I just adored how sweet and tender this story was and the magical realism. 

 There’s so much the eyes of a child see that adults tend not to notice. 

The memoir is mainly told in the third person. Very rarely is "I" used here. It creates a bit of distance between hook and her younger self. It's less about her and more about the exploration of girlhood or relevant things of that period that could connect with readers. hook's thoughts on marriage are very clear when you see how she came to those conclusions/her observations.

A running theme is the color of black (technically, we know it's not a color, but you get the idea). hooks always saw it as beautiful, but it was enforced to be a woman's color only; it was tied to maturity or mourning, not for young girls.

hook’s youth seemed very restrictive with her feeling out of place and constantly reprimanded for her outspokenness and questioning of gender roles. She has some nice lines here, and I wish I had learned of her work earlier. 

 I say this in love, but this has a very Deviantart + early 2000’s cartoon vibe.

With the fast pace, the constant winking, the sister with a weird obsession with her brother so she sabotages other girls, and the slapstick (coral and lilyanna ending up naked seems to be a recurring joke, I guess).

Still, it’s a relatively cute slice of life with fantasy characters. The love triangle with Nick Inferno and Lance (he's a jerk but seems to have genuine feelings for her) was also entertaining.

SN: Lilyanna’s design is too cute! The Orca Whale dude looked hilarious 

I really need to reread this series from the beginning for full enjoyment (end of an era y'all - the first book was 16 years ago 💀), but this was a pretty great conclusion with me trying to remember the major plot points. 

I love how it doesn't fall into "the chosen one" trope because ...

we need everyone to save the day. we can't pin our hope all on one human being. peace and conflict will always be with us. negative thoughts festering turns us into monsters.

the elves - conclusion

as a kid, I remember Trellis being one of my favorite characters for his Zuko arc as a kid, and the vague Zutara vibes he and emily had. Also, he gave up the throne to become leader of the stonekeepers. I really have to reread the series because I don't know if I should be feeling cheated or surprised at a great subversion

Riva's potential kind of fizzled out. What's her part to play in the future besides being a trellis' wife?she was like a mayour at one point. surely, she's overseeing something too

 Pretty good but I wished the flashback sequences had been clearer. Also, 1 point for originality with changing child sacrifice to cat sacrifice 

Hand clap! Elio's head is in the clouds, seeing ultraviolet with his first girlfriend, Camelia.

The story's straightforward and unsubtle, but the plainness should benefit the MG audience. It acknowledges the weird feelings the process of puberty can bring, toxic masculinity, and consent through Elio's eyes. It even calls out the rise of red pill influencers such as Andrew Tate because young boys are the main ones being polluted by him.

There's Mexican slang galore that’s easy to figure out in context though “pedo face” will cause a lot of head scratching. I still don’t get the meaning either. The dialogue is a little off though not quite “How do you do fellow kids?" 

But the ending was exceptional, and I enjoyed the resolution.

Fun! The kids were charming, and at the core of the story "a kid who loves their dog."

hades is black here, but the other greek mythology characters are still greek. curious to see if the others will follow a diverse take or if hades is the only one.