I read this book via audiobook. I should note that the author is also the narrator for the audiobook. I feel that hearing the author's voice helped me better understand her grief as she had to care for her mother after she was diagnosed with cancer. I have a friend who lost her mother to cancer a few years ago and I was impressed at how well Zauner was able to capture the experience through the words on the page. I was not familiar with her band before reading this book. However, now that I have explored more of her work I can vouch for her talent as a songwriter and singer and am therefore less surprised by her talent with prose in this work. This book is a highly personal experience with the grief experienced after losing a parent. It explores the complexity of grief and how it can evoke a flurry of emotions including depression, resentment, shame, and also serve as motivation for personal growth. This work was not what I expected it to be in terms of its focus on Zauner's complex relationship with her parents, but I was not disappointed.

This was a very nice mix of urban fantasy murder mystery. Elatsoe is an indigenous teenager with a pet ghost dog who finds out through her cousin's ghost that he was murdered. She starts her own investigation around what happened to her cousin with help and support from her friends and family. Magic and supernatural beings and occurrences are a given in this world, so I would catergorize it as urban fantasy for that reason. There are certain magical traditions that are unique to the tribe Elatsoe is a part of and we get insight into her tight knit family and some of the history behind their beliefs about the supernatural. 

Additionally, there is commentary within the story pertaining to racism and stereotypes imposed on indigenous people as well as the uninvestigated disappearances and murders of indigenous people. I think the author did this very well seamlessly incorporating it into the main storyline while not taking away from the importance of these topics. I was very happy overall with the story and characters and hope to pick up more books from this author. It is easy to get through and is a fantasy story that showcases an indigenous perspective on fantasy. 

This was an incredibly personal story that incited a great level of empathy for the author's experience after her sexual assault. In addition, it still allowed for a critical social commentary about the justice system and how it often traumatizes victims of sexual assault. The prose is articulate yet relatable and easy to digest and relate to. I read this via audiobook and cannot recommend it more. It is narrated by the author and it makes the memoir feel that much more real. I am happy to know that the author has found a way to cope with her trauma over the years and is in a much better place now. However, I am also utterly disgusted at how she and many other sexual assault victims are probably made to feel so terrible in criminal cases like this one. It makes it that much more difficult for justice to be found for victims of sexual assault. This is just one of many examples and I appreciate that this book brings that reality to light.

I found that I had a lot of fun with these characters. Sera reminds me more of Poppy from the From Blood and Ash series than Ash reminds me of Hawke. Overall, both had interesting backstories and were interesting characters. I think the plot twist was reasonably predictable, but the journey to get there was fun enough that I did not mind. Ash and Sera have a lot of banter that is entertaining but also lets us see the character's vulnerability. The side characters are also very memorable and I feel add to the depth of the story. There are lots of fun new creatures introduced into this world (same setting as the From Blood and Ash series) and I can't wait to learn more about it as this series goes on. I feel Armentrout has improved in her world building and pacing and I can appreciate that.

I had a lot of fun with this sequel. It focused more on Somin and Junu. Junu seems very nonchalant on the outside, but we get to learn a lot about his history and trauma in this sequel. It made his character more compelling and interesting than he already was. Somin also gets a lot more character exploration, particularly pertaining to her relationship with her mother. Jihoon and Miyoung are still very prominent within the story, but it is clear that this book focused more on the side characters of the first book. I really enjoyed this sequel and it wrapped up the story well. I'd be happy to pick up others works written by Kat Cho. 

The male lead threatened the female lead with rape and that's not redeemable to me, so I'm out.

The story follows the origins of the conflict between the X-Men and the Inhumans. The X-men discover that the Terrigen Cloud is killing mutants and suspect the Inhumans may have withheld this information. There were a lot of strings being pulled simultaneously by different groups of characters, but by the end it is clear that not all is as it seems. I appreciated that Storm and Medusa initially tried to find a way to make amends despite the death of allies on both sides of the conflict. Unfortunately, the sanity of one of our characters is in question by the end and their actions lead to dire consequences that surely promise to escalate the conflict in the future. The premise of the story is pretty bare bones, but the plot twist at the end helped it be more interesting for me by the end. I plan on following up on this event to see what the conclusion is. Not the best prologue for an event I've read, but it's decent.

This book explores the history behind racial lynching in Forsyth County, Georgia that led to its largely white populace today. We follow the county's history with slavery and focus on the lynchings in 1912 with thorough explanations of the news coverage of the events at that time. The description of these historical events captures the horror and pain of the victims and the level of hate and racism that led to those events. This is not a light read in subject matter, but is incredibly informative and easy to follow. Definitely recommend if you want to capture a glimpse of racial history in the South. The author ends on a hopeful note which helps balance out the narrative of the events by the end.

This book narrates the experience of Georgina Lawton, an English black woman, raised by white parents under the presumption that she was biologically her father's child. It is a personal story that explores the author's personal trauma when learning of her mother's infidelity that resulted in her conception. Additionally, it explores Georgina's happy and loving upbringing that is in juxtaposition to the deception of her true paternal origin. Georgina's journey to heal and find her own identity as she moved from the UK to the United States is balanced by her commentary on race and the contrast of her blackness with the normalization of whiteness in Western society. It was very insightful and adds a nice perspective about the perception of blackness in the United States compared to England.

I couldn't get past the fact that the male lead slept with the female lead's mother in the past. It was too weird for me. He's also too much of a jerk to make him redeemable for me, especially after finding that out. I don't think the female lead knows either, but it's weird anyway. It also seems that the mother was predatory towards him which makes it worse. I didn't stick around long enough to find out. If it's not something you think would bother you than go for it, but this was just not for me.