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Review: The Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-el and Kelly Pousette. A sweet and gentle winter read.

Blog Tour: Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Abrams Appleseed Board Books

We Are Alive: Also, Even More Picture Books

RT @planetalvina: “Racists are really bad at geography.” -@sam_aye_ahm’s epiphany as an 8-year-old after being confronted by a racist man t….

RT @lillielainoff: Your book isn't #ownvoices if you're the able parent of a disabled child. Your book isn't #ownvoices if you're the able….

Now, if only we could get a Malay cookbook penned by Mak Genggang, I can maybe find some closure. #SpillThatSambalSecretRecipeZenCho.

Basically, this book has it all. I would personally recommend (because of my OTP) starting with THE SORCERER TO THE CROWN, but THE TRUE QUEEN definitely stands tall and proud on it’s own. I cannot rec this book enough. ❤️.

Aside from discussing themes of race, gender, colonization, and sexuality, you also get SO MANY LAUGHS. I especially love the moment when Prunella is accused of stealing the Fairy Queen’s Virtu.

There are also so many relatable moments with Muna! I could cry, I love her so. After entering a room full of white people and getting tired of being stared at, Muna just stares back until the woman drop her gaze. I know I’ve done that too many times to count.

Random: love how the book gently critiques the way academia functions in Britain: “the authors (Muna) read were fonder of embarking upon flights of theory than dispensing pracl. advice . ”.

Unrelated, so glad to learn about polong. I would not complain if we got a short story about how Mak Genggang made hers. *puppy eyes*.

“To ruin Mr. Hobday for a mere slip is surely disproportionate to his crime . ” Too bad, so sad, don’t let Mrs. Wythe’s dragon babies bite your ass on your way out.

Also! There is something deeply funny and fun about watching Prunella, Henny, and Muna shutting down men who don’t get why other men should be “punished” for one “mistake”:.

TRUE QUEEN gives us enough of the old characters that old fans are satisfied but it also allows readers (new and old) to engage more deeply with the lore of this world.

It also takes a special kind of author to know what readers want (PRUNELLA) and be able to give them that (SO MUCH PRUNELLA) and also someone new to care about (MUNA! SAKTI! HENNY!).

Which I do. I felt such a rush of emotion when I got to “see” Prunella and then Zacharias. I just love them so much and I *missed* them? We don’t talk about what a feat it is for authors to create characters like Prunella that feel so dang real that you *miss* them.

But! That’s not all! There are also the djinn and the nagas and quite a few queens! And then there’s poking fun at aristrocrats, deceptions employed by people who wear their hearts on their sleeves, and the sweetest of romances—two of them if you count the Wythes.