alyssabookrecs's reviews
1038 reviews

DAMN IT THESE IDIOT BOYZ!!!!!!!!!!!! I love them. I’d die for them. They’re so in love. And they’re so embarrassing. This book was like trans and queer Ouran High School Host Club and I was 100% here for it.

这本书有非常容易水平。我觉得孩子们和第一年留学生可能看这本书。

I'm really vacillating between a 3.5 and 4. On the one hand, this is everything I love about vampires and their relationship(s) with humans and the depths of morality vs. immorality with the backdrop of mortality and immortality. I love how absolutely unhinged Kidan and Susenyos both are; they truly are a toxic match in the making. On the other hand, there were a few times I found myself lost in the overall arc of the story and knowing exactly when Kidan's motives changed. Knowing this is a trilogy, I'm excited to dive into the second book to get some answers. I think Immortal Dark left off on a <i>really</i> good place to pick back up on. I'm not 100% sold with the supporting characters that are Kidan's friends except for GK, who had a pretty distinct personality from Slen and Yusuf. Slen felt too much like Kidan, and Yusuf felt too much like GK until he didn't... if that makes sense. Death's presence truly lingers over Kidan, which was a plus. Ah! I'm excited for the next! Bring on more sexy college vampires!

Listen… this is one of the better celebrity poetry books out there. I do love a good 2014 Tumblr era poem, and some of these are quite good. Some aren’t. This should have BEEN its own Tumblr tbh. 

I hope Megan heals because damn 😭

This was very cathartic to read and I imagine is even more cathartic to watch. Someone else’s review said something along the lines of the farther away we get from COVID quarantine time, the more this collection will resonate, and I couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t have been able to read this even 1-2 years ago, but now almost 5 years since the onset of COVID, I am slowly coming to terms with how fucked up that time was. Suzan-Lori Park writes with authenticity, honesty, and personality. I loved how it vacillated between the stories of the living and the stories of the dead. We lost so many due to COVID and still are losing people. May we remember them.

“The stories of heroic individuals give a false impression of how movements succeed. Necessary social change happens because of large numbers of dedicated people, most of whose names are never known, working together at all levels, day in and day out” (297).

Full thoughts to come. Overall a solid read with some hiccups here and there.

Some of these stories were amazing and downright terrifying. In particular I enjoyed “As Humans Burn Beneath Us” by Sara Tantlinger, “The Meat™️” by Tim Hoelscher, “Root Structure” by Eddie Generous, “Los Angeles Is Sinking” by Gwen C. Katz, “The Last of Her Kind” by Eric Raglin, “The Huitlacoche Is Doing Fine” by Alex Woodroe, and “When the Rains Come” by Tom Jolly. The tone in these stories and the morally grey characters present in some of them made them a fun read. 

Overall, it was an intriguing albeit a bit uneven collection of eco-horror. Mother Nature fighting back in all kinds of ways, with some very eerie and others a little convoluted.