I loved the art in this. It really brought the characters to life. At times, the writing could have been a little stronger, it would have maybe benefited from being a little longer. I wanted to see the characters developed a little more. I wouldn't mind a sequel, honestly. The ending felt a little abrupt, and I wanted to see what happened next. It was just getting exiting and then it ended!

Shuri's voice is probably the best thing about these books. In this installment, she's fighting for bright girls in the STEM field, girls who are randomly disappearing without anyone noticing. I love that Shuri puts matters into her own hands when the adults in her life aren't paying attention. Plus, there are some bonus references to other Marvel characters in this one!

Nic Stone does such an excellent job capturing Shuri's voice in this book. She's sassy, funny, and doesn't really want to fit into the roles her society wants her to. Instead of her princess duties, she'd rather spend time in her lab. For good reason! She's so smart and I can't wait to see what else she does. Can't wait to see what other adventures Shuri gets up to!

I'll admit, the first half of this is pretty slow paced and doesn't really pick up until the last third or so. There's a lot of setting the tone, which makes sense, since this is the first book in a series. But that ending! Blake definitely knows how to grab her readers to be sure they'll continue to the next book. What a cliffhanger ending!

On a side note, I listened to the audiobook of this and got confused when it randomly rewound and I realized I was listening to the same chapters over again. At first, I thought maybe it was a weird formatting thing, but Hoopla was just being weird. The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic, though! And useful because I'm sure there were a bunch of things I wouldn't have been able to pronounce, otherwise. 

 Thanks to Swoon Reads and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this to review! Ever since Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas has definitely been on my radar. Probably an auto-buy author for me now! I can’t wait to get my final copy in the mail because the cover is just gorgeous.

This book is much slower paced than Cemetery Boys. Most of the action comes in the last third of the book, and there is a lot of build up to the main event. This is mainly due to the fact that much of this book is an exploration of the trauma that Wendy experienced and working through that trauma. Thomas once again shows their mastery of writing character as even the side characters, like Wendy’s best friend Jordan, felt fully fleshed out to me.

There were just a few things about this that didn’t make it a five star read for me. Most of it has to do with the timeline, specifically the five years between Wendy’s brothers disappearing and the events in this book. It leaves some plot holes that don’t necessarily make sense by the end of the book. What was happening in that five year gap, specifically in Neverland?

I will say, I think the plot twist was a little less obvious in this one. And possibly more heartbreaking. There are some excellent nods to Peter Pan throughout, so if you’re a fan of that classic story, you’ll definitely enjoy this twist. All I can say is that I can’t wait to see what Aiden Thomas does next! 

At the beginning, this kind of reminded me of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. The flu wiping everyone out (maybe not necessarily something you'd want to read at the moment, but eh), and little groups of people hunkering down across the US. It has that very post-apocalyptic feel to it, which usually I really love. But, I think you have to be in a certain kind of mood for this book and it just didn't connect with me at the moment.

There are some beautiful lines in here, and overall, the book is really philosophical about life and time and circumstances. However, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Nico's sections were probably my favorite, and her character really felt the most fleshed out to me. She really is what drove the overall story forward. Maybe I'll try this again another day when I'm in the right mindset and I'll have a better connection to the story.

The audiobook of this is amazing! They use sound effects and the like for Pip recording her podcasts and other voices for different articles and the like. It's really effective at pulling you into this mystery, and I kind of wish I listened to the first one on audiobook.

This is also one of those YA thriller/mysteries where I didn't see the ending coming! Jackson is great at twists and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. I just wanted to keep listening to see what's going to happen next. Can't wait to read the next one, which I will for sure continue on audio.

What's great about this volume is the backstory we get on some of the senior players on the team. Of course, Hinata convinces them to play again (because how can you resist him??). Kageyama and Hinata are also building their playing relationship and other people get to see how amazing they are. This group of characters are just so fun to read about!

These characters are seriously the best! One of the main reasons to read this manga series, honestly. This one has a bit more sports action scenes, and the team is really coming together. As a new volleyball player, it's really fun to see the different plays, too!

I can definitely see why this is a Printz winner, as Nayeri's story is layered and powerful. There are some absolutely gorgeous lines throughout this book. I do wonder what the intended audience is for this book, though, because even though the main character is 12, for me it reads a little older.

Without chapter breaks, the book very much reads like a stream of consciousness, with Nayeri moving between fiction and reality. It mimics 1,000 Arabian Nights and works well in showing the Persian culture. Overall, this is a powerful, emotional memoir.