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renatasnacks
All the chatter I've seen about this has focused on how frankly sexual and sex-positive it is, and--yes, it is, in a way that I think is useful but not too explicit? Like in the context of Jack's advice column there is definitely some explicit advice about, eg, anal sex, but in the prose narrative of Jack's life it fades to black whenever it starts getting sexy. Which I think is appropriate for a YA novel! I definitely have seen some librarians wondering if this should be shelved in adult fiction and no I don't think it should! But if you are a librarian/teacher in a community where you think this might get challenged I think you should definitely make a point to read it so you can be prepared to defend/contextualize it!
I also think it's doing important work to challenge micro-aggressions against the LGBTQ community and I think it's going to make a lot of teens feel Seen.
ANYWAY what I was going to say wasss that everything I'd heard about this focused on the sex stuff (WHICH I AM NOW DOING TOO ACK) so I missed that it's also a thriller/mystery B-plot! It was kind of intense!
I also think it's doing important work to challenge micro-aggressions against the LGBTQ community and I think it's going to make a lot of teens feel Seen.
ANYWAY what I was going to say wasss that everything I'd heard about this focused on the sex stuff (WHICH I AM NOW DOING TOO ACK) so I missed that it's also a thriller/mystery B-plot! It was kind of intense!
Ahh I love Felicity!! I love so much about this story--Felicity's ambition, her hubris, her intelligence, and her (eventual) willingness to admit when she's been wrong. I love seeing her overcome her "not like other girls" syndrome. And I love what the piracy plot is doing to push back on colonialism!! Also it's just fun as heck!
Also great to see that Monty and Percy are still in loveeee.
Also great to see that Monty and Percy are still in loveeee.
Spoiler
spoiler: THE DOG IS FINE.
I never got around to reading this before even though I've loved all of MTA's other stuff! Is it partly because the cover is bad? Yes.
Anyway in classic MT Anderson fashion, this is a fucking bonkers premise, intriguingly executed. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I was in........I was in, and truly devastated by Octavian's journey, as well as those of his fellow slaves.
Anyway in classic MT Anderson fashion, this is a fucking bonkers premise, intriguingly executed. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I was in........I was in, and truly devastated by Octavian's journey, as well as those of his fellow slaves.
OK. OK. OK. I had gotten the impression that this was like, a funny human woman/merman romance novel, and I was ready for that, but it's like way more fucked up than that?
Like...........IDK I abstractly appreciate Lucy's strong voice as an insecure, horny woman but also.........yikes?? And I get, you know, the metaphor of the merman as the ~ultimate unavailable man~. IDK. IDK. IDK. There are a lot of observations that are funny on a line-by-line basis and the narrative voice is great but overall...this book is something for someone but T B H not me. Reading it made me feel really uncomfortable, which I believe was the authorial intent but uhhH I don't like that.
ALSO THE DOG DIES AND I GET THAT IT'S A CONSEQUENCE FOR LUCY'S SELF-INVOVLED BEHAVIOR BUT ALSO I HATE IT
Like...........IDK I abstractly appreciate Lucy's strong voice as an insecure, horny woman but also.........yikes?? And I get, you know, the metaphor of the merman as the ~ultimate unavailable man~. IDK. IDK. IDK. There are a lot of observations that are funny on a line-by-line basis and the narrative voice is great but overall...this book is something for someone but T B H not me. Reading it made me feel really uncomfortable, which I believe was the authorial intent but uhhH I don't like that.
Spoiler
ALSO THE DOG DIES AND I GET THAT IT'S A CONSEQUENCE FOR LUCY'S SELF-INVOVLED BEHAVIOR BUT ALSO I HATE IT
I started reading this and immediately felt like I'd missed a volume somehow EVEN THOUGH this is VOLUME 2 and I just read VOLUME 1 recently, but I guess this comes after [b:Doctor Strange: Damnation|39739254|Doctor Strange Damnation|Donny Cates|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1545146060s/39739254.jpg|61435274] because UGH WHY WOULDN'T IT, COMICS?!
Anyway so that was confusing but I just did a quick Wiki dive in the middle of my reading experience and got through it.
2 stars for general confusion, a BILLION stars for the final issue featuring Peter Parker and a literal spider. Average of 3 stars. It's mystic math, don't worry about it.
Anyway so that was confusing but I just did a quick Wiki dive in the middle of my reading experience and got through it.
2 stars for general confusion, a BILLION stars for the final issue featuring Peter Parker and a literal spider. Average of 3 stars. It's mystic math, don't worry about it.
(read as single issues)
Yessss, I knew the first arc of the new Runaways would be a little rough because there was a lot of heavy lifting to do to get this reboot in place, but now Rainbow Rowell is coming into her FULL POWERS as an author who writes the kind of ADORABLE SHIT I LIKE.
Yessss, I knew the first arc of the new Runaways would be a little rough because there was a lot of heavy lifting to do to get this reboot in place, but now Rainbow Rowell is coming into her FULL POWERS as an author who writes the kind of ADORABLE SHIT I LIKE.
(read as single issues)
This is a lot of fun. I LOVE the reality show premise (I'm predictable trash) and I love Hawkeye(s). And I love America (the character) (the country is OK, needs some work tbh). I love Kelly Thompson's flair for pop culture references. This is a great antidote for some of the Very Serious Superhero comics out there.
This is a lot of fun. I LOVE the reality show premise (I'm predictable trash) and I love Hawkeye(s). And I love America (the character) (the country is OK, needs some work tbh). I love Kelly Thompson's flair for pop culture references. This is a great antidote for some of the Very Serious Superhero comics out there.
Oh, I read this earlier this year and apparently forgot to review it. It's v cute! The reaping plot is definitely backseat to the cute romance and that is just fine by me.
oh another one I forgot to review earlier! First of all, when I booktalked this in schools kids lost their MINDS about it. It's SUCH a good premise. Civil War + dinosaurs?? Hell yeah hell yeah
PLUS ALSO it does such a smart great job of integrating some pieces of Civil War history that aren't as widely taught, plus also a rad trans character! But also just a lot of fun!
PLUS ALSO it does such a smart great job of integrating some pieces of Civil War history that aren't as widely taught, plus also a rad trans character! But also just a lot of fun!
This is really sweet and funny! I appreciated the lesson that sometimes people can do shitty things just because they're feeling nervous and that amends can still be made. And the art is adorable! A great one for Raina Telgemeier devotees.