Such a fun retelling! Loved the little adventure of seeing what she did with such a familiar story in an entirely new setting and era. If you love Pride and Prejudice and contemporary YA, I would definitely suggest checking this out.

I am officially emotionally invested. Yes it has similarities to Harry Potter but the world and writing are so unique that those elements feel like loving tributes in an otherwise very original work. And also as first books go I think I may like this one more! Just delightful in every way.

I loved this book. Part memoir, part investigation into queer life in red states. Great writing, great narration by the author in the audio version, lots of personal stories along with facts and figures. I was impressed by the scope of her vision as an author, which included queer life among Mormons in Utah, along the US-Mexico border, in the heartland, in the Deep South, etc. and a true diversity of race, class, and queer identity. I will say that the author seems to have a deep and unapologetic hatred of the large coastal liberal cities that some may find off putting. As someone in a long-term love-hate relationship with my own red state, I didn’t mind it.

I avoided this one for a while bc I had a feeling it wouldn’t be my thing and it turns out... it wasn’t my thing. My prevailing feeling was that I wanted more there there, more depth, or for it to lean harder into thriller, or literary fic, or darkness/edginess, but it read more like contemporary fiction, which is great, just not my fav thing as a reader, which is what this review reflects. BUT a ton of readers adore this book and even several awards committees, so you’ll probably love it.

I liked the exploration of class in this one.

I listened to this on audio and lost the thread a LOT. But it was great as a general survey of America at the time of slavery, in an interesting format. Looking forward to picking up Whitehead’s other works.