To me this is the perfect kids book.
Beautifully illustrated: check
Spooky: check
Gazes into a vast, human loneliness and dares to reach out a hand: check
I can hear the untold depths whispering now and it's this book's fault.
A slasher, on the set of The Bachelor, plus a host of morally questionable lesbians. I loved every single one of these terrible girls, and then I loved watching their terrible fates unfold.
This is about growing up, and finding new versions of yourself, and the people who bear witness to your metamorphosis. If you have sisters, I’m begging you to read it. Also, I mean – look at the cover.
Tiến doesn’t know the Vietnamese words to tell his mom he’s gay. His mom misses her home and family back in Vietnam. Together, they read fairy tales, and the stories help them both – to process grief, to bridge cultures, and ultimately to reach out to each other. The art is so beautiful -- and so is the story!
Looking for something truly unsettling? This is the book. I've never read anything quite like it -- but also, reading it felt somehow inevitable, as if I've been haunted by it before.
I picked this up because I wanted a fund diverting fantasy, maybe with a light romance thrown in for flavor.
Instead I got this dark, convoluted monster of a novel, in which nothing is simple, event the characters you love can be terrible, ad all your expectations are brought into a startling, hideous light.
This book gave me nothing I wanted, but what it gave me instead was much better. It is not for the feint of hearth. Read it
When I was in high school my dear friend Heather put this book in my hands, smiled mysteriously, and said, "Trust me."
I devoured it in one sitting.
It is intricate, clever, and excruciatingly satisying. Pay close attention - Megan Whalen Turner is as tricky as her thief and you don't want to miss a thing!
This book came out in 1995. The final book in the series comes out next year. Now is the time folks - trust me.
I recommend sinking into The Starless Sea and luxuriating there. This is not a book to rush. The scope is enormous, the plot is stranger and intricate. This book will take you may places and you'll have to trust it but you should you're in very good hands. I found it delicious and rewarding.
fantasy, slow burn, secret societies, libraries, gifts we're giving
Whitehead lined up the plot of this novel as meticulously as dominos and then with a flick tore everything down in moments.
I sobbed at the end. Read it read it read it.
historical fiction, black authors, black protagonists, Jim Crow
Need to learn to cook? This book will teach you. Lesson one: How to Boil Water.
And if you know how to cook read this anyways - it makes the tedium of daily cooking feel like magic.
