oh jeez

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-165-foxhole-court/

yess I was stoked to get an ARC of this! I love Julie Murphy's funny, warmhearted, fat-positive books. I love that this opens with Waylon's love of a clear analogue of RuPaul's Drag Race and a clear call-out of RuPaul's ongoing fatphobia (among other issues). That show is popular with a lot of teens (LGBTQ+ and otherwise) who I think will love reading about it and relate to Waylon's feelings about it. I also love that it shows teen ambivalence toward college and acknowledges that that doesn't need to be the path for everyone. It just rang true to a lot of Big Feelings that high school seniors particularly face, but plus also cute prom romance and elder drag queens mentoring queer youth.

Just an overall delightful spot of joy in my reading week!

CUUUUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEEEEEEE

I saw a lot of reviews that were like EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK and they activated a defiant little button in my brain that was like "don't tell me what to do." Like I read the Buzzfeed thing and I'm already like...opposed to rape, so what's here for me

anyway it is really great though, really beautiful writing with humor throughout to keep it from being totally overwhelming (although like, rape culture is still overwhelming and infuriating). An emotional read but a valuable one--I think it would be very powerful for teen boys in particular to read and engage with this content.

lovvved this one. Speaking, with love, as a former pretentious teen I feel like it'll be a hit with pretentious teens, the ones who are trying out books recommended by their teachers because they want to seem like they love Dorothy Parker but maybe they actually prefer to read books about vampires and maybe that's fine. I think there's also a shortage of books about kids being raised by a grandparent which is a pretty common situation so it's great to have a book on that. (Also, Urban Gay Uncle representation.)

Also it made me want to visit The Mount and meet MARGE omg!! (also the Cheesecake Factory)

I know John Green is a cliche comp author but for real, hand to John Green fans.

when we recorded our podcast about this I was desperately afraid that I would accidentally say "The Big Chill" instead of "The Big Sleep" tho IDK why because I've never seen The Big Chill. Anyway this book isn't really my cup of tea but like, it's fine if you're into that kind of thing.

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-166-the-big-sleep/

I couldn't remember the title of this and finally had to just search for "Sarah J. Maas" and comb through the results until I found it, which is par for the course with my SJM readership. Truly cannot hold any details in my mind. Why do I love them???

IDK I just do!!!

This one had big energy of like "SJM is a changeling creature who is just learning facts about life on Earth and shyly trying to insert them into her fiction," like the way she inserts these magical equivalents of like, yoga and clippy book lights? Weird. Iconic. The way she just takes random pieces of other mythology, like Valkyries and Koshchei the Deathless, and sticks em into her faerie world with no explanation? I'm living.

This one was particularly horny, heads up (cautionary) to teen librarians and (informative) to horny readers.

LOVED this! I think it's a great read even for readers who aren't really familiar with the Nubia character (I'm not especially); it's first and foremost a coming of age story for a Black girl in a world that doesn't necessarily value her, and second a superhero story. The activism subplot is super timely and I just love this character and her friends. The art is really expressive.

I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to TBH! Melissa de la Cruz's books have been hit or miss for me and so have the DC Ink books but I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. I love the casual diversity here--why can't we have an Asian-American Bruce Wayne, Latina Selina Kyle, or Black Barbara Gordon? Why can't Alfred be Bruce's gay uncle who took the last name Pennyworth when he married his husband John Pennyworth? The art is cool and great at giving the teens distinct looks (Thomas Pitilli also illustrates Riverdale comics).

The story itself was fine? I was more invested in the character relationships and I was perfectly satisfied.

Spoiler

I should mention that there's a faked suicide plotline in here? The reader finds out it's fake, like, immediately. [It's to resolve some trust fund issues, naturally.]

ok bye

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-167-the-vanishings-left-behind-kids-1/