skudiklier's Reviews (647)

I really enjoyed this book! It's nice to see a YA book where the protagonist clearly has so many of the same values as me, and I related a lot to some of the situations with her parents. I also appreciated how clearly the characters condemn JKR, and how quidditch is so separated from her and the harm she's done. 

My only complaints with this book are personal--the writing is good, it kept me hooked, and I feel like it all comes together pretty well at the end. However, I just found so many of the relationships incredibly frustrating to read. I think her friends treat her terribly

and just sort of get away with it

, and her parents are so unreasonable at times

(though they at least apologize in a better way in the end)

. I left high school nearly six years ago but it turns out I'm still not over some of the stuff that happened with my parents during that time, because I kept finding myself really stressed out reading this. 

Again, those issues were just on my end, not the author's. I think the frustrating and confusing relationships make sense for a book about coming of age, teenage angst, and the transition between high school and college. I think all of them are just barely becoming who they'll be once they're not living with their families, and it's really lovely to see. Also, it made me want to try playing quidditch (again). 

I really liked this movie when I was younger, and always wanted to read the book because I heard it was a lot better. And though I can see how people who read it first would think that, and to be fair I haven't seen the movie in a while, I'm really not sure I would have liked it much if I didn't have the context of the movie. It was funny and entertaining, for sure, but it was also was extremely Written By A Man (i.e. somewhat sexist and with no real female characters?) and like, idk, I just would have found it pretty chaotic and hard to follow if I hadn't seen the movie first. I'm probably not going to read the rest of the series but I don't at all regret reading this one. 

Going in, I was a little worried How to Be Perfect would have too many references to The Good Place (even though that's one of my favorite shows of all time), or would be too funny or quippy to really get to the core complicated issues we need guidance on. And it's true that this book is on the whole relatively light-hearted in tone, and Schur definitely includes a fair number of jokes and silly scenarios to keep the book entertaining. But at its heart, How to Be Perfect addresses really serious questions about what it means to be a person living with other people. It's very clear he thinks this is all incredibly important, and has thought about this himself a great deal; after having finished it, I'm grateful to him for sharing this so that readers can use this to become better people.

He addresses so many things I worry about—how much should I donate to important causes vs. how much do I allow myself to spend on things I enjoy? What do you do in situations where you feel hopeless because there's no real ethical consumption under capitalism? Where do you draw the line on consuming art made by people who have done bad things? How and when do you address a family member's racist comments? What makes a good apology? How do you reconcile supporting one thing and condemning another?

Another thing I appreciate is that he doesn't let himself off the hook—even when he explains how he realized all banks are terrible and that switching banks would be really difficult and maybe it's okay to not switch banks, he later looked more into it, found some less terrible banks, and did all the annoying terrible work to switch his account. Then he reflects on how a lot of why he justified it to himself was laziness, and uses that as an example of how we need to do the work to be better, when we can.

And that "when we can" part is important. After going through the major philosophical concepts and how we can use them to think about complicated situations, he also addresses so many important factors in this conversation, like privilege and class and context. This book doesn't ignore anything, and I appreciate that so much. I've come across a lot of books written by relatively famous people that just sort of skate across the surface without getting into anything actually challenging, and I was relieved that this was not one of those books.

While How to Be Perfect doesn't actually give you the right answer to every moral question, it does put you in a much better place in terms of how to go about figuring out what you think the right answer is. And it encourages you to keep trying to be better, even though you'll inevitably fail; learn from your mistakes, and do better next time. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

I don't really like horror, so I was really hesitant going into this book, and only read it for a book club. But I'm glad I did; though it was definitely dark and at times upsetting, it was also really good. I was fascinated by what was happening, and some of the twists really got me. This is the second book I've read by this author and I definitely think I'll look into their other work. 

Also, vague spoilers for the ending, but

I was pleasantly surprised by how happy the ending was.

I loved this book! It covers all kinds of things, and is at times informative, relatable, disheartening, and funny. I found this anthology really enjoyable to read, and also noted down a few things to remember; I learned a few things about myself while reading :) I'd definitely recommend this to any autistic friends, but also people who want to learn more about autism and how varied it can be!

This book is amazing oh my god I can do nothing but scream.

Okay, an attempt to say something more coherent: I love how the poems in this book have so much repetition, go in circles around each other, have so many repeating themes and titles and all that. It's all incredible. Siken is just such an amazing writer, I honestly have no words to describe it.

Okay, wow, I just read this entire book today, in practically a single sitting. I absolutely adored it. Sure, some of the writing in the very beginning felt a bit forced, but once I was hooked I was hooked.

This is a really cute love story, with some of my favorite tropes done really well. I didn't even realize until I read the acknowledgements that the authors are married, which makes it even cuter. I'd definitely recommend this to any romance fans.

And (spoilers)

I was reeeaaally glad it was explicitly acknowledged how manipulative Natalie was to Alex. I was really worried for a minute that we were supposed to think that was an okay way to treat someone you're with.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

This was a really informative and important read; as an autistic person who probably would have been diagnosed with Asperger's if anyone had caught on to my autism as a child, this was at times difficult to read on an emotional level, but I think any feeling person would have felt similarly anyway. I'm really glad I read this, as I now know more of the context and history behind autism, and have stronger arguments for those who want to say using the term "Asperger's" or terms like "high-functioning" are fine. I would definitely recommend reading this to anyone remotely interested. Just be sure to take care of yourself, especially if you're disabled or have any other personal connection to groups targeted in the Holocaust.

This book is heartbreaking, in a slow and unusual way. The writing is beautiful, and though it felt pretty slow for the first half, I'm glad I read it. I think I'd recommend waiting to read the foreword until after you've finished the book. 

I'm a big fan of Allison, so I'll admit that I was excited to read this book more because she wrote it than because of its contents. But I do also have anxiety, and though I've been in a happy healthy relationship for years, I don't have much experience with dating. So I figured I'd learn things from this book even if I'm not its target audience--and I found it even more helpful than I thought! 

So much of it was just useful for me as mental health info on an individual level. I haven't had almost any therapy for my anxiety since I was a kid, so even though the more early relationship-focused angle was less relevant to my situation, it was still very helpful, both in how I think about my relationship and just generally living with anxiety. I realized some habits and patterns in my relationship might have more to do with my anxiety than I thought, and so I can work on those things too. I definitely screenshotted and took notes on lots of sections of this book. 

It was also just enjoyable to read; I started this book while in the middle of several others, and ended up abandoning all the other ones to speed through this one. Out of all the novels and everything else, this was the most interesting and engaging one I was reading. 

I also love Allison's voice as a writer. I'm sure it helped that I'm familiar with her work and style, and maybe some of the humor or tone wouldn't come across the same way to a different reader. But I for one enjoyed it and it felt like listening to a friend. 

This book has really helpful and concrete advice for living with a mental illness, for dating, and for doing both at once; I would honestly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of if they fit the specific "person with anxiety, OCD, and/or depression who is looking to date new people" profile. This book covers topics from how to date productively to going on medication to talking about sex, and I think literally anyone would find something useful inside. Even if you're entirely neurotypical, you could use the general dating advice, and odds are you have some kind of relationship (not necessarily romantic) with someone with a mental illness. I think this book could help you know better how to communicate with them, and understand what life is like for them. 

Overall I loved this book! I'm so glad Allison wrote it; thanks to Netgalley and Workman Publishing Company for the chance to read and review this ARC.