An illuminating and thoroughly researched work on the role of white women in American slavery. This book was a difficult but important read that explored many brutalities of slavery that I had not previously read about: white women’s role in and reliance on the slave economy, the realities of wet nursing, the reactions of female enslavers to emancipation, and much much more. It’s definitely a book to take your time with, for many reasons. 

Epic, harrowing, Shakespearean, bleak af. Way darker than the first and trigger warnings abound but the scale is also much grander and the stakes higher. It definitely dragged at points but in the end I think even the dragging served a purpose.

Thank you to Libro.fm for the ALC! This book was cuuuute. A whole vibe for the post-church queer girlies. I loved Riley for her rights and wrongs. The chemistry with the love interest did not seem all the way there but this is YA so I’ll give it a pass for being a crush that is still blossoming. Did the religious rebellion sometimes come off as cheesy? Yes, but again it’s a fun YA romp. Overall, a winner. 

The Gratz stans will love it. As always, it’s fast-paced, action-packed, and full of nuance. The thing I appreciate most about Gratz books is that they always consider a perspective beyond the ones usually centered in these types of stories, which I think is especially important for the kids drawn to them. 

Definitely giving Howl’s Moving Castle x Nevermoor. A little predictable at points but still really cute. 

Thank you to Libro.fm and Bloomsbury YA for the free educator ALC! 

Honestly I love an ocean horror so this had me at the cover, but I also think it was a beautifully and hauntingly atmospheric listen with a captivating narration to boot. The author’s debut was mostly a miss for me but the concepts were so solid that I wanted to try again and I was not disappointed. Would definitely recommend for YA horror readers. 

Slow start but quickly becomes a joy. Very thoughtful and of the moment. 

Bit of a disappointment. The audiobook accents saved it. 

No words

The main thing I struggled with in this book was the imbalance between the sections featuring the lion and wizard, which seemed dumbed down to elementary age and full of bad dialogue, and the sections that were overly detailed and better suited to a very academically minded high schooler. This was reinforced by the choice to make this about half graphic novel and half very dense text. I felt like this book didn’t know what it wanted to be and it would be a hard sell to any of my middle school students. 

Furthermore, it was very clear that this book had an angle and focused a lot on conversion and theology from a religious perspective. Also, while there was some light criticism regarding the nuances of Tolkien and Lewis’ friendship, I would have loved even a passing mention of common critiques of gender or race in their texts.