Such a delightfully informative and (at times) disgusting read. When it comes to the odd or unnerving, I can withstand a great deal, but yeah hearing about baby spiders eating their mother is probably the most disturbing thing I read in this book full of gross but interesting facts. Each entry is quick to the point and the author does a good job in making them as palatable as possible to the reader. Good for readers who enjoy the weirder and more macabre aspects of life.

I think I'm in the minority when I say that A Wrinkle in Time was not a childhood read of mine. I think I had more interest in blithely staring at the various covers that came out over the years, each one otherworldly and alluring, but not enough to ensnare young me. And I'm debating on whether that was a good or bad thing.

In some ways, there are parts of this books that reminded me of Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, whose first book utterly confused me and was a challenge to get through. There were so many concepts I couldn't understand, sentences that didn't make sense. I feel like if the younger me read A Wrinkle in Time I would have had the same experience, even though L'Engle does an excellent job of defining space and time in a way children could, in theory, easily grasp. Now, as an adult, I'm able to enjoy this book on its own merits and what it has done for the children's fantasy genre, but without that sense of nostalgia almost everyone else seems to have. It's a very odd feeling, but one I'm used to since I missed out on a lot of classics as a kid.

Still, I feel like young me could have learned a lot from Meg, being a similar stubborn sort full of anger and constantly getting into trouble, and could have felt some comfort from the Mrs. W's. But these are connections my current self still made, so it's not a total loss.

I definitely want to read more into the series to see what's next for these characters, and what vast worlds await them.

Wow I FLEW through this book. I was already familiar with Beatty through the Seraphina books (a series that I should really finish on of these days), but I think this book had a bigger draw for me. Willa is such a captivating character, a capable, loyal, yet vulnerable character that manages to persevere enough in the toughest of times, no matter how banged up she gets. I loved the more emotional storytelling of this book, and really didn't expect it to get as dark as it did. The story's fast pace allows you to get more invested in the story, reminding me of those summer reads I could spend an entire afternoon reading and yet feel that no time had passed.

There were a few plot holes here and there that kept nagging at the back of my mind (

Like if Naillic was Cillian's twin brother, how come the rest of the clan didn't recognize him when he came back to be the paladan? Did he kill all the people that would have blown his over? Or threaten them into silence? I could see it, but some verification would have been nice

)

Still, I think this is such a worthwhile read for the middle grade crowd, particularly those who love a lot of action and character-building.

Just another one of those books that's good, just not good for me. I'm not a heavy metal person myself, I'm more traditional rock n' roll, so a lot of the references flew over my head. I get the general sentiment behind metal: very cynical, in-your-face, goes against the status-quo, kind of fluctuates between aggressive, rage music and social commentary, which actually sums up this book nicely. 

I think if anything what I loved the most about this book was Kris' drive. I always appreciate the tenacity of a character that gets constantly knocked down only to get back up with a vengeance. She has a righteous fury about her and it's great to see an older character that, even though she has been nearly squashed under the weight of life, is ready to kick some ass if need be.

I thought that supernatural aspect of the book was a bit weak and  I was a little disappointed that it wasn't explored a bit more, since that's what drew me to it in the first place. Perhaps it's just meant to be taken at face value, since it's really just a giant metaphor and seems like it's only there to raise the stakes. Then again, props to the book for taking the route of "the real horror were the human beings we met along the way." Big fan of that.

I think I filled my quota of inspirational dog fiction with Because of Winn-Dixie and A Dog's Purpose. While this book captures a similar spirit as those two titles, this one was so littered with racing metaphors that I tended to skip over a couple of bits. I'm not sure if the sequences of events are decently paced, as it just seems to be one misfortune after another for Denny and there isn't much of a balance. This made me feel a little less emotionally invented in the book, since it all just piled on. I remember starting this book years ago and only got through the first thirty pages before abandoning it up until a few days ago. Honestly, I should have realized back then that this really wasn't the book for me.

I don't think I can give my thoughts on it without spilling my entire emotional guts out and I don't think I want to be doing that.

All you have to know is that I give it five stars and I cried while reading it. That is all.