Amity

Another solid collection of cute + relatable comics. I'm sure I've seen most if not all of these on social media, but it doesn't make them any less charming! 3.5 adorable black cats out of 5.

A year ago, Nan lost her three best friends to Saltcedar Canyon: their bodies were never found, despite the best efforts of the community to locate them. On the anniversary of the disappearance, during a lakeside vigil held in their honor, one of the girls is found injured but alive. No one is more shocked to see Luce than Nan, who doesn't share the town's excitement: after all, Nan was pretty sure she had killed all three of the girls. As Luce recounts her fractured memories of the past year, Nan and the reader are left wondering: how much does Luce really remember?

The plot was compelling, and the writing was solid; however, I did think it fizzled out at the end a bit. Thrillers often require some suspension of disbelief, which I have no issue with, but there were some parts to the story that didn't add up for me. Still, I was reading this every spare chance I had to see how everything unfolded. While there are things that are going to bother me as an adult reader, they probably won't bother the target audience, and I think it's an overall solid addition to the YA thriller genre. 3.5 earrings out of 5.

Although Nadya was born with only one arm, she never found herself lacking in any way. However, when she is adopted by American parents and taken away from her homeland of Russia, they deem it necessary to fit her with a prosthetic. Nadya has smiled politely and been obedient throughout all of the major changes that have happened to her, but the uncomfortable prosthetic is too far and leads her to wandering by a turtle pond, which is the only place she ever truly feels at peace. After trying to help a turtle with a strange message carved into its shell - Be Sure - Nadya finds herself in Belyyreka, a land of giant frogs, talking turtles, and water as far as the eye can see.

This was as well-written as the others in the series, and once again the world-building is incredible. It's such a short book, but it's so richly described and well thought out. I think this prequel could work as an entry point to the series, albeit a sad one, but I found it more rewarding having read the other books. Though I want to know what happened when Nadya returned to Belyyreka! How much time had passed? Was her husband still alive? More importantly what about her giant turtle??

Overall, not the strongest entry in the series, but still solid. 3.5 varying weights of water out of 5.

I read this back in high school and liked it fine, but I feel I have a better appreciation for it now. It's not particularly scary, exactly, but it does have a sense of foreboding even when you know what's going to happen. 4 buckets of happy funtime confetti and definitely not blood of any animal out of 5.

It does not live up to the glorious potential of its premise or creeptastic cover, but it wasn't bad. Tons of spooky imagery, very little character development. A nice little slice of horror for a dreary day. 3 ill-advised wedding venues out of 5.

OH DANG I LIKED THIS SO MUCH! Exactly my type of story...just started the second volume and I'm hoping it sticks the landing, but you theoretically could take the ending of this one and have it stand as a self-contained, bleak conclusion. Bueno's art and Bellaire's colors were also lovely, though there were occasions when I had trouble telling a few of the characters apart due to the lack of clean, solid lines. It definitely fits the aesthetic of the story though, especially Walter's Melty Man look. 4.5 lovely little lake houses out of 5.

I don't know, I was never going to be impartial while reading this. I adore the Telltale games and even named one of my cats after Clementine:



so obviously I'm going to be biased! I thought the fourth game wrapped up her story nicely but I was intrigued by this and it was just...okay? I thought the art was a little muddled at times and I couldn't get over the fact that 1) Clementine leaving AJ did not make sense to me and 2) the new love interest didn't strike me as much as either Louis or Violet, both of whom I loved...so again, this is on me!

I did really like Clementine adjusting to life with a prosthetic, which I feel is not explored in apocalyptic fiction enough, and her whole speech about realizing she was going to live and feeling panicked about it was good. Again, I think this is really just a case of my own biases getting in the way of me enjoying the story for what it is. Overall, 2.5 zombies out of 5, rounded down because now I guess I have to replay all the games and who has time for that? (It's me. I have time for that.)

There are a lot of reasons John Carpenter's The Thing is a great film, like the incredible special effects that brought the creative and terrifying creature designs to life, but the truly scary aspects are the isolation, the dread, the paranoia. And while that is touched upon in this novel, it never reaches the heights of its inspiration. There's a bit of paranoia - and I liked how it tied in with Riley's history of panic attacks, how she couldn't trust her own mind - and the scenes where they're braving the Antarctic storms were effective, but it never fully came together.

Normally I would try not to directly compare the movie and the book so closely, but the book's story follows the plot of the movie so much that it's hard not to. I think the book could have done more to make it unique, like focus on the environmental/climate change aspect or flesh out the characters and make it more character-driven, but it was too short and too action-focused for that to happen. Also, a minor complaint but the pop-culture references also seemed more suited to millennials and older, which obviously works for me because I'm in that age range, but might be off-putting to the target YA audience?

Overall, I didn't hate this, and there were things I did like (especially that the billionaire tech weirdo is named Anton Rusk and is still somehow less cartoonishly evil than his real-life counterpart). I wouldn't hesitate to hand it to a teen looking for a fast-paced horror read, but this Elder Librarian would rather watch the cinematic masterpiece that inspired it. 2.5 Animorphs references out of 5, rounded up.

I struggled with this one a little, but once I switched to the audiobook I enjoyed it more. I felt the random stage directions would take me out of the story when reading it, but listening to it made it more palatable for me.

There's a lot to like about it, and it made me laugh out loud a few times, but often I found myself saying “yeah, okay, spooky Lovecraft stuff, cool, but when are Kerri and Andy going to kiss??” Anyway, 3 Scooby-Doo references out of 5.

This was a lovely, whimsical read. I appreciated the diversity of both the characters and the worlds they visited (though all of the magical realms sounded awful to me, tbh...I guess this is why I was never received the call to adventure as a child) even though I didn't really understand the “High Wicked, Low Logic” etc. etc. part of it.

I will definitely continue this series, as I'm interested to see where it goes. 4 magical doorways out of 5.

ow my heart

a very similar reading experience to [b:A Monster Calls|25480342|A Monster Calls|Patrick Ness|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1430763000l/25480342._SY75_.jpg|13492114] (hidden for potential spoilers)

4 giants out of 5

Just so lovely and whimsical with a twinge of horror to give it an edge. I love the varying artists, I love Bod, I adore Silas, and this interaction was everything:



No lies detected. 4 friendly graveyard ghosts out of 5.

This was...fine? I liked the concept, the art, and the relationship between Sonny and Xavier was sweet, but...¯¯_(00)/¯¯ it just didn't add up to much in the end, at least for me. 2.5 wordless pages of violence out of 5, rounded down.

For some reason we equate suffering to perseverance and misinterpret the gravity of shame, the duration of its presence; how we always end up stuck in the ages it starts.

This memoir, though slight in page count, demands a slow perusal. Allen has a poetic, lyrical writing style that never veers into purple prose and is filled with personality. There are some funny moments, but be sure to heed the warning in the author's note. 4/5

I'm not sure how to best describe this book. I'm shelving it as “horror” because that's good enough for my own bookshelves, and there are certainly horror elements, but it is really a metafictional take on memoirs/memories, combined with historical fiction and horror and sprinkle in some humor while you're at it; slaps cover of book this bad boy can fit so many genres in it.

I was wary of this at first, because even though I've yet to read a Paul Tremblay novel that I didn't at least like, the book is asking the reader to be on board for an atypical reading experience. Which I dig, but I have to be in the headspace for it, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to slog through the sesquipedalian loquaciousness in which “Art” frequently indulges. But you get the hang of it, and “Mercy” has such a conversational tone that you feel like you're really experiencing the story with her and it bridges any disconnect you may feel. Or it did for me, at least.

I don't know what else to say. What an ambitious book, with a killer soundtrack to boot. It's definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it was certainly mine. 4 Hüsker Dü songs out of 5.

What I expected: a whimsical fantasy with fairytale elements that dipped its toes into the waters of horror, like all of the classic fairytales did. You know, magic and adventure, maybe a bittersweet ending but good would ultimately triumph.

What I got: pseudo-dystopian science fiction with hints of fairytale twists, sprinkled with questions of mortality while a disease is eradicating large swaths of the population. Also, good advice on how NOT to be a parent. Maybe don't abandon your young son to live life as a doll?

I'll admit that I was initially drawn to this book because of its cover (as I have never fully grown out of my emoteen Hot Topic days), but this was a really unique reading experience. However, I can't say I fully liked it; I didn't think any of the topics were really explored in depth, and it kind of felt like all of the characters had the same voice. No one was really distinct and while the plot elements were intriguing, they never clicked. I might read the second one to see if Ella gets her memories back again, and if so, how that plays out with her and Gabby but overall it fell flat. 2.5 doll-obsessed mad scientists out of 5, bumped up for originality.

Re-read before picking up the sequel; probably it's closer to a 3.5 because it does have its issues, but I love the world-building and Darlington and Dawes, in that order. So we'll stick with 4 Grays out of 5.

Since Snow White is not one of my favorite fairy tales, I was not looking forward to the Snow White section of my Fairy Tale YA Lit class. Naturally, this section produced two of my favorite books read in the class so far (and my least favorite, but that's a whole other story).

My only real complaint about this book was I wish King Nicholas was more...I don't know, sympathetic? I mean he certainly has his moments and of course his grief over his dead wife is very sad, but ultimately I felt he was kind of one-note; of course, the same could probably be argued for Lynet and Mina, I suppose, so it's a minor complaint at most.

Overall, I liked the use of magic, the Huntsman/Magic Mirror aspects were clever, and I liked the lgbt+ aspect as well. A well crafted story about learning to love and being true to who you are; maybe that's cheesy, but hey, it's a fairy tale, and we could all use a little cheese nowadays. 4.5/5

This was pretty cute and fun! The art was lovely and some of the fears were a little creepy. Also, a lot of the people who contributed fears need to confront their parents about the childhood trauma they inflicted. 3 ant farms in your head out of 5.

Compelling, spooky, and tons of fun meta stuff for horror fans. Just an absolute gem of a book. 5 sauce-less spaghetti dinners out of 5.

Super late to reading this, but glad I finally did. I love Fraction and Zdarsky, they work so well together. I'm also biased because Suzie is a librarian and everyone knows that librarians make the best main characters. 4 absurd sex jokes out of 5.

Why isn't Ghoul School real and why isn't Bea A. Fraid my best friend? She has some killer jokes.

why do picture books always make me cry

I just love Pugtato so much, y'all.

I'm not crying, YOU'RE CRYING!

(i'm crying)