Sometimes it's not good to go back and read your favorites...

Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoyed the story, but I noticed a lot of casual sexism and there seems to be no diversity at all.

Not as interesting as I expected... I have read this before way back in middle school, but I didn't remember anything about it. I thought it would be much more interesting, but it wasn't. Maybe it's because I didn't have the words in front of me? Although that usually isn't a problem I have with audiobooks.

So over the past couple years, I've listened to all of the stories from HP Lovecraft and while I was interested at first, I quickly grew bored of the generic seeming stories, the constant "indescribable" things, and the racism rampant in Lovecraft's writing. All of which is disappointing because I love the idea of his other worlds, his old gods, and his horrors.

This book, however, while not exactly PC with it's terminology regarding other races does not feel to me (although do not take my word for it as a white person) to be outright racist, just that it was trying to match the previous works in style. This book also was much more enjoyable than any of Lovecraft's stories, but I have more than a passing affection for Sherlock Holmes thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch.

I hate being the type of person that says "if you like blank you'll like this," but in this case... If you liked Harry Potter, you'll most likely like this. I say "most likely" because some things feel like blatant ripoffs, but overall the story is delightful.

I'm especially pleased with the issues of adoption, death, and crushes bring touched on fairly realistically.

The stories have definitely picked up the pace. A couple characters have surprised me, but the punishment towards the end of the book is the most shocking thing. I saw it coming when I realized what Dex was doing, but still... Wow.

Just. Damnit! First, cliffhanger! Major freaking cliffhanger! Second, I thought for some reason that this was the final book. It's not. Thank goodness it isn't since CLIFFHANGER! But UGH!

I thought the series was complete which is why I finally started reading it (to binge the whole thing at once, you know), but now I have to wait!

However, Keefe. Or, as Glitter Butt would say, KEEFE KEEFE KEEFE! Haha! I'm loving the role that Keefe has stepped into. I can't wait to see how it all plays out. :-D

While I'm still getting strong Harry Potter vibes off these books, it's definitely not a bad thing! (And probably just means that I need to finish [b:Jesus Potter Harry Christ|10585061|Jesus Potter Harry Christ The Astonishing Relationship Between Two of the World's Most Popular Literary Characters A Historical Investigation Into the Mythology and Literature of Jesus Christ and the Religious Symbolism in Rowling's Magical Series.|Derek S. Murphy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347446300s/10585061.jpg|15373090] and reread my Harry Potter books as soon as possible! It's time for a reread!)

I love the idea of an alicorn and I like the little twist of sci-fi with the gene manipulation going on with Sophie. And while I still like that romantic relationships are sort of brought up, everyone crushing on Sophie is getting annoying. Jensi is apparently the only age-appropriate male mentioned by name that isn't in love with Sophie, and he's fawning over Biana in this book! (Jensi is a fairly minor character, but I do like his character.)

Ugh, I feel like all I've done is say "I love it so let me list everything I hate about it!" But really, if I was to list the things I love about it, I think I would just be listing everything that makes it sound like a clone of Harry Potter. And really, it isn't a clone. I love the HP vibes that I'm getting and that is probably what makes me love it so much, but there are differences. For example, Foxfire is not a boarding school. All the students go home at the end of each day. The classes are one-on-one rather than a large classroom. Also different from many fantasy genre books that I've read, these elves don't seem to be having a breeding problem. There are tons of young elves in the world and somehow they still live forever. Without overcrowding. I'm hoping that gets addressed, but it is great to read a book about elves where they don't complain about no babies being born.

You should read these books. Yes, you. Because if you've read this far into my review, you're either somewhat interested in the book or you're interested in me. And I'm pretty boring. Haha!

Damn. That was incredible! Skipping everything all the way to the ending, I was slightly surprised by the disguise reveals. I say slightly because I expected the two characters that are revealed to be those in disguise, but not the disguises that they were and Mr. Forkle was not at all who I expected. I'm still hopeful that the person I thought was Mr. Forkle will at least be able Black Swan member revealed in the next book.

Knowing I was going to be diving back into a world seemingly so different from my own childhood, I was prepared for some shell-shock and confusion. Instead, I was seamlessly enfolded into the story by Angie Thomas's writing skill and the power of her story. I'm not sure why I was shocked by this - the same thing happened with THUG and OtCU!

I bawled like a baby at different times, giggled at Mav's interactions with Seven and him learning how to be a dad, and I absolutely loved seeing the relationships grow and change into was we saw in THUG. I do wish the book and gone on a little longer because I was NOT ready to give up my time with Mav, but in spite of that desire the "ending" was perfect.