This is one of the most hopeful, optimistic, inspiring books I've read lately, which is hard to fathom because it's a post-apocalyptic story that deals so heavily with PTSD and living after huge losses. But I guess it just goes to show: it's all in how you handle the subject. This is a story about people in pain who gradually find healing, and it's so beautifully focused on community and connections. While it's a character-centric book first and foremost, I've got to say I got really invested in the post-war, post-apocalyptic setting, all the intricacies of the society inhabiting it, all the ways it has fucked the characters up in the past and all the opportunities it provided for them to get better. There's the kind of complete unity between setting, plot, and characters here that I absolutely dig.

I very much enjoyed how the polyamory was handled, and all the different connections formed in the community: friendships, friendships with benefits, romance, an intense emotional connection with a sexual component that wasn't in fact romantic, allyships, familiar relations. All of these different relationships felt so real and so completely human. I also loved how trauma was handled, and how clearly it was shown that interacting with the world through the lens of your trauma will lead to fuck-ups, and it's completely understandable, but it's not an excuse.

I came for the romance, but I honestly stayed for the entire cast and all those connections. It was beautiful to witness the story of such a diverse community made up of flawed yet genuinely kind people striving to do good by themselves, each other, and the broken world they inherited. Absolutely every relationship/interaction held my complete interest. Like, I would never expect myself to be so fully invested in the plot thread about the romantic lead sorting out things with his ex who wants them to get back together when things between the two LIs are shaky, and yet here I am.

I also randomly want to note the way Clark's chronic pain is handled, all those ways, big and small, in which it impacts various areas of life, and how at the same time that pain never defined him, outside of the moments when he semi-consciously chose to define himself by his disability. This was awesomely written and so, so relatable. Also, I love Hadas and her dog. And all those times I wanted to give Van a hug and a shake at the same time? Good times. Plenty of feels.

There was a tiny bit of rockiness here, too, like a bunch of scenes feeling kinda... summarized and stilted, and the two POVs/plotlines not always intersecting in the smoothest of ways. But honestly, these flaws were super easy to overlook in favor of all the beauty and kindness this story provides in spades.

I think I liked the idea of this book way more than the book itself. The blurb and the beginning were rather promising! I enjoyed seeing a rock star character gripping with chronic pain and fatigue, and the fairly sensitive way those things were treated. Unfrotunately, I never got a strong enough feel for Max as a person beyond that. Perhaps there simply wasn't enough space for his character to shine in this short book.

I also very much enjoyed the idea of an older NB love interest, except unlike Max who was at least rather sympathetic, Eli (the LI) disappointed me in a lot of ways. He just wasn't a pleasant person, or anyone I felt like rooting for. I didn't like how they subtly tried to make their instant feelings for Max Max's problem without letting Max actually have a say in how the situation developed. Eli simply decided that this was it, the two of them stood no chance, and Max's opinion seemed to matter so little he wasn't even allowed to form and voice it. I didn't like the betrayal of confidence later with the article, and I really didn't buy the HFN. This couple just didn't work for me.

I also have a problem with how the NB rep was handled. It started promising with Max asking for Eli's pronouns as well as name when they first met, etc, but despite Eli clearly indicating he/they pronouns, Max only ever used the "he" pronoun throughout the entire book, like the other one and all it represents didn't matter. Idk, it just felt shallow to me.

Also, the pacing was honestly pretty rocky, with some scenes getting dragged out and some parts rushing past, and that didn't add to my enjoyment of the story either. It's a pity—I really wanted to like this book, since it was recommended to me by someone whose opinions I value and it sounded like just the read for me. Alas, something just didn't click.

To be honest, I find it really, really hard to think of this book as a novel. It read more like a collection of essays with the occasional poem thrown in, or perhaps a memoir. In some ways, it felt like reading a journal. 

I'm in awe of Ocean Vuong's raw, poetic prose; multiple parts of the book hit me really hard, especially everything related to the generational trauma of war hanging over the family, and also the author's thoughts about writing and language. I did feel like everyone but the narrator wasn't so much a character as the narrator's impression/memory/reflection of a person, an attempt to understand them from the outside. As for plot, it's... very definitely not the focus. There's a coming-of-age narrative, absolutely, but it really reads a lot like "this is something that happened, and I'm having thoughts and feelings about it, and here they are"; a collection of losses and gains and reflections upon them. Which is not bad in any way! The book is really, really good! Just... not what I usually envision when I think of novels. Then again, maybe it's just that I don't read that much literary fiction?

This was an enjoyable and highly atmospheric retelling with sone great ace and bi rep. It's worth noting that there are two storylines separate by eighteen years, and the one mentioned in the blurb that led me to pick up the book was the more boring one, tbh. I liked Lou well enough; I related to her struggle to find the balance between finding herself and belonging, and I found her relationship with her Mom, her aunt, and the rest of her family really interesting. However, May's story was simply more compelling. She had a more interesting deal right from the beginning, and while she had a somewhat similar conflict that's typical for YA ("what I want vs what my family needs me to be"), the way it unfolded against the backdrop of witchery and goblin murders was more compelling. I felt like it showcased the vibe of the whole story better, too. That whole thing about already living on the border of a mundane world and a magical one full of withcraft, and then stepping over yt another threshold into the goblin market? Beautifully done and instantly engrossing. Lou's journey was a more typical "I'm just a kid figuring myself out and overlooking some weirdness in my family, and now I've learned that a world of magic exists" one, and it was more predictable and less novel for me.

I felt like the first half of the novel was a lot stronger than the second one. In both storylines, there was some great build-up with big promises, and then the pay-off kind of... fell a little short. Looking back, perhaps it was actually a problem with the first half, too, at least in May's part; by the time we get to the most high-stakes parts, it's already way too clear how most of the big stuff is going to play out. Still, at least the thick atmosphere of beautiful terrors—the undeniable strength of this book—was very much there, whereas in Lou's story it falls a bit to the side. Upon some thinking, I actually like the blatant difference in how May and Lou interacted with the Market: May was strongly susceptible to its draw whereas Lou entered it with a single-minded purpose to find Neela, stuck to it throughout, and distanced herself from all the weirdness to some extent. She overlooked the addictive beauty all the horror was wrapped in and went straight for the horror, whereas May allowed herself to be drawn into the beauty first.

Speaking of horror: there was less of it than I expected from the way the book was presented. The story is definitely more on the fantasy side. But all the body horror bits were appropriately chilling, and everything about the Market, with the constant addictions and abductions it provides, was terrifying, and really, I just need to mention again how atmospheric Bovalino's writing is. Despite some of the book's weaknesses, I really want to read more by this author, especially if the later books end up going even deeper into the horror territory!

I absolutely adored the worldbuilding here. This world—or rather, this collection of worlds and the beautiful, terrible connective tissue between them—is someplace I'd really love to hang out for a while longer. Maybe there's going to be a sequel one day, or some kind of a side story set in the same universe. I'll be super excited to read it!

The story itself was gripping and fast-paced and fit the short length of the book very well. I do kind of wish the book was longer, just so I could learn more about the universe and the characters, but the plot itself takes up exactly as much space as it's given, all the beats are hit hard, and the tension is maintained throughout. There were maybe a couple of sections, one early on and another near the middle, where things felt like they were slowing down unnecessarily in favor of pushing some more worldbuilding details forth, but they were short.

The characters, unfortunately, felt somewhat underdeveloped, with the exception of Esther, the MC, who was awesome. I love seeing older characters kick ass and take names, instead of endlessly getting relegated to the role of wise mentors who dispense some advise and then watch from the sidelines while their kids or other younger people venture out into the wild to have adventures. Esther instead gets to rescue her son, and she's awesome at it, and her life experiences shine through in her entire character. But all the other people (and, well, representatives of other species) that surround her never felt quite as alive and developed—possibly because of the emphasis on the plot and the worldbuilding. A lot of the moments that I felt could have really showcased some of the characters if done differently got unfortunately lost in the kind of dialogue that was a bit too close to "As you know, Bob" territory. This threw me off a bit, as I'm a very character-focused reader. However, the story and the worldbuilding were really exciting in spite of the above. Also, dragons! Dragons here were super cool.

For the most part, I really enjoy this! There are so many great things about this book. I absolutely adored the main characters. April captivated me with her combination of strength, kindness, and self-awareness. She's so careful and firm about borders, both her own and those of other people, and even when she's rightfully hurt and upset, she's willing to analyze the situation and admit to her part in making it wrong.  She's the kind of character who's just so unapologetically herself, even when the world makes it hard for her to be, and I love that about her. I also love how her arc, as a fat character, wasn't in the slightest about overcoming insecurities about her body. On the contrary, it was about making it clear to the people around her that she wouldn't accept their opinions, criticism, and toxic do-gooding (is that a word? now it's a word). 

Marcus, in turn, won my heart with his open-mindednes, his awareness of his privelege, and his earnest desire to make himself a safe person to be around. I love how introspective he is, even when it would have been easier to evade an unpleasant topic in his thoughts, and how it's honest introspection and reflection, not just letting that unpleasant topic stew over in his mind and make him miserable. He genuinely wants to make things better for others *and* for himself, even though with the latter, the past baggage often makes it difficult. Throughout the story, from the very start, he is constantly growing and learning, and it's a wonderful process to witness. I very much appreciated how his dyslexia was handled by the narrative, showing that a learning disability and acute intelligence aren't mutually exclusive in the slightest.

It was really great to see these two genuinely good people come together and make each other happy. I liked how while the premise is super tropey—"fan meets star, they fall for each other"—that trope is actually held up and examined, with all of its implications. The power imbalance, the danger of fetishization, the public scrutiny, all of those have a place in the plot, are openly discussed, and handled maturely. I also loved how while a big part of the story hinges on all those layers of mistaken identities and falsehoods, the falsehoods are never treated as okay, and they co-exist with plenty of openness, mutual sharing, emotional vulnerability, and raw honesty. It was also very pleasant to read all those fandom-focused bits, the experts from the in-universe fan fiction, and especially the dialogues from the fandom servers. So familiar and so relatable! 

Also, it was awesome to see characters in their thirties have arcs focused on sorting out their relationships with their parents. Emotional separation from the childhood baggage doesn't end a few years after you become a legal adult, especially when there are wounds as significant as the ones April and Marcus have. In this regard, this is honestly such an important story about loving people you can't help but love, people who love you as well, and also realizing that love or not, you also have the right to be respected and to stand up for yourself, and it's scary af, no matter how old you are, but eventually you need to do it. A lot of those parents-related moments, especially in Marcus's arc, hit me so hard.

The things that I didn't like so much: the last 10-20% or so. :D I enjoyed the happy ending and all that, but I also felt like the author maybe rushed to wrap things up and the way some plot threads played out at the end was a tad too convenient. Also, I never quite clicked with the author's prose; it was a tad too verbose for me, I think, though it didn't stand in the way of enjoying the story. It just made it harder. And also, a very minor grip: namedropping Game of Thrones late in the book. Like, come on, I thought Gods of the Gates was supposed to be this alternate universe's Game of Thrones, but soapier! Otherwise, why weren't all those fans constantly talking about the uncanny coincidences, like the author refusing to write the last couple of books, the show going downhill from the moment the source material ended, the final season being a trainwreck of ruined character arcs, even the small details like the creators having the same initials? That tiny bit kind of ruined my immersion, not gonna lie. :D

I really expected to enjoy this book. I mean, a second chance royal bodyguard fantasy romance with political intrigue and magic? Sounds right up my alley! But alas, in practice... th book and I, we never really clicked. I continue to like the idea of it, but I was disappointed by the execution.

The worldbuilding is full of promise and interesting ideas, but it's hard to pull them together into a coherent picture because the author kept swinging between two extremes when delivering all those details. Either there were endless boring infodumps, or it was just, you know, pages of characters carrying on in their world without explaining anything. I vastly prefer the second approach when it's done right, but here, it just... wasn't. Like, I still have no idea what a Prime Paladin even is. Is it the King's special personal bodyguard who's supposed to be at the King's side at all times? But Balen wasn't that. Is it someone who has some sort of special authority over other Paladins? Balen wasn't that either. He often deferred to Lestr and whatever authority he sometimes displayed when interacting with his brethren seemed to come more from his personality, skills, and pre-established relationships with them.

The prose felt as uneven and swingy as the worldbuilding: too sparse sometimes, then too convoluted. The characters were rather flat. At the beginning, I was intrigued by Zavrius and by his relationship with Balen, but then for the longest time, these two were just stuck in some kind of limbo, never making any progress. I wish I knew more about their backstories, like the details of their past relationship and also just the details of their individual pasts. A few flashback chapters/scenes would have gone a long way. Oh, and while I'm on the subject of characters: there are LOTS of named characters in the book, but we only really get to know 4-5 of them, including the main duo. And with the somewhat rocky pacing, it wasn't always clear which characters meant something and would have at least some shining moments down the line and which characters were basically decorations. Come to think of it, the same issue is present with the worldbuilding: with the way it was delivered, it was often hard to tell what was meaningful and what was flavor (a lot of it was flavor), so that made it hard to keep my focus.

As for the plot, most of the stars I'm giving this book have been earned by the political intrigues and mysteries that held a lot of promise. I just, once again, wish they were executed better. And I also wish the characters made smarter choices in relation to them, or suffered harder consequences for some of the... not-so-smart things they did.

I remember absolutely loving this book the first time I read it, in big part because I think it was the first romance with a nonbinary/genderfluid I've ever laid my hands on. That alone was incredibly exciting and made me overlook any possible flaws of the story.

This time around, well, I still really enjoyed the genderfluid representation and how it was handled, but I was less invested in the romance from some early-ish point on. I didn't really feel like the two characters really clicked together. Yes, Mark was accepting and understanding, outside of the moments where he believed that the ways of the world simply wouldn't let Pen be fully himself (using the pronoun Pen uses). Yes, they laughed about ducks in bed together. Yes, they shared a bunch of sweet moments. But I just... I don't know. I feel like from both sides the general vibe was more... a very understandable relief at being accepted as is? The characters felt so different—not to the point of being incompatible, but different enough that I struggled to ship them. Don't get me wrong, I have my share of favorite "opposites attract" love stories (the previous book in this very series is one!), but I love the sort of opposites who have something really, really similar at their core. I don't know, I guess this part is a little hard to put into words.

Anyway, I appreciated the sensitivity of the genderqueerness and the disability rep, I loved the sibling bond between Pen and Greta, and I adored the appearances of all the past books' characters, especially Justin Lazarus, who is a delight and a treasure. Especially in that one scene about, you know, the terrible accident. The act of divine providence. You know the one. Speaking of: the last beats of the overarching mystery are really exciting, and the awful aristocratic society is suitably awful. Maybe I should finally get around to reading A Society of Gentlemen, because I want more awful aristocrats and some good people trying to get by around them, and I also continue to be on a K.J. Charles kick.

I'm not even sure why the first days of spring made me crave reading a Christmas romance, but I'm sure glad it happened because otherwise, this novella would still be chilling on my TBR and I would be seriously deprived of a good mood. 

Handmade Holidays is what I call a "warm blanket" book: a quick, gentle read that reminds you of all the good that still exists in this complicated world. In so few pages, it covers a decade and a half of Christmases, slowly showing change after change in the protagonist's life, but mainly focusing on the constants, and how those constants evolve yet stay the same in essence. It's an absolute celebration of found family. It's also a beautiful slow burn friends-to-lovers romance, where the relationship takes its sweet time to evolve because sometimes, you move through lives in somewhat different trajectories and it takes time and change to arrive at a place where you both look at each other and think, "Yes. This is it. I want to try."

It was delightful to meet/see mentions of characters from other Little Village books, and just to delve into this whole atmosphere of acceptance and comfort 'Nathan Burgoine does so well. There are no doubt some sad moments here, but love and friendsihp always win.

I guess I should admit it: Adriana Herrera just isn't the romance author for me. Every time I try a book of hers, I face the same problem. Both leads are interesting characters who sound like they would work well together, but then the progression of their relationship just... isn't anything I can find myself getting invested in. They get the hots for each other way before they catch feelings, or cause a strong emotional response in each other, or do absolutely anything I can relate to. :D I definitely wouldn't call that a flaw. I'm sure there are plenty of allosexual person who find this kind of thing relatable and engaging. I'm just not one of them. In case of this particular novel, it didn't help that a lot of the parts that could bring some relationship development were condensed into a passing mention. The characters went on a date and really enjoyed their time together, yay! But you, reader, don't get to see that date. Let's just jump into the sexy times after. Now that does feel like a flaw!

At the same time, even without getting invested into the romantic plotline, I did find plenty to like about it. All the glimpses of the Afro-Caribbean culture. The amazing food description. The awesome found family vibes. The frank discussion of the issues immigrants face, and the scars left by a religious upbringing on someone who isn't accepted by their Church, and workaholism being treated as a problem and not just a character quirk. I loved both Nesto and Jude as individuals, even if I didn't ship them much, and I loved the people that surrounded them and lifted them up. This is a good book that deserves a high number of stars, it's just not the romance for me!