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All of these characters are so human. Which is why it's so disappointing that Kerry is such an obvious expy of Felicite. I know Brith can do better than that.

If I were to guess, I'd say that Shriver typically writes in third person and hasn't written an epistolary novel before. Because man, Eva's voice sucks. The only person who would write the way Eva does is a writer - no one else uses language like this. And Eva goes on and on about scenes and memories that Franklin (the guy she's writing to) was present for - he would already know a good chunk of what she says.

This is extremely well-researched and organized. I am impressed.

I'm not sure what to say, other than, "Yeeeeees."

SPOILERS:

They kinda dropped a bridge on Tamara. And even more than that, nobody really made a big deal out of her death - I barely even registered that she died until ten pages later. This series has never really had the characters dramatically mourn the (frequent) deaths, but this is a whole new level.

I've been told the series starts going downhill right about now. That would be really unfortunate.

I wonder where the chorus originated. Like, why is this random commentary a thing?

SPOILERS:

That was kind of anticlimatic. I mean, there was a climax, but the thing that the book was building up to just never happened. I mean, if you're going to sell the book as being about one of the first black girls to go to an integrated school, it should actually be about, y'know, one of the first black girls to go to an integrated school.

There are some good persuasive speeches here. I wish I could read this in the original Greek, but based on this, Sophocles was a pretty good writer.

Stakeout on Rush Street was cheesy, but in a really fun way. I've never been a fan of Detective Noir stuff, but the story makes a strong case for it. In contrast, Again proves that Jane Espenson is far better at writing dialogue than prose. Because this is cheesy in a not-fun way.

There are writing things that would annoy me if this were YA, but I do have to accept that in MG, you can't be as subtle as you can for older readers. And it's not like YA is exactly a genre known for its subtlety and restraint.

I like the whole 'demented collective moral conscious of the town' vibe we get here. It's the most interesting dynamic of this series.

I don't really see much of a plot here - so far, it's just an extension of the basic premise.

It just occurred to me that I've never read a single book about Segregation before. I really need to read more historical fiction. I've watched Hairspray and The Help, sure, but I barely remember The Help, and Hairspray was a very white perspective on the topic. This, on the other hand, was actually written by a black author, and a pretty good black author at that. I'm enjoying it so far.

It's bothering me that Kerry is a Magnificent Bastard in the exact same way that Felicite was. It's like Brith needed the same character to have a different background.

The War Between the States was well-written, but the story was entirely boring. The one I'm reading now is looking to be more interesting, thankfully.

It's kinda confusing that there's a character named Mia and another named Meredith. That is all.

This dialogue is overall pretty good.

The New Watcher was pretty good, although it ended way too quickly. I abandoned The House of the Vampire, due to the horrific writing. The War Between the States is looking good so far, although I'm not totally convinced it's set in the Buffyverse.

Maybe I decided to read this too slowly. I vastly overestimated how difficult the language would be.

I'm glad this is set up so that you don't have to be familiar with Oedipus to understand things. Although still, Oedipus has always struck me as the more interesting story.

The translation that I'm reading is really, really awkward. But based on the setup at least, I might have fun with this.

Seriously? You're gonna present a book as a celebration of equality and then misgender a trans woman? Guys, why do we let this guy write about politics? I'm willing to forgive Levithan overall, since Two Boys Kissing features a far more sympathetic portrayal of a trans character. But Jesus Christ, this has to be Levithan's very worst book.

Levithan has to be aware of how much he's preaching to the choir. He can't think this is actually going to convince anyone of anything, right?

I guess this isn't as idealistic as I initially thought. But I can't shake the feeling that Levithan is fighting for his own rights here, rather than for everybody's rights as he claims he is.

Kerry is looking to be another interesting character. I would say it's a risky choice to have six protagonists, except that it doesn't look like Felicite is narrating in this one. Which is a shame, because I was curious to see where her character arc would go. But perhaps it's too soon to tell.

So here's where Levithan puts that political science degree to use so that he can promote mainstream Liberalism in the most idealistic way possible! At least, that looks like that's where this is going. Eugh. I really do think David Levithan is one of the best authors in YA when he's at it's best, but he's more inconsistent than I'd like.

The Ghost of Slayers Past sucked. Boring, unmemorable, and kinda racist. But The New Watcher is looking a lot better - Civil War era stories are generally pretty interesting. Although I wish the writers hadn't repeated the idea of having the slayer be disguised as a boy.

Blood and Brine was definitely the best story yet. Although the one i'm reading now appears to be a retelling of A Christmas Carol, so i'm not too hopeful.

Abomination was pretty good, if a bit humorless. Blood and Brine is also looking pretty good so far. Maybe this anthology will turn out to be better than expected.