Oh yeah, THIS is why I like comics: sometimes they're super funny and weird and in outer space!! Sometimes a talking raccoon condescends to Tony Stark! Sometimes what COULD be convoluted backstory is elided into one character saying "I have a questionable origin story" and moving on.

Also obviously some ~daddy issues~ and ~angst~, because they are superheroes, but at a quiet background noise level.

I'm VERY excited for this movie now. I'll probably check out more Guardians comics, too.

Fast-paced, engaging contemporary teen novel about a girl who grew up homeless with a mentally ill mother, suddenly adapting to a "normal" life with her father and new stepmother. Callie's emotional drama is intense and well-rendered, and her healthy sexual relationship with ~dreamy~ Alex is one to root for, especially as Callie unpacks some of her childhood abuse.

Recommended mainly for older teens. Will appeal to fans of books about kids with messed up childhoods. (You know what I mean.)

I was briefly like, is this really a 5-star book, and then I remembered the panel where She-Hulk has a kitten on her shoulder, and I was like, why can't I give it 6 stars??

Anyway this is basically all of my favorite things about X-Men comics--exploration of political issues (gay marriage/immigration)! Exploration of identity! Gambit and Wolverine on a roadtrip! X-Men team bonding via karaoke! Sassy Avengers cameos! KITTENS EVERYWHERE!

I WISH IT NEVER HAD TO END but if it did, this is a great great last volume for Astonishing.

I LOVE Lemony Snicket. This isn't news. I love his clever wordplay and melancholy noir Jr aesthetic and his wild literary allusions.

13 Suspicious Incidents is great because it's 13 Encyclopedia Brown-style mini-mysteries, so it's mostly just pure, unconcentrated Snicket style without any big sweeping conspiracies. I laughed out loud several times while reading this, and I think I successfully guessed 2 of the 13 mysteries. (I'm not good at mysteries.)

I'm kind of mad that I started reading the print version before learning that the audio is read by a bunch of nerds I love, including Ira Glass, Sarah Vowell, and Rachel Maddow?? What is happening?? I might have to revisit this one on audio at some date in the future.

Gah, this was so cute. I love Zuz and Mik from [b:The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy|20706293|The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy|Laini Taylor|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1393217615s/20706293.jpg|40026186] and it was just really nice to see their (literally) magical first date. A sweet little interlude from the intense demon v angel warfare of the main books.

Okay, first of all, I think maybe this could have been a 4-book series, rather than a trilogy, because this book was 600 pages long. But I read all 600 in one day, so, whatever, I guess it's fine.

Anyway, I've loved this trilogy, in spite of how many made-up places and names it tried to trick me into remembering. Joke's on you, book, I've already forgotten the names of the different tribes of angels.

I started this book off with a jolt of [b:Allegiant|18710190|Allegiant (Divergent, #3)|Veronica Roth|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395582745s/18710190.jpg|15524549] panic--oh shit, was I supposed to remember this from the last book? What is happening? and then I realized that it starts off by introducing a new character. Whew. The new character, Eliza Jones, is a black scientist with a secret, and she's awesome.

Then we caught back up with Karou & company, and there was some stuff that I actually did not remember, but Laini Taylor did a solid job reminding me of everything important without it being exposition overkill. (Honestly, I wouldn't mind at all if series books just started off with a "Previously" chapter. Or did that Babysitters Club thing where the first chapter just reintroduces everyone.) Like seriously, it's been over a year since I read [b:Days of Blood and Starlight|12812550|Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #2)|Laini Taylor|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337964452s/12812550.jpg|17961723], how am I supposed to remember so many fake people/creatures? I ask you.

this review has degenerated into me yelling at books to get off my lawn. Also I know I could just re-read series books before I start the next one, but that would cut into my twitter time.

SOOO ANYWAY the book itself.

Spoiler

Now that I'm actually sitting down to think about it, instead of just poring through it to find out how it ends... wow man there is a lot of complicated angel shit that went down, like, what even. Like if you forced me to write a plot summary, every sentence would end in a question mark. There were 13 tribes of angels? And they accidentally... broke the magical portals that connect worlds? And let evil gods in? Except for 1 super powerful tribe of angels who tried to stop them? And... their half-blood child Akiva... can... fix the sky portal? And... something...? And... they all live happily ever after... ish???

tl;dr I love this trilogy for its characters and magic and world-building, and for Taylor's gorgeous writing, and so I will forgive it being possibly too long and exposition-y for my own personal liking. A reader who didn't rage-quit the Game of Thrones books like I did would probably have no complaints about this book.

PS there's a cult in this one, and as we all know, cults enhance every story.

I love a good haunted boarding school as much as the next person. Actually probably more than the next person. Liv, Forever is an adequate example.

I spent the first 1/3 or so being a bit fed up with Liv. She's different from all the other girls. You know, the shallow ones. Unlike them, she's artsy. All of her thoughts are dotted with references to famous works of art. Liv's inner monologue could be a great study guide for an Art History 101 course.

Then Liv gets murdered and becomes more interesting. I was pretty into the whole ghostly secret society business.

Recommended if you read [b:The Name of the Star|13595639|The Name of the Star (Shades of London, #1)|Maureen Johnson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1338652359s/13595639.jpg|14037039] and wanted to follow it up with something similar, yet less good.

So... the new 52 decided to reboot Wonder Woman by making her Percy Jackson? That's fine I guess? Kind of convoluted? Ended on a cliffhanger that made me want to pick up the next volume, though.

I'm still not super clear on what is happening here??

But for real, librarians: the new 52 Wonder Woman is a definite readalike for Percy Jackson.

A definite readalike for [b:Thirteen Reasons Why|1217100|Thirteen Reasons Why|Jay Asher|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333822506s/1217100.jpg|2588213], [b:The Perks of Being a Wallflower|22628|The Perks of Being a Wallflower|Stephen Chbosky|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1363910637s/22628.jpg|2236198], and other books about articulate depressed/suicidal youth.

I think it will really resonate with a lot of teens. For me, coming right after [b:Liv, Forever|18077961|Liv, Forever|Amy Talkington|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1392848882s/18077961.jpg|25384385], I was a little bit like, "Yeah, okay, I get it, Leonard. You're DIFFERENT from all those other SHEEP."

Still, I appreciated Leonard's candor as a narrator and I definitely felt for him.