Some parts did not age well. Yikes. It’s slow, but the end really picks up. 

This is such a good read. The writing is magnificent and the themes explored will break your heart. It gave me nostalgia for a life I’ve never even lived. It was a tad bit overly dramatic and maudlin for me. Like, some parts were written for the sole purpose of making the reader cry. Other than that, I loved it and will remember this book for a while. 

Okaaay Ashley Flowers! This is a pretty solid, fast-paced thriller that had lots of great red herring moments. The ending was very abrupt and I saw the “twist” but it’s overall a propulsive read. 

Something about Harrow’s writing distracts me constantly, but I overall enjoyed this book. It’s a little slow to start but then picks up and becomes a really satisfying alternative history. There’s a lot of badass f-yeah moments that will have you cheering on Juniper, Bella, and Agnes.

I LOVED this. It’s sad, slightly unhinged, and just the right amount of creepy. Knowing Lydia’s true nature while the other characters don’t also makes parts of the story absurdly funny, too. 

The exploration of identity through body and food is so well done. Lydia is half vampire and half Japanese half Malaysian. She constantly feels disconnected from a part of herself because she never met her human dad, nor can she connect to food in a meaningful way. Kohda uses the vampire trope as a metaphor for cultural identity and the feeling of not belonging or being “good enough” that I think a lot of people who have mixed cultural backgrounds feel (I know I do). 

CW: disordered eating, descriptions of food, SA in the workplace, light body horror of the vampire variety

I just wasn’t feeling this one. The chemistry between our two main characters felt forced, even though they had known each other as kids. And the plot devices to move the story along were so contrived and didn’t make any logical sense. Not my thing.