1.34k reviews by:

imstephtacular

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

I knew this was going to be a 5 star read from the jump. I loved it so much!!! My beautiful bisexual babies with the world on their shoulders!!! They’re enemies, they’re lovers, they’re fake dating, they’re comforting each other and figuring out the world together! I ate it all up. I thought the tough topics were handled with care and I fell in love with these boys and their stories. 

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes

This was strange and compelling as hell. The writing is excellent and I was invested in every character’s story

This felt like Final Girl Support Group meets The Lunar Chronicles with a little bit of the Wayward Children series, all stories I’ve enjoyed. 

The ending reveal left me a little underwhelmed, but overall this was powerful and intriguing 

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A charming coming of age debut. Y’all know theater kid books are catnip to me!
Pros: sweet crushes
Characters to root for
Messy passionate friendships
Casual bi rep

Cons: the character development seemed super rushed
It felt like it should have been New adult and not Young adult 

I did struggle reading this because our main character, Bridget, is so like me when I was 18-21 and it was difficult to separate. I cringed so many times because I made many of the decisions she did and it was hard watching her make the same ones I made years ago. I wanted to shake her and shout “girl, no! Stop reading into that— he’s not into you! NO WAIT BAD CHOICE!!!” 

This is most likely a me issue and no fault of the book, mind you 

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

King has historically been bad at writing female characters and good endings. I’m pleased that this book is a delightful change! 

I just love Holly Gibney and I’m glad King finally realized he could give a female character a full life and her own story. This is Holly’s 6th appearance and finally one where she’s the star 

King’s storytelling skills are on display here— his crime fiction is always a favorite style for me. This is intense and dark and gnarly (seem out CW for specifics because this has a lot of wild content) 

Know going in that this is a DEEPLY pandemic focused book. Covid is hugely a part of the plot and characters and King’s politics are also deeply embedded in the story. Not everyone will like that. I got past it and his author’s note helped. 

One thing that nagged at me (that I eventually worked through while reading) was how King characterizes the villains by having them use slurs. This is not new for him, but it comes off heavy handed for me personally. But I know his writing is read by a broad mass of folks so maybe that’s ok in the long run. At least he’s moved on from “the bad guys are all fat” so “the villains are super racist”

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Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight

Shelly Page

DID NOT FINISH: 16%

Lost interest 
emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

A delightful celebrity memoir that has the balance I always like-- juicy Hollywood gossip and self reflection. I appreciated how Winkler is self aware and honest, but doesn't shy away about missteps he's made. I also really appreciated his analysis and reflection on his dyslexia. As a dyslexic gal, this struck me and I was glad he devoted so much of the book to it. I could have done without the praising of Jeffrey Tambor and other problematic men, but overall this was a lovely, rich memoir. 

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

Asa is my chaotic soft bi king and I would die for him!!!

Also I loved this book. There were so many tropes (although there were also several cliches that usually make me mad, but I liked this book so I much I mostly overlooked them)

This is a great example of a romance that does MORE. It handles some pretty heavy, real stuff, but does it well. I liked Asa and Lauren and was rooting for them all along the way

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

I appreciated so much the way this book handled toxic friendships and showed the signs of manipulation and emotional abuse that can happen even between middle schoolers. This is hugely important in books for young people and I loved how it was done here! I loved those characters and was rooting for them. What a delight 

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