I feel like this is an unexpected win for me. It's still pretty hard for me to put a finger on why I like this so much and it's been 17 days since I finished it. I hesitate to recommend this widely to people. Mostly I think it's the writing that makes me give it this rating. It's indulgent in some parts and stingy in others. It's split into poetry, a reconstructed (?) conversation between a serial killer and his boyfriend, and is also a book within a book. I am aware that it is trying to do A LOT. And it doesn't necessarily have the space to do it. It kind of marries the two narratives we're following clunkily at times. But I still loved it -- I was deeply unsettled by sections of this book. It's definitely psychological but there is some body horror, so if you're squeamish you probably want to skip this one.

I always hesitate to give memoirs star ratings. However, I have to applaud McCurdy's vulnerability in this short, gut punch of a book. I listened to this on audiobook, which I think really elevated the experience as well. Told in two parts, 'before' and 'after' I'm Glad My Mom Died follows child actor Jenette McCurdy, as she evaluates the toxic relationship she had with her mother when she was alive and how her life changed once her mother died. It deals heavily with her struggles with OCD, the origin of her eating disorder, and her alcohol dependence. I can't say this was the easiest thing to listen to, but McCurdy's memoir reads like a journey novel. Not in its most literal sense, but the journey of a person who has done the work -- is doing the work -- to be free of her trauma.  It was cathartic, heartfelt, and very very brave.

Legends & Lattes is such a warm hug of a book. I've never been opposed to cozy-any-genre, but seeing this surge of cozy fantasy does make my heart happy.

The newly retired battle-weary orc, Viv, is starting a new business, one with hopefully less bloodshed: a coffee shop. On the journey to making her new cafe the success she knows it will be, she'll have to make new friends (ahh Cal <3, Thimble <3, Tandri <3), add new things to the menu, and maybe make a new home for herself.

The entire cast is so wholesome. Really the tagline does the best at explaining what this book is: "A book of high fantasy, and low stakes." If that sounds up your alley, I suggest you read it. I personally enjoyed every minute.

read for: the cozy vibes, food descriptions (!!!), an adorable rattkin, found family, slice of life, sapphic MC

I really enjoyed this. The premise was really cool -- I find that Ilona Andrews rarely fails on that front. I think it could have used more build up between Sean and Dina at the end for the romance to be believable but I did still have fun. A solid entry into a new series; I will probably continue on.

I'm not up to the shenanigans, I'm sorry. The premise of the TV show is not something I enjoyed when reading. It doesn't really have any of the elements that make books set during a competition interesting. Not to mention, the fact D'Vaughn's reason for going on the show makes me really uncomfortable... I simply can't give this anything higher than a 3, although D'Vaughn and Kris were cute.

This book suffers from a very surface level understanding of toxic masculinity, hypersexualization, misogyny and how these things intertwine. I just could not gel with this book at all. Maybe it's because I haven't read the first book so I didn't feel any warm feelings for either of the characters at the start of the book.

this is a little incoherent rant for you, but I need to put it somewhere so here it goes: 

I just could NOT stop thinking about how Fox's constant hookups, but not in the way the author intended I'm pretty sure. I don't have sympathy for him because the front half of this book is entirely without self reflection. Not to mention the fact that toxic masculinity is touched on so poorly here. The way misogyny plays into this is also nonexistent, so the 'social commentary'  feels untethered by reality and pretty paint by numbers. It lacks nuance. Fox fails to reflect on the ways he was rewarded from this lifestyle and encouraged lifestyle, and instead focuses on his 'woe is me' act. The author couldn't really expect to mention how the hero would come back from Seattle and talk about his conquests and how he got his reputation in the first place without me wanting to see him really reckoning with that. What could have been a nuanced take on Fox's hypersexualization as a teen ended up so botched. Just ZERO nuance. I'm not saying the people around him believing this stuff about him is not detrimental, I'm just saying that they are not the only piece in this puzzle.

I think this is not for me.

Part of me feels like I made a mistake not listening to the audiobook version but too late now *shrugs*

That was cute! A very short story with humor and smut. I can't complain.