"What wisdom do you want from a death-marked girl? I can say only this: In the end I learned the water was in me. It was a ghost that could not be exorcised. But a guest, even uninvited, must be attended to. You make up a bed for them. You pour from your best bottle of wine. If you can learn to love that which despises you, that which terrifies you, you can dance on the shore and play in the waves again, like you did when you were young. Before the ocean is friend or foe, it simply is. And so are you."

My biggest problem with this book is that it has so much potential, but it reads as a first draft. The author clearly has so much they want to say, but they tried to cram it all into one book and that just doesn't work. Effy is not a character beyond her trauma and her love for Angharad, and it reads as men writing women. I love the writing, there's a lot of great lines; the world is really interesting. But the other things are just too big of an issue to let the good things shine.

376 pages 

- Master Corbenic saying that the only reason Effy hasn't failed out of school yet is disgusting.
-"Let me have my life." Okayyyy guess the mom isn't winning parent of the year. Glad Preston acknowledges how effed up it is that she just expects her daughter to live with the fact that she tried to abandon her.
- "As if stories were not spoils of war." I think that this theme would be so interesting to explore; wish it came up again. Same with "That's the legacy of imperialism- the North reaps while the South sows."
- "That was the cruelest irony: the more you did to save yourself, the less you became a person worth saving." I think this is interesting.
-"Tell me more about who I am because I don't know anymore." It is sad that I related so much to that.
-"But stories were devious things, things with agendas. They could cheat and steal and lie to your face. They could crumble away under your feet." Again, very interesting take. Like I see it but I don't.
-"He's not yours to apologize for." I feel like good men feel the need to apologize for bad men to make up for the bad.
-"You have no idea - I've read your book a hundred times, maybe more. It was a friend when I didn't have any. It was the only thing that said I was sane when the whole world was telling me I was mad. It saved me in more ways than I can count. Because I knew no matter how afraid I felt, I wasn't truly alone." I think everyone has at least one book they can say this about.
-"she had forgotten her ribbon, or perhaps it had gotten lost somewhere over the course of the night." I like that little visual cue for Effy's growth
-"A part of me still loves him, I think. The IDEA of him." That's how terrible people get you. 

 Wow. This book was crazy. I love Jed and the way that he thinks. His brain track matches mine so well and I think that really helps. I did get a little burned out by the book near the end, which is why it's not as high as I thought it would be, but I still adored it. I talked about this as examples in school all the time. 

317 pages
Rep: gay

 Holy shit, this book was written so beautifully. Patroclus was such an amazing character to follow, and I loved his story. Miller did such a great job with the character work and her writing was beautiful. She gave so much life to this tragic tale. 

 - I loved Miller's take on Patroclus. He was so kind and gentle. I love that he is a healer rather than a fighter. I loved his friendship with Briseis. A lovely take.
- I really started to not really like Achilles by the end, but I still understand him. I understand his death. When Patroclus speaks of his muscles betraying him when he just wanted to die, I felt that to my core as a person who has tried to self-harm before, but been held back by the self-preservation instinct
- I loved Thetis. She is so much more complex of a character and I LOVE her portrayal. She is a goddess, but she's also a woma broken. She wants her assault to mean something. And she'll do anything for that to happen. And in the end, she allows Patroclus to see Achilles again.
- I love the idea that a person needs to be remembered or else they will be tied to their ashes. I might just be hiding under a rock, but I've never encountered that before. I think that's super interesting and I loved it.
- I think it's very interesting that Achilles doesn't get the River Styx treatment and that he's shot through the chest, not in the heel. That little deviation stuck out to me.
- I honestly like that for a story that revolves so much around the gods, they don't really appear much, apart from Thetis. I like how they're just these puppetmasters.
- I love Briseis' character. I was very interested as to how she was going to play into this tale. And I LOVED her. She had such a sweet relationship with Patroclus and I love how she made him have to think about things. I also love the way Miller wrote the difference in grief between Briseis and Achilles. They both loved him and feel very differently. I think that was very well done.
- I really appreciate how Miller talks about masturbation in this book, as well as the shame that can accompany it. Masturbation, let alone MALE masturbation, is so rarely talked about in this light and I am so grateful that she chose to talk about it, even for a few sentences. 

Rep: gay

"He has a heart of ice... but for her, he'd burn the world."

This was a decent read. I liked the relationship between Alex and Ava and they were pretty cute. Bridget was my fav though to be honest. 

343 pages
Rep: Asian 

- "There were worse things than being stranded in the middle of nowhere during a rainstorm. For example, I could be running from a rabid bear intent on mauling me into the next century. Or I could be tied to a chair in a dark basement and forced to listen to Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' on repeat until I'd rather gnaw off my arm than hear the song's eponymous phrase again." What the fuck that is so random-
- "I hope that stick in your ass punctures a vital organ." I'm keepig that one for future reference lol
- "There should be a Venmo for breasts that allows women to send and recieve cup sizes with the press of a button." Is this book just a collection of random shower thoughts?
- I love that the phrase "beaned" is used unironically in this book like that just shoots happy chemicals through my body
- "Fuck. Me. Sideways. I did not just say that." Also keeping for future reference.
- "I was playing with fire, but hat was better than standing out in the cold alone." That is such a good line.
- I hate how much Ava's vulva is described as her "slippery folds" like please hide this phrase from my brain forever.
- "I was this close to drop-kicking a princess, bodyguard be damned." Best line in the whole book fr. 

It was a pretty standard fantasy. Not my fav, not the worst.

404 pages

This was a pretty good intro to Greek mythology. I thought I was a nerd and there were some stories in here I'd never heard of. Cool to know.

313 pages
TW: Greek mythology 

These two are just too damn cute. I have cute aggression every freaking page.

318 pages
Rep: gay, bi, ace, trans, lesbian 

I love the message of this series so much. I've learned from Gwen and Prez and Frederick and I love it so much.

343 pages
Rep: lesbian

This is such a thought experiment, and I love it. When I read this initially, I gave it three stars, but I'm bumping it to 4 now. I just loved the writing and the story being told. It's so interesting and I love A and Rhiannon as characters. Justin is a douchebag though. 

322 pages
Rep: nonbinary, trans

While I don't generally like thrillers, this was pretty good. I really connected with Laurel and Ellie, and I felt invested in their stories. While maybe a little slower than I would have liked, it was still engaging and fun. 

364 pages

 - I still think it's weird that Hannah marries Theo. Your dead sister loved him, he's off limits girl
- Noelle is a terrible person. Her just leaving Ellie to die in the cellar is so disturbing. Especially with her just slowly losing interest in her and Poppy. You ruined her life because of that and then you just don't care anymore? Chilling.
- I love the scene with Poppy and Laurel brushing her hair. That was sweet.
- I feel like Floyd wouldn't have been charged with the accomplice thing if he could've spun the story right.