I really enjoyed the mix of horror and historical fiction. I mean, so much of the horror came from the hands of people but the haints and supernatural aspect added to the atmosphere of the novel. This was a very emotional read and I feel like the presence of Gloria’s and Robert Jr’s POVs did bring the emotional level to a 10. I did feel like parts of the story, particularly parts in the middle and the end dragged a bit but also it ended up keeping me engaged because I needed to know what happened. This is an atmospheric and emotional read for those that love a good ghost story.

I rate memoirs based on personal enjoyment because I don’t think people can be rated on their lives.

That said, I think this was a well done memoir and great for a teenage audience. It felt very honest and open and Johnson’s voice comes across in an almost brotherly way. Almost like a mentor. It did feel very repetitive at points and I wish he had let the audience come to their own conclusions rather than explaining what each anecdote symbolized. Again though, this was a wonderful read and extremely valuable.

I was very underwhelmed when reading. It felt like tension would build without any payoff. I disliked the romance subplot and the ending was too heavily foreshadowed. I liked the ghosts and that’s about it. Oh, and the fact that it was short. This didn’t do anything groundbreaking in the horror genre and I probably won’t be reading this again. Maybe if it were longer the plot could’ve been fleshed out more, but otherwise it was short and unenjoyable

This is baby white liberals first insight into racial inequality. It screamed that white liberals were the audience, but the “white” chapter screamed it the loudest. I think it could be a supplemental read to other anti-racist works like White Fragility and it’s a good intro to intersectionality but I would never recommend it by itself. I think Kendi’s analysis was only surface deep and it felt like topics such as “anti-white racism” weren’t handled properly. 

I think he had a limited view point and didn’t recognize WHY Black Americans would have prejudice against white people, or when he brought up Black govt officials assisting racist white officials, his main focus was basic abuse of power rather than the power found within white supremacy, upholding white supremacy and weaponizing it against other marginalized groups.

I did like that his language was accessible to non academic understanding, I liked his definition of racism as a marriage between racist policy and racist ideas, I enjoyed his anecdotes and I liked that he included intersectionality. 

I just wish he took racism in America more than surface deep analysis. I hated his analysis of the Latine community and how he defined it as a race rather than ethnicity, effectively leaving Afro Latine people out of conversations of the victims of racism and the way white Latine people uphold white supremacy. I also dont think that prejudice and racism are interchangeable because the systems of oppression lasting centuries will never be equal to having a few negative ideas about white people. I wish I had gained more from reading this, but I think if you go in thinking it’ll be “how Dr. Kendi unlearned internalized racism” it’s a much better book.

This was such an interesting take on Carrie. Jackson did a great job of pairing the podcast episodes with the actual story. I liked that all of the teens felt like teens, with all the misgiving and worries that were self-centered and selfish. I think the themes of internalize racism, white saviorism and bigotry were well explored, and I liked how the supernatural aspect didn't take away from the gravity of those themes. Madi's character was beautifully done. I think I prefer this to the original Carrie, due to the themes and how expanded both the characters and the plot were in comparison to the original.

There were so many things that ruined my enjoyment starting with the footnotes. I hate when authors feel like they can't trust the reader to google something if they don't understand a reference. I had an ebook version where each footnote was an individual page at the end and I swear there were about 80 of them, all completely unnecessary.

I wish the main focus of the story was Angie's junior year of med school and her relationship with her parents as the oldest child of immigrants. I think those portions of the story were better fleshed out and enjoyable, and I would've ate it up if that was the main focus.

Now, I hated every part of the romance. Angie was extremely male centered. Every feeling she had ended up relating back to the men she wanted to date or previously dated and she had such low self esteem that it was depressing. And Ricky? Fuck Ricky. He gaslight the fuck out of her starting from the second they met. They went on a pseudo date where they talked about everything but he didn't mention his girlfriend?? He gave her a water tribe necklace knowing the significance in the show and then acted like she was crazy for assuming he was into her? Her friends were ass for encouraging both of them to try to get back together. I hated that he blew her off for weeks after she asked to define their relationship after months of practically dating and then acted like she was insane for not trusting him when he was acting shady after they had sex for the first time when he 1. said he dipped because his ex was pregnant and 2. was hiding his phone calls from her. I think she was right to blow up on him and I really hated that everyone tried to tell her that she was the problem. The ending was ass and I think that they easily would've been one of those couples that break up after the HEA. ANGIE NEVER SHOULD HAVE APOLOGIZED TO HIM 

Was I expecting to read a book about Minotaur smut? No. I also wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. There's definitely like, ethical issues regarding how he kept requesting her before their relationship started but after he knew he wanted to pursue her, especially considering she probably would've lost her job if they were found out, but the romance was so cute? I like how Violet tried to make Rourke jealous? I liked the age appropriate age gap? Also usually I find that smut ends up sounding really cringy or weird sometimes, but it was really well written considering that it was about sex with a Minotaur. The happily ever after was satisfying. I fucked with it, and I'll probably end up reading the rest of Nascosta's work.

This fell very short for me. The premise was interesting, teens in a dystopian world live in what they think is a utopia, until their friend and her family goes missing. I think there were too many POVs and the detached writing style made the characters feel one dimensional. The vibes were great but it felt like the actual plot was just major plot points held together with glue and a dream. I liked the way the horror builds as the world is revealed to be worse and worse but overall, this did nothing for me.

Tiffany D. Jackson did it again. This was super creepy. While I don't mind gore, I think not including anything too descriptive added to the atmosphere. Jackson yet again brings so many topics in and does it masterfully. Racism, both interpersonal microaggressions and systemic racism is addressed. Marigold suffers from both OCD and anxiety, as well as using weed as a coping mechanism. I think that the atmosphere was sufficiently creepy and I liked that because of Marigold's anxiety, it made it hard to tell what was actually happening versus what her fears were. I just wished there was more from the ending as it felt abrupt, and I wish we learned more about what happened in the town afterwards.

I think this was a pretty enjoyable thriller, if somewhat predictable. This had a really slow start but I loved all the little hints and clues that led up to a twist or reveal. Cold did a good job of integrating history into the story without it feeling like too much of an info dump. I hated the romance subplot. It felt really unnecessary especially as we learn about the ex husband. But overall, this was super interesting and I'll be keeping an eye out for more Alyssa Cole.