there's no reason there should have been 10+ references to violet being skinny within the first 24 pages. im sorry. i had to go back and count because it is actually egregious.

The sound made Perry’s skin cling tight to his bones, and little cat feet of terror walked across his back.”

Mannnn the descriptions in this book are so good 👌👌—one after another are just like “wow that sounds GREAT.”

Are all of these characters irritating or is it just me? 😅 Anna’s airplane shenanigans are something and Maryam’s sister is a close second 🙄 At least Dadu and Maryam are tolerable.

Decided to go with the annotated version, after reading about 20% of the original--I feel like I'm missing a lot of context, and hoping this gives me a better overall understanding of the book and time period. I'm already really enjoying the added illustrations and background of the book (and might be tempted to splurge on the other annotated Austins too.

Hi guys!!! I’m Sue (or Suzie) for those of you I haven’t met yet! Here’s my first discussion post of 2026!

I wanted to know how you guys rate your books, and why that works for you! Im referring to the overall rating but feel free to talk about how you rate each aspect and how you like to choose emojis. What are you thinking when you rate your books the way you do? I’ll start first!

5⭐️ - AMAZING INCREDIBLE BOOK THAT I LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART!!!!!!!!!! MY BABY OMGMGMG!!! It did not have any major or minor flaws that prevented me from understanding and enjoying. It gave me a new perspective AND/OR it was a story that I 100% will always be happy that I went out of my way to read it. A life changing book! Highly recommended to others!

4.5⭐️ - Really really awesome book!!!! There were one or two minor things that dampened my enjoyment but overall, I could get past them and continue vibing and enjoying the book. I wasn’t taken out of the book more than once or twice, and if I was taken out of the book, it wasn’t disruptive to the flow of me reading.

4⭐️- Really awesome book!!!! There were one or two less-minor-but-not-major things that dampened my enjoyment but overall, I could get past them and continue vibing and enjoying the book. I wasn’t taken out of the book more than once or twice, and if I was taken out of the book, it was only slightly disruptive to the flow of me reading.

3.5⭐️ - Pretty good book overall, it had three to four flaws that I couldn’t forget about and they altered my enjoyment of the story enough to be acknowledged. Those flaws are more on the major side but could be balanced by other good aspects of the book. It’s a good book but it could’ve been spectacular.

3⭐️ - Okay book, I’m not sure how likely I am to recommend a three star book. I’ve seen better out there. There are at least three MAJOR flaws that dampen the quality of the book and it’s hard for the good aspects to balance them.

2.5⭐️ - Most likely a DNF, I could NOT read this book or get past a certain point because there are more than three major flaws. It’s not enjoyable and it’s going to be a waste of my time. The book was boring and took too long to pick up or did not garner my attention for long enough that I could care to finish the story.

2⭐️ - DNF. My recommendation: don’t read this. It was BAD. It’s a miracle if I manage to finish the book at all.

< 2⭐️ - Instant DNF. The book has wayyy too many flaws and needs to go back and be reworked entirely. Or deleted. Publishing this book was a poor choice.

0⭐️ - The book encourages, supports, and/or teaches problematic ideologies. I do NOT support problematic ideologies. Zero stars.

I usually rate specific aspects based on how I felt while I was reading the book. For example, if I feel like I’m connecting with the characters a lot while I’m reading, it’s probably going to be somewhere from 4 to 5⭐️. But I can only really determine aspects while I’m reading and overall when I’m DONE reading.

Looking forward to hearing about your rating systems!

I love the quests available but there are loads more that could appear! So, what quests would you love to see the most? For me, it would be

• Disability rep in Fantasy
• Swords and Boards Fantasy
• Queer Romance
• BIPOC stories

Those are a few I think would be great additions- what are your thoughts?

Special event readalong starts in one week (Jan 15)! What’s your pick to read?

I’ve chosen Black Cake - litfic exploring familial relationships across generations? Sign me up! Also, I think there’s a tv show I can watch after too, like a reward 🤭