Bryce

First off, let me just say that my local librarian nailed it in suggesting this book for me. I worry that she may know me a little too well at this point.

Anyway, I was completely engaged throughout every one of these stories. They're funny, mysterious, sometimes moving, often unsettling, and always well-written. Sometimes they're too mysterious and vague, to the point where I really just want some answers. The worst offenders, at least for me, were the seagull story and the scarecrow story. (I'm sorry, I don't know the names and I'm far too lazy to look.) The rest were appropriately odd, and raised more questions than they answered, but in a way that didn't feel frustrating.

I'm beginning to love short stories, and these were right up my alley. Give this book a shot. I haven't stopped thinking about it.

This graphic novel just didn't entertain me as much as the comics. It's fun, but I wasn't into it.

This volume impressed me even more than the first. Such a powerful conclusion to the story, great writing, art, and characters.

Hmm. This was interesting and weird, but it didn't really work for me. The art is a mixed bag, the watercolor backgrounds and things are very nice, but the character designs are (in my opinion) pretty unappealing. Good premise, solid execution.

This is the kind of book that I wish I could have read when I was younger. It manages to be fun and funny and exciting while offering ruminations on God, religion, race relations, and life in the Middle Ages. It didn't dumb anything down for younger people (even the farting dragon was based on actual myth!), but it wasn't afraid to be weird and goofy.

All in all, this is the best kid's book I've read in a long time–and just a really good book in general.

Really enjoyed this one. I liked the characters quite a bit, and when I didn't like them I still found them interesting and well-written. This is a good, fun adventure-romance novel.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.

I liked the mixtape format, and a lot of these “tracks” were very good. After a while though, the poems started to feel repetitive and that caused them to lose some of their impact for me.

I received an uncorrected ARC of this book for free through Net Galley.

I really, really loved [b:The Snow Child|11250053|The Snow Child|Eowyn Ivey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327098624s/11250053.jpg|16176521]. I think Eowyn Ivey is an enormously talented writer and so I was excited to read her next book, which I was fortunately able to get an ARC of. To the Bright Edge of the World has the same sense of gentle, quiet beauty that The Snow Child has, but the deliberate pacing can make the story seem a bit drier than many readers would like. This particular novel took me quite a while to read because it's at its best when you can sit down and really devote your time and attention to it, something I was never able to do when I went to read it. However, the times that I was able to give it my full attention, I found a story that was full of life and beauty, populated by characters that were carefully drawn and fascinating.

This book isn't going to be for everyone, but you'll find something great if you're willing to look.

Received a free ARC through Net Galley.

A cleverly-constructed, funny retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest that manages to surprise even if you know the plot points of the original play. Worth reading even if you're not familiar with/a fan of The Tempest.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this book, but it turned out to be pretty decent. It isn't out to scare you and it isn't even particularly interested in the retelling of the stories themselves. What Ghostlnd does is ask us why we tell ghost stories, why the specific details change and are often fabricated entirely, and what impact they have on our culture as a whole. As a serious dissection of the ghost story itself, this book is interesting and well-written. The main downsides are that it can be dry, and it tends to repeat its key themes over and over.

All in all, know what you're getting into and you should find a decent number of interesting observations here.

Good stuff. There's enough cheesy romantic lines and grand statements to fill three more books like this one, but there's an authenticity and heart to this book that makes it hard to do anything but go along with the ride. It's well-done, it's sweet, and there's chemistry between these characters; whether it's your cup of tea or not, this is YA romance done right.

Its focus on two young second generation immigrants, as well as the moments throughout that take the time to explore the inner lives and motivations of secondary characters, bring what would be a competent book into something more special.

A short read, but a good one. Typically great and imaginative story from [a:Neil Gaiman 1221698 Neil Gaiman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] illustrated by the artists behind the brilliant [b:Daytripper 8477057 Daytripper Fábio Moon https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327876816s/8477057.jpg 13341979].

Meh. It's a slightly above-average book. The trademark Lemony Snicket wit is here, and it makes the book much more fun. As a whole, though, it feels forgettable and pretty mediocre. There are some colorful characters, as you will typically find in a Snicket book, and I can see them growing weirder and more interesting in the next few books.

I've heard the next book is better, I'll give it a shot.

I think there's a specific type of reader that will really love this book, and I'm happy to say that I'm absolutely that type of reader. The Hike is strange and funny and terrifying and poignant in equal measure, sometimes (often) in the same scene. I would like this book for its imagination and twisted sense of humor even if there was nothing beyond that, but it manages to be thought-provoking and emotional on top of those things.

It's an adult Alice in Wonderland of sorts, but it isn't weird without a purpose. On top of all that, it has one of the more satisfying and altogether excellent endings I've read in a novel. Highly recommended.

I really don't like the dystopian YA novels that are all the rage right now, once you've read one you've pretty much read them all. This isn't free of the cliches and derivative plot points found in other books like this, but it feels more authentic and well thought out than most of them. It had a brutality that other young adult dystopia feels like it's trying for, but never really achieves. Overall, it was a good read.

This was a cute book, but it didn't have a ton going for it. At least, not anything I haven't already read and watched a thousand times. Considering how formulaic it is, I almost expected some kind of twist, but none came. It's decently entertaining, but it's so derivative of a thousand other “kid discovers they have powers and goes on a journey” stories, down to the exact plot points. The writing is perfectly nice; I would mark it at 3 stars if it didn't feel so tired.

I don't read comic books. Graphic novels, yeah, but I feel like I never have time to get into a serialized comic series. So I can say that this is my first modern Batman comic.

I think I would have got even more out of it if I were to have read the other comics in this series, but as a standalone, it's still gripping and horrific. The writing, showing a lot of Batman and the Joker's relationship, is wonderful. The art as well, a lot of the scenes and images in this book will likely stick with me.

It's a sharply-written, memorable, and altogether great work. No previous experience with Batman (or comics in general) is necessary to appreciate this smart and haunting story.

Sure, it can be “cutesy”, but it's also pretty funny and charming. It's a very light-hearted comic with bright, colorful art and likable characters (including LGBT folks in main roles). I dunno, I liked it!

Shit. I'm sorry, book, for dismissing you as a generic (albeit pretty well done) romance. That “generic” start made me feel comfortable so that the twist really affected me. That was smart. I was trying to branch out by reading a fluffy romance novel and now I'm just left with a lot of emotions. Shit.

A paranormal mystery/family drama that handles both elements very well, building a suspenseful mystery alongside a surprisingly poignant family story. The writing really brought this up a level.

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley.

I have pretty mixed feeling about this one. On one hand, it definitely has its charms, and I enjoyed reading it. But it really feels like a rough draft. It needs a lot of polish, but at the same time there's a lot here that works if you don't take it too seriously.

The dialogue could use some tightening, it shifts between pretty decent and oddly stilted. The plot, and the book as a whole, really needed more room to breathe. If it had spent more time building atmosphere, building the world, developing the characters, (and maybe including some much-needed foreshadowing of the events to come) I would have more interest in reading the next book in the series. The cliffhanger isn't even really a cliffhanger, just a bizarre stop in the middle of the action. In my opinion, the mark of a great series is when every book has a satisfying story and arc without this frustrating method of “Buy book 2 to find out what happens next!”

So yeah, the book has flaws. Quite a few, in fact. But despite all that, I had fun with it. I'd rank it at about 2.5 stars, with a lot of room for improvement.

Brilliantly written, powerful comic. Definitely lived up to the hype.

There was potential. Interesting atmosphere, nice writing. Then it went on, in detail, about the running of a mill. Then, an emporium. It went on, and on, and on.

They set up mysterious details. Some interesting bits to keep me wanting to read. But then it followed through on none of them, and when it did, it was an underwhelming yawn-fest.

If you want to read about a boring over-worked man running a company, this is the book for you. (though I admittedly question your taste a little)

This book, like the incredible blog of the same name, is hysterically funny and also quite poignant. For anyone looking for a funny but also very accurate and easy-ish to understand description of depression, look no further than the two-part Depression chapters.

The writing is fast and funny, honest and pleasant to read. The art is crude but oddly charming, and it conveys a lot more in its simple lines than anyone would expect.

It's never bad, but it never rose beyond “decent” either. When it really goes for the whole “comedy of manners” vibe (which isn't very often) it can be fun, but otherwise I just found it well-written but completely unremarkable.