Even though Seanan McGuire does something different with each of these books, you know what you're going to get going in: a lot of beautiful language and a short but never-boring jaunt into someplace thrillingly elsewhere. This series feels like dropping into a book the way many of us did as children, and continues to speak to the part of us that suspects we were simply not made for this world, but maybe, somewhere, there's a place where we belong, and all we have to do to get there is find the right door and Be Sure.

Where the Drowned Girls Go answers the question I didn't know I had: What about kids who come back through their doors so rattled that they don't want to go back? What about the kids who would rather forget? And then it adds some chilling twists that hit the same spinal notes as fairy tales and Coraline.

I'm kind of amazed that seven books in, I still like this series, but I'm glad about that, too.

Price examines the concept of laziness, examining the ways in which it has been used historically to justify slavery and the exploitation of workers, and the various ways it manifests today. They argue that what our culture perceives as laziness is false, that it is not a moral failing or unwillingness to do anything, and that no amount of working harder can overcome some of the obstacles we face. Rather, "laziness" is a sign to listen to, an indication that change or accommodation is needed. Price's critique of laziness as a concept and discussion of its pernicious effects blend well with their advice for unlearning the laziness lie, which goes beyond the bubble-baths-and-candles kind of self-care that often gets circulated. My one criticism is that while this book recognizes people who must work themselves to the point of exhaustion in order to simply survive, it does not always offer valuable advice to them (beyond unionizing their workplaces). But overall, this felt like a valuable read.

The first half of this book is a tense domestic thriller in the making, and the second half is a Lifetime movie. I wish it had maintained the tone and trajectory of the first half, but did I keep reading? Yes. Because it was a soap opera book, and I needed to know what happened, at first for the sake of the characters, and eventually because I just had to see with my own eyeballs how melodramatic things would get.

CAT CAFE.

It took me longer to drive to the library I borrowed this from than it took for me to read it. Worth it, though.

Katai and his crush on Tadano are a great addition to the series.