Susan

This book was the end of the series and it felt a little bit like that's all it was. Just slowly ending all the different threats, but didn't seem to actually make much sense on its own. Also there was some weird stuff. why can't she use medical magic if she can do everything else? The whole thing with Gabe was totally circular - save him, kill him, save him.

This was kind of fun with some surprises and a different sort of structure than normal. Not just a standard case, but a bit more about magic and the club and the government.

I don't quite understand how it is a new spell if she made it work on cotton and she needed words for cotton, but any old toy magician can use it for toys? I feel like a few things are kind of falling apart here.

I really liked the flying carpet!

It was pretty similar to the rest. I think the whole thing with cox and patience is pretty sad. I'm not sure if it is coming back or not.

This was a pretty cool addition with some new family drama, but also we got to see her play a bit more with magic and start studying it.

This was fun with the American stuff coming up. I feel the whole power games are a little weird, but I'm excited about this new magic language....

This was quite different than the others. More of a romance and the mystery kind of dragged a bit. But I'm glad there is no more martyrdom and they are acting in their own interests now.

The series is really starting to drag. I hate that it's more and more about how she just can't stay with him for absolutely no reason. And she does nothing but bitch at her grandfather, but for some reason she wants him around, but not really to actually get to know him. And they all seem to have lost focus on everything. If she helped the watch once, why aren't they experimenting on whether she can improve it further? I really hope this improves, because it really has gone downhill fast.

This one is so much better than the last. Finally we have some actual conclusions and a story. I am really curious what comes next though! This feels like the end of the series.

Literally the worst thing about the other series was this stupid ‘someone higher class than my would suffer from marrying so I'm going to pretend I don't like him'. And now the exact same thing is starting in this series. I hope it doesn't continue for the rest of the series.

I'm also disliking how literally everything is identical. Your best friend has a crush on one of your guy's extras? You don't know who your dad is and you desperately want to know (ok dad's dad in this case). I hope the next books start to look a little more interesting and different.

I read the glass library series before so I had an idea what I was getting into. This is a cute start. Very similar in a lot of ways.

The story continues to be fun. I think this series isn't quite as well thought out as the library one, but still fun to read.

This book blew me away.

The story itself is absolutely shocking. You just can't possibly understand how these men survived. For almost two years every day held the probability of most likely dying from an endless list of problems. And yet somehow they survived.

The book itself is written beautifully. No over dramatic language. Just a careful repetition of all that they went through - carefully giving us the view from each of the different members.

This story is fascinating, but the writing is a bit dull so it was hard to get into.

Two different ships ran around on the same island far enough away that they never met. But the consequences were totally different. Losing access to the boat and landing in winter certainly hurt one group as well as the other group having a truly inventive member. But far more important was the social and community aspects. The group that worked together and supported each other and had hope managed to all survive even though they were there much longer.

It's fascinating in terms of the differences and also just a great adventure story.

I'm glad I finished the series, but it felt a little like that this all it was - cleaning up all the loose ends and not really a book in itself.

Also this ridiculous thing about torturing yourself in relationships (leaving to protect the other, leaving because your family won't get along,...) it's not at all believable.

I really was looking forward to this book because I'd read a few of his articles and was curious. I also share a lot in common with him as an American living abroad and seeing the changes through a different lens from those in the country.

I really loved the book. It starts as a kind of modern history lesson, reminding us of what life was life during one particular extreme summer (2020). I had forgotten things and certainly didn't remember how they all fit together.

He then goes a lot more in depth on some of the theories and things that have happened since. It is part memoir, part philosophy, part history lesson,... I loved this going back and forth and putting everything into context together.


I expected the book to be all about race, but in fact it is much more broadly about identity and culture, the things we value and what we are willing to do to get there.

I felt like he has clarified a lot of the things I have been thinking and put it all into a framework. It's been hard to be a middle road between the extremists on both sides recently and it helped a lot have him think through the ideas.

My only real complaint is that I think he wrote a book that is too ambitious and I feel a bit like he got lost in the middle. Perhaps it's impossible to sum it all up in a lesson for all of us. And perhaps he wouldn't want to simplify into a call to action. He is calling for nuance! But even if I'm not sure if it is right, I still missed that and wanted a bit more structure and purpose. Perhaps I should reread it some time so I can understand more....

This was cute again. I do wish we learned more about her family and powers and stuff. Its a little too focused on the love interest and the mystery was a bit silly.

Its cute like the rest. I am getting rather irritated with this girl who has no interest in actually learning how her powers work, what her role/responsibilities are, etc. Just going around trying to be a detective in the weirdest ways. But at the same time there are cute things. He is a minor character, but I loved Mac. I wish we got a bit more of the fun stuff.

This is a cute cosy mystery. Not very deep and I think the mystery was a bit silly. But it was fun and easy to read.

I loved the glass library series, but this didn't really capture my interest. I'm not quite sure why. Just seemed silly to me and I couldn't connect with the characters.

This was a super fast read just like the first one. It was fun, but definitely I didn't like it as much. just felt like it didn't have much more than the first book. Its got a tiny bit more in each of the story lines, but it didn't really feel like any one of them really concluded or anyone grew a lot. Still super cute and fun to read, but I would like a bit more depth.

I loved this book! It admittedly didn't have the strongest plot, but the characters and the explanation of the magic system were just amazing. I read the whole book in an afternoon and was utterly shocked when it suddenly ended. I want to know more! I'm definitely looking for the next one now!

This book is so confusing and complicated, but it's also so unique. At first it took awhile for me to get into it because it was so complicated, but more and more you just have to get the solution.

Born again each day in another body, trying to solve a murder.

The first 25% of this book is great. But then it went downhill from there. There is basically no plot for the first half and then the second half I swear has no connection to the first half. The characters have all completely changed (and they change multiple time during this half in no rational way), we learn nothing new about the school or magic. Theoretically we get a new adventure, but it just really doesn't make much sense to me. But the second half really is mostly whining about being depressed and what we should do about it and then trying everything out one at a time. I can't really recommend anything about the second half. Stop at the end of book 1....