Poetic, weird, surprising, different. An exercise in imagination which doesn't outstay its welcome. Before reading get a short review of Ancient Egyptian mythology, just to at least appreciate and recognize the names.

Whimsy but serious, magical but grounded. I loved the characters, and never needed that "oh but it's just a children's or YA book" which is sometimes needed when books stray too much and break immersion.

Simple in the best way, showed danger at times, nothing seemed off the table regarding consequences and where the story was going. Different enough from the animated adaptation that there is no spoiler in reading one or watching the other.

I really liked the audiobook narrator, Kristin Atherton, because she did a great job and also because she made a cute voice for Calcifer: it matched in my head the image of Calcifer from the animated movie, instead of something much weirded like Calcifer's actual description in the book.

Lovely short introduction to the world of fungi, and also of mushrooms (with some nice recipes included). Quick way to get introduced and learn more about how they reproduce, how they grow, what their life cycle looks like, how the mushrooms we see are only one stage and aspect of the fungi which generate them.

While the author took inspiration and used as starting point their personal experience in Britain, the book is general enough and applicable to the whole world, which I greatly appreciated.

Flawed characters, realistic gossipy coworkers, unfortunately realistic semi-unconscious bias toward attractiveness. Sisters who stick together even though one clearly lives in her own world and doesn't think about consequences (and also is a serial killer, as the title suggests) while the other cannot say no. Captivating read, frustrating because of the insufferable behavior of the titular sister, with glimpses of the messed up (but differently messed up) parents and extended family. Pretty short and almost certainly worth your time.