I do think this book was my favorite of them all.

Towards the end, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to read it before the movies came out. Discovering what happened as it happened, not knowing the outcome. I think it would have thrown me for a loop. Even with knowing the outcome, this book tore me apart.

Dumbledore and Snape. Neither who you really think they are. Yet Harry still worshiped Dumbledore. Was his desire for a fatherly figure that desperate?

I’m glad Harry finally acts like the Hero he is supposed to be in this book. But he would have still died a hundred times over without Hermione.

And how come Harry could never realize that those who wanted to fight along side him were doing it more so but for him, but for what the future would hold?

And seriously did Ginny let Harry name all the kids by himself. One of them should be a Fred!

This was a great read. I am glad it was made aware of this via NetGalley.
While it isn't very indepth, it doesn't claim to be. I think this is a quick easy guide to using They/Them pronouns and why you need to use them--even if the grammar nerd in you says "It doesn't sound right". Waah, boo hoo. Suck it up and use them, or else you face making a person feel less than for it.

I love that this GN also shows what misgendering does to the psyche of a person. As well as how to be a better ally by being aware of harmful language and verbiage and how to correct others when a misidentification happens.

This will be a helpful tool for me, when I have people ask about my agender child. It explains things in a manner that is easy to understand, yet gives those who desire, a jump off point to delve deeper.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I give this a 2.5. It wasn't a horrible story, after all, I did continue to read it until the end. However, I am just not the audience for it. That, and I have some issues with the story.

First--what is good about this book, and who I see it good for.
The story moves forward, at a quick pace. There is romance, but no sex, so if you have a tween/teen that wants that demographic. It has a happy ending, and everything ties up neatly into a nice little package. And there is a moderately heavy amount of God and faith thrown in.

I feel that I probably would have loved this book in my teen years--my naive teen years. I would have eaten up the story and craved more of the tidy fairy-tale ending. But alas, I have grown as a person, and that no longer satisfies me. I understand that there is a place for books like this, and an audience for it.

One of my major issues of this book I really disliked that Mulan's character had almost all traces of her ethnicity removed. It's like the author was trying to garner readers by attaching the name and attitude that most people associate with Mulan (via pop culture) to this story, but then didn't include any of that in the story. I fully admit I love reading fairytale retellings. There is a comfort in knowing the base of a story, but the excitement of seeing how authors interpret and dive into it is fun. This story didn't entirely debase Mulan, they kept the warrior aspects, but entirely Europeanized her. (yes, I think I made that term up, because I don't know the term for it)

The story moves at a fast pace, to the point were things have to be simplified. Mulan's dad dies, she has to go to war in his place (blink) she leads the charge and because the hero of the war (blink) she is outed as a woman and everyone, almost, accepts it (blink) she falls in love (blink) she is married. What?????? This novel completely glosses over the issues of growing up in a society/time that is patriarchal and women did as they were told. Marriage and family was not love-based, but duty. Mulan was born out of an affair and brought to be raised by his wife. Women didn't go to war, and when she was outed, the outcome should have been death, but it was accepted. Mulan and Wolfgang are from different classes of society. This the author did address in Mulan's concerns, but glossed over and everyone in Wolfgang's family loved and accepted her.

Another good I will add: Even though the edges are smoothed over, the author maintained Mulan's voice. Even as she was falling in love, or when Wolfgang was trying to be the male protector of her, as Wolfgang was showing his love and caring, the author allowed Mulan to remain strong, to have a voice, to not suppress herself around others, especially once she fell in love. The standard fairy-tale has women being demure, et al to the male characters, and here Mulan keeps her stance.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was drawn in by the fact that it was a Mulan story. I was unaware that it was part of a series. I might not have chosen this one had I done a little bit of research before hand. That's on me and not the author or the story line. This just isn't a series for me. However, I will try to keep in my mind for my patrons who come in looking for stories such as this.

What a romp. A collection of short stories about an octogenarian killer—who gets away with it every time.

When I picked up this book, I thought it would be stories of the adventures of a stray cat. Boy was I in for a surprise. This book is a sweet, tender story of the bond of a cat and his human and the bonds of friendship.

I have never read a book with the cat as the narrator before, and it was a fresh perspective. Nana's straight forward demeanor was a hoot, I could imagine his sass coming out of my cat's mouth.

"Well, how would you like it if you were sleeping and somebody came by and rubbed you all over?"

This was another book, that I had been reading in public and was glad to have my lunch break end so that I had to close the book before I could continue any further. So I could finish, in the comfort of my reading nook at home, with my own cat on my lap.

Spoiler

Before it was revealed by the other animals that Satoru was going to die, I had figured out that he was traveling to visit his friends not to find Nana a home, but to say his goodbyes, without really saying goodbye to them. While this left me preparing for this eventual ending, it added depth the story and the relationship between Nana and Satoru.

I was crying near the end--but when Satoru goes into the hospital/hospice care, and Nana runs away from Noriko to be near him, my heart broke and I was bawling. How can a love be more pure than that!!!?
" "But why... "Sugi muttered. " Why didn't Satoru tell us he was sick?"...
You really don't understand why?
" I kind of understand why, " Yoshimine said. " He wanted to say farewell with everybody still smiling."
Bingo!
Satoru loved all of you guys.
That's why he wanted to take your smiles with him.
Simple enough, I think.

Spoiler

Haunting. A tale of family, devotion, and grief

I think this one will sit with me for a while. Very character driven. And such depth on all of them. Celeste Ng takes turns with each person in the Lee family, going over their past, how it has shaped them, and how they interact with each other.

Being a mixed race family in the 60’s and 70’s we see how race and gender have affected the parents upbringings and how it impacts how they raise their children. In turn, we see how those choices have impacted the children.

What a fun listen. An alternating past/present story of a family’s legacy. With some twists that you don’t see coming.

Very interesting concept. Fictional murder mystery where Anthony plays himself as the main character. At times though, it was hard to know if the details he wrote about himself were fact or fiction. It doesn’t matter either way, except for the few times he veered away from the story line to go in-depth in his own endeavors

Anthony plays the Watson in this Sherlock Holmes style novel. And Rory Kinnear does a great job of narrating.