There’s so much about this book that I feel like shouldn’t work, and I spent a good chunk convinced that it wouldn’t   And then, to my surprise, I fell in love with this story along the way. I can’t quite explain it; I feel like I could talk about the things that could be different, but i think it would end up coming out as compliments. I don’t know how the author did it. It’s cheesy, the main character is frustrating, there’s so much plot, but somehow it comes together in a way that scratches my brain and touches my heart in the best way. 

For a lot of this book, I was very frustrated with the main character. She had so much anger and angst, and it made for a difficult reading experience. I also thought the pacing was a bit off; some things were too subtle or given full detail later, when it didn't make as much sense. I understood Julia's struggles, even if I didn't always agree with her, but by the end I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would.

Gatsby is one of my all time favorites, and I love retellings, so this book instantly caught my attention. I loved this take on the story and the shifted focus to the women. All of them were rich and interesting, and the bigger mystery worked very well. I was slightly taken aback by the restructuring of Gatsby himself, but in the context I thought it worked. I felt the story of the detective was a bit unnecessary, but ultimately liked how all the men in this besides him seemed to truly be the beautiful fools. 

Today my heart is heavy, and this poetry cut through that noise and helped to comfort me. I’m not normally one for poetry, but the way that this is written appealed to me in such a unique way. I love how Jackson engaged in dialogue from Luke but also firmly placed it in today. I want to come back to this again and again and digest this even more. 

This story is such a journey, and it’s wonderful and sad and mesmerizing. I really loved everything about it. Celie is such a fascinating character, and her story is one of strength and discovering yourself. I don’t know how I’ve gone this long without reading this book. 

This was one of the most creatively written books I’ve ever read. It was so interesting and I loved how well the voices came through in just font variations. I’m really glad my students can read this book because it does so much with language. 

Someone described this book to me like the middle grade version of The Hate U Give, and I think that tracks. This book was very unflinching and honest, and I liked the writing style. I think it could have been longer, or deeper, or both to be truly perfect, but I really liked it!

The message of this book was good, and some of the characters were interesting. It was the main character that was my biggest issue. Hector is not very deep, and his switch to hatred and revenge felt hollow. He became so one note after that, with his only purpose being to get revenge. The side characters who were interesting didn’t really get time to shine, or show much depth. The addition of chess being something that hector loves, but then decides he’s giving up, didn’t track for me either. I don’t think I was the right audience for this book, which is fine, it just wasn’t for me. 

I’m very neutral about this book. I think the concept was interesting, and Klytemnestra and Helen were both drawn very well. I wasn’t overwhelmed by it or overly struck by it, though. It would be interesting to read the book that came out recently centering on Elektra after reading this, too. 

The part of me that loves Jane the Virgin loves this book, not that it didn’t have its issues. I can tell that this was Igharo’s first book, and while i understood both the main characters problems they were still frustrating. I thought the book was very original, though, and I still really liked the characters.