A short read, but an important one. Adichie makes her arguments relatable, getting to the essence of what it means to be a feminist.

An important book about an aspect of the Great Depression that isn't often talked about. And extremely relevant to what's happening in our own country today. The writing is supplemented with excerpts from Estrella's journal, more fully immersing you in her journey. Seriously, everyone should read this!

For the most part, I enjoyed this story and the fact that it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. But, there is *a lot* going on here, and I think if it was paired down a bit, it would be more effective as a whole. The illustrations were wonderful, though! And the book overall has a good message.

This story did not keep my interest, much. It felt like basically nothing happened? This run hasn't been my favorite, really. None of them really stand out in the realm of Spider-Man comics.

All your questions are answered and more in this conclusion to the Broken Earth trilogy. Jemisin's story is intricately woven, and it works so well as an audiobook.

The land of Orisha has been without magic ever since the king wiped it, and the people who used it, away. Zelie can remember when magic was alive, and when she receives an item that will help her to get magic back, she's ready to do so at all costs.

I had heard so many good things about this book that I finally got around to reading it! For the most part, it met my expectations. Adeyemi has created a beautiful fantasy world, even creating her own language and populating it with strong, rounded out characters. However, at times, it feels like there's too much going on, making the overall story a bit difficult to follow. But! I'm still looking forward to seeing where she goes in the second book.

Really 3.5 stars. I basically read this book in one sitting; it was overall a quick read, and I enjoyed the way the story was told. We get Bo's story, which is the present, and Agnes's story, which leads up to the events happening on Bo's end. It was an interesting way to tell the story, and enabled the reader to easily see how each character develops throughout the story.

Agnes is legally blind while Bo is part of the family everyone looks down on in town. When Bo shows up at Agnes's house with sirens in the background, Agnes leaves with her, no questions asked. The two run away from Bo's problems, finding out more about each other along the way.

Overall, the teen voices felt authentic and well-rounded, and being able to see each girl's voiced helped to keep the story refreshing. The ending, however, felt a bit rushed to me, but it was still a good ending to the plot and the story. This is the first book I've actually read with a blind main character, and I think Keplinger did it really well.

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Read my full review at between-the-shelves.com!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for providing me with an early copy of this book to review!

I'll start with the good: there are a lot of funny lines in this book. Kirby's voice is unique; while it's difficult to follow his train of thought at times, he's overall a funny guy. He tries to make light of what's happening to him, despite the fact that he's struggling more with his sister's death than he's letting on. It's this suppression of emotion that felt the most real to me throughout the book. Kirby doesn't want to talk about it, with anyone.

For me, the timeline of the book wasn't quite believable. Everything here happens within a day. But it feels like Kirby's in school a lot longer than he should be. There's all this time between classes where bullying happens. Overall, the events don't seem like they add up to a single day. The events would have made more sense if they spread out over a series of days, instead.

The other thing that bothered me was the little time that was spent on Kirby dealing with his sister's death. This book is being promoted as a book that deals with grief. But, we don't get much of that actually within the text. Just small scenes here and there. I would have liked seeing this theme explored more through Kirby's eyes.

Overall, despite the funny moments in the book, This Might Hurt a Bit left me feeling a bit lukewarm about the story.

2.5/5 stars
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Really 3.5 stars. This is adorable, for the most part, and has really wonderful representation and diversity. I loved the messages behind the story, and how Nate tried to work through his feelings (and failed a lot).

But pieces of the book felt a bit rushed, and there was just too much back and forth for me. Maybe it's realistic, but it felt like too much for the length of the book. The representation of a deaf character was also awesome, but the descriptions of ASL didn't have quite enough detail in order to make them easy to follow, in a prose setting.

I still read this in a day, and it's a perfect summer read!

Really 4.5 stars. This was a book that came completely under the radar. I mean, it was nominated for the Printz award! How did I not even hear about it? Anyway, I'm so glad I read it. This is a book that examines what happens when people get political power and it corrupts them. As a narrator, Claudia is funny and presents the events that happened at the Imperial Day Academy in a way that hooks you in and doesn't let go until you know exactly what happened. Definitely worth the read!

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