Avengers: Endgame - Throw It All At The Wall And See What Sticks? Everything. (Almost.)

***NO SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME, BUT SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS MCU FILMS - ESPECIALLY INFINITY WAR AND ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, ABOUND WITHIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***

It all ends here.

Well, not really. There's more. We know there's more.

But yes, this 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings to a close Book One - the Infinity Saga - after eleven years of entertainment and ever-decreasing patience on the part of we the fans.

And if you don't let the inevitable plot holes brought on by the very premise of this one bring you down, well, you're in for a hell of a ride.

"Whatever it takes," Cap says. And he's soooo right.

Review: The Size of the Truth

The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

According to Goodreads, this is to be the first in a new series centered on Sam, "the Abernathy," that ever-excitable, wriggly little dude from Stand Off who, let's be honest, stole the show for me. So I'm glad that Andrew Smith is finally giving him the backstory he deserves - and while the content is a little toned down for middle-grade audiences, it's still recognizably an Andrew Smith novel, weird and (excuse me) smartassed as hell. And unpredictable too, because where the story goes, you can't quite see it coming. Maybe you can - and there's still some reveals that I'm headcanoning to the point where I'd fully expect them to appear in any sequels that Smith writes - but the greatest unpredictability of this book is how much it dives into challenging toxic masculinity. Perhaps a little heavy for MG readers? Well, then again, this is from the guy who literally Keeps YA Weird with such gross and thought-provoking reads as Grasshopper Jungle and Rabbit & Robot. If there's a sequel, I'd hope it picks up Sam's story from where he left off in Stand Off - and that, dear God, those ridiculous parents of his get some much-needed comeuppance for being so overly controlling (perhaps my greatest trigger, tbh.)

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Review: Chrysalis

Chrysalis by Brendan Reichs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Today I've got two series-conclusion reviews to write, and here's the one for the conclusion I liked more - Chrysalis, the final phase of Brendan Reichs' Project Nemesis. I won't go too much into plot details for this one, in case you're reading this review without having read the first two books - because by their very nature, both Nemesis and Genesis are so unpredictable and unexpectedly, increasingly, grand in scope that to even begin summarizing this book will invariably give massive spoilers to its predecessors. All I will say is this: you need to go back to Nemesis and enjoy that terrifying ride ASAP if you haven't already. Then the twists of Genesis, and finally the soaring thrills of Chrysalis. Consider this your doctor's prescription from the Pinecone Surgeon General. And now, to Project Nemesis, I can, after two years, say ave atque vale.

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Review: The Everlasting Rose

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just like The Belles before it, The Everlasting Rose is a 3.5 that I'll round up to a 4 for a lot of the same reasons that came before. It's more than a bit slow to start, but rewarding in that Clayton loads the fast-moving, action-packed parts of the story into the latter half. It's also got a lot of the same pitch-perfect social commentary as its predecessor, dissecting capitalism and unreasonable beauty standards and, now, overly accelerated scientific advancement. And inhumane treatment of scientific subjects.

Oh, and of course, there's teacup dragons galore.

Despite that slowness to start, The Everlasting Rose concludes this duology in intelligent and satisfying fashion. Though Goodreads still says that there'll be a third book, Clayton herself has said it's a duology "for now," and with that in mind, I now bid this world ave atque vale.

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Review: The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While Samantha Shannon takes a bit of a break from the Bone Season series - I think the fourth book's been put off till 2020 and still doesn't even have a title announced, right? - here she gives us a standalone (for now) epic fantasy, an 800-page brick with one of the prettiest packages on the market in all of history. It's a long, sprawling story, spanning several nations drawing inspiration on medieval periods in numerous parts of our world's history - Europe, Japan, China, hints of Arabia, etc. Though the plot is a little on the thin side for a book this size, it's the characters that really shine, bringing the characteristic complexity of Shannon's style as much as they can. That, plus the fact that by design, this book subverts the typically white, straight, hetero, and male nature of fantasy novels with the spotlight on numerous women, PoC, and/or queer characters - many of whom are in positions of power. It's a lush fantasy world written with 2019 sensibilities in mind, and I'd be very happy to see a film or TV adaptation that captures Shannon's unique style perfectly!

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Review: Opposite of Always

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I saw this book bless the shelves at work, I picked it up and saw the dust-jacket blurb of the premise - plus the glowing recommendations by Angie Thomas and Becky Albertalli - and immediately thought myself in for one of the sweetest book treats of the year. I wasn't wrong, but there's a lot more to it than that, of course. The sweetness is balanced out by, naturally, a strong emotional core as befits its Groundhog Day - well, more like Groundhog Spring, that amount of time - premise about a smart, unlucky Black boy trying to figure out which of the endless repetitions of his head-over-heels romance with a smart, cute Black girl will end with her not dying. Among other assorted consequences which I won't go into here because spoilers. Perhaps the book is a bit undercut by its severe overlength, and especially its abrupt and overly headscratching ending, but Jack and Kate, I love them too much to not root for them and keep on reading for their ultimate resolution, whatever it may have been.

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Review: Defy Me

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The greatest present I got on my 25th birthday? Learning the title and release date for this book from Tahereh Mafi herself.



Of course, this year we're extra blessed when Mafi tells us the title and release date for her next book in the series - the last one too! - so soon after Defy Me's release. And after finally reading her latest, that blessing is real, because this book is one of Mafi's best yet - building on the shocking, shocking revelations from the end of Restore Me and adding even more truths that I never would've seen coming, even as a student of the original trilogy who's read and reread all three of those books at least three times. But all those truths are more than enough to fill this, the slimmest book yet in the series - a book jam-packed with three dynamic POVs (Juliette, Warner, and now making his main-series debut after narrating the Shadow Me novella, Kenji Freaking Kishimoto himself) and a metric ton of surprises and twists and cathartic violence and sweet love scenes that only Mafi could write - and make it well worth the buy. Next year it all ends with Imagine Me, and while this book ends on a far sweeter note than its predecessor (literally), it's no less urgent for it, gentlefriends. That wait of one more year is gonna be nigh unbearable!

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