A trans youth escapes her home with her violin. A violin teacher seeks a final student to condemn their soul to hell. A space captain seeks to protect her family from a interstellar disease.

I feel that the book is hollow, in that I didn’t feel that anything was ever truly at stake, or the characters ever actually in danger. I didn’t find it particularly satisfying when it ended.

It didn’t work for me.

Castillo discusses reading, a term that she applies broadly to consuming books, movies, and other media.

This is less a collection of essays explaining how to read, and more Castillo’s thoughts on reading politically. Interesting at times, but I was hoping for something different.

My largest issue is that I lost interest about halfway through. I kept reading, but I felt that the narrative lost itself, trying too hard to do too much over several time lines.

By about that halfway point the book starts veering into the truly odd with some bizarre sex acts that seemingly serve no purpose.

When I finished, I wasn’t sure that any of the characters grew. Change happened, sure, but growth? I’m not convinced.

I didn’t enjoy this book.

Beetle and Hollowbones were friends before Hollowbones left for school. Beetle stayed to study with her grandmother. But Hollowbones is back to study with her aunt.

Beetle learns that Hollowbones’ aunt is buying the local mall, where her ghost friend is stuck—she must figure out how to save her friend—and heal her friendship with Hollowbones.

Nova is a teen witch, Tam is a werewolf, and together they must battle dark forces and stumble, a little, through love.

I enjoyed it.

Ray is a young seer struggling to find her place in the world. Ray meets Laurie, a barista struggling to make a break as a musician.

I thought that the story offered an interesting take showing two people that needed to grow before developing a romantic relationship.

This book continues where Gilded stopped.

I enjoyed how Meyer changed Rumplestiltskin by adding characters and changing villains. She created an engaging story from the fabric of a well-known story.

I felt that there were spots where Serilda dwells more on her circumstances than figuring a way forward. But, even so, I found the story entertaining.

The subject matter that McCurdy covers makes this book difficult to read. It details how her mother abused her, her mother’s narcissistic behavior, and ill treatment as a child actor.

It’s good in that it covers the abuse, the feelings that McCurdy had, and generally what a narcissistic parent looks like. It’s bad in that McCurdy lived through such a tough time, and is still dealing with the aftereffects. I hope that McCurdy finds peace and resolution.

A Rumplestiltskin retelling, where the main character is a story teller, an evil king is terrorizing nearly everyone. Ghosts are real, the fae are relatively strong, and the Rumplestiltskin character isn’t as conniving as I recall from fairy tales.

I thought it is well paced, and I was surprised that it had a cliffhanger (I should have realized, with a duology, that this wasn’t going to be wrapped up in book 1).

Moon is returned to the court of his birth after years as a solitary Raksura. Which means confronting why he was solitary, learning who took him from the court in the first place and why, and who his birth parents are.

It also means Moon must confront his insecurities in Raksuran society and as Jade’s consort.

Moon’s insecurities can be hard to read, as they reflect insecurities I recognize in myself.

But I still like the world, Moon, and the Raksura. They’re fun books.