Zell

This was one of the loveliest books I have ever read. All of the characters were fantastic and human and beautifully written, and the ending was everything I could have ever wanted. Such a beautiful representation of found family and love and acceptance.

Absolutely incredible and equally apt 50+ years later.

I love these books so much. Nick and Charlie are so wholesome and I love watching their relationship blossom. The art and the plot are perfect.

Sad and sweet - maybe a little too sweet. But charming, thought-provoking, and lovely. The characters were interesting and the plot was really well executed.

This felt a little obvious, with a naive and gullible narrator, but it didn't push the envelope beyond what was believable, in my opinion. This was both a cult indoctrination story and an abuse story, and I thought it was really well done

One of the best short stories I've ever read. Absolutely brilliant plots, just enough detail and scene setting, and all the characters were three-dimensional and flawed. All the stories here stood strong independently, but together they were even stronger.

I read a lot of psychology-focused books in my work as a therapist, and this was one of the BEST I have ever come across. Informative enough for a clinician, straight-forward enough for a survivor, and packed with empathy and encouragement.

Some good depictions of mental health here but this book was mainly toxic as heck. None of this is healthy or normal and no one really gets redeemed. I feel awful for Tommy having such a manipulative brother and “friend”, he truly deserved better and was the only interesting or relatable character here.

Interesting and varied but I didn't grab me. The stories and essays were interesting, the explorations of people and interactions less so.

Some of the essay bits were confusing, and less impactful, but the overall picture here was powerful, really well stated, and deeply informative. I especially enjoyed the author's personal narrative of her childhood, as well as the poetry interspersed.

Interesting concept but information is repeated over and over. I enjoyed the statistical info but everything else felt like it could have been a quick news article, not a whole book.

Fantastic graphic explanation of the author's experience with Bipolar. As a therapist this is 100% going on my list of books to recommend to clients.

Interesting and informational but a little dense and hard to follow. I think this includes a lot of good, nuanced commentary, but it doesn't feel that accessible.

Well written but lacking depth. The art was really well done and the author's story is truly heartbreaking, but it feels distant and unemotional.

This book was so boring. I genuinely found nothing sympathetic or interesting in Hans' character, and it felt slow-paced and unfocused. There is no real resolution of or attention to the possible main conflicts (Chuck's death, the separation, Hans' overall meh-ness with life). It was impersonal and really hard to get through, with no real redeeming qualities.

Super cute and funny, but wish it addressed trans/non-binary issues at all, felt very binary. Everything else about this was lovely though.

I enjoyed the advice on a minimalist lifestyle and how to make it work for you. Much less fond of the Christian rhetoric and advice to give give give (including selling wedding rings to feed kids in Africa????) This would have been a good book without the insertion of Bible stories and all that.

Interesting and poetic prose, but nothing that really stood out to me or pulled me in. It seemed to be a fairly outside view on all the characters - you get snippets of Lani and Ru, but everyone else feels like a sketch that hasn't been filled in. I did like Lani and Ru's parts of the story though.

A fantastic look at food throughout history but I would have loved some more discussion about the modern food climate and ways we can avoid some of the concerns listed here. It briefly touched on this but it felt rushed. I think this was just a lot of book to try to write, but it was really well done.

Very informative with a super helpful metaphor woven throughout. Driskill did a great job bringing together a lot of information. It did feel very speculative though, I was expecting a little more basis in fact but I understand the available information is limited and twisted by colonialism.

I just love the authors' ability to create fantastic characters. And I love these ones.

This has its dated bits but it is a true piece of queer history. Definitely worth a read, purely for Bornstein's wit. Not to mention the included play, which was fantastic, and the commentary on trans issues. This made my little non-binary heart happy.

Solid stories, pretentious framing, but really interesting content. Not all of these stories were winners for me, but many were. This is definitely worth a read!

Some useful mindfulness techniques but this felt really repetitive. All the steps are the same but with small tweaks, so it was tedious. I can see this being useful but I think it's also oversimplified

This book was interesting but I felt like it left a lot to be desired. Certain elements (the car following Margo, the pregnancy, Lilah's stuff) seemed to be totally forgotten until they were convenient for the plot. The characters made poor decisions for seemingly no reason. I did enjoy Lizzie and Nikki though, they were strong characters that I'd love to have seen more of.