This book is probably someone's ideal book. I just can't get into it. I have started and restarted in several times over the course of the last few days and it simply isn't happening. There's nothing that really drags me in and my mind kept wondering off and losing the threads of the story. 

Oh man this was good! I loved the world building and I loved watching Kiran kick ass and become more sure of herself. I didn't overly love the romance mostly because Kiran is too good for him. But I really over all enjoyed this. I think a large part of why is that Kiran is cleaver and deals with things smartly instead of stumbling at every single turn. Even her mistakes are not made because she's dumb but usually because others are not giving her the information that she needs to deal with the issue as she has to. Can't wait to read the rest!

This is one of those books that is truly worth the hype of it. By mixing timelines and histories, Whitehead manages to paint a clear and heartrendingly real picture of what it means to be black in America. It is, of course, not an easy read but it is beautifully written and compelling. Whitehead is fast becoming a Must Read author for me.

Solid story. Loved watching Leah and Abby be cute and in love together. Simon is a disaster, as per usual. My only real complaint about this which makes it below a four is that a lot of Simon's development from the first books seems to have... disappeared. The drama between him and Blue is just... kind of expected and I would have liked it to be something other than what I knew it would be, or end other than how I knew it would end. IDK, it was fine I guess. Glad it wasn't longer.

I picked this book up because I have been trying to read more mysteries/thrillers that don't center around a beautiful dead woman. I was hoping for an exciting story and instead got something dull where within the first dozen chapters it is super clear what the "twist" is. I don't understand what the point of any of this was. All the characters are completely horrible with no real depth to them. They are caricatures of real people. And despite the fact that there is no beautiful dead woman, the women are portrayed as being crazy which is exhausting.  Additionally, there are plot holes that never fully fill in. Some of the characters have mental illnesses that are never given a name and are just vaguely  coded as being bad and the women insane because of them. These sorts of thrillers are all too common now and it is exhausting. Please just let women be complex and not written off as easily triggered into doing horrible things. 

This is such a fun, sweet book. There were moments of surprise as I was reading which is unusual for such a trope-filled book. I liked the characters and their growth together really makes sense and works well which isn't always true in romance novels. Overall it was just such a fun read and made me sigh happily at the end.

It's a really important thing, I think, to listen to the activists that came before us. It is so amazing to hear from these incredible women who did such great work for Black feminism. I think this is one of those books that really brings home how personal this fight is and also how important the work still is. It challenges the reader to do better while also reminding them that together we are stronger.

Well this was disappointing. I went into this book really excited but ultimately it wasn't for me, This is not as lighthearted as the description and cover made it appear. A lot of the book is overly privileged kids with their first world problems being awful. Yes, Rhodes is dealing with some real depression but they do a very good job of making every single character so unlikable. By the time the two of them figure out who the other is, they've spent so much of the book hating each other that the twist to romance feels off putting and strange. I didn't buy the romance, I don't buy the "we bonded over a popular Alice in Wonderland fancomic" and I don't understand what the plot actually was meant to make me feel. Overall, just not at all what I had hoped for.

I really loved the first story so much. The other ones were ok, though the second one had some problems. But the first story gave me an alternative universe where Cordy and Buffy are in love and BOY DO I JUST NEED A WHOLE SERIES OF THAT

I mean... the writing is just no on par with what I wanted. Sometimes non-male identifying authors manage not to read like they are writing early 2000's fanfic but this story is not one of those. The writing was just not tight enough, the characters were paper thin. It's just not as good as I really, really hoped it would be.