(read as single issues)

I think this veered a little closer to the actual plot of Civil War II than the only other tie-in I've read so far ([b:All-New Wolverine, Vol. 2: Civil War II|29507115|All-New Wolverine, Vol. 2 Civil War II|Tom Taylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477250810s/29507115.jpg|49796439]), and I kiiind of don't care about Civil War.....but, I care about Kamala and I could definitely see this playing out like this for her, and it was kinda heartbreaking!

Also I thought the Spider-Man crossover was qt

(read as single issues)

omg this series just continues to exemplify the kind of peak ridiculousness I love about comics in general and Doreen Green specifically

like yes please let's have a Choose Your Own Adventure full of bee facts

and demonstrate the true power of friendship and empathy for Mole Man

let's

forever

A Lurlene McDaniel book where nobody dies? I declare shenanigans.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-56-angels-watching-over-me/

First of all: I know a lot of my friends & fam LOVE these books and I'm so happy you enjoy them, truly!

Second of all: whoa, this was really weird and way more graphically violent and racist than I was expecting!? I thought I was in for some light chick flick-y crime fun and I got naked prostitutes beaten and tied to balconies?!

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-47-one-for-the-money/

This has been on my TBR for a long time because I've heard raves about it, and I totally get why. I got sucked in immediately--usually I have a "home book" and a "lunch book" that I keep at work because I don't like to carry a book back and forth, but I carried Sunshine around until I finished it. This was a fun book to read after [b:The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim|16068956|The Story of Owen Dragon Slayer of Trondheim (The Story of Owen, #1)|E.K. Johnston|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385213342s/16068956.jpg|21861446] since both have a similar matter-of-fact approach to a fantasy world. But I found myself wishing McKinley had a bard to explain things to me just a liiittle bit more. I do like the effect of being dropped into a world and having to figure out the rules as you go along, to some extent, but here I was like "vampires can... dimension hop... I guess? Sure?"

Also I'm sort of surprised there's not a sequel to this since it seems like a LOT of things were hinted at and then dropped, like is Mel a wizard or what.

Also this book had a weird effect where like... I was into it and really wanted to find out what happened but simultaneously it felt draggy? I guess just because of Sunshine's long meandering mental soliloquies.

Also a heads-up--I know this was originally published as adult fantasy and then repackaged as YA in the wake of Twilight. I think it's probably best described as *New* Adult, for its ~adult relationship content~, but yeah it's a good readalike for Twilight.

Pretty stupid.com. Mildly racist.com.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-48-ruthless-com/

On one hand this book is not very good and does not make very much sense, but also it was very compelling and we couldn't stop listening to it and immediately, frantically put a hold on the next one in the series. So...there's that.

The Selection--basically The Bachelor for a prince to find a princess--is a great concept for a book. The worldbuilding around this dystopian future is very stupid and makes no sense and it's basically just handwaving to create set dressing for the Bachelor, I mean, Selection. Like it's 300 years in the future but there's no technology at all really, not even in the palace?! (Like I get it in the Hunger Games when the poorer people don't have anything but the Capitol has like holograms and shit. But here even the prince relies on sending messengers around with notes? There ARE phones but not like...cell phones? Like the palace seems to have like one land line that nobody uses. IT'S WEIRD.)

Also the caste system makes no sense and seems to leave out a lot of professions?!

But again...that's not really the point of this book. It's definitely a romance, not a dystopian.

Also it ends pretty abruptly. Having listened to the first 3 books I feel like they honestly should have been edited down into 1 book that tells the whole story of the Selection but whatever, nobody asked meee

Thanks to Eryn for filling a gap in my graphic novel knowledge--I'd never heard of Julia Wertz before, but I really enjoyed this book! Super funny and sharply-observed. Kind of Seinfeld-y, in a good way. Plus: library love!

This is the kind of pretentious twee YA that I really enjoy. Like: would a grieving teen really write beautiful poetic letters to Judy Garland? Maybe? I don't careee, I liked the book, and it came recommended to me by a couple of my teen advisory board kids. Teens who liked [b:The Perks of Being a Wallflower|22628|The Perks of Being a Wallflower|Stephen Chbosky|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438668337s/22628.jpg|2236198] are gonna like this (and surprise, Stephen Chbosky is thanked in the acknowledgments here).

If you can suspend your disbelief to get over the letters thing, it's really a beautiful exploration of a teen girl's grief and a pretty realistic look at the dynamic of a group of artsy misfit teens, including 2 girls coming to terms with their queer sexuality.

content warning for sexual abuse.

ps I saw some reviews that were v skeptical of a modern-day teen's affection for Nirvana and Jim Morrison, etc but when I was a pretentious artsy teen we loved that shit because it was way more ~real~ than ~today's pop music~ and I know some teens now who are still into Nirvana at least, for what I assume are similar reasons...so I bought it.

(read as single issues)

OK I loved everything about Rosie and the Bear Woman, etc. I know this isn't actually published yet but it seems weird that this vol would only collect 13-16? That's not the whole bear woman arc? and it doesn't seem like a very long book? hmmm