Will

Jordan Baker has always been my favorite character in the Great Gatsby and this retelling from her perspective was quite literally magical. The writing emulates the original so well while also adding something new. Also Jordan Baker and Nick are canonicaly queer

I'm not sure that I would have given this book a chance if I weren't a critter but as a lover of the twins I found it to be a fun and enjoyable read (surprised at how much I enjoyed the author's interpretation of Vax and Vex). Pleasantly surprising and yes I am giving it a shameless 5 stars because Critical Role deserves all the love and they gave us a backstory for Simon so I'm happy. ALSO TRINKET!!!

As a theater kid myself this was both a familiar story (the sense of family between a cast, passion, roles mixing with reality) and at the same time completely and utterly darker and twisted than anything that would happen in my theater (we do not go about murdering each other on the regular). Beautiful writing and as a Shakespeare adorer myself, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Can't wait for more by M.L. Rio

There are certainly some antiquated parts of this collection that I would have preferred to see updated or simply ommited (ie the racist language in some of the stories), but overall a very interesting take on the detective story.

Such a cool take on the sci-fi fantasy genre! I was worried about the time travel aspect but McCaffery did an incredibly good job with it. Overall a delightful read.

The cozy vibes in this book were oh so right! Highly recommend reading during Christmas time with snow falling outside and a nice mug of hot cocoa. I fell in love with the atmosphere and the cast of characters who were frustrating, loveable, hilarious, clever, and all around delightful to read about.

I often find myself thinking that classics are overrated and this was one of those instances where maybe I was too tired while reading it to see the greater epiphany, but ultimately felt that the whole story was a bit heavy handed and quite frankly not as poignant or original as it had been made out to be for me by literally everyone. Yes, I do understand now exactly what people mean when they say something is “orwellian” or Big Brother, but also my life and thought process has not been dramatically changed (or even like a teensy tiny, maybe I was just already disillusioned about humanity and politics or I am a much dumber reader than I thought lol).

Spoiler (sort of)

I did not expect the romance or the ~sex~ scenes, so uh points for surprising me Orwell??

final thoughts:
lowkey the book feels completely and utterly permeated by old white guy

The first Asimov book I read was Foundation and in hindsight it was a bad introduction to him for someone like me who is not overly interested in extremely hard-core sci-fi that reads like a dry and crumbly textbook. This book was so much more entertaining and had a surprisingly beautiful overarching message (and yes, I am a sucker for robots and murder mystery which is even better when combined). Overall it was such a romp that I am hoping the other books in the Robot Novels are just as fun!

I have read very few books where I have afterwards thought this not only changed my life as a reader and enjoyer of stories (both serious and absurdly hilarious) but also as a thinker and horribly flawed human being. One person alone is nothing, two people are a nation. As someone who so often feels alone this novel was so powerful and in many ways (perhaps in the simplest, most human of ways) profound. It's so incredibly easy to forget that we are all the same people, that we sailed all the way across the sea until we came back. But we are a Nation. And we have incredible potential for thought, creativity, and community.

All this to say, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Leigh Bardugo is definitely starting to craft the story telling that I am so used to (and absolutely spoiled by) through the Six of Crows duology. As the plot thickens and the world and characters grow, Bardugo weaves a thrilling second installment of the Shadow and Bone series. Can't wait to see this one adapted!!!

I read the Six of Crows duology before this series and fell completely and utterly in love with Leigh's characters, world, and writing. I was a little nervous to read this series because I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it as much (especially with the new show on Netflix, which I have yet to watch). While I could definitely tell that this was Leigh's first book (the writing is not nearly as explosive and intricate as it is in Six of Crows and a lot of the world and characters still need fleshing out) I enjoyed it immensely and am excited to plunge into the next book in the series (where I'm assuming Leigh will start to get more confident and comfortable sharing her incredible world and characters with us. Also can't wait to see more of Zoya and Genya because <333333!

I initially absolutely hated this book. And while I vehemently hate Nick, Daisy, and pretty much everyone else in this story right along with F. Scott Fitzgerald, I somehow still love this book. Whether it was Jordan Baker (my wife