5 stars A fantastic autobiographical novel-in-verse that beautifully showcases Woodson’s voice. Set in the 1960s and 1970s, Woodson shares stories from her life living in Ohio, South Carolina, and New York. Woodson tackles so many themes in this book. From family upheaval to moving to a new place, experiencing death of family members to standing…
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5 stars A hilarious and heartwarming coming of age tale about figuring out your identity. At her old school, Huda was “the hijabi girl”. But when her family moves to a new town, she’s no longer the only one wearing hijab. She must come to terms with her identity issues and learn who she truly…
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4 stars Delightfully creepy. Perfectly macabre. As with many macabre stories, while reading this I often found myself wanting more information, to know what happened after the end. But the unknown has a special place is each of these tales, which adds to their unsettling charm. Great artwork that wonderfully captures the tone of the…
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4 stars A wonderful reimagining of the City of Ys, revamping the legend of King Gradlon and his daughter, Dahut. Anderson’s tale intermixes other Breton themes and stories such as Saint Corentin and his miraculous fish. The city of pleasure hides dark secrets, seeped in grief, greed, and sin. Filled with sea monsters, murder, seduction,…
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5 stars A beautiful celebration of the similarities and differences that make us who we are. I loved the positive message of the story. At no point is the narrator upset that she has the eyes she has. She does not wish them to be a different shape or color. She loves them and their…
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3 stars Context-wise, I think it’s helpful to read the Epilogue before the actual book. When I first started reading, I was a bit confused on the format and it helped to understand what the book was and how it came about. This book is a compilation of Renee and Herta’s recountings originally told for…
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5 stars A powerful novel in verse that proves you are more than the hardships you have faced. I’d recommend looking at the trigger warnings before going in to this as there are quite a few traumatic events that occur. These include rape, food insecurity, homelessness, drug overdose, and police brutality. This book may not…
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For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle Okay read. I will say that as an only child, it was kind of hard for me to relate to. Pretty much all I know about having siblings is what I’ve seen on TV and read in books. I’m sure those with siblings would find this more interesting….
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4 stars I didn’t really know what to expect going in to this but I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Graveyard Shakes is a spooky tale of friendship, sisterly love, and acceptance (of loss, of life, and of oneself). The entire atmosphere of the book was so compelling. Ghostly dance parties, spooky graveyards, an…
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