Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Do you sometimes want everything to just go away and leave you alone? I do. I felt very seen by the opening scenes in this book. We then go on an adventure that is rather toll-booth-esque, verging towards too silly for me to follow along but also very fun. Tie in some self-reflection, some emotional intelligence pointers, and some family dynamics and you have a great story!
I slogged through because I love Penric, I adore Desdemona, and the five gods are great. Plus I make it a point to read all Bujold's work outside of the sharing knife series. But this one...I should have skipped reading it during a global pandemic. Plus the plot was nowhere to be found. I'm going to read the next one because of course I am, but this was a disappointment.
Well done biography, but does not mention the novel coronavirus, covid19, at all. Given that this is clearly what causes the interest in the book, I think it a glaring omission.
A delightful exploration of Black hairstyles, set in a fun sci-fi world and with delightful illustrations.
I enjoyed the Latina sisters welcoming the Black sisters into the white house. That part was great. The hijinks were...ok. I did not enjoy the amount of emotional tension that was clearly present throughout the prank war, and would have appreciated all the same pranks but where everyone understood it was in good fun and enjoyed themselves. Still, gotta love the premise.
preteen has adventures, but also is self-aware of their limits while not having self control, and also surrealism
A well-built world with a terrific premise: Goblins who steal words! Words as builders of the magic in the fantasy world! So many many wonderfully sweet relationships! Siblings being kind to one another, a grandparent raising grandchild gently and kindly, a positive stepparent relationship, a teacher who believes children. There is so much to love here There is even a sensitive mention of parental loss. All of which is why it's extremely disappointing that the plot turns preachy WAY too often, with "words you don't mean" and a huge object lesson in the importance of apologies. Sigh. Still, there were fun bits.