There is a lot of conflict between Celine and Sebastian. A lot of it is related to Celine wanting to believe that her mother has the best intentions. Sebastian, on the other hand, has his suspicions that there is more to the fae court than meets the eye. It does not help that Sebastian does not fit in. He is still coming to terms with being a vampire. At home, he at least fit in with the other supernatural creatures because they are  the only family he has ever known. At the fae court, he is disliked, first based on his nature, and secondly because he is not seen as a fitting romantic match for Celine. 

It feels like a 60/40 split petaining to how much time we spend with Arjun/Pippa vs. Celine/Sebastian, which is a nice change of pace, personally. Celine and Sebastien's relationship is reasonably well established already, so I was looking forward to see Arjun and Pippa's develop. A reasonable chunk of the plot takes place in the fae world. There is an occasional switching of point of view

Arjun's existence as a half fae has a lot of political implications in the fae court. It felt like the discrimination and rejection Arjun experiences for being half fae is analagous to the experience of people of color in the human world. I appreciated the parallels and what we learn about Arjun's past. He's actually quite guarded, intelligent, and caring. He has to play along with the canniving ways of the fae in order to protect Pippa. This makes it so that Pippa has trouble trusting him at first. Overall, I was very satisfied with how they came together at the end and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next installment.

This book felt like it was planting seeds for what is to come in the next book. The fae world is fascinating in its complex politics. I can't wait to see how all of the plot points planted here come to fruition in the last book. A very solid third installment.

This was a very heartwarming romance. Gavin and Oliver, the main love interests, are consistently coming to verbal blows at the beginning of the story. Despite this, it is clear that they each have a healthy level of respect for each other as teammates. This only makes for a lot of space for their relationship to develop as they are forced to work together as co-captains. The verbal banter they have eventually turns into very entertaining flirting. 

Gavin has a lot of chronic pain that he spends most of his time hiding from his team. He is a very prideful man, but as Oliver gets to know him Gavin starts allowing Oliver to be his emotional support through his physical pain. Oliver suffers from anxiety and Gavin is receptive enough to offer Oliver his support without making him feel embarrassed about it. The emotional development of the relationship was incredibly satisfying and this is one of the best romances I have probably read this year. 

I also love that the side characters also play an important part in the story. We get to see a lot of funny sibling interactions between Oliver and his family. His niece is also an adorable addition to the cast of characters. Oliver's niece helps bring out a softer side to the usually grumpy and serious Gavin. The book feels balanced in many ways that I wish more romance novels were. Overall, this is one of my favorite installments in the series so far and I look forward to reading the next one.

This was such a heartwarming and impressive reintroduction for Static's character. I could not help grinning with glee as I read through it. I can't help but think about how stoked Dwayne Mcduffie would be to see this. Static's origin as a bang baby is retconned to tie in with modern issues such as protests about racial equality and police brutality. It made Virgil feel like a real person from the get-go and made him a lot more relatable as a teenager living in the 2020s.

Additionally, I have to give kudos to the artists for all of these issues. The art style is reminiscent of manga/anime and it gives all of the characters and backgrounds a sleek, modern, but detailed look. I also love that they included a lot of diversity in the cast of characters. Ritchie is still represented as an LGBTQ+ character and his friendship with Virgil is as strong as ever. Ritchie, Frieda, and Virgil's family are all privy to his powers and the consequences of the bang baby incident pretty quickly. I appreciated that Virgil's relationship with his sister is depicted as close and loving, if not teasing. His family cares for him deeply and it is clear that Virgil's well-being is their priority. Despite being a teenager, Virgil's family respect his wishes and allow Virgil to argue his case, even when they disagree. It's so refreshing to see such a healthy family dynamic, for people of color especially. It is common to see a lot of representation for people of color of negative and unhealthy family dynamics. Hence, this is a breath of fresh air. 

I would say that if you liked Into the Spiderverse, this has similar energy and is very hopeful, adventurous, fun, and heartfelt. I'm looking forward to reading season two. If you are not familiar with the character of Static, in my opinion, this is a phenomenal introduction. 

Taegan and Zorvut get to explore their relationship further in this installment as they are forced to travel together to find out more about Zorvut's origins. Teagan has had a royal upbringing and is used to having all comforts available at his disposal, and it shows. He becomes homesick easily while they travel and it causes some conflict with Zorvut. Zorvut starts to understand more about himself and his magical abilities. He also forms new bonds on his journey that prove to be worthwhile. There is still a lot of political intrigue around them and it definitely comes back with a bang by the end of this book. Quite the cliffhanger at the end there, but I'm excited to get to the last book. 

I enjoyed reading this, but it felt like it ended very abruptly because it was so short compared to other novels I've read by Penny Reid. I think it could have used another 100 pages or so in order to have more time to develop the interactions between the two love interests. I liked their banter back and forth, but I can't help but give Luca a bit of a side eye for not resigning or putting in more parameters to keep the relationship between him and Ana more professional. I feel that in this regard, the sequel to this novel does a better job. This story definitely came off as cheesier than I would have wanted. Ana is 21 and still coming into her own person, and it shows through some of her thought process. There is definitely some level of immaturity for her which shows through her extensive level of fantasizing. It's not enough to make her unlikeable to me, just less likeable than other female leads. It was entertaining, but not necessarily one of the books I'd recommend reading by Penny Reid.

This installment does a lot of establish where the characters and events of the world are post almost 3 years of Maxi leaving Anatol to join the mage tower. It is clear that her magical abilities have grown since her time there. However, she still struggles to feel like she belongs among her peers even in the mage tower. I appreciated that despite the character development Maxi has undergone, there are still semblances of her insecurities. Leaving her home for an extended time is not a cure all for her problems, which is realistic. 

Maxi is slowly reunited with the knights, and eventually Riftan. Not surprisingly, Riftan's initial reception is cold. Riftan struggling to express what he's actually feeling to Maxi. This of course, in turn, causes Maxi a lot of unnecessary distress and anxiety. This creates a lot of tension between them because they both clearly love each other but still have trouble communicating. My favorite part of the book was probably when we finally see Maxi lose her temper and stand up for herself. It was very refreshing, because Maxi from a few a years ago would not have had the gumption to stand up for herself. I'm looking forward to the next book because I want Maxi and Riftan to reconcile. However, I think this level of conflict between them is necessary for character growth for both of them. Still, a very solid foundation for the next book.

I haven't picked up an X-men comic in a while and I was very happy I chose this one. The storyline follows the aftermath of the conflict between the X-men and the Inhumans pertaining to the Terrigen mist as well as the events of the Death of X storyline. It's really upsetting to see the X-men being feared so much because of Cyclop's actions. There is one specific scene where Jean goes on a date which is interrupted when she realizes there is a group of humans attacking a mutant outside. In the midst of her interfering, her date realizes she is a mutant and his interaction with her became so discriminatory so fast. There was a complete change in demeanor from that character the moment he realized what Jean was. He was super nice and endearing to her before then. Unfortunately, that's pretty accurate for how interactions like that go down in real life. Everyone is nice until they realize you are "one of them". 

The consequences of the Terrigen mist are also coming to a peak. It turns out that it's not just deadly to mutants, but that it also sterilizes them. Mutants are a minority to begin with, so it's even more distressing that this is happening. We have Mr. Sinister showing up to create more chaos as if the end of mutants as we know them isn't disturbing enough. He uses morally questionable methods, as usual. It does make for some interesting fights and plot points, though. At the end of all of this, some important members of the main team are finally reunited after so many obstacles. I'm interested in seeing how the X-men deal with all of these new changes and work together to move forward.

I wasn't quite as invested in the first half of the issues here. The first few issues are part of an event. Unfortunately, with major comic events a lot of the time the stakes are not that high since they are often retconned. Additionally, they usually are not relevant to the other plot points later since they are isolated events. The second half was a lot more interesting to me. Hank is dabbling with sorcery and it ends up having major consequences for both him and the team. We get to see some old faces (i.e. Madelyne Pryor) come back to wreck some havoc. We have a few interesting interactions between Jean and Scott, who I find a lot more endearing than their older adult counterparts, honestly. There is a bit of humor sprinkled in between the more serious moments. They mostly serve to remind the reader that before anything else this group of X-men is young and are very good friends. I appreciated the conclusion to this arc. Even when members of the team makes mistakes it drives the point home that they always have the X-men to come back to as a found family.

This was a motivating, impactful, and (for me) relatable poetry anthology. I heard it narrated in audiobook format by the author and I think it is probably the best way to consume this. You feel the pain, suffering, and joy of the narrative voice for each poem. Hearing it feels like seeing the world through the eyes and experiences of black/queer individuals whose stories deserve to take up space and be heard. I'm hoping to find more poetry collections like this. It has been quite some time since I've sat down with something like this that I did not want to put down.

This installment is riddled with a lot more external political conflict. There is a war against monsters, and Riftan and Maxi must navigate their respective roles relative to the conflict. Riftan continues pressing Maxi to avoid participating in the conflict. She has become bolder in her decision making and despite Riftan's wishes, indirectly enters the conflict. This ends up having some major consquences that are fitting, but also have major implications. She has a much more active role than she ever has before up until this point. I appreciated that her actions were a reflection of the vast amount of character growth that she has undergone, much of it thanks to her relationship with Riftan and her new life in Anatol. 

I appreciated seeing Maxi become more comfortable sexually with Riftan. She is more open to communicate her needs to him and vice versa within that context. However, they still have issues communicating in other areas.

I felt like the miscarriage was a realistic plot point. Maxi and Riftan have been sexually active for a while, and she's in better health than she ever was at Calypse Castle. It makes sense that she would become pregnant under those circumstances. Additionally, it was emotionally impactful because the reason that it occurred was in a very high stakes situation. I think it was wrong for Riftan not to let Maxi know about the miscarriage. At the same time, it makes sense for his character. I like that the healing process that occurs for a couple after the miscarriage was explored thoroughly. It is clear that Riftan loves Maxi very much and worries for her well-being more than anything else, sometimes at the expense of both of them.

Whenever they have a source of conflict, Riftan has a bad habit of distancing himself leaving Maxi guessing what is going through his head. This is ultimately what pushes Maxi to make a lot of the unwise decisions as the story progresses. Maxi, on the other hand, has been hiding largely important portions of her past. The consequences of that eventually catch up to her and it all comes to a head. I'm happy about the result of all of this and the journey there was interesting.

Furthermore, I was incredibly satisfied with at the scenes we got with Rosetta. Up until this point we have known very little about Maxi's relationship with her. By the time we get an honest and genuine conversation between Maxi and Rosetta, it is clear that Rosetta is another victim to Lord Croyso's cruelty, just in a different way.

Rosetta was the child drowned in the expectations of perfection with fear that she would be subject to the same abuse as Maxi if she wasn't.

The ending to that entire interaction was probably the best it could have been. I actually would be happy to read a spin-off just about Rosetta.

The best part of the story for me was definitely the ending. I know Riftan and Maxi are having trouble agreeing on how to handle things, but I think this next step will help their relationship overall. Maxi is getting the chance to become more independent an learn more about magic. Riftan will maybe learn to be less stubborn and roll with the punches a bit more when it comes to Maxi. I'm looking forward to seeing how all of this resolves in upcoming books and see Maxi realize her full potential.