I haven't read the Young Justice run with Jinny Hex yet. However, she seems very likeable here. The story focused on someone coming to look for something that her late mother left behind. It's a short concise story. I wouldn't call it necessary reading, but it was fine overall.

With this second issue this reads more like a story of love between sisters. I also really liked Yara. Despite the grim situation she's in where she needs to rescue her sister from the afterlife, she continues to try to make light of the situation with her humor. Her positive attitude helps carry the story well. I'm hoping we get more future appearances for this character because she shows a lot of promise. A good introduction, I would say.

We get introduced to Yara as Wonder Woman this issue. She has a personality that stands out with some dry humor as well as a taste for the morally grey. She is on her way to the Underworld to get her sister back from Hades. We pretty much get as far as the Underworld before mild chaos ensues, but that's about it. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

Beautiful art, first of all. This story takes place at the end of time. We find out Wonder Woman has a twin sister that has taken over the Wonder Woman mantle and that everything on Earth is dying. Diana is attempting to save what is left and Nubia is dealing with a stolen artifact somewhere else in the world. The ending to the issue is open ended and I'm curious to see where the story goes. I didn't read Death Metal, so not much to go on.

We are getting more backstory for Lyon and Gray in this installment. We get glimpses into Gray's past and how Lyon developed such a strong grudge towards Gray after they were such good childhood friends. Lyon seems more misguided than anything else and there is an intriguing cliffhanger at the end. The progression of the plot has been interesting and all of the plot points give more insight into the characters, which I always appreciate. Looking forward to reading the rest of this arc.

This is probably my favorite installment in the series after ACOMAF. I usually take issue with the way Maas writes her sex scenes, but I'm happy to say that she toned down the weird analogies in this one by a lot; it's been a great improvement. 

Nesta is a very divisive character for a lot of people, but I was interested in seeing her journey to adopting healthier coping mechanisms for her trauma. Nesta has gone through a lot and everyone else seems to have found some way of coping with what they've been through. On the other hand, Nesta needed a bit more of a nudge and she definitely got it. We already know that Cassian and Nesta have had budding romantic and sexual attraction, so this book just expands on that. Their relationship becomes more of a focus and you get to see how they learn to trust each other and become more comfortable with each other. Nesta is also able to form new strong friendships as well, which was probably my favorite part of this story. These relationships parallel those that Feyre formed with the inner circle in ACOMAF and ACOWAR. Part of Nesta's problem with Feyre is that she has never felt like she has belonged among the fey and she no longer fits in among humans either. We finally get to see her find her own inner circle here while also becoming stronger in her own right. This in turns helps her make amends with her sisters as well. 

There are political conflicts that continue to be a strong plot point that drive the events in the story. There are moments of adventure and pretty interesting sparring matches and battles featured. However, like previous installments, the major focus is character development. There is also commentary on sexism and some of the social issues that have previously been mentioned pertaining to the Illyrians. Overall, I feel like the wait for this book was worthwhile and I think it's one of the better books in the series. 

My main complaint with Sarah J. Maas is that she makes the stakes seem high for the characters, but then never actually kills anyone. This is the second time Feyre is on the brink of death and is saved by some  miracle in the end. I think when you have stakes that high in a story you need to have consequences that match the stakes. I don't feel that has happened yet. It just might not at this point considering that we're on book 4 already and it still hasn't happened. That's my main gripe so far.

This book is a literary exploration of the intersectionality of racism, colorism, and transgenderism. It follows the lives of two identical twins, Desiree and Stella, starting in the 1960s and stopping in the 1990s. Both twins live in the small fictional town of Mallard, Louisiana with their single mother. Mallard has a population of black and mixed race individuals that tend to have lighter skin. The twins eventually choose to leave the constraints of their small town in order to pursue a better life. Eventually, Desiree and Stella go their separate ways. Stella chooses to pass as white, marries a wealthy white man and has a daughter with him. Desiree marries an abusive black man, has a daughter with him and eventually leaves him and returns to Mallard. The story follows them and their daughters and how Stella and Desiree's decisions affect both of their lives and the lives of their family. 

There are many contrasts drawn between the lives of Stella and Desiree and their respective daughters, Kennedy and Jude. Eventually the lives of the cousins intersect, and as a result, so do those of the twins. Through Stella we see the price of passing as white in a society that rejects blackness. Meanwhile, Desiree must grapple with the rejection her dark skinned daughter, Jude, suffers in a community and society that values lighter skin. We are also introduced to a transgender character who must struggle with living in a society that isn't accepting of people like him.

The story has incredible analogies and social commentary. The message at the end is also very powerful and makes everything that happens come together. If you are a fan of literary fiction that has heavy social commentary, this is a good book for you.

I was super happy with the ending of this book. Desiree was able to find a safe and loving relationship with Early and is able to eventually leave Mallard. Jude and Reese are finally happy and able to accept themselves for who they are. They reach a level of self-fulfillment and satisfaction that is contrasted by Stella and Kennedy's lives. Stella has continued to live a lie and sacrificed her relationship with her mother and sister in order to have the privileges of being white. Her ability to even pursue a career is also limited by her close-minded and sexist husband. Kennedy does not live a fulfilling acting career as she always wished. She continues to keep in touch with Jude by the end of the book. However, she ends a long term relationship with her black boyfriend and the extent of her relationship with Jude is limited by her internalized fear of being associated with blackness. Despite all of this, it is understood that Stella and Kennedy are in part victims of a racist society that influenced their decisions. It is also clear that despite all of the hardships Desiree, Reese, and Jude underwent for being black, they found true freedom in their own self-acceptance.

This is one of the more entertaining Pride and Prejudice retellings I've read. Both of the main characters and their families respectively are Muslim and Indian. It was great to see Muslim representation about normal families that acknowledged their experiences as immigrants in Canada. The characters in the story are shaped by their experience as immigrants, working to succeed in their careers in a society that isn't always the most accepting of those who are different. As the first-generation child of immigrants, I found this aspect of the book very compelling on a personal level. Immigrant parents work very hard to try to give the best life to their children when they immigrate. As their children grow up in a foreign country that becomes their own there can be cultural clashes over what is the best way to do things. This is seen in the relationship between Khalid and his mother and Ayesha and her mother.

There were liberties taken in this retelling, but I would say they added to the story rather than take away from it. The characters were properly adapted to the context of the setting and the culture they were in. I appreciated that we got to see the diversity within the Muslim community in this book. There were differences in the way each character interpreted the faith and how they practiced it. Characters like Khalid and his mother are more traditional while you have characters like Amir and Ayesha that are more lenient with their understanding of the Muslim faith. Characters that had more traditional views like Khalid were also not changed completely by the end to be more modern just because others wanted him to be. He became more open about other's beliefs while still staying true to his own, which is both more realistic and does not stigmatize more traditional Muslims. The strong message within the story is that you are happier when you are true to yourself while also abstaining from judging others too quickly. 

In addition, I realy liked the relationship between Kahlid and his sister, Zareena. I really like seeing healthy love between siblings and you definitely get it here. Zareena is also a character that exemplifies how as a Muslim woman she did not need to adopt Western traditions in order to find happiness. I cannot say more for fear of spoiling anything, but she has a very interesting character arc that I think a lot of people will find interesting. 

My final praise goes to the character development for everyone in the story. Every single character is involved in a subplot that helps flesh them out. No one is treated like a one-dimensional person. Everyone is flawed and some redeem themselves better than others, but they are all interesting and compelling. It is clear that even the more unlikeable characters have personal motives. As you are reading you can understand why characters made certain decisions, but when they are wrong the decisions are not excused and have consequences. All of the characters given nuance, which was great to see. This is one of the better retellings I have read. I look forward to reading more books by Uzma Jalauddin since reading this was so enjoyable.

I thought this book was going to be a 4 star read, but the second half of the book bumped it up to a 5 star. V.E. Schwab's writing style is delightful. I attended her virtual book tour and she spoke about how she spent about a decade working on this book, and it shows. The writing flows as smooth as a river and she makes great use of metaphors that encompass the themes explored. The most prominent themes in the story are what truly defines us as human, what true freedom is, and finding purpose in life. The story goes back and forth almost every chapter between the the present and the past where we see episodes of Addie's life in the past 300 years in chronological order. I appreciated this formatting because the moments we saw from Addie's past were very interconnected with her decisions and her thoughts in the present. It helped add introspection into her character and understand how she grew to be who she is now and how her relationship with Luc also evolved with time.

Henry was the most loveable character in the novel. I feel that if you have ever felt depressed or as if you have a lack of direction in your life at any point, you will be able to relate to Henry. I would argue that we get as much personal exploration of his character as we do of Addie's. This does not happen until later in the book, but by the time it happens you are anticipating learning more about him, so I'm happy it did not happen earlier on.

Addie's relationship with Henry is a wonderful contrast to her relationship with Luc (the darkness). When Henry and Addie meet they are two souls who seem lost in the world they inhabit and each of them is able to learn something from the other as their relationship develops. Both of them are lonely and have a hard time finding their place in the world.  There is an argument to be made for Luc being arguably lonely in a similar way to Addie. However, Addie still retains a sense of compassion and humanity that is lacking in Luc. Luc and Addie, because of their shared immortality, are both a constant in the other's life. The best way I could describe their relationship is that of "frenemies". They are not necessarily amicable with the other overall, and yet there is a sense of comfort that each of them has that the other will always be around. 

Overall, if you want a book with beautiful prose, a strong exploration of the themes of mortality and freedom, and strong focus on character development, then I would strongly recommend this. This is not a romance, so I would not go into it with that expectation. Besides that, this is probably my favorite book of the year so far.

This isn't a manic pixie dream girl story. Addie and Henry are each their own person and each one of them grows with the relationship and find something that both of them were missing. I could not have asked for a better ending. I think it was appropriate and hopeful for both Henry and Addie. It also defines love as something that is selfless rather than selfish, and I agree with this idea that is posed at the end.

If you are interested in getting some extra worldbuilding for the Witchlands and want an origin story for Ryber, then I would recommend picking this up. The book uses letters and documents intermittently to drive the narrative, so it gives you some introspection into different characters. The pacing is slow since there is so much focus on going back and forth between the past and the present and the world building. I would not go into this expecting a lot of adventure and plot. It's mostly an adjunct to the main series to give more context to the world and character development for Ryber specifically. It was incredible to see what her upbringing was like with the Sightwitches and how much she has grown and changed since then. I have not read Bloodwitch yet, and Witchshadow has not been published. However, I follow Susan Dennard online and she noted that some of the future books will be hinging a bit more on this installment. When I read them I'll be able to more accurately determine how necessary it is to actually read this. Overall, a solid side book, but not one that I think everyone will necessarily enjoy reading.