airxsouls's Reviews (771)

This book was not quite what I expected when I started it. It is a beautifully written story that explores the difficulties of familial tradition and expectations, depicting the challenges of not fitting in and the pressures imposed on us from a young age. Naya desires to defy her family's wishes and goes out of her way to prove herself throughout the narrative. However, what you don’t anticipate is how swiftly it takes a dark turn, revealing the risks associated with taking chances. I appreciated the inclusion of supernatural elements, as they added depth to the story and prevented the main character and her grandmother from being overly superficial. While I wished for more character depth and exploration, particularly regarding Naya and other family members, I still found the book's unique ending enjoyable.

Thank you BookSparks!

This is SUCH an important topic today, and keeping in mind that this is YA, it really hits close to home. This is essentially a beautifully written story that explores small-town American censorship, racism, bigotry, and close-minded decisions. None of these things are in the background, so keep that in mind when diving in. Noor and her friends handle it so much better than I could possibly imagine and go toe-to-toe with people who’d rather be making the decision FOR YOU. Censorship is realistically prevalent and a problem we face in the real world as well. Book banning is never the answer, and this book does a fantastic job of igniting hope in a younger audience to not take it lying down. That their voices matter and SHOULD be heard. I also really loved Noor's character depth and the struggles she faced internally, like with her father. It made you root for her even more. This book should be for everyone, but I know it might very well be banned too. The young people of color throughout this book show that hope is without a doubt an act, not a wish, and not a feeling.

Thank you to tbrandbeyond tours and the author!

A very sweet yet emotionally and realistically deep kids graphic novel! Our main character loves baseball and no matter what, wants to play as long as she possible can! She joins the “boys” team when she discovers there is no girls equivalent. Shenanigans ensue and she has to prove herself in order to be taken seriously amongst her team mates. I really enjoyed it and thought it was beautifully illustrated with a rich story! An important one too, to be honest!

WOW. This is my first Christina Lauren book and I honestly am so happy I started with this because it was just the cutest little story. I absolutely loved Tangled so a reimagining was right up my alley. I loved Ren and Fritz and I think they embodied the perfect grumpy/sunshine trope and the forced proximity beautifulness! It had some really cute moments and I ate it up, that’s for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy!

This was the most painstakingly beautiful read of the entire month and then some. If you’re ready for poetic angst and STUNNING representation, you should most definitely check this one out. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing brought them to life almost. The horror aspect sold me but this book is so much more and it really takes you on a journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy!

I don’t think I knew what I was getting into when I started this book. I say that, elated, yet absolutely blindsided. First we have to talk about the POVs and that you should know going in that they change CONSTANTLY. Like back to the past, the future, screenplay for the movie, and so on. It’s a lot and it was even something that made me pause to adjust to. That being said, this entire plot is about an old horror movie never really released and now being filmed to reboot. So it makes sense to jump back and forth! I’m a BIG HORROR FAN and some of the “scenes” filmed for the movie were absolute insanity. It was a wild ride all the way to the end of this book. If you’re a fan of unreliable narration (pretty much everything in this is unreliable) this is most definitely for you! The ending gets slightly predictable as you go on and while that can be a bit disappointing, I’d say it also adds a bit of terror. Knowing the end result no matter what. There’s no happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy!

I’m beginning to think that Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong in my head. I have liked all of her books to some varying degree but never disliked any of them. I love that she has basically sold her soul to whoever started the Enemies to Lovers trope and now dominates it in her own right. The comedic, quirky, passionate writing always seals me in and I can never escape! This is most definitely your next read, immediately. It hits just as good! Rue is the cutest. AND feistiest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for my arc!

Wow, honestly. I read both of these books and I am really interested on how the author could possibly make a third one any better. Wrath of the Talon took all the bits I loved in the first book and ENRICHED THEM. Somehow. But boy was this one ANGSTY. The story and even our characters have such a yearning for life yet held back by all this intense destruction, including self destruction might I add. It was just so good and I really love her writing, everything comes across so firm. Which is what this story needs. I really loved this and you should definitely check this series out!