Bryce

Wow, this took me forever to read. I liked a lot of it (the art, some of the characters, overall atmosphere) but I had some trouble following what was happening. Maybe one day I'll read it again and it'll click.

Horrifying and ugly with a rough, sometimes messy art style that felt so appropriate for the story it was telling. There are no shortage of horror stories/cautionary tales about the modeling/fashion/entertainment industry, specifically the ways that they manipulate and dehumanize young women, but I thought this one was particularly effective and visceral. Not a fun read, but it's a smart mix of commentary and horror.

A lot of the bad reviews here are about how the protagonist is unlikable, or that there doesn't really seem to be a “point” to this book, but the way that Jean Kyoung Frazier writes about people feeling complicated, messy emotions and doing things that even they don't really know WHY they're doing is heartfelt and empathetic. There aren't any easy answers or explanations, but I never felt the way that things developed was nonsensical or just completely out-of-nowhere.

To me, this book nails the experience of sabotaging your own life without even really knowing why—as if you're watching your life go off the rails from the sidelines without being able to stop it. This isn't something everyone will enjoy or connect to emotionally, and that's okay. It's a book about complex people behaving in sometimes shitty ways as they try to figure out how to cope with the lives they're living, and I think it's quite a good one.

Tense, disturbing, and surprisingly sweet? It's an excellent 80's-set horror story, with some memorable and scary scenes, but the core of the story is the friendship between Abby and Gretchen. It definitely elevates this from just entertaining pulp horror to something that's more interesting than you'd expect. Really good stuff!

Unpleasant but fascinating and witty in its own way. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I'm glad I read it. Hard to summarize my feelings about this.

Received a free ARC through Net Galley.

A cleverly-constructed, funny retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest that manages to surprise even if you know the plot points of the original play. Worth reading even if you're not familiar with/a fan of The Tempest.

A short, sweet holiday romance. I wasn't blown away by the writing, and though I thought it was a cute story, it just ends up being okay. There isn't enough here for me, not enough personality in the writing and even in the characters - beyond mostly surface-level quirks and backstories that are never really explored. Enjoyable enough, just not much more.

I loved parts of this and really didn't enjoy other parts, I love Ortberg's writing but this collection was a bit too inconsistent for me.

Great art, great characters, very heartfelt and authentic. Loved it.

Definitely my favorite volume so far. More emotion and development of the story.

I liked this one more than the last, but I don't really care where it goes from here.

It feels very cliched in some ways, but the very dark subject matter at the core provides some mystery and an interesting angle. I didn't love it but I'm interested in reading more.

Another intriguing, solid chapter in this story.

Vol. 1 is a sweet (but dark), atmospheric beginning to a story that I'm eager to keep reading. Right now everything is so shrouded in mystery that it's hard to really judge this book on its own, but I like the way it sets things up.

Wow. This is a good, weird ending to good, weird trilogy. I'm not sure how to process it just yet. I think I'm satisfied.

As strange and fascinating as the first book, but feeling more “complete” as a novel. It explains some things without spoiling the unnerving mystery of Area X, and I'm even more excited for the third book now.

Moving, sometimes funny, always fascinating and thoughtful.

Solid capper to the series, #3 and #4 have been my favorites, even if this one didn't answer all my questions.

This one is my favorite of the series so far. It's funny, engaging, and it felt over-the-top without trying too hard. Sad that there's only one left!

Well-written and at times very moving, just a little dry for my tastes. It felt too much like a play-by-play of everything the central family went through rather than a naturally flowing story.

I received an uncorrected ARC of this book for free through Net Galley.

I really, really loved [b:The Snow Child|11250053|The Snow Child|Eowyn Ivey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327098624s/11250053.jpg|16176521]. I think Eowyn Ivey is an enormously talented writer and so I was excited to read her next book, which I was fortunately able to get an ARC of. To the Bright Edge of the World has the same sense of gentle, quiet beauty that The Snow Child has, but the deliberate pacing can make the story seem a bit drier than many readers would like. This particular novel took me quite a while to read because it's at its best when you can sit down and really devote your time and attention to it, something I was never able to do when I went to read it. However, the times that I was able to give it my full attention, I found a story that was full of life and beauty, populated by characters that were carefully drawn and fascinating.

This book isn't going to be for everyone, but you'll find something great if you're willing to look.

Interesting, strange graphic novel with nice art. It's very short, but it's an effective short story in comic form.

I received a free ARC of this book through Net Galley.

This was a nice, simple, sweet story with art that was lovely to look at and well-suited to the tone of the story. I do wish it hadn't been quite so simple, because the overly-cartoonish villain did ruin the gentle, melancholy mood of the story for me, and I would have liked a little more time spent with the ghosts. I really would have liked less of the broad strokes of middle-grade fiction (villain, generic bullies) and more time with the main characters. With that said, I still found myself smiling and enjoying the book for what it was, flaws and all.

4.5 rounded up because man did this book hit me like a ton of bricks. The sort-of sci-fi premise is just the framework for a genuine, moving, human story with characters that I loved. I felt like it toed the line between sappy and sincere with enough authenticity that the “message” never felt preachy, and I also loved how LGBT representation was so casually included throughout the book multiple main AND side characters (is that a spoiler?) without feeling like it was just trying to tick boxes for diversity.

They Both Die at the End is just really good.