Books I Read in March

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows - 5 stars (finished 3/4)
BOOK 1 IN THE LADY JANIES SERIES
I had heard from so many Booktubers that this book was laugh-out-loud funny. I know that usually, for me, this means that I will find it funny, but not actually LOL. I 100% LOL'd multiple times throughout this read. It was so so funny. I also had heard that there were a lot of interjections from the narrators, however, if there were, they weren't very stand-outish to me. I loved this book so much. I loved the "historic" parts and I loved the fantasy parts. The characters were wonderful and rich. The plot moved. I'm not sure how the writing was split up between the three authors, but it was done very well and was not noticeable whatsoever.

My favorite passages were mostly book-related as Lady Jane was a bookworm. I won't share all of them, but I will share this one. It's not my most favorite, but it's close.

""I've read all the books we have." She wrinkled her nose. "Armies aren't very good about carrying libraries with them. I can't imagine why. We'd fight so much less if everyone would just sit down and read."" - Lady Jane, p.427

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin - 4.5 stars (finished 3/14)
While organizing my Kindle books into a new system (by genre), I reread the synopsis of Symptoms and knew I wanted and needed to read it ASAP. I was not disappointed at all. It was very easy to connect with the characters and story. I've seen a few people say it had no point or plot, but I disagree. I think there was definitely a clear story arc.

Symptoms takes on the story of high schooler, Riley, who identifies as gender fluid, but is not out to anyone except for Dr. Ann, Riley's therapist. Riley is also the child of a congressman who is up for reelection in a conservative county. Riley sees coming out as something that would mess up the Congressman's career and put the family in the public eye for scrutiny. Riley is overwhelming so concerned for how everything will affect those around him/her. Riley doesn't want anyone hurt.

The descriptions of how Riley felt really helped me to understand and connect with the character. It makes me want to learn more about gender fluidity. I loved Solo and Bec a ton and I really felt so happy that Riley's mom seemed more than anything to want to understand her child.

I'm 100% fascinated with everything in the LGBTQIA+ community. I don't know how to put it into words without sounding like a dork or causing offense, but I just want to soak up as much knowledge as possible. I grew up in a nondiverse small town in the midwest and even after moving to a big city, I feel like I haven't really been able to meet as many diverse people as I would like. So books, internet, tv, etc. is how I connect with diversity. I want to hear other people's stories!

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket - 4 stars (finished 3/20)
BOOK 9 IN THE SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS SERIES
This one isn't one of my favorites in the series. It's okay. I feel like this one dragged on for a great deal of the story and then ends on a very exciting note.