Gabe Cole Novoa

I don't read much novel-in-verse, but this was great. Really appreciated the thoughtful and respectful chronic illness representation with not one, but two main characters. I don't have Chrohn's, specifically, but some of the lines especially about being young and ill, or about not being able to trust your body really resonated with me.

Great voice and powerful story with some memorable characters. Really appreciated seeing some much needed representation including poverty and disability (two characters are disabled—one a double amputee and the other has Tourette's Syndrome) through the perspective of a Black boy. Lots to think about and appreciate with this one.

Diversity note: Nearly all the characters are POC, and there are two disabled minor(ish) characters, as mentioned above.

So powerful, important, beautifully written, and at times heart-breaking. This book, and others like it, are so needed. Definitely pick this one up.

Just as cute as the first two—and exactly what I needed after another book destroyed me. For NA boy kisses (and more-than-kisses), a seriously cute romance and a celebrity crush come true, definitely check this one out! :)

Um, so this book has devastated me. I actually got legitimately teary, which is a first, and my heart hurts. Full review to come, but this series is special. Very dark, but very special.

FULL REVIEW:

It's going to be hard to write a review about this without spoiling anything, but I will do my darndest. Because this finale to one of my favorite YA Fantasy series deserves a very good review.

So given how much I loved [b:Half Bad|18079804|Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy, #1)|Sally Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413889712s/18079804.jpg|24802827] and [b:Half Wild|20814989|Half Wild (The Half Bad Trilogy, #2)|Sally Green|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413889802s/20814989.jpg|40160453], I had pretty high hopes for Half Lost. I was ready to see one relationship I despised crash and burn; I was ready to see the relationship I'd been dying to see since book one flourish; I was ready to see Nathan come into himself and become the truly powerful witch everyone knew all along he would be.

I got all of that and more.

The character development in this book is truly amazing; at the beginning, Nathan has gone extremely dark side. His obsession with exacting revenge on someone was so intense it was disturbing, and seeing him morph from book one into this dark, hurting person was legitimately hard to read. My heart ached for him, and for Gabriel, who stood hurting by his side as he watched someone he cared so much about become this unrecognizable person.

Half Lost is just as dark and raw as Half Bad and Half Wild. There were moments that made me cringe, and images that were disturbingly vivid. Green doesn't hold back or shy away from the harsh realities of war; it's there on the page for everyone to see, and I found it to be incredibly powerful.

And speaking of powerful, this book nearly made me cry twice. As I've said in my other reviews, I am not someone who cries easily—to this date I've never actually broken down over a book. But there was one moment in the book that made me so happy I actually got teary-eyed, and the other...well, I won't spoil, but I will say if I hadn't taken a break, it's very likely I would've full-on sobbed by the end of the book.

There are a lot of people who took issue with something that happens at the end—and I understand their grievances. But I feel it's important to say that I think what happened was handled really deftly, and it absolutely fit the story; as another reviewer said, it felt inevitable. And for me, at least, I found it a very powerful—and beautiful—ending to a wonderfully memorable YA Fantasy series.

Overall, the Half Bad series will remain on my favorites list. I really enjoyed the diverse characters woven into the story—from a bisexual and biracial protagonist with a learning disorder, to a gay major character, and not one, but two gender nonconforming characters, and more, the Half Bad series is one I'll continue to recommend to those who like (very) dark YA Fantasies and a story that will break you and put you back together again.

Diversity note: As mentioned in the review, Nathan, the protagonist, is biracial, bisexual, and has a learning disorder. A major character, Gabriel, is gay, and there are also two gender non-conforming characters.

Hilarious, adorable, and actually almost made me cry. Loved it!!

4.5/5 stars

adds the rest of the series to TBR

This was really wonderful to read—I'm glad it was assigned in my kidlit class! With its beautiful illustrations, and lovely story based off Chinese mythology, I definitely give a thumbs up to this MG fantasy. :)

So, so good. I know this is a standalone, but I wish there was a sequel coming because I'd totally read it. Full review to come.

REVIEW:

I love YA Sci-Fi, and On the Edge of Gone was soooo different from any other YA Sci-Fi I've read and it was awesome. Usually apocalyptic-type books are post-apocalyptic, but On the Edge of Gone starts right before a massive comet strikes Earth and obliterates everything, then continues on in the days afterward and people try to survive and Denise tries to get her family safely off-planet.

Denise struggles with a lot—her autism makes everything she experiences more difficult for her to handle, all the while she resents people knowing about her disability (particularly when she isn't the one to reveal it), and because she's Black in a very white area that comes up as a subtle obstacle several times too. At the same time, her Dutch mother is an addict, and her mother's struggle with addiction and how it affects Denise and her family plays a major role in the book. Plus trying to survive on a dying planet. Plus trying to find Denise's missing sister, Iris. Plus trying to get her family aboard the ship bound for the stars.

On the Edge of Gone was fascinating and totally captivating. I really connected to Denise and felt her highs and lows while reading, the characters were really complex and interesting, and honestly the whole thing just felt like something that could really happen, which made it a tad chilling, too.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to see what Corinne Duyvis has for us next. Super recommended if you like YA Sci-Fi and are looking for something different, or would like to read an authentic portrayal of an autistic protagonist, or just want to read a great book.

Diversity note: As the author puts it, “The protagonist is an autistic, biracial, part-Dutch part-Surinamese Black girl. The story also features a prominent bisexual trans Black girl, as well as lesbian, Muslim, and Jewish characters, among others.” The author is also autistic, so that part is #ownvoices.

LOVED this. Delilah Bard is my patronus. I need the sequel yesterday. Full review to come!

REVIEW:

So first of all, I don't read a whole lot of Adult Fantasy—but wowwww this was so so so good and I'm glad I stepped out of my usual reading because I loved it. The pacing at the beginning was a little slower than I tend to like (but expected, given that it's an Adult Fantasy), but I was still totally interested while reading because of the characters and world building. The layered Londons makes for such an interesting (and complicated!) setting, and I loved seeing the differences between them, from the access of magic, to the physical setting, to the people and the languages they spoke.

The magic system itself was really interesting to read, and I very quickly connected with Kell, Lila, and Rhy. Kell and Lila made for especially interesting point of view characters, and learning about their motivations and desires and what makes them tick was totally fascinating.

And! I was so drawn to Lila, like whoa. From her snark, to her gritty (and stubborn) determination, to her masculine style, Lila's character really resonated with me—probably more than I've experienced from an AFAB (assigned female at birth) character ever. I can't wait to read more about her (and Kell and Rhy, of course!) in A Gathering of Shadows, which I don't have on hand yet, but absolutely will because THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD.

I also want to make a note about the antagonists because I loved (and loved to hate two of them) so much. I won't name them, since at least one is kinda spoilery, but I will say my favorite characters extended being the main three. I kind of loved every character for a different reason, which is super rare for me with books.

A+ character development, A+ world building, A+ need more right now—this book was an easy five star rating and I honestly cannot recommend it more to fantasy lovers. If you haven't read it already, you need it like yesterday.

Diversity note: Major character Rhy is openly bisexual, and Lila is pansexual and genderfluid.

This was cute. :)

This was SO CUTE. Loved it! And Kai's anxiety really resonated too—RECOMMENDED.

I need book two.

Welp, I guess I'm going to have to get the sequel now.

WHERE IS THE SEQUEL? I need it.

I'm not usually a big fan of classics, but this was actually really fun to read. Quirky, nonsensical and full of imaginative magic.

There are three things you can pretty much expect whenever you pick up one of Raeder's books:

1. Incredibly gorgeous writing.
2. Very sexy scenes throughout.
3. TWISTS LIKE WHOA.

Cam Girl indisputably delivered on all three points.

While I found some of the pre-Blue cam girling stuff a bit much for me at the beginning (not a flaw of the book, just a personal taste thing), I'm so glad I kept reading because the story and characters more than made up for it.

Vada, an artist, deals with chronic pain specifically in her hand and arm from the accident at the beginning of the book. I've read a few books now with characters who struggle with chronic pain, but this depiction resonated the most with me—and the further connection of not being able to do art because of the pain, something I deal with IRL, is something that echoed unexpectedly deeply with me.

Then there's Vada's relationship with her best friend, Ellis, which I absolutely loved reading. Vada and Ellis have a blurry best friends/more than best friends relationship, but though Vada has accepted that she's bisexual, the thought of having a serious long-term relationship with a girl freaks her out, which is an experience with bisexuality that I haven't seen deeply explored in a book before. It worked really well here in terms of tension and adding a complicated dynamic to Vada and Ellis's relationship, and it felt like a real experience that was important to tackle.

All of these character elements and more weave incredibly well into the plot, which is messy and complicated and finished off with an ending I totally didn't see coming. I loved the frank discussions about gender and sexuality, and seeing a major nonbinary character figure themselves out and explore their identity is something I really appreciated.

I loved reading this, will probably re-read in the future, and now I'm even more excited for Raeder's next book, [b:Bad Boy|23430487|Bad Boy|Leah Raeder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1441265850s/23430487.jpg|42991010], which features a trans guy major character. If you haven't picked up Raeder's books before and you like (very) steamy, complicated, and dark New Adult books, I honestly can't recommend his writing more.

Diversity note: Vada, the protagonist, is Latina, bisexual, and deals with chronic pain, and another major character is nonbinary (genderfluid). The author is openly bisexual and nonbinary, so it's #ownvoices, too.

4.5/5 stars

Okay! You guys were right—this was fabulous and I need the whole series now. This was totally different from what I was expecting, and I loved the Sci-Fi/fairy tale retelling mashup.

I temporarily received an ARC of this book and while a review isn't mandatory, I'm sharing my thoughts anyway.

Wow. This was really powerful–I know I'll be thinking about it for a while, and there were many moments that brought me close to tears. Still have to sort out my feelings, but this is an important book and I'm so glad Riley's story is being told. We need it.

This book BLEW MY MIND. Can I give it six stars? Seven?

FULL REVIEW:

Sometimes, when a book gets a ton of hype, I get a little skeptical but I also feel more inclined to at least take a look during a stroll at a bookstore. And I'm so glad I did because Illuminae more than lives up to every ounce of the hype.

I started reading Illuminae on New Years Eve, thinking that I'd just read maybe twenty pages or so and continue reading the rest the next day. So I read twenty pages. Then I read two hundred more the same evening. Because I legitimately could not stop reading.

Teens on two space ships, a mutating, dangerous virus, an unforgettable AI, and an enemy space ship ready to destroy them looming ever closer come together to make this book unputdownable.

I haven't read a found materials book in a long time (maybe ever?) but I have to say, I loved the format. The book is written in e-mails, IMs, interviews, etc. and has intense action and conflict right from the start that kept me ripping through the pages. There are loads of twists (some of which had me cursing out loud while I read), lots of people die, so many scenes broke my heart, and it was just an incredibly good read.

Finally, a note on format: this book is beautiful with some truly creative formatting that had me literally flipping the book around to read certain two-page spreads. I've confirmed with some people who have read the e-book version that the formatting does not work nearly as well in the e-version, so if you get it, I highly recommend getting the print version. It's a brick (nearly 600 pages), but the formatting actually makes it a surprisingly quick read, and I promise you, it is so worth it.

Diversity note: All the major characters, as far as I can tell, were cishet and white with exception to one Chinese character. There's more diversity with minor characters both with race and sexual orientation (mostly really minor characters, to be honest), but representation was lacking in the major cast, aside from PTSD and other mental health issues common amongst trauma victims.

Loved this!! More thoughtful review to come.REVIEW:There are so many things I loved about this book.Six of Crows has been on my TBR list pretty much since the moment it was announced because a) more Grisha and b) [a:Leigh Bardugo 4575289 Leigh Bardugo https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1437274413p2/4575289.jpg], and this book totally lived up to my expectations.Right, so first and foremost, the question I've seen most about this book is whether or not it can be read without having read the Grisha trilogy. The answer is yes—pretty much everything is explained, and the only downside is you'll come across a few spoilers. But if you don't mind, Six of Crows is definitely understandable without previous Grisha universe knowledge.I'll admit the first couple chapters were a little slower than I tend to like, pace-wise, but the story drew me in very quickly after that. I totally loved the vibrant Ketterdam and Fjerda setting, and I thought it was really cool that we got to see parts of the Grishaverse only mentioned in the previous books. The cast of characters are super diverse and I found that each POV (Kaz, Jesper, Inej, Matthias) were really interesting and drew me in for separate reasons, which was great because frequently in multi-POV novels, some POVs are more interesting than others, but I thought these were equally balanced.Then the plot! The whole heist narrative was so ridiculously fun to read—it was incredibly smart and clever and I loved all the twists and wrenches in the plan. It reminded me very much of the Artemis Fowl series, in that the heist plot was super elaborate was unlikely odds and high stakes and the mastermind behind the plan (Kaz) repeatedly impressed me with his ability to think his way out of many problems.And so many ships! I loved all the pairings in Six of Crows and was cheering for every single ship with equal fervor (which, when you have six mains/major characters, is impressive since again, I didn't find myself massively favoring one character or POV over another).And finally, the thing I loved most—hello disabled protagonist in genre fiction! I actually didn't realize Kaz was disabled until after I bought the book, which was a really nice surprise. His disabilities (PTSD and chronic pain that causes a limp and necessitates the use of a cane) were very much part of the story and he didn't require a miracle cure to get around them—Kaz dealt with his disabilities in very real ways and I totally loved how he leveraged his cane to his advantage in various circumstances.All in all, this book hit a home run. If you like fantasy and heist books or just really enjoyed the Grisha trilogy, I couldn't recommend this one more.Now to wait impatiently for September when the second (and final) book, [b:Crooked Kingdom 22299763 Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) Leigh Bardugo https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png 42090179], releases...Diversity note: Kaz, one of the main protagonists, has chronic pain and a limp from an old injury and uses a cane to help him get around. He also deals with sometimes-debilitating PTSD. Another POV character, Jesper, is black and (slight spoiler) bisexual and (slight spoiler) Wylan also seems to like boys. Format note: I'm sure this book is equally excellent in e-book, but if you're able to get the print hardback, I do recommend it. It's one of the most beautifully designed books I own.

(Full disclosure: I temporarily received an ARC to read, which I didn't have to review, but I wanted to. So.)

This was ALL SORTS OF EPIC. Full review:

Okay. So I was already super intrigued by this one because there isn't a whole lot of genre f/f out there, and also I really like pirates. So you can imagine I was pretty darn pleased when I started reading and very quickly realized this book was going to blow my expectations out of the water (pun sorta intended).

The Abyss Surrounds Us is EPIC. Imagine Pacific Rim, except the monsters are on the protag's side, and also it's super girl-centric. Cas is such a badass, and her dynamic with Swift was fantastic. I loved the futuristic pirate element—which is something I've never read before (and it was awesome)—plus monsters, and emotions, and girls being awesome, and yeah. Basically, you need to read it.

Not to mention that it gave me really early book feels, and I loved the sea monster element way more than I expected—which was kind of like Pokémon, except kaiju-sized—and The Abyss Surrounds Us is so so different from anything I've read before in the best way possible.

So in short, if you're looking for genre f/f (especially f/f that is not of the coming out variety), and you like pirates, and sci-fi, and sea monster battles sounds like something that might be your thing, The Abyss Surrounds Us is so totally for you. And I can't wait to read the sequel.

Diversity note: Cas and the love interest Swift are both lesbians, and Cas is Chinese American.

3.5/5 stars

This was fun! But I do have thoughts.

Overall, I really loved the romance—Baz and Simon were soooo fun to read about, and Baz was great, and Baz and Simon together was just so great to read. I found myself smiling a lot. They were so great.

However! There was a major issue I noticed throughout: massive bi-erasure. Simon doesn't once consider that he might be bi, even though he'd had a girlfriend. He repeatedly wonders if liking Baz means he's gay, and when he discusses it with Baz, Baz never suggests (or even considers, for that matter) Simon might be bi, either. We get through the entire romance without the possibility of Simon's being bi mentioned once—which, I mean, I'd be okay with Simon deciding he's gay (not bi) because that's totally legitimate, but he should have at least considered the possibility that he might be bi.

On a totally unrelated note, I also found the first 100 pages or so kind of slow, so it took me longer than usual to get into it. I also thought two of the POVs (one used frequently, one not) was mostly unnecessary, which didn't help the pacing issue.

That said, I really enjoyed the magic system set up (it was so different from anything I'd read before!), the world building was fun, and I really, really liked reading an m/m narrative in a fantasy setting. I definitely enjoyed it overall despite the stuff I noticed above, and I thought the ending fit really well.

Cute romance. Fun world building. Totally perfect-for-the-book magic system. It was totally worth getting through the slow-ish opening, to me. :)

Eh. I'll go with GR's translation of two stars: it was okay. Slow to start, slow to finish. At least I can say I've read it now.

2.5/5 stars

Whoa.

This was soooo different from what I was expecting, but so good. Twisted, complicated, unsettling and unique. Reminded me a little of CHARM & STRANGE in tone. Thumbs up for sure.