I think this is a pretty good story about women's basketball overall, but I hate endnotes and find them very distracting and break up a text, and this book has a lot of endnotes with a lot of text in them. 

I feel like this book cuts through all the crap surrounding gun violence in America by speaking from a survivor's perspective. How it felt to be in the situation, and the repercussions (including how many times a day she thought would go well would be taken over by another mass shooting). How photographs of her were used in different publications without her permission. How little thoughts and prayers actually does, and how few people listen to the survivors about what to do. I found it really powerful

Francie had a disastrous first kiss, which for some reason people are still teasing her about years later. Her family also owns the local holiday shop, and after the death of her grandfather, her aunt is trying out some new ideas that Francie hates. How can Francie get the teasing to stop and keep the beloved shop alive? 

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I liked the dialogue. I was a little surprised that people would tease someone the same way for years, but maybe I'm forgetting something about being a teen boy. I love how people pitch in to help, and how some people end up being nicer than Francie thought (and some worse).

Shira and her ex-crush Tyler get snowed in together on the first night of Hanukkah in Nantucket. This inspires Shira to ask for advice from him on how to flirt, since Tyler is very good at it, and she is not. What follows is a little predictable, but it's fun to see it happen anyway, especially because the Hanukkah angle is new. I loved Shira's family, especially the triplet cousins. It feels just right for winter.

Alice Ogilvy disappeared for a few days last summer, and her town of Castle Cove hasn't treated her the same way since. One night, a former friend of Alice's disappears, and it takes a little while for the police to believe something is up because of Alice's prior disappearance. But she knows something is wrong, and she and her new friend/tutor Iris are going to figure this thing out.

I liked the friendship between Iris and Alice, as we see prickly Iris start to let her guard down and notice some things about Alice that Alice would probably prefer to keep hidden. I thought I had gotten spoiled for the book by reading some other reviews, but it turned out I had interpreted things incorrectly, so that was fun. I fell for red herrings! This book reminded me a bit of Dead End Girls, but I think I liked this one more. 

This book was so enjoyable to read. It reminded me of reading a romance author's interconnected series, but in the same book (like four short stories). Each sister's love story is unique, and well-suited to the character. You also get a sense of the inn, and the people who love it, as well as what life on the San Juan Islands (specifically Orcas) is like. It feels like a warm hug.

Ginny Rose and Peggy were friends as children. Ginny Rose is the daughter of a picker, and Peggy the daughter of the peach orchard owner. At seventeen, their paths cross again. Their friendship picks up where it left off, but they are dealing with a lot of things in 1947--especially lingering scars from the Great Depression. Ginny Rose and Peggy both learn to speak up for themselves. The greatest change comes to Peggy's other best friend, Lisette, whose eyes are exposed to the treatment of "Oakies" and what foreclosure means for families on the other end (not the banker). I love this story of friendship, and I think it really opens your eyes to the Great Depression experience. 

Chandler is the name of an elite boarding school. Five students from different backgrounds apply to be a part of a group called "The Circle," which is a writing group led by a popular professor, Douglas. As time goes by, the story drifts between the five perspectives, and you learn about the dark underbelly of elite boarding school life. From hazing to teachers who sexually harass students, you'll see it here. You'll also see how these five come together to fight back, and examine the privilege in their lives.

Note: I put bullying as a content warning, but in this case I specific mean hazing and bullying. Hazing is not a choice for the content warnings at the moment.

Mars loses his twin sister at the beginning of the book in a horrific accident. She's definitely not herself when it happens. When some friends from the summer camp she went to arrive, Mars is intrigued by them--and also by the bees that seem to hang around them. He decides to go back to the camp--the one he left when it became clear they couldn't deal with anything that wasn't part of the gender binary. Camp hasn't improved much, but Mars is determined to find answers about his sister. 

The writing has a dreamy, honey soaked quality to it that makes you think of dense summer days in the forest. You can feel early on that something is happening, but it is revealed to you slowly. I haven't watched Midsommar, but I suspect they follow similar horror vibes. Bees factor heavily in this story.

Hoodie Rosen and his family are trying to start a new Orthodox Jewish community a few towns over from where they lived before. The new town is not welcoming, especially the mayor. They use many of the same phrases you hear when people talk about immigrants, when from Hoodie's perspective you can see they are just trying to live their life. Hoodie learns a lot when he falls for a secular girl, both about what his community will do when they think you love an outsider, and what the outsider community will do to you. In the wake of recent anti-Semitic comments in the media, this is a timely and important story.