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I've heard this described as 'Judy Blume with iPhones', and... yeah, that's pretty accurate. This definitely evokes older MG books, with how angsty it is, and the cliched magic featured in the book. It's kind of weird to do pastiche in an MG book, since the odds of kids getting it are slim, but as a pastiche of older MG books, this isn't too bad, if, as I said, a little cliched.

I enjoy this series a lot. Very evocative, very well-written characters. That said, the tone is a tad idealistic? Like, this girl is convinced to stop pick-pocketing with ridiculously minimal effort - it's such a half-assed character arc.

A few years ago, I think I would've really liked this. Now... meh. There's nothing wrong with this, other than some slightly awkward prose, but it's just not that interesting to me. Still, Jess seems like she could be a good protagonist, so I haven't given up on the possibility that I'll start enjoying this more.

This isn't bad. The worldbuilding is kind of interesting - there are some infodumps, but they aren't too egregious. The dialogue isn't great, but it's bearable. This could be a good book, or it might turn out to be kind of boring - at the very least, it won't be excruciating.

Boy, this is underwhelming. We are way too close to the climax to be relying so heavily on flashbacks. I remember the torture chamber being interesting, but so far, not really. At least the Persian isn't quite as boring of a viewpoint character as Raoul and the managers are, even if his portrayal is kind of racist.

If you view this as a horror story, I suppose I can see how Raoul could've been an effective viewpoint character. But he's just a boring character, and I have no investment in him or his insta-lovey relationship with Christine. This is just a bland, predictable book, and I have no idea why it's so remembered except that the story has potential to be so much better.

Three Encounters: 3/5 Not bad, just unmemorable.

Passions: 4/5 I usually don't like the ones about Jewish-specific philosophy, but this one is really good.

Brother Beetle: 3/5 Fairly standard for this anthology.

The Betrayal of Isreal: 3/5 Another uninteresting, forgettable one.

The Psychic Journey: 2/5 Too over-the-top.

The Manuscript: 3/5 Nice story, but it's needlessly pessimistic.

It is indeed going in a direction that I was hoping it wouldn't go in. Alas. This is still an alright book, it just didn't come together how I hoped it would.

I feel like, even if I didn't already know this story, it would still be ridiculously obvious that the Angel of Music was the Opera Ghost. In fact, I might even dismiss it because it was too straightforward. But Leroux is consistently proving that he only knows how to go with the most straightforward option - there just aren't going to be any surprises in this book, and I might as well get used to it.

Grandfather and Grandson: 3/5 I like what this was going for, but Singer doesn't stretch himself enough to make it work.

Old Love: 2/5 Needlessly depressing and cynical.

The Admirer: 2/5 Confusing, with two-dimensional characters.

The Yearning Heifer: 2/5 Boring and forgetable.

A Tale of Two Sisters: 4/5 Weird and memorable.

It's kind of weird how much time we spend with the managers, considering that I seem to remember Raoul being the main viewpoint character. This doesn't strike me as pulpy exactly, but it is very blandly-written, and Leroux doesn't seem to understand suspense very well.

I find it interesting that even when they're written by women, Victorian books have this weird belief that strong emotions are overwhelming for women and cause faintness. At least no women pass out or die of shock (so far).

A Quotation from Klopstock: 2/5 This isn't a very interesting story, it's just kind of disturbing, with no real purpose to it.

A Dance and a Hop: 2/5 This is another one without much potential value to people who don't care much about Jewish philosophy.

This book is alright, I guess. I guess I was expecting the themes that Austen began in the early pages to come together more cohesively by now, and that doesn't seem to be happening - the plot is getting more focused, but the themes aren't. This is not a bad book, it just isn't as good as I was expecting.

The goal that Azure and Luke are after is an admirable goal, but Azure getting what she wants just isn't a satisfying ending to this story. I wanted Azure to learn that she caused most of her own problems by being presumptive and selfish, and that doesn't seem to be happening. She doesn't have much of an arc at all, really - she doesn't grow or change very much. It's very dissatisfying.

Yeah, this is pretty bland. The plot strikes me as very straightforward; there are no surprises in the progression of the scenes. It's like Leroux wasn't actively thinking about where he could take the plot, he was just going with the obvious next step.

A Crown of Feathers: 2/5 Since I'm not Jewish, I just don't gain anything from this - it holds no value for me.

A Day in Coney Island: 3/5 I have limited patience for Singer's philosophical musings, and this wore thin on me pretty quick. I liked the narrator, though.

The Cabalist of East Broadway: 2/5 Unmemorable and pointless.

I see a lot of people complain about how inconsiderate Azure is, and that's a problem, but from a narrative perspective, I think the worst thing about her is how often she makes presumptions that make no sense at all. It's a cheap way to force conflicts, and it feels like Peters uses this device dozens of times.

Also, I have never read a book that so completely fails to get me to root for the protagonists. Ever.

God, I hope that Elizabeth doesn't end up with Mr. Darcy. Even if most of their animosity stemmed from misunderstanding, he was still pretty rude to her, and they haven't built up much of a dynamic that would lead itself to love. I hope the book doesn't go in that direction.

I've been told that this is basically glorified pulp fiction, and so far, I guess I kind of see it, but it's not as cliched as you might expect. Then again, it's also not nearly as atmospheric as I remember it being from when I read it in middle school. The writing is pretty good, but the whole thing is just kind of bland so far. Hopefully it picks up.

The Cafeteria: 4/5 Pretty compelling and memorable, if a little padded.

The Joke: 3/5 Good writing, but the irony was a little too heavy.

Powers: 3/5 It started with promise, but the payoff wasn't worth the buildup.

Something is There: 4/5 One of the most memorable characters in the collection so far, and a compelling story.

I still feel like this book mainly makes sense as a critique of social norms when it was written, rather than something that's extremely relevant today. I'm not saying it's irrelevant, exactly, it's just that I expected it to be more timeless.

Even though there's quite a bit of forced conflict, and Mandarin isn't always a believable character, I'll give this novel credit for being much more subtle than I expected. At the beginning, the direction of the novel seemed predictable to me, but most of the major beats either didn't happen how I expected or didn't happen at all. This is a flawed, flawed novel, but on the whole, I think it gets a thumbs up.

This might just be the most forced conflict I've ever read. For Azure to be mad at Luke here relies on her jumping to so many ridiculous conclusions that make no sense, all for the sake of an argument that holds no weight. This is forced drama to the extreme.

Honestly, I think one of the biggest problems with this book is how unrealistically selfish and clueless Azure is, and how Peters doesn't seem to realize it.

The Letter Writer: 3/5 There were some parts I liked, but the story was too meandering.

A Friend of Kafka: 2/5 Maybe if I had read any Kafka, I would like this, but as it stands... no.

I'm getting the impression that this book is mainly known for its good moments, rather than being a good cohesive whole. It has good dialogue and writing throughout, but some scenes are distinctly very memorable, in a way that most of the book isn't.

I've always complained that Peters' books (other than Lies My Girlfriend Told Me) are MG-ish, and this is the least YA out of all of them in terms of premise and tone. I almost feel insulted - this is so completely inaccurate as to how teenagers think, act, and especially how they talk. This book is only 350 pages or so, but it feels like a thousand because of how much I want it to be over.

Hubbard is clearly a talented author, and I'm enjoying this a lot on the basis of the writing and the characterization of Grace. But there are some big, fundamental flaws. The plot is meandering and full of cul de sacs. A lot of the dialogue is too obvious and convenient. A lot of the conflict is contrived and forced. What I'm saying is, you can definitely see the roots of Wanderlove, but it's not there yet.

It's not a Cassandra Clare book if there's no forbidden romance! This one at least makes sense and was set up by the universe in previous books, but at this point, I"m just sick of Clare writing about this.

I feel like this plot is perhaps a bit meandering? It's not awful or anything, I just don't sense as much direction from it as I'd like.