A solid exploration of the tactics and maneuvering of the food industry to keep you within their sphere of influence. Nothing groundbreaking, but very accessible. Any judgements made in this book are not targeted at consumers, but the corporations harming them.

I prefer Marion Nestle's writings as she includes calls to action and direct actions you can make, and I think that should be included when discussing topics with such impacts on our day to day.

Lily's chapters were poignant and beautiful and I have a desire to devour everything Jennifer Finery Boylan has written. I don't know if Jodi Picoult is just... not for me or this particular book dragged in ways that felt sanctimonious at times. I think an editor willing to cut 60 pages or so from Olivia's story would have been beneficial.

Also the 'twist reveal' of the incident missed the mark for me in so many ways and felt shocking for the sake of being that. I've been a teenage girl in love triangles; I don't know that Jodi Picoult has.

I did learn lots of bee facts, though.

I don't think gothic fantasy is the genre I'd put this in. Definitely a darker than normal YA fantasy, but along the Abhorsen lines. That said -

WOW. What a refreshing magic system and world lore. When's the next one coming out?

A fantastic step in accepting yourself and your sexual self in a society insistent on selling you things to correct all the reasons you're "wrong". Accessible, absorbable, and strongly recommended.

This book is a series of 4.5 interwoven vignettes that take place in a quaint Japanese Cafe with unique properties. As a huge fan of weird cages and bookstores, I was in love with the setting immediately and I literally couldn't set it down from there.

The second vignette is where I knew this book was going to be special to me in ways I hadn't expected.

It's not always perfect in its portrayal of gender roles, but it's such a small hiccup in the face of the overall idea "While we cannot always change a negative outcome, we can change what we do with it."

Beautiful beautiful beautiful.

4/10

This book was a conundrum.

The grief and feelings and craziness of the family was so *so* relatable. I have lived through two deaths where this behavior occurred in the aftermath, and the feelings and descriptions of the parents behavior and how they coached the kids was so raw and real. I have experienced the emotional coaching to keep a patriarch happy. I was entirely on board the plan to destroy the symbol of all of it. I was a teenager at the time and my emotions were big and violent too. So much of the book resonated and was emotionally cathartic.

Once we switch from character piece to plot driven story and hit the 'reveal'/ ending this book fails so hard for me. This was some Season 8 Game of Thrones level twistery that's there for shock value and to teach a moral, though quite frankly I think it misses the mark on even that.

What a waste of potential.