I don’t know what it is about the illustration style from Sarah Winifred Searle but I love it so much? The main romance storyline was very sweet, but also felt lacking. I felt like this was the kind of story that required a narrator so doing it all in this format didn’t really work as much as I enjoyed others from Searle. That said, I loved the side characters and their storylines. Seeing Gemma taking the steps to fight her agoraphobia was so sweet and I did find myself tearing up at the end of the story for sure. I will also say I actually believed the third act breakup so WELL DONE THERE.

These books are just so much FUN. I love that Kimberly Lemming manages to throw out a ton of fantasy conventions while also making it feel like I’m VERY much still in a fantasy universe. It’d be super easy to get that wrong but these books never miss, even if the language used in it feels a little modern sometimes. I didn’t realize this one was going to be about Cherry?! As much as I wanted it, I love that we didn’t get her reunion with Cin and Brie until the end so she got to really have her own story. Her and Dante’s chemistry was off the charts, and I would’ve read another 25 chapters about these two. I love this universe so so much.

This book of poetry has a big focus on trans joy (in the afterword, Melt mentions how challenging this was as most trans literature they’ve read focuses more on pain/violence that trans people experience). Melt spends a good chunk of this book imagining what a fully liberated trans world would look like, from the politics to interpersonal relationships and communities to how individuals feel about themselves. It’s so full of hope for what the future could look like despite the oppression that has been faced in the past and continues to be faced presently by trans people. There’s also a study guide at the end along with lots of other recommended works that I’ll definitely be looking in to!

So while I did ultimately come around to caring about Adam (MMC), I never really...started to like him? As a Christian, he was super judgmental and then while it’s framed as him figuring out who he was, I think that he really just shifted to finding his value through Sage (FMC) instead of God/his dad? And it’s fine, this is a romance not actually a book about deconstruction, but the struggle with Adam and his religion was SUCH a huge part of his story that I wish he could’ve come to a conclusion that wasn’t just “All that matters is Sage.” That + him realizing he’s into some kinky stuff being viewed as him accepting that he’s “not good” and stuff just felt weird. Still had fun and will keep reading this series though! Lol

This was fantastic and gut-wrenching. A generally challenging read as the author takes us to Nickel Academy, a fictional juvenile reform school based on a very real school in Florida. I had to take this so much slower than a lot of the books that I read simply to make sure I could actually take in all of the information without any kind of overload. The story details Elwood, a black boy who was unfairly sentenced to Nickel Academy, and the abuse that he and the other boys there experienced during their time. One thing I very much didn’t expect was

for there to be a plot twist at the end, and even THAT was hard to read.

Just, all around incredible.

Okay okay so the only reason that this didn’t get 5 stars from me is because it had a really slow start and was hard to get into. But once I was in, I was IN. This is book one in a series about a girl who was chosen to be the royal Name-Bearer but when it’s time for her to do said bearing, things do not go well and she ends up having to run away, change her identity, etc. etc. for a variety of reasons. From there, this book really focuses on the friendships she makes (and after 10 years of living in basically seclusion where she isn’t allowed to HAVE an identity of any sort, that’s huge) and her starting to figure out who she is when she can’t be the Name Bearer. I finished this and IMMEDIATELY started book 2 because I simply must know more.

Gabby was overall happy with her 8 year marriage to Adam even though he didn’t really show affection, but then he gets amnesia and then absolutely falls HEAD OVER HEELS for her once all the other stuff he’s focused on is out of his head?? This man basically becomes an “I LOVE MY HOT WIFE” bumper sticker personified and it’s fantastic. I probably would’ve given it a higher rating BUUUUT I don’t like the overusage “quim” and “cunny” and then Gabby and Adam get into this like sultan/slave roleplay and those things made me just a LITTLE too uncomfy lmao. Issues were very specific to this couple so I think I’ll enjoy the other books in the series more tbh. But wow give me more of the amnesia trope please and thank you.

THIS WAS SO FUN okay so this is a “stalker romance” without the ick because Max (MMC) isn’t actually stalking Mona (FMC) -- she just thinks he is for a minute? So she goes off on him and is like LEAVE ME ALONE but then she’s like “wait...am I into this?” and a new kink is unlocked. Once they’ve settled any confusion in that area there’s a LOT of the two of them having their scenes together and they just have a lot of fun pretending he’s her stalker who catches her and kidnaps her and such lmao. And this is the ONLY way I could ever enjoy that because...they talked about it first!!! All that said there’s lots of CNC but I also actually believe their romance and the side characters are all very fun and this was all-around just FUN.

Ohhhh my gosh okay so this book was WAY heavier than I expected it to be. The book literally opens with Sable (FMC) finding out she’s been sold to a man who she is certain plans to SA her, finding out how her mom died (absolutely gruesome), and then her great aunt burns down the house she lives in so she can run away. She meets up with HARRIET TUBMAN who takes her to a camp where she meets Raimond (MMC) and like...the first half of the book is BLEAK. Once we move into the Reconstruction period of the book and she has her chance with Raimond things do get better but when things are bad they are BAD. But! They’re bad in a very compelling and well-written way. I just wish a little more time could have been dedicated to the romance.