Final verdict? I liked it. I actually liked it far more than I was expecting to based on my initial thoughts:

First 50-60% of the book? Maybe 1 and a 1/2 stars...
Last 40 - 50% of the book? Probably 4 stars. I was definitely surprised how it turned around for me.

Initial thoughts at 17% of the way through the book:
"I am not into this one. I feel like the author believes everything has to be funny and that teenagers only speak in sarcasm. Everything comes second to the witty one liners.
I didn’t even know Sophie was actually in the band she’s fundraising for until she told August what she played at a party, like six or seven chapters in. I remember now she mentioned when practice started in the summer, but it wasn't a detail that stuck."

At the end of the book:
The characters really did it for me. I came to actually love Sophie and Flora, and I already kind of liked Brit but I wound up loving her too. August was alright. But this was so much more about the friend group than it was a romance, even if the first chapters didn't promise that. This is actually a book that didn't live up to it's promise and I'm SO GLAD it didn't because the book the first few chapters promised was so full of tropes and felt hokey and contrived. I felt like the author had never been in band and probably hadn't talked to anyone in band and I was pretty stuck on that. That and NO ONE parties that much, not even in the summer, and especially not band kids.

I really liked the ending of the whole Megan Pleasant drama, not to give any of that away. Also, I was pretty blindsided by a couple of reveals, so that was nice. I'll definitely read more of this author's works.

Oh my...

So I read this book as the first of my self imposed Thanksgiving 24 Hour Read-A-Thon and wow, what a way to get started.

I knew this was poetry and I wanted a soft start to feel like I started off with a great deal of progress. I wasn't expecting this one to patch such an emotional punch. Drink plenty of water with this one and keep some tissues handy. You'll be laughing and crying all the way through.

I love the distinct personalities of Grace and Tippi and how immediately Grace is distinguishable as quiet, a bit reserved, and a peacekeeper, while Tippi is outspoken, blunt, and goes full-throttle. Their friends Yazmeen and Jon are as fully rounded as they can be as side characters in a two hour long story. Dragon, the younger sister to our main characters, is also a fully fledged character in her own right. I'd love a sequel from her point of view.

This is one beautiful book and I'll keep this author on my follow list.

Lovely. This works as a perfect devotional for Advent and also is thematic, which lends itself to helping create sermons (if that's your thing).

Islam by Karen Armstrong is an academic introduction to the intersection of politics and religion in Islam. The beginning is excellent. The middle absolutely loses the narrative and becomes a mostly boring academic diatribe. The end brings the book somewhat back on track with the advent and explanation of fundamentalism in Islam. It's not a bad book but it does take an unmistakably dry turn.

If not for the audiobook I wouldn't have finished this one. I did learn valuable information though.

Mary Trump's expose of what it was like to grow up in the Trump family focuses more on her father than on her uncle Donald, but I don't think that's a drawback. Although Donald would argue, no one is self made, and Donald's family troubles shaped who he is today and who he will be tomorrow. And now those family traumas are shaping the nation.

If you want to know why and how someone becomes a person without much empathy and who clings to their narrative despite fact, let Mary explain it to you.

I will be thinking of this book for years to come and I know this is a story I will revisit and read again and again. Perhaps that's the highest praise that can be awarded to any book.

The Book of Longings focuses on the fictional wife of Jesus, Ana, who is not just his wife but his partner and equal in her own mission. Ana wishes to write the stories of women who have not been allowed a voice - women from scripture and women from her own life.

Jesus is an important figure in the story and the author portrays him as fully human, in what might be the most convincing and heart-rending portrayal of Jesus that I have yet read. The novel does not dispute his divinity, but simply doesn't touch on it. In this story, Jesus doesn't hear God speak to him from age 12 to age 30 and thus comes into his identity over the course of time, accepting who he is and is to become instead of having the knowledge thrust upon him from birth and hanging over him for his entire life. This idea of Jesus gives me so much to think over and I have no doubt those thoughts will make for some wonderful sermons.

But this is truly Ana's story. And Tabitha's and Yaltha's. Even Mary's. It is the story of women in first century Palestine. I encourage you to put aside any preconceived notions you might have about Middle Eastern women and any worries you might have about how Jesus is portrayed and simply go on this journey with Ana and her loved ones.

You'll leave the book a better person for having read it.

This isn't my preferred genre, so a rating of "I liked it" probably means people who like this sort of book would love it.

- Unlikable narrators
- Dual narration
- Lengthy prose
- Travel
- Plot twists (mostly predictable)

Overall, a fun read, especially when imagining Kaley Cuoco as the main character.

This story will capture your imagination. The narrative breathes life back into the most prominent victims of the Osage Reign of Terror. The stories are tragic. Justice, when it comes, does not roar like a lion into the courthouse. Justice comes slowly and incompletely and limps into the county. Justice does not restore the dozens of lost lives or restore lost fortunes or respect or much of anything to the Osage.
This book and the story that inspired it are warnings to us of what prejudice and a broken justice system do to our most vulnerable. Although this story happened generations before us, it is still an indictment against the racism and injustice we allow in society today.

I read this once in the 6th grade. It was beautiful then at 12 and it is beautiful now at 30 - for different reasons.

It was the perfect book on which to end 2020.

I wanted my first book of 2021 to be something that would grip my heart and remind me of the work we need to do this coming year.

Illegal tells the story of Ebo, a young boy from Africa, who becomes a refugee searching for a better life. The story flashes back to Ebo's perilous journey across the deserts and cities of Africa all while telling the story of Ebo's journey across the Mediterranean with his brother, Kwame. They have hope that their sister, Sisi, is waiting for them somewhere in Europe, but they aren't sure.

This story is beautifully illustrated and will move readers to tears. It is easy to read in one sitting, but I encourage you not to rush through it. Take the time to notice all of the little intricacies of the characters and all of the beauty present in each of them. Take the time to sit with the deaths along the way. Ebo often didn't get that time to process what happened to him and to those around him. Sit and trace your fingers over the last pages. Imagine that this is a journey a million or more people undertake each year and thousands more start but perish along the way. Ask yourself what would make you risk your life, your brother's life, your child's life for a journey such as this. Remind yourself that real people make choose to take this risk because there is no better alternative and sometimes no alternative at all. I encourage you to sit with this book and let this book sit with you.

"You, who are so-called illegal aliens, must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?" -- Elie Wiesel