I was very pleasantly surprised by this book!

I thought the world building was excellent and I never doubted the choices the author made. All the characters were very lovable and I am excited to see where they go next.

Overall, it didn’t blow me away but I can see the second one being even better. Especially if our main characters actually get to visit the enchanted river… 

Super cute with realistic characters navigating love through various mental health lenses. If you watch The Bachelor - you’ll love this.

“To often White Feminism lies to itself. It lies about intent and impact. It invests more in protecting whiteness than in protecting women.”

I would highly recommend listening to this as an audiobook. Being able to hear this through Kendall’s voice made this more impactful and real.

This was a very fun read and not at all what I expected. It took Part One to truly get used to reading this story through Nan’s eyes but I fell in love with her by the end. I think there might be a little too much hype about this novel but it definitely deserves 4 stars.

I know little about AC, other than the stories I learned from my time abroad, but I think this novel has sparked my interest in her. I am excited about that!

If you are going to pick up this book (WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) choose the audiobook. Anytime I had a free second I was listening to this. It was such a great twist on a whodunit with amazing narrators, characters and writing style. I’m so excited for the second one!!!!

And I thought the first one was good……It is nothing in comparison to this. Maas can really build. a. world. and create an amazing story. I was gasping out loud at the end like damn

Okay people know how I feel about TJ Klune and I was so excited to try his YA. I didn’t start to really love this until the second half. I thought many of the scenes didn’t progress the story enough and I found I was skipping sections just to get to some action. However, the second part was so so good and got me very excited for the sequel. In Klune fashion, the representation in this book is great and how sexuality is handled between Nick and his Dad is refreshing.

I could write pages and pages about the wonders of this book. The only reason it did not get 5 stars is because I can’t 100% enjoy a book that is this sad. Just not my ideal 5 star read but I have no doubt others will rate it as such. Another book I would recommend through audiobook because it has a full cast.

Of course this was suppose to be commentary on our own pandemic and I knew that going in. However, I did not expect it to hit so close to home. It was a real eye-opener, reminding me of what we have lost and what could still be waiting for us if we do not get our act together. CW: I don’t know if I could have gotten through this if I had lost someone close to me from Covid-19. So be aware of that.

I loved how Nagamatsu tied the stories together. Some story lines I cared more about than others. The ones I specially liked had talks of finding a new planet to live on and how their pandemic forced them to care about climate change. Some topics I hope will become true for real life.

This could be a great new classic for high schools to use as dystopian commentary on Covid-19 in the future.

I DNF this.....and then googled the ending because I had no heart to finish this. Very bland story with bad characters....so disappointing.