I received a free copy of this book through Net Galley.
I liked it more than I thought I would. This book collects the first 6 issues, and the first issue was interesting but nothing too amazing. As this volume continued and started to get deeper into the plot, I found that I genuinely wanted to know where things would go. I like the art, the characters seem like they could be interesting (even if only a few of them grabbed me in this volume), and overall I think this is a solid start to a series.
I received a copy of this book for free through NetGalley.
I did enjoy parts of this book, it had some imagination and it all felt pretty well put-together. However, I really didn't care for the story, characters, or art. I've read/seen enough variations on this concept before (character from a fantasy realm coming to the “real world”), and there aren't any groundbreaking elements in this first book that make this story seem worth repeating. The publisher describes Waking Life as “Enchanted meets Degrassi,” and while that does sound pretty fun, it doesn't have the wit of Enchanted or the (sort-of) authenticity of Degrassi. It all feels very by-the-numbers. As for the art, that's obviously going to be a matter of opinion, but I just didn't find it engaging or appealing in the slightest. Maybe Book 2 will bring some much needed originality to the story.
I received a copy of this book for free through Net Galley.
I liked this one! It's a good start to what could be a very good series. I liked the mystery, I liked the characters, and I liked the slightly odd but lovely art. I definitely want to see what happens next, as this volume stops very suddenly.
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
For a story that's so character-driven, I really didn't care for the characters. I found myself warming to them as I read, but for the most part I found Wotakoi to be pretty generic and not all that engaging or funny. It's decently enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but I doubt I'll remember it or have a desire to read any of the other volumes.
I love the art, don't really like the characters, but there's something intriguing about the whole thing that makes me want to read the next volume. I think it has the potential to be genuinely good, right now it feels like a mostly solid but still kind of shaky blueprint for the series. If nothing else, it is very nice to look at.
I received a free copy of this book through Net Galley.
I really enjoyed this one! Melissa Brayden has a great natural writing style that suits a story like this. It feels appropriately big and romantic (not to mention fairly dramatic) when it needs to be, but also low-key and intimate when it suits the story. Bad dialogue is the easiest way to make me hate a book when it's so focused on its characters and their interactions, but the dialogue in First Position is charming and natural. The characters are well-written and the leads have palpable chemistry, so I was invested even throughout some contrived story beats. All in all, a well-done and enjoyable romance with an interesting background in professional ballet.
There's a sense of sadness in this book that's present in both the art and text of every page. It's not depressing, necessarily, it's just a light sadness that feels authentic and natural when telling a story that tends to have a fair amount of sad moments. Like some other reviewers, I wish the author had spent some more time exploring the themes that she brings up here, but it's hard for me to fault the natural way the story is told. Like Walden says in the afterword, this is a story about ice skating, but Spinning is also about growing up, coming out, and figuring out what you want.
More like a solid 3.5, but it was entertaining and informative. Craig Pittman clearly has a lot of love for Florida, so even the worst stories of Florida's politics and people are undercut with a sense of affection. It goes beyond what I expected (crazy Florida anecdotes) and actually includes a lot of information about the state's history in a way that's still engaging.
As much as I love the Ghibli movie, this book is so much better. The movie leaves out most of the story in favor of a general feeling of plotless whimsy, and so the story here feels almost brand new. It's a truly great fantasy novel, easy to read and get lost in with memorable characters and imagination to spare.
There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this graphic novel, from its art to its storytelling, but the characters kept me from ever fully connecting with the story. David is every self-insert tortured artist I've ever read about, and I just found him unpleasant above all else. Meg is the manic pixie dream girl archetype that exists to “fix” the male lead, which is especially disappointing considering the potential she had to be an interesting character. Some of the supporting cast is interesting, but this story isn't about them. The Sculptor feels like the work of an excellent visual storyteller through and through, and that's the only reason I didn't dislike this book as much as I could have.