There is a lot of self shaming in this book that I did not appreciate. I thought this would be an exploration about how the church's relationship with sex education, not framing sex as something shameful. Instead, the author spent the first 20% or so of the book implying that she was a terrible follower of Jesus because she had sex out of wedlock decades before. Rhetoric like this concerns me because many young women may read this and learn that their experiences with sex are something to be eternally ashamed of even decades after the fact. That is not healthy at all and I feel that the author may need to unpack some of that self imposed shame before she gives advice pertaining to the church and sex. Additionally it concerns me that there are other people like the author out there who are stuck in a cycle of shame that prevents them from cultivating their relationship with God and sex within their faith. There are other books that do a better job of addressing ways that the church can improve its discussions around the topic of sex without shaming and defining women by the sex they choose or don't choose to partake in. I cannot recommend this one unfortunately.

I appreciated the window this story provided into the stress and work involved being a student in academia. Olive is a graduate student who, to push her best friend to go out with a guy who she went on only one date with, comes up with a convoluted lie about dating a professor (Adam). Adam is a quiet and stern man known for being strict with the PhD students. He falls into the misunderstood jerk trope, which is one of my favorites. Olive feels intimidated by him initially. However, as he continuously goes out of his way to do kind things for her she begins to warm up to him. Deep down Adam can be very gentle and kind, it just takes some digging through the layers to see it. Olive and Adam are forced into a set of awkward circumstances that allow them to really see one another for who they are. The build up to their relationship was slow but worthwhile. There is time given to both Olive and Adam's friendships which helps to make them feel more like real people. Their friends are supportive of them individually and as a couple and I love seeing that in any story. This romance is probably one of my favorites of the year and I can easily recommend it (whether you are a Start Wars fan or not).

It should be noted that since this story was originally Star Wars fanfiction it is a bit strange that the male lead shares a name with the actor that plays Kylo Ren. It doesn't take away from the story but I do feel it is an odd choice. In addition, the quality of the story is definitely reminiscent of fanfiction and I think this is a book best enjoyed taking that into consideration before reading.

This was a fun silly story with all kinds of mythical creatures and a cute romance. It's written to be very tongue and cheek and a lot of the characters are named after ridiculous things like foods/seasonings. The adventure starts off pretty quickly and we slowly get introduced to a diverse cast of characters. The world is also interesting and provides great commentary about slavery and discrimination. It's very easy to become invested in the story and characters. Overall, if you like magic and mythical creatures and love some humor with your romance, I highly recommend this. It is a breath of fresh air if you need a break from reading more serious things. 

This story had everything I love about magical realism in a nutshell. The Montoyas are a large family that travels to Ecuador to claim their inheritance from Orquidea. A series of events occur that lead to the deaths of some of the Montoyas. The surviving members try to find out who is behind the mythical magic is trying to kill them off. The relationships between the Montoyas feel genuine. I am not Ecuadorian, but I am first generation Latinx living in the United States and I felt incredibly represented by the Montoyas. Some of the members of the family don't speak Spanish despite having such strong ties to Ecuador. It is very representative of the experience of those part of the Latinx diaspora. 

The story also is very nonchalant about the whimsical magic in this world, which I loved. I feel like a lot of newer fantasy books have much harder magic systems and it was nice to go back to the soft magic that is inherently a part of magical realism like this. 

There is a lot of important commentary pertaining to colorism, sexism, and machismo culture in Orquidea's journey. We get flashbacks into her past that contributed to understanding how she became who she was in the present. It helped Orquidea become a much more sympathetic character. I wish we had gotten to know all of her husbands more and to see what those relationships looked like. There was a strong focus on her first husband and I feel like the story would have benefited from a point of comparison to her other romantic relationships. 

I think that if you have never read magical realism this would be an excellent introduction. The story is easy to follow and feels like a magical murder mystery with a beautiful setting. The characters are diverse both in personality and life experiences which keeps you invested in their journeys. I am looking forward to more adult books written by this author in the future.

This novella reads as a series of letters and events between friends that transcends many years. We are introduced to a few characters who all helped each other live in the large city and protected each other as Martita, the main character, pursued her artistic dreams in her 20s. It speaks volumes about the importance of female friendships and how women can help protect each other from men who wish to take advantage of them. There is not much of a focus on plot, but we get to know these characters through their actions and letters to each other. You can feel the love through the letters despite the women not seeing each other for extended periods of time. They each go on to live their own lives whilst never forgetting about each other. I think this is not a novella for everyone, but I feel it is a beautiful experience if you like to see strong female friendships presented in an unconventional format through the text.

The second installment in the series consists of a lot less info dumping since most of the world building was done in the first book.  The pacing feels less clunky than the first book as a result, I think.  As graduation approaches, the established system within the scholomance is challenged. I think the story took an interesting turn that I wasn't expecting by the end. I can't say more because spoilers, but I think a lot of readers will be intrigued by the ending.  There is a sense of mystery in the plot that isn't completely answered by the end. I'm looking forward to seeing how that is resolved in the next installment and how the dynamics of the enclaves are outside of the scholomance. 

In addition, the characters interact with each other more like friends than before. We get to know Liu and Aadhya better and get some glimpses into some of their other relationships which is interesting. More characters are also explored more thoroughly which adds an interesting dynamic to the ensemble of characters we already know. Galadriel and Orion's relationship becomes more established and reveals more about Orions' motivations and what attracts him to Galadriel. Through her relationships Galadriel seems much more comfortable and sympathetic compared to the first book. I think for readers who didn't like her very much in the first book it might be an opportunity to warm up to her. We also learn more about how Orion and El's magic is different than a lot of other student's magic. I felt like it helps clarify a lot about why Orion and El both function in the way that they do and why they understand each other so well.

I love Gaydos's art and I think it was the write choice of art style for the kind of story this is. Pearl is a tattoo artist that finds herself embroiled in yakuza gang politics when she saves a young man's life. They become romantically involved and she msut now collaborate with the yakuza in order to survive. This first volume feels like an atmospheric introduction into this world. There are a lot of conversations that occur between characters pertaining to the plot, but there is context that is lacking. I am hoping that we get more context and answers in future volumes. It reminds me a bit of how the original Jessica Jones comics in terms of not being given full context for what is going on until later. I personally don't mind that, but if you don't like feeling confused for too long then this writing choice might bother you.

I went into this book with no expectations. I know Lindsey Ellis as a Youtuber and have enjoyed her content in the past, but I am not an avid follower. I think the most enjoyment from this book is probably garnered if you go in without any expectations if you previously know about Lindsey Ellis. With that said, I think this book would make for an excellent screenplay and Ellis's prose makes it easy to visualize and follow what is occurring in the plot despite the fast pacing. The plot slows down a bit in the middle to give space for character development. There is a strong focus on government conspiracy and Cora reluctantly becoming involved with a government cover up as she becomes an alien translator.  I appreciated that the characters are written with realistic reactions to aliens landing on Earth. The government presence within the plot is palpable and Cora, the main character, is understandably suspicious of the intentions of the aliens together with all of the humans. Their cultures and perceptions of each other are fearful and untrusting. However, it becomes clear very quickly that the morals determined by each culture is incredibly different. This makes sense since they come from different worlds and makes for interesting speculation about character motives.

The main representative for the aliens is named Ampersand and his intentions are dubious at best. Despite this, he gains the trust of Cora over the course of the story and if it weren't for them being separate species it almost reads as romantic at times. This first book felt like an introduction to the aliens and their culture as well as what their perception of humanity is. A lot goes on, but it feels like a lot is left unanswered. Personally, there isn't anything in the story I fell in love with, but I am just interested enough to continue the series. This might be one of those book series where everything doesn't completely fall into place until you read the series as a whole. If you want to be blown away immediately, this might not be the book series for you. I don't mind a slower start in terms of world building, so I'm hoping that the next book builds on everything established in this first book. Overall, not a bad introduction into sci-fi if it's not a genre you read often.

This book was an excellent exploration of patriarchy in Latin America and how that affects the advancement of women outside of the roles assigned to them by society. Camila is an Argentinian teenager of Middle Eastern descent who wishes to become a professional soccer player, against the wishes of her parents. Her father is abusive, unhappy, and sexist man. Unfortunately we see how some of his attitudes trickle down to his son (Camila's brother) Pablo. There is a particular conversation between Pablo and Camila that highlights this. It is pertaining to the recent murder of a local young woman. Pablo believes that her death could have been avoided had she not been out so late at night, effectively blaming the victim for the tragedy. Despite adopting some of his father's thoughts on issues like this, he is also another victim in his household. Pablo's father consistently compares him to others in terms of where he is in his soccer career and expresses his disappointment in his son's aspirations. Pablo serves as a foil for Camila as well. By the end of the story, he makes choices about his life that are the opposite of Camila's. Whether those choices are damning or not is open to interpretation. However, I found it incredibly interesting that Camila and him end up in seemingly opposite positions than at the beginning of the story. 

Throughout the book it feels like Camila is encased in this protective bubble by the men around her, including her love interest, Diego. As the story progresses, Camila takes steps to gain her independence and prioritize what she wants despite her circumstances. She bumps into opposition in this process and is forced to reevaluate her relationships with the men around her. Overall, I think the men in the story are given nuance. Overall, with the exception of maybe Camila's father, have good intentions. However, those intentions don't always translate well into seeing Camila as a respectable and independent equal that does not require rescuing. Overall, I think Camila is able to gain the respect of most of the men in her as well as her own mother. Camila's mother also finds her own independence as Camila finds hers and by the end is happier for it. 

In terms of representation, Camila is of Arabic descent and also has an Arabic last name. Her friend Roxana is also an Argentine with Asian parents. I appreciated that these details about the characters highlighted that Latinxs have diverse backgrounds. We also see Roxana's wealth and the support her family provides her juxtaposed against the poverty and lack of support Camila has from her family. They do have issues that they face and eventually overcome throughout the book in their relationship. I think their friendship was well written and compelling and I always love seeing that in books.

If you are looking for a story that is hopeful and has excellent character development and commentary on machismo culture I highly recommend this book.

Sully, Akara, and Banks must confront Ryke's rejection of their relationship as well as the pressures that may come with revealing their relationship status. It was a bit surprising to see Ryke be so uncomfortable with the relationship, but when I thought about it more it made more sense. Ryke and Daisy had a reasonably hard time having their relationship become acceptable in both the public eye and their private circles (as per previous books in the series that precludes this one). In context, they had a monogamous relationship and had a hard time so Ryke was likely concerned about how much more Sully would have to struggle in the public eye in a polyamorous relationship. I think by the end it is clear that his reaction was driven more by concern that selfishness. Thankfully, he seemed to come around at the end.

I appreciate that the friends and family of the main characters had individual reactions to the news of Sully's relationship. We got to see that even the most understanding people can be off put by relationships that challenge the status quo. I think books like this are a way to show that relationships like this can still be committed and loving if all parties are compatible and care for one another. Eventually most of the characters close to Sully, Akara, and Banks in general learn to be happy for their friends and accept the within their relationship.

I liked that the distinction between romantic and sexual attraction was acknowledged in this installment. We get a lot of moments seeing each character's thoughts and Akara questions what he feels for Banks several times. By the end, I believe that both Banks and Akara recognize that they love each other like they love Sully. However, for them this excludes physical attraction. I would like to see more representation like this in media because I think it can open up doors to other kinds of representation such as that of asexual and aromantic individuals.

On another note, we have gotten some foreshadowing to Donnelly and Luna's relationship. They seem to be on friendly terms at least and Donnelly continues to struggle financially behind the scenes. I'm excited to see where that goes and I'm looking forward to the book focused on them.