1.84k reviews by:

caseythereader

dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

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emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

 - SEX WITH A BRAIN INJURY is one of those books that puts a new lens over your view of life. I didn’t know much about concussions and TBI before this book, and now I can’t stop thinking about how many people live with these conditions and how society is failing them.
- Liontas uses a variety of writing styles in this book, including a stream of consciousness like style that puts the reader right into what her mind feels like while recovering from a concussion.
- The section that stuck out most to me was the discussion of the cycle of brain injury and incarceration. It feels ridiculous to say I’d never thought about it before, but I hadn’t, even though it seems obvious in retrospect.
- Liontas writes about not only what it is like to have this chronic pain and illness, but to be a queer woman with this condition, and a queer woman with a legacy of trauma from her mother’s addiction. 

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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dark funny tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Thanks to FSG Young Readers for the free copy of this book.

 - A TEMPEST OF TEA is the best kind of heist story. Set in a fantasy world, a ragtag crew comes together, each with their own motives (and desires).
- I love the characters Faizal has created. Everyone has an agenda, but they come to care for each other, sometimes to their own detriment.
- And the action! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I cannot wait for the second book. 

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emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thanks to Books Forward PR for the free copy of this book.

 - Wow, y’all! CONDITIONS OF A HEART totally knocked me out. I enjoyed Mangle’s first book, but this one is on another level.
- I loved Brynn and her family, who all felt like real people each trying to do what they thought was best.
- Brynn is a fantastic protagonist, with a snarky inner monologue and a huge knot of complicated feelings to work through. It’s rare to see a novel unpick so many aspects of having a chronic disability, and this book tackles so much while still remaining a engaging read brimming with love.
- On top of the discussions of disability, the book also deals with classism and generational privilege and power. Also, quite importantly, there’s a cat cafe! 

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free copy of this book.

 
  • THIS DAY CHANGES EVERYTHING is basically "eeee so cute!" in book form. I loved everything about it, from the queerness to the band nerdery to the running around NYC landmarks hoping for magic. It's beautiful queer joy wrapped in a book.

  • I love that Abby and Leo are allowed to be grumpy and touchy, that they can feel both joy and frustration.

  • It's also great to see a YA novel where the queer characters are still figuring themselves out: trying to find the right label, or decide that labels might not even be necessary at all.
 

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