Welcome to Litsy!

3/5⭐ I'm so torn. Half the book lost focus. The characters felt less like fully realized people than vehicles for the book's themes. At the end the complexity of the first 3/4 of the book fell off completely in favor of a constant "will they/won't they" romance I wasn't invested in. Read it for an eye-opening look at race across multiple continents, but not really for any interesting characters or plot. #blackathon #contemporaryathon #projectSAMS

4.5/5⭐ A stunningly beautiful, complex exploration of how the grief from a single event ripples out and affects so many people. It's not often I spend the majority of a book in tears. #blackathon #contemporaryathon #projectSAMS

My preorder arrived yesterday! It's even more gorgeous in person than in pictures. Just look at the detail on that spine!!! #projectSAMS

4/5⭐ Whatever I felt was missing from the first book (I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This), this sequel made up for completely. It was heartbreaking, and I was completely invested in Lena and her sister Dion making a better future for themselves, though they never should have needed to in the first place. The people they met who helped them infused a very dark situation with hope.

TW for sexual abuse.

#projectSAMS #blackathon #contemporaryathon

3/5⭐ This book deals with some heavy themes and does it well from the perspective of two middle schoolers grappling with them. I just felt that there was something missing plot-wise to make it a story rather than a meandering slice-of-life (albeit a complicated one).

TW for sexual abuse.

#projectSAMS #blackathon #contemporaryathon

4.5/5⭐ The feminist manifesto we all need and deserve. I loved the characters, the adventure, the themes. Monty is a trip. Felicity's, Sim's, and Johanna's complex and evolving relationships with each other, along with their own character growths, are the heart of what makes this book so utterly wonderful. I hope Lee writes more in this series, because her characters are a delight to follow. #projectSAMS

Everyone has heard stories of women like us—cautionary tales, morality plays, warnings of what will befall you if you are a girl too wild for the world, a girl who asks too many questions or wants too much. If you set off into the world alone. Everyone has heard stories of women like us, and now we will make more of them. #projectSAMS

Then I brace my feet against the casements and rescue myself. #projectSAMS

Your beauty is not a tax you are required to pay to take up space in this world. #projectSAMS

.5/5⭐ No plot is intriguing enough to deal with patronizing misogyny in every other paragraph. Seriously, constantly questioning the capability of a woman WITH THE SAME MILITARY RANK AS YOU just because she's a woman? Referring to her as “girl“ and “the woman“? Immediately judging only her based on her looks when introducing all the characters (the others male) in the room? Disgusting. Couldn't even get past chapter 2. #projectTBR #projectSAMS