I loved reading princess academy when I was younger so when I saw there was a sequel I thought what the heck it’ll be a fun summer read. But I loved it! I enjoyed reading it so much and I had no idea there was a third book in the series! So basically I’m going to take a small break and then binge read the next book just like I read this one!

This book is well researched, but it also got very repetitive. I think it would have been better if there were fewer monsters, with only the more memorable included. For example, there were multiple Nazis with profiles, their crimes, though horrendous, felt like repetitive facts. They could have been grouped together. The side notes and extra/bonus facts after each monster were probably my favorite. If you love history and like learning bits and pieces, this book is great for that. You can pick it up and put it down as you go without feeling like you're losing a story or something. We actually paced ourselves through this and found that it was better to try and retain more of the information we were learning.

This was just sad. The whole thing. Super sad.

I really enjoyed this collection of poems. It was interesting to look at how the symbolism of the nightingale has spanned across cultures and time among poets. I especially enjoyed that they viewed the nightingale in different ways. Some finding the bird to be inherently sad, while others thought it was love or joy. A great way to group the poems as well.

My only wish is that I could have watched each and everyone of these performed live. I have seen a few spoken word videos from the author and that’s actually what got this book on my list in the first place.