Love

What a great look into the war between Isis and the countries they try to take over from the perspective of regular people. The addition of the true story of the Mosul Zoo adds dimension. Definitely a perspective I never thought of.

I originally picked this book up based on the cover and the idea of two juxtaposed characters. They are sisters? One is a redhead, one is a pale blonde? One sister is a queen and one has powers? Sounds kind of like Frozen! I loved the idea of this book but the characters made it hard to love. They were very flawed and constantly questioned themselves and their “power.” I typically enjoy the theme of “coming into ones powers” but these characters struggled to ever do that. They also were consistently thwarted by older people and listened to their elders for most of the novel instead of standing by their own decision making. In the end it was a good story and I will most likely read a sequel if they have it but I wish the characters were a little better. Maybe in the next book!

V.E. Schwab has been on my TBR list ever since This Savage Song was released, but I hadn't gotten around to reading anything by her yet (so many books, so little time). I picked up the Extraordinary graphic novel, and really liked the storyline. It reminded me a little of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman mixed with the Harper Connolly series by Charlaine Harris. I love fantasy/dystopian, and this story made me want to move Schwab's novels up on my reading list.

Love

I read the Fangirl novel back in 2020. I had previously read Eleanor & Park and I hated it, so I didn't pick up another Rainbow Rowell book for close to 5 years, but on a whim I tried and loved the first two Simon & Baz books and was looking to prolong the experience while waiting for the third book to be released. I adored the Fangirl story, so I picked up the first volume of the manga this week. It follows the book very well, and the artwork was particularly fun for the emergency dance party. I get brain fog due to health issues and I find that when I cannot focus on a novel, the art of graphic novels helps me stay involved in the story. I'm going to have to pick up volume 2 soon.

Adored this graphic novel & moving on to the rest of the series. :)

I loved the first book and I loved this sequel. This is one of those books that makes me want to finish it in one sitting, but I force myself to savour it knowing how much more enjoyable it will be to make it last. I love Ben and Arthur. Their friends are incredible. Everyone has grown since the first book, yet still have so much growing up to do. At the end of the day, everyone is just trying to do their best. This book made me laugh, melt from heartwarming moments, and gasp at unexpected and difficult situations. Silvera and Albertalli delivered yet another LGBT classic!

I really love books by J.L. Armentrout. Her writing can sometimes be cringeworthy but for the most part her world building is good and her characters are super likeable. I'm particularly in love with Roth. He's the perfect bad boy love interest for this series. The trope of "He doesn't like anyone but me" is one of my favorites. Cheesy but oh well! I have already read the spinoff series from this one. I think this series might be a little bit better so far but it could just be the fact that now I've got some blanks filled in (my fault for reading them out of order). These books remind me of moms romance novels but in a good way. I would definitely love to finish the series.

I loved this book. The best part was the giant spider. I love spiders.