Review: The Upside of Unrequited

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 stars (I know - I'm giving that score a lot lately). This was exactly the kind of light fluff that I needed right now. I LOVED the diversity present in it, including the diversity in race, sexual orientation, body type, religion, etc. That was so, so great, and wasn't done in a flashy "look how much diversity we can pack in to one book" kind of way, but felt really natural. I wish more books were like that. I also really enjoyed the family dynamics in the story and the nerdy love interest, Reid. It was just really cute. I liked Molly's voice for the most part, although I wish she didn't question herself so much. However, I recognize that as a 17-year-old girl, that is probably a pretty accurate portrayal of a teen girl. I'm just getting old and want everyone to find their inner confidence (which (view spoiler)[ Molly does get more of as the book progresses (hide spoiler)].

Also, I didn't love it quite as much as Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It was slightly fluffier and I think I liked Simon's voice a little better. However, this was a very happy story and Becky Albertalli has established herself as a must-read author in my book.

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Review: The Upside of Unrequited

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 stars (I know - I'm giving that score a lot lately). This was exactly the kind of light fluff that I needed right now. I LOVED the diversity present in it, including the diversity in race, sexual orientation, body type, religion, etc. That was so, so great, and wasn't done in a flashy "look how much diversity we can pack in to one book" kind of way, but felt really natural. I wish more books were like that. I also really enjoyed the family dynamics in the story and the nerdy love interest, Reid. It was just really cute. I liked Molly's voice for the most part, although I wish she didn't question herself so much. However, I recognize that as a 17-year-old girl, that is probably a pretty accurate portrayal of a teen girl. I'm just getting old and want everyone to find their inner confidence (which (view spoiler)[ Molly does get more of as the book progresses.

Also, I didn't love it quite as much as Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It was slightly fluffier and I think I liked Simon's voice a little better. However, this was a very happy story and Becky Albertalli has established herself as a must-read author in my book. (hide spoiler)]

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Review: The Wrath & the Dawn

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 stars. This was a hard book to shelve! It's not quite fantasy and not really historical fiction. . . It was a very enjoyable retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. It kept my interest the entire time and definitely made me want to read the second, but it just felt like it was missing something to keep me from giving it a full 4 stars. I'm not even sure what, except that somehow it failed to connect to me emotionally. I can't get over Natalie Monroe's summary of the book:

"Shahrzad: I will kill Caliph Khalid to avenge my best friend!
Khalid: *eye smoulder*
Shahrzad: Lol, nah."

Yeah, that's basically what happens. Still, despite the ridiculousness of parts of the story, I enjoyed it. It was full of action and romance. It's been a long time since I've read a retelling of Shaharazad's story and this one is probably my favorite that I've read (To be fair, I've only read 2 or maybe 3 others, and that was a very long time ago). I plan to read the second one before I completely forget what happened in this one!

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Review: City of Fallen Angels

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I definitely liked this better than I liked the first two (I never read the third because I actually really disliked the first two -didn't even finish the second, in fact), but I still didn't like it as much as I liked her Infernal Devices series. I guess I don't have that much to say about it. I know this is an unpopular opinion about this series, but it's just not my thing. I decided to read the second half of the Mortal Instruments series because I really did like the Infernal Devices and Cassandra Clare's own website recommends reading the first three Mortal instruments, then the Infernal Devices, and then the second three Moral Instruments. I just read the summary of the third book and then I was trying to follow her advice. I guess I probably still will because I want to read Lady Midnight. Maybe I'll really enjoy the last two. We'll see.

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Review: The Search for WondLa

The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. This was a fun middle-grade read that I probably would have enjoyed more when I was younger. I loved the beautiful illustrations throughout. They were probably my favorite part. It went a little long, but was enjoyable overall.

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Review: A Conjuring of Light

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.75-5 stars! This was amazing! As I was reading I kept thinking, "This is just so cool ." It was action-packed right from the start. I LOVE V.E. Schwab's writing style and I kept reading passages aloud to my husband because they made me laugh or they sounded awesome. It took me a long time to read, but by the time I got to the last half, I couldn't put it down. I love her characters, her worlds, her writing. I've loved everything I've read by her, so I think I need to read everything she's written! :)

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Review: Clockwork Princess

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a pretty decent historical fiction/fantasy series. I truly disliked the first couple Cassandra Clare books I read (I just could not get over the incest thing in the first half of the Mortal Instruments series), so I almost gave up on her entirely. Fortunately, I had a friend convince me that some people liked this series better than her original series, so I decided to try the audiobook when it showed up as available on Overdrive. I'm glad I did, because it has been a solid 4-star series overall. This one continued to be fast-paced and enjoyable. The narrator for this book was very good, although
I don't know why they switch narrators for every audiobook in the series. This narrator was probably my favorite though.

Like the last one, the love triangle just about drove me crazy, but I was able to overlook most of that because the story was compelling. I was also a little frustrated by how long the ending seemed. Once the main action was over, there was still another couple of hours of listening before the end. Still, I cared about the characters and what became of them enough to pick up City of Fallen Angels, which I'm already liking better than the first half of the Mortal Instruments series. I don't know if I'll ever be a huge Cassandra Clare fan, but I can definitely appreciate how her writing has developed and I do plan to read (or at least listen to) more in the shadow hunter world.

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