ryliereadss's reviews
284 reviews

Every Dog in the Neighborhood by Philip C. Stead

adventurous inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

A sweet book about taking action when you see something you want changed. I loved meeting all the dogs and people in Louis and Grandma's neighborhood. I liked that they both wrote to the city before they took action. The reveal of what grandma was working on was a great ending.

Whoever You Are, Honey by Olivia Gatwood

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A new favorite!! The concept is something I’ve never read before and I think it was done really well. It’s about friendship and mother-daughter relationships and modern technology and young love. Mitty’s character was lovable and complex and held a lot of shame. Lena was sweet and innocent, at least in the beginning. I didn’t expect the open door spicy scenes in the first part of the book. I thought the pacing of the story was good and I liked the duo perspective and the flashback scenes. I really liked that Mitty and Lena are both unhinged to a certain extent. Bethel was awesome and such a great grandmother figure but also friend. The ending was shocking and awesome. I can’t wait to read more novels by Gatwood!

I do wish we had revisited Lena’s fainting spells and had gotten a little more explanation of them. Of course a guy makes a robot that he can also fuck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Blood

Lena puts tweezers in her leg and digs around for a bit.

More Than Peach by Bellen Woodard

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective

This has been my favorite of the Golden Sower books so far. Skin comes in more than one color! It was so cool to see the language in her classroom and then her school change when she pointed out to her classmates that skin isn't just peach. I loved the informative pages in the back about the steps to make changes just like she did. Bellen is an amazing kid and it's awesome that she had such a great support system at home and at school.

Agatha May and the Anglerfish by Nora Morrison, Mika Song, Jessie Ann Foley

hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

Such a cute story about a girl obsessed with anglerfish. I loved the rhyme scheme and the facts at the end of the book. I liked that Agatha wasn't a perfect student but could still do a project she cared about really well, I thought the message was great.

The Pigeon Has to Go to School by Mo Willems

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

I think many kids can relate to how Pigeon feels about going to school. The Pigeon is funny with his extreme reactions as always but they also admit that they're scared about going back to school.

We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

funny hopeful fast-paced

It can be hard to make friends, especially when kids are so delicious to a dinosaur! Penelope learns to have empathy for her classmates which I thought was great to see.

Giant-Sized Butterflies On My First Day of School by Justin Roberts

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

A great back to school book that shows that we all get nervous with butterflies in our stomachs.

Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Encouraged conversations about bats and their sleeping habits!

Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

A fun book about stuff to do at the beach! I liked that Duck and Goose both changed their views of the beach during the book.

Musical Tables: Poems by Billy Collins

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.0

I really liked the pictures most of these little poems made when I read them. Some of them had to do with nature, love, and life. There were a couple of them that I didn’t like so much and one in particular gave me the ick. A good book for someone just getting into poetry.