Target Audience: YA

And Holly Black does it again: another pitch black faerie story – even more so than the first due to the choice of topics! It’s pretty much all about use and abuse – of power, of people, of drugs, you name it – with characters that find themselves in a very murky grey. So it’s not a particularly comfortable read, but definitely an interesting one …

Considering that I’ve read this at least twice before, albeit about 15 years ago, I remembered surprisingly little about the story apart from a few select scenes some of which were even a little jumbled in my mind. So in a way, this was like reading it for the first time and what can I say, I still really like it, though I’m not quite as fervently in love with it now as I was back then …

Oh, the magic of K-pop! It just brings me so much joy whether it’s the music, the groups, or the books dealing with the subject – and this one was no exception. It made me stay up very late (you could also say early) so I could inhale it in a day. It made me laugh. It made me cry. And while this would usually mean I had a five star read in my hands, it also made me have complicated feelings that ultimately cost it the top spot … Let’s unpack!

I fell in love with this book the moment I lay eyes on it. The cover that is. As much as I wanted to love the content, it made it its mission to drive it up the wall. This is one of the most frustrating books I have ever read. It got so bad I had to put it down a couple of times to give myself a break. It certainly had potential but it left me hot and cold in all the wrong places …

I actually never meant to read this book. I wasn’t interested in it at all. But then I read her second novel, In Search of Us, for work, which I really liked, and decided to give this one a try anyway – and off I was on a reading odyssey. I borrowed the audio book online from my library but had to discover that it ended rather abruptly. Too abruptly and on a rather sad note for a YA novel. So I did some research and found out that a quarter of the book was missing. Fortunately, I was able to borrow a paperback copy from a colleague to finish it. I’m glad I did, though this book wasn’t really for me …

AWWWEEEE! XOXO was everything I hoped for AND MORE! If you’re looking for a super cute, wholesome, and fun read that screams for a K-drama adaptation because it basically already is one, then look no further. This is IT!

I don’t even know where to start with this one, but I know how to sum it up perfectly: problematic as fuck. On every level imaginable. So let’s dive straight into the gazillion of issues …