Note: This review comes from a white, non-binary person.

*Special thanks to HarperTeen and Net Gallery for the eARC of this book*

TW: Infidelity, cheating, temptations to cheat, misgendering, depression

This book cover has me five times over full-on in love with it. Seriously, the colours, the character poses, the shear emotion and mood this cover emotes is beyond my wildest dreads,

Sadly the book didn't quite match up to that cover hype. And that's ok. I mean, some books are allowed to be just "OK" books. There were ideas I loved, and if you like fake dating tropes you'll love this. But there was a lot of little gripes that had me settle on a 'meh' score.

First being the author tended to do a lot of 'telling' rather than showing. For example, he mentions Sean has an "Accountant" persona in language he puts on when embarrassed, he talks too formally and that's a really funny concept and ok to point out the first time it happens. But then, every time he gets embarrassed he always points out "I'm talking like an accountant again" and the joke falls flat. Then there will be repeated phrasing in the same paragraph such as "Ross's movements were fluid... Such fluid movements." and it would make me do a double take to see if I had accidentally re-read the same line twice. A last critique in the regards to the writing is the explanations being in the wrong places. In the beginning we are told mer folk have names like "Kelp" and "Drop" which seemed more fitting to come out of a Disney Jr cartoon than a YA romance novel (nothing wrong with simple names! Just seemed off). It wasn't till the last third of the book we are told that those are not actually the names the mer-folk say, but rather they mimic the "sound of a drop of water" or "of kelp thrashing in the sea". which makes SO much more sense. That should have been brought up in the beginning rather than so late in the book.

Seans best friend also seemed a lot like the token sassy BIPOC for the first half of the book, but then she changes into a important but uncomfortable main character towards the end.

Lastly were the morals. What were they? It just kept (pardon the pun) flip flopping. Was it about true love? Was it about the corruption of humanity? Was it about the flaws of instalove? I don't know, it was honestly all over and the characters kept shifting their views and the final lesson was literally two pages from the end and I didn't know how long that one was going to stick for them in the long run.

I did love the body positivity and having so many queer characters. This is a great step in normalisation for both those aspects.

TW: Karen antagonist, mentions of (and praise given to) racist books, ableism and ableist nickname given to character, mentions of HP.

Scroll down. Read Mike_m's review. Sums up my thoughts exactly, so why reinvent the wheel?

TW: mentions of 'civilization' (inffering Christianity over indigonous gods), death, death of children, abuse

A poetic almost fable-like tale of a woman struggling to overcome an oppressive system of old laws, her fight for her rights to her child, and her eventual meeting with her destiny.

TW: race, racism and racist slurs, blood, classism, parental abuse, underage romance, ableism and stereotypes of blind people

A great read that deals with race, classism, family drama and healing relationships. My big gripe was the unnecessary romance between the 15 yr old lead and her 18 yr old boyfriend.

TW: murder, death, blood, continuous pain in hands, snakes

I'm not usually a fan of retellings, but I'm a sucker for any to do with the Swan brothers. Lim spins a magical tale that brings her own unique spin on the classic, yet feels fresh and indipendent.

TW: racism, old colonial ideals of interracial children, the g slur and the n slur

NOTE: the copy I read was the 1930 Nelson Library edition of this publication

I remember loving this book as a kid, and now as an adult, finding a near 100 year old copy at a used bookstore made me want to revisit. This was eye opening.

Despite enjoying the story and writing overall, I gave this book a low rating. This was due to the problematic nature of society the author projects onto his characters and underlying racism and classism.

I found the use of slurs for Romani and Black people, while sadly not unexpected for the author's day and age (still not excusable), surprising because no edition of this book I ever encountered had these words (except for the g word which sadly is still commonly used today). Yet my 1930 copy unabashedly uses the N word (later editions changed it to slave). I looked up to see if there were any trigger warnings for the book or essays about this edit, but I've found litterally nothing. It's extreamly good the word has been edited out of future and current versions, but it's telling of an author and the acceptable social racism of the time period to see their original and early manuscripts.

TW: racism, Islamophobia, inter-generational disagreements of values and beliefs, parental pressure, mention of post-natal depression

(Note: this review comes from a non-Muslim person - reviews from Muslim readers should be listened too before mine.)

Barakah Beats is a tremendous debut with a stunning multi-layered plot. The sensitive way music in Islam is handled is a true sign of Siddiqui's immense talent. The ending gave me goosebumps.

TW: racism, slurs, cultural appropriation, rape, sexual assault, underage drinking, mentions of underage sex, blood, drug use and overdosing, suicide, murder, misogyny, colonialism

2.5
TW: insects laying eggs in people, death of rabbits by dog

Not as charming as HMC but lightyears better than the misogynistic/racist mess of CitA. For me the only enjoyable moments were the few of Howl's charming chaos and Sophie just existing in her glory.