aaaaaaaa

Per usj I love Courtney Summers's really sharp look at misogyny and rape culture and it was a new kind of wrenching to have a character here who hadn't yet learned about all the unfortunate ways the world works. Reading this had a horror movie kind of vibe where you're sitting there like "nooo don't go in there!!!" and then she totally goes in there!!! aaaa

aughhhhh

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-193-the-maze-runner/

OK so my journey with this book was:
1) Read a review of it in PW that said basically "this is an interesting premise executed poorly"
2) thought to myself "it IS an interesting premise tho so I'll check it out"
3) read it
4) thought "hmm this is an interesting premise executed poorly"
5) went online and found out this was a ~self-published TikTok sensation~ that later got a publishing deal????? and like


I dunno man! It is a cool idea but these 6 characters are all extremely "tell not show". and there are some characters of color but their allegedly diverse life experiences don't like super show up on the page.

I did read it to completion because I was interested in the plot and there was a kind of cool twist but like............eh IMO

also everyone is tagging this LGBTQ and like, is it?

Spoiler

the character Parisa can read minds and she's very hot and her ~thing~ is she likes to have sex with powerful people because their minds are more vulnerable to her powers when they're busy having sex, so like yes she has sex with all genders but is she attracted to them or just horny for power?? unclear?? and then when another female character, Libby, has a F/F/M threesome involving Parisa was SHE into women or just sort of mind controlled by Parisa? and like yes Nico did seem to be obsessed with his former [male] roommate but not explicitly in a romantic way and sort of seemed more like a younger brother intensely protective thing? not that it can't also be gay but I'm just saying like, personally I would prefer to have more intentionally canon queer characters before I hype up a book's queer representation!

honestly loved the Scrabble stuff, indifferent to the mystery stuff. Which is partly my #brand but also I did feel like...

Spoiler

like nobody ever mentioned the word "autopsy"? like if you think your friend was poisoned either you should be trying to ~hack in and get the autopsy report~ or at least say out loud "it's suspicious that they didn't do an autopsy"??? i'm not a mystery buff but that one seems kinda basic amiright?

But overall I thought the twists were fun and I loved meeting all the weirdo Scrabble teens, and yet at the core of it the grief they felt felt very real. I think it would be good for fans of [b:One of Us Is Lying|58679358|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/1632078539l/58679358._SY75_.jpg|49825436] etc, plus also for Scrabble nerds.

I love E. Lockhart's writing so I was excited for this but it didn't quite hit right for me. I think basically Gotham is kind of a silly place but we're all collectively willing to give a lot of stuff a pass because it's so familiar to us, but trying to create an entirely new DC hero just sort of makes the silly-to-gritty ratio...jarring.

I did really like the bit of world building about the Jewish history of Gotham.

The part about Willow's virtuous mom refusing to accept financial help from her former friend THE RIDDLER but asking like, zero questions about Willow suddenly getting a very well-paying job at an animal shelter was....straining my credulity....idk! Not to mention that Willow herself seemed to have a really...uneven characterization.

The art was cute. The dogs were cute. Younger teens who are into dogs and/or looking for more Jewish role models will probably enjoy this.

This book was not as boring as I thought it would be!!

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-194-the-witcher-the-last-wish/

This is really beautifully written and moving. It's maybe not something I would have picked up if I hadn't loved [b:White Magic|50704742|White Magic|Elissa Washuta|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617501345l/50704742._SY75_.jpg|75733032] so much, but I'm glad I did.

damn Louise!!

I was glad to take my time with this one (I needed 2 library renewals), and I was glad I had recently re-read Maus but wished I had a copy of Maus actually with me at the same time to occasionally flip back to specific pages referenced. (I work at a library, I could have gotten one but I was lazy! Deal with it)

Really compelling and interesting to learn more both about Spiegelman's family history as well as his artistic process and the kind of response to Maus generally. I didn't listen to the included audio CD of the interviews with his father but wow what a valuable resource to have shared with the world at large.

DNF--I picked this up because I was interested in [b:X-Men Legends Vol. 2: Mutant Mayhem (X-Men Legends|61065763|X-Men Legends Vol. 2 Mutant Mayhem (X-Men Legends (2021-2022))|Larry Hama|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1652154495l/61065763._SY75_.jpg|96242436] but it turns out they are not really sequential and I found this Shi'ar + Summers brothers story very boring personally. If you're more into that flavor of thing, I'm sure you'll like it more than I did. It's definitely aimed at 90s nostalgia but I just don't have this exact nostalgia. (I have volume 2 nostalgia, more on that soon lol)