zilver
can we stop making these books end with rhy and kell in a lot of pain?
in short: i love everyone, kell is a Dad Friend???, i need to hug rhy, alucard needs to hug rhy, i'd now offer money to have lila punch me in the face and holland better be a fucking fighter or i'm going to riot.
i'm suddenly even more glad i'd already ordered and received acol before even starting this agos.
this is so difficult to rate so i'm holding off for a little bit
i think, knowing what i knew from the podcasts already, say “it takes a village” and onwards the most interesting and revealing. i still have no clue what to buy when it comes to this story but the more i read the more i'm convince a lot of rocks were left unturned when they shouldn't have been.
second read TEARS LUV ——————————4.5!!OK OK OK SO THIS IS GOING TO BE A MESS BECAUSE I LITERALLY ~JUST~ FINISHED IT I LOVED IT ((except for that one Thing near the ending that honestly just sort of left me confused?? like did i miss something??? why did that Thing happen?? if someone has an explanation/theory do tell me)) BUT I LOVED IT. i was honestly so happy with the ending i'm so happy when series leave me with proper well thought-through endings. all the characters were amazing. i love how leigh can switch from laugh-out-loud funny to heart wrenching in .3 seconds. i love this world even though it's still weird to see them eat hutspot. GOD. OK. i'm going to try and Chill.
3.5!
I think there???s a collection of love stories at the core of this one. Love of parents for children, of people for purpose, of human for light. I liked the way Hiram and Mara???s ???before???s were interwoven with Joshua and Claire???s ???After???, how they both had a distinctive colour scheme and feeling to them - also in line with the event that separates their before and after, that is? the disappearance of the sun.
I did feel like I missed some depth to the characters, particularly to Claire. Besides her loyalty and sense of justice, I feel like we know very little about her, and I wanted to know more. In addition I found the focus on women bearing children, and how prevalent and automatic that felt as a logical course of action a bit much, especially since it felt like that notion really just existed without the women in question having much of a different purpose besides supporting the men they love. I think that in combination with a world that felt at times pleasantly ungraspable and at times confusingly distant left me feeling a little unsatisfied with the story in the end.
And of course I have to point out the artwork, which is absolutely gorgeous. I love the style, the fluidity of it, the colours, the sense it gave you of the space this story exists within, which is both similar and very different from our world. It really enhanced how connected I felt to the story.
A very pretty, contained work of art.
I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Jonathan Abernathy is unhappy. He is lonely and broke and lacking in any particular skill and tired of life (even though he sleeps 10 hours a night). He is presented with a very specific job opportunity. This does not happen the way job opportunities normally present themselves. No, Jonathan Abernathy is visited in a dream, not by God but by serious looking people in suits. And he is offered a way out of his misery.
While not in any direct way a horror novel, the almost post-apocalyptic capitalism that forms the basic framework for Earth anno Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind is quite the horror. Abernathy's new job is to audit people's dreams, and suggest ways to improve them - to make them happier in order to improve their work performance. Actively unhappy people don't make as much money as people who are okay.
The entire book feels a little like a dream. Time passes slowly, sometimes, and then months will pass. The story itself takes quite a while to pick up pace, to start to grasp the way everything ties together in the end. Even though I really like how intentively stylised the writing was - and it fits the themes and settings of the book really well - it also kept me at a slight distance at all times. Jonathan Abernathy's head is not a kind place to be - it's heavy and sad and filled with as much longing as inertia. Jonathan Abernathy is kind. Or at least he tries to be.
I received a free ARC from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 ???We want some chaos. We want havoc. Bring us hell.???One of the epigraphs of this book is a Jennifer???s Body quote (???Hell is a teenage girl???), and I feel like that tells you a lot about this book. Sideways (it???s a nickname - thank god) Pike finds herself at the party of three of the most untouchable girls in her year. At school she???s mostly known for her witchery, and that???s exactly why she was asked here, to perform some magic during the halloween party. Freak everyone out. Sideways enlists the help of said untouchable trio - Jing, Daisy & Yates - and by doing so, unravels the magic the other three girls all hold inside, and binds the four of them together. ???The magic snapped back like a rubber band. It struck hard and all at once ??? A jagged, painful pulse reverberated from my lungs to my core, and I heaved in a breath through my teeth, wheezed a cough. There was a whistling in my ears loud enough to rupture my skull.??? I love how visceral magic feels. Sideways senses it in her entire body, and the writing is so reflective of that. At times it was a little overdone, but overall I think it really contributed to the atmosphere, this sense of magic being a full body experience. It brought it really close, and made it almost tangible. I think the style is one of the things that really won???t be for everybody, but it was for me. ??????Can girls not be soft and still be powerful???????Girls can. Girls are.??????I???ve seen some people comment on the immediacy of their friendship, but I think an event like the one they went through together is exactly the kind of thing that binds you together. And I believe in the magic of this created world enough that I can imagine if you feel magic the way they did, you???re not just going to walk away from the person who instigated it. The closeness of the girls was one of the things I liked most about this story. They???re all very different, but the way they care for each other and take care of each other without flinching, without hesitation, really appeals to me as a reader. I liked that they weren???t clean-cut, but a little (or a lot) ragged at the edges. I liked their anger, and how justified they felt in it. I liked their loyalty. ???Feeling witchy is a large part of successfully being witchy, and nothing makes you feel powerful like surrounding yourself with gigantic dripping candles.??? Lastly I want to point out the worldbuilding. It???s one of the things I feel ambivalent about in this book, but I???m going to start with the positives. The ideas we got - regarding covens, and spellbooks, and devils, were really interesting and exciting to me. I love when magic changes overtime, so the idea of older versus modern witch covens and traditions I think is really cool. Really liked Mr. Scratch as well - a lot of Calcifer from Howl???s Moving Castle vibes. And a small thing I wanted to point out that I very much enjoyed - the chapter titles. Not enough books make good use of them these days, and I really liked all the references. Very fun.???There was something repugnant about the absence of rage in me. I wanted my fury back.???Then in terms of negatives??? Starting where we left off: the worldbuilding did take very very long to really get a grip on. Really just the last quarter of the book we were introduced to these concepts that I think the story as a whole would???ve really benefited from being introduced earlier. Especially because they are so fascinating! I want to know more about them! I want these girls to know more about them! Show us what they mean! Secondly, and I think most importantly, the plot feels flimsy. I called the ???reveal??? in the first chapter and I don???t know if I was meant to, but if I was, then it just feels frustrating to have to wait until the absolute last moment to have it be revealed to our main characters. There are all these things happening that could be forming a plot, but they???re threads that kind of dangle. They???re not pulled tight, like the author didn???t have a good grip on them. When Sideways gets kidnapped by some weird, religious family, it???s obviously terrifying and dark, but we hear almost nothing of it after she escapes. It???s left almost entirely untouched until the end of the book, when all the threads are suddenly pulled taut, supposedly coming together, even though it feels messy and unearned. In addition, the writing of the characters constantly teetered on an edge for me. I know I said earlier that I really liked the writing style overall, and I did, but only just. Sometimes, the prose got too much, and I could feel myself cringe at it. Sometimes, the teenage-ness of the girls felt performative. Look, the author seemed to say, I know how teens these days act and speak. Look! Look! Look! I don???t want to have to look. I want to notice. I was on a similar edge when it came to the depiction of the girls??? queerness. I love them, I love having multiple queer girls in one gang, I???m totally here for it. But especially Sideways??? own inner monologue when it came to her attraction to girls felt sometimes a little bit too much like the author was like, hey, that joke you people on the internet always make about disaster lesbians, look! Here is one! She can???t think straight when she sees a girl! Again, I want to note that as a reader, I don???t need it shoved in my face. And obviously I don???t mean I don???t want queerness shoved in my face. I???m saying that as a queer girl (though not a lesbian) I felt the depiction really was on the edge of being performative in its intensity. As of right now, I am planning to read the next book in this series. I really hope it will flesh out the world and the plot, and be a more coherent story (and make this book a more coherent part of the series). I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
3.5!
16-year-old Mary Shelley (yes, great great etc granddaughter of) feels the pressure of living up to her ancestors??? legacies. Problem: she has no idea what to do with her life. That is, until she figures out she???s able to resurrect dead creatures. Now, she still doesn???t know what to do with her life but she???s suddenly overrun by a range of ghosts, dead guys with a missing foot and harpies with ancient eggs and dental problems that all want her help.
Someone described Mary to me as the kind of novel that when you read it, you slightly feel as if you???re on drugs. 50 pages in I thought, ???Well, it???s an interesting concept and fun in execution but on drugs? Nah.??? 10 pages later I suddenly had an ???Aha??? moment (this was around the time the harpy with human tooth issues made an appearance. We???re not in the business of calling women harpies here, by the way. This is a literal actual harpy). Let???s say this though - they???re not bad drugs, Brent. Mary is great fun - both the book and the character. When previously mentioned harpy, named Polly, shows up in Mary???s treehouse, Mary self-awarely states, ???I don???t want you here, and I???m 16. In a game of stubbornness you???re no match for me.??? Who is a match for her? Oh, the giant rodent with laser eyes that comes to visit her, insisting he???s ???a marsupial??? and ???closer to a kangaroo???.
That also brings us to a couple of... issues? There???s a lot going on in 146 pages. Maybe a little too much. Definitely a little too much to explain. I???m left with questions about when this story is supposed to be set because Adam says he???s 200 years old and to prove that he makes Grey???s Anatomy references? Sir that proves that you have been around for the past 10 years. The rest of the world looks vaguely 2010-2020-esque. And that???s just a small one. I have a whole bunch more worldbuilding questions that leave me feeling... a little unsatisfied by the end of the book. Maybe it???s pacing, partly. There???s so much happening so fast that all decisions and developments happen really fast as well, and I think a little too much without explanation for my tastes.
Again - great fun, though! Absolutely a delightful, light, funny graphic novel. Would recommend it for any teen who like a bit of spookiness, some monsters, and a whole lot of sass.
I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
i spent yesterday reading the last half of this book and felt like i was going a little bit insane with how much i was ACHING. i love a time travel plot, i love an amnesia plot, i love yearning, i love how painful and harrowing and touching this story was. every minute i have spent thinking about this book since finishing it has made me want to start a reread immediately. so good
i love love love pulley's way of developing the relationships between her main characters, which happens quietly, without grandeur and dramatics, but with a heart-achy truth to it. even after reading only two of her books it's clear there's a style to it, but she pulls it off. and valery is a wonderfully compelling character. honest and real and kind and so dedicated to reducing suffering despite all he's been put through. you just want to hug him through all of it (carefully).
the issue i take, which is something i also noticed in the kingdoms, is the sudden... disappearance of women from the narrative. Spoilerin this book in particular i don't think i can really make a good case for why anna and the kids had to be left behind. we did not get to spend nearly enough time with valery and shenkov afterwards to process the meaning of that decision and the impact it must have had on shenkov, and because of that it feels just a little bit too easy to whisk the woman away. i appreciate pulley's dedication to giving her queer characters a somewhat safe and happy ending. i just don't think that has to be nor should it be at the cost of the women.
second read i say those are MY crow kids and i???m proud ???????????????????????????-first read 4.5!!i loved this book and i loved loving this book and i'm getting crooked kingdom from my room as we speak because i need more!!!! the story was so good and the world building was So good and the characters were So Good im in love with all of them(it was weird to see the word hutspot thrown around every once in a while tho)
I have a huge weakness for post-apocalyptic stories and graphic novels so this one sounded right up my alley. “Odessa” tells the story of 18-year-old Ginny, who's living in a world post-enormous earthquake that ruined the World As She Knew It (or, at least, part of it, as we later find out). She's living with her two younger brothers and her dad, scavenging sites in order to get enough stuff to trade for food. Her mother has left them - or that's the thought until Ginny receives a letter from her mum and decides to set out and try to find her.
I'm at odds about whether I liked the style of this one. I don't think the art itself was entirely my thing - though I did really appreciate the land- and cityscapes. The way people think the world will change and overgrow when humans (have to) stop being involved fascinates me. I did like the use of colour - simple yet really effective.
The sibling dynamics between Ginny, Wes & Harry were great. Very accurate and funny and endearing to see. To see Ginny shift back into more of a sister-role as they go on the road, after having felt like she needed to be their mum at home.
I will say I think the story and the storytelling left me a bit unsatisfied. I didn't feel like I had a great grasp of the characters, and at times they came off a bit flat because I felt like there wasn't a lot of space to really get to know them besides their sort of core-characteristics, which we get to know pretty early on. I'd have liked to see more about their past, or get to know and understand the world they live in currently a bit better. A lot of that was left a bit too vague and distant for my liking, making it difficult to really connect.
I'm curious what the next part will bring, though, and I'm sure I'll get answers to some of my questions when that comes around!
I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
3.5-4
the top two reviews of this book i think put a lot of my thoughts into words already so thank you for that, reviewers.
war of the foxes is definitely less quotable and less personal than crush. i think that???s the main reason for taking away some stars, that the thing that drew me (and, i think, many others) to crush is how personal and raw it was, how it touched me to my core with its beauty and its pain. war of the foxes is more distant and i missed the closeness i remembered from crush. but i think it???d do me good to reread this book in a little while, so i can see it as its separate entity, which is what it deserves. i have to remind myself that there were over 10 years between the publishing of crush and the publishing of war of the foxes - richard siken has clearly grown and developed himself and his poetry and his scope.
favourites: landscape with a blur of conquerors; birds hover the trampled field; landscape with several small fires; war of the foxes; ghost, zero, suitcase, and the moon, lovesong of the square root of negative one, self-portrait against red wallpaper
Orion Carloto???s ???Film for Her??? is a winding path through a nostalgia that does not belong to you, though maybe at the end of this book it will feel like it does. A collage, mixture of poetry, prose, and pictures, ???Film for Her??? guides us through the years of Carloto???s early adulthood, following her across the country and the world as she discovers both new places and herself, and herself in those new places. How lonely and invigorating living alone in a foreign city can be.
???I???ve sewn my eyes shut
and relived visions of you
through many passing moons???
The subject matter of the poems sways from (lost) love to (as she calls it herself) growing pains to false and new starts. Not all poems resonated with me, and I think that was partly to do with the subject matter. It didn???t always feel like it could break loose from the ???okay/good??? level to something new and burrowing. I did really feel like the different parts of her life that Carloto describes and goes through actually felt different while reading. As if she is maturing and growing not only within the narration but also as she is writing. This works very well to enhance the feeling that periods in her life come and go as you read.
???In the darkness
I can feel your heart beating
on the corners of my shoulder blades,
and I know that there???s love in there
both pure and divine.???
I think the strength of this book is really the collaboration of words and photographs that together craft a tangible nostalgic atmosphere, one that surrounded me fully as I made my way through. This made the book stand out beyond ???just??? being a book of poetry about someone???s life. The 35mm film in combination with Carloto???s sense of framing and movement as she photographs carries something magical that really radiated through the rest of the pages as well.
???I???ve poured this raddled body
into more people than I can count.
Crossing off tally marks
on the backs of necks
creating strangers
out of lovers.???
I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
i'm just going to do it, i'm going to give it 4 stars. maybe because i was so glad to read its uncomplicated happiness right after a little life. but whatever.
let's say this book is 60% snappy dialogue, 30% fluffy smiley stuff, 7% guys being such goddamn Guys and maybe if you squint 3% angst. that's it. it's just happiness mostly. the character development is there but the logic is close to non-existent. the instalove is definitely there.
but man, did i care? nah. it was fun. it was so much fun in its wittiness and illogical and predictable plot development. it was Fun with a capital F.
(i deserved/needed some fun after a little life and this was it. thanks book)