The biggest pull this book had on me was its title – how controversial is it to say you’re glad your mom died? And then I saw who wrote it and became even more intrigued. I knew of Jennette McCurdy through iCarly, a show my sister and I watched on Nickelodeon when we were younger. I always liked Jennette’s character, Sam – she was rambunctious, loved food, and was often a great source of comic relief. On the outside, it would seem that Jennette had it all. Who wouldn’t love to be famous and be a co-star on a popular show? It wasn’t until I read her memoir that I learned she actually hated acting, and it was her mom’s dream, not hers.

I’m probably the last person who should be starting another series considering I’m already in the middle of many others BUT… how could I not read this? I’m always on the look out for diverse books because my shelf has been dominated by white authors for a long time, soo I’ve been doing my best to read and champion BIPOC voices when I can.

I’m not the biggest reader of romance but The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy had the perfect amount of it for me to be hooked. This book is for fans of the Sunshine/Grumpy enemies-to-lovers pairing, slow burn romance, and a relationship that grows through letters. The pen pal aspect of the story was probably what drew me in the most and the fact that it’s set in a world with marshals, undertakers, and lost souls possessing cadavers.

If you read nothing else this year, please read Babel.

I’m no writer and summarizing how I feel about this book, how it impacted me, and how incredibly awed I am by this written piece of literature, will be quite the undertaking. But I need you to know, because books like this are few and far between and we need more of them in people’s hands.

You may have seen this book around or you may have heard people talk about it online, but if you haven’t, I’m here to put it under your radar. There’s a lot of hype surrounding Kuang’s Babel and it is 100% deserving of it.

“Father told me I’m broken.”

There are few first lines more intriguing than that. If you like a book with bone magic, smugglers, secrets, established queer relationship, mysterious islands, and magical animal companions, this book is for you.