I went too long between this and Vol 1 and like clearly some stuff happened in Vol 1 to reset the world and I was like.....what

Still it was a fun read. Leaning into the Greek mythology stuff which is appealing to a lot of readers, and I thought there were some lovely character moments in here too as Diana searches for her mother.

It's just so cute....go on without me, I need to lie down

OK I think this is a book that will be really important to a lot of readers and I think it's a sensitive and helpful portrayal of a family affected by alcoholism and rehab.

that said for a pure reading experience, especially to me as an adult, it came across as pretty didactic to me. I still think it'll be good for kids who are struggling--not just with supporting a family member with alcoholism but also the secondary struggle of feeling overburdened with extracurricular activities and needing to pare down involvement.

So yeah I'd recommend it for young readers looking for this kind of issue book or for adults looking to use it as a conversation starter. If you're just an adult, unaffected by these issues looking for a leisure read, maybe skip.

This was overall not really my cup of tea tbh--this kind of sci-fi story isn't necessarily something I'd be drawn to. But I like these characters and I like Mackenzi's other books so I checked it out. I think it is a great insight into Gamora and Nebula's relationship and I looooved the little bits of Grandmaster cameo. I think readers who are more into exploring these characters' trauma are going to enjoy this, also readers who like a more...traditional? ish? sci-fi story.

This is a really sweet, beautifully-written book that I think will resonate a lot with a slightly different audience. Which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy reading it--I did--but I think that this book is so granular in its representation of 20-something queer people of color that I think it will resonate most with folks in those demographics. I think its depiction of post-grad burnout will also be relatable for a lot of readers--I was a little thrown by how Grace so clearly had no goal point beyond receiving her PhD in astronomy. I obviously don't have my PhD nor do I know much about jobs and like...I get that she was stressed but I also feel like there can't be that many types of jobs you can do with an astronomy degree and I was sort of thrown that she just seemed to have genuinely no idea what she wanted to do after graduating. Which again, a lot of that was her burnout and dealing with the High Expectations of her father etc etc. But it felt more like a problem an undergrad student would have when needing to choose a major, or deciding if they want to go to grad school etc. Post-PhD seems like...you got it narrowed down pretty far??? (Again I understand she was super burned out and needed a break before she could really focus but it still seems like it would have...come up at some point. Even just "do you want to stay in academia or do you want to work for NASA" or whatever and from Grace's POV it seemed like it never did??)

I also think that this was sort of billed to me as "2 drunk strangers get married in Vegas, romance ensues!" and like...that does happen but it's sort of a b-plot to "codependent queer found family group gets therapy". (also if you saw my tweet asking if people thought if it was weird for a brother and sister to cuddle in bed overnight with their shared best friend: this is the book that prompted that tweet. I still think it's kind of weird but in the context of this book it just seems like these people are constantly touch-starved like sad fanfiction characters.)

Anyway, if you're looking for a book with women of color wives, an important queer found family friends group, and a love letter to therapy...and I think a lot of you are...this is for you. Also think this would have a lot of appeal for older teens. Despite the age of the characters it's less explicitly sexual than your average SJM book and these characters are all uhhh moderately emotionally damaged so they feel like they're processing a lot of teenage-y emotions.

WHEW.

I enjoyed this and found it really engaging! Talusan has had such an interesting life, from her brief stint as a child star in the Phillippines to her Harvard career and beyond. I especially liked all of her reflections on theater (including her longtime connection with Lea Salonga). Unlike [b:All Boys Aren't Blue|39834234|All Boys Aren't Blue|George M. Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559859786l/39834234._SY75_.jpg|61592230] this isn't specifically marketed as a YA memoir but I do think it would have a lot of teen appeal and although the last few chapters have some adult ~relationship concepts, and there is some talk of sex-having, there isn't anything too explicit. And the majority of the story really is her childhood and teen/college years. It's fascinating to see her use her rhetorical skills to unpack all the cultural beauty ideals that she's had to work through (and there is some language in here that is a bit fat-shamey but a lot of it is in the context of her understanding that she's naturally thin and that gives her extra value in American culture.)

the TV show was better

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-168-the-duke-and-i-bridgerton-1/

I got this on NetGalley and I was just like, NEW CASEY MCQUISTON BOOK, YES PLS and I didn't read the summary or anything and then I started reading it and I was like...OHH MY GOSH IS THIS A VAMPIRE BOOK? But, spoiler (which isn't really a spoiler because it's literally the premise of the book and it's in the blurb)...it's not a vampire book. And I feel like the concept that it IS...doesn't make a ton of sense? But who cares, literally not me, much like with [b:Red, White & Royal Blue|41150487|Red, White & Royal Blue|Casey McQuiston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566742512l/41150487._SY75_.jpg|61657690] I just loved these characters and their relationships (including friendships) so much that I can fully forgive a half-baked sci-fi premise.

UGHHH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH, I MESSY-CRIED OVER IT ON A GREYHOUND BUS AND I HAD TO USE A RECEIPT TO WIPE MY FACE WITH. #classy

Like just seriously fully-realized characters in love.

--

I just wanted to update my review of this (and remove my star rating) because I did love it when I read it in 2013 and since then many Asian-American folks have pointed out the anti-Asian racism in the book. I don't want to pretend like I never liked this but I want to acknowledge that as a white reader I can definitely miss stuff when I read and I'm sorry if my good review of this previously hurt anyone. (I know when I first posted the review I didn't have many pals on GoodReads so IDK how many people even read it then but with the movie news more people might be searching out the book on GR etc so just...wanted to update my review here.)

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7j3kp/despite-racist-asian-tropes-ya-novels-film-adaptation-moves-ahead