Wow. Somehow, despite this book being published when I was in 7th grade, I missed this one back in the day. I’m so glad to have discovered this for the first time as an adult because the subject matter is tough and uncomfortable, but in the way necessary discussions about complicated subjects are by nature.

Connor, Risa, and Lev each offer their own perspectives on their fate to become Unwinds, kids who are retroactively terminated, building up a story that asks all the big questions about life, conception, and the conscience/soul. This story is a critique on how we assign value to individuals and what makes a person worthy of life told through the lives of children who were forced to be born only to then be failed by the adults in their lives and the government. A lot of them are simply kids who make normal mistakes, who lack caring adults and direction. I was so pleasantly surprised by the way this story is told and it had my mind constantly turning as more and more layers to the world are folded into the mix.

The conversation around the morality of abortion has existed forever and this book really forces you to ask yourself if termination of an unplanned pregnancy is really the worst thing that can happen. Turns out being allowed to have your child dismembered and donated to people in parts between the ages of 13-18 when they are fully cognizant humans is actually much more unsettling. The last 45 pages of this book almost had me in shambles. I immediately want to pick up the next book in the series.

I went into this book expecting a story about generational trauma, identity, and how colonialism shapes life/cultural identities. This story suffers from a reliance on ideas that don’t end up being fully fleshed out or connected by the end, making this story a slow burn without much payoff.

There are some strong moments where Jade explores her complicated relationship with not feeling at home in Vietnam or in the US, existing somewhere between two identities, including when it comes to her sexuality. Her character speaks a lot to the way cultural identity becomes fractured by factors like immigration, colonialism, and shame. I liked following along as she tries to reconcile her feelings toward her absent father and his attempted reclamation of a house that holds their family’s difficult history.

Moments of this book made my skin crawl, especially the slight body horror and one specific bug scene, but I would call this an almost cultural horror story similar to something like the movie Sinners in a way. It’s unsettling in its handling of the atrocities of the past and how those same atrocities can still be carried out in the modern day, but the supernatural elements don’t really stick for me. This isn’t about the ghost story in the end and the supernatural aspect of the plot ends up coming across as unfocused, if not entirely confusing at times.

I only wish there would have been more carnage and female rage, but this book was great. It explores the dynamic between men and women during a time where women couldn’t own anything or dare to want more than what society deemed they were worthy of based on their social standing. The idea of hunger and feeding and desire in this novel speaks to our most basic nature, the ways we need to nurture ourselves that were historically denied to women. Reading this will fill you with rage at times, but the conclusion is so satisfying. There’s so much power that comes along with allowing yourself to admit what you want and pursuing it despite the constraints placed on you by others.

This was cute and I liked it well enough, but I feel like the show fleshes out and addresses some things the book never did. In this way, I think Jenny Han got to update this story for a modern audience and go more in depth with the character relationships. I hesitate to say this about a teen book, but at times it’s almost a bit too juvenile for teenagers in its lack of substance. Nothing much happens and when it does it feels like it’s resolved within the chapter. I think the target age group for this book could probably could handle a more nuanced conversation about growing up, relationships, and dealing with complicated feelings. The character development is severely lacking here because I only get to know who they are in a vague sense which makes it difficult to relate. This is one of those rare instances where I would say the show captures this story much better than the book because the show has taken on its own identity.

There’s certainly something here that works for me, maybe the nature of this story is refreshing because it is unfinished and mostly unpolished. The content only just scratches the surface of Ana Magdalena and the reasons for her trip every August to have an affair with a different man on the island where her mother is buried. I do enjoy stories that seem to follow a character closely in their day to day life without a specific point to be made or a tightly structured plot. It’s fun to walk someone else’s path for a moment. I struggle with the lack of introspection given the theme of the novella. Ana’s life is perfectly fine it seems, so why have an affair? Why continue to wander when it doesn’t spark feelings of joy or satisfaction beyond the immediate moment? Maybe this is the point. Why do we do the things we do? It could be to simply experience those moments where we feel most alive and give breath to our deepest desires. She is a woman who allows herself to fully exist on her own terms during her August trysts. This is admittedly my first read by Marquez, so now I feel it’s only right to read his better known works. Had this been finished the way he intended before his passing it could have been truly great.

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t realize this was a series when I requested it, but the concept was interesting and sounded cute with the holidays coming up. While I did enjoy this story and how it balanced the serious elements with the romance, I do wish this story was longer. Beyond her personal family struggles, there’s something about Kit that made her come across as a bit of a cliché until we get to the bits toward the end. If I’d gotten to know some more about her beyond modeling earlier it would have helped to establish her character from the beginning. Her dynamic with Jonah was fun though and I like how they played off each other during the development of their relationship. They brought out the best in each other. This is a romance that also deals with personal struggles, which I like in my romance books, but I wish it would have delved a little deeper to have more of an impact. For the most part this story only takes place over a few weeks and the big L word gets tossed around, so if you aren’t a fan of instant love this might not be for you. There is more to it beyond that though and I do think with the short page count the author did a decent job developing their connection.

The concept of this true crime story is fascinating, focusing on a man who doesn’t steal for money or prestige, but instead for his great love of art. Stealing pieces he feels an emotional connection to becomes an obsession as his treasure trove grows. This is a true story of some quite frustrating people and how they pulled off one of the most prolific strings of art heists in history. I found the most interest and enjoyment when Finkel’s writing dips into the complicated relationships between the characters and the motivations behind their actions. At times the narrative gets bogged down by too much detail, especially during the attempt to dissect Stéphane Breitweisser’s psyche. He is someone I believe is beyond understanding at the end of the day. It is fascinating to delve into the mind of an art thief who doesn’t fit the mold, but it’s also of interest the way even his own attitudes change after he gets caught. I appreciate the amount of detail and care taken in telling this story, but sometimes it gets a little dull.