A day late but a review over - Attack of the Black Rectangles and Skin of the Sea

It's NaNoWriMo, so all my writing brain cells are going to partner writing a sweet novel. I've got thoughts on two books to share, though, so I figured why not make this a twofer review and keep them both short and sweet? Here goes!

Attack of the Black Rectangles by A.S. King: I wish the people around me when I was growing up were as well-adjusted as the people Mac has in his corner. He's a lucky dude, and he and his friends are very courageous. I took a bunch of pictures of bits from this book that I really liked, but a couple favorites:

"I should have been born at a time when adults didn't pretend something is okay when it's not. I don't know if that time ever existed. Maybe I needed to be born in the future."

 

"Don't cry." I say.

She turns to me. "Crying is a natural reaction to disappointment. Would you tell me not to sneeze?" 

Just...excellent. I also really appreciated that King explicitly called out the misguided focuses of people banning or censoring books and that they're upset about the wrong things. GO A.S. KING.

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen: I cannot say enough good things about this book. First of all, the cover is a work of art. Second, mermaids?! Bowen beautifully wove tales of African deities through this story, and the imagery, the world  building, the descriptions of every place they visited and interaction that took place were just...gorgeous. Everything about this book is a masterpiece. It's a heavy read, so be prepared to feel a lot of things and to get uncomfortable. To be pulled into the story and feel everything Simi and Kola are feeling. I have the second book waiting for me on my bookshelf, and I can't wait to get into it.