I wanted to see what came next: how do the separatists reintegrate with other humans? It's not going to be easy, and that conflict would be a fascinating story. The action-packed scenes were fun to read, but they were only the first step to resolving the story's problem. Still enjoyed it, though.

This novel deals with interesting moral quandaries and tries to dissect the impact of fascist indoctrination. Kyr is a genuinely unlikable protagonist, and the text highlights how no one really likes her - yet everything works out too neatly in the end. The story just needed to go a bit further.

I read so much this year, and while quantity isn't significant, I'm still impressed by the number and range of books I managed. Memoirs were outside my scope, but I challenged myself to read some and rather liked them - with the right writer and voice, the genre can work, even for skeptics like me.

Then, for non-fiction and poetry:
- The Hollow Half by Sarah Aziza
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
- Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud
- a body more tolerable by jaye simpson
- I Cut My Tongue on a Broken Country by Kyu Lee

Usually, I only pick up a couple of Seth's Haunted Bookshelf each year because the quality of these 19th and 20th century stories can be patchy. This year, I grabbed all three without checking the reviews, and I was lucky that they're all strong stories, with solid plots and vivid writing.

It's a vicious cycle of knowing it needs doing but hating doing it and feeling stressed because it needs doing, which makes it even harder to do. Wish there was an easy fix.

Life has thrown some horrible things at you, but that doesn't mean you're incapable or not cut out for academia. See what you can do and remember that perfect and "done" are sadly different things. (Still convincing myself of that, too.)

Congrats on the time you were able to spend on yourself today. It's so hard to do that and not be endlessly giving to others (the "endlessly" part being the problem, of course, not the giving in itself). Sending hugs!

Sorry for the typo in the first post - "moves into her aunt's house".

The main character was disturbingly relatable with her reliance on social scripts and constant second-guessing of her every action. It was refreshing to see social anxiety be depicted so realistically and - I can't think of a better word - kindly.

Not as much as she should have! A few cute moments, but definitely underutilized.

Seconding Notes on a Regicide! The West Passage and The City in Glass were also excellent.