coolfoolmoon's Reviews (357)

a somber comfort like when an empty feeling is so cold its actually warm and the world makes sense in the emptiness like floating with no tether but you're not worried about falling or drowning or anything really it's just lovely in a way that there is beauty in the sad nothingness of existence. very, to borrow from everything everywhere all at once, nothing matters but i choose to love anyway. and in that choice to love, i choose to love the sadness too.this book would've ruined me when i was 12.

also at one point clover describes having moths in her stomach and not butterflies and i think that's such an excellent detail. there's creative layers to that genius writing.

i had to take points off for leo dying though! i knew it was gonna happen but i didn't want it to!

My cousin, who's at least 6 years older than me, used to bring this book up and ask if I remembered it. "You know? The bear who lost his button?" No I did not remember it but I think I know now why he did. I don't remember a lot of books I read as a little itty bitty having Black characters in it. My mom has always been very Black Power so I can understand why my cousin might've remembered it. I flipped the page and saw her and immediately got emotional!

This first question I ask when rating a book written for kids is does it talk down to its audience. People often treat children like they're lesser, like they're not human yet, like they're miniature humans who have to grow up and then they become human. This book talks down to its audience, sure, but only in the sense that it comes down to the children's level, it kneels down to put a hand on their shoulder and look children in the eye. This book gives children the respect they deserve. This book tells children they are equal, and there will be people who will not believe that they are, and all it takes for them to be seen and heard is to spread love. Love is undeniable. And even if others don't hear them, they did their part, and there will always be someone there for them in return who listened. How lovely.

I can admit when something isn't for me. Still, I like readung new things that would've never been on my radar before.

I rented this book from my library because I just need some poetry in my life, and this was on the shelf. I also try to look for poets of color. There's on poem early on in the book that really gripped me, something I relate to, something about language and not quite understanding it and still trying to translate even though you know you have pieces missing, and you kinda feel like there are pieces you know you probably will never know are missing. A lot of the book has this element to it.

A lot of the book is also formatted in a why that I either don't like or don't understand. I don't like the spacing between some of the poems. I try to read poems out loud to see what they sound like and I couldn't quite get the tone out loud or in my head. The pieces I didn't understand I know is because of half language barrier, half cultural barrier, but those aren't complete issues with me because there are some poems that I fully understood or understood what feeling was meant to be conveyed. So, I suppose, this artist and her style isn't for me. Despite that I did like a lot of the book. It's an interesting look into history and amazing to learn about the Female Flying Motorists. Nothing else has been written about them, from what I found through a Google seaech. It's so poetic that one of the women's daughters was the first to write a book about her and the life she lived.

Every book has it's autism moment. This books is 163 pages of autism moments. Usually I would love that, but there's a clear commentary here that isn't explored enough. 

I usually read books with the audiobook playing (I don't like how this logs the same book twice but I get it since it's different formats) but I logged this because the narrator and the author had a discussion after! That was fun. Nice to get into the mind of the creator and hear more about where she and the narrator saw themselves.

Literature at its finest. What an amazing debut. It's got so many elements I already love and does the elements so well! And it's so real! I know those places in the Bay / Berkeley! I've been there before! I too have been a teen getting ready to go to college, worried about what decision to make! I too have had crushes! The book is just so sweet and loveable I feel like I don't have the write words to say. I'm glad Forrest's TikTok came across my fyp. I knew I'd like the book when I saw her video but now I know I love it here. And I'll be waiting impatiently (respectfully) for her second book!

Also, Effie is such a badass character. Like she's such a cool person and she doesn't even realize it. For years she wrote her phone number in her crush's yearbook and didn't flinch?! She's got flare, she's got attitude; I LOVE her! I wanted to include this bc I was thinking about how often disability rep or even just people are thought of as "[insert person] is cool but they're in a wheelchair", like they have something to make up for??? Which just shows how fucked our society and people's mindsets are, but the whole time reading this is was like "Wow! This girl is bold and brave and badass! She puts her mind to it and she does it!" and then, separate thought, "Oh yeah she's in a wheelchair." It's not because of or despite, she just is. Like her besties were right she's just awesome. I love this book. I love this book!

(The cherry on top, this book is printed in my favorite font. EB Garamond girlies rise up!)

Insufferable. I hope British "people" don't talk like this anymore. For such a small book it took me until halfway to get use to the language and writing. The story itself is fine.

The biggest flaw is that it's too short. I haven't delved into sci-fi that much but I seem to like it, and this book needed more room to be. Heavy lore drops that are mostly tell not show, but not in a way that's irritating, more in a way that this is a huge world that wanted to be explored more. I liked a lot of elements of it though and really related to the main character.

The title is so perfect. They were just kids! Living life! Going wherever the wind took them! Having fun! Living laughing loving! It's heart breaking and so sweet at the same time!

I don't know these people so I don't know why it was in my TBR for so long, but if I was a stan I probably would've given it a higher rating. And many of the photos were very lovely. They met by accident and it was a once in a lifetime love story! And they were just kids!!! Rolls credits!!!