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kithenrietta's reviews
107 reviews
Switched by Sarah Ready
I love that Serena immediately confided in her best friend and knew she would believe her. The whole scene was exactly what would happen with me and my best friend!
fast-paced
4.25
Serena refuses to let herself be lost for a man. Her one true love is her career- science. She fell in love with it as a child and hasn’t looked back since. She loves her job at CERN and doesn’t need anything more than casual sex.
Until she becomes glued to a booth at her favorite bar and a man with electric energy saves the day. And maybe more…
This body swapping book was such a fun and quick read for me! It was quite different from other body swapping books/stories I’ve come across. I’m glad that some things I would have been curious about were actually addressed!
It was nice to see how committed Serena and Henry were to their values. The progression of their character development felt realistic instead of them instantly changing their minds on a long held belief.
Anyone who enjoys a little bit of sci-fi in their romance novel will find this book to be a delight!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the audiobook to read as an Advanced Reader Copy.
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
4.0
Welcome to Canada, idiot.
I had such a fun time with this book. I loved the way that Percy and Annabeth's relationship grew without Annabeth even really being in the book. Percy is as sassy as ever, and I love that. I did miss Jason, Piper, and Leo, but I really enjoyed Frank, Hazel, and Reyna.
The descriptions of Alaska and Hubbard Glacier in particular were spot on. It really brought me back to when I visited and it made the whole experience more personal to me.
Excited to read The Mark of Athena next!
I had such a fun time with this book. I loved the way that Percy and Annabeth's relationship grew without Annabeth even really being in the book. Percy is as sassy as ever, and I love that. I did miss Jason, Piper, and Leo, but I really enjoyed Frank, Hazel, and Reyna.
The descriptions of Alaska and Hubbard Glacier in particular were spot on. It really brought me back to when I visited and it made the whole experience more personal to me.
Excited to read The Mark of Athena next!
The Griffin's Egg by Cole Poindexter
2.5
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the audiobook to read as an Advanced Reader Copy.
Phoebe is a 4th grader whose parents are biologists. They’re on a mission to release a bird in West Virginia when she, and the cloak she insisted on bringing with her, get transported into another world.
It reminds me a lot of if Alice in Wonderland met a random collection of fantasy creatures from multiple cultures. It was pretty confusing seeing as how Phoebe and her family are from Illinois, but the narrator of the audiobook has an English accent.
The book starts off strong, but around the 50% mark, there’s just too much going on. Too many things going on without a rhyme or reason. Every time Phoebe asks a question there’s “no time to explain!” Too much “and then,” instead of “and so because.”
It pulls together pretty neatly though. I would have liked to have gotten to see the grandmother’s reaction to everything.
This is a pretty fun introduction to fantasy for kids. I think it will be more popular with kids under 12.
Phoebe is a 4th grader whose parents are biologists. They’re on a mission to release a bird in West Virginia when she, and the cloak she insisted on bringing with her, get transported into another world.
It reminds me a lot of if Alice in Wonderland met a random collection of fantasy creatures from multiple cultures. It was pretty confusing seeing as how Phoebe and her family are from Illinois, but the narrator of the audiobook has an English accent.
The book starts off strong, but around the 50% mark, there’s just too much going on. Too many things going on without a rhyme or reason. Every time Phoebe asks a question there’s “no time to explain!” Too much “and then,” instead of “and so because.”
It pulls together pretty neatly though. I would have liked to have gotten to see the grandmother’s reaction to everything.
This is a pretty fun introduction to fantasy for kids. I think it will be more popular with kids under 12.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
4.5
“No one will know who you’re supposed to be.”
“No one ever does.”
A family has a secret, but not one they really want to keep. It’s just never the right time or place. They’re not ashamed of their secret, they love their secret unconditionally. But when does a secret turn into a lie?
Penn and Rosie have five children. They’re incredibly accepting and loving parents to all of them, but their youngest is different. Claude isn’t really Claude. Claude wants to be a princess. Well, Claude is a princess. And a night fairy. Claude is actually Poppy. And when you’re five years old, it’s easy to start out fresh somewhere else where no one ever knew that Claude existed so that Poppy can just be Poppy. But what happens when everyone finds out about Claude?
This book follows the family through Poppy’s fifth grade year. During that, there are fairy tales, social challenges, joy, heartache, and acceptance.
I really enjoyed this book. I went into it not knowing anything about it, but I was delightfully surprised by its premise. It shows that no matter how accepting you are of your queer child, you don’t magically understand which step is the right one to take. There is no real right answer. There are only options.
I’m not sure that using Thailand as a vehicle for finally speaking to a trans adult about Rosie’s trans child was the optimal choice. It didn’t seem like a last minute decision by the author though, at least.
I really wanted to jump into the book and give Poppy a hug. I’m really happy with the ending. It felt like the end of a good 90s/00s live action Disney Channel movie.
I would recommend this book to teachers, mentors, and other adults who regularly interact with children who already have some background knowledge about trans individuals. If you read this with little to no background about trans people, some of the terminology could be overwhelming despite how much the author tries to make it simple to understand.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with the audiobook.
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
If Willy Wonka spread the wealth.
I had a major issue with this book. The main character, a kindergarten teacher assistant, is trying to foster to adopt one of her former students. She’s convinced that she is the only mother fit for him. The way she acts is totally inappropriate. She promises him things she can’t deliver on. She refuses to build a support network to ensure the child has community. She literally promises the kid she will adopt him. All that is going to mess the kid up so bad. The first thing you learn NOT to do when working with foster youth- don’t promise them anything. Don’t give them false hope no matter how good your intentions are.
Their relationship was creepy, honestly. Teachers aren’t supposed to be overly touchy with students, but the main character was hugging and cuddling the child (this was written before the brief explanation near the end of the book that MC was temporary foster hold).
The whole time, their relationship seemed entirely codependent.
“Can you, a 7 year old, keep a secret? Ok here’s all my childhood trauma and something that seems implausible at best.” There’s a difference between having childlike wonder and indulging in it and just being immature.
MC was begging for this child, like “Please give me this kid. I haven’t shown any initiative to do anything to show that I can responsibly take care of them, I have no money and no support system, i’m too scared to ask for help. I’m definitely using this kid as an emotional crutch because I was never loved as a child, but I love this kid (just don’t google parentification) so give him to me I deserve it.” Like a whole temper tantrum the whole dang book.
Even in the end when she is financially stable, you’re still not capable of purchasing a loving support system for a kid.
Also, basically the rules are made up and the points don’t matter because everyone wins. So what was the point?
2.0
If Willy Wonka spread the wealth.
I had a major issue with this book. The main character, a kindergarten teacher assistant, is trying to foster to adopt one of her former students. She’s convinced that she is the only mother fit for him. The way she acts is totally inappropriate. She promises him things she can’t deliver on. She refuses to build a support network to ensure the child has community. She literally promises the kid she will adopt him. All that is going to mess the kid up so bad. The first thing you learn NOT to do when working with foster youth- don’t promise them anything. Don’t give them false hope no matter how good your intentions are.
Their relationship was creepy, honestly. Teachers aren’t supposed to be overly touchy with students, but the main character was hugging and cuddling the child (this was written before the brief explanation near the end of the book that MC was temporary foster hold).
The whole time, their relationship seemed entirely codependent.
“Can you, a 7 year old, keep a secret? Ok here’s all my childhood trauma and something that seems implausible at best.” There’s a difference between having childlike wonder and indulging in it and just being immature.
MC was begging for this child, like “Please give me this kid. I haven’t shown any initiative to do anything to show that I can responsibly take care of them, I have no money and no support system, i’m too scared to ask for help. I’m definitely using this kid as an emotional crutch because I was never loved as a child, but I love this kid (just don’t google parentification) so give him to me I deserve it.” Like a whole temper tantrum the whole dang book.
Even in the end when she is financially stable, you’re still not capable of purchasing a loving support system for a kid.
Also, basically the rules are made up and the points don’t matter because everyone wins. So what was the point?
The Martian by Andy Weir
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
4.5
A science fiction thriller packed with action and dark humor. Mark Watney is a plucky astronaut who just so happened to left behind on Mars, presumed dead. Now, he has to find out how to stay alive until someone can figure out how to get him home.
This book shows just what humanity is really capable of when we all can have a singular goal.
“There are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”
This book shows just what humanity is really capable of when we all can have a singular goal.
“There are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis
5.0
“so before condemning the torture, they were looking at their wallets.”