I desperately wanted to love this, and I loved parts of it, but overall this would've worked better as a Part 2 within The Midnight Lie instead of its own installment.

Let's start with the positives. I loved the ending, maybe because by then my expectations had lowered greatly and I didn't mind the abruptness and quickness of it, but I loved how it wrapped up with the gods and stories, which was the focus of the series overall. I also liked the god POV in this book too, and the story it told, though it's novelty wore off fast. Additionally, I did enjoy this outer perspective it seemed to bring throughout the entire book. I also still liked Sid and Nirrim, though I missed what I loved about them from the first book.

My biggest issue with this book is that it takes a loosely connected series set in the same world as The Winner's Curse and situates it firmly as a sequel series. I was hit over the head with how much of a sequel series this duology became solely because of this second book. I was still planning on reading the original trilogy at a later date, but I basically don't need to anymore because this book decided to describe, in detail, the entire plot of that trilogy. I still don't full understand why except to explain this side-side plot that was happening in Sid's point of view, and why we should care about it, but it was unnecessary for even that. We were motivated enough to see this murder/poison plot through simply by seeing how much Kestrel's potential death would break Sid and Arin, we didn't need an extended history lesson to see that. It was so frustrating and constant, and while this series was always going to be a spoiler for the trilogy in the sense that we know who survives the events of the trilogy, I didn't expect to be taught every little thing about Sid's parent's relationship and history? It was especially frustrating because Sid is motivated by wanting her own story/love story, yet her own series feels taken from her by her parents once again. It takes so long for it to be wrapped up and for Sid to return to the story started in The Midnight Lie.

I also just didn't enjoy this book as much because Nirrim and Sid spend almost the entire book apart. They're in their own worlds with their own problems, thinking of the other every once in a while, but they just feel so separate. It wouldn't have been the same regardless of if they were together or not, because Nirrim lost her heart, but it just felt like such a loss regardless. I missed their banter and how they grew together, and I missed having a story that felt strong on its own, and that didn't hinge entirely on some other series.

I guess, overall, my main frustrations from this book come from the sudden decision to make it much more of a sequel series than the first book was, and the choices that were made because of that. I still love The Midnight Lie, but if I reread, I might skip a large chunk of this book and just read the ending, because it felt like such a weird detour in the middle.

I've been excited to read this book since I first read the synopsis, and after seeing how much my friends loved it, I finally decided to sit down and read it.

I loved this and was intrigued by it all, from the society we're thrust in that cares only about beauty and material things to this fierce young princess that embodies her dragon-killing, warrior queen ancestors. I loved Alyce, how she tried so hard to survive despite the constant hate heaped upon her. She was tireless, strong, yet still full of love for those who deserved it. I hated Briar and it's people for their hatred and crimes against her, and they all honestly deserved what they got. I also really enjoyed the lore in the world itself, of this mortal kingdom that played a role in the affairs of near-immortals. I can't wait to see what this story brings next, and what the ending will mean for Alyce and Aurora. I also really enjoyed that even as this story deviated from the original tales of Sleeping Beauty, it paid homage to its origins, in both small and big ways.

My only complaint is that it took quite a while for things to really start happening, and it felt slow while everything was still building up. However, this part was integral to understanding the rest of the story, so I definitely understand why it developed like this. It makes me even more excited about the sequel, to see where what this book unleashed will go.

Overall, while I really wanted to enjoy this book, it just wasn't really my thing. While the concept itself was interesting, and I like the bi rep and other queer rep we had in this book, I didn't care for the MC much at all, and it ruined my reading experience a bit.

Darcy gives anonymous love advice to her classmates, but it all goes wrong when things start to come out and her identity is revealed. While I did think Darcy was giving good advice, there were definitely some good points brought up about her qualifications/possible negative impact she could be having on romantic relationships that made for an interesting discussion. These were very present in the story, yet I don't think they led to a satisfying ending necessarily, since Darcy just sort of claimed she learned from the experience and would do a better job with her online blog. My biggest issue wasn't with this though, I mainly was just frustrated early on with how Darcy acted and sometimes abused her advice system, and I had a hard time forgiving her. On the other hand, I also had a hard time forgiving her best friend for some of the shitty things she did too, especially when she suddenly got a new girlfriend and they both treated Darcy pretty badly. It just overall was uncomfortable to read and I don't think it was resolved well enough for me to fully like either character again.

I did think the main romance of this story was cute though, and I really liked that this story dived into bisexual women dating men and how some parts of the LGBTQ+ community see them as less queer when they're in a straight-passing relationship. It's an important conversation, and I was glad this book featured it so strongly.

Overall, I don't think this book has necessarily put me off other books by Sophie Gonzales, since I do like what she was trying to accomplish here and really like the representation, but this particular book just didn't quite work for me.

I was ecstatic when I received an email asking if I wanted to read and review the latest McQuiston novel. I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue, just like everyone else, and even really enjoyed One Last Stop, even if less people loved that one. Also, I was curious what McQuiston's YA debut would read like, and how it would compare to the other two.

Admittedly, it did take me longer to get into this book at first, even though I did end up enjoying it a lot later. It felt quite derivative at first, like the John Green novels that the MC sometimes joked about, and it reminded me a lot of other books I had read before. Another big difference is that for most of the book, the main character and love interest don't really interact, since this book is about finding that love interest after she's disappeared. It makes for a much different dynamic and romantic set-up than the other two, and you learn a lot about the characters from past events, rather than new ones.

There's also a large cast when all the friends are accounted for, and it took a while to figure out who everyone was, and what they were like, because the MC mainly spends time with new characters, or by herself solving the mystery. So while the cast is as large as McQuiston's other books, the main character feels more isolated, and I didn't enjoy the story as much because of it. I also found myself frustrated by Chloe every once in a while, but I also get she's a teenager who's suddenly wrapped up in a mystery (and is slowly getting more and more obsessed with it), so some of her reactions and choices were logical from that frame.

However, as this book continued on, I found myself enjoying it more and more. Chloe became less isolated and the side characters started playing a larger role, and I found I enjoyed them a lot. I also feel like there were some important discussions going on about queerness and religion, and how it isn't as black and white as it's made to seem. There's plenty of bigotry and homophobia due to the religion present in the book, which is tough to read about at points, but I think the book handled it well in the end, and was able to isolate extremism from religion as a whole. I also like the angle the book took on the hometown, and how the characters learned that it wasn't all bad, just because a few parts of it were really messed up. It became about finding love and joy in where you are, where you can, and seeing how that can change your perspective.

I definitely feel like I would have been more obsessed with this had I been 15-17, so in that sense, I feel like this is a great book for the group it targets. I overall did still really enjoy it, and can't wait to see what the rest of the world thinks when it officially releases!

Ahhh I adored this book so much. I'd been looking forward to this book for a while after first discovering it last year and seeing a lot of my friends enjoy it. I love magical realism when it deals with legends and folklore, especially when it teaches me about a culture that's not my own. I haven't read many books written by Indigenous authors, and I'd really love to change this in 2022 and beyond.

I adored the writing of this book, and loved how it blended a middle-grade style of storytelling with young-adult content. It worked really well for the story, even if it sometimes made some characters feel younger than they were, and I loved the whimsy it seemed to add to the story. I also loved Elatsoe/Ellie so much, and adored the cast of side characters that solved the mystery with her. Her connection to spirits and the undead was fascinating and I loved reading about her exploring her history and her powers, and how she seemed to approach it differently from others in her family. I also really loved how much love was in her family, and seeing how they treasured each other and their ancestors was heart-warming. Jay was also a fantastic side character, he was so friendly and cheerful and I loved the optimism he added to the story.

Overall, I loved this and can't wait to recommend this to all of my friends. It had some great rep too, and I loved that it included an asexual main character who didn't face hatred because of it. I can't wait to read more by this author!

Ahh this was such a cute book and such a fun read overall.

First off, I would like to commend an actually decent nonbinary side character in an LGBTQ+ contemporary that isn't focused on them, because often I feel like they get thrown in for bonus rep and never get built up beyond their identity. Here, Riley felt more fleshed out and was just fully one of Spencer's friends, not a shallow character for diversity points. I really appreciated it.

I also really liked reading about this new perspective of trans lives and experiences, namely seeing a trans character who started transitioning before puberty and used hormone blockers. It wasn't a perspective I'd really seen before, at least not in a main character, and it provided a new perspective to the other types of trans stories I've read so far. I also really liked there was never a push for characters to come out (for Spencer or Justice or Riley), and that everyone in this book just let people come at their own pace. There were also many other discussions related to trans and queer identity that were done well in this book, from being a gay man/boy in sports and also being trans in sports.

Spencer and Justice are also just really fun and friendly characters, and the romance they grew together was so cute. I loved reading about their friendship, even with the rocky start, and how it grew into something more. They were generally so positive with each other, and I loved how they accepted the other without any hesitation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I'll definitely be reading more books by this author in the future!

This was a great start to the series and I can't wait to see where it goes next. While I wasn't necessarily blown away by this book, there was enough here that I really enjoyed, and I'm curious what it will build up to.

The main characters were intriguing, though Tatsumi still needs to grow on me a bit. I think that's due to him being forcibly cold and walled-off, and I need to see a bit more of him and his personality before I really like him. For that reason, I'm not necessarily super invested in the romance yet either, though this may still change in the rest of the series. I did really enjoy Yumeko's point of view though, I loved how optimistic and happy she generally was, even if she's extremely trusting and that can cause problems later. I was also super into the ghost POV we had, and I liked how it came in occasionally to give us some plot from other areas in the world. Another thing I enjoyed about this book is that the cast built slowly, as Tatsumi and Yumeko seemed to pick up stragglers as the book went on. It was honestly kind of funny at points, how Yumeko would rope these random strangers into their quest and Tatsumi would just grumble quietly to himself about it.

The plot overall was intriguing as well, though the characters are what really kept me invested so far. I am intrigued to see who will win the race to the dragon scrolls though, and summon him, and what the twists at the end will mean for the characters and their approach to their quest. I also really hope we get to meet the dragon at the end of all this, even with the potential consequences.

Overall, definitely a strong start to the series and I'm definitely invested in seeing where it'll go next!

While I think I overall enjoyed this, I wasn't blown away.

I really enjoyed the set-up of the story, both using the competition as a starting point and the tales from the gods to build up some of the lore, but I found myself losing interest as the story went on. Even the competition became less interesting as it began to grow repetitive, and it felt like it was rushed to get to the rest of the story. It did a good job of hooking me in though, but it just wasn't able to keep me invested. I also grew tired of the riddles as they seemed to become more and more obvious, and I wish some unique trials or riddles could have been involved in the season rooms. The final challenge was also a bit of a let-down, but I did like how it was drawn from the original lore, so I didn't mind too much.

The romance was also something that weakened the story for me. Their love was too instant for me to feel the chemistry, and I never really understood it. It was only further ruined by things that happened later, even if I get what the story was trying to do with it. The fact I never really felt their love for each other earlier on weakened a lot of the ending for me as well. I also wasn't a fan of the quasi-love triangle going on, even though Mari was only ever interested in one of the guys. Akira could've just been a really great friend, and platonic love could've driven his actions rather than romantic love that would never be returned. I really liked Akira's plot besides that, but I just hated that he was reduced to a rebuffed love interest at points, when a friendship could have been so much stronger.

The ending itself also felt quite quick, like it was trying quickly to wrap everything up after the tense battle. I did enjoy how it was framed overall, but they didn't need to tie up every loose end or finish it off so quickly. I feel like some more time could've been spent here to make it feel more satisfying, or just have left more of it open to interpretation (though that could've been frustrating in its own right).

Overall, there were definitely aspects of this story I enjoyed, but it failed to hold my interest by the end, and I wish some things would have been done slightly differently.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this set of short stories, just that the synopsis sounded fantastic + the cover was gorgeous, and that I overall want to read more science fiction this year, no matter the form.

I absolutely loved this. Normally, most anthologies have some stories that hit and some that don't, but I genuinely enjoyed all of these. I definitely did have my favorites (that short story about free will,, I felt that), but all of them had a similar level of mind-fuckery while also just, making you think deeply about things you might not have before. I also really enjoyed that the audiobook I listened to had an author's note at the end of each story, narrated by the author himself, explaining the inspiration for each story and the topics he was trying to tackle with each one. It added an extra layer, and while I don't necessarily need to know an author's intentions behind a story to enjoy it, I did like knowing the inspiration behind different stories.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, and loved each story despite the length. There was such a variety in page length, ranging from 90+ pages to a mere 5, yet Chiang was able to write a good tale no matter the length. My favorites are probably both the longest story, dealing with AI and digital pets and how humanity could react to that, and the shortest story, the one pertaining directly to free will and what could happen to humanity if there was definitive proof it didn't exist. I seriously can't wait to read more by this author.

I don't read a lot of horror but after seeing the praise from my friends about this book, it was selected as my discord book club's august read, and I found myself getting quite excited! I don't have anything against horror, I just don't often find concepts I find interesting enough to convince me to pick them up, but this one definitely seemed up my alley.

Right from the beginning I loved Noemi as a character, she was such a strong character yet was also so much more than that. She stood up for herself and her cousin, and her love for her cousin and her compassion for people was amazing to read. Her ambition, alongside her wavering interests in various fields of study and various men, made for an interesting combination and wholly unique character and voice. In the end, she carried the book for me, especially in the beginning, since it took quite a while for the 'creepy' stuff to start kicking in.

When this book finally did dive deeper into what was wrong with the house and the Doyles, it went hard. We were teased at first with hints of a dark past, the isolation of the family, weirdly specific and antiquated rules within the house itself, and the general demeanour of those living in it, but not given anything substantial until 40-50% through. The longer Noemi stayed in High Place, the weirder things would get, and I loved piecing together why and how things were the way they were. It helped I was also genuinely interested in both Francis and Virgil (for ENTIRELY different reasons), and I wanted to see what was up with this insane family.

The twists were well planned and foreshadowed yet still surprising. I often saw the pieces there but couldn't figure out the overall image of the puzzle, and it made the reveals that much more horrifying when I finally found out what all these hints truly meant. The Doyles are fucked up on so many levels, the house even more so, and it was overall woven so well into the story without overdoing it. Because of this, this book has quite a few triggers, but I felt they were all well-done, handled with care and only used to the extent it was necessary to portray the depth of darkness in the characters and the setting, and not just for shock value.

Overall, I really enjoyed this 1950's horror with strong gothic vibes, and I can't wait to read more from Moreno-Garcia! She seems to have written such a wide range of works, and I can't wait to see her writing style applied to a variety of genres.