Borrowed from Smith library and graduated before I could finish :(

Yea you can tell this was written by a millennial. You can REALLLY tell this was written by a millennial. Also what's with romcoms feeling so obligated to have villains? I don't know if this was actually written with You've Got Mail in mind but splitting Tom Hanks into two characters where one is rich and evil and the other is her goofy nice online bestie is soooooo boring -- one of the things I really like about You've Got Mail is just how crazy and bold it is for Tom Hanks to have been the love interest, like if you think about it its super weird because its VEEERY enemies to lovers but the steps to get there feel all wrong and then somehow it just works anyway. I guess you can argue Kiki is Tom Hanks but still. I think my biggest complaint is that it felt like we were spending WAYY more page-time on Jonas over Liam when its made very very clear that Kiki hates being around him.

Like why did they fake date? No really why, in a story structure way, did they fake date? What did we get out of that? Why was the conflict of the story not between Kiki and Liam but rather tied to an entirely different asshole guy?

You know a book EATS when you're gasping and slapping your mouth over your hand and blushing in public listening to the audiobook. Dora & Elias ily. Real "Me and the bad bitch I pulled being autistic" energy from both directions

So I’m gonna be recommending this to everyone who’s even remotely interested in theater ever. I’m just like!! WOW!! Isabella Hammad you ATE that, when I actually understood Why Hamlet I gasped because that’s SO smart and so apt and SO SO TOUCHING. Other things I really liked were the currents of tension through the whole book - even when things calmed down you got a sense that it wouldn’t stay calm, and that something was about to pierce through at any point…

except the end oh my god the end I thought they would be FINE because it was the END but of course they weren’t they were at the fucking BORDER

. I also really liked the central little triangle of Sonia & Haneen & Mariam, i thought all three of those relationships were super well written and especially Sonia & Haneen really reminded me of me and my sister. Really awesome book. Free Palestine!

The fuck lol. The crazy wild ride that the premise implies, but with all the emphasis put in the wrong places. Like why is there so much about sieges?? Bring back my king Brother Parvus trying to figure out if these aliens have souls or not!!!! And btw as you can tell I thought Brother Parvus as the narrator kinda ate but soooo many of the people around him were boring af, and more a satire of 20th century medievalism than actual medieval figures right down to Feudalism being the solution to any and every problem, which is weird because like Parvus WAS a lot more, like, normal for what he would be as a Franciscan monk. If i had to choose an alternate medieval cast to initiate first contact w aliens it would probably be the monastery from The Name of the Rose but also i think they could get eviscerated. Idk. Anyway I really think this is trying to say Something about Colonialism or the Space Race or Both but I genuinely cannot figure out what. It was entertaining I'll give you that!! But i was also like "tess... why are we reading this"

While really interesting and informative, I found Moore's writing to not be as detailed about the case studies he presents as I would have wanted to, which like duh it's pop-archaeology (or at least meant to be written to be suuper accessible). I also found his use of quotes to be strange in some places (we do not need 3-4 pages of quotes about how "savage" the Spanish thought people in Baja California were before reading about how their hunter-gatherer lifestyle clearly shaped their ideas and conceptions of home) but ultimately he comes off as a really knowledgeable person simplifying some stuff for a less in-the-know audience. I also liked his choice of case studies and their range.

Awesome, even-handed background into Israel & Palestine. While I wish 1917-the 1940s were more detailed, ultimately this is a really useful and necessary book for understanding everything.

not actually that funny in practice but like it should have lowkey been hilarious... so im wondering how much of that comes from reading > watching the play, and also from how we as an audience in 2024 are used to fourth wall breaks and metaness and stuff. like when im reading its not funny. if i imagine the script being performed by the cast of community im potentially laughing my ass off you know?

I'm sorry but it just doesn't hit the same as the other two books. The beginning is so strong and so intriguing but I find a lot of the District 13 stuff to be really boring and kind of shapeless - it's a shame because the first two books have such a good rhythm established with the "navigating normal (or the new normal) life --> political intrigue --> The Hunger Games (violence & action)" structure but that doesn't feel as present here. The new characters Collins introduces are just not that memorable, and a lot of the older ones are done dirty by the narrative (like, Peeta's just not there for huge chunks of the novel, which does keep you invested to see if he'll come back, but then when he DOES come back it's not the same and like yes obviously not but it kinda feels like Katniss and him have lost their sparkle a little bit. It still shines through in some scenes but it's not electric like it used to be). i just! i don't know! obviously still sobbed at the ending tho. Katniss I need to give you a hug. I should have been your mother