The art and style are as great as the first one! This is one that would have been really scary to me as a kid and honestly I DIDN'T LOVE IT AS AN ADULT, WHAT IF YOUR PET CAT GOT KIDNAPPED TO THE UNDERWORLD AND SKELETONS PUT IT IN A CAGE TO EAT IT

THAT WOULD BE SO UPSETTING

:'(

um but if you or your child don't have an intense visceral reaction to that idea this would be a great read

These books are really scratching my Gossip Girl itch.

This is a book I've heard about for awhile and resisted reading because it just sounded like it would be SO SAD, but now it's 2017 and we're all sad all the time so I picked it up.

And I'm glad I did! It is sad--it's the story of a Choctaw boy and his family who are forced on the Trail of Tears. And since the book is narrated by Isaac's ghost, we know the boy dies...but the book's tone and cultural attitude toward death/ghosts make it...well, just slightly less crushing to read. It's a very engaging and moving read.

A great one for fans of historical fiction, but also has a slight supernatural flair to it.

I'm so enjoying this re-read.

This is neither a great mystery nor a great cookbook.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-87-the-christmas-caramel-murder/

like I hear what you're SAYING about how this book went bonkers off the rails
but my HEART says it was still awesome upon re-reading??

I will note that, much like the delicate mental state required to read the alethiometer, I was just trying real hard not to think about gender roles while re-reading? like I think if you dug into it like at all there's some wackness w/r/t sexuality in here but I'm just not thinking about it byeee

A bit of a mixed bag; I thought Ryan North's Mario Kart-themed story arc was very fun. I thought Mark Waid's story was a) not that funny and b) kind of a repeat in theme of the Jughead & Sabrina story Ryan North wrote in the last volume?

A very fun and satisfying conclusion to this delightfully soapy saga. (With some slight bonus HISTORICAL CONTENT that was separately interesting! I'd read a whole WWII-era prequel to this series if Kevin Kwan wants to write it)

Hmmm I meannn this was a fast-paced (maybe too fast? but it was a quick read), enjoyable-enough read. Jeffery Self definitely has jokes. The relationship plot develops so quickly--which definitely happens in other YA novels--but it just made everything else hard to buy into.

anyway it's a big concept that doesn't quite gel together. But it's a quick read and has some funny moments. I liked Jeffery Self's last YA book, Drag Teen, more--it wasn't stellar but it was funny and it wasn't aiming for something as dramatic as this book is. I feel like JS--who I like as a comedian/perfomer--is better served by sticking with comedy.

also sidenote, what's happening on the cover??? The color scheme makes it look like this kid is getting pee splashed on his face which does not happen in this book. At no point does he get any liquid splashed on his face. I guess it's like a... metaphor?? I hate it though. (I know that's not something the author can control but I just wanted to address it.)

This was fine? IDK, the more I think about it, the more I don't love the storyline of

Spoiler

technologically brainwashing bros into being even more toxic-masculinity-ish? Like...IDK...that's just the internet

Also it didn't quite have the same lighthearted-yet-earnest, recovering-spoiled-girl, actually-badass vibe I expect and so appreciate from Kate?

I did love Jessica Jones' appearance but then it just sort of reminded me of like......how much more I like Jessica Jones' detective comics series than this?

Spoiler

the arrival of Lucky at the end is a good sign for the future tho