The GoodReads reviews of this book are spot-on. The protag Flavia is as joyful as an 11 year old and as precocious as a 40 year old. While sometimes I had to wait for her to reach the point in the mystery that I was, I was too pleased and happy with her narrative voice to care much. Her curiosity, compassion, intelligence and energy were as refreshing as a cool spring day. I could tell that Bradley had a list of media a 1950s 11 year old would be exposed to because of their spot on allusions and metaphors. Overall, it was a rollicking good adventure, and I now know a lot more about stamps, which is something I never knew much about to begin with.

That being said, the author unfortunately took pains to remind me it was the 1950s. There's a gross amount of racism, xenophobia, and colonialism, especially against Chinese and Indian peoples. I wouldn't say it totally ruined the story for me, but it was distinctly uncomfortable. I don't think I'll read more of the series. I'd recommend the story if you can be critical but still swallow that stuff down. In other words, this pie could have a little more sweetness as it's bottom.

The more queer fiction I read, the more mirrors I see. It's startling. Like that startling feeling you get when you're walking down the hall and you see the image of a person flicker out of the corner of your eye. You jump and realize, "Oh, it's me. It's a mirror." With IF I WAS YOUR GIRL, I see myself and my struggles not just in big picture stuff, like Amanda's constant worrying over her own safety, but in the little things too. I struggle making sticky rice for sushi! I really love SANDMAN! I actually know someone named Amanda Hardy!? Wonderous, pal. I'm not even a trans woman, and I see. I understand.

I was so happy reading this book. Even during the tense parts, the scary parts, I was so happy I was reading. For the first time in a long while, I want to physically get into this world and give the MC a big hug and protect her from every little hurt. And for the first time in forever, I kind of can. I can be a trustworthy ally and friend to all trans people I meet and know already. I can ask for preferred pronouns. I can NOT ask about genitals, birth names, or surgeries. I can listen. I can read more. I am DEFINITELY sharing my copy with all my friends and close family and IMMEDIATELY pre-ordering Russo's next book whenever it becomes available. Like, damn. Way to write. Russo is on the ground, earthquake-listening close to Amanda's emotional journey, and the plot of books follows kissing close. The balance of interior struggle and external events is tipped in a unique fashion, with the interior taking dominance but by no means eclipsing the external. Absolutely lovely.

tl;dr: IF I WAS YOUR GIRL is a fantastic, extremely well-written book that ya'll should read right now this minute.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD tells the classic tale of a girl and her pen. Nita just wants her pen back, guys. It's a really cool space pen that writes on everything. And that's it. That's the story.

Kidding! SO YOU WANT TO BE A WIZARD is a YA classic that rightfully earns its place as such. Duane does an excellent job using showing vs telling to showcase an epic amount of world-building. In fact, I don't think there was any real info dumping. Just characters chatting and reading and being, well, 12. There's also an unexpected humor in the pages as the first 3/4 are Nita's Epic Quest to Get Her Pen Back. I mean, it's ridiculous. The pen is stolen by a bully, eaten by a white hole, and sucked into a hell dimension. Rude, pen. Rude.

Plus, and I can't expressed how pleased about this I am, there's effortless diversity. Nita and her friend Kit are both Hispanic and brown, and the first other wizards they meet are a queer couple. The star they befriend can be read as ace or possibly agender with "he" pronouns.

Overall, I'm toe-curling pleased with this read and would definitely recommend to anyone who likes YA or wants to investigate cornerstones of the modern YA genre.

Okay, first off, it's Natasha Romanoff and I love her. I love her. I love Alexei. I love Ava. The fridging at the end of the book (which isn't really a spoiler if you read the between chapter interviews) cLEARLY did not happen so there is /obviously/ nothing to stop me from including all three of these characters in all of my future fanfics, headcanons, and book reviews. Duh.

As you may surmise, I enjoyed the characters and twisty-turny thriller plot. The dialogue was super on point. Tony Stark & Phil Coulson make appearances too, and they are *bleep*ing delight.

As a writer, this book was a fascinating read mostly because it seems like it was yanked out of editing too soon. Much like a mechanic peeking under a car hood, I can see the gears, the tricks, the devices Stohl used to create her narrative. For example, the hand-wavium science is off the charts out there, with lots of technical jargon thrown in to convince me that it's real. Nope. If I edited this book, I would tell Stohl to keep it simple, focus in on the few technicalities, and tease and sprinkle the science out. Repeat the terms and open up new aspects. Or to research more. Maybe you don't need to have quantum physics, biochemistry, and neuroscience all simultaneously giving each other holy palmer's kisses. Maybe just have neuro in a room by themselves mucking up stuff. Also, spelling. I don't care what Marvel said the deadline was, click spellcheck.

(Also, also, I have a heavy feeling that Marvel execs rushed Stohl through writing because these books are coming out ridiculously quickly. Thus, the lack of developmental and copy edits)

So in sum, brilliant book and especially brilliant if you're a writer looking to learn better writing. The narrative is easy to tear apart, and I say that in the least creepy, least Russian mad scientist way.