alyssabookrecs's reviews
1038 reviews

I’m not really into age gap romance, but this slice-of-life manga was QUITE cute. I like their growing friendship the most.

Cursed. Absolutely cursed. 

There were some parts in this book that really moved me and others that I sped-read through. Firstly, I wonder if the marketing for this book failed it: I 100% expected it to be similar to Warm Bodies with its zombies, not that the zombies were the main character’s hallucination. I also thought the book would have benefited from being 100-150 pages shorter and keeping its focus more on Zharie, her relationship to her mother, Auntie E, and Bo. Mini is a perfectly fine supporting character, but I really didn’t get much from Bo’s friend group being there. Luca gave me the major ick, and so did Zharie’s dad, but the latter had more purpose to the story than the former. Overall, an uneven but interesting book. I really liked the author’s writing style, so I’d definitely try another book of hers.

Thank you Megan Wagner Lloyd for shredding my heart to pieces over Haven, Millie, True, the bobcat, Jacob Levan, THE COWS… etc. What a beautiful little middle grade novel. Lovers of cats, Warriors, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Charlotte’s Web will like this one (I hope).

3.5 because of the translator’s cool introduction touching on power, masculinity, isolationism, and uplifting the feminine wherever possible in this translation. This was quite enjoyable yet jarring in its execution: sometimes you get the most beautiful descriptions then followed by “Bro” or “Beowulf takes no shit” (as two examples, though “Bro” flows better than most). The writing overall is quite strong, and I do think this translation will appeal to young Gen Z/Gen Alpha as they come to study Beowulf in school.

This was my first time reading a duke romance. The best part was honestly Raya and her character development. The romance was quite ridiculous, and I felt like Strick changed personalities partway through. Still fun to read though.

Marissa Meyer's "Cinder" but for children.

Flawless. 10 stars if I could. Farting ponies are the best.

Fascinating play and definitely deserving of the Pulitzer. It sometimes felt a little too disjointed, but overall it had great commentary on the working class, classism, unions, and more.