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Jessica from 13H reviewed "The Art of Power" by Thich Nhat Hanh:
Tram Anh from 12M reviewed Over The Top by Johnathon Van Ness:
Jonathan Van Ness is someone I really adore from the Netflix show Queer Eye for their confidence and sense of humour. From the show to the memoir, they advocate for loving yourself, accepting your flaws, and using beauty to emphasise your features to become more of what you already are instead of hiding it.
In this memoir, JVN tells the story of growing up in a small town in Quincy, Illinois, facing bullying, and the adult figures that have embraced their queer identity at a time and place where people were not accepting. They recount the pressure to conform to an ideal image of a strong, buff cisgender (gay) man, and how not being able to do that has pushed them into unhealthy habits. I'm sure this resonates with many non-binary people, as it's about accepting how you look and act and not just the gender you're attracted to. Even inside the queer community, there are ways of presenting that we deem more acceptable than others.
There's also a story of a teenage JVN experiencing a non-platonic connection with a boy and the boy sensing it too but never being able to admit his sexuality until his mid 20s. They had to compromise parts of themselves to hope to experience half of what their straight counterparts do.I believe that many queer individuals can relate to these stories, not just ones who identify similarly to JVN. Even if you don't identify as queer, you should still read it for a little more understanding, for the self-love messages, and for the Michelle Kwan figure skating realness.
JuWon from 7V reviewed A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is my favourite book so far because it has lots of twists and the criminals are people you would never have expected. This book contains lots of suspense, a bit of drama and is intriguing since it makes the reader certain that the suspect is person A but then it suddenly rules out person A and makes the reader guess someone else. I think the fact that Pip, Ravi, the rest of Sal’s family and a few other people are the only ones who believe Sal is innocent and that this is a closed case makes this book even more interesting because they need to find significant clues that can persuade the rest of the world.
This book is about a case that has been closed. Pip, a student in Little Kilton Grammar school, is researching a case of Andrea Bells going missing for her EPQ topic. Everyone thinks the murderer is Sal, who is now dead and known to have killed himself out of guilt. But this is out of Sal’s character. Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, helps Pip and together they find shocking and fascinating facts about this crime…I really enjoyed all the twists and clues in this book and would love to recommend this to people who are interested in crime, mysteries, detective books and even to people who would like a bit of suspense.
Sofia from 10V reviewed The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
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