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maramergens's reviews
258 reviews
Clementine, Book Two by Tillie Walden
The TWD gamer fans who gave this bad reviews are hater incels who will do anything to try to stop a gay baddie from winning
This Winter by Alice Oseman
So wild to think that they wrote their first book about Tori & Charlie Spring over ten years ago and how much the Heartstopper universe had expanded since then!! Sweet little novella about siblings and how much the holidays can suck.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
5.0
I love stories about friends who never hook up. But damn they still broke each other’s hearts time and time again. How can two people who care for each other so deeply have such a fraught relationship? Loved the POV in “Pioneers” and in “The NPC”. And the NPC chapter……. Just wow. Kind of hated that Dov continued to be a person in Sadie’s life over the years, but glad that she was able to keep her boundaries with him after moving to LA. Once she went to him for Ulysses I knew that they would always stay connected.
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor
3.75
I picked this up because I was very impacted by Real Life. It was mundane and beautiful and I found myself crying without really knowing why. Filthy Animals is steeped in the same melancholy that Taylor does so well. I’m also partial to the setting - most of his stories take place in Wisconsin or Iowa which make them feel so familiar. The structure of the book is basically one continuous story that is broken up every chapter with an unrelated short story. This was a different take on the short story collection and I think it helped the momentum a bit.
I really did not like Lionel’s new friends Charles and Sophie, and I’m still unsure what their story was really about. But when I got to another chapter about them I was curious about what they would do next. There was never a chapter from Sophie’s perspective, which was especially curious since there was a chapter from a different side character’s perspective thrown in there along with Charles’ and Lionel’s. That side character was able to give us a little insight into Sophie’s motivations but I still never fully understood her.
My favorite story was “Anne of Cleves.”
I really did not like Lionel’s new friends Charles and Sophie, and I’m still unsure what their story was really about. But when I got to another chapter about them I was curious about what they would do next. There was never a chapter from Sophie’s perspective, which was especially curious since there was a chapter from a different side character’s perspective thrown in there along with Charles’ and Lionel’s. That side character was able to give us a little insight into Sophie’s motivations but I still never fully understood her.
My favorite story was “Anne of Cleves.”
Palestine: A Socialist Introduction by Sumaya Awad, Brian Bean
Definitely a little heavy in the poli-sci language at parts so I wouldn’t say it’s the most accessible introduction, but still definitely worth a read
Flip the Script by Lyla Lee
2.5
Writing was really plain and nothing felt super new about the story other than the K-drama setting :/ definitely felt closer to a middle grade than YA reading level. Not a ton of palpable romance, either. But love the representation and it did make me want to start a new K-drama soon