Anna Tschetter
Contains spoilers
I read this in a few hours on a very slow reference desk shift and really enjoyed it. Tingle created a convincingly accurate conservative Christian sect that was really well done for the most part. My one quibble is that the prayer to St. Michael that is used a few times in here is from a Catholic tradition and most evangelicals are really weird about Catholicism and praying to saints. So that was a bit of a miss for me.
Otherwise, Tingle really captures the way that certain Evangelical Christians decide that the end justifies the means. Sure, someone people would think that forcing demonic/otherworldly creature possession on queer kids to "save" their souls would be bad. But honestly, in 2025, it doesn't sound all that far-fetched.
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This was super cute! Sweet queer characters and really, REALLY adorable cryptids. I love Long Frog so much!
This was a delight! I love this world and really hope that she does eventually write about the other two swords!
I found this very interesting and a must read for anyone interested in WW2, especially in Japan. I've been thinking a lot lately about my grandfather who was a conscientious objector/medic in WW2 who was stationed in Japan and part of the occupying U.S forces. It's strange to think of someone who didn't want to fight still enacting the violence of occupation and it's a uneasy thing to sit with.
This was really sweet. I loved how Almudena was about to learn a bit more about herself and make connections with her family and friends!
This was really well-written but took me FOREVER to read because the near-futureness of it all stressed me out way too much.
I enjoyed this. The writing was great with lots of angst and yearning! I did it see the twist until very last in the book which is to its credit. I do think that an afterword with resources for self-harm would have been a good idea. Otherwise, a good, bloody fairy tale
February 2, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this re-read and have been thinking about how one of the meanings - for me, at least - of the text is that hope is often unlooked for and comes from strange places. Specifically, places that the great "races" of Men, Elves, and Dwarves discount, namely hobbits, women, and Gollum. So much of the story would have gone awry if hobbits, a race that people don't know about or think are made up weren't there. The ents might not have been roused, Faramir would have died, the Witch King of Angmar/King of the Nazgul wouldn't have died, the ring not actually destroyed if not for hobbits, Eowyn, and Gollum. This comforts me. Not all the great deeds are done by men or Men.
Also, living through the rise of fascism in the U.S is giving me a new appreciation for the chapter, The Scouring of the Shire. Evil can happen anywhere and it's all of our duties to stand up to it.
Finally, here's a list of orcs and swords who have named in comparison to women (9 total) who have names. Just for fun!
Orcs (5 that I recall):
Ugluk
Snaga
Grishnakh
Gorbag
Shagrat
Swords (5 total):
Anduril/Narsil/The Flame of the West
Sting
Glamdring
Guthwine
Grond (honorable mention for not being a sword but having a name)
Not nearly as many as named horses but half as much as named women.
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This was really sweet and fun! The author does really great facial expressions for the characters. I appreciated Eleanor’s journey from someone sort of clueless and selfish to one more understanding and considerate. This is great for teens who are interested in regency/historical romances but aren’t ready for spicy stuff.
Sometimes - OK, maybe often - a book will arrive on hold for me and I will have no memory of why I requested it. A coworker's suggestion? Read a review? On a "best of" list somewhere? I don't know. I suspect this was on some sort of list but I don't remember which one.
All of that to say, this was a curious read! I really liked the art and am intrigued as to where the story goes but also not sure if I want to continue. I will ponder it!
Joy McCullough always comes through with a book that will make laugh, cry, and burn down buildings. The poems interspersed between the prose narrative were my favorite part!
This was beautiful and emotional! My only wish is that the authors included more information on their research and specifically the "hibakusha" or Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors of the atom bombs. But! I'm a librarian so I can find that out myself! :)
This was really sweet! I'm excited to see where Ako's new passion for skating takes her and I hope she dumps her loser boyfriend.
Oh this one was EXTRA scary. I do not like the thing with the really long neck - no thank you.
Dune is good! It's complicated because there are some parts that are so wild and I'll say it - bad! - like massive hatred of fat people, women don't really get to do much, weird racism, too much invented language to be accessible, strange abbreviations, but on the whole it is really compelling. And for a book written 60ish years ago it can be really readable!
This was really sweet! I've been a Nora - trying to hold friendships together so much it triggers anxiety - and Iris - burying myself in work to avoid something so scary so it really resonated with me. I think it will for a lot of teens, too.
This is a book for all the teens who left their small towns because they thought they'd die if they stayed. It gets better. Maybe we can't go home again but we can still live in the sun.
I'm not sure all of the information/symptoms about CTE are accurate but I do think teen readers would like it. It's not for me, but that's fine!
I enjoyed but didn't love this. It was a lot to pack into a novella and maybe would have been better suited to a full novel. But I liked how Fellian took control of her own life at the end.
This year is ending up to be a year of manga and adult fiction (because Alex Awards) so I had heard of this but when it was in Libby, I grabbed it. While the story is a fairly standard magic school/training story (not a bad thing!) the art is INCREDIBLE and really stood out to me. Definitely, I'm intrigued and will continue on.
This was great! As someone who lived in rural mid Michigan the author really captured how bleak it can be. With the combination of the history of medical experimentation on minorities and the voiceless and vulnerable, it makes for a chilling and plausible story.
This is beautiful and sad and funny and well deserving of a Printz honor! My absolute favorite poem is “I gain a ribbon shirt in bloodlines” and I cried reading it. It's just perfect.
Recommended for all readers everywhere especially for those who feel out of place.
Still cute and fun. If you like cooking, fantasy bestiaries, or just Dungeons and Dragons this series is for you!