Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is an incredibly well written short story. It only has 17.000 words, but despite its shortness stretches over weeks and manages to portray this passing of time incredibly well. The story is mostly focused on the developing friendship and feelings between Mal and Aurora. Due to it being set on a ship where everybody else is caught in stasis and thus asleep they are of course the main focus. Since they are both very interesting characters, who are opposites in many ways, but quite similar in others, they manage to carry the story quite well alone and there's still the looming threat to the space ship going on.

There are some allusions to Sci-Fi tropes, like that it's set in space and there's an intergalactic war going on, but for most of the book it doesn't really feel like Sci-Fi at all. Like I said this story is mostly character focused, but it works.

The writing is gorgeous as well and I really enjoyed reading about Mal and Aurora. Despite the story being told from Mal's point of view you got to know a lot about Aurora as well, which was really nice. I also love how they have really different background stories (Aurora who was never allowed to take care of herself vs Mal who was forced to do so) and still had really liked the other. I'm also a sucker for enemy to lover when there's no absuse or other icky stuff going on, so this definitely was a great book for that.

Another thing I loved is that despite the repetitive and kind of circling feeling of the story, it never gets dull or boring. The pacing is incredibly well done and this book is definitely a lovely short story if you're looking for a quick read.

My only problem with the book is that the ending is incredible abruptly and quite cliff-hanger-y, which felt quite jarring after all the gorgeous writing and getting invested in the characters. But maybe there will be a sequel at some point? I'd love to read it if there's one anyway :)

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book is both a praise to gaming, but also a heartbreaking story about the horrible reality many female video games face in that very male dominated field. This book deals with quite a few heavy topics like doxxing, stalking, rape threats, misogyny (both in form of internet stuff and real life physical violence) and homophobia, while simultaneously still showing the love of video games. There is also quite a lot of self-discovery going on. I was worried when I picked the book up that it would be too short and thus rush these aspects, but thankfully this didn't happen. I wouldn't have minded if the book had been longer and a bit more about Daphnis figuring out their genderfluid identity, though, but it still paid a lot of attention to all these questions Daphnis had.

The book has a bisexual, gender-questioning main character and is actually quite diverse and has characters from all over the LGBT spectrum, which was lovely to read.

And while the relationship was super cute, it kind of lacked build up a bit. I would have liked some more flirting and getting to know Laura better as a reader, which was sadly kind of skimmed over. However, the friendships in the story were amazing. I'm honestly in love with the Musketqueers.

Kudisch' writing style is also easy to get into and I couldn't stop reading this novel once I had picked it up. While I personally don't know a lot about MMORPGs (okay, I don't know anything, I've never played them!), it was quite easy to get a feel for the game and after a short while it was easy to understand, so even for noobs like me the talk about online video games wasn't a problem. There are also allusions to other kinds of fan culture, like conventions, fanfiction, and musical references, which made the characters feel much more real to me, as I could connect with them on that level.

In the end, Don't feed the Trolls is an uplifting novel and about discovering the real you, with a great MC and I really liked it.

Since I am white, I don't want to talk about how this book opened my eyes to unfair police brutality and the danger black people face while dealing with police, to racist everyday comments and terrible allyship that only benefits the ally. These are all topics that are explored in the book, along with quite a few others. All I can say about this book is that it is definitely one of the most important and heart-wrenching books in our time. Inspired by real-life police killings and the police brutality that started the Black Lives Matter movement, this book explores important sociopolitical aspects.

In addition to this, this book is also amazingly well written with interesting and life-like characters, a story that discusses so many different problems and parts that influence the life of a poor black person in America, but also the life of a teenage girl, about growing up, about relationships and friendships and family and a corrupt law system, racism and stereotyping, and it's done amazingly well.

We are told this story through the eyes of teenage girl Starr, who witnessed her friend Khalil get shot by a police officer, despite obliging with him at every turn. Later on, we see how the media demonizes Khalil, telling lies and using stereotypes to justify his murder. Despite her fear, Starr knows she has to speak out. And so she does, trying desperately to get justice.

The most important part of this book are definitely the relationships between Starr and other people: her family, her white classmates, her white boyfriend, the people in her neighborhood. All of these relationships are very well fleshed out and incredibly interesting. I loved how both plot and characters played such an important role in this book, neither covering the other. They were perfectly balanced and it was so good.

The writing is also incredibly well done. Character descriptions, their relationships, all of them felt unique and amazing, without ever getting one-dimensional. So not only does this book explore important sociopolitical points, but it is also one of the best YA novels I've read in a while.

Another important part of the novel is Starr, the main character. She is resilient, authentic and so, so amazing. Despite being terribly afraid, she decides to speak out for what is right. She has every reason to be afraid, she's traumatized by seeing two people she loved shot right in front of her, her family gets threatened and everybody tries to paint the murder victim as somehow responsible for getting shot. She also deals with going to a mostly white school, racist "friends" and her white boyfriend who sometimes just doesn't understand her on top of all that as well.

I also adored Starr's family. Her parents have a great relationship and while they fight sometimes, you can absolutely see how much they love her. Families are way too often overlooked in YA, and while not all families are good families, it was so great to read about this family. Like I said: Great Relationships.

Also Angie Thomas' writing style is amazing and I read the whole book in a day, absolutely engrossed in the story and pretty much unable to put it down (I had to, because I had to walk somewhere, but as soon as I could sit down again, the book was glued to my hand again.)

So to recap if you are looking for a sociopolitical story: Read this book. If you are looking for a contemporary and important novel: Read this book. If you are looking for the best YA book you've read in a while, with an amazing MC: Read this book. If you're looking for a heart-wrenching and terrifyingly true story: Read this book. If you are looking for amazing side-characters: Also read this book. Just read this book. Do it. It's great.

Dawn is a poor cashier, who despite not having to struggle too much to survive, also never has enough money to really get by. She's also quite confident in her lesbian identity. Ric is a rich girl, who just recently accepted that she likes girls and after coming out to her father is disowned by him. Since Dawn has a spare apartment and neither of them has a lot of money, they move in together. That they find each other quite attractive is another bonus of course. And yet it's not as easy as they thought it would be, especially not with Ric's family trying to interfere with their lives.

This is a very short story featuring coming out, unsupportive families and love found in unexpected places. It is very sweet, but sadly doesn't have nearly as much character development or story as I had expected and so the character's still feel quite flat despite the things we see them go through.

It also doesn't really feel like the fairytale the summary seems to be hinting towards and instead is more of a down-to-earth story featuring a poor working class girl and the daughter of a successful business man, which is definitely more modern.

There is quite a bit of insta-love, which felt really weird at times, but they were still sweet together and their relationship developed a bit more over the course of the story, but not enough for me to really love it. The writing is however quite nice to read and if the story had been a bit longer I would have probably loved it a lot more. I did love how Dawn always stood up for Ric though, especially when other people tried to hurt her.

All in all despite its flaws, this is a really sweet short story dealing with love and intolerance, but it always has a positive side and so it's mostly really relaxing and nice to read. I also really liked the main Characters and that it features a HEA. So if you're looking for a sweet little story, this is a good bet for you.

Daisy didn't expect Molly to come back into her life. After all, she moved away when they were just kids and never messaged her again. But now she's here and she's even better looking than she used to be.
The characters are really cute and relatable, which made them feel very real. I'm a huge fan of friends to lovers, but sadly it didn't work that well since the story is very short and we don't get to see a lot of their friendship. The plot is, however, going very fast and so a lot of the things that happen feel quite rushed.
But there is also no miscommunication or forced drama to help the plot along, so the story is just very sweet and nice to read.
I also like that there's a canon questioning character, which is really nice. My favorite part of the story, however, is Violet Hill and the amazing sapphic women who play an important part in it and I'm excited to get to know more about them!