Uhhhhh. Why does a book/series that focus so incredibly on intimate sex scenes also focus so much on rape. Of so many characters. In so many time periods and different ways? It reminds me of the SPOILER Outlander series, where the sex scenes are erotic and intense and then boom a guy is raped in gruesome detail (all rape is gruesome no matter the gender). I'm not sure I understand why the two are apparently mutually inclusive? Sure, rape happens, but I don't come to fiction to be reminded of that...right? *however novels like Speak come to mind at the moment, but so do words like tasteful*

Although I did cry like a baby at the ending of this one...so there's that.

Hello, I am emotions and this review is nonsense. #imsorry

I cannot express enough how wonderful this series is. I'll be recommending it to every child, parent, and person I meet at my library.

I love this series, and this author, and this story.

Her writing is incredible, accessible to children, but also imaginative enough for adults to follow along seamlessly.

Her characters grow and develop over the course of each book.

The plots are interesting and move at a steady pace.

The world building is above average in every way.

I could go on and on. Please pick up this series if you haven't already. I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

Let yourself be taken on an adventure in Nevermoor. It is so worth getting lost in for a few hours.

We already know by the cover design just how great the graphics are in this junior graphic novel. That's what initially drew me in, I mean how could it not! What I loved was how this JGN caters to its audience and their attention spans. There are three short stories divided by fun marine life facts and songs or activities. This was such a good idea! I enjoyed the themes throughout the stories, and think kids and parents would enjoy reading this together or individually!

Boy oh boy.

My one and only regret going into this was that I didn't marathon the Grisha Trilogy or the Six of Crows duology before diving into this novel. The characters and events referenced did come back to me vaguely while I kept reading, but I do think some essence of the story was lost on me because of my lack of recollection.

That being said, this read just like all Bardugo's previous novels: an absolute page turner. I have a love hate relationship with novels that use multiple POV's. On one hand YAY MORE CHARACTER INSIGHT. One the other hand, boo skipping from one plot point to the next. I get so invested in one characters story and then so let down when it doesn't continue in the next chapter. It would either entice me to speed through the next chapter in hopes of getting back to my fav, or convincing myself to put the book down and take a break. This is definitely a personal preference, and no flaw in the writing style or the author's ability to seamlessly interweave a story through multiple lands and multiple characters.

I would also say that while being a page turner, this book wasn't as incredibly exciting as some of her books have been in the past. It was nice to see what each of the characters were up to post the void, post the heists, etc. But I didn't feel as much excitement in this novel as I have in the past. The only exception to that being the last hundred pages. It DEFINITELY left me wanting to know what will happen in the second (and final?!) book in this series. So now...we wait. -_-

[[i guess in the meantime i can reread the other series' and marathon everything as a cohesive unit...]]

Wow. This book is powerful. This story is important. I want every kid and person to read it. It's a quick read, that I know will stick with me for days and days to come. I am beyond words at the impact this novel has had on me. Thank you Mr. Reynolds for writing it.

This book is so exceptional. It took two characters I disliked, made them our main characters, and forced me to care what happened to them?! I'm still not sure how it happened. Our heroine is a girl in a world where being a woman holds no power (unless you count sex as a power which, as it turns out, is discussed in this novel), and her brother is a spineless, withering boy who ends up having more than a few redeeming moments.
These characters are complex! We watch them grow and evolve, we watch them make vital, human decisions, and we watch on the edge of our seats.
I was really uncertain about the hype surrounding this book when I disliked these characters initially, and it honestly took until I was over halfway through this book to get it. I think that's the main drawback for me, was that it did take me so long to get a groove and to accept the behavior, attitudes, and thoughts of our MCs.
The last hundred pages really sealed the deal that yes, this book knocked it out of the park, and I feel intense feelings for the creatures on these pages. I am in it. This book was dark, depressing, and somehow kickass-inspirational? It was so unlike what I expect YA fantasy to be: a beautiful, always gets what she wants in the end, heroine who falls in love with the right for her guy who helps her save the day. That's HIGHLY generalized, obviously, but this novel was just so. not. that. And I kind of loved it? After I got used to it, that is.

500/500 stars. This book. I'm feeling so many emotions.

It was such a quick read, which I really enjoyed. I've been feeling slightly overwhelmed by the amount of books I've accumulated to my TBR shelf o_O . Being able to finish this one in three quick sittings was such a joyful experience. Well, emotional would be a better word. I loved it, I cried, I was infuriated, and THAT'S THE END OF THE BOOK?! YOU'RE LEAVING IT OFF THERE?! But...in a good way, you know? Because then I can be left to fill in how I want the rest of their story to go, and sometimes that's a gift books & authors give us. A chance to finish the story to our hearts desire on that day.

I've gotta say, I did not see the twist coming, mostly because I felt so enraptured by the plot and the characters that I didn't even allow my mind to wander. I was just in it with them and experiencing everything as they did, which was lovely. I'm just so so pleased with this book, and who knows, it might become my favorite book of the year.

This was such a good book! It was incredibly informative, while still being accessible to the average human who doesn't know all about sociology or infrastructures and how they play a huge role in society. I learned a lot, and realized how little I truly value the structures that are already in place in my life that make day-to-day community building easier for me and my family. This book was eye opening in so many ways, but especially about the true impacts poverty can have on communities physically and spiritually (while physically they may be in desperate need of TLC, it felt like communities of this nature pulled together for one another more fiercely than their affluent neighbors).

I heard about this book from a podcast called The Librarian Is In from the NYPL, and I'm so glad I did. I wish there had been more mention of libraries and their impact, as a librarian this was my main focus in picking up the book, but once I started reading I was so intrigued by the information I ended up reading through to the end regardless.

One of the only reasons this doesn't get 5 stars from me is from my own ignorance (there, I said it #selfaware). While this was relatively easy to follow along with the big picture topics, there was a good portion of the novel that felt too advanced for my background and understanding. So, because I couldn't fully grasp some of the authors finer details and I felt this book might be better off in the hands of a socioeconomic student, it receives a 4 star rating from me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC of this novel. Regardless of the way I acquired the novel, the thoughts, opinions, and views stated in this review are completely unbiased and one hundred percent my own.

This book had such a good start! I was hooked right off the bat. While our MC isn't necessarily the most likable, I can think we can all admit that we've been there, or been our worst version of ourselves at one point or another. I'm a reader who doesn't need to like a character to be able to like a book, if that makes sense. So I took our MC's outbursts, and poor interactions with fellow human beings with a grain of salt. Not to mention that her father had died, and her boyfriend had out-of-the-blue broken up with her. The girl was probably due an outburst or two. Some people (coughs-me) hide away in their room eating their body weight in ice cream until they're ready to face the world again, while other people just take out their aggression on the wrong person. That's how Julie meets Nico.

I really enjoyed how their lives were constantly crossing paths. It put me on the edge of my seat, wondering when they would by chance meet again. Nico is honestly described like a saint. He handles all of Julie's outbursts, bad behavior, and vomit (uh...yeah) like a champ. If there is one redeeming character in this book, it's Nico, Nico's mom, and Julie's mom (okay, I guess there are a couple redeeming characters).

I do think a few of the relationships portrayed here borderline on toxic. Julie's relationship with her best friend is in many ways uncalled for, and how the women in her family treat each other was a little displeasing. As a personal note, I've dealt with a lot of toxic relationships in my own life, and tend to see them everywhere. Maybe girlfriends really do yell at each other, tell each other they are ruining their lives, and then five seconds later say they're the best in the world? To each their own.

In terms of writing, this was an admirable attempt. I felt at times really thrown off when scenes would cut in and out of each other. One second we were in a conversation with Julie and her mom and the next second she was with Nico two days later. There was no explanation of how things left off with conversations, or how a date would end. Suddenly, after a major event (like running into the ex), we just flashed forward to the next day with no mention of how Nico reacted? It felt really unrealistic and pulled me out of the story a few times.

I think the overall plot was super cute, but felt the novel was strongest in the first half of the book. It sort of lost steam after that, and I stopped caring what happened to our characters. I finished the book because I wanted to know how their love story ended, but I didn't necessarily need all of the descriptions of why her ex was such a tool, or how her heart was changing now that she had Nico. I think a little more editing would have been beneficial, but it wasn't an overall disappointment.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free ARC of this novel. Regardless of the way I acquired the novel, the thoughts, opinions, and views stated in this review are completely unbiased and one hundred percent my own.

First of all, let's start off with a clean slate. I've followed this author since she was an OG booktuber, and I knew I'd be picking up her novel regardless of reviewer feedback. That does not, however, indicated how my own review will unfold. My feelings towards an author does not sway my opinion of their work. It is my belief that their work should stand alone, and that is how I intend to proceed.

Now that that's out of the way: I went into this novel basically ignorant of the plot. This technique is honestly becoming one of my favorite ways to jump into a new book. It forces me to let go of any expectations, and allows for the plot to deliver more surprises.

The first half of this novel followed what I would call a typical contemporary outline. We watch a group of students who have never met before, as they explore together on a study abroad trip to London. As someone who has not had the opportunity to travel, I ate up these sections of the book. The travel and first-time-explorer experiences of this novel really added to the appeal for me.

We rather quickly realize how naive or MC is, which I don't think was a bad choice but an honest one. The Shane we meet in the beginning of the novel was very relatable to the person I was when I started college. Her naivete is the most abundant in her blunders in all the relationships around her: the new boy, new friends, and most notably her parents.

The second half of the novel is where we deal with suspended disbelief. These sections had a tendency to take me out of the story. I felt like I wanted to look around and ask the person next to me, "Hey, where did this come from?" For a debut novel, this was an admirable attempt at suspended disbelieve, but I'm not sure it quite hit it's intended mark. It's part of the novel I try not to dwell on, because if I skim over it I'm able to get back into the story and focus more on the characters. The characters, dialogue, and descriptive text throughout the novel were very well done. If I hadn't known of the author, I'm not sure I could have guessed that this was her first novel based off of these writing choices alone.

Tiny spoiler ahead in three...two... I've got to comment on how clever this title is and how well it's played with in the novel. I thought Again, but Better was referencing the study abroad trip, and how Shane is trying to make new choices and a new life for herself. But boy oh boy, is the title again (HA) applied when we travel back in time to the study abroad trip, and it's this time that really counts.

Final thoughts: even though I thought the suspended disbelief wasn't executed in the best possible way, it didn't stop me from eating this story up. I wanted to watch Shane grow. I wanted to watch her make mistakes and learn from them. I wanted to watch her become who she was always meant to be. This was such a fun story, set in exactly the right time. College and the years after are so formative. I think as a society we expect everyone to have figured it out by the time they graduate. For some that's the case, but for others more self-exploration is needed, and this novel reminds readers that that's okay. This was such a great first novel for Christine. I can see where and why this novel receives criticism from other reviewers, but I just went with it and made it work (as best as I could) for me. I hope Christine keeps writing; I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.