Raynie
Gorgeous, charming, fun and funny; and some of the depictions of the villains are genuinely creepy, so it's winner for me.
It was so delightful to revisit Sailor Moon, since she was a big part of my childhood. I wasn't disappointed.
The translation notes in the back explaining what CDs and VHS tapes are... that made me feel ANCIENT though.
I'd never heard of the Edge Chronicles before, but I found this in a secondhand bookstore while on vacation and I was so taken with the illustrations that I bought it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the thought and care that's gone into the world building of the Deepwoods is rich and clever. The illustrations are as detailed as the print quality will allow, and are expressive and exciting. The writing is very descriptive and lively, and it's a real treat to read something so imaginative, and then also have en equally engaging depiction right next to it. It makes for a very fun reading experience, and kind of made me wish that more adult genre fiction had rich illustrations as well. I love using my imagination on my own steam, but it's quite delightful sometimes to have that immersive visual experience as well.
The story has a meandering, episodic kind of vibe to it, similar I would say to Alice in Wonderland, where you're constantly meeting new characters and exploring new places. It meant that we never really spent enough time with anyone other than Twig long enough to become attached to them, but there's never a dull moment, and the pace keeps everything moving forward at a clip. I can definitely understand how that would appeal to middle-grade readers — and adults looking for a fun and imaginative read.
The story is obviously intended as one part of a larger story, but it ends very satisfyingly. It sets up a good foundation for more adventures without making you feel like you've read a teaser rather than a complete book. I don't feel pressure to immediately launch myself into the next one, which is nice since I'm not much of a series-reader. That said, I would quite happily continue the series if I happen to pick them up.
It wasn't as good as the AJ Truman one I read earlier this year, but it was a pleasant read, and I might try more from this author.
However, it baaaadly needs another few passthroughs from an editor, because the typos in the KU edition are egregious. Weird punctuation, missing words, extra words, broken sentences, characters switching names... oof. It's rough. But at the end of the day, it's hardly meant to be fine literary fiction, and it was never so bad that I couldn't understand what the author meant. I still enjoyed the story overall.
The leads I think both were well realized and their romance felt believable. The obstacles were realistic and caused enough drama without being OTT or arising from complete stupidity on the characters' parts. I particularly enjoyed Nathan, but found Jamie a bit trying at times, especially when overstepping bounds with other people's pets and it just being portrayed as a cute thing. That was weird to me. Also, this one had some women characters for once, so that was nice, I guess.
The ending dragged out a bit, seemingly only to set up the next book in the series. It just felt tacked on rather than organic to the Jamie and Nathan's story.
There were some cringy tropes and stereotypes sprinkled through it, and some of the emotional beats veered a bit too far towards overreaction, but not so far that it bothered me. The sex scenes were frequent and explicit, but made sense with the narrative and pacing, and didn't go too overboard with dopey euphemisms (I mean, there were some, but somewhat restrained).
I don't know if it just wasn't as bad or heavy handed as in other books, or if I'm just acclimatizing to the genre — and I think my tolerance for spice is increasing, for better or worse — but I'm happy to have enjoyed another m/m romance. Good times.
Who knew that cycling and things that go bump in the night were a combo that I needed in my life? Well, slap Stephen Graham Jone's name on it, and I know that it'll be a spooky and engaging ride.
I love the way that Jone's couches his stories in the mundane details of daily life, introducing the horror in matter-of-fact, careful measures. I'm noticing that his approach to violence and gore has a distance to it that somehow makes it even more unnerving, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. I think part of it is that it makes the supernatural seem natural, and thus even more terrifying.
The main character is neither likable nor unlikable; he's just a regular joe going about his business and contemplating his life, who finds himself inadvertently in the path of a dark and unsettling figure, and the denouement managed to take familiar concepts but play them out in a way that I wasn't quite expecting.
It's got everything I want from a horror short; atmosphere to burn, interesting ideas, and a plot that doesn't bite off more than it can chew.
But I mean, when isn't SGJ a winner?
Merged review:
Who knew that cycling and things that go bump in the night were a combo that I needed in my life? Well, slap Stephen Graham Jone's name on it, and I know that it'll be a spooky and engaging ride.
I love the way that Jone's couches his stories in the mundane details of daily life, introducing the horror in matter-of-fact, careful measures. I'm noticing that his approach to violence and gore has a distance to it that somehow makes it even more unnerving, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. I think part of it is that it makes the supernatural seem natural, and thus even more terrifying.
The main character is neither likable nor unlikable; he's just a regular joe going about his business and contemplating his life, who finds himself inadvertently in the path of a dark and unsettling figure, and the denouement managed to take familiar concepts but play them out in a way that I wasn't quite expecting.
It's got everything I want from a horror short; atmosphere to burn, interesting ideas, and a plot that doesn't bite off more than it can chew.
But I mean, when isn't SGJ a winner?
I had high hopes for this one — superheroes and body diversity! — but I was underwhelmed.
Engagingly fun action scenes (the superhero kind) are the highlight here, but neither the superhero plot nor the romance mix together very well, and the manipulative MC and unbalanced tone cause the whole thing to sag.
———
What I liked:
The superhero scenes are fun, and feature simple yet well-described powers that allows things to rollick along without getting mired in details.
The body diversity; it's not made a huge deal of for the most part, but it's present and appreciated.
The world-building — there's quite some imagination put into describing what it's like to be a regular-degular non-powered human in a city full of supers.
While I don't think it ultimately managed to say anything terribly thoughtful or new about it in the end, I did enjoy the musings on the morality of having super powers and how you use them. Look, I'm a comics-fan from childhood, so I'm always down for the ol' “with great power...” chestnut. I wish it had explored that more.
We got a whopping two whole women characters with more than a passing mention this time, so that's a plus. Granted, one was annoying and one was the villain, but at least it made it seem a bit less of a sausage party (again, I'm wondering what I expect from gay romances...)
What I didn't like:
The main character starts off likable, but then becomes both emotionally manipulative and oversensitive, and it's presented in such a way that he's in the right. There's not really any discussion in the narrative that his behavior is shitty, and no development to be had. And given this behavior, it's hard to feel sorry for him when any conflict comes up later.
The midway/third act conflict that derails the relationship is not earned; the stakes are too high for such a short amount of time and development. They've known each other a week, and somehow the MC is so wounded by his love interest getting held back at work that the MC takes that as the ultimate rejection, completely falls apart, and then fully turns on and nearly betrays him? Is there no grass to touch in this superhero city?
The overbearing and misplaced thirst. Okay, I get that I'm just gonna have to accept that gay romance is gonna almost always be thirsty and going ham on explicit boning, but the sex talk and distracting thirstiness outside of the sex scenes was cloying and tonally jarring. I mean, sir, be serious; you're in the middle of a superhuman battle field and potentially seconds from death, and you're waxing lyrical about this guy's treasure trail? Y'all need Jesus.
The super-villain had a neat power, but no motive to speak of. Ma'am, whomst are you, and whymst are like this? I guess we'll never know. Maybe it was explained at some point, but I was too busy rolling my eyes at the MC having down-there-tingle feelings while facing impending doom.
The friend group were paper-thin caricatures and entirely unnecessary — we got the insufferable hornbag, we got the nurturing one, we got the angry one, I think there's another one who's just... there, I guess — and they served zero purpose other than to plant characters for other books in the series.
———
I thought I was onto a winner with this one, and it definitely has its pros. I loved the setting and the creativity, but the unexamined flaws of the MC, uneven tone, and lack of care given to the superhero plot line left me a a bit underwhelmed. Funnily enough, perhaps this would have been better as an actual comic?
Idk, I think I need to reevaluate what my expectations of m/m romance are because maybe the problem is me. But, I've read several that I've really enjoyed, so I feel like there's gotta be more out there.
Surprisingly, I didn't love this quite so much as I was expecting. I thought for sure it would be 5 stars. Still, it was good vibes for the most part.
- Toad is an a-hole. I feel we're kind of supposed to be like “Oh, what a silly rascal!” and get behind his turning over of a new leaf, but I didn't buy it, and he didn't deserve to have Ratty, Moly, or Badger in his corner. Toad in the bin!
- Badger and Mole are sweetie-pie angels. When we were talking about it, I said “I wish I were a Badger, but I think more of a Mole” and my partner felt that was accurate. Which is not a self-deprecation; I love Moly, I'll take it!
- You cannot tell me that Rat and Mole weren't a couple. Look, I'm all for normalizing affectionate, deep, platonic relationships — soft masculinity heck yah; toxic masculinity in the bin — but this is giving Bert and Ernie before Bert and Ernie were a thing, and I said what I said.
It's an automatic 5-stars for me, so I'm not even going to try being serious.
I first read this when I found it at the town library, and part way through reading the series, the TV series came out, and I was ALL. IN.
After binging the Roswell: New Mexico remake, I wanted to revisit the original books and show, and I regret nothing. Pure nostalgia.
Did I enjoy it while I was reading it? Yes.
Do I remember anything about it a few weeks later? No, not at all.
Didn't help that I watched the corresponding episodes at the same time. At any rate, my two remaining brain cells have long moved on.
It's one of those things where the facts are almost irrelevant because they're buried under a franchise that I love whole-heartedly with childish loyalty, without objective criticism. Any distinct features about the book itself have mixed and blurred with my memories of reading it as a kid, watching the show as a kid, and watching the remake as an adult.
Basically, I'll take the story of Max, Isabelle, Michael, Liz, and Maria any which way you serve it to me, and I'll say “Thank you, more please!” and that's just how it is sometimes.
I forgot to write a review of this, and it's receded into brain fog a little bit since, but here's what I wrote at the time in the book Slack channel at work:
“It was really good, but I think I was expecting to love it more than I did. The ending was fab, but I wish the first 2/3rds gave a bit more. 4 stars.”
Lately, I've really been enjoying horror of the “Good for her” variety (c'mon Midsommar!), so this definitely fit that vibe.
I guess I was hoping for The-Craft-but-make-it-pilgrim, with a bit more witchy-ness leading up to the climax. It was just little backloaded, which is great for the final set piece, but makes the lead up less compelling of a journey.
But the final set piece though? Ooooh! There were some genuinely affecting and disturbing moments that sets it off, and when the witchy-ness happens, it really ~ h a p p e n s ~. Good for her!
I bought the hardcover edition with a gift card, which was well worth it for the artwork alone, regardless of the story. It's absolutely STUNNING.
Full disclosure: the author is a friend of mine. I bought the book with my own money and these are my honest thoughts, but also, like, I'm not an influencer or professional reviewer, so, idk do with that what you will.
Creepy, uncomfortable, and confusing (possibly by design).
Sometimes I struggle with nonlinear storytelling, and other times I can put it together as I go with no trouble. I think it has more to do with my scatterbrain than the media. Here, I definitely did find it a little hard to follow at times, as the main character, Vinny, jumps around recalling events throughout his life. There are still a few plot points that I haven't quite resolved in my mind with any certainty. However, for me it seemed more like a compelling feature of the narrative. In concert with the varying pace and tone, I felt it really served to illustrate Vinny's state of mind and his increasing state of distress and defeated acceptance.
I skimmed back through randomly and re-read my highlights afterward and picked up some connections that I'd missed at first, and that was very neat to find. I suspect that this would likely get richer on a second reading.
It's definitely an uncomfortable book to read, as there are quite a few scenarios and Vinny's reflections on some topics or people that genuinely raise an eyebrow or make you squirm in your seat, which for me worked in favor of the building dread.
I think you're looking for a taut and restrained psychological horror that resists tying things up in a neat bow, then this might be right up your alley. If you like your horror straight-forward and free of difficult subject matter, you might want to tread carefully.
I re-read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the February prompt of the Buzzwords reading channel (positive words; “wonderful), and decided to read this Usborne illustrated edition that I bought a while back.
Obviously the story itself is 5 stars for me, because I have a life-long Oz fixation, but 5 stars for this particular edition because it's so stunning. The illustrations by Lorena Alvarez Gomez are so bright and expressive, and feature really gorgeous interpretations of the characters. The pages are a thick, glossy paper to really make those colors pop, and it comes with a rich green bookmark ribbon.
It's a really special edition that isn't too big or too expensive that you feel you can't actually read it, but is still a wonderful keepsake that will look lovely on a shelf too.
So, I badly wanted to love this one, because a lot of my fave BookTubers have rated it really highly, but I didn't click with it. Which is not a really helpful review, I know. Put your critical thinking hat on, Raynor; use your words; why didn't you click with it? Idk, just didn't feel it in my waters, luvvies. Soz.
I picked this up from my library because it was giving me Roman Dirge's Lenore meets Emily the Strange with a dash of Lydia Deetz by way of manga vibes, but unfortunately, I think my enjoyment of Creepy Cat suffered from having those preconceived comparisons. Reading the GoodReads page for it and some other reviews now, I can see that Creepy Cat was never trying to be what I went into it expecting, so not the book's fault, and I can definitely see how it would be a good time for others.
I liked the comic strip structure and it had a couple beautiful panels, but while there were a few vignettes that were enjoyably creepy, most of them were just silly.
It introduced the most compelling premise in for the last few pages, which felt like a waste to me. I understand that it's only Volume 1, so I hope the next volumes focus on pulling at that thread.
Add in a bumbling pest of an “nice guy” admirer, and inconsistent reading directions, ultimately it wasn't bad but wasn't for me.
A corny Christmas slay-ride! 😏 Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Some of my trusted GR follows rated this highly, so I was expecting to have a good time, and I wasn't disappointed.
There was surprisingly more character exploration than I was expecting, all the more impressive given how short it is. The pace made room for those moments while never letting things drag or get distracted from the action. The violence and gore were over-the-top in the best way; blood-thirsty and disgusting without getting too mired in descriptive details.
While some of the dialogue was a bit on the nose, if you can't be a bit on the nose in a throwback Christmas slasher, when can you?
What I liked
— The character art is gorj.
— It was nice to see some age and body diversity (even if only some body hair)
— The general concept was interesting.
What I didn't like
— I was uncomfortable with the lack of consent. Almost DNFed.
— The plot was barely there. The threads were real loose, y'all (maybe that's the trade-off for a standalone?). It touched on some heavy themes — poverty, crime, suicide, codependence — but didn't have much to say about them (or at all; pretty surface level).
— I'm no stranger to reading manga and following panels, but some of the panels in this I had absolutely no clue what I was looking at and couldn't even make sense of them using context clues. That might be on me though.
