I applaud Elliot for being able to tell his story with such openness. The chapters jump back and forth through time, which makes it a bit hard to follow on audio. I think anyone who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community will find resonance in the struggles of a world set in the binary. I do want to get a copy from my library so I can go find some quotes that I found so poignant, as there were several that really hit.

Wowowowowwowowowwwwww! Truly masterful fantasy writing. I am in awe of Jemisin's mind. This is technically a reread, but I honestly remembered even less than the first book which I reread last month. Now going into the third book which I've never read I cannot imagine how this is going to end, but I can't wait!

Cora is one of my favorite characters in this series so it was nice to get more page time with her. It was interesting to have this other school which is pretty much the opposite of what we're used to from the Wayward Children school.

While this isn't my typical cup of tea when it comes to fantasy, I did enjoy this. It's very cozy, a bit funny, and whimsical.
The romance felt a bit lackluster to me - it's a historical kind of setting so in a way it reads like a historical romance in that aspect, where everything is very internal (also because the book is written in journal entries). 

Masters of Death asks the question what is the price of immortality? We follow several creatures: vampire, ghost, demigod, demon, angel, reaper... and a mortal whom is the godson of Death, as they navigate a treacherous game played by immortals. The inter-character dynamics are top notch. This book is full of witty banter, laugh out loud moments, and a bit of heartbreak (it wouldn't be an Olivie book without some).

I truly don't understand how Olivie Blake's mind comes up with these stories. I'm in awe of her writing. She has such a particular way of describing things so beautifully that scratches a part of my brain. Her characters are so interesting, complex and well developed.

Rebecca Roanhorse is one of the best fantasy writers out there. I would've loved to spend more time in this world.

I went into this having not really liked her first book also thinking that I was reading her second book (which I was told to read cause it apparently has two vegan main characters?). ANYWAY I did like this a lot more than The Love Hypothesis.
Some things about Hazelwood's writing are a bit cringe to me, it's like certain phrases used that can take me out of it, but I can mostly overlook them. I did appreciate that this was paced well as far as the romance cause I’ve been reading too many insta love books recently 😑 I also really like the concept of this book being about Elsie finding ways to speak up for herself instead of placating to everyone around her. Definitely want to send this book to my friend who works in science academia. Also whoever narrates this is fantastic I’m gonna look them up! 

MC has diabetes. Side character is ACE.

The worldbuilding was so rich, unique and well developed. There's a lot of folklore and oral storytelling that happens within the story which I love. Like stories within stories to explain the history and traditions. Court politics, found family, complex characters. Really a fantastic YA fantasy and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves that genre!

audiobook was also well narrated (I did a mix)

I came to this series having read Fonda Lee’s other series The Green Bone Saga (which I highly recommend!!!). 

I tell myself I’m not a big sci-fi person, but I also haven’t read a ton of it, and what I have read I haven’t loved (with a couple exceptions). This falls into that category. Fonda is really good at world building, but  if I didn’t know it was written by the same author as GBS I never would’ve guessed. GBS is on a whole other LEVEL!!! I wasn’t blown away by this and it didn’t capture my full attention really. Idk if I would read the sequel, I’m like mildly curious what happens but I also feel like I could *probably* guess how it ends. There’s a bit of a romance subplot but it felt very YA insta-love-y.
There’s little details that don’t make sense for such a futuristic sci-fi novel - like idk if they said exactly what year it would be hypothetically, but this was published in 2017 and I think they said there had been 100 years of peace with the aliens so like….. why do they have plastic bottles and garbage bags? In all that time with advanced alien technology things like that haven’t changed? This was surprising to me because Lee’s other series the attention to these minor details is superbly done. It’s surprising that she wrote this series in tandem almost with GBS.

OBSESSED WITH THIS! Read it in one sitting! Olivie Blake's writing is just too good. Elisabeth is one of the most badass characters I've read. It's hard to do a fantasy novella and not feel like you wish it had been longer. Obviously I loved this so I would've totally read more pages, but the story felt complete and not like it was too short.