Jyothsna Musunur

This is easily one of the best books I read in 2019, and brought up a lot of nostalgia from a book I read in middle school called Zombie Tag. The characters are all well-rounded and have so much life (haha), personality, and charm to them- even the minor characters manage to grab your attention in the small number of chapters they are featured in. The main two characters in the book are so well written, and I feel like I've known about their friendship for years and years even though I finished the book in a number of hours. The book does a killer job contemplating death, friendship, mental illness, and so much more- all while managing to keep the story riveting and fast-paced. And a major major bonus is that this story has excellent gay and trans representation, with a healthy mix of zombies and dozens of genuinely funny lines and moments.

It was a 7/10 for me. This book reminds me of movies like Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day, and a book called Again But Better. Having read these two books close together made it difficult to read this without comparing them. I didn't have a very good experience with Again but Better and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself enjoying this book because it has all of the depth, interest, and wisdom that I kept searching for in Again, But Better. I am happy that I finally found the first book of the summer with a romantic pairing that I am actually willing to root for. It has action, ups and downs, a beautiful and memorable ensemble of characters, and a healthy amount of humor. Ultimately, I thought this was a story more about a teenager learning to become a better person, growing and trying to fix his mistakes, and analyzing his values and priorities. It's a pretty lengthy book, and there was some material I thought was filler, which is which I didn't give it a perfect score but I would definitely recommend reading it.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for well-written LGBTQ+ stories, but this book was amazing. Out of all of the books I have read in my life,it's hard to believe that this is the first one I've picked up with a non binary person as it's leading character. I finished it in a day, and I know a lot of my friends who were/are questioning their gender identity who would've done anything to get their hands on a book like this when they were going through trying times in their lives. It's not a masterpiece, but it's well-paced, absolutely heart-felt and adorable, explores important topics, and has a lot of emotional impact. A complaint I've heard a lot of people make about queer coming-of-age stories are that they're (for a lack of a better word) angst-filled, heavy, and unpleasant, but this is about the main character learning to move on from a toxic past and their journey to accept that they deserve love from others. It brings me hope.