First Frost Josh

It’s hard to believe that its been over a month since Red (Taylor’s Version) changed my life irreversibly. Hyperbole aside, the release of Taylor Swift’s re-recorded masterpiece provided the perfect foil for a wet November rife with gloomy forest hikes. While my preferred Taylor Swift autumn tastes lie elsewhere, its impossible to deny the association Red has with the season. And rightfully so. The range of emotions the album covers is tremendous. It may well be the perfect breakup album, covering not only painful heartbreak but ecstatic forgetting, yearning relapses, and tremulous renewal. As such, you can imagine the excitement of fans upon learning that the new album would include nine songs “from the vault”. Nine songs that didn’t make the album in its initial release would be included on this iteration. After talking a month to reflect and listen to the album on repeat, I have come to the definitive tiered ranking of the vault songs from Red (Taylor’s Version) . Enjoy!

I'm a huge fan of the young adult thriller genre, and few have done it better than Holly Jackson in the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. Released in 2021, As Good As Dead caps off the trilogy in unexpected and increasingly macabre ways. Jackson takes the reader on a twisting journey of trauma, morality, and difficult choices that will leave them questioning just how thick the line between good and evil truly is. The bulk of my review is dedicated to my thoughts about the book's "big twist", so take this as a first and final spoiler warning ! I discuss key plot points from all three books in the series, so if you haven't read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder , Good Girl, Bad Blood , or As Good As Dead , I would recommend giving them a read first!