alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

I'm a fan of Fangirl, so of course I had to read this.

The way that magic works is genius and funny at the same time. Normal people have to say a phrase a lot and it will be able to be used as a spell with literal consequences by magickal people. For example, "Make a wish!" is a spell that can put out fire.

I love the characters and would read a sequel. Buuuut, for a long time after Baz and Simon kiss, they still fight. A lot. It's tedius and doesn't make sense. I guess I wish the book had more cute couple time and less very confused immature teenage boy time.

A good story set in a dystopian, water-parched Southern California. Lauren, an educated young black woman and the daughter of a Baptist minister, grew up in an enclosed, self-contained community. Worried about the future and forseeing the end to the relative security in her neighborhood, she makes a plan to head north to lands with more water and life. Her plan is complimented by a new religious philosophy that she develops centered around the mantra "Change is God."

Along the way, she attracts a diverse ragtag following of beatitudes, and begins to develop them into her disciples.

A+ for strong female lead and interesting ways of twisting religious verses into something new.

While I don't agree with Rand's philosophies, she is a stellar writer.

Really great, and it helped me process through insecurities in my own life. Overall, it's very encouraging. I found the prayer chapter in the middle of the book to be my favorite, and it is a good transition from insecurity triggers in the first half, to how to heal, respond to, and break the cycle of insecurity in the second half.

Basically: what's my motivation for acting, thinking, or feeling this way? And how can I replace those actions with truth, encouragement, and building others up?

Pretty interesting, nicely written, and a good non-fiction for a commuter. The author is punny and I appreciated how she was able to balance the subject of the human corpse in a way that was respectful at times, and appropriately entertaining at others.

I listened to the audio version, which I highly recommend, because it has original recordings of Dr. King's speeches and introductions recorded by their original writers (for the most part). We read snippets from these speeches, but of course they are much more powerful in context. Dr. King's commitment to peaceful action and love for your enemies is still so necessary to hear today. Super encouraging.

This is the second book I've read by Margaret Atwood, and she didn't disappoint. All the scary things about our coming future, plus some bizarre dark humor. The character work is so nice, and the story is rich enough to not make you feel like you are on the short end of the dystopian money tree... Because Atwood writes for warning's sake and also this story is very much not YA.