Extremely cute!!!!

I will note: this is middle grade not YA! I thought it was YA when I picked it up, but they are indeed in middle school. I also thought it was a queer romance based on the cover, but it is also not that! 

I will be googling more lion dancing videos ASAP! 

Not a big fan of the writing style - it was very “tell” and not “show.” Also, any sort of conflict was resolved either on the same page or on the next page, so everything was extremely low stakes. Not that I was looking for high stakes, but some tension is good before immediately providing a solution. Could’ve been fleshed out more. 

I’m torn between a 3.5 and a 3.75 for this one. 

I found the first 25% quite slow and a bit of a slog, but I kept listening since everyone said it was brilliant. I am glad I persevered as I enjoyed it well enough. I didn’t love it as many others do - I think mostly bc it’s super character-driven & more literary than I prefer. 

I was drawn to it bc I was excited to be reading about queer Māori siblings in a giant multicultural family. And that part was great! Though the last few chapters with the new POVs was quite challenging to follow. 

But overall this was a good and interesting read, perhaps easier to digest in a physical format instead of audio. 

This was phenomenal!!!!

I never really got the concept of “book boyfriends” until now, but I want to date Matthew Vine III asap!

I didn’t make it very far in this one, after starting it I realized I wasn’t really in the mood for a heist book. 

Also, I need my heist books to be extremely well-planned in order to believe them. In this book, the main girl gave the other girls THREE DAYS NOTICE to not only join a heist group, but also to help with the planning of the Titanic. Yes, THAT Titanic. While she did have a plan that she conveyed to them, I didn’t wait to hear if it was detailed enough for my liking bc I was already in disbelief. She just so happened to live in a boarding house with girls with various talents that are suited to a heist?? Including the girl she has a crush on?? I can’t. 

So I did DNF this one for now, but also I’m not opposed to returning to it later, I just didn’t want to read it now. 

I will return to this one, I just didn’t feel like listening to her mom’s mental wellbeing continue to go downhill at this time.