missrosymaplemoth's reviews
183 reviews

Despite knowing a lot of this information already, I took a lot away from this book. It’s fantastic as a first stop on your journey of learning about the disability community. I will be returning to it and recommending it often.

☀️13/20

I hurt with Chanel, for her and myself and any other survivors. This memoir was equally gutting as it was important to have read. I believe this is the first book where I have read the acknowledgements.

“When a woman is assaulted, one of the first questions people ask is, Did you say no? This question assumes that the answer was always yes, and that it is her job to revoke the agreement. To defuse the bomb she was given. But why are they allowed to touch us until we physically fight them off? Why is the door open until we have to slam it shut?”

☀️12/20

A fast-paced short and sweet high school friendship-turned-romance between a grieving girl and an autistic oddball boy.

I really liked this book. It was refreshing to read about an autistic character and I related to him a lot. The romance was fluffy, innocent and pleasant to read. I liked Kit and David’s chemistry. I thought that the autism representation through David’s internal dialogue was overall realistic and positive. The plot twist near the end took me by surprise; I was not expecting it at all.

There were a few instances of ableism, not just by the characters but seemingly by the author in the way she wrote about autism. David’s “I’m too capable to be autistic” attitude was disappointing. I also didn’t appreciate how the only way David’s character arc progressed in the midpoint was through his “makeover” or the way his sister berated him for behaviors such as stimming. A negative autistic stereotype I think could have been avoided is the “creepy autistic guy,” evidenced when David thinks he could imagine Kit naked or accurately guess her bra size. Just unnecessary.

All of that being said, I did enjoy this book. David’s voice was powerful and unique. I do wish Kit was a more developed character; it was easier to relate to and empathize with David, but Kit’s chapters sometimes felt rushed and detached from the larger story.

I would recommend this book to YA readers 16+.

☀️11/20

I saw this book on the shelf and became intrigued by the cover and was pleasantly surprised to find that I learned a lot about myself while reading it. I resonated with Georgia’s asexuality and understood her. I enjoyed her friendships and self-discovery. I liked the style of writing, although there were a lot of pop culture references and I am not a fan of that.

My main dislikes were the slow pacing for the first half of the book and the repetitive narration by Georgia- a lot of telling without showing. I felt that the characters fell flat sometimes and could have been better developed, although I loved Rooney; no complaints there. I related to her past relationship trauma and really felt for her.

Overall, this was a pleasant book that made me feel seen. I think this book is miscategorized as YA and seems very firmly New Adult to me. That being said, I would recommend this, but only to older teens and up.

☀️10/20

Overview: I added this book to my TBR a long time ago, so I can’t remember what intrigued me about it, but it doesn’t really matter because it was disappointing anyway. This is a book about a girl named Comet, an insufferable Mary-Sue “I’m not like other girls” type. She is annoying as a narrator and worse as a character; she is dramatic, tries too hard to be quirky and is very self-righteous/holier-than-thou.

Writing & Characters: The book itself is poorly paced. It touches on sensitive subject matter (drug use, overdose, divorce and parental death among others) but is written in a juvenile way and the juxtaposition can be confusing. The situation with her parents could have been more realistic but was terribly overblown. Tobias is a boring character, despite the author attempting to characterize him as the quintessential bad-boy-who’s-soft-underneath, and exists solely to give Comet an emotional character arc. Their relationship is also confusing and oddly paced. The bullying was out of a PSA, that is to say, unrealistic and dramatized in the worst way. Steph exists only for Comet to complain about. Vicki is barely characterized past “a gorgeous blend of her mixed heritage” and has a few substantial scenes but ultimately falls back into her role of the good friend, opposite Steph.

Nit-picking: Unnecessary details- The author spends way too much time, sometimes multiple paragraphs in a row, describing outfits Comet is wearing and even naming specific brands multiple times (i.e.: Irregular Choice). There are also several stretches of pages where nothing happens except Comet describing how her day was, which is ultimately irrelevant to the plot. Typos upon typos- I understand a few small typos in the average print book, although I got the impression this book was barely proofread. A lot of garden path sentences and misspelled words. Bad ending- Roughly forty pages from the ending, a major character dies somewhat randomly. This made me think that there would be a cliffhanger leading into a sequel, but no. It just ended abruptly with several plot lines remaining unaddressed.

In Conclusion: This book was like if a tween tried to write a soap opera about bullying and drug use. I would not recommend this book. Two stars is being generous. I could go on.

☀️9/20

A fast paced, thrilling murder mystery with elements of humor and humanity at every turn. I absolutely loved this book despite some gross details and on-the-nose narration. I did not predict the killer or the ending at all, and the two (!) plot twists truly surprised me. Un-put-downable in every sense. A few points knocked off for some of the reveals and information/clues being convoluted and confusing.

☀️8/20

At points, this felt like someone programmed an AI to write a cliche teen romance novel. The pacing was very fast and did not allow for substantial character development. Because of this, I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters. Scottie and Irene did not have chemistry and their relationship felt forced. There were also several spelling and grammar mistakes. Overall, not a terrible book, but a bit disappointing. I’d still recommend it for the LGBT representation; this book will help some kid.

☀️7/20

A rare sequel that doesn’t disappoint and is on par with its precursor. I love the feeling I got while reading this duology, and it all came back with Blood Like Fate.

Voya, her family and the other witches all stand out as their own individual and unique characters, which can be hard to do with such a large ensemble supporting cast. I love the relationships and Voya’s reflection and introspection. Themes of ancestry and self-doubt were explored and well handled. I liked how LGBT identities and the conversations surrounding them were integrated seamlessly into the book and treated with love and respect. I was not expecting the plot twist. I like how the plot points were all wrapped cleanly and satisfyingly.

My one complaint is that the first half of the book was very slow paced, but the last 25% is un-put-downable! A great conclusion to a fantasy YA duology I will be recommending.

☀️6/20

Enjoyable to read, but thought the death and violence was excessive and unnecessary. Less showing, more telling. Took itself a bit too seriously. I liked Six-Thirty.

☀️5/20

This book reminded me what it feels like to not want to put a book down. A perfect fast-paced mystery for those who can’t handle too much gore. I dock points for the often uncomfortable way the women are written.

☀️4/20