On Sept. 6, Wellesley held its annual convocation ceremony in Alumnae Hall. Due to inclement weather, the ceremony was moved from the Hay Outdoor Amphitheater to the Alumnae Hall auditorium.
Like many...
A piece of feces was found last Friday inside a Cazenove Hall dryer by resident Wendy Wellesley ’26.
Yep. You read that right.
Soon after Wendy’s discovery, an email was sent out to Cazenove residents...
Malinda Lo ’96 worked on her latest novel for basically a decade.
In the acknowledgments of “A Scatter of Light,” Lo writes that the novel was conceptualized in 2012 and that she began writing it...
Welcome (or welcome back) to Books Before Boys, a misnomer of a book review column (“Books Before Literally Anyone Because I’m Aromantic and Asexual” just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it)...
This article contains spoilers for “These Violent Delights” and “Our Violent Ends.” And for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “As You Like It,” I guess.
The last time I reviewed a...
The first time I met E.B. Bartels ’10, she was guest lecturing in my first-year writing class. I had just gotten the idea for “Dear Wendy” a cool two days prior, having sent my first shaky queries...
I was a teenager when I first really thought about the fact that I am going to die someday. I know that’s a little late to have that realization, but I had been fortunate enough to not have any deaths...
Do you remember the 21st night of September? Because Barrett Bloom does.
“See You Yesterday” is my fifth Rachel Lynn Solomon novel. I can’t seem to stop reading her rom-coms; they always seem to...
Let me set a scene for you.
It’s 2018. I am 16 years old, at the start of my junior year of high school. I still use Tumblr as my main social media platform. A black-and-white webcomic keeps on...
On March 28, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 1557, known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Among other provisions, the bill prohibits schools from discussing gender identity and...
Content warning: mention of pedophilia in review of “This May End Badly,” discussions of sexual content in review of “Mistakes Were Made.”
I’ve had a lot of advanced review copies sitting on...
The title kind of says it all, but let me explain what this book is about. The concept of “A Show for Two” is based on author Tashie Bhuiyan’s absolutely wild high school experience, where Tom Holland...
There’s something particular about Casey McQuiston’s writing that I can’t quite describe. It’s the way that settings and characters are described, the way their dialogue flows so naturally, the...
It’s so funny that I once made a TikTok about how I don’t care for fake-dating because I just checked my Goodreads reading challenge for this year, and I think “The Feeling of Falling in Love”...
In a tragic accident, Wellesley student Econne Maedger ’22 has burned to a crisp after turning on her dorm room’s overhead light for the first time this school year.
“It was just awful,”...
I normally don’t do negative reviews in this column, but wow, I need to tell you about this. “Dear Wendy” is obscure Gen-Z author Ann Zhao’s ’24 debut novel, and as the first ever reader of this...
After reading “The Love Hypothesis” and “A Brush with Love,” I admit I might have begun to romanticize grad school a little bit. I feel like I kind of have to, seeing as I plan on going in the...
This review contains mild spoilers for “Dial A for Aunties,” the first novel in the Meddelin Chan series.
You know, when I saw the premise for “Dial A for Aunties,” I thought to myself, “This...
Are you a lesbian? Are you in college? Are you upsettingly single? Do you have mommy issues? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider reading “She Gets the Girl.”
When I...
It’s very rare, even now, to see books with disabled and chronically ill main characters written by authors with the same experience, so obviously, when it happens, I jump at the chance to read it. And...
It doesn’t take a genius to know which March sister I identify the most with.
(Meg.)
(Just kidding, it’s Jo.)
It hasn’t always been Jo — back when I was a little kid, I identified...
If this column has taught you anything, it’s probably that I read a lot of contemporary novels. It’s just what I enjoy the most and find the most comfort in. But sometimes, I’ll make a foray into...
I went through a phase in elementary school where all I’d ever read was a series called “The Boxcar Children.” It’s a very old chapter book mystery series starring four siblings investigating strange...
Do you ever just know that something is going to wow you upon first glance?
I’ve written a lot in my column about books that have surprised me, but sometimes, you can just tell when a book is going...
Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka are no strangers to romance, with four YA romances under their names and one more to come next year. I’ve read none of them yet, but what I have read is their...
I totally understand that my reading habits are very different from the vast majority of people reading this review, but is it just me who will pick up a heterosexual romance to, like, reset? Because Rachel...
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life when I was a teenager (which is a sentence I can write now that I am TWENTY YEARS OLD?????). I tried a lot of things at school: politics, journalism,...
There are books where I read knowing exactly what to expect: the type of feelings it will make me feel, the kind of story that it will tell.
And then there’s “Portrait of a Thief,” Grace D. Li’s...
Although I am a humanities major at heart, one of my favorite tropes is a teenage girl who wants to go into STEM — especially in a historical setting. Girls who want to be scientists, mathematicians...
HPC corner
House President’s Council (HPC) Liaison Zoe Owens ’22 explained procedures for winter break move-out. Students should be receiving a slip of paper with a checklist on their doors. Students...
I am about to make this book everybody’s problem, and by problem, I actually mean the solution to all your problems.
I know I’m exaggerating, but I just really, really love this book.
“Ophelia...
Health Services
Dr. Jennifer Schwartz, Health Services director, visited Senate to give a brief presentation on how Health Services runs. Schwartz reminded Senate attendees on how to contact Health Services...
You know how sometimes you might click on a movie or TV show on a streaming service without really knowing what it’s about? I never do that. But I do pick up books and neglect to read the description...
My high school days were spent only tangentially involved with the theater program as the secretary of the costume department, but in those few years, I must have learned more about Broadway than I thought....
Society needs more short story anthologies. Too often, I don’t want to start a whole new book because I don’t have the mental capacity to digest an entire story, but a good short story can pull you...
Content warning: this review discusses potentially triggering plot points in a book, including death and grief.
Full honesty, as I read this book and as I am now writing this review, I am currently suffering...
I’m going to preface this review by saying that I’ve never read “Jane Eyre,” unless an abridged chapter book version of it counts. A quick skim through Wikipedia tells me that “Within...
At the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, the second floor of the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center was packed, not with returning students eager to spend time in the study areas, but with cardboard boxes...
Prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year, it was announced that a number of members of faculty and staff would be departing Wellesley College: Dean Rebecca Garcia, as well as Community Directors (CDs)...
(Spoilers ahead for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Good Girl, Bad Blood, the preceding books in this trilogy.)
As Good as Dead is the conclusion to the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy,...
Saying that I love Loveless doesn’t come close to how deeply I feel about this book. If you know me at all, you’ll know that Alice Oseman is one of my favorite writers, and though I’ll read absolutely...
I’ve read a decent amount of books about relationships between band members, but I have to say, If This Gets Out was a pretty fantastic one. I know for a fact that there are many One Direction fans...
This review contains spoilers for These Violent Delights, the preceding book in this duology.
What’s this? A single book review in one post?
I usually don’t write reviews for this column that are...
Hello, friends. I have an actual column now with an actual name! Welcome to Books Before Boys: A Queer Reader's Literature Review, featuring me, an aroace girl who escapes into fictional love stories despite...
She Who Became the Sun — Shelley Parker-Chan, July 20, 2021
How do I describe She Who Became the Sun?
The official answer is that it is a queer fantasy retelling of Zhu Yuanzhang’s rise to...
At the end of April, a group of students who took CS 304: Databases with Web Interfaces in Term 3 launched a website for Wellesley students to track dining hall menus and leave reviews for meals. The website,...
On Saturday, May 29, the Wellesley Secure Wi-Fi ceased to function for the whole day. Wellesley students, in the midst of finals, were horrified by the occurrence.
“This is the last straw,”...
On June 4, at the Class of 2021’s commencement ceremony, Kisha James ’21 gave the College’s first land acknowledgement. James was the second to speak at the commencement ceremony after Dean of Religious...
Disclaimer: aside from Heartstopper, all these books were sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
We Are the Baby-Sitters Club — anthology edited by Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks,...
SOFC voting
Senators voted on the Student Organization Funding Committee (SOFC)’s constitutional amendments. Once again, Senate did not meet quorum, and as of the meeting, had not hit quorum on last...
Arsenic and Adobo — Mia P. Manansala, May 4, 2021
I used to be super into mysteries as a little kid; one of my favorite book series was The Boxcar Children, and I definitely had a soft spot for Cam Jansen...
Housing selection
During the House President’s Corner, Caroline Alt ’21 answered questions about housing selection for the 2021-22 school year. An email was sent to all students enrolling next year...
When Lily** looked up from the H-Mart floor on March 11 after picking up some fallen peaches, she felt something hit her in the chest: a tomato. When she looked up after feeling the tomato hit her, she...
Strategic planning
President Paula Johnson and Provost Andrew Shennan attended the April 19 senate meeting to give a presentation on the College’s strategic planning for the next five years. The plan...
Against all odds, I managed to read four books in March 2021. Was one of them a graphic novel that was 100 pages long? Yes. Was another one of them a book that I started in February? Also yes. But as a...
Boston Intercollegiate Government
Leaders of the Boston Intercollegiate Government (BIG) visited the senate meeting to present on their organization and recruit new members. BIG Chairperson Dennis...
Wellesley’s Karate team, officially known as the Wellesley College Shotokan Karate Club, recently had a strong performance in competitions against other schools. Most recently, on Feb. 27, Karate Club...
Elections Committee
Applicants for this year’s Elections Committee (EC) presented themselves at Senate this week. They gave brief statements of interest before Senators and Cabinet members voted for...
For half of Wellesley students, the first two weeks of February were packed with on-campus students moving back into campus for the spring semester. For many Wellesley juniors and seniors, spring marks...
Type the word “Wellesley” into Instagram, and you will be greeted with many college-affiliated accounts: @WellesleyCollege, of course; perhaps @WellesleyOrientation, WellesleyAlums or @WellesleyLGBTQ.
But...
The post itself is short, just one of countless others in the Wellesley College Class of 2021 Facebook group. But whereas most posts receive less than a dozen reactions or comments, Katharina Christoph...
Flower Sunday
Flower Sunday, the annual day in which Wellesley first-years are matched up with their bigs, was held on Sunday, Sept. 13. Though the pairing ceremonies were held remotely, on-campus students...
