The Setting:

First and foremost, Pride feels like a love letter to a neighborhood that is in constant movement, not only because of the people who live there but the people moving there. Zoboi sets the atmosphere by  sprinkling in poems. They feel like homages to people and places. Zuri Benitez’s neighborhood feels alive. And you can feel that in every element of the book.

 

The Characters:

This book lives and breathes through its characters. Pride, like its inspiration Pride and Prejudice, is very character driven. One of the ways that it thrives is through the dynamics of the neighborhood. Zoboi really paints a picture of how tight knit Zuri’s neighborhood is. Zuri is also a very outspoken heroine. She brought life to this story. I do feel that I could have gotten to know Darius a little bit more. Mostly, this book is just too short to accomplish what I wanted it to accomplish, however. Nevertheless, I did feel the connection between Zuri and Darius and rooted for them. I felt that the romance was a little rushed, but again, I think that is the fault of how short this book is (and possibly my  own fault for expecting more from this type of book).

 

Does this work as a Retelling?

Retellings are complicated for me. While I do feel that Pride accomplished a lot and is certainly better than a lot of Pride and Prejudice retellings out there, it worked in some aspects better than others. For one, I should really hamper my expectations for a YA contemporary. I found myself wanting more out of Pride than it was willing to give, mostly because it simply needed more pages. I’m coming off of just reading Pride and Prejudice so I feel that more acutely. I do think Pride was really religious to the core tenants of the story and plotline. Zoboi also put interesting modern day twists to how P&P would play out today. The way she explores gentrification is very interesting in particular. 

 There is something so special about Talia Hibbert's writing. The way she is able to craft stories with a special flair. But truly, where she shines the most is through her characters. Zaf and Dani had chemistry for days. My cheeks genuinely hurt from smiling so much. I also appreciate when an author is able to include subplots that enhance the story. I felt like I really knew Dani and Zaf by the end of Take a Hint. Absolutely amazing! 

This reminded me of why I love middle grade books and why I need to read more! OMG, I love this story. The world was so cool and the characters are equally as compelling. Everyone go read it.

I'm serious. 

This was exactly what I needed from a bucket list romcom. Just a sweet, smutty, lovable romp with sweet family dynamics and great banter. It had just enough funny situations and cute banter to pull me through. I loved Chloe and Red's dynamic. Like, really loved. They had me smiling at my book, it was quite embarrassing because then my mom is asking why am I smiling like that and I have to say it's because I'm living vicariously through romance books and am really invested in this fictional relationship. No, but seriously, I loved how the author included therapy when talking about trauma. You can tell she put a lot of thought into making Chloe an actual three-dimensional person who has fibromyalgia -- it's something that affects every part of her life and I like that the author included these challenges that come with chronic pain. The book's tone was light but still had substance and the romance was steamy goodness. There were a couple times where I actually felt the sex scenes were quite intense 🙈 and thus felt like a prude for five seconds. But I do think there's something to be said about having such a sweet couple suddenly juxtaposed and turned into this dirty talking couple that it actually took me out of the story for a little bit. I was still able to enjoy them together though! And I definitely want to read more from Talia Hibbert!!

A dark and twisted look into the mind. A weird and horrifying coming of age story.

I really enjoyed reading this novella. The narrator’s voice is this snarky teen; I think some found that quite charming, for me it was kind of grating after a while. However, I do think the voice made the reading experience more interesting especially in conjunction with the more speculative elements. I think I did myself a disservice because I put this down for a day before I eventually finished reading the last 50% and for some reason it was harder for me to find the same suspense as I did the first half. The first half I was actually quite glued to the edge of my seat. The only thing that stopped me from binging the rest fo this novella was other responsibilities. I’m not going to hold my issues with pacing against the book too much though because I think I am just a very picky reader and horror is definitely not one of my most read genre.

This is the first SGJ I’ve ever read and I’d be interested to read more by him. 

It’s entirely possible that I’m overthinking this review. And yet, I cannot bring myself to give this anything higher than 2.5 stars.

Despite that I did actually enjoy reading <i>The Dating Plan</i>. Daisy and Liam were really cute together. I liked that Daisy was a loner but also really smart and able to stick up for herself. I also thought their banter was so well done! I found myself laughing out loud at a couple of parts (there’s even a part where I might have sighed dreamily 🙈). Desai’s writing firmly puts this in the RomCom sphere of Romance; I liked it, it was entertaining and kept the tone light. It did sometimes take on this soap opera-esque quality at times which wasn’t my favorite, but I was able to read past that and mostly enjoy myself.

My main qualm with this story is that I felt that at times the character motivations didn’t really make sense. I felt confused by Liam’s character in the end. I really felt like we needed to follow him more because there were parts of this book that were revealed too late in my opinion and didn’t seem to be issues in the beginning. I really want this to be spoiler free, so I’m sorry that this is vague. When trying to figure out why I felt unsatisfied by this story I realized that a lot of this hinges on one character, meaning all it would take for them to reach resolution was for one character to speak up. That is too loose for me.

Overall, I did like the story and I certainly think there is an audience for it. I just don’t think I am the audience. I am interested to read Desai’s other works though!

When I first started this series, I don’t think I knew how strongly I would come to love these characters. But here I am, crying and emotionally drained after this final ride with Nahri, Dara, Ali, Jamshid, Muntadhir and Zaynab. Some people have complained about the ending being too 'Disney-like' but, honestly, that is not a problem for me. I like hopeful books, and I think there is enough implication that there's a lot of work to be done and they still have enemies to satisfy me.

The Empire of Gold, in my opinion, is a perfect ending to The Daevabad Trilogy. Whatever misgivings I had about how Chakraborty would successfully pull this off, she really went beyond. The Daevabad Trilogy is about cycles of oppression, war, love and it’s all nestled in this vivid world steeped in Middle Eastern culture. This last book has all of the elements that kept me reading the first two books: fascinating world-building, an intriguing magic system, a little bit of politics, and complex characters. Chakraborty has a way of writing characters that are flawed but still intriguing. As much as I hated Manizheh, I could not help but be glued to the page every time she appeared. Dara, as well. His arc is one that is incredibly sad and complex. As much as I do hate him, I can't deny that his story is filled with intriguing choices, power dynamics, and motivations.

Nahri and Ali's chapters were definitely my favorite chapters because I liked seeing their journey, especially as it brought new magical elements and a different environment. I also just like them together; their friendship and romance was the slow-burn I needed in this cold winter.

No, but seriously. Nahri and Ali are definitely more than their relationship in this book. I could really tell the care Chakraborty put into their story. Nahri and Ali have to confront their values and identity all while trying to save their home.

This is a story that lives and breathes through its characters. The world is just a plus.

 This book felt like it was trying to do everything and yet nothing at the same time. We’re dropped right in the middle of life changing events at the start of the story and at first I really liked how the author created this very complicated web of people and interactions by just forcing the reader in the middle of it. It was a very interesting and, I feel, effective way of characterization for the people at the forefront of the story. However, all of that strong characterization done at the beginning pretty much falls flat when the plot moved at a snails pace in some parts. It felt like a slog to get through at some parts and usually I can churn through books like this in under a day — this one took me three. There are some parts where there’s barely anything happening but the book changes POVs four times in one chapter. It’s hard to even keep up with who we’re following, despite the fact that literally NOTHING is happening but our characters are cuddling in the cold. 

 

That being said, I did really enjoy getting to know Charles and Anna. Their dynamic was really interesting to me. Anna’s story is particularly heartbreaking but reading her come into her own and realize her own talents kept me going. I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t really interested in the mystery plot (which didn’t really develop until closer to the 60% mark) but I kept reading because the pack dynamics were interesting. 

 

Another thing that I want to talk about is the use, or lack thereof, of Indigenous folklore. Cry Wolf builds a world with many creatures, not just werewolves, but the people of this world are incredibly diverse. The setting is in Montana, presumable on a Native reservation, or something resembling one. However, the book doesn’t really talk about the Native people that actually live there (Crow, Blackfeet, Northern Cheyenne to name a few). Instead, it uses Native exoticism to describe pretty much everything about the main character, Charles. At one point, I’m pretty sure  Charles is singing something and Anna describes it as a “native song.” I just don’t understand why an author is so willing to use a Native character as a prop but do almost none of the legwork of talking or drawing from ACTUAL native cultures that exist in that area. At times, it can feel exploitative. Like, they are native but only allowed to exist in this vaguely native space instead of putting a name to it. 

Incredibly boring and long winded. Filled with false equivalency that made it hard to suspend disbelief. I think what really put the nail in the coffin was the description of Pearl, Hester Prynne’s child.

Pearl probably threw her that look because she knows everyone thinks she’s a demon. Also, she came out of your vagina, Hester, I think you are more than equipped to tell us whether or not Pearl is human.

Oh boy, this description.

I have to laugh.

She’s a child? Hawthorne has no subtlety whatsoever. It’s probable that Puritans actually did think this way - I mean Hawthorne’s time is certainly closer in time to the Puritans than I am. However, to a modern reader it was quite jarring to read. Who would have guessed that reading about Puritanical logic and society, even two hundred years removed, is actually really annoying. Hm.

Also, it’s just boring. I was bored the entire time. Reading those descriptions was the most engaged I felt reading this text. It’s hard to be invested in a story that is literally 90% self-righteous blabbering. I found myself wanting to tap out quite often while reading this. I even switched to an audiobook to finish! It was still boring. So, I am allowing myself to dnf at 60%. Because I did not finish, I am not rating The Scarlet Letter. I am sure you can guess what star rating it would get if I had.

If you want an example of what I am talking about, I suggest reading this review.

This might be helpful, too.

Spirited, Haunting, and imbued with magical writing.

Set in 1922 Macon, Georgia, Ring Shout packs a punch. I’m not much of a novella reader, but it always impresses me when an author is able to create fleshed out worlds - P. Djèlí Clark manages to do that and leave you wanting more. The story of Clark’s bootlegging-monster-hunting group of Black women fighting against the terrifying Ku Kluxs was an intensely horrifying yet near to home adventure. I loved every minute of it.