I LOVED this book. So funny, clever, and moving with a hugely lovable cast of diverse characters.

This is a book that I think will be very satisfying for a lot of teen (and other) readers just looking to wallow in an "adults are unfair!" mood for awhile. (which, I get it: adults are unfair, but this is A Lot). I think it also raises some interesting questions of religion that teen readers might enjoy grappling with. Some of the plot threads perhaps...strain credulity...but overall I was engaged in Tiffany's story.

ok first of all

Spoiler

RIGHT AWAY THE CAT DIES, WHY

anyway uh...this book mainly exists to be like, Gossip Girl style wealth porn but for Japan-lovers, and that's a fine thing for a YA book to be, and indeed I did enjoy the lavish descriptions of fancy Tokyo high rises and sushi chefs and whatnot. The plot......is real flimsy and this is another book where the grownups mostly seem to exist so that you feel bad for how UNFAIR the teens' lives are.

But also the tone is kind of uneven, like from the premise and title I expected it to be mostly the fluffy Tokyo life but there's some p grim side plots that are resolved abruptly?

I think a specific type of teen reader will still be into this but it's like...not great

This book is such a spectacular depiction of a lot of complex, intersectional concepts--grief, poverty, mental illness, immigration, identity...I loved Julia's prickly narration so much.

This is so beautiful and moving. I think it would be a great classroom read. It's an exellent way to put a human face on some big concepts like undocumented immigrants and racist microaggressions, and just a lovely story of friendship.

This book was so beautiful and so difficult to read--her writing is so vulnerable and brave. It's both deeply personal about Roxane's own experiences but also speaks to broader truths about the way fatness and fat bodies are perceived and treated in American society. I highly recommend it but also caution that it is difficult to read.

Although I've loved all the other Rick Riordan Presents books, I was a little skeptical about this one because the premise seemed like A Lot?? Like I'm here for Korean trickster fox spirits, and I'm here for space opera, but both of them combined seemed like....a lot?? But it actually all worked together really well, and that will teach ME a lesson about doubting Rick Riordan's empire.

It's a really fun story and a great example of how easy it can be to make a story inclusive! (eg in the space army, everyone's nametags have gender pronoun identifiers, making it simple and easy for the narrator to identify the nonbinary characters).

ok so I picked this with the impression that it was a romance between the main 2 fencers?? and maybe it is but just a really slow burn, because they definitely do not make it past the "enemies" stage in this volume.

STILL, an enjoyable read. I learned some stuff about fencing? I'll pick up the next volume when it's out.

Oh my Elaine Stritch, this is an adorable addition to the Lumberjanes canon.

This is a really great memoir for younger readers that does an excellent job of putting into words the cumulative emotional damage that all the seemingly small pieces of growing up in the Jim Crow South would have on a young black girl, and it also highlights how incredibly heroic the Little Rock Nine and other young civil rights heroes were.