Mercer

This was between a 4 and a 5 for me. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone because the content is deeply challenging and potentially triggering, but I do think that anyone who parents children should read it, whether they are fat or not.

This definitely shook my perspectives on some things and challenged what I think “effective” parenting is.

This book was pretty whack! Torn between three stars and two, but honestly I don't think I would ever do anything besides tell someone not to read this.

I read a review that called the love interest “discount Rhysand” and tbh, cannot unsee.

This book was trite, predictable and poorly written. The characters were one dimensional, and the romance was uninspired. The way that death was dealt with was shocking—very little energy or attention given to it despite the fact that it was EVERYWHERE in this book.

Beyond that, there was zero “show don't tell” in this text. All exposition happened in conversation, nothing left to be inferred. The twist at the end was equally predictable and telegraphed.

As a YA/academia novel: the setting lacks exploration. As a romance novel, it lacks good romance, or well-written meaningful scenes. Truly it delivers on nothing. Read dragon riders of pern instead. :)

I like the world that this is set in. I think the magic etc is interesting. However, nothing happened in this book except for realllllly bad dialogue and exposition. I think the whole 400 pages took place over a week? Two weeks? I'm not sure.

I will likely read this whole series in a similar way that I read 50 shades. Which is to say with equal horror and enjoyment.

Very interesting premise. Not a very interesting book. I wish more of the characters had time to shine and be a bit more fleshed out. Ironically everything felt very two dimensional.

Wonderful little nuggets of wisdom from inspiring people. Interesting stories, actionable advice.