Book reviews: mostly fantasy

I have so many books, you guys. I'm not keeping any of the books below (except for the ebook obvs).

The Secret of Platform 13, by Eva Ibbotson (late February)
This was a cute fantasy story in the vein of Roald Dahl etc. If you've read other books by her then you'd know what to expect (I don't think I have, but the name is familiar to me). The title doesn't have much to do with the story, but I liked it and the characters. I gave it to my dad to give to our local thrift store, but I'm not sure that he has yet. 4 out of 5 stars

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (March 1. Yes, it took me less than one day to read)
AAAAAAAUUUGHGHHGHGHHHHHHHH
They need to teach this book in schools, alongside Brave New World and 1984. Are they??? Why aren't they??? This is like if the Quiverfull movement took over the US. Everything I'd read about it was like "It's still relevant for our times" but I WASN'T PREPARED FOR HOW RELEVANT IT IS. READ THIS BOOK. ATWOOD IS A GENIUS. 4/5 stars simply because it kind of f*cked me up

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (March 1) *SOME SPOILERS*
This book is a fairytale retelling (my favorite genre) of Sleeping Beauty obviously, but in the Holocaust. The protagonist realizes that her late beloved grandmother's version of the Sleeping Beauty tale she told her growing up was actually a clue to her mysterious past. Lots of promise since I kind of like mysteries. JY is a giant in the fairytale retelling/fantasy genre so I knew it would be good as well as sad due to the setting, but in the end I didn't really like this. The protagonist is college-aged (19-21, I don't remember) but the way she and the book is written, she feels much younger. And there's a shoehorned romance kind of thing with her boss who is like 35? Nope. Plus, while we established that her grandma was Briar Rose in a concentration camp, we never found out who she really was (amnesia due to the gas from the chambers). 3/5 stars

Warriors #1: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter (first half of March)
This is the first in one of those multibook multiseries for elementary/middle school kids that are basically the only way to write/publish books nowadays. It was a free ebook and I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. It's your basic "everyman kid joins a new clan/army/order/fightclub/whatever and while there's suspicion about this outsider, he's accepted, both grudgingly and not. Then he discovers a political plot or The Truth about what they've been told all their lives or w/e and has to save his new home/people and he's The One" but with cats who live in clans in the forest. The political intrigue was actually pretty great, as was the worldbuilding (I can't believe I'm writing this about a book about wild cats). The made-up vocabulary (these books always have new words and dialects etc.) wasn't that corny at all, from what I remember. I actually want to read the rest of them to find out what happens. They're both familiar and refreshing. Recommended for yo' kids (and you obvs if you roll like me). 4/5 stars