Welcome to Litsy!

I'm just not invested enough in these characters. Elliot is so very oblivious. I know with it being set over a few years, it takes a while for them to mature but I grew impatient. The story is just too long & dragging. Also the emphasis on flipping gender stereotypes felt very heavy-handed after a while. I read the first 25% & switched to audio for the next 25% which did make the long chapters more bearable but not enough to listen to 9 more hours

Elliot is a cold, blunt, rule follower… ok he‘s an asshole. When he is allowed to attend school in the Borderlands (a fantasy land on the other side of a wall), he chooses the diplomacy route rather than military route and becomes a menace to everybody. Including the love of his life, Serene, and her best friend, Luke.
I felt like they all started too young for how they acted. It dragged on forever then boom, stuff happened, rinse and repeat.

#Two4Tuesday

1. I like the idea of architecture although I‘m not sure I‘d have the patience for all the math.

2. The tagged book is a fantastic YA fantasy—snarky and surprising and just straight up a lot of fun. Elves, humans, magic and more collide at a school in the Borderlands. This book had me laughing out loud and quoting lines to whoever would listen more than once…or twice…

@TheSpineView

My #bookspin for May is a title by Brennan, which I put on my list because I just loved this book to pieces. Any suggestions for my next one? I like romance in my books, whenever possible. 😁

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I had no clue while reading this that it was really written as an internet serial. It explains why there was little plot development and more character building. There were some great ideas in this one about being transported to a magical land but being faced with diplomatic issues instead of magic but it never developed into a story.

Two stars simply because i enjoy sarcastic characters. Otherwise, very much not a fan. I'm counting this for my July#bookspinbingo board @TheAromaofBooks. It's no. 2 on my list for this month

For the most part I have been letting my random draw decide which book is next from my windowsill, but I may need to bump the tagged book up the priority since it's my #LMPBC read this month. Otherwise, nothing new, other than adding in the second Percy Jackson book!! #WeeklyForecast @Cinfhen

The book was fine plot wise. The delivery was a bit fast paced, but the book took really long to read. It was the kind of thing where the twists were really sudden and then just mention calmly, even if it was shocking stuff. I think it would have been better as five separate books instead of only five chapters in the entire 437 page book. ⬇️

I should have left more of this book for today, when I would like to spend an evening elsewhere. I loved this book wholeheartedly, every little bit of it. Can't wait to read it again in the future!

Pretty sure I preordered this book, have had it sitting on my shelves for 3.5 years, I am a criminal, I am going to jail for the crime of book ignoring

I'd say I fell in love with the irritating weird child on page 1 but that's a lie, I fell in love with him on this page 0 illustration. I am gonna lose it for these kids, I bet!!

Elliot, bisexual & a “stone cold pacifist,” chooses the diplomatic stream at a military academy when he discovers at 13 that he has the magical ability to cross into the Borderlands. There‘s no magic, but Elliot‘s happy to find mermaids, trolls, unicorns & such like. His best friend is a female warrior elf, Serene-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, from whom he learns that gender roles are opposite in elven culture. A fun #LGBTQ portal fantasy #audiobook.

Seen on my #audiowalk this evening: wild creatures at my neighbour‘s back step.

THIS. BOOK. WAS. INCREDIBLE. If the Tortall books & “Red, White & Royal Blue” had a baby — a hilariously adorable, sweet, enchanting baby — you‘d get this. Which means it has a little bit of everything: enchanted setting, intriguing politics, boarding school antics, a romance that is the best single-book slow burn frenemies romance I have ever seen in possibly my entire life, and, best of all, an abundance of shriek-out-loud humor!! ★★★★★.

#currentlyreading | “Elliot? Who‘s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He‘s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit.”

😍😍😍

I just couldn‘t finish this. Elliot was a snot and off the bar you can tell he and Luke will get together. And the chapters are so very long!

Snarky and funny as all hell. I loved this gentle roast of Harry Potter. I loved the characters, the subversion, the matter-of-fact queerness and awkwardness of adolescence. So so good.

#109 of my year and this one was recommended by an Owlcrate team member, Shanleigh. I am looking forward to reading this one and seriously need to order Step Sisters still lol too many books, never enough time!

I really enjoyed this, with a super-sarcastic protagonist (who antagonizes everyone else!), a great "how oblivious can you be?" pairing, and wonderful character development over the school years. Read a lot like fan fiction (GOOD fan fiction, it's a compliment!), for a fandom you never knew you were a part of! Fun and frothy, made me chuckle out loud more than once - as if the kids need any more reason to think I'm a bit batty!

Has been on my #tbrpile for a couple of years. Finally #currentlyreading #hardback #fantasy #lgbtqia #merpeople (I think).

I looooved this book. Full of snark that kept me chuckling aloud but also so full of emotion as prickly and annoying Elliott, who learned nothing about loving and being loved at home, tries to find his place in a magical world to which he has just gained admittance. Elves, harpies, mermaids, and sarcasm. I definitely need to buy a hardcover copy of this@one for my keeper shelves. Second book completed for #24in48

I am awake and once I have my laundry going (thank goodness for audiobooks)I will diving into this YA #sff and my first cup of coffee. I have been looking forward to this one. #24in48

As I was reading this book, I was thinking 3 stars in my head. But then when I was about 80% in, it moved up to 3.5 stars. I liked this book; while it was slow for me at points, it was also fun, creative and full of humor. Serene, Elliot and Luke are an interesting trio, all sorts of love triangles and they make great team. It ended as I suspected which was gratifying and ultimately rounded this book up to 4 stars.

If I see the name Elliot one more time I may go insane...I don‘t know maybe if this had come out when I was younger maybe then I would have enjoyed it...but today I had to quit after just 25 pages 😕🤷🏻‍♀️

I adore this sarcastic, ironic piece of delight.

Real talk: this is SO important. Recognizing what you deserve to have in a relationship is crucial for your well-being, as well as the well-being of any potential partners. I love that this snarky portal fantasy book addresses this so well.

This book gives me emotional whiplash I am CACKLING

The scene with Eliot's mother makes me cry every. single. time. I'm just having so many emotions 😭😭😭

God such a good!!! 🥰💞😍

😭😭😭😭😭

So. Damn. Self. Aware. I love it!💙💜❤

Seriously, the way this book plays with our (and Elliot's) expectations regarding magic lands and portal fiction is just *so good*

This book starts off amazing and keeps it up all the way through. There are few characters I love more than the sarcastic, prickly little pain in the ass that is Elliot Schafer.

This book had a fun and witty tone. It was snappy and quick and from the point of view of a very sarcastic character.

1/5⭐ I could not get into this book. The main character is annoying. The writing style is so lighthearted it just comes off as superficial. There's no depth to the characters, the world, or the situations to connect with. #irishreadathon

Portal fantasy is not usually my jam and this one had me laughing, and then getting exceedingly sucked in and worried for Elliot and his abrasive, snarky, delightfully curious self.

I loved this so much! It was fun and cute and sweet and charming! But it wasn‘t just fluff. Elliot is both an everyday person confronted with a fantasy land and such a unique character. I just want to hug Luke and Serene and Elliot

I finally wrote one of my year end review posts on my blog Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian. This list of my favourite #LGBTQ books includes Little Fish by Casey Plett, What You Want to See by Kristen Lepionka, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, and more! #QueerBooks #BisexualBooks

...I need to read more by this author. #cancerdiagnosis

http://www.sarahreesbrennan.com/2016/11/how-i-found-out

Top 10 favorite books I read in 2018! It‘s always so hard to narrow down this list. Have any of you read these?? #bestof2018

I had some trouble with this book at first, finding the protagonist overly abrasive. But by the end, the whole thing just made me radiantly happy. What a sweet story.

Next

I didn't LOVE this, but I absolutely get why it's so popular with many readers. (Fantasy is rarely my thing.) The writing is clever and funny with great commentary on the genre. I did love the gender role reversals (Serene's comments made me laugh so much!), but there's a reveal in the middle of the book that I found jarring considering the first half. I liked where it went, but I didn't like how it was introduced.

Gotta switch off the other book for a bit. #medicinalbook #thisisareread

#whereiread In the shade, pool side #LitsyAtoZ #I

This is my collect-all box for #hpbdayswap. I like to have a theme, to bring all the contents of a box together, like #wellbehavedwomen or #homefortheholidays. This swap will be #oldemagick, celebrating HP‘s and JKR‘s birthdays by visiting some of my favorite OLDER magical series. I really hope my swap enjoys it!

May stats! I finished 9 books in May: 6 physical, 2 audio, 1 ebook. Favorites were In Other Lands (one of my favs of the year so far!), Furyborn, and The Color Master. Lots of YA and fantasy this month!
#readingresolutions @Jess7

It's rare that I read a book I want to give more than 5 stars to. This is a new favorite for me and it's everything I want from YA fantasy but rarely find: flawed but lovable characters, laugh-out-loud funny yet made me cry, explores portal fantasy while critiquing and subverting its tropes. I loved the heck out of this one. It's weird because I can also totally see why people might not like it, but it worked so well for me.

There are so many hilarious lines in this book that it's hard to pick. I love Luke! And Elliott!