sweetdark by savannah brown is her second collection of poetry, following graffiti, and i was so excited about reading it.

from the very first poem, the consistent themes of mortality and existential questioning shine through. once again, savannah gets at the very relatable (to me, at least) worries and concerns that plague the waking mind.
i think, like many poetry collections, sweetdark can be visited regularly, read in small doses, but there’s also something about it that kept me from putting it down.

the book is separated into three parts, and, almost as if through vignettes, they explore motifs of creation and destruction, as well as strong self-reflection and vulnerability that i saw reflected in myself.
through all of it, though, it reads to me, ultimately, as a love letter to life.

full disclosure: i was kindly sent a pdf of this book in exchange for an honest review!

this was my first audiobook! it surprised me how much it meant to me to hear andrew rannells discuss the ups and downs of his personal and professional life (and how often the two overlapped). he was so funny, while simultaneously being so sincere about the struggles he went through. there was one particular chapter (early on) that made me cry a lot on an airplane. this was a very good listen!

much like what lex croucher said in her goodreads review that made me pick up this book in the first place, i, too, stayed up until 3 am to finish this beautiful, beautiful book

i really, really enjoyed this one! it made me cry happy and sad tears. i think it was insightful and relevant without being too heavy-handed or moralizing. and it was exciting!

this would be a guilty pleasure, except i refuse to feel guilty about it! a fun mystery about a girl figuring out who hacked her social media account. i have read this many times.

i just finished the phantom of the opera, and it’s now one of my favorite classics. leroux’s writing is terrifying in all the right places and funny in the perfect spots. the translation by lowell bair is incredibly readable, and i appreciated his translator footnotes as well!

i could go on and on about what i love about the book: the narrator's voice, attempting to compile everything he knew about christine daae's mysterious disappearance; everybody having different descriptions of the opera ghost; the labyrinth beneath the opera house! it was so good.