Fiona

Adorable. Leo's is a sympathetically boring character and I enjoyed the messaging about not letting others' labels define us. The story trips along quite well with a strong sense of place and an humorous supporting cast. While it touches lightly on grief, this is a fluffy adventure and such elements are only to counterpoint the happy ending.

Thank you to Tundra Books who kindly sent me a copy for review.

Requested from the library after seeing the movie, which is better, imo, than the book. Cute story but I am unimpressed by the artwork.

I like this original incarnation of Harley and how pg-13 it is.

I got halfway through this and just lost interest. Given that it's now at the bottom of a rather hefty pile on my nightstand, I'm going to admit defeat and call it a dnf.

I didn't care for the artwork but this was a fascinating look at life in China from the cultural revolution to the present.

Uninspired. Harley comes across as a very flat character.

A fluffy ya romance acts as the scaffold for mental health issues. This was different from Nic Stone's other works as its more tell-y and feels very much like it was written during the pandemic, with its scant character count and focus on psych matters.

Meh. The artwork is lovely but the plot is sloppy.

For anyone who has studied psychology and sociology, the concepts in this book are old news. Game theory, identity politics, the trust paradox, etc. are covered in depth and mingled with examples from both research and the author's own life. The writing is academic in tone and I found myself drifting off any time I read more than a couple pages. Ultimately, I was not engaged by this but it isn't unreadable, just boring.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy (and for helping me fall asleep every night as I tried to finish the book. :)

Cute and absurdist. Its got good structure but I never really bought into the premise nor liked the characters enough to be invested.

Another solid offering from Barnhill. I found it very slow to start though.

DNF. This book is really annoying me. I might just be in a mood but it all seems so formulaic and the characters are very stock, so when the protagonist is made a bad driver, I have to nope out. It's such a horrible cliché that women can't drive and makes the character unlikable, when I wasn't endeared by the narrative voice in the first place.

Slow beginning with more set-up than I really like but once it got moving, the story was engrossing and the characters well-drawn and memorable.

Pretty standard fare, fairly well executed, art is adequate, not terribly memorable though.

DNF. Doctorow's editor must be on vacation cause this is just... ugh. Main character is a Gary Stu, info dumps all over the place, and if I had paid money for this book, I'd be demanding a refund. Next!

Unconventionally charming. I love the concept and the execution was soft, gentle. Plot-wise, it's fairly predictable but the characters are not. Definitely will be reading Lamb's future efforts.

An easy and intriguing read, but the climax is a bit soft.

Incredibly slow for the first half but eventually picks up and then finishes quite abruptly. Some funny and clever stuff but not on par with the earlier books in the trilogy, imo.

DNF. This is not proving one of Korman's better works so I'm noping out after 100 pages; my nightstand runneth over with books.

My book club is doing this and I think it really holds up well. I had forgotten how clever some of this is.

I liked the quasi-illustrated format; it makes the information very accessible. This book is really about propaganda in politics and focuses exclusively on US politics which is clearly a dumpster fire but I hadn't realized how it came to be that way so this was enlightening.

Strong characterization and a solid plot, bonus marks for the extensive author's note about historical context. I would absolutely read more by Schrempp.

A very sweet story, perhaps too tidy an ending but well done nevertheless.

Not nearly as enjoyable as 84 but it was satisfying to read of Helene finally making it to England.

This is a sweet little affirmation of female friendship and a timely reminder of why I don't have long hair anymore; I couldn't enjoy the book thinking how much time and energy was being wasted on hair.