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bayleyreadsbooks's Reviews (530)
I have done it. I have now read every book Leigh Bardugo currently has published!
And I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS BOOK!
It grabs you in the same way all other Leigh Bardugo books do, it has as awesome core of female friendship, hardcore promotes the wonderful Wonder Woman empowerment and protection brand, it made me laugh, it made me cry. I super enjoyed this book!
I soooo wish this had a sequel. I have not read these books in order and this was the same way I felt after I finished Batman: Nightwalker.
I really enjoyed meeting all of these characters. Diana is just as sparkling and wonderful in this interpretation as you would like, she also has genuine problems she has to deal with and is deeply interesting. Alia, the other point of view character, is a wonderful pairing! She is closed off, and smart, and funny, and deeply cares about the few people in her life, and I want to know what she is off doing outside the purview of this novel. Nim and Theo were topnotch best friends.Jason was so awful and so every dude I hated in political science classes. He is a realist in all the bad ways. He is also SO OBVIOUSLY THE VILLIAN FROM THE MOMENT WE MEET HIM. I obviously still stand by my assessment that Leigh Bardugo is good at a great many things, but subtle foreshadowing is not one of them.
I know that I probably won't be getting anymore DC Icons books, but I would absolutely love more. And SEQUELS! Preferably by the same authors. Except the one accused of sexual assault. I am not going to get around to that one (also heard it is underwhelming af). But I am excited to get to Soulstealer, I have heard great things.
And I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS BOOK!
It grabs you in the same way all other Leigh Bardugo books do, it has as awesome core of female friendship, hardcore promotes the wonderful Wonder Woman empowerment and protection brand, it made me laugh, it made me cry. I super enjoyed this book!
I soooo wish this had a sequel. I have not read these books in order and this was the same way I felt after I finished Batman: Nightwalker.
I really enjoyed meeting all of these characters. Diana is just as sparkling and wonderful in this interpretation as you would like, she also has genuine problems she has to deal with and is deeply interesting. Alia, the other point of view character, is a wonderful pairing! She is closed off, and smart, and funny, and deeply cares about the few people in her life, and I want to know what she is off doing outside the purview of this novel. Nim and Theo were topnotch best friends.
I know that I probably won't be getting anymore DC Icons books, but I would absolutely love more. And SEQUELS! Preferably by the same authors. Except the one accused of sexual assault. I am not going to get around to that one (also heard it is underwhelming af). But I am excited to get to Soulstealer, I have heard great things.
Ayama and the Thorn Wood
This story was lovely! Love a brave girl. Live beauty not being linked to bravery or goodness. But also not being demonized. It was a wonderful balance. They story was part King Minos, part Scheherazade, and part werewolf situation. It was a great kick off to a fairy tale book. Now I must go to sleep but I look forward to more stories.
The Too-Cleaver Fox
This one was also a fun fairy tale. I love a good moral.
I liked that I remembered it being mentioned in the original trilogy. I am glad it has been published in this form! The illustrations are beautiful. I found this story very fun. I liked the fox.
The Witch of Duva
Well, this story was fantastic. It totally tricked me. Guessing it’s going to be my favorite of the book.
Little Knife
This one might actually be my favorite. Wonderful moral. Good storytelling. Potential supernatural lesbianism. Love it.
The Soldier Prince
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Did think it was too long. The ending was maybe ominous?
When Water Sang Fire
This one was wonderful! It was dark and thrilling and sad.
Overall I completely recommend this book! Both to Grishaverse fans and just to anyone who is interested in fairytales. I was very impressed by this collection, there was really only one I was meh about and the rest I was crazy for.
This story was lovely! Love a brave girl. Live beauty not being linked to bravery or goodness. But also not being demonized. It was a wonderful balance. They story was part King Minos, part Scheherazade, and part werewolf situation. It was a great kick off to a fairy tale book. Now I must go to sleep but I look forward to more stories.
The Too-Cleaver Fox
This one was also a fun fairy tale. I love a good moral.
I liked that I remembered it being mentioned in the original trilogy. I am glad it has been published in this form! The illustrations are beautiful. I found this story very fun. I liked the fox.
The Witch of Duva
Well, this story was fantastic. It totally tricked me. Guessing it’s going to be my favorite of the book.
Little Knife
This one might actually be my favorite. Wonderful moral. Good storytelling. Potential supernatural lesbianism. Love it.
The Soldier Prince
Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Did think it was too long. The ending was maybe ominous?
When Water Sang Fire
This one was wonderful! It was dark and thrilling and sad.
Overall I completely recommend this book! Both to Grishaverse fans and just to anyone who is interested in fairytales. I was very impressed by this collection, there was really only one I was meh about and the rest I was crazy for.
Starting out: this book contains the single sexiest scene I have ever read.
Selina and Luke watching Jeopardy competing who knows the most answers to figure out who pays for pizza. Literally engineered for me to swoon.
I was so into this book, it is action-packed, full of bad-ass women, and has a wonderfully tense romance.
My surprise favorite thing about this book was the friendship between Selina, Ivy, and Harley. Selina and Ivy specifically had such a sweet meaningful friendship. I was really enamored by the two of them.
It is SJ Maas's thing to write about broken girls breaking the world back. We all know this. We can debate about many things about her books but I think most people can agree that is a theme she goes for often. And I think it worked SO WELL in Gotham. I really enjoyed the deep dive into Selina, I have never read any of her comics and my only previous exposure to her was Anne Hathaway's incarnation, and I was never super enthralled by her. Didn't have negative feelings, but I never went to seek out Catwoman comics. Now I have things to google.
I always think that I don't like it when the narrator reveals a plot they have been hiding from the reader, that moment where everything that has merely been hinted at falls perfectly into place and leaves you going "OH GOOD THE WORLD IS NOT DYING" then immediately telling yourself that you knew all along you should have never worried (of course then basically everyone throws something in that you should actually worry about but that is a different topic). That thing. I tell myself I hate it but history shows otherwise. Maas did it in Queen of Shadows (and probably other books), Leigh Bardugo does it in SIx of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, and King of Scars, and these are all books I liked a lot. So I guess this formula does work on me and I do not resent it as much as I thought.
The other POV character in this book is Luke Fox, Lucius Fox's son. He is competent, interesting, and nuances. He has the 'super strong alpha male' thing that SJ Maas is known for, but is also completely in love with his parents, genuinely cares for the people around him, and respects women. Maas thanks Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds in the acknowledgments of this book and you can totally see their impact on this book. Side note: I LOVE Nic Stone if you haven't read her GO FORTH AND DO IT! Also, this has reminded me that I need to read Jason Reynolds. He has been on my list for years and I am headed to acquire something of his ASAP. I would, of course, defer to readers who are black with opinions on how well she handled writing a black man, but I really liked him! I appreciated his reflections about how wealth didn't erase racism from his life and the exploration of how that racism would transform when people knew he was wealthy. I liked her nods to police brutality, and I liked that Luke was shown as actively working to combat that. I appreciated that she didn't only note the skin color of the people of color in the book, that is something that more white authors need to do; stop defaulting to white. Back to Luke: I now must go read some Batwing. I have dabbled in Batgirl, and know in comics they have a thing going on (or I think they do?) but am interested in expanding my knowledge. I also thought the way she handled PTSD added a lot to the story.
I always love reading a bad-ass competent heroin. I also love 'finding your power/strength' stories, but I do love entering a world with a person who is CAPABLE (which obviously Luke is as well, so we got this two-fold!). The story is not powered by Selina learning how to defeat the villains, it is powered by the super strong emotional core of the book. I love a good 'doing it all for the person I love' story, especially when the person they love isn't a lover. Also, I loved that even when I was still putting together the pieces of how this was Maggie related, I could see that it was probably Maggie related somehow. The first chapter really lays the foundation very well.
I loved Ivy! Me loving Ivy so much made he hope that Mor is going to have her sexuality handled well in future ACOTAR books.
So I liked this book a lot. I again wish there were more DC Icon books to look forward to in the future, as of right now this is the end of the rode for me with this series, but it has certainly inspired me to seek out the comics. So good job DC, you got me.
Last thing: the worst part about this book is the COVER. The kitten ears, the lame logo, the odd hair flare. It is just nowhere near the levels of awesome of the other three covers.
Selina and Luke watching Jeopardy competing who knows the most answers to figure out who pays for pizza. Literally engineered for me to swoon.
I was so into this book, it is action-packed, full of bad-ass women, and has a wonderfully tense romance.
My surprise favorite thing about this book was the friendship between Selina, Ivy, and Harley. Selina and Ivy specifically had such a sweet meaningful friendship. I was really enamored by the two of them.
It is SJ Maas's thing to write about broken girls breaking the world back. We all know this. We can debate about many things about her books but I think most people can agree that is a theme she goes for often. And I think it worked SO WELL in Gotham. I really enjoyed the deep dive into Selina, I have never read any of her comics and my only previous exposure to her was Anne Hathaway's incarnation, and I was never super enthralled by her. Didn't have negative feelings, but I never went to seek out Catwoman comics. Now I have things to google.
I always think that I don't like it when the narrator reveals a plot they have been hiding from the reader, that moment where everything that has merely been hinted at falls perfectly into place and leaves you going "OH GOOD THE WORLD IS NOT DYING" then immediately telling yourself that you knew all along you should have never worried (of course then basically everyone throws something in that you should actually worry about but that is a different topic). That thing. I tell myself I hate it but history shows otherwise. Maas did it in Queen of Shadows (and probably other books), Leigh Bardugo does it in SIx of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, and King of Scars, and these are all books I liked a lot. So I guess this formula does work on me and I do not resent it as much as I thought.
The other POV character in this book is Luke Fox, Lucius Fox's son. He is competent, interesting, and nuances. He has the 'super strong alpha male' thing that SJ Maas is known for, but is also completely in love with his parents, genuinely cares for the people around him, and respects women. Maas thanks Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds in the acknowledgments of this book and you can totally see their impact on this book. Side note: I LOVE Nic Stone if you haven't read her GO FORTH AND DO IT! Also, this has reminded me that I need to read Jason Reynolds. He has been on my list for years and I am headed to acquire something of his ASAP. I would, of course, defer to readers who are black with opinions on how well she handled writing a black man, but I really liked him! I appreciated his reflections about how wealth didn't erase racism from his life and the exploration of how that racism would transform when people knew he was wealthy. I liked her nods to police brutality, and I liked that Luke was shown as actively working to combat that. I appreciated that she didn't only note the skin color of the people of color in the book, that is something that more white authors need to do; stop defaulting to white. Back to Luke: I now must go read some Batwing. I have dabbled in Batgirl, and know in comics they have a thing going on (or I think they do?) but am interested in expanding my knowledge. I also thought the way she handled PTSD added a lot to the story.
I always love reading a bad-ass competent heroin. I also love 'finding your power/strength' stories, but I do love entering a world with a person who is CAPABLE (which obviously Luke is as well, so we got this two-fold!). The story is not powered by Selina learning how to defeat the villains, it is powered by the super strong emotional core of the book. I love a good 'doing it all for the person I love' story, especially when the person they love isn't a lover. Also, I loved that even when I was still putting together the pieces of how this was Maggie related, I could see that it was probably Maggie related somehow. The first chapter really lays the foundation very well.
I loved Ivy! Me loving Ivy so much made he hope that Mor is going to have her sexuality handled well in future ACOTAR books.
So I liked this book a lot. I again wish there were more DC Icon books to look forward to in the future, as of right now this is the end of the rode for me with this series, but it has certainly inspired me to seek out the comics. So good job DC, you got me.
Last thing: the worst part about this book is the COVER. The kitten ears, the lame logo, the odd hair flare. It is just nowhere near the levels of awesome of the other three covers.
I'm really thinking about how I feel about this book. I have been following Hank Green since literally 2007. I’m pretty OG and pretty consistent. Like I’ve maybe gone a month without consuming some sort of Hank Green media. Maybe. In 11 years. Any time I’m hot I sing It’s too Hot. But I might be meh about the book. Or maybe I liked it but it didn’t knock me out so I’m sad about that. Like it might be a four star. But I can’t tell. But I know that I am having a way more emotional reaction to not wanting to give this book five stars than I did to the book. I might actually cry because I didn’t completely love this book. And the book didn’t even get me close to tears. Except in the acknowledgments. Which I don’t think counts.
I am going to go to sleep and when I wake up I will decide how I felt about the book.
I just sort of think I couldn’t really connect to April through Hank. Like I was getting too much Hank to find a connection to April. But I don’t know if that is fair. And I have read many SSF books recently that I can see America’s current political situation in, but this one felt like the world was to similar to ours for the differences to make sense. And like the way the extremist and fear mongering just sort of was mostly solved at the end. That part of the plot felt too convenient.
I also felt like I wasn’t seeing a side of Hank Green that I can’t find on the internet. This book I’m not sure added to his body of work any diversity, it’s just a new medium to say the same thing. Which is fine. I just feel like I might have just liked a book of personal essays better than this. I kind of felt like a lot of the plot was a way to fit basically personal essays into it.
I guess I decided against sleeping on it.
There were things I did like.
I liked the character Maya.
I liked how funny the book was. It did edge into being absurdist once but for the most part, I found the book funny. At times the funny kind of made it hard to feel sorrow or empathy for the characters. This added to the odd pacing.
The plot was very interesting and I think well developed. I genuinely was interested in the Carl’s and what was up with them. I will read the next book because that’s who I am as a person.
I kind of rocketed between going “yes I do like this part” to “oh maybe I’m not enjoying this part because I’m hungry”. I really really wanted to love this book.
But I’m going to sleep on it before I decide. I have legit cried because I am not 100% crazy about this book. How odd is that?
Slept on it. It’s a bummer but I can’t give this book 4 stars. There were parts I legitimately enjoyed a lot but most of it I just sort of liked or was meh about. I feel like the book needed a more active editor and more honest early readers. But I really feel this would have been a great collection of essays on the internet and fame on the internet. I liked the plot but the themes were basically spelled out in essays anyway.
I also am not sure I think the social commentary in the book was done very deftly. It felt very general, kind of like a bunch of tweets that might start a great thread but were starting broad to pull people in. It was odd for first person to feel too broad.
The pacing was super off. I literally put it down multiple times in the middle of scenes. If I hadn’t been determined to finish this in one day (I took the day off to read this) I might have read this book very very slowly because I would feel like “yes now I am completely hooked” then something would change and I would put the book down and not remember why.
I will be reading book two. Because I did like the last few pages. But I will be better prepared in case I don’t like it.
I am going to go to sleep and when I wake up I will decide how I felt about the book.
I just sort of think I couldn’t really connect to April through Hank. Like I was getting too much Hank to find a connection to April. But I don’t know if that is fair. And I have read many SSF books recently that I can see America’s current political situation in, but this one felt like the world was to similar to ours for the differences to make sense. And like the way the extremist and fear mongering just sort of was mostly solved at the end. That part of the plot felt too convenient.
I also felt like I wasn’t seeing a side of Hank Green that I can’t find on the internet. This book I’m not sure added to his body of work any diversity, it’s just a new medium to say the same thing. Which is fine. I just feel like I might have just liked a book of personal essays better than this. I kind of felt like a lot of the plot was a way to fit basically personal essays into it.
I guess I decided against sleeping on it.
There were things I did like.
I liked the character Maya.
I liked how funny the book was. It did edge into being absurdist once but for the most part, I found the book funny. At times the funny kind of made it hard to feel sorrow or empathy for the characters. This added to the odd pacing.
The plot was very interesting and I think well developed. I genuinely was interested in the Carl’s and what was up with them. I will read the next book because that’s who I am as a person.
I kind of rocketed between going “yes I do like this part” to “oh maybe I’m not enjoying this part because I’m hungry”. I really really wanted to love this book.
But I’m going to sleep on it before I decide. I have legit cried because I am not 100% crazy about this book. How odd is that?
Slept on it. It’s a bummer but I can’t give this book 4 stars. There were parts I legitimately enjoyed a lot but most of it I just sort of liked or was meh about. I feel like the book needed a more active editor and more honest early readers. But I really feel this would have been a great collection of essays on the internet and fame on the internet. I liked the plot but the themes were basically spelled out in essays anyway.
I also am not sure I think the social commentary in the book was done very deftly. It felt very general, kind of like a bunch of tweets that might start a great thread but were starting broad to pull people in. It was odd for first person to feel too broad.
The pacing was super off. I literally put it down multiple times in the middle of scenes. If I hadn’t been determined to finish this in one day (I took the day off to read this) I might have read this book very very slowly because I would feel like “yes now I am completely hooked” then something would change and I would put the book down and not remember why.
I will be reading book two. Because I did like the last few pages. But I will be better prepared in case I don’t like it.
This is at least my third read of this book but it is entirely possible I have read it more times than that.
I always remember how much I love this series, and of course this book on its own, but going back and rereading the book is the only way to really remember and re-experience just how much enjoyment and anxiety this book delivers. And oh my does this book still deliver. My heart was literally pounding at times, I picked it up last night and have read it every available second since, if this is how it impacts me after multiple reads and having watched the movie last week (probably for the 15th time or something else nuts) then I have no idea how my heart did not explode when I first read this between 7 and 9 years ago.
Clearly, I still think this book is fantastic.
I adore Katniss. She is competent and headstrong and fierce while also being incredibly kind to people who have broken through her very grumpy shell. But Katniss isn't a paragon of heroism, she has flaws and she is callous and it horrible incompetent with emotions. She is so well rounded as a character, Collins does such a good job getting your heartbeat to sync with Katniss'. I am constantly lowkey annoyed at people who say 'I love those books but I hate Katniss' because I do not understand this. The whole series is you deeply knowing this girl who refuses to open herself up to others, you understand her thoughts even when you would be making vastly different decisions. You would probably have ended up dead, Katniss gets shit done even if it is going to haunt her for forever. I am obsessed.
This was literally the first time ever that I have been interested in Gale at all. I am still way in favor of Peeta, and I still thing Mockingjay Gale is going to seem unforgivable to me, but I actually kind of understood Gale a bit better. I don't know if that is age or if that is that I just watched the movie and he is much more annoying in the movie so in comparison I did not mind him so much. Seeing him through Katniss' eyes again might have softened me a tab bit.
Still, love sweet adorable Peeta. That boy is so soft and squishy and I love it. He is also smart, respects women, is personable, bakes, and can decorate a cake. The perfect human.
Let's just assume I enjoy all the character in different ways so I don't have to type for the next few hours.
I am legitimately excited and nervous for Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins is such a master of suspense. I should not be able to feel this way when I know what is coming for me. But I most certainly do.
I always remember how much I love this series, and of course this book on its own, but going back and rereading the book is the only way to really remember and re-experience just how much enjoyment and anxiety this book delivers. And oh my does this book still deliver. My heart was literally pounding at times, I picked it up last night and have read it every available second since, if this is how it impacts me after multiple reads and having watched the movie last week (probably for the 15th time or something else nuts) then I have no idea how my heart did not explode when I first read this between 7 and 9 years ago.
Clearly, I still think this book is fantastic.
I adore Katniss. She is competent and headstrong and fierce while also being incredibly kind to people who have broken through her very grumpy shell. But Katniss isn't a paragon of heroism, she has flaws and she is callous and it horrible incompetent with emotions. She is so well rounded as a character, Collins does such a good job getting your heartbeat to sync with Katniss'. I am constantly lowkey annoyed at people who say 'I love those books but I hate Katniss' because I do not understand this. The whole series is you deeply knowing this girl who refuses to open herself up to others, you understand her thoughts even when you would be making vastly different decisions. You would probably have ended up dead, Katniss gets shit done even if it is going to haunt her for forever. I am obsessed.
This was literally the first time ever that I have been interested in Gale at all. I am still way in favor of Peeta, and I still thing Mockingjay Gale is going to seem unforgivable to me, but I actually kind of understood Gale a bit better. I don't know if that is age or if that is that I just watched the movie and he is much more annoying in the movie so in comparison I did not mind him so much. Seeing him through Katniss' eyes again might have softened me a tab bit.
Still, love sweet adorable Peeta. That boy is so soft and squishy and I love it. He is also smart, respects women, is personable, bakes, and can decorate a cake. The perfect human.
Let's just assume I enjoy all the character in different ways so I don't have to type for the next few hours.
I am legitimately excited and nervous for Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins is such a master of suspense. I should not be able to feel this way when I know what is coming for me. But I most certainly do.
I am not sure there was a way for Casey McQuiston to write a more enjoyable book. I had so so so much fun reading this book. It was a perfect blend of hilarity, romance, politics, and pop culture.
“June, I’m the son of the President of the United States. Prince Henry is a figurehead of the British Empire. You can’t just call him my ‘arch nemesis,’” Alex says. He chews thoughtfully and adds, “‘Arch nemesis’ implies he’s actually a rival to me on any level and not, you know, a stuck-up product of inbreeding who probably jerks off to photos of himself.”
Our main character, Alex Claremont-Diaz, is the younger son of the President of the United States Ellen Claremont, a white Texan Democrat, and Oscar Diaz, a Mexican-American Democratic Senator for California. He is on the path to be the youngest congressman elected and clearly has the political pedigree preparing him. He is wonderfully relatable to my grudge-holding self (“Awesome, fuckin’ love doing things out of spite,” he says without a hint of sarcasm) and feels deeply real. We are thrown into his world and meet his two best friends: his sister June, a complete blessing to the world in my humble opinion, is a young professional trying to shirk some of the First Family connection to be seen as her own person, and Nora, his ex-girlfriend who is an irreverent genius who is the daughter of the VP.
This book is straight up hilarious. I was laughing out loud on basically every page, even the pages that made me cry. My other contender for an opening quote was:
“Listen,” Alex tells her, “royal weddings are trash, the princes that have royal weddings are trash, the imperialism that allows princes to exist at all is trash. It’s trash turtles all the way down.”
“Is this your TED Talk?” June asks. “You do realize America is a genocidal empire too, right?”
“Yes, June, but at least we have the decency not to keep a monarchy around,”
I adored the sense of humor in this book. It punches up, it is sarcastic, you will certainly cackle at least twelve times while reading this book. I was constantly delighted by how funny this book is.
Clearly, this is a romance, and oh my god, I was invested so hardcore in this romance. Casey McQuiston wrote this wonderful over-the-top situation enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance perfectly. I felt deep heartache, butterflies, and joy that was basically transcendent. The heightened situation only serves to make the reader that much more emotionally invested. You will fall in love with Alex as a human then fall in love with Henry with him as the book goes on.
Henry is a wonderfully interesting layered love-interest, also he is literally Prince Charming. You get to know him gradually. The reader knows how Henry is feeling before Alex in the most delightful masterful way, McQuiston really really does this romance justice.
She also does the politics of this novel justice. My qualifications: BA in Political Science (trying to acquire admission to a graduate program soon) and a life of PoliSci nerddom. And You truly believe that this political landscape could be real with some slight changes to real life. Alex makes all the correct PoliSci nerd kid jokes and references, is obsessed with Nate Silver, RBG, and finds the vandalization of Mitch McConnell name plant to read "Bitch McConnell" exactly as funny as that truly is. She does an amazing job balancing a fictional world with modern day politics, and choose to incorporate a lot of actual nonsense of today's world in similar ways to how they present in reality but is not doing an exact one-to-one here. It is a little bit of a political fairytale at times, but all good romances are a little bit of fairytale and there is clearly a love story between Alex and his county in this book.
I was specifically impressed by the way McQuiston handled the South, and specifically Texas. There is a deeply moving passage about Alex's relationship with Texas (there actually might be to or three of these) that brought me completely to tears. She really shows the way politics tend to give up on certain places or people then when those places and people don't show up for them they act as if that is justification for their past behavior. This alone would have made this book incredibly special.
I also loved the pop culture references. They were done so deftly and really enriched the world. I did at times wonder exactly when this book's timeline separated from realities and you get an answer but are mostly too swept up in the world to give it a ton of thought. Hamilton, 538, The West Wing, Harry Potter, tons of other things that I am sure I am forgetting. It was delightful. And so so many literary references. I cannot wait to go back through and catalog what I want to read based on characters recommendations.
I was specifically moved by the relationship between Alexa and Rafael Luna, an openly gay Independent senator from Colorado. I don't want to give anything about this relationship away, because watching it unfold is a wonderful experience, but I was constantly involved with this relationship.
Alex had fascinating interesting relationships with so many people. His relationships with his parents, his sister, Nora, his high school friend Liam, his mother's staffers, and of course Henry. I cannot gush enough about how perfectly romantic this book is. I am bananas excited for the wlw romance the author is currently working on. I am so excited to be swept away in one of her books again.
An ARC was provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press, all opinions are my own!
“June, I’m the son of the President of the United States. Prince Henry is a figurehead of the British Empire. You can’t just call him my ‘arch nemesis,’” Alex says. He chews thoughtfully and adds, “‘Arch nemesis’ implies he’s actually a rival to me on any level and not, you know, a stuck-up product of inbreeding who probably jerks off to photos of himself.”
Our main character, Alex Claremont-Diaz, is the younger son of the President of the United States Ellen Claremont, a white Texan Democrat, and Oscar Diaz, a Mexican-American Democratic Senator for California. He is on the path to be the youngest congressman elected and clearly has the political pedigree preparing him. He is wonderfully relatable to my grudge-holding self (“Awesome, fuckin’ love doing things out of spite,” he says without a hint of sarcasm) and feels deeply real. We are thrown into his world and meet his two best friends: his sister June, a complete blessing to the world in my humble opinion, is a young professional trying to shirk some of the First Family connection to be seen as her own person, and Nora, his ex-girlfriend who is an irreverent genius who is the daughter of the VP.
This book is straight up hilarious. I was laughing out loud on basically every page, even the pages that made me cry. My other contender for an opening quote was:
“Listen,” Alex tells her, “royal weddings are trash, the princes that have royal weddings are trash, the imperialism that allows princes to exist at all is trash. It’s trash turtles all the way down.”
“Is this your TED Talk?” June asks. “You do realize America is a genocidal empire too, right?”
“Yes, June, but at least we have the decency not to keep a monarchy around,”
I adored the sense of humor in this book. It punches up, it is sarcastic, you will certainly cackle at least twelve times while reading this book. I was constantly delighted by how funny this book is.
Clearly, this is a romance, and oh my god, I was invested so hardcore in this romance. Casey McQuiston wrote this wonderful over-the-top situation enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance perfectly. I felt deep heartache, butterflies, and joy that was basically transcendent. The heightened situation only serves to make the reader that much more emotionally invested. You will fall in love with Alex as a human then fall in love with Henry with him as the book goes on.
Henry is a wonderfully interesting layered love-interest, also he is literally Prince Charming. You get to know him gradually. The reader knows how Henry is feeling before Alex in the most delightful masterful way, McQuiston really really does this romance justice.
She also does the politics of this novel justice. My qualifications: BA in Political Science (trying to acquire admission to a graduate program soon) and a life of PoliSci nerddom. And You truly believe that this political landscape could be real with some slight changes to real life. Alex makes all the correct PoliSci nerd kid jokes and references, is obsessed with Nate Silver, RBG, and finds the vandalization of Mitch McConnell name plant to read "Bitch McConnell" exactly as funny as that truly is. She does an amazing job balancing a fictional world with modern day politics, and choose to incorporate a lot of actual nonsense of today's world in similar ways to how they present in reality but is not doing an exact one-to-one here. It is a little bit of a political fairytale at times, but all good romances are a little bit of fairytale and there is clearly a love story between Alex and his county in this book.
I was specifically impressed by the way McQuiston handled the South, and specifically Texas. There is a deeply moving passage about Alex's relationship with Texas (there actually might be to or three of these) that brought me completely to tears. She really shows the way politics tend to give up on certain places or people then when those places and people don't show up for them they act as if that is justification for their past behavior. This alone would have made this book incredibly special.
I also loved the pop culture references. They were done so deftly and really enriched the world. I did at times wonder exactly when this book's timeline separated from realities and you get an answer but are mostly too swept up in the world to give it a ton of thought. Hamilton, 538, The West Wing, Harry Potter, tons of other things that I am sure I am forgetting. It was delightful. And so so many literary references. I cannot wait to go back through and catalog what I want to read based on characters recommendations.
I was specifically moved by the relationship between Alexa and Rafael Luna, an openly gay Independent senator from Colorado. I don't want to give anything about this relationship away, because watching it unfold is a wonderful experience, but I was constantly involved with this relationship.
Alex had fascinating interesting relationships with so many people. His relationships with his parents, his sister, Nora, his high school friend Liam, his mother's staffers, and of course Henry. I cannot gush enough about how perfectly romantic this book is. I am bananas excited for the wlw romance the author is currently working on. I am so excited to be swept away in one of her books again.
An ARC was provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press, all opinions are my own!
This was the kind of book that makes me feel bad about the other books I gave five stars. I found this book so bone-deep undeniably moving that I don't quite know what to do with my feelings about it.
This book is a 'quiet' book, it is character driven, it takes place over three days but also a year but also 15 years. It is about loneliness, and family, and found family, and the importance of connecting to someone else. It is also about lying, to yourself and to each other. And loss and mental illness and depression.
I just felt consumed by this book.
Like every page I read was burying itself into my heart. I am obsessed.
It follows Marin, her dead Grandfather, and her best friend who she hasn't spoken to in months. And that is all the synopsis I can really share. It's about a girl in her first year in college which I always love when YA lets the characters be other forms of a young adult than just high school.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
This book is a 'quiet' book, it is character driven, it takes place over three days but also a year but also 15 years. It is about loneliness, and family, and found family, and the importance of connecting to someone else. It is also about lying, to yourself and to each other. And loss and mental illness and depression.
I just felt consumed by this book.
Like every page I read was burying itself into my heart. I am obsessed.
It follows Marin, her dead Grandfather, and her best friend who she hasn't spoken to in months. And that is all the synopsis I can really share. It's about a girl in her first year in college which I always love when YA lets the characters be other forms of a young adult than just high school.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
I love Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin, I love Just Between Us, the YouTube channel and the podcast, I really enjoyed I Hate Everyone But You, their first book, I listened to Gossip and Bad With Money, their podcasts separate from each other, and I do plan on reading Bad With Money, Gaby's book.
I liked this book fine! I wish I had connected with it more, but I just didn't care very much through the first half of the book.
This book was funnier than I Hate Everyone But You, which was also funny, which I did enjoy. But I think the time jump paired with trying to figure out what information from that book was important made the first 20% ish feel like I was playing catch up.
I also have a theory that if you don't know Gaby and Allison is probably hard to keep them straight in your head. Especially the text messaging sections. I always think it is an unfair criticism to say characters are too like their creator because you only know that when the creator is a public figure. But I think playing so close to their lived experience made me less interested because I could pretty accurately guess where the book was going. So if you know them, it might be predictable, and if you don't, it might be confusing. It's just a theory, feel free to disagree with me!
I also felt SUPER icky about the catfishing subplot. I was very disappointed that that didn't really break bad, yes a character got fired, but the catfishing was more of a 'straw that broke the camel's back' in that situation than the catalyst. I think that kind of emotional manipulation is despicable and I really wanted the book to take a stance that this is super not okay. And instead, it was just 'it's somewhat rude, but in the end, maybe everyone can be friends.' I didn't like that at all.
I did like that this book shows you how an abusive relationship works. Hot and cold, gas lighting, not giving you the necessary information. That plot was interesting and handled well. I also enjoyed the journalism and career climbing parts of this book. It was delightful.
I am not super sure precisely who the audience for this book is, maybe college kids and young professionals? It falls into that category that makes you think YA needs to expand what it means or NA needs to encompass more than older YA + sex. WHich isn't a fault of this book just a flaw with marketing and book categorization in general.
This book was enjoyable, and if you liked I Hate Everyone But You you will probably be interested in what happens in the sequel.
ARC provided by NetGalley- all opinions are mine!
I liked this book fine! I wish I had connected with it more, but I just didn't care very much through the first half of the book.
This book was funnier than I Hate Everyone But You, which was also funny, which I did enjoy. But I think the time jump paired with trying to figure out what information from that book was important made the first 20% ish feel like I was playing catch up.
I also have a theory that if you don't know Gaby and Allison is probably hard to keep them straight in your head. Especially the text messaging sections. I always think it is an unfair criticism to say characters are too like their creator because you only know that when the creator is a public figure. But I think playing so close to their lived experience made me less interested because I could pretty accurately guess where the book was going. So if you know them, it might be predictable, and if you don't, it might be confusing. It's just a theory, feel free to disagree with me!
I also felt SUPER icky about the catfishing subplot. I was very disappointed that that didn't really break bad, yes a character got fired, but the catfishing was more of a 'straw that broke the camel's back' in that situation than the catalyst. I think that kind of emotional manipulation is despicable and I really wanted the book to take a stance that this is super not okay. And instead, it was just 'it's somewhat rude, but in the end, maybe everyone can be friends.' I didn't like that at all.
I did like that this book shows you how an abusive relationship works. Hot and cold, gas lighting, not giving you the necessary information. That plot was interesting and handled well. I also enjoyed the journalism and career climbing parts of this book. It was delightful.
I am not super sure precisely who the audience for this book is, maybe college kids and young professionals? It falls into that category that makes you think YA needs to expand what it means or NA needs to encompass more than older YA + sex. WHich isn't a fault of this book just a flaw with marketing and book categorization in general.
This book was enjoyable, and if you liked I Hate Everyone But You you will probably be interested in what happens in the sequel.
ARC provided by NetGalley- all opinions are mine!
I loved this book. I was worried I was not going to love this book (because I love Sarah Enni, First Draft Podcast is fantastic, and I am always concerned I won't love people in a different medium) but I did.
I loved Ivy. I love that Ivy did bad things and she was wrong basically the whole book. Despite her being wrong I could see why she was doing what she was doing, and I was able to see my behavior reflected in hers. I too would use VEIL as a mystery to solve. I think. I also thought she was such a thoughtful portrayal of social anxiety and isolation.
I really liked that we got to see the contradiction in Ivy. She intensely wants VEIL to be this perfect pure place where everyone is anonymous because that makes her feel safe, but she also wants to make peoples posts into a mystery to solve because that makes her feel special and connected to people in a way she cannot do easily in real life. I have seen a few reviews that seem not to think this was intentional, which is confusing because this is basically the thesis of the last 50 pages?
I thought the social media critique was engaging, you can really see how much Enni loves the internet, but she also shows how the internet is not a perfect pure place. If VEIL were real than the list of bad things her dad gives at the end would almost certainly have happened within the first few days and probably everywhere. But I see the use in the way VEIL was used in the book. And I found the idea of VEIL very endearing. Like snapchat and that dead secret-sharing app had a baby?
I loved Harold. He was an excellent best friend and love interest. I 100% know Harolds, and their laser focus is wonderful and worrying. I liked how he was a bit of a foil to Ivy, classic opposites attract situation.
I found Ivy's relationship with her parents deeply touching. I cried during the part where you are meant to cry. I love a YA with good parents.
Nate was also an interesting character. Through him, I was able to see the ways in which I related to Ivy. I was guessing he was the zine person for a minute (this was VERY unfounded) and was continually trying to match him (and Harold to a lesser extent) up to a VEIL user.
I liked reading a book where the main character does things wrong and learns from them. I also love that reading this didn't feel like being lectured; Ivy felt real to me.
tl;dr I love this book. It felt very special to me, and I am so glad I finally read it.
I loved Ivy. I love that Ivy did bad things and she was wrong basically the whole book. Despite her being wrong I could see why she was doing what she was doing, and I was able to see my behavior reflected in hers. I too would use VEIL as a mystery to solve. I think. I also thought she was such a thoughtful portrayal of social anxiety and isolation.
I really liked that we got to see the contradiction in Ivy. She intensely wants VEIL to be this perfect pure place where everyone is anonymous because that makes her feel safe, but she also wants to make peoples posts into a mystery to solve because that makes her feel special and connected to people in a way she cannot do easily in real life. I have seen a few reviews that seem not to think this was intentional, which is confusing because this is basically the thesis of the last 50 pages?
I thought the social media critique was engaging, you can really see how much Enni loves the internet, but she also shows how the internet is not a perfect pure place. If VEIL were real than the list of bad things her dad gives at the end would almost certainly have happened within the first few days and probably everywhere. But I see the use in the way VEIL was used in the book. And I found the idea of VEIL very endearing. Like snapchat and that dead secret-sharing app had a baby?
I loved Harold. He was an excellent best friend and love interest. I 100% know Harolds, and their laser focus is wonderful and worrying. I liked how he was a bit of a foil to Ivy, classic opposites attract situation.
I found Ivy's relationship with her parents deeply touching. I cried during the part where you are meant to cry. I love a YA with good parents.
Nate was also an interesting character. Through him, I was able to see the ways in which I related to Ivy. I was guessing he was the zine person for a minute (this was VERY unfounded) and was continually trying to match him (and Harold to a lesser extent) up to a VEIL user.
I liked reading a book where the main character does things wrong and learns from them. I also love that reading this didn't feel like being lectured; Ivy felt real to me.
tl;dr I love this book. It felt very special to me, and I am so glad I finally read it.
I had so much fun with this story!
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff really did an excellent job not doing not redoing Illuminae; this series is so different! It is a more typical story format, first-person POV told by seven characters, it's more of a genre blend than the harder sci-fi nature of Illuminae; also they did the thing that I was most sad they did not do in Obsidio (or the other two). I cannot say what it is because of spoilers, but I was impressed.
It did take me a moment to get used to the more fantasy elements of this story, I don't think I was expecting it so I had to pause and rethink the framework I was seeing this story through. Then I jumped right back in and had a grand time.
I am so interested in what they are going to do with book two! And according to the internet, they have written the last of book two as of yesterday, so that's super exciting. I cannot wait to scour the internet for theories about book two.
Seven POV characters is a lot of YA (and more than a lot of adult), but they did an excellent job of giving strong character establishing moments. I was never confused about whose POV I was in, and because the characters were so different, it was pretty easy to guess who said a line before the name popped up. I am always impressed by that!
I really liked six of them and was fine with the seventh.
I specifically love Zila. I really really hope we get more from her in the next two books. She is the character that made me cry the most and is the queen of the mysterious backstory. Also, her earring game is strong. I want more Zila.
The romances were delightful to see develop! They do use a bit of 'this fantasy creature can tell who its life partner is right away' which is a trope I don't LOVE, but I did like that relationship overall, so I'm going to get over that for this book. I am flexible. And they do use this relationship to show a lot of communicating your feelings and doubts honestly, and I appreciated that. If Finian/Scarlett (Finlett? Scarian?) does not sail, I will riot. I LOVE them.
So excited for this story to continue! The next book comes out while I am in grad school (I think?) so let's all hope I have a day or two free to read book two. If not I will probably fake ill.
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff really did an excellent job not doing not redoing Illuminae; this series is so different! It is a more typical story format, first-person POV told by seven characters, it's more of a genre blend than the harder sci-fi nature of Illuminae; also they did the thing that I was most sad they did not do in Obsidio (or the other two). I cannot say what it is because of spoilers, but I was impressed.
It did take me a moment to get used to the more fantasy elements of this story, I don't think I was expecting it so I had to pause and rethink the framework I was seeing this story through. Then I jumped right back in and had a grand time.
I am so interested in what they are going to do with book two! And according to the internet, they have written the last of book two as of yesterday, so that's super exciting. I cannot wait to scour the internet for theories about book two.
Seven POV characters is a lot of YA (and more than a lot of adult), but they did an excellent job of giving strong character establishing moments. I was never confused about whose POV I was in, and because the characters were so different, it was pretty easy to guess who said a line before the name popped up. I am always impressed by that!
I really liked six of them and was fine with the seventh.
I specifically love Zila. I really really hope we get more from her in the next two books. She is the character that made me cry the most and is the queen of the mysterious backstory. Also, her earring game is strong. I want more Zila.
The romances were delightful to see develop! They do use a bit of 'this fantasy creature can tell who its life partner is right away' which is a trope I don't LOVE, but I did like that relationship overall, so I'm going to get over that for this book. I am flexible. And they do use this relationship to show a lot of communicating your feelings and doubts honestly, and I appreciated that. If Finian/Scarlett (Finlett? Scarian?) does not sail, I will riot. I LOVE them.
So excited for this story to continue! The next book comes out while I am in grad school (I think?) so let's all hope I have a day or two free to read book two. If not I will probably fake ill.