I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In school, while we covered the battles of WWII in great depth, Japanese internment camps were never really discussed in detail. Although a bit jarring at first, I liked following multiple characters (a different one each chapter) through their lives and learning about their unique struggles. All the kids are around each other for the most part, so we still see mostly the same characters but the chapter is just not told from their perspective. Although it would have been very long (maybe in another book?), I would have liked to return to some characters’ perspectives which I felt could have been developed a bit more. Honestly, I even cried one chapter but laughed in others.

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the second half of this book compared to the first. The writing does feel a bit juvenile at points, but I think it was intentional to really have us understand the characters and what the author was attempting to convey about them. Would be a good beach read.

Set in a world where Slasher films really did happen, Lynnette is a member of what's known as the "The Final Girls Club." The club is made up of women who meet a very specific criteria - they all were the only survivors of two massacres, and they all killed the person responsible. They meet once a month to support each other and work towards moving on with their lives - until one day one of the members doesn't show up on time. Her monster has come back to kill her. Now, Lynnette is on a race to not only keep herself alive, but to keep the members of her club alive as well. This probably would have worked pretty well as a movie, honestly, but as a book it didn't quite work for me. First, Lynnette as a narrator was awful. She's unreliable from the start, so I found myself utterly distracted the entire book because I was always trying to figure out if I should believe what was happening. I know a lot of books use the unreliable narrator trope now, but it was a difficult sell in this book. I would have much preferred if a different narrator (Heather?) was responsible for telling us what was going on. Or if Lynette's character was tweaked a little. Second, the plot twists were not really plot twists. It was really easy to figure out who was going to be responsible for the killings happening, so that was disappointing. The twists didn't leave me going "oh wow!" so much as "ugh, finally, we got there." My third issue is that it seems like Grad Hendrix either didn't keep track of everything, didn't want to explain everything, or thought that no one would pay attention. For example, at one point a character is mentioned to have a cell phone that they are going to use to keep track of Amber Alerts and to check in with every five hours. Three sentences later, they say that they're going to keep the phone turned off and only have it on for the check in times. How...how are you checking for Amber Alerts? Why did you make a big deal about checking for Amber Alerts, only to then say you're turning the phone off and not getting them anyway? In another scene, Lynnette is dictating a message for someone to send. She claims that it was a difficult process, and that she had to spell out a lot of the words. The example given is using "p as in Paul which is fascinating, because the only words with "p" in her message are purchased, photos, people, and peace. Am I really supposed to believe that someone couldn't spell one of those words without help? Really? I could go on and on, but honestly? I had high hopes for this book. The summary sounded great, and I was really excited to read it. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it. The writing is just not good.

Number #16 in the Maisie Dobbs series. It is 1941 and Maisie works for SOE and is in pursuit of a murderer amongst the Free French stationed in London. If you've enjoyed the Maisie series, you will enjoy this one, too. Always well-written and engaging.

"I...I don't know. I mean he was my son. Our son. But what he was doing was wrong. I have to believe that. Because if I don't, then everything I did was a mistake." Never thought I could sympathize with a book set around a whole lot of racist and homophobic people, but dang. This book is brutal and tender, face-paced and beautiful. Set in Virginia, we follow Buddy Lee and Ike, two fathers who have just gone through the unimaginable - their married sons were killed in broad daylight, for reasons unknown. Both fathers are struggling with not only the grief of losing their child, but the knowledge that they will never be able to repair the broken relationship between them that formed when they were unable to accept the fact that their children were gay. When the police mark the case as inactive, the men realize that the only chance they have of putting things right is by using their criminal past to their advantage, and going after whoever put their boys in the ground. You could feel the grief all the characters were feeling, and the action scenes were really well done. This book is as violent as it is beautiful, and I really hope they do wind up making it into a movie - I think it has the chance to be an amazing adaptation.

A short, interesting fantasy about the mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, who use witchcraft to strengthen their strike for better working conditions. While it's a fantasy, the book packs a lot into its 123 pages about capitalism, worker's rights, and women's agency. The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott is a more conventional novel on the same subject and there is a National Historical park in Lowell about the history of the mills.

This book was complex in how it portrayed grief and how it can affect family/friends/lovers. There were thoughts I read that someone I know has expressed feeling at that time in their life and made me reflect on if I did the right things during that time.

Amazing book! Tons of detail and humor.

I listened to this book on audio. I found it very hard to stay engaged in this. Perhaps already knowing the outcome diminished the story for me, the details provided went into the minutia. The author should not have done the audio - whew his accents were awful.

Dog Man Unleashed is about dog man being the worst dog in the beginning and the best dog at the end. There is also a villain called Petey that made a flat paper copy of himself, which turned to life. This all happened on Chief's birthday.