What I did like: - the atmosphere/setting was descriptive and vivid from the writing - lots of important themes and topics touched on through the story - the last "book" was very engaging and I think the way the story ended was so well written What I did not like - we didn't get enough development to be really attached to the characters - this book took me months to finish, and yet it felt like nothing happened for half the book

This is the queer space opera I never knew I needed in my life! As someone who is unfamiliar with the genre, I still loved this so much and it's because there is such a fun cast of characters. The adventures Xan and May, as well as their ever growing list of friends, go on are hilarious, completely out there (both literally and figuratively), and are underlaid by the ongoing suspense of battling Chaos. The final book in the omnibus is undoubtedly my favourite. I loved getting to know more about Xan as well as Aimz. There is so much queer rep throughout this series - May is implied to be asexual, Aimz and Listay are in a sapphic relationship, Xan loves kissing anyone and everyone (and as an alien, it's mentioned his gender is kind of a big question mark). There's even an alien drag/burlesque show which was hilarious. As for the things I didn't enjoy so much, I've never been a fan of "breaking the fourth wall" and it happens a loooot in this book. Personally it really takes me out of the story, and I remember at one point somewhere near the middle of this that the wall breaks were so frequent that I was starting to loose interest. The other thing is I wish we got to know more about May's backstory!! I felt like her character just began when the story did, because her life before being in space was barely mentioned, if at all, besides that she worked at Sonic. All the other characters had at least some of their history revealed so it felt a little missing for May. Overall, I greatly enjoyed The Audacity and recommend it to anyone who is interested in sci-fi but wants something not too serious or intimidating, and to anyone who enjoys reading stories featuring queer characters! Thank you to Netgalley and Space Wizard Science Fantasy for the eARC.

I didn't realize I'd read an Andie Burke book before this and hated it, which was good because it allowed me to enjoy this book and fall in love with it! Both the characters are well developed, with good ADHD and anxiety rep included. The meet cute between Derek and Dylan was funny and unique and very Hallmark-esque.

Renegade Girls is a historical fiction graphic novel set in 1880s New York, and based on real life women. It follows Nell as a stunt girl - a reporter going undercover - as well as her friend Lucia who becomes her research and reporting partner, and her love interest Alice, who does photography for Nell's articles. I was so excited to read this book to learn about the real life women these characters were inspired by, especially considering I'd not heard of stunt girls before! I feel like the story is developed well and at a good pace. Nell and Lucia's friendship develops alongside Nell and Alice's romantic relationship, and neither is left behind by the other. I loved getting to see Nell exploring her rebellious side by meeting Alice's friends, who break numerous societal expectations and even partake in crossdressing. Without spoiling too much, I'll say that I love how the author included some plot regarding class and how higher classes often profit off of the labour of lower classes to continue getting richer. The one part that felt lacking to this story is the inclusion of people of colour. There are characters in Renegade Girls who wealthy and Black, and there is some discussion of immigrant workers in factories, however I find it odd that this was not really a big part of the plot or of Nell's reporting. Instead, there was just a focus on the exploitation of child labor, without exploring the intersection of race, class, and other factors. Overall, this is a great book to add to school libraries for the historical element, and a good read in general if you enjoy women's history, queer romance, and graphic novels. Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the eARC!