Alana

The cover is cute and there are some parts that made me smile and relate, but when it came down to it, I couldn't get into the story. The MC didn't stand out in any way at all and the story felt like every other YA contemporary book I have read. Not bad...just not great.

Absolutely beautiful. Febos uses this collection of essays to brilliantly illustrate the realities of being a female...as a queer female myself, this book was a breath of fresh air to read. Things I could relate to on every page, such a creatively compiled book with so many relevant topics. Agghh best book of April so far, and it's not even a genre I typically read.

Thrilled I finally got to read this beautiful book, it follows multiple story-lines and characters and deals with ever pertinent themes like abuse, immigration, family, and all in between. Garcia pens a lovely book, one that I think anyone - regardless of backgrounds, favorite genre, or reading habits - would be better off reading. Just lovely.

Finlay is a mess...and it was a blast to read. This book verges on funny just how much she is going through and struggling with, and while at times it is over the top, it's also relatable because every single human being is struggling with at least something, so reading about characters who aren't perfect and rooted in real time feels like a much needed reassurance to get. Awesome book, and despite all that Finlay struggles with and does at points, she is now one of my favorite fictional characters!

Oh, how happy I am that I finally read this book after hearing so many good things. This book is something. Set in the great depression and exploring these issues in a light that doesn't set to trivialize and clearly has been well-researched, this book explores female power and endurance during an agonizing time period. Truly a beauty to read, wow wow.

This book touched on soooo many topics...grief, friendship, sadness, and many others...yet it was done so well by Schumacher that it felt fresh and never muddled, emotional yet inspiring. This book is great, just woww. It's heavy and realistic and I think most people can relate to some of the parts if not the broader themes, making it a great read for most anyone.

Definitely a feel-good, slow-burn romance. The approach to anxiety is realistic as well. Recommended if you need a pick-me-up or something to make ya' smile.

There are different and unique aspects of this book - like it being told as though the reader is Rachel - that make it stand out. Sarah is an interesting character to get into, and the perspective from which the story is told makes it seem a bit more unsettling (which is the point). I did enjoy this read; the ending, not as much, but I still left it feeling glad I'd tried out this recently published book. It's dark and unique in telling/writing, which is straight up my alley.

With the Olivia Jade's of the world making headlines for their rich families cheating their way into college, Admission was an interesting and relevant read. I'll be honest - the whole Jade scandal has always irked me beyond measure because I don't come from a rich family, and I had to work my butt off to get into college (and I ended up going to a decent school, but not a USC or anything like that). So when I read that Admission follows a similar storyline, I was interested. What's the psyche of a student who cheats their way into school? Why does this happen so often?

Chloe was a character was interesting enough, though I didn't particular feel invested in her or her story. I'd love to see a book that follows this idea where I come to ROOT for the character, thus turning my biases of these rich families cheating on its head. I'd like to see a book where I sit back, perplexed as to how I actually feel emotion for someone who cheated when that's something I'd never do - even if I had the means to (which I am far from having!). But Chloe just wasn't incredibly relatable or investment-worthy to me. She was pretty run-of-the mill. So yes, the story itself? Interesting and relevant. Though my notions of this issue remain the same.

A newly released queer retelling of Pride and Prejudice. P&P isn't my all time favorite, but I found this book interesting enough delving into lesser known characters and adding unique elements and more modern rep.

This didn't strike me as a Jane Eyre retelling per se, maybe something loosely based off of it, but not a retelling. But hey, it was spooky, it was unique, it was fun regardless.

I've had this on my tbr since July and it lived up to my hopes! I mean. LOOK. at that COVER. And the pacing, though slow, kept me engaged with the characters and involved in the icy, rugged landscape Long painted for us. I'm the kind of reader who sits on books well before i read them, so when I finally get around to a book and it makes me wish I read it earlier, I know it's one that will stick with me. I haven't read Long before but I feel I've grown attached now. This story was RIGHT up my alley with genre, characters, pace, setting, and overall execution.

THE CHEMISTRY. THE BEAUTY...of BOTH the writing and the book (I got the one with gold edges and my god I'm swooning). Emilia and Wrath are PERFECT and I ship them so hard my brain hurt by the end of reading. Witches, demons, romance...my gosh what DOESN'T this book have? I know there are some mixed reviews of this book due to historical inaccuracies and whatnot, but Maniscalco edited some things too and I believe that was for the better. I REALLY enjoyed the read, the setting and sense of place, and the characters.

I think I have been realizing the sheer amount of plague books that exist in this world...or maybe its just that I have a keener eye for them now. This historical fiction masters the setting and the characters, and while I did have a hard time every once in a while keeping engaged (a lot of that is because I was thrown off by the lack of quotation marks...get used to it, ladies, gents, and nonbinary fellow readers...because it's odd. And jarring. But I got used to it), all things considered, I found the read timely and enjoyable.

This is a book of stellar representation, and it is RARE I read any book with [queer]platonic relationships, so I will take it where I can get it. Be sure to peak at the CWs prior to reading, as there are some themes that may be triggering, but all in all a lovely read.

I'd give this book a solid 3 stars (maybe even 3.5) if it weren't for the questions that went unanswered, which left the book not feeling as completed as I hoped. Still a mysterious and creepy read, certainly some hooking parts, but the lack of answers bugged me. That said...I can still appreciate a damn good cover when I see it.

There's a lot of strong suits to this book, though I will warn the reader it can get slow. It's a creative and interesting approach to the sci-fi genre that meshes fantasy and some issues we see in non-fantasy worlds as well. Would I read it again? eh, I don't think so, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the reader all things considered.

This book was released only five days ago, yet I can see it eventually being used in classrooms...like holy moly, is it dark and eerie and emotional and lyrical all at the same time, with some of the best characters I've read and a beautiful, atmospheric storyline. Blown away. Speechless. Just wow, Anderson. How have I not heard of this author before??!

READ THIS BOOK. I repeat: READ THIS BOOK. Not all scifi appeals to me, but this one did. The polyam rep in place of the standard YA love triangle cliche, the violence that isn't too much but enough to make your heart race, the pacing, the plot, the characters...this novel is strong, and so much happens but none of it makes you dizzy or need to go back and read ten pages prior because it's muddled. No - this one is well-developed, well-paced, well-everything. Iron Widow #2 has me a DEDICATED reader.

This is a great book. Though on its surface it is fictional, there's a lot of philosophical questions that arise from us. What does being “human” mean? What does being alive entail and where do we draw the line? Though in essence this book has mystery and some scifi elements, the philosophical questions stood out to me at the end, which I greatly appreciate as someone who doesn't generally read books with philosophical ponderings in mind.

Maze Runner vibes, HG vibes, and King vibes all in one. Though - and I don't say this lightly - this book may have surpassed all three of those authors/books. I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed this one in a morbid type of way. Oliver does a great job creating the harrowing nature of the prison and how prisoners succumb to the multitude of torture(s) they experience.

Veronica Mars, mystery-solving, crime-solving vibes, and exploration of indigenous identity, and a cover that is something dreams are made of? Mwah! Really a strong book by Boulley. It follows a teen girl who investigates drug crimes, and while on the surface that sounds like your typical teen-solving-mysteries book, this one is so much more. There's topics like the struggle to find and solidify one's identity, there's twists and turns and some massive “HOLY SHIT” moments. I will say sometimes the plot felt a little overwhelming in all that was happening, which took away some believableness (is that a word? eh...), but hey, ya girl is cool with some flair in plots. This is just the book you should read if you like mystery and twists and turns with exploration of important topics, a little romance sprinkled in (because don't almost all novels have that?), and a kickass mc who I think a lot of people can relate to in some way or another.

I've heard all good things about this book and all good things were spot on. There is romance, there is queer rep, there is intensity and importance and everything you could hope for in a book. Falling in love with a ghost is added in as well, which I didn't know I needed until now. Really just a gushingly wonderful book. I am gushing. The book is gushing. Loved every bit.

A pretty good novel, the cover is delightful, and although I will say the story got a little slow sometimes, there was enough going on to eventually make up for it. I think this will entertain a lot of readers who like fantasy, and it can be read by both younger people and young adults/adults.

dnf - May just be me, but this feels like a mesh of a bunch of popular fiction and fantasy books with not so great execution. Couldn't get through it