oh jeez

http://www.idontevenownatelevision.com/2019/03/31/129-witch-wizard-w-renata-kait-from-worst-bestsellers/

This was a very cute, diverse graphic novel, including a gentle trans coming out story. It reads a bit like an anthology--there are a lot of characters followed, and it doesn't necessarily feel like they all get their due, so I hope this is the start of a series. I think it'll be a good one for fans of Raina et al.

Jesus Christ, this is incredible. I think my new favorite of her books, and I love all of her books.

First review: This kind of felt like very tropey X-Men fanfiction? Don't get me wrong, I love tropey X-Men fanfiction, but like for real, a girl whose touch causes intense pain... except not to the one boy who she's loved from afar for forever? Which she finds out when they're locked in a cell together?

The environmental disaster dystopia was... fine.

A solid readalike for most of your angstier dystopia/romances. Personally I would say I'm invested enough to go read the Wikipedia summaries for the rest of the trilogy, but not invested enough to actually read the next two books.

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Re-read for the podcast. Honestly...it's still fine.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-121-shatter-me/

I started reading this and immediately felt in over my head and had to return to a wiki deep dive to refresh my memory of The Cruel Prince, and honestly I'm not sure I ever caught back up. There's a LOT of intrigue here and sometimes I couldn't be sure if I was experiencing a clever twist or if I'd just forgotten something that had already happened.

Also, hmm, I do appreciate Holly Black's dark take on faeries and how different their morals/ethics/laws/etc are from human society, but after having it hammered into my head so much about how you can't trust faeries and they're just whimsical, treacherous creatures, I kind of started to be like..........ok so honestly why should I care about any of these characters?? And maybe it turns out I kind of don't? Hmm.

This book has EVERYTHING. Which is maybe...too many things? Still..a mostly enjoyable trip.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-122-a-discovery-of-witches/

HMM. As with her book [b:Allegedly|30037870|Allegedly|Tiffany D. Jackson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476974718s/30037870.jpg|50000013], I couldn't put this down! It's definitely an engaging read that tackles some tough issues of class/race privilege in a way that will appeal to a lot of teens, and Claudia's dyslexia is presented in a way that I think a lot of teens will be able to connect with. That said, once I finished racing through the shocking twists and turns, the story itself didn't totally hold together for me? Still, a great read for teens looking for fast-paced mysteries.

I re-read this for book club/in anticipation of the upcoming TV adaptation. I remembered loving it in my teen years but wasn't sure how well it would hold up...honestly? REALLY well, esp for a book written by 2 straight white cis British guys. Definitely a few moments are cringier on this time around, but most of the jokes are based in religion/history/basic human nature and are still just as funny, and yet it's still sort of...heartwarming? Pratchett and Gaiman are two authors who I think were/are very interested in exploring the power of stories and human nature, and I really appreciate the measured optimism they bring here.

#TeamRenata >:(

For real, this book was much more enjoyable than I expected! Very twisty and fun with some real meat to it.

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-123-big-little-lies/