Books like this I don't even know how to judge. Was it good? Was it bad? Did I like it? I don't even know. I just know that I HAD TO KEEP READING IT UNTIL THE END OF IT.

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I just re-read this and honestly the other girls want what the Hunger Games has

Again, I pretty much just injected this book straight into my bloodstream. It was very upsetting, but compelling.

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re-read and like I HEAR what you're all saying about the pacing of this being kind of weird but also I don't care and also part of the YA experience is sometimes feeling like you're smarter than the protagonist and I feel like Katniss is so believably closed off that everything she does makes sense to her, and thus to me

OK, I know people have been saying they were disappointed by this book (no spoilers) and how it ended. IDK. I didn't think it was much more of a downer than the first two. I guess I liked it? UGH I think I need to re-read this whole trilogy at a slower pace and reflect on it further.

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re-read, still extremely into this, I love the worldbuilding and the ethical thorniness and all!

ok I know when this was announced I saw a big wave of backlash that was like, "A prequel about President Snow? Ugh so tired of these villain redemption arcs for white men" and like on one hand, yes for sure in general sick of that. On the other hand though it felt reductive to me to expect that Suzanne Collins would write that story when she's shown herself so capable of nuance.

Anyway I don't think this book in any way attempts to excuse the shitty adult human Coriolanus Snow became, even as it shows the culture and family that created him--it also shows other people who were raised in that same culture who chose to do better. Like if anyone actually reads this book and thinks "ugh another villain redemption story" I'm worried about them tbh.

Again I just love the worldbuilding of this series and how clearly well thought-out it is and how much you can extrapolate from the bits and pieces we get.

Spoiler

A few spoiler-y thoughts:
- omg where is the TIGRIS book tho!!
- the whole thing with the snakes was like...... contrived enough to make me squint but then IDK maybe from the start it was somehow an elaborate trap set by Dr. Gaul who was legit terrifying?
- maybe those are my only thoughts, IDK I thought I had more

well bye I read this book all in one day because I couldn't put it down!!

JEEZ each of Elizabeth Acevedo's books just keep getting better and better??? And like the first one was already incredible? This is so lovely and complicated and messy and loving. (Also half of it takes place very near where I did my Peace Corps service so, you know, personal bonus points from me.)

ugh these Archie Horror books go too hard!! I want ONLY CW levels of violence no further pls

http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-149-a-werewolf-in-riverdale/

It took me awhile to pick up what this book was laying down, but once I got into it it was very compelling. I love this flavor of metafiction (even if this one was a bit darker than my usual reading preferences).

LOVED this book. Shayla is such a great narrator and perfectly captures so much of middle school friendship/self-image issues that almost everyone can relate to, while having her own strong voice. The way she and her classmates grapple with the Black Lives Matter movement (and the police brutality and other issues behind BLM) is presented so well, this will be a great intro for a lot of tweens (and even older readers looking for something intro level).

I'm such a sucker for anything about ~the power of literature and this memoir is so good at combining a ~power of literature story with the context of how otherwise offputting school and the canon etc can be to marginalized folks. It's a funny and unflinching look at his childhood as a Vietnamese immigrant to a small Pennsylvania town in the 70s.

Very charming, funny, and introspective/self-aware. Very relatable for a fellow anxious/awkward well-meaning white person.