Our February 2025 Favorites!

We read some FANTASTIC books this February! We just had to share these titles with you. No spoilers- just hype. Take a look and try these reads out for yourself!

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn - Maggie

4 / 5 Stars

I'm sure Allison is excited that I finally got caught up on this series, just to suffer in waiting for the next book.

This book was an absolute ride, as was the sequel Bloodmarked. Following Bree, who has just started an early college program at UNC and is suddenly involved in the world of the Legendborn, who are the descendants of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

But Bree shouldn't be able to fight their memory spells, or have magic of her own. Now she is trying to figure out how she fits into this new community, while also being the only person of color in it. As the attacks on her and her friends become more frequent, there is a lot of Bree to learn in a short period of time. I absolutely adored this book and how the magic works within it. The sequel is just as good, with a lot more magic and risks. I'm very excited to see where the next book goes and what we learn about the magic and characters.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang - Allison

4/5 Stars

This YA Graphic Novel was a very cute, very heartfelt read. Prince Sebastian is living a double life- living up to his parents expectations to marry a nice princess and fulfil his traditional gender and class roles during the day, and dressing up in his fashion designer friend's fantastic dresses and going out on the town as the fabulous French fashionista Lady Crystallia at night. What could go wrong?

The stakes of the two main characters felt uneven, but I did like them both. When remembering their young age, their drama and reactions make a bit more sense. And the ending slaps- focusing more on support as a community rather than independently coming into your own, which honestly is refreshing to see.

The illustrations were GORGEOUS. The pacing was super fast, and I feel like there were some major emotional moments I wanted to sit with longer, but if the main thing I have to say about a graphic novel is that I wanted MORE, I’d say that’s a great problem to have. ;) Also, I had the biggest smile on my face when reading the “dress montage” section. It felt like a scene from a movie!!

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood - Maggie

4 / 5 Stars

If you have been a long time reader of this blog you will know I love Ali Hazelwood, this book was no different. Except that it kind of is. First, it takes place with college-aged students, who are both working towards medical and Olympic dreams, but also working on connecting with each other.

Scarlett is trying to gain back her confidence in her diving after an injury, while also working on getting into medical school. Lukas is an elite swimmer, with Olympic dreams. When Lukas' ex makes a joke that they have similar 'wantings' during sex and should hook up, Lukas and Scarlett decide to pursue it.

This book definitely has spice and does explore kink and BDSM tendencies, but one thing I really enjoyed about it was how these characters connected and discussed their wants and needs. Scarlett and Lukas both had a lot of complicated times in their backgrounds, but the way they came together and worked through a lot was really well written to me. It definitely pushes the boundary on how much spice I want in a book, but I really did enjoy it.

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in This Crisis (And the Next) by Dean Spade - Allison

4/5 Stars

I picked up this shorter, nonfiction read in an effort to learn more about social justice, activism, and solidarity. In this day and age, I just felt like I was uninformed about all the different ways in which someone can help take care of others in their community, and I was overall feeling a bit helpless as to what I could do to make an impact in any sort of meaningful way. I wanted to learn specifically more about starting small at the grassroots level- thanks in large part to the inspiration I drew from Dr. Kimmerer's work on the gift economy (The Serviceberry, Braiding Sweetgrass, among others).

And wow, did this book deliver! I originally thought it would be more of a historical look at mutual aid ideas, but it was more of a practical guide on how to start a grassroots movement towards the end. While I am not in total agreement with the idea that we should take organized aid programs out of the hands of professionals and that aid programs are better run by volunteers than paid employees, this book did give me the courage I needed to start trying to meet social needs in my community (poverty, homelessness, hunger) with the novice skill level that I am currently at. Starting small can not only make a difference, but it truly can develop into transformative change, since, as part of the community, you may have some of the best insight and bring some of the most passion to helping your neighbors out.

If you are at all curious about the differences between mutual aid, volunteerism, non-profits, and philanthropy, or if you have never heard of some of the historic instances of mutual aid programs in the U.S. (e.g.- The Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast for School Children Program, among others), then this book may be a great place for you to start. At the very least, it will introduce you to "the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world."

What books did you read in February? Any recommendations for these two readers as we enter March?