being plus-sized, so I can comment on those aspects with a little more personal thought.

I found Jess to be incredibly overly stubborn at times, and in some serious need of therapy to discus what her mother’s mental illness really meant. I recognize that a lot of her stubbornness probably comes from self-preservation, and just being a teenager, it was still frustrating to read someone who was so adamantly rejecting all support and logical alternatives to her self-imposed isolation. I had some issue with Jess’s understanding of her mother’s mental illness, which I will put in its own spoiler paragraph.

————START SPOILER —————

Since her mother has schizophrenia, and there is a genetic link to this, it is understandable that Jess would be concerned about also developing schizophrenia due to her trauma and experiences. However, without any of the actual mental health treatment or knowledge that she so clearly needed to just cope with her existence as a foster kid, let alone with everything else, she was making really bad decisions and compounding her trauma in the name of mental health preservation. I know that this is a much more complex issue than just access to services, and being in the foster care system compounds everything, but she needed to have a better knowledge grasp of mental health, because for a long time in the book it was promoting really negative views of mental health. It did redeem itself in the end and really turned a bright side to the mental health conversation, but it took till the end.

————END SPOILER —————

I appreciated all of the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC representation, plus the diversity of body sizes being normalized. There was clear evidence of trying to make this a representative book for people while still telling this person’s story. It might not have been exactly my style of book, but I love Edgar Allan Poe, I love all the gothic stuff, and I’m plus-size, so I had a good time. I think this book will be great for those who have been in the foster care system, and I am really glad this book exists. 3.5/5

Jess is a foster kid with a new foster parent in Detroit. She wears her goth attire like armor and isn't there to make friends. She's just surviving until her new foster mom turns out to be not so bad and she somehow gets roped into doing cosplay with a couple of kids from school. She wants to make it to New York so she can see her bio-mom who had to give Jess up because she suffers from schizophrenia and was unable to take care of herself, let alone Jess.

What I liked:
-The setting! I love Detroit and I loved the mention of places I know (shout out to Slows) and of the amazing artwork located on many buildings in Detroit.
-That it touches on the gentrification of Detroit and what that means. Detroit is Beautiful and amazing and has a culture all it's own. Unfortunately with so many affluent white people deciding to pay attention property costs and rental costs are increasing to the point that people who have lived there for years can no longer afford to. And this is disproportionately black individuals.
-Curvy girl rep and curvy confidence. Jess is fierce and comfortable in her skin. While she has her insecurities like anyone she loves her size and shape and I am here for it!
-A diverse cast of characters in Jess's group of cosplayers.
-queer rep. Emily is adorable and charismatic and wildly confident in her love life/sexuality.
-How it realistically and honestly discusses mental health and the impact that foster care has on a lot of kids. It discusses how foster kids are frequently moved around, afraid to get attached, and suffer from repeated trauma. Also, the fear involved when a family member has mental health struggles that the individual will inherit the same mental health issues.
-It also talks about societies perceived view on mental health issues and how casually we use the word crazy and how harmful that it. Also gender roles and expectations for mental health. Males with mental health struggles are often not listened to and do not feel safe seeking help.
-I also love the cosplay community and that it realistically discussed the discrimination within that community especially directed at black women.

What I didn't love:
-It felt like the high school was a bit white washed. Detroit public schools are a majority black students followed by Hispanic students. White students only make up 2% of that population. One of the characters was also described as living in the suburbs but going to public school in Detroit which seems unlikely that someone from the burbs is going to commute to Detroit. Unless they are talking about Highland park which is a city within Detroit that no longer has their own high school and the students to go to Detroit Public Schools. But that feels like me being overly picky.

Overall-You should read this book. I enjoyed the characters, the story, and the setting. This is a great first novel from Lindsay S Zrull. I can't wait to see what's next from her.

As a geeky, cosplaying woman, I loved this book. I loved having a world I know and love being shown in a book and the little moments that the characters has that are so totally things geek kids and even adults do, and made my geek heart happy.

And while I am not someone well versed in the foster care system, I really thought that aspect of this story was great, especially seeing it from the kid's perspective. It wasn't sugar coated at all and you could tell that Jessica (yes that was something else I loved) had some trauma and things she was still trying to reconcile.

All in all, I think this book was done well and wasn't super predictable either, I highly recommend it.

💀 Book Review 💀

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe
Author: Lindsay S. Zrull
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Read if you love:
🔮 Young Adult Novels
🔮 Foster Child Representation
🔮 Body Positivity
🔮 Mental Health Awareness

I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe but I was pretty sure I was going to absolutely love it or absolutely hate it. Thankfully, it was the former.

This book was so much fun. First, I didn’t expect the main character, Jess, to be so likable or for the side characters to be as interesting as they were. Though, what made this book really enjoyable were all the lessons and themes.

If you’re interested in reading Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe, you can get your copy today, July 19!

Thank you, @fluxbooks for the ARC I received via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"A good goth queen is like a good Girl Scout. She is always prepared."

This book touches on several areas (foster care, PTSD, anxiety, LGBTQIA+ visibility, fat shaming, stress dreams, and mental disorders) while staying vibrant and fun! It was so good for my nerdy D&D heart!

Jess is a craft and makeup genius... who just needs a focal point, a supportive team, and a shove in the right direction. "A trip to Michaels is something akin to a journey to the Holy Land for me. This is my happy place. Well, this and Sephora." As she makes friends and learns about cosplay, I'm reminded of my daughter and her friends and many of the students I've taught who will find themselves in this story. "Creativity butterflies flutter in my stomach. Am I actually getting excited about this cosplay idea?"

There are fabulous quotes at the beginning of each chapter, by Edgar Alan Poe (the patron saint of goth) for example. But also Star Wars, David Bowie, and slasher movies! All the references give the reader vital insight into a complex character.

"Geekdom is a vast community. There's plenty to work with."

Throughout the story, Jess scatters her Foster Care Pro-tips like breadcrumbs. We see her embrace the creativity of cosplay (like another favorite, Into the Wild Nerd Yonder). Ultimately, she learns to rely on her found family - a supportive and geeky group of unlikely friends that make this book such a great read!

"I wish we lived in a world where we didn't have to feel ashamed for being who we are. Or for needing help."

Ultimately, this is a must-read! The penultimate David Bowie Labyrinth moment is worth the entire journey!

"No one ever said it was easy to find your way through a labyrinth."

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Absolutely magnificent! I wasn't even a full chapter in when I knew that I was going to love this book. I instantly fell for Jessica's spellbinding Gothic charm. The secondary characters were were also loveable and perfect in their own way.

The way this book deals with mental health is genuinely great. In this case, it's actually the parent that has the mental health issues. We watch as Jessica recalls her mom's ups and downs and how they ended up in their current situation. While heartbreaking, I think it's important to show the difficulties of being raised by someone with mental health issues and how despite loving their children they can't always care for them. I also think there was an amazing job done showing Jessica's personal feelings of love, anger and fear towards her mother and her mother's mental illness.

Along with mental health this book also does a great job at portraying body positivity, found family, foster care, bullying and being yourself. I could go on and on about all the wonderful things this book does but I'll keep it brief (somewhat).

From it's first paragraph to it's last, Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe is a captivating and important story that I just can't recommend enough.

Oh my goodness! From the moment I started reading this book, I knew I had found a hurt but special soul in Jess. Bounced around to countless foster homes, she’s developed a system and set of rules. These rules help her survive not only in new homes but new schools. She knows foster families and fellow students have prejudices and expectations, and a foster never tends to meet those.

Then Jess met Oscar, and even though at first he seemed judgey and, honestly, nerdy, compared to Jess’s goth, you could tell the two were going to become fast friends. As their friend group grew and they started heading to cons, I found myself immersed in their costumes. They were so intricately described that I could picture the 4 teens as they stood in front of others showing off their hard work.

I think it would be easy to get upset with Jess for some of the things she thinks or does. Sometimes I felt she was being unfair to her foster mother, Barbra. But then I look at how Jess’s life has unfolded, how much she craves stability, and how she’s had to build armor and walls, and over time, they have grown incredibly thick. It’s hard to undo those things; it takes time. So when I look at her situation, it’s easy to be patient with her because she’s learning.

I absolutely loved the representation in this. It’s inclusive, has body styles of all sizes, and the mental health rep is perfect. As a PTSD sufferer, who also has a lifetime of panic, I’m drawn to realistic portrayals of mental health. Zrull knocked that out of the park.

I want to take this group of friends and hug them all tight. This is such a super fun book. I recommend it for YA fans who need a book to hug and never let go of.

Wow. This book is so good. It talks about Foster care & mental illness. Things that need to be talked about. I loved this book so much. I could not put it down I read it in one day. I loved the representation for body positivity and loved the geekiness of cosplay and video games. I laughed out loud and cried so many tears.

First thing that drew my attention was the cover. I know but this cover was so positive with a plus size girl on the cover and then you read the synopsis it is holy cow I need this book in my life.


This book was everything with a strong MC in Jessica which I bloody loved who to me was judged by people without actually getting to know her and then you have Oscar. Oscar who again people thought he was strange. I found their blooming friendship the cutest thing ever yes as they never the twain shall meet. The mixed in are Emily the ass-kicker who wanted to cause a stir in gaming and would always play the role of a male and then Gerrit who was always playing computer games yet his one- liners were epic. Then you add the world of cosplay to the mix you know you are going to get a story on an epic scale.

I can't believe that this is Lindsay's debut novel. It is clear that she is not afraid to discuss some hard topics like mental health and foster care. There is so much to unpack but i'm not gonna do that instead I will admit that Lindsay turned me into a little teary snot fest on many an occasion and it was not a pretty sight. For all these reasons I am giving the the wonderful Goth Girl Queen of the Universe 5 stars Oh and just one more thing pwease Lindsay can we have a follow up I really want to see what happens next to these wonderful characters.

“It’s hard, getting people to believe in an invisible illness. If they can’t see it or feel it, they can’t really grasp how paralyzing it is.”

THIS BOOK HAS MY WHOLE HEART! I’m not sure I can adequately show my love and appreciation for it in my review. From the mental health rep, learning about the foster care system, cosplay, goth themes, Edgar Allen Poe, it was a magical and emotional read for me from start to finish.

Jess has bounced from foster home to foster home ever since she was claimed by the state at the age of 7 when her mother's mental illness made her unable to properly care for her. She has learned how to be an outcast and not put down any roots. But now at her new high school, geeky Oscar wants to recruit her fashion skills for his amateur cosplay group and she is not quite sure how she feels about this shy nerd and his ideas. Enter biomom drama, a new foster mom who may actually care, and a group of unexpected friends, and you have a book that pulls all your heart strings, makes you laugh (and cry), and you don’t want to put down.

I can honestly say I loved everything about this book. Jess. Goth queen extraordinaire. I love who she is and how she has dealt with the trauma life has given her. Her love of Edgar Allen Poe. *chef’s kiss* The author did a fantastic job of showing all the hard emotions Jess is going through in multiple areas of her life. I also really enjoyed getting a firsthand view into being a teenager in the foster care system. I learned so much!

And let’s not forget sweet Oscar. My heart swelled learning about his experiences with anxiety. As a fellow sufferer of life altering anxiety myself, I felt so seen and understood. And lastly as someone who flys my nerd flag high myself, I devoured ALL the nerdiness in this book. My elder emo, nerdy, anxious heart is so full after reading this story.

Pick this one up if:
-You love a book with great mental health representation and discussion
-You have ever felt left out
-Found family
-Nerd culture

“I wish we lived in a world where we didn’t have to feel ashamed for being who we are. Or for needing help.”

My Rating: 4.3

The cover of this book doesn’t do justice to the plot or the characters in it. I was taken aback by the emotional onslaught in the climax but the ending lifted my spirits. Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S Zrull is a trove of geek charm with healthy conversations around mental health, which I’d highly recommend to YA enthusiasts.

Super cute! Loved the insights into being goth, and all the fashion that she got up to. Also loved the fandom stuff, and the cosplay! Super awesome! Really loved it, and would recommend it! Especially to those who might be going through the foster system, as well. I think it’s great representation, and kids will see themselves in it.

This is my first time reading a story from the perspective of a child in foster care.
It was nice to see her find a passion in cosplay and friends.
The story is very much teen like especially in the language that they use. There is cursing so be mindful of age appropriateness.
I like the idea of the main character being Goth.
.
overall story was not my cup of tea. It’s an easy read but I personally didn’t fall in love with the story. That being said it is all due to my own personal preference in stories and genres. I should probably write a bit deeper in regards to the full synopsis.

I believe a lot of teens could pick this up and totally relate to it and feel connected with the main character they understand what it means to belong.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and physical finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe

Author: Lindsay S. Zrull

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Foster care plus size vegetarian MC, Asian character, Black character, Mexican American anxiety disorder character, bipolar disorder character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, plus size, foster care, cosplay contests

Publication Date: July 19, 2022

Genre: YA Contemporary

Age Relevance: 14+ (Bullying, Cursing, Schizophrenia, Sexual content, Parental Death, Fatphobia, Anxiety, Panic attack, Suicide, Bipolar, Deportation, Abelism, Racism, Romance)

Explanation of Above: There are mentions of schizophrenia, anxiety, and a very brief mention of bipolar and suicide. There is one scene with a panic attack, but it is quick. There is some bullying shown throughout the book. There is some cursing in the book. There are very brief mentions of sexual content in the form of kink and sex jokes, nothing explicit is shown. There is mention of a parental death and very brief mention of deportation. There is some fatphobia shown in the book and one instance of abelism. There is also one scene of racism shown in the book. There is also some slight romance in the form of kisses.

Publisher: Flux Books

Pages: 341

Synopsis: Bounced between foster homes since the age of seven, Jessica knows better than to set down roots. Most of the kids at her new Michigan high school think she’s a witch anyway (because, you know, goth). The only one who gives her the time of day is geeky Oscar, who wants to recruit her fashion skills for his amateur cosplay group. But Jess is fine showing off her looks to her Insta fans—until a woman claiming to be her biological mother barges into her DMs.

Jess was claimed by the state when her bio mom’s mental illness made her unstable. While their relationship is far from traditional, blood ties are hard to break. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, which is aiming for that big convention in New York . . .

So, Jess joins Oscar’s team—with every intention of using them to get to her mom. But her plan gets complicated when she discovers that, actually, cosplay is pretty great, and so is having friends. And Oscar, who Jess thought was just a shy nerd, can be as gallant and charming as the heroes he pretends to be. As the big convention draws near, Jess will have to decide whether or not chasing a dream of “family” is worth risking the family she’s built for herself.

Review: I really love this book! As someone who grew up with a mom who suffered from mental health issues, I really connected with the main character and her plight. I wasn’t ever in the foster care system, but I could relate to her struggles with her mother. It’s like constantly walking on eggshells and not knowing if your remarks or questions will set them off. It’s not knowing if they’ll come out of their room to make dinner or not. It’s being yelled at for things you didn’t do and having bread thrown at you because they didn’t like the way you folded the towels or they didn’t remember where they set their bible. It’s super hard and being in foster care or not you always feel the effects. I love how unashamed the book discussed mental health, because while there can be significant heartbreak in it, it’s not the end of the world for most and it’s something that can be helped a lot by medication. I really appreciated the ending, because I’m currently in the unknown with my own mother. I don’t know what the future looks like and I’m glad this book left it open as well. The character development was well done and I also really liked the world building. The story was well plotted and it developed very naturally throughout the book.

The only thing I thought the book could improve on was that the romance I thought could be a bit more pronounced (but that’s a personal preference) and I think the cover could have been better designed to fully illustrate the plus size heroine. She’s there and she’s plus size, but she hiding herself and in all her black apparel it’s hard to see that she’s plus size. I think it would be great for young people to see her better.

Verdict: I highly recommend this one for younger kids going through what I did and what this MC is.