Part memoir, part call to love, this book is so personal and compassionate. Lovely written and full of heart. Habib takes you gently by the hand to tell you her incredible story of self discovery, one that I think is both specific to her circumstances and yet contains aspects that are universal. A touching read, honestly, I feel blessed to have this book out in the world. 

There isn't much in this book that is overall shocking when you know a certain amount about Black feminism, but the focus on schools and the way those schools have failed Black girls is really eye opening. It has a lot to say and it says it very well. The use of real girls experiences and stories makes you feel as if you are in the room with these girls. I'm not sure how anyone can read this book and not want to take action. Luckily, the book appendix has some great tools on what you can do to help. 

TW: child abuse/neglect

This book is a really fun, if darker, look into the world of A:TLA. I like what they are doing with Kyoshi and I like how the world is growing. It's fun to see her growth and the ways in which she shaped the world as a whole. It was, I think, a little more predictable in places than I would hope for, including the Big Bad reveal. I'll make up my mind as a whole after the rest of the series and maybe it's just a a symptom of having to keep in the confines of the show. I still overall really enjoyed it, despite some of its flaws. Also, there's a lot more death and murder than in the original shows. 

This is a fun, cute, not too serious story. Despite being a hetero relationship, this also has a lot of inclusive minor characters and elements. It talks about consent a lot which is so refreshing. But there are a few things that sorta didn't work for me. She says at the end she knows her family will love her and there's nothing really in the book to show that that's true. Also she does a lot of second guessing her own emotions and opinions which I could use less of. Like, trust your instincts, girl!

I've had a day to think about this. I was torn about it because it wasn't that this is, necessarily, a bad book, it is just that at no point was I surprised by anything that happened. It's billed as a thriller but it's far more a story of values and family and love. That, again, doesn't make it bad, but considering that I feel like the main character is constantly two steps behind all the men is just... not doing it for me. I really wanted to love this and there's aspects of it that I was excited about and loved but overall it just doesn't hit for me. 

TW: eating disorder, body horror, Pica disorder

Oh boy. This book got under my skin a little too well, which is why it took so long for me to finish a pretty short book. I had to put it down a lot. The rating is low mostly because although it made me shiver and shrink away, I don't feel like the overall substance of the book was overly great. It was fine, don't get me wrong, but it didn't hold up as well as I had hoped.

I'm not one to read a lot of biography but I'm glad I made the exception with this one. A detailed and touching tribute to one of the most important yet overlooked authors of her time. Jackson's life is brought into stunning brilliance. Relying on interviews and Jackson's own papers and letters, this detailed biography makes her so stunningly human while also drawing attention to what an important author she ultimately was. The title is apt as the book is just about as haunting as one of Jackson's own novels.

It's always hard to rate short story collections because, inevitably, there are some stories that are stronger than others. I can think of maybe one and a half stories that were not as well done as the others, but overall this book was incredibly thoughtful and interesting and the stories kept my attention. They had a good mix of me wanting to read more and also being perfect just as they are. 

I liked it well enough but the pacing was off. I kept getting distracted because while there are moments when it pulls you in, there’s also a lot of moments when it doesn’t and you’re sort of waiting for things to get moving. Just not as great as I hoped.

I'm giving this one a 3.5 because I have heard the series gets a lot better. I will say that there are a lot of threads that remain dangling by the end of this book, including a lot of the "big questions." I really like Olivia which is why I'll give the second book another try but this one felt a little too long with a lot of stuff thrown at the wall. I hope we get a lot of answers soon or I may not continue with the series.