this perfectly captures all the bonkers shit I love about the show

This is a lot of fun! I love Riri's interactions with AI Tony so much, and this was a fun look at the world of (titular) Choices opening up to her. I am seeing reviews deriding her reign as Queen of Latveria as being farfetched but fuck you it's comics and I loved it. Hail Queen Riri!!!! Give me a full arc of that shit!!!

I've never been a particularly big fan of Marvel Loki (EXCEPT as portrayed in the Squirrel Girl comics) but I AM a big fan of Mackenzi Lee so I decided to check this out and honestly: DO I LIKE LOKI NOW? I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS.

Anyway this is a great story about Odin's shitty parenting that also doesn't EXCUSE Loki's shitty decisions (or Thor's for that matter), but it gets you a chance to root for a (younger, less...malevolent) Loki. And the historical fiction/secret society angle is so fun, and it's great that an ~official~ Marvel novel is lightly discussing Loki's pansexuality (though his mlm flirtation with a human doesn't really progress very far, it does give a deft little glance into queer history/labor history.)

Really enjoyable for Marvel fans (even if you're not a particular Loki fan!) but also would likely have crossover appeal to mythology fans/historical fiction fans.

OK so obv this is on a lot of Hunger Games readalikes lists, and upon finishing this I had the same kind of feelings as I did after finishing Hunger Games: "Wait, did I just finish that book? Was it even good? I have no idea, I just had to consume it as fast as possible."

Definitely a page-turner--super compelling. I didn't love it as much as I loved Hunger Games. Perhaps HG felt more radical to me, in the political sense, which I like. (But not everyone read HG the same way as me.) Uh, what now? It was very exciting, very intense, but now that I'm sitting back and breathing and thinking about it I think perhaps the characters didn't grab me as much as the plot did? And I like character-driven books. Oh I don't know. I'll definitely still read Insurgent. As soon as my hold on it comes in.

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re-read 2019; was interesting to revisit after knowing all the twists revealed throughout the trilogy. I am very curious about how much plotting Roth did for the trilogy as a whole? Maybe not much?

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-132-divergent/

This book crossed my path and I was like "Rich British prep school kids hunting the DEADLIEST GAME??? I'M IN" but ehhh it didn't quite live up to its premise? It wasn't as off-the-rails enjoyable as eg Riverdale but it also wasn't particularly plausible? Also our protagonist-narrator was... idk. Like I think it's good when teen narrators make dumb choices because, hey, teens make dumb choices sometimes, but also it sort of set up something with her mom abandoning her as a child that didn't really seem nearly fleshed out enough? Also I'm allllways skeptical when teen characters happen to be into "old" something (in this case movies)...not that some teens can't be super into old things but it often comes across as an adult author who just wants to make references to the movies THEY like. And there are like, a LOT of references to adult movies in this because Greer is really into old movies even though their fancy prep school doesn't have televisions.

There were some fun twists and I liked the side characters, and I still think the premise is engaging enough that a teen who's already burned through better thrillers like [b:One of Us Is Lying|32571395|One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)|Karen M. McManus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490084494l/32571395._SY75_.jpg|49825436] would probably enjoy it. There's also a lot of detail about Posh British Boarding School Life for those who are into That Kind Of Thing.

god dammit I just want Riverdale to come back already

this was fine I guess, a fine B-tier readalike for stuff like [b:One of Us Is Lying|32571395|One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)|Karen M. McManus|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490084494l/32571395._SY75_.jpg|49825436] if you've got teens who just can't get enough. The plot doesn't......quite hold together but there's enough compelling dirt along the way to keep a certain type of reader moving along.

Lovvvved this. Such a compelling coming of age story with so many intersecting factors--race, class, sexuality, addiction, respectability politics... all combining to really bring Birdie's struggles into such clarity. (Worth noting specifically--a character who comes to understand themselves as being on the asexuality spectrum.)

Also loved the Chicago setting!

This was a quick, fun read with some great insights into Keanu's career and how he has affected and been affected by racism and toxic masculinity.

I sort of feel like....I'm not totally sure who Don Brown's books are for? Like this one...I guess it's a good intro to the topic of the flu but it's not like, an engaging narrative? It's less dry than a textbook but it's not exactly a story? The art is expressive but not gorgeous? Perhaps best used in a classroom setting? IDK I feel like I have read a few of his books and I'm always just left kind of wanting more...

ummm this was way better when it was called ANIMORPHS

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-133-the-host/