I feel like the author walked a line that probably dissatisfies a lot of readers who want this book to be more what they need and expect rather than what the author wrote — more serious or more lighthearted or more deeply developed. That line doesn't really bother me. I think of it as a "snapshot" dramedy. If you're looking for the gut-wrenching tears and life lessons learned from tragedy OR laugh-out-loud escapism, you may want to look elsewhere. It's a quieter book than that. And it's a compressed, snapshot of a story. It starts with life-altering news and the main character is busy dealing with the fallout AND with unresolved grief and the processing of her mother's death when she was just 10. We are told about, but don't really get to see who she was before, so the development is focused on a short period. I found our protagonist to be a little unlikable yet believable, the characters a little stock and clichéd but endearing, and the ending a little tidy but not dissatisfying.

An urban fantasy with an interesting premise and loads of potential wolf-shifter, bear-shifter, fae danger, dazzle, and drama that ended up being a dud for me. The protagonist/narrator voice drones, the relationships are barely demonstrated, and the book feels like a very long opening chapter without a strong enough story arc of its own. I like world building — the first book in a series is often my favorite — but this one fell just short of boring.

3.5 stars. I'm not usually drawn to contemporary romance or matchmaking schemes or books that turn out to be love letters to Brooklyn. But the cover made this one feel appropriate for spring (it's not really — it takes place across several seasons, but I'd pair it with fall if I had to choose) and I'm sucker for magic/magical realism and a free-spirited, strong-willed, quirky, loving older woman who creates the life she wants and mentors (from afar) a struggling younger woman. So here we are.

I found the writing and the story to be surprising and surprisingly funny, poignant, sweet, messy, delightful, and irritating. Like it's main character, Marnie. Like a slightly chaotic best friend. Like a really good road trip. A road trip that is perhaps just a few days too long. A best friend that is occasionally a little too selfish and destructive.

Content notes/warning: Cheating and honest communication are treated somewhat flippantly. Not with approval, but with a sort of disregard, especially for an underdeveloped character who gets the short end of stick as our main character finds her happily ever after. Also, this isn't particularly satisfying as a love story because that relationship isn't very well developed (although I did like the dynamic that was developed).

2.5 stars for this melancholy, madcap road-trip adventure of modern trustfunders, with a nod to classic Hollywood along the way. I thought there were moments of fun and poignancy, but overall the trip and tale were littered with too many irritating people and scenarios. (I'm also not sure LGBTQ characters and themes were handled particularly well. It's certainly very straight, white, upperclass centric.)

I liked the premise and the setting, but didn't fall in love with the characters or the slowish pace. It's a "Shop Around the Corner"/"You've Got Mail" situation — a sort of mistaken identity trope — set in the Milwaukee restaurant/food critic scene. All of that should be right up my alley, but it omits the correspondence aspect (or, rather, turns it on its head: Al's writing creates animosity, his presence attraction), which turns it into a more mundane love story, and the characters just aren't snappy enough. I did like the title, though, and the writing is solid.

"Pride" is a "Pride and Prejudice" remix set in modern-day Brooklyn with the Haitian-Dominican American Benitez family. More YA than the original, "Pride" is compressed into the summer before our protagonists' senior year in high school. The depth of the story and some of the characterizations suffer from that, I think. Zuri (the "Elizabeth") could be considered a little flat as a character. She lacks some of Elizabeth Bennet's good humor and her wit is of an entirely different kind. But her poetry is scattered throughout the narrative and adds a beautiful layer of depth and artistry. Without that, neither her character, her relationship with rich kid Darius Darcy, or the storytelling in general would work particularly well for me. The family — exuberant and silly at times but lovingly portrayed — and the neighborhood are also beautifully rendered. As a pure P&P retelling, I'd probably give it 3 stars, but as an urban, Afro-Latino #ownvoices YA retelling, I'd give it 4.

I didn't expect so much flesh and blood in a book about a magician's apprentice who works magic by folding paper. Yet for all the literal heart in this fantasy tale, it seemed to lack some metaphorical heart. I wanted to like it more than I actually did. And I still do — it's vaguely historical and has a pretty strong and interesting woman protagonist, plus PAPER! MAGIC! But the bulk of it is made up of the kind of quest that tires me as a reader — it's interesting in terms of character revelation but the rules of the world and the objective aren't clear so it all feels too haphazard and interminable. The world intrigues me, though, and the characters are strong, so I'll probably continue the series in hopes of finding that heart. Content warning: Some gruesome flesh and blood stuff, a brief suicide flashback, and the seeds of an of-age apprentice/teacher romance.

This has been described as the perfect balance between happy and sad. I don't, as a rule, read sad books and I rarely read happy-sad books. So I was happy to find while reading Eleanor Oliphant that I was completely fine. It's a brilliantly written book that supports you with humor and humanity while unfolding a difficult tale. [That may be all you want to know about it going in. If so, stop reading here.] You can tell right away, of course, that Eleanor is not completely fine. She's under-socialized, at the very least, and navigating a world that she is disconnected from. Her experiences and wry observations are often funny; her situation is sometimes heartbreakingly sad. She's in the process of acknowledging and healing from trauma, but the author doesn't try to wring sobs out of it. It's a gentler book than that, telegraphing what's to come, trying to ensure that Eleanor and the reader are ready for it. If it had been played for laughs and sobs, I would've taken a pass — and missed out on a truly skillful portrayal of healing, growth, connection, and the kindness of strangers and near strangers. Content note: Childhood trauma, emotional abuse, flashbacks, alcoholism, smoking. ⁣
⁣