Um I can't believe that Douglas Fairbanks definitely probably shot a man during a stunt. But this was a good little story.

Typical middle book slump.

You should know first that I hate cancer books. This is not a cancer book.

This is a book about life, and what gives it meaning. This is a book about love, and what can save it. This is a book about purpose, and what that purpose looks like when you don't know if you'll be there to serve that purpose in a year, or two years, or ten.

This book will remind you why we live at all, and how important the human connection really is.

Varlow is a shining light.

I never would have picked this up on my own, but the generous and lovely Nicki sent me a copy and I'm so glad she did.

Tawwab's tone is gentle and soothing, which made me feel a bit like a cat with its back up being calmed down by a gentle veterinarian -- but that's kind of the point. She wants to encourage you to inspect your life, see where you need boundaries, and then she provides you with the tools to set those boundaries. Reading this made me reflect a lot on the things I've learned from my parents, and I feel that I have pretty good work and family boundaries. But I definitely struggle with setting boundaries with my friends (for example, I hate being called Stef, but I also hate asking people to call me Stefanie because I feel like they're going to be hurt which is so dumb but listen, we're all only human).

Really considering that I need to read more self-help books like this.

God this series just fell apart. It should have been a standalone.

Spoiler

And once again, fuck any book where the nice guy best friend gets the girl.

I liked the dark academia vibes, the adult content, the big themes, the magic.

But I never really cared about any of the characters. Not much actually happens over the course of the book: it's lots of backstory and magic exposition and navel gazing. I never got a good sense of the magic world, all of the edges of the story felt fuzzy. The ending was a fun twist, but since you can't see it coming and it's so unbelievably wild, it feels like it's trying to make up for the flaws of the rest of the story, and it just doesn't.

I'll probably read the next one, but I'm not terribly excited about it.

A lot of photos, quotes, and biographical information about Audrey Hepburn. It was interesting but written in a strange way, as if the author didn't really like Hepburn. The pictures were neat but I wouldn't read it again.

Love the spiral binding as a quick reference guide for beginners!