quite loosely based on myths but every story was poignant with love, adoration and worship between two black people. loved it.

i wasn't really sold at the beginning; i found liz way too airheaded and kind of a girl hater towards laney. however as the book progressed i did lose myself in the cheesiness of it all, and the romantic chemistry between liz and wes was definitely movie worthy. i didn't really love the interjections of music references, but i could relate to liz seeing herself in a movie, aren't we all? i might check out the newly announced sequel. 

this book was definitely cute enough to make me rewatch 27 dresses again. 

i finished this on the bus to work and i think it’s safe to say being ran over by that very same bus at five miles per hour would hurt less than finishing this 

nothing was going on…

two white women being boring then a little messy then boring again 

just not in the mood right now for non fiction 

it did take me a while to enjoy this book, mainly because i thought the first half was quite slow. in terms of plot, i feel like the main crux of it didn't really start i reached the 50%ish mark; everything else felt like the characters were just dawdling or completing side quests. 

despite that, i really loved chloe gong's writing. she has a way of depicting shanghai with dazzling poetry, making it seem so vivid. her descriptions of the monster were beautifully grotesque, and there were many moments where i was on the edge of my seat. i'm not as expectant for the second book as i was for the first, but i can't wait to read it all the same.

once again i have to applaud jordan ifueko's storytelling. i fell back in love with the characters, and the rich and magical world they live in. i love how this book went more in depth about tarisai, and the burden that guilt can be. i love that above all, above magic and mothers who may or may not love you and life and death, this book is about family. the family you choose to love and that chooses to love you back. 

honestly kind of disappointed with the lack of actual sleuthing in this supposed murder mystery book. a huge majority of the book was her settling in at school and a little teenage drama, where the actual investigative work (not even work, let's call it thinking) was done in the last five chapters. and it was about another murder entirely! slightly juvenile writing so it makes it more on the younger side of ya, and overall did not make me intrigued for the next book.

loved the descriptions of the changing of the seasons, the idyllic life of the countryside. hated the jumpscare racism. i could relate to lena’s view on getting married though.