I’ve always wondered why those who are in abusive relationships struggle to leave their significant other. If they are hitting you or manipulating you, shouldn’t that make you hate them? I had the preconceived notion that victims of domestic abuse just didn’t have the courage to leave. However, Colleen Hoover proved me wrong in a thousand different ways. It Ends With Us is a novel that intricately entwines the past and the present and gave transparency to the reality that is domestic abuse. At one point, even I was torn between what was right and wrong because Colleen Hoover has a special way with her words. She opened my eyes to just how difficult and heart wrenching it is to leave someone who hurts you, despite how much you love them. The main character, Lily, is a protagonist I wanted to yell at, cry with, and hug and her superpower has to be the ability to persevere even through the greatest of hardships because she kept fighting each and every day. This book completely destroyed me; I finally finished it at 3 in the morning, sobbing my heart out.

I am about to make a controversial statement, but I will not accept any other opinions when it comes to this. Enemies to lovers is by far, the best, the greatest, the most incredible romantic trope to exist. There is nothing that surpasses the feeling of when two characters who have sworn to hate each other (or even to kill each other) fall in love, albeit it is the most slow arc and aggravating experience for an impatient reader such as myself. Jennifer L. Armentrout is already a famous author, so I don’t have much to add to her impressive bio other than the fact that she is probably the reason I need therapy. Her characters have ruined me in a good way—in an “I will not sleep, eat, or rest until I get the final book to this trilogy” kind of way. The main characters in this new adult fantasy are Poppy and her guard Hawke. Poppy is a woman who literally has superpowers and she is known as “The Maiden” while possessing the ability to feel other people’s emotions. Even though she was sheltered from literally everyone, Poppy grew up to be one of the strongest characters I ever read about. She can kill you in the blink of an eye, and I’m not even kidding. She knows how to use her weapons. If you like this, read Kingdom of The Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco, The Wrath and The Dagger by Renée Ahdieh, and literally any book by Sarah J. Maas.

Something I always feel like there’s a lack of in every genre is POC (people of color) representation and representation of people who don’t fit “normal” beauty standards. Reading There’s Something about Sweetie felt like someone had taken all the thoughts in my head and all the experiences in my life and they had written it down on paper. The author, Sandhya Menon, was one of the first authors I have ever read to include South Asian protagonists who played not the nerdy sidekick, but the desirable main character. Sweetie, the main character, is the protagonist whose mom belittles her for not being skinny, all the while she navigates falling in love with someone who’s the exact opposite as her (emotionally and physically). Sweetie really spoke to me as her insecurities and struggles were incredibly relatable, especially with the inclusion of numerous South Indian ideas and behaviors. Sweetie’s superpower is her ability to shut all her haters up with just one smile. If you like this, read this: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London, and The Henna Artist by Sonali Dev. You can find all of the books mentioned at the Morse Institute Library and/or through the Minuteman Network. If you are interested in buying them, they are available on Amazon for cheap too.