Don't have many thoughts. It was fine, I guess. 

I'M SO EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATED ATM AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This book is BEAUTIFUL. Madeline Miller is officially one of my favorite authors because she speaks to my soul in the exact way I love. This book is a true masterpiece, and the things it has to say about power, love, and mortality made me sob. Truly one of my favorite books I've read.

385 pages

This was simply too triggery for me. Stopped for my wellbeing.

"IF YOUR BODY COULD SPEAK / would she / forgive you?"

"Writing is the ongoing act / or forgiving & apologizing / to the women I used / to be"

"I know you are threatened / because I am / a thunderstorm of a woman / with so much / to say."

"Watch me build an empire from the ashes / of everything that tried to destroy me."

I LOVED this book. It made me cry. I love Baird's writing and every single thing she said resonated with me. Blood-Rose, Relapse, Pocket-Sized Feminism, and the poem about her mother not coming to her wedding (I couldn't find the name again) were particular favorites.

82 pages 

I would say the biggest drawback of this book is it's characters. We follow Maite and Elvis as they try to search for a lost woman. But neither are particularly likable.

Maite steals and lies, and Elvis is just kind of forgettable.

The author tries to make them super cool and unlike other people, and it just gets annoying after a while.

The decision of the whole love story with Rueben was also something I didn't like. It didn't need to be there. And then the film gets destroyed and you just feel hoodwinked. I wanted to know what was on it.

  Definitely a forgettable and slightly frustrating read. I found myself getting distracted half the time while reading it.

"Our character isn't defined by the battles we win or lose, but by the battles we dare to fight."

This is such a fun series. While I wouldn't rate it as highly now as I used to, I still enjoyed it enough that my initial review stands. Serafina is such a fun character to follow, and Braeden is so sweet. The world of this series is so amazing and I loved my return to it.

292 pages 

- "She had come to the forest to see the world, but all she'd found was wretchedness." Sadly, that's the way it is sometimes.
- "She didn't know what she was or how she got that way, but she knew what she wanted to be. She wanted to be GOOD." Sometimes, that's all you need.
- "It was true that she was a creature of the night. But SHE would decide for herself that that meant." Again, a great lesson.
- "At that moment, all the power and ferocity of clawed motherhood came ripping out of the woods." That is such a great line.
- I love the dialect work in this book. It really draws you in and makes it feel authentic 

This was really cute, and I loved the characters. I also loved the themes of grief and moving on. I wish the particular scene in the hospital hadn't happened, as it was just so unnecessary, however, which knocked it down a star. Super sweet though. 

"You're never too young to figure out your skills and use them to get shit accomplished."

This book did NOT have the right to make me bawl. But it did. It made me hope for a future for America with a president like Ellen Claremont, a First Family like Alex and June. If anything, that meant more to me than the romance itself, which made me so damn happy I cried. I'm reading every Casey McQuiston book ever. This was so beautiful. I loved every character, every moment.

418 pages 
Rep: Mexican, gay, bisexual 

- "Straight people, he thinks, probably don't spend this much time convincing themselves they're straight." Alex and I had the same bi awakening holy shit
- "Yes, you preening arse, I've wanted you long enough that I won't have you tease me for another FUCKING second." THAT'S HOT
- "...someone Alex has met in shadows that pass through the way Henry speaks and moves and laughs." I love that concept, that we carry shadows of those who came before us in the way we are.
- "He rolls onto his side and listens, trails the back of his hand across the pillow next to him and imagines Henry laying opposite in his own bed, two parentheses enclosing 3,700 miles." I LOVE that image
- NOT THE POWERPOINT ON DATING/FUCKING HENRY HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
- "Thinking about history makes me wonder how I'll fit into it one day, I guess." Same Alex
- "He wants to match the new freckles across Henry's nose to the stars above him and make him name the constellations." That is so romantic and I adore it
- I wish I had a mom/president like Ellen Claremont
- "[the ring and the house key] two homes side by side." Also, freaking adorable
- "For what it's worth... that is the bravest son of a bitch I've ever met." Henry is so fucking brave. He has so much more to lose than Alex does, and yet he still goes ahead to get what he wants. I feel like that's not acknowledged enough.
- Alex's speech makes me fucking cry. "He is my choice." HOLY SHIT. "History will remember us." Yes, Alex, yes they will.