Zee (he/they)

This book was everything!! The politics had me a little worried for a bit, but eventually I understood where the author was going. Love, love, LOVE!

(3,5) We're truly no better than the straights.

Aaaaah, I love it when my library places unexpected gems in my life! What a wonderful freaking book. Ah! I want more!!!

Cute T4T YA with water-themed/ethnic-art magic and neurodiverse rep? LOVE!

I want everyone to read this. What a wonderful read. I cried many tears, felt so seen, and so encouraged to continue to learn and fight back!

Please read this. If you love a disabled person, read this. If you care for justice, read this. If you're seeing this, read this book.

Loved that this and the adaptation were so different, while both still share this amazing essence

Shouldn't really be rating this, as I think I need to reread this as a physical copy to truly appreciate it's beauty. The audio book just didn't work for me.

Very cute, but minus points for the WOC side-character that was completely superficial, seemed to be a servant (?!), and was so shallow that her hair colour changed by the end of the book for no apparent reason...

This was cute! Though I wish there were more Halloween books that were not centered around American colonial culture though... Kinda ruins it a little for me if the worship of some old Dutch colonial family is uncontested.

I need to ruminate on this one for a little bit, RTC.

(3.5)

(2,5(?)) That was... messy.

Again, this concept would be really interesting, if only it was executed well.

Un roman graphique comme je les aime, mignon ! Ce livre ne m'a pas apporté de réponses à mes propres doutes sur une potentielle opération, mais au moins en lisant l'histoire d'Emilia, je me sens sûre de mon identité de genre.

Giving two stars out of generosity.

This book was such a huge let down for me.
A fantastic concept, but terrible execution.

There were some wonderful quotes in there, but the way the story developed feels very much like a decolonial story for people who know about decolonial struggles only conceptually.

Also, this book had too many repetitions for how long it is, and felt generally like it should have gone through a few more rounds of editing.

(3,5) Love this universe. Hate the politics in this story.

My tears are not yet dry as I write this. This book tore out my heart, but in such a beautiful and delicate way, that I feel thankful for it, and want Abulhawa to do it to me again.
Please read this book if you haven't yet. It is SO fucking beautiful, and full of what we need more of in this loveless world.

I'm officially a N. K. Jemisin superfan.

(3.5) Cute! Definitely for an audience younger than I am, but wholesome and interesting. Wish this book had been around when I was a kid.

Katniss pisses me off actually. Still, I can't stop reading.

Heart wrenching, beautiful, human in the best way, but just really not for me.

Maybe it's that I'm not the target audience, but I felt let down by this book. A promising premise, but the messy main character just annoyed me most of the time, and while the world was beautiful, the repetition in the writing really broke the immersion for me.

(3.5) Cute. A little corny, and a little boring at times, but also a story of revenge and girl powered violence with tender moments about healing.
Growing up as a girl can be traumatizing, this books reminds us that dying is not the solution we hoped it would be. Cherish your survival, and hug your friends.

(2.5) In my quest to find contemporary fiction I enjoy, I tried a romantic comedy with a supernatural twist.
A cute book, but I can now officially exclude romantic comedies from the genres I enjoy reading. I had to stop at p.200 to take some notes to vent my frustrations with this book. Turned it into a list of pro's and con's:

Lovely little read. I thought it was a little sapphic, but it's a lot sapphic. Would recommend.

Fine intro to the topic. Wished there was more elaboration on children rights/liberation.