God, Emily Henry did it again. I wasn’t sure about this one for a while, because it felt too much like PeopleWe Meet on Vacation, which isn’t my favorite of hers. But then, the last third just attacked my heart. I felt all of these characters and their struggles. All of them felt fully real and complicated, and I was able to relate to pieces of all of them. By the end I was crying. Emily Henry just knows how to write, in a way that makes a story that could be simple or light into one that’s rich and complicated. Just so so good. 

I’m so glad I finally read this. It had me sobbing and smiling the entire time. It was heartwarming and inspiring and just so so enchanting. It was like the best bits of A Series of Unfortunate Events, Good Omens, and The Umbrella Academy all rolled into one. And it was just lovely. 

I liked this better than Cinderella is Dead, by the same author. Once I realized that this was supposed to be a complete retelling of the original novella, I enjoyed the book a lot more. Adding in the LGBTQ storyline I think was a really smart and worthwhile take on the story. It felt very natural and like an excellent elevation of the original text, although I've never read it. I do wish it was longer, especially getting to understand Gabriel and Henry's relationship. As it is right now, it's pretty much just taken for granted their feelings for each other. 

This was pleasantly surprising! It took a few turns I wasn’t expecting and it made for a fun story. I wish there was a bit more of something, although I don’t know what that something is. I enjoyed all of the characters, though, and the concept was fun. 

The first part of this book worked for me when it came to updating The Importance of Being Earnest. It just didn't follow the original story enough for me to really call it a retelling. Wilde's original story is high comedy and satirical, and this YA version updated it well with LGBTQ characters and Janey's backstory, but that was about it. It mainly felt unfinished. Like it was half of a story, rather than a completed idea. Cute enough, and short, just lacking detail for me. 

I liked the vibes of this book better than the actual execution. The fairytale forest was cool, but there wasn't much depth to the characters. Again the world was interesting, but it could have been deeper, especially considering how much I loved Poston's adult romance. 

This book is not perfect, but I’m almost uncomfortable with how relatable I found it. Nina reminds me so much of me, just without the family stuff. I loved the family she found, and I wish there was even more of it. The switching in narration worked for me most of the time, but I missed it when it wasn’t there. Still, had a great time listening to this. 

Ok, I did not think I would like this book as much as I did. But, I shouldn't discount Kwame Alexander. My students have been devouring this book this year, and I wanted to see why. It's such an interesting book about basketball, family, and growing up. The graphic novel format was wonderful. I have the second book in this series, Rebound, in the original verse form, and I will be curious to see how it compares to the graphic version. But yes, I loved this book, I loved Josh, and the end broke me. 

This book was like a hug—a complicated, adorable, queer hug. I loved both Alexei and Ben so much. I got them both, which hasn’t been happening a lot with romcoms. Both of their struggles made sense to me, and they were also incredibly heartwarming and precious. I also really loved the way religion is talked about. Loving God and loving queer people is something that seems difficult, but I liked how this book handled that for alexei. Just ✨adorable✨.

This book had a bit of a rough start for me, because I found Kat to be extremely hard to read. She was just very selfish and could not see past herself. It made it pretty annoying to read, but once she and Stevie separated and we got to hear her perspective as well, it got a lot better. I enjoyed the adventures and the chaos, even if it was a bit over the top at times. This was my first Matson book, and I did enjoy it!