A great follow up to The First Sister! The story stayed true to its predecessor, with the characters and plot moving forward in ways that we’re logical yet suspenseful, surprising. All the great things you loved about The First Sister are back and I can’t wait for the Final Hero to bring this series to its conclusion. 

This story was **wild** and gory and snarky! It’s a slow burner that takes some time to get going, but once action hits, the punches keep going! 

This story is a celebration of queer culture in America from the 70s and today. It feels fresh and new despite being set in one of New York City's older Subway lines. The characters are relatable and quirky and different, yet you feel like you know and love them shortly after meeting them. 

This book is fun, for those who love a good horror movie set in the 80s and 90s. It is gory, and it there were moments when I had to take a break, but I loved this journey. At it's core, this is a story about a woman listening to her gut, being supported by her friends, and reclaiming her agency. Honorable mention to Kitty for bringing the most laughs. 

So if your flaw is being male, then 100% its the main focus of this book. This story was akin to a tense dream, where you are constantly on edge, with the sense of being chased clinging to the back of every thought. It made the book hard to keep reading in the beginning, but it also made it all the more difficult to put down at the end. In my opinion, Beukes was able to pull off some of the best internal dialogue I've read in ages, weaving humour in at just the right moments, and did especially well with the morbid humour Cole develops from the events leading up to the start of the novel, or maybe that was always her sense of humour. Either way, Cole is funny, on top of every other emotion she goes through in the story. And I latched so easily into Cole's brain that Miles felt like my kid, and reading his chapters felt like I was following along as my son entered puberty, constantly feeling torn between the kid he was and the teenager he's becoming. Her sister Billie is someone you love to hate, and at times hate to love. Her f-you attitude jumped off the page. 100% entertaining, like the car chase you watch on Cops. I would probably enjoy partying with her, but would leave before the party got too out of hand, which would be entirely her fault. Would still love to hear about it the next day while we're both hungover and eating pizza. 

So I ended up listening to this book and I had not read Fangirl first, which I think would have helped make me a little more attached to the characters prior, and to also feel a little more attached to the plot earlier on. Otherwise I thought this was a fun read to listen to, and the latter half was really fun as the puzzle pieces of the plot started to piece together. Will definitely pick up the sequel. 

I really loved the book, and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of the lack of diversity of the characters. But This book is both an entertaining romance and a contemplation on writer's block. To be able to laugh along with dialogue one moment and sympathize with the pain of loss in another speaks to the depth of the characters. I think writers will find this book a fun way to jump start on a day of writing, (I struggled between wanting to out the book down to write my own words and to finish the story).