Fantastic. Funny, clever, and cut-throat poetic retellings of fairy tales, with a bent toward deconstructing contemporary body image garbage.

Recommended for fans of [a:Francesca Lia Block|9072|Francesca Lia Block|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1339015762p2/9072.jpg].

I read this all in one day. I couldn't put it down! I suspect if I'd spent longer trying to think about the science of time travel, I might find some flaws in it. But ehh I didn't.

I liked the environmental message--nothing too controversial by now, for sure, but still. Climate change is happening, y'all.

Recommended for fans of... Back to the Future? IDK. Not a good readalike for the [b:The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants|452306|The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Sisterhood, #1)|Ann Brashares|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388320534s/452306.jpg|1058370] books--it's pretty lacking in the female friendship aspect, and also it's a sci-fi ecological thriller? Eh you know probably a good readalike for [b:Matched|7735333|Matched (Matched, #1)|Ally Condie|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1367706191s/7735333.jpg|9631645], [b:Delirium|11614718|Delirium (Delirium, #1)|Lauren Oliver|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327890411s/11614718.jpg|10342808], that kind of romance-y dystopia-y thing.

Funny, engaging YA that's insightful about the life of Harry, who was almost struck by lightning when he was 8 (instead, he was burned by branches from the tree that was struck by lightning) and has grown up with literal and figurative scars from the experience. Like a mix of [b:Wonder|11387515|Wonder|R.J. Palacio|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366213431s/11387515.jpg|16319487] and [b:Fat Kid Rules the World|50925|Fat Kid Rules the World|K.L. Going|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327962011s/50925.jpg|2337116], in a good way.

Ahh okay. When I announced my intention to read my first Tamora Pierce book, a lot of people were very excited for me, and a few people said they thought maybe you had to grow up with Tamora Pierce to really appreciate her, and I could totally see that being the case.

I thought it was cool that it was a fantasy police procedural rather than a straightforward fantasy quest, and I liked the social commentary aspects of it. And I could totally, totally see how young girls would love this kind of plucky, magical, talented orphan girl protagonist.

Anyway, overall I thought this was... fine? A bit too long for my taste, and a bit too... well, it had a map of a made-up place in it. And a super long list of characters. Yet it did not have a glossary for all the weird made-up slang. Like, I get why you need new words to describe magical stuff, sure, but why in magic land are we calling girls "mots" and boys "coves" now? Why. BUT that's me and my grumpfest, I know there are plenty of people who would view that as a bonus.

So, lots of appeal factors for plenty of readers who like fantasy/intro to second wave feminist characters/police procedurals, but not a lot of appeal factors for me personally. But you keep doing what you're doing, Tamora Pierce, cuz I know I'm in the minority here.

PS apparently this is a prequel to some of her other books? Which I do remember the beginning being a letter to somebody about Beka being their ancestor? Possibly there are things a reader would appreciate more if they already knew this world and understood some of the references. The plot certainly stood on its own to a new reader.

Oh jeeze, I stayed up way too late last night to finish reading this because I couldn't put it down. Also, the back cover announced that fans of Mean Girls would love this, which makes me wonder if that person actually read this? Or actually saw Mean Girls? Because Mean Girls is a satire, and this is an intense psychological thriller. They are both about mean girls, so... there's that, I guess.

I want to say the bullying in this is over the top, but given what we see about teen suicides and cyberbullying etc, it must not be, at least not for some teens in some schools.

It's painful to read but, for me, unputdownable. (Partly I had to keep reading because I had a very real sense that at any moment the bullying was going to escalate into straight-up murder.)

Spoiler

It didn't. But it could have.

This is a readalike for books like [b:Before I Fall|6482837|Before I Fall|Lauren Oliver|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1361044695s/6482837.jpg|6674135], [b:Lessons from a Dead Girl|451220|Lessons from a Dead Girl|Jo Knowles|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320474341s/451220.jpg|439849] and [b:Speak|439288|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1310121762s/439288.jpg|118521]. NOT for the movie Mean Girls.

I'd heard some of these stories on public radio and around the internet, and thought they were funny. And like, pretty much any one of these stories, if I'd seen them posted individually on McSweeney's, I'd probably "like" it or maybe even retweet it.

But when they're all put together, the overall effect is like, Okay, I GET it. I get it, you have an ironically reverent irreverance toward pop culture/politics/issues of import. I GET IT.

The audiobook might be more interesting because it's read by a bunch of Office alums & other comedians.

This was really funny and a lot of fun! Reminds me of [b:Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon (Hawkeye|16002136|Hawkeye, Vol. 1 My Life as a Weapon (Hawkeye (Marvel NOW!) #1)|Matt Fraction|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360413248s/16002136.jpg|21502266]--a smart, wry look at a minor character. Although I knew more about Hawkeye than I did about the Sinister Six and I could kind of tell there were some jokes/plot points I wasn't quite getting. Still, it had a lot of VERY funny jokes, and I'm definitely interested to see where this goes. The villain/anti-hero POV is always interesting, and so far I think Nick Spencer is doing a good job of walking the line between keeping Boomerang a relatable narrator without making him some kind of totally misunderstood, "just trying to do the right thing," kind of guy. Boomerang definitely does some straight-up bad guy shit in this book.

I know I'm like the last person on the planet (though not the moon) to read this one, but for the record, I dug the shit out of it! Really cool worldbuilding with a great cyborg protagonist. Makes good use of Cinderella's ~totally unfair~ vibe in a very satisfying way.

Ends on the kind of cliffhanger that made me want to immediately pick up the next book! (Unlike the kind of cliffhanger ending some books have where I just want to read the Wikipedia summary so I can find out what happens without having to actually read another book.)

Recommended for fans of fairy tale retellings, sci-fi fans in general, and cyborgs.

(I waffled between 3 and 4 stars on this but I decided to round up to make up for Veronica Roth getting actual threats from batshit fans.)

Spoiler

First of all, when I started reading this I realized that I remembered baaasically nothing from [b:Insurgent|11735983|Insurgent (Divergent, #2)|Veronica Roth|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1325667729s/11735983.jpg|15524542] and VRoth really, really expected me to do so. I had to go back and read a plot summary online because she really just jumps right in there. I suspect this book would reward those who had read the first two books more closely (and/or more recently) than I did?

Anyway. I felt super validated to learn that the faction system is part of a genetic experiment, because from Book 1 I've been saying that the faction system is BONKERS and I don't understand how any society would evolve to do that. Well, I guess if scientists brainwashed them with serum.

Sidenote: this book uses the word serum a LOT.

Uhh... I enjoyed getting to look behind the curtain at the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. I wasn't super into all the talk of genetic purity and serum and whatever. I mean the concept is fine. There was just a lot of talk about genetics. IDK. Not my jam. I did like the talks about life after factions and learning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the different factions. It felt like an extended Seventeen magazine personality quiz. (Which IS my jam.)

I liked seeing Tris & Four's relationship and the way they dealt with ~challenges~ and ~jealousy.~ It felt both teenage and mature, appropriate for teens who have been through some tough shit.

I guess what people are mad about is mostly that Tris sacrifices herself in the end? But I thought it was appropriate. I mean, she came from Abnegation. Also I just honestly am not that attached to Tris or Four so it didn't have a very strong emotional impact on me. If I cared more about Tris, I'm sure I'd be sadder... but would that make it a bad ending? IDK. I mean I can't talk because I threatened to go into Victorian mourning if the ending of Breaking Bad didn't shake out the way I hoped it would. But since I'm not as involved with this trilogy... eh.

What else... Four's grieving process rang very true to me.

Anyway you should probably read this if, like me, you don't want to be left out of the discussion about popular YA books!! Or if you've already read the other two!! But otherwise, I'm not really gonna call this a must-read or anything!!

Gah! What witchcraft is this? I loved it just as much as I loved the first one! At first I was disappointed to have so many new characters introduced when I really just wanted more about Cinder, but soon I got just as involved with Scarlet and the rest. Yay!