Spoiler warning! There will be some spoilers for Six of Crows and Ruin and Rising, the final book in Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy in this review. There will also be some spoilers about the ending of this book, which means it’s best to avoid this whole review until you’ve read both these excellent books (and possibly the Grisha trilogy as well.) Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a […]
I went to the library and checked out a book because I was getting scared.
I just reviewed Becky Albertalli’s “Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda” and I’m not going to lie, I was reading “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” at the same time, and sometimes I had trouble telling the difference between them. And I mean that with every compliment, because, as I wrote in my “Simon” review, there’s a strong and important tradition of novels that normalize the alienation of adolescence, and the millions of forms that it can take. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is […]
People really are like houses with vast rooms and tiny windows
This book is a goddamned delight, and everyone should read it. The end. No, just kidding. But I am really glad I picked it up (on the recommendation of basically the entire CBR community, amirite?), even though lately I’ve been trying hard to balance my male protagonists and authors with the underrepresented lady brains that are at large and largely ignored (axe grinding alert!). I’m glad I picked it up because it’s incredibly sensitive, and thoughtful, and nuanced. It’s also a little bit self-conscious and […]
“Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably”
Beatrice “Trixie” Watson has two goals for her senior year. She wants to save enough money to buy the collectible Doctor Who figurines at the local comics shop and she intends to knock her nemesis, Benedict “Ben” West down to fourth place in their fancy prep school ranking. The two have always had a tense and antagonistic relationship, going all the way back to when Ben caused Trixie to break her arm on the monkey bars during first grade. This year, she is determined to […]