This book's shining strength is in the atmosphere: a friendly little island that always smells of salt and magic, and one particular family that lives there. It brims with feminine energy (kind of like if Amanda Lovelace's Women Are Some Kind of Magic was transposed into a novel) and the whole thing just feels like a comforting, healing hug from the older sister you always wanted. Which is fitting, since this book revolves around a pair of twin sisters, their coming-of-age and their changing relationship. Georgia is fantastically relatable, and her narration has a timeless straightforwardness. (I also love her dry sense of humor, juxtaposed against the quiet wonder pervading the island and her family's gifts.)

All that said, the plot almost feels like an afterthought, a kind of meander to find the answer then wham-bam-reveal-climax-resolution. Believable, yes; a little abrupt, also yes. (And looking at the page count for this book, I do think it could've been longer.) But I've always said that a good enough writer could interest me in a novel where all the characters do is watch paint dry, and Leno has that level of mastery.

content warnings: 

underage drinking & weed use, loss of parent (in infancy), animal (bird) death, off-page rape, attempted murder, self-defense manslaughter

rep: 

lesbian MC, bi/pan love interest, F/F romance, ace secondary character

 

I received an advance review copy through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.

My gosh, this is the purest most wholesome thing I have read in a very long time. Every character is fantastic — from kindhearted Nova to resilient Tam to the badass and supportive nanas — and the plot is engaging if slightly predictable. I adored the rep, the art, the soft interpersonal relationships; all the diversity and magic was so wonderfully matter-of-fact, which I loved. Seriously, every little detail of this is delightful.

content warnings: 

blood, transphobia

rep: 

hard-of-hearing Asian MC, nonbinary Asian MC, implied F/F relationship (Asian grandmas)

 

"It's not going to be what you imagined, but it'll be just as good."

Opal is precious and Pynch is precious and everything hurts.

content warnings: 

past physical & verbal child abuse, minor character death, trauma & grief

rep: 

gay Irish Catholic MC, bisexual MC, M/M established relationship

 

>> Buddy read with Anna, Anji, Sarah, Weiss, Ahmad, Amara, & Anon!

RTC.

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CONVERSION: 13.05 / 15 = 4.5 stars

Prose: 9 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 10 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 5 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5