Chelsea T

Imani was annoying and kept letting her mother's past see overtake her mother happiness, although that's partially her mother's fault. Everybody kept saying having to repeat over and over that Cyril and his dad are good people. Also I don't know why he got so mad that she accidentally squirted ketchup on his shirt, it's ridiculous. Also the whole about to step siblings falling in love was just TOO weird, that not how I thought the plot was gonna go at all.

With all being said I did like writing and I'm curious to see Halle's story in the sequel.

“When they pulled apart, he placed his forehead against hers and said, “I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you.” “You're here now. That's all that matters,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.” -Silas & Raven

I kind of bought this book on impulse and it was pretty good.

I expected to be more like an enemies to lovers book and it seemed like it was headed that way I first but in my opinion it was dropped too fast, and the book was more of a Should We/Should We Not romance. Sometimes I struggled to see why they couldn't say yes.

But other than that Raven and Silas make a great cute couple and I wanted them to be together. Their chemistry was great and Silas is definitely a keeper. I liked their relationship with the Mountaintop team and the inclusion LGBT+ married couple and a drag queen scene. The writing was also beautifully crafted.

Overall it was really nice book, especially if you're into Should We/Should We Not romances. This was my first Mimi Grace book and I will be reading more from her.

“Aren't you going to eat?” he asks. “I don't like salmon.” Another lie. “What do you like to eat, then?” “The rich.” I glare, daring him to sneer.

-Ch. 13, pg 194 Adina and Graham.



I really liked this book.

The writing is nice and the world building was good. I liked the Finish, it was done very well with each segment. You could really feel Adina being surrounded by sharks. Every girl has a distinct reason for being there and strategy to get what they want. They were developed. The twists at the end was good and entertaining and the stakes were always high. This book help me get out of my reading slump.

Which brings me to my grip with the book, Adina's development. She's very passive until like 80% into the book which surprised me. I do like that she's a girl just trying to survive and black girls don't always need to be macho and strong willed, but everything she is kind of just handed to her and I feel she was always on the losing side of things. But on the other hand, I do kind of understand why she was developed so late.

Another thing I didn't like was the little love triangle that was briefly slipped in. What was the point of Adina kissing those boys, especially with one of them effectively cheating on his girlfriend. It's not even apart of a strategy or anything, they have a moment and she just...kisses them.

Overall, Their Vicious Games is still a good and entertaining book with good twists and high stakes, I just wish Adina's development was different but I definitely will be looking for more of Wellington's books in the future.

“That's the thing about new generations— they change things in ways that the old ones didn't. They add something new and make it their own.”
-Voya's father, Ch 28, pg. 382

Really good book with themes of choices and making hard decisions. There are a lot of good quotes about racism and being black even when that's not the main theme. It's nice to read another book about black witches and an interracial couple without one of them being white for once.

However, this book does suffer from info dumping. The book does this thing where somebody mentions something in dialogue, and Voya goes on the explaining to entire history with that person and then some for several of paragraphs. It really puts a pause on the story for me. Another thing that irked me was her family pressuring to make a decision and not believing in her. Plus, the fake cursing, I hate it when fantasies do this, it never fits naturally.

Overall, this book was really good and the ending was something I didn't expect. I can't wait read the next book and see how Voya handles everything and how her story ends.

CW: a bit of deadnaming, traumatic scenes and descriptions, religious and physical abuse, lots of references to the Bible and God, blood, violence, foul language, gore, death, discussions of dysphoria feelings.

“Being transgender is who you are, and the pain is what the outside does to you. The pain is what happens when you and the world go for each other's throats.” -Benji, Ch. 11, pg 126

If you're expecting a apocalypse story with found family & pocket of happiness, then this is not the story for you.

Hell Followed Us is dark, honest, a bit gory and very queer. All the characters are some form of queer and use all kinds of different pronouns. It also has deep insight on what's it like to be a trans person. The world building is great and you really get a feel for what living and strugging in a apocalyptic world is like.

With that being said, this isn't really a happy book. The only moments of true happiness we see is when Benji is with one of the boys he crushing on. As for the love triangle, it's not really one. Benji doesn't really explore the feelings for one until more than 60% in the book.

Another problem is character development. Nobody besides Benji and maybe Nick & Theo gets any. We don't really learn about anyone else outside of them. It sucks bc this could have really been a queer found family type book. Benji mostly keeps to himself and we never see him hanging with anyone else besides Nick at the ALC.

This book is rather gory. It's doesn't shy away from talking about dead bodies, splatters of blood or crushed skulls. It also has heavy religious themes, there tons of bible verses, prayers, bible references, fictional religious references throughout the entire book.

All in all, I thought was good but the execution could have shown more of all the characters. If a very dark, very queer apocalyptic YA fantasy from the perspective of a trans MC, then this is the book for you.

“This is not true power. True power is when I stood on the Nine-Tailed Fox with Yang Guang's corpse at my feet, playing by my own rules. Victorious by my own standards. Reliant on no one but myself.” - Zetian pg 137, Ch. 15

After her sister is killed, Zetian offers herself up to be a cocubine pilot, one of the pair that powers a Chrysalis, a sure death sentence for girls.

But she kills Yang Guang through a mind link and is labeled the Iron Widow. She is paired with an even more powerful and feared pilot, Li Shimin, and together they just may be Huxia's last hope to save it from the Hunduns and maybe even stop more girls being sacrificed.

This book was dark, had some nice twists, and a hint of poly romance.

This book is not feminist or wholly happy. It full of war, trauma, and hard decisions.

I'm conflicted about this book because on one hand, I like it. On the other, I hated Zetian's characterization.

I liked that Zetian actually killed. She said she was gonna kill people and she did it with no hesitation. I like the inclusion of Zetian's disability and it's presence throughout the WHOLE book, not just half of it. I liked the poly romance and the fact the characters don't care what anyone thinks about it. Their relationship, however underdeveloped, was cute. I love the different Chrysalises and their names and the idea of Matches and Crownings. And the cover is BEAUTIFUL.

Yet, on the con side, Zetian wasn't really morally grey to me, she was just grey and acted on her emotions a lot without thinking of the consequences. Just literally just like Mare from Red Queen. Like almost textbook. Hates everyone (& women they met) around them, grew up in a different mindset despite not given a reason for them to, no real character development, just strong throughout the whole book. Zetian seems too much like “I'm not like other girls”. Every other sentence she says is dripping in sarcasm and cockiness. In fact, sometimes her dialogue seems very modern. Its feels very weird and out of place.

I hate that Li Shimin was just book's trauma bucket and Zetian seem more in love with her best friend than with Li Shimin & her friend seems more in love with Li Shimin than her. We never really see their relationship develop or when, it's just they're are there for each other, holding hands.

I've seen this book described and marketed as feminist but in my opinion, it's far from it. I don't see it AT ALL. Almost every interaction with another woman is negative. There is no coming together in solidarity moment. She barely even thinks about the other women unless the situation calls. I feel like she wants to destroy the pilot system and social norms way more than liberating all woman.

This book had some fun parts and awesome twists but the execution and dialogue could have been better. I may stay tuned for the second one.

“History was always labeling women as mad, whether they were witchy or not.” -Iris Ch 2, pg 14

Perfect for Halloween and black witch rep

Honestly this book kinda of surprised me, I wasn't feeling it at first, beavuse of the writing style, it took me a minute to used to it but I pushed past the 6% mark, I'm so glad I did.

This is the first book I've read featuring witches and I liked it. I can definitely see it as a series on Peacock similar to Vampire Academy. I really liked it was a great introduction to the theme and aesthetic.

I don't how to describe the writing style but with it being in third person as well, it's not for everyone and it may takes some getting used to.

Jailiah and Mathew was my favorite, I see myself most in Jailah and Mathew was kind and supportive.

Logan was the worst. Her chapters were full of self-deprecating and “woe is me”. Then she, one of the only white characters of the main cast, was suppose to be this super special powerful Proxy witch. She never accepted anybody encouragements or compliments. She withheld information just because she wanted to prove herself first.

“She didn't want to hide this, but she couldn't tell them, not until she felt like she could be the witch that they wanted her to be.”

I hate it when characters in books withhold information from everyone else for reasons that don't make sense. Especially when the info would be super helpful.

She really got me with these two lines:

“Not only was Logan terrible with a wand, but she wasn't even special in her awfulness.”

Like, what? I was literally baffled when I read this line. Like you want to be awful and special, what?

“It was easy for Logan to detach herself from the heirloom's grip. It wasn't like with Iris, all violence and horror, maybe because as a necromancer, those things were already in her. Or maybe it was Logan's ability to proxy that protected her. [Thinking] Maybe I'm more special than even Iris.”

More special? Eye roll

It was okay

Deliah Green Doesn't Care wasn't bad, it was just okay.

It could have been better. To be honest, this book should have been more about Deliah's relationship with her family or Astrid and her journey from a posh obedient woman to finding out who she really is and standing up for herself, especially against her mother. With that said, can't wait to read the second book.

I thought Deliah and Iris, especially when they were interacting with each other was very childish and immature. I really didn't like Iris, she was the overly sexual best friend character and I hate that type of character. It just comes as bland, annoying and lazy to me.

The book also made me realize how much I don't like the relationship bet trope. At the beginning, Deliah and Astrid, make a bet that Deliah can make Claire fall in love with her. Really, the bet makes no difference, it could have been written out and the book would have been exactly the same. It was just there to drum up more conflict in the third act.

I don't know I just didn't like this book as much as I wanted to or really cared about Claire and Delilah's relationship.

“They may not be the Musketeers I'd imagined. But they were better, because they were mine. And I knew, as I looked at them and saw the cold steely resolve inside me mirrored in their eyes, that I was theirs.” -Tania, CH 18, pg. 206

“The three of you made me realize that whatever this dizziness is... well, maybe it's never been the real problem. It's horrible and it hurts and it makes me feel fragile in a way I never wanted, but it's not the thing that tears me apart. The problem, the real problem, is the people who decide I'm unworthy because of it.” Tania Ch 27, pg 325

Great med-paced read!

For starters, I loved this book. The sisterhood, mystery, the disability repsentation. This book really put in perspective what it's like to have POTS, at least in one example. It's definitely one of fav books and I'm sad to see it end.

“I want to know she understands how it feels to be falling in new love and bleeding from old love at the same time.” Ch. 13, pg 200 Scottie

Very good and fast read

After getting into a car accident, heartbroken basketball player Scottie Zajac is forced to drive popular Irene to school. Soon after that, the two enemies make a deal to fake date each other in order to each get what they want. Drama and emotions abound as Scottie begins to battle her feelings for both Irene and her toxic ex-girlfriend.

This book was very good.

The Zajac family dynamic was really good and had a healthy relationship. Irene and Scottie's relationship was really cute and it was nice to see them grow feelings for each other, although I did hate that Irene was forced to come out to the school, but at least she was okay with it.

I just felt like I didn't like Scottie at times. I felt like she went too far sometimes and has horrible pep talks with her friend, Danielle. Come to think of it, I didn't like her sister Thora at times either, as Scottie said, she was very judgemental and didn't really listen to her feelings. I was so glad when Scottie called her out on that.

But yeah this was very emotional, Scottie feelins are very layed out, but not too emotional to where it bogs down the story. Very good and quick read.

OTHER GOOOD QUOTES FROM BOOK:

“Oh come on. AP European History? A class where you literally study how white people fucked up the world with the Crusades and colonization and smallpox? Yet there's no room in the budget to offer Asian or African History? Yeah, no. If that's the pinnacle of academic study our school has to offer, I'll fucking pass. Say what you want about Ms. Bowles's ‘regular track' modern history class, but she makes a point of dismantling the whole European hegemony thing, and that's a much better use of my time.” -Ch 3, pg 37 Irene

“I smile. We lean our foreheads together, breathing. “I want to get to a place where I'm ready for you,” I whisper. “Just get to a place where you know how wonderful you are,” she whispers back. “They're one and the same.” -Ch. 16, pg 248 Irene

“Because before you can worry about who's in your passenger seat, you have to learn to drive yourself.” -Ch 16, pg 249 Scottie

“I've been falling for you since the second you hit my car,” I tell her, my voice shaking. “You are the most brilliant, passionate, infuriating person I've ever met. You make me feel seen.” -Ch. 18, 280 Scottie

Realistic, but too many lows.

“Our dad buying us food shouldn't have been a special treat, it shouldn't feel like Christmas or a trip to Disneyland; we should have had it all along. There should have been child support, there should have been someone making sure we had what we needed at school. There should have been regular bedtimes and no one working nights, leaving us home all alone. We should have been getting advice—better advice than “Don't ever go to Texas.”

This book is not what I expected.

This a book of lows with no highs to balance it out.

Dixie was annoying in how she got an attitude at Gem for things that was not even her fault. I mostly ignored her during the book and was glad when their Mom called her out that one time.

But Gem was the worst. She'd snap at Dixie and even other people for no reason or bc she was jealous of what they had. Given her situation, I get the jealous part but she didn't always have a reason. And she was also so negative, even when she was getting what she wanted, she couldn't be happy for a second. I couldn't stand her.

In one scene, Gem goes up to Dixie in the school cafeteria in front of her friends and asks for a letter that their Dad sent them. Dixie say not right now. So of course Gem gets mad and throws away the food she was complaining about not having and sticks the middle finger up to a boy that did nothing to her.

Overall she was just very unpleasant to read about.

The sisterhood. Where? They were always snipping at it each other. Gem is constantly thinking about her she has to take care of Dixie but even sometimes she has moments where she doesn't trust her. I thought it get better once they run out by themselves and maybe learn about each other, Gem manipulated her into coming and everything was the same.

This book get props for have a realistic potryal of what it like to live in poverty and how neglectful parents can affect you generationally. While the writing wasn't stellar it was pretty decent and this book was a pretty fast read. But in the end, I just did not like this one all that much.

“You,” she said. “All I want is you. I made so many lists of things I thought I wanted, but I threw them all away because it kept coming down to you. I know it'll get messy at times and we won't always agree, but what we have together is worth fighting for... you're worth fighting for. This... this is my parachute moment and I really hope it opens.” -Sonya, Ch 41, pg 403

A very cute story

This is first the Adult Romance book I've read from start to finish and I have to say I was not disappointed! I really liked it and Sonya and Trav were really cute.l together.

I cheered for them and felt fustrated when they wanted to be just friends. Their relationship was a rollercoaster of emotions and their backstories were very believeable. I also like the focus on consent and wearing condoms during sex. I liked the friendship between the girls and how cute their dynamics were with their husbands.

The only downside I found was that I felt like Trav feel in love Sonya pretty quickly, at time that I felt they still barley knew each other. I wished Sonya opened up to Trav about her Dad, it would've made their relationship deeper and why she reacted to certain a patients a certain way. But other than that, a total recommend and very cute story.

Merged review:

“You,” she said. “All I want is you. I made so many lists of things I thought I wanted, but I threw them all away because it kept coming down to you. I know it'll get messy at times and we won't always agree, but what we have together is worth fighting for... you're worth fighting for. This... this is my parachute moment and I really hope it opens.” -Sonya, Ch 41, pg 403

A very cute story

This is first the Adult Romance book I've read from start to finish and I have to say I was not disappointed! I really liked it and Sonya and Trav were really cute.l together.

I cheered for them and felt fustrated when they wanted to be just friends. Their relationship was a rollercoaster of emotions and their backstories were very believeable. I also like the focus on consent and wearing condoms during sex. I liked the friendship between the girls and how cute their dynamics were with their husbands.

The only downside I found was that I felt like Trav feel in love Sonya pretty quickly, at time that I felt they still barley knew each other. I wished Sonya opened up to Trav about her Dad, it would've made their relationship deeper and why she reacted to certain a patients a certain way. But other than that, a total recommend and very cute story.

Good book with beautiful writing and worldbuliding


“Peace comes when stories are celebrated, not erased.” -Tarisai, Ch.29, ph 289

Good book with beautiful writing and worldbuliding. But as the book slowed down I think my interest kind of waned. But all in all, the world in the book is so beautiful with unique places, cultures, trials that the characters go through. There was a lots of character development with them confronting their trauma and gaining self confidence.

I liked the idea of the council siblings and the Ray and how they could speak to each other through it. I like how they each was Appointed their own part to play in the world. I also like how the each have their own Hallow, a supernatural gift, like Kirah with healing and Tarisai with seeing memories. It's awesome and unique to each of them.

The down fall is that it was too slow paced for me and I wished we got learn about the other council siblings outside of Kirah, Dayo and Sanjeet, but overall it was a really good book.

Because, and I'll say it louder for the people in the back”—she leans closer to me—“there is no single path to success. Stop judging people whose success looks different than yours.” -Ch 29, pg 321 Bridget (Stella)

Good, but could have been better

Bitter enemies, Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are forced to work together when are chosen to be partners on a rat project. However, on the forum of their favorite show, Warship Seven, they unknowingly connect and start talking to each other. As they struggle to find the true identity of their online aliases, the two grow closer and closer in real life.

I loved the parallels between the show, Warship Seven and what happening with Wesley and Stella. The forum felt like a real fandom, even the misogynistic comments from sexist that Stella was in the middle of. The interlude of scenes from the Warship transcripts, blogs, and fics were so cute and awesome to read. And I like that book showed what its like to be poor and that just because you're rich doesn't your happy or everything handed to you.

However Stella was annoying. While I don't hate her, she was so judgmental and sometimes said things to her family, especially about/to her sister, was very rude and out of line. She thinks just because she has good grades and on track to college means she better than everyone else in her family. She constantly thought because Wesley was rich meant that he didn't have any problems and that life was easy for him. It was annoying.

I didn't really have anything to say about the romance, online they were great friends but in real life, it didn't replay go anywhere. They were mostly just mad at each other for things they did or said. It could have been better.

Overall, three stars.

Merged review:

Because, and I'll say it louder for the people in the back”—she leans closer to me—“there is no single path to success. Stop judging people whose success looks different than yours.” -Ch 29, pg 321 Bridget (Stella)

Good, but could have been better

Bitter enemies, Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are forced to work together when are chosen to be partners on a rat project. However, on the forum of their favorite show, Warship Seven, they unknowingly connect and start talking to each other. As they struggle to find the true identity of their online aliases, the two grow closer and closer in real life.

I loved the parallels between the show, Warship Seven and what happening with Wesley and Stella. The forum felt like a real fandom, even the misogynistic comments from sexist that Stella was in the middle of. The interlude of scenes from the Warship transcripts, blogs, and fics were so cute and awesome to read. And I like that book showed what its like to be poor and that just because you're rich doesn't your happy or everything handed to you.

However Stella was annoying. While I don't hate her, she was so judgmental and sometimes said things to her family, especially about/to her sister, was very rude and out of line. She thinks just because she has good grades and on track to college means she better than everyone else in her family. She constantly thought because Wesley was rich meant that he didn't have any problems and that life was easy for him. It was annoying.

I didn't really have anything to say about the romance, online they were great friends but in real life, it didn't replay go anywhere. They were mostly just mad at each other for things they did or said. It could have been better.

Overall, three stars.

He shakes his head and cups my cheek. “Yes, it is, Karina. I want you with all your lines.” A tremor runs through me. “All my lines?” Ace nods, resting his forehead against mine. “All your lines.” “There are so many,” I whisper and my voice cracks. “You should give up now.” He smiles faintly. “That doesn't change anything. I want you, Karina Ahmed. That means lines and all.” Ace, Ch 40, pg 314

Goody-two shoes Karina is assigned her teacher to tutor bad boy Ace Clyde. Things escalate when she is invited over his house and Ace suddenly blurts out that they are dating, prompting the two to fake a relationship. With ever increasing expectation put on marina by her parents, she struggles between fighting for happiness and feeling for Ace or let it all crash and burn.


This book has it's fair share of cliches and cheesiness but it was a good book. This book taught me a lot about the damaging effects of heavy expectations from parents. The anxiety rep was great and Ace was the BEST boyfriend. Seriously I want a guy like that when I get into a relationship. He the type of guy you marry.

However despite all the good, I did have some gripes:

•Ace didn't really feel like a bad boy to me. Sure he got detention or whatever but besides not caring about school and hanging out alone, he didn't do anything inherently bad. Besides wear a leather jacket and suck on lollipops like right out a 60s' movie.

•I wasn't really feeling the fake dating part in this one. I think it was mostly because Karina was trying to hide their relationship from her family. There was no real stakes or purpose to it except for on Ace's side. The book would have been fine if the fake dating was written out and maybe replaced.

Overall this book was EMOTIONAL. The writing was topnotch. You feel every inch of Karina's anxiety and understand why she hides who she is from her parents.

Definitely recommend for people seeking book featuring heavy anxiety rep, and characters in an actual healthy relationship.

Black and brown people vote more than we get credit for, first of all. We've stopped a lot of assholes from getting into office and voted out plenty, too.” pg 41, Duke

Good book about voting, not a black rom tho

After Duke is rejected from voting at his local polling place, Marva makes it her personal mission to help him find where he can vote. As the two spend more and more time together, they have candid conversations about voting and grief while also confronting their relationships with the people in their lives.

I like the Voting Booth. It's not my favorite but it's had some really good conversations about race and how important voting really is. Some situations that come up in the book hit me with the reality of voter suppression and how it impacts people.

Although, I felt like the main characters lacked chemistry. They didn't start to see each other differently until the VERY end. It wouldn't have been a problem if this book wasn't marketed as a romance and people weren't commenting about them as a couple. Duke had more chemistry with his friend, Kendall than Marva. Marva also irritated me sometimes. She was very pushy about voting but I get that she was just passionate about it. The ending was also very rushed.

All in all, I would say The Voting Booth is perfect for people that are about to vote or want to learn more about voter suppression, but I wouldn't call this a black romance at all.

“Theoretically, I want to share my work. I want to fully own this thing I want to spend my life doing. I want to not care when people call it a guilty pleasure, or have the courage to convince them why they're wrong. Or even better, the confidence not to care what they think.” -Rowan, pg 120

Rivals Rowan and Neil Mcnair have always been at each other throats trying to best one another. Yet with graduation around the corner, that battle nearly over. Rowan and Neil have only one more chance to beat each other in the annual competition, Howl. 

Pros 

+Jewish rep. You a lot times especially in movies, the only Jewish representation I come across was a cheater mentioning their Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas. That it. Like an afterthought. But I appreciate TdTnTm for actually showing the audience Judaism and how it impacts the characters live. It isn't just an afterthought in this book, it's actually representation. 

+it was really nice seeing a slow burn romance. Their romantic feelings grew at the perfect speed. I felt like their chemistry was realistic. 

+Conversations about romance novel and female empowerment. There are more than several of conversations about the importance of romance novels and how they're not trashy and can actually add to the feminist movement. I LOVED reading about Rowan's love for romance novels and her relatable feelings about admitting she wants to be a writer. 

+Parents and Rowan. I loved Rowan and with her parents and that they were parents were so trusting and there. Usually, YA novels try to write the parents out, so it's a nice change for once. 

+I love reading the note, texts and emails in between chapters. It was cute and creative.

+The idea of Howl and the safety zones are awesome and so creative especially the clues. 

+I loved how soft and sweet Neil was. Even when Rowan lashes out at him, he didn't go for a low blow, he went for the truth. 

+I also like the conversations and Rowan struggle with graduating and what the future holds. It was very realistic and made me think back on my high school years. 

Cons 

-I felt like the conflict with her friends was solved pretty quickly. They never really talked about it. One moment they were mad at each other, the next they were cool. I don't know I just felt like something was missing. I would have liked to see more of them. 

Besides the one above, I genuinely can't find any more things I didn't like about the book. The Jewish rep and conversations romance novels really blew me away and I really appreciate. I would definitely like to read more YA books with Jewish rep in them. Other that I definitely recommend this book, especially for graduating high school students and anybody who is Jewish.

Okay, but didn't click for me

After nineteen year old Evie Jones is betrayed by her best friend and disgraced by the media, she is forced to relocate to New York and stay with her grandmother for a while. But after a argument, her grandmother disappears and it's up to her and a boy named Milo to find her.

Pros

+fast paced. This book was very short and a very fast read.
+black romance rep. Even though the romance was really on the back burner it nice to read something with black protagonists in a contemporary setting and not surrounding by issues of race or in poverty.

+fame scene. I like the articles and transcripts sprinkles in-between the chapter it really bring the Hollywood scene to life
+Milo. I like how mostly patient and understanding Milo was. There was only a few time he got really angry. He was always down to help.

Cons

-not a lot of action. Most the book focuses on the same area or Milo's band. I was really disappointed that I didn't really get to explore more area of New York. There more standing around talking then action.
-slightly repetitive in the beginning. Near the beginning tends to state facts or backstories about the characters over and over again. It's doesn't last long but it does get a bit tiring.
-not enough development. While Evie became a bit more open, less selfish, and began to not share what people think, she is mostly still the same. We never really see her development grow over time. It just all there at the end.
-barely any chemistry. I like romance was the main focus or a huge factor but in consequence of we only get a few moments with Evie and Milo. The chemistry is too weak for them to be a full blown romance.


I don't know what about this book didn't click for me. I felt like I was slogging through it even though it was pretty fast read. I VERY appreciative for the black romance rep but this book just didn't do for me.

Liked it, but expected a bit more action

After a spirit adducts his sister, Malik must win a contest, emerge as King, and kill the Crown princess for his sister's freedom. Meanwhile, struggling with the death of her mother, Princess Karina seeks the heart of a king to resurrect her. Yet, against all odds, the two fall in love with each other.

Pros

+Malik personality. You don't see much soft bois in YA. Malik was so soft and adorable and empathic. It nice change from these brooding bad boys about we always see.

+anxiety rep. The anxiety rep is so good especially when Malik had a panic attack. I am so glad to finally see some good mental health rep. I especially since love or anything else didn't cure his anxiety by the end.

+competition. I like the idea of the Champion competition and the different Aligned champions

+the twists and turns at the end redeemed the book for me and made me look forward to reading the sequel.

+history. Learning some of the history and how it all came into play at the end was interesting.


Cons

-slowpaced. I feel like the focus is so heavy on emotions and not enough on the characters task. I feel like that got nothing done until late in the book.

-Karina. Karina was so immature and infuriating to read about. She was constantly making rash decisions in her hot headness. She was also pushed everyone away and damaged her image. I mean, I know she's a teenager dealing with a lot of unprocessed grief, but that did make it any less frustrating to read. She gets better by the end but it doesn't erase the first half of the book.

-infodumps. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a history textbook. Characters would record history of the city and while it was interesting, I was left wondering what the importance of it was.

-development. Character development didn't come until exactly 65% percent of the book.

-lack of chemistry. The protagonists spend so time apart for more than first half of the book. Their chemistry felt rushed and sudden.

This book was different than I thought it would be. It was more tame. I thought it would have more action and less dialogue.

All these black and brown bodies dancing under red lights. Skins glistening, white teeth shining, laughing, drinking . . . this is what our people were always supposed to look like. Filled with joy, love, and happiness.” Ch 32, pg 240 Jasmine

Liked it, but didn't love it

After their best friend, Stephon or Steph suddenly dies, Quadir and Jarell team up with his sister, Jasmine, and pretend he is still alive after Steph becomes famous for his rap music.

Pros

+90s rapper references

+Music is one of the central themes to the story. I like the character s' know their stuff and have conversations about music.

+Written in AAVE. It adds to the character personalities

+Parents are present. Sure some of them may dead or absent but we hear at least one half of the parents. A lot of YA books avoid involving the parents at all so it was nice to see parents in a few scenes for once.

+Slow burn romance.

+Small feminist discussion. There's one scene where a group about female rapper and what they rap about.

+Black history. I liked that a little black history facts were said throughout the novel


Cons

-Steph tapes got popular waaayyy too quickly. I felt like anytime someone listened to them, they instantly fell in love with his music. It feel unrealistic for someone just starting with no press to be popstar status already.

–Their whole plan seemed unrealistic. In real life, it would have fallen part early on. There no way studio would want to with a person they never see.

–The three POV's. with all the flip-flopping it was kinda hard to keep track of who's POV I was in.

-Jarell was so annoying at first but I became used to his POV as the book went on. Some the dialogue was still cringey tho.

-The book was super long. It seems to drag at one point

-Ending was kinda rushed. Suddenly one character was nice and the injuries of two characters seemed to be forgotten.

All in all, despite the cons, I appreciate this book for letting into the world of the 90s, learn a little black history, and the importance of hip-hop in the nineties.

If you like argument and more arguments, sub-subplots, and toxic relationships, then this is the book for you.

Honestly this book started off so nice but ended so different from what I expected it to be. I expected cute, instead I got angry.

PROS
+I like reading Colby's POV more than Meg's, I felt like I connected to him more than Meg. Mostly because he works a minimum wage job and works in “poor” town, aspiring for more.
+I like that Meg phonebanks and is good at her job. We need more books about voting and the different ways to register.
+Tris, Colby's dog, is really cute and I like that she was a Pit Bull. We need more pets and Pit Bulls in YA.
+Colby's a virgin. It nice for the boy to be the inexperienced one for once.

CONS
-I'm still trying to figure out exactly why the two MC we're attracted when they first met. All of took was one phone call and suddenly they couldn't stop thinking of each other voices. It didn't make sense at all

-On that note, their entire relationship was infuriating. It was so toxic. They always picked a fight with each other and ONLY talked about politics. Barely anything else. They were BOTH so annoying and didn't deserve each other. I HATE their relationship.

-Colby had better relationship with his friend Joanna. She was the better and more healthy option. She was way more compassionate than Meg too. When Colby lied about his mother being sick, this was Joanna was compassionate. She even offered to give her soup. I wished they had gotten together even for a little bit.

-I couldn't stand Meg's friend Emily, she was kind of selfish and didn't put much on their friendship. I didn't feel like they were best friends.

-Meg was politics and nothing else. Everything to her had a political element. She even turned a conversation about a movie into a political fact. She had really no other personality outside of politics, no hobbies are mentioned. She even lied to her mother, drive 8 hours to a town she doesn't know, with a boy she doesn't know and be all feminist and tell everybody what to do and what they should care about. She was obnoxious, infuriating, and exactly why people don't like radical feminists today.

-the third person POV was a big weak point of the book. I didn't feel what the characters felt and there was more telling than showing. I don't see why at least one of the POV couldn't be in first person. Bad choice.

-and if IK hear the phrase ,”Nobody can pull the rug from under you if you decide the rug doesn't exist in the exist first place.” again... the phrase is repeated so many freaking times throughout the novel

I was gonna give this book three stars but as the book went on and the couple we're supposed to root for got into yet ANOTHER argument. I couldn't do it anymore. I didn't care about the characters and I certainly didn't care about their relationship, which by the way will not survive in the future, no what the ending implies.

“Not when every Black person knows, cops face no consequences when they decide to pull the trigger.”-Tavia, Ch. VII (7) - pg. 1618 [ebook]




“It's about not letting being Black in America be an executionable offense,” he says. Like he's had this type of conversation before.”-Wallace(Effie's POV), ch. XII (12) - pg. 3108 [ebook]




Two sister-figures face various changes in their lives. Tavia is a Siren but she fights to keep her identity secret in a world that against people like her. Effie is about to move up in her role as Ephermia the Mer at the yearly Ren Faire, but when her past comes back to haunt her, she begins to find out what she really is.

I really wanted to like this but it turned not to be exactly blurb says. I feel mislead. Here are my thoughts:


•PROS

-Loved Tavia and Effie's sister relationship, although I thought they could've been closer and found it weird how quickly they hid stuff from each other.

-Loved the black rep and mentioning of Effie's twists.

-Loved the attempted mixture of fantasy and black social issues, it's a very interesting and original concept.

-this book had some really, really good quotes on oppression for being black.

•CONS

-I feel the stakes weren't high enough. Something would happen but we're left with more questions while the books would move on and focus on other things like romance.

-the writing style is WEIRD. this book reads like a blog or journal of some kind. The dialogue is so causal and cringe at times. I don't know I just have like I keep getting high info dumps of information that wasn't that important. I feel like nothing was actually explained. Sometimes it was hard to tell if we were in the next scene. It only explained how they felt, no inner personal connection. Important things would happen off-page and it felt like we missed something.

-the fantasy was too low. We barely learned anything about the different creatures in this world, where they come from, the history. They're all barely touched on, we're just given the bare basics.

-the “romance” was wack and lackluster and the twist near the end totally ruined it. Wallace, a boy at a pool that Effie likes, wasn't a big enough character for it to have an big impact on the audience. He was kind of in the background the whole book.

-And for all of the book there just so much talk of the Renaissance Faire and how important it is to Effie, but we barely to see it, and that was before Ren Faire started. Why have such a huge emphasis on something only to write it out when it matters?

-Tavia and Effie go to a Black Lives Matter protest and the way it was written was short and lackluster. It didn't feel like a protest. It felt like the protest was shifted away from the black kid that died, and onto sirens and supporting them. It didn't feel right.

-Effie's POV was much more broad than Tavia's. Although, I like Tavia's more Effie's was much more interesting. She had to deal with a lot of changes and a lot of heartache and a lot of mystery. Tavia's POV mostly talked her Siren identity and being Black. When she's stopped by the police and uses her voice (on purpose btw, not “accidentally” like the blurb wants you to believe), she barely had to face any consequences from that, not even from her parents.

-what happened and how people reacted near the end was unrealistic and unbelievable.

Honestly, after the 60% mark I was just done. I was ready to get the book over with but I didn't want DNF it, I at least wanted to know the direction it was headed.

Overall, I really wanted to like this book more, but it was average. It could have been written and structured better. It didn't what it wanted to focus on. (Black Lives Matter? High school issues? Romance?) And the book suffered because of it. A Black Lives Matter fantasy can absolutely be done, but preferably not executed like this

In a society separated by Royal, Legal, and Nameless, A Nameless girl with no name called Coin, suddenly finds herself on the throne when the Royal black crown tattoo appears on her arm. Going from a homeless Nameless to a wealthy Royal, Coin fights to stay on the throne when everyone else wants her off the throne and dead.

This book was very uninventive. It did nothing new with the Girl becomes Queen trope.

The writing was just so juvenile and would have been better if it was released in like 2011, maybe 2012, not 2020. It would have fit right in with the other dystopias and I think I would liked it then. I think.

It's just.....this book is full of clichés, particularly for the MC.

Cocky and smooth heroine belongs to lowest caste in the kingdom, but finds out she has powers and is the chosen one. She also has only one friend who she separated from while she lives a life of luxury.

Coin is an EXPERT thief.

She never gets caught and always knows how to steal or break into somewhere.

“They may have searched me upon entry, but by the time they lead me into a quaint sitting room, my pockets are filled once again. My best take is a kitchen knife from an untended platter of half-eaten food. Granted, it's difficult to make thefts when my hands are shackled, but I keep my hands moving and clinking so they don't notice when I snatch something. It doesn't even occur to them to search me again. Big mistake.”

How?!

Glenquartz nods at last and withdraws from the door of the cell. I count the seconds as his footsteps fade, and I give it an extra five seconds before I put the key in the lock. I consider for a moment whether I should take the kitchen knife with me or not. If I stow it in the waste drain, it'll be here if I get arrested again. They'll search me, and they'll search the cell, but I'm betting they won't search the drain.

Once the cell door is open, I stuff the key in my pocket, hide the knife, and head out.

Coin has her powers on lock.

“See, the problem is you're trying to threaten me, but you're being polite about it. I grew up on the streets, so you'll have to do better than that. If you want to threaten someone, you do it like this.” I step closer so we're almost nose to nose, my voice dropping to a dead, even tone. “If you ever touch me again, or if I ever feel threatened by you”—I allow a delicate, careful smile to overtake my features—“I will kill you.”

“If I wanted to get asked questions I don't know the answer to,” I say, “I'd wait until my next etiquette lesson.”

“It's a rhetorical question that I'm about to answer,” Esther says impatiently.

“If it's rhetorical, can you answer it?” I muse.

Esther's nostrils flare. “You're being difficult, and it's making this conversation harder.”

I hold up a hand to indicate that I'll try to show some restraint.

so

Unprepared teenager Freya is forced onto the throne, when she suddenly becomes first in line from 33rd when someone poisons the King and his Court. Between learning how to be queen and ruling a kingdom she barely knows, Freya is determined to find out who the killer is while evading attempts on her life.

I didn't expect this book to be so....flat, but by Chapter Six, I knew what the rest of the book was going to be like. I mean, I didn't come in with high expectations, a part of me wanted the book to be better than I thought it was going to be. But it wasn't. It wasn't necessarily worse, but it wasn't great either.

This book is really a slow-paced murder mystery with a typical medieval background. It's more mystery than fantasy. It's a very simple, flat book. Nothing compelling happens for most of the book, it's just mostly detective work and royal court politics.

PROS
•I did like seeing Freya actually put in the work to become queen. Usually, the heroine puts in little effort and is somehow already prepared to rule a whole freaking country. It was nice seeing the inner workings of a royal court.

•I like that she has a cat named Dagny. This is very refreshing to see and I wish we could see more protagonists owning pets, especially in a fantasy. Although, Dagny did disappear throughout the book would have been nice if she was consistent.

•Good writing, Freya felt real at times.

•The inclusion of science. I loved that Freya was into science and wanted to be a scientist, that's not something you see at all in YA fantasy.

•It get interesting near the end, at least


CONS
•Slow pacing

•Freya, at times, at least in the beginning, complained about plain and different from girls. A cliché in YA MC's.

•Little to no action

•I might have missed it but they never explained who the Forgotten was. I kept seeing it, but I don't really know who they are. A group of people, I think?

•Freya and Fitzroy's relationship was very late and lackluster. They only kissed one time and it was only to hint at a potential relationship. We never really got to see them together and get to know each other. Besides, Freya was too busy with being queen, a detective, and surviving. Either there should be a novella to explore their “romance” or Thomas shouldn't have written in at all.

•To be honest, the reveal was lackluster, too.

All in all, I think it would have been better if this book was promoted as a Fantasy/Mystery, instead of just Fantasy. Even then, there's nothing really fantastical about it. I found myself skimming through this book and I don't think it will stay with me. But I guess I can see why some people may like it.

If you into slow, drawn out, mystery on a medieval background, I think you'll like this book.

This book was just....okay.

I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It's just equal parts dull, equal parts boring, equal parts interesting, and equal parts cool.

There's nothing remarkable about this book but it's isn't the worse thing on the market.

It's mainly just mystery, dialogue, disguises, secrets and running through cities.

The writing was very awkward at times. You can really tell that this was one of Jodi Meadow's older books. I've read Before She Ignites and her writing has grown.

I didn't like Wilhelmina all that much. She made some stupid, impulsive decisions sometimes and was kind of selfish and pestimistic. I don't know if this is the writing, but every five pages she reminds the readers of the horrors she went through, and that her parents were shot in front of everyone. The book tries to paint her as some warrior and expert fighter but loses her daggers and attention often during fights. She didn't really act like a Queen or leader at all for the whole book until near the end. I felt she had little development, I felt like she didn't really change that much over the course of the book.

I don't know if I will be reading the second book, I'll probably just skim through to get some closure.

If you like slow-paced mystery fantasy books with a heavy focus on espionage then this is the book for you.