Alex Richey
I didn't realize this would be a prequel to Six Crimson Cranes, which I loved! If that duology delighted you as much as it did me, you won't want to miss this one.
The Dark Tournament vibes are REAL in this one. And it comes off like a loving tribute and not a full blown copy cat. Yu Yu Hakusho fans will understand when they read it. Aaaaa what a vibe!!!
This book is so cozy and nice. If you've read any of Alex Gino's previous novels, you'll see some familiar characters.
There is a lot of good information, it's just a little scattered in the way it arranges everything. It was certainly an eye opening read.
This doesn't really fit into YA or adult, so if you're looking for a New Adult book, this would fit nicely.
I really like the magic system and the beginning of the book was stellar. The pace dropped off so much in the middle that I had trouble focusing on the story.
The high school romantic drama is predictable and not too interesting, but the rest of the plot is intriguing enough that I'll keep going. The art is so cute, just what you'd expect from an artist that did My Little Pony in the past.
There was a lot of great romantic tension in this one. I was cheering for that first kiss so hard.
This book is hard to label with my usual genre tags. I felt the same way after reading Me: Moth, so it's not too surprising, and I really enjoyed the feeling of thinking I knew how this was going to go only for it to be completely different by the end. Amber McBride's talent for pulling readers by their heart strings into empathy is astounding. This story was absolutely heartbreaking and visceral, and so so important.
I had a lot of ups and downs with this. I was originally annoyed by how bloated and useless a lot of the text felt, only to be pleasantly surprised by how much of it ended up mattering. I also came to enjoy the characters enough that their ramblings became more than tolerable, enjoyable even. I still think you could cut about 1/5 of the content without losing much, but it worked out for me anyway. What an interesting story. I frequently found it hard to put down–I just had to know what came next!
The writing is beautiful. The speculations are dazzling. The stories are also... really weird. This collection isn't bad, it just isn't for me.
I loved the Arceus phone and Among Us references. The ending, thankfully, did move the plot along, FINALLY.
Content warning: graphic, on the page depiction of a cat being harmed by a human.
I thought for sure this would be a winner. I wasn't prepared for the content to be so violent, and if I had known ahead of time, I wouldn't have read this.
The story was a real tear jerker either way.
Kim Johnson has a way of presenting the reality of systemic racism in a highly engaging story. An improvement over her first book, which I also liked.
I also loved the music references in the chapter titles.
This is surprisingly technical. I appreciate the translation notes at the end that go into detail about the different car vocabulary. I'm super impressed with this story's pacing.
First book I ever did original cataloging for, so I'm treasuring this experience a little more for it. :)
This made me pretty sad, and the fantasy element got cranked up a bit more than I was expecting, in a way that made it more distracting and unbelievable rather than fascinating. It was an ok read, but probably one of my least favorite of all the previous books.
The illustrations were fantastic, and seeing Superman tackle some of the real issues we're seeing today is fascinating and exciting. Some of the writing was clunky and awkward, but the heart was there.
A melodramatic retelling of the making of the Gundam franchise, featuring it's original creator and director, several animators, designers, business people, and die-hard fans. While this is a highly exaggerated version of the truth of events, it is still based in real history and absolutely fascinating.
My biggest complaint is that sexual assault and harassment against women is used for comedy. I'm sure this was probably pretty normal for the late 70's and early 80's, but it wasn't funny then and it isn't funny now.
I like a good underdog story. The pacing is weirdly slow and the fan service a bit pushy, but the art is fantastic and I'm intrigued by the premise.
I love this series so far! The characters are cool and unique, and Kabo's inner monologue as he sorts through his feelings and realizations is touching. I'm cheering for his journey toward higher confidence. I wasn't sure how dance would translate into manga, but it worked pretty well here. I'd love to see this get an anime adaptation.
Also, really grateful to the person that made the music playlist on youtube for what they dance to!
The part about Poppy's experience with EMDR for trauma really resonates, and I wasn't expecting it at all, but they definitely needed it after the events of the first volume. They continue to open up about personal experiences that break taboos and boundaries with humility and authenticity.
This story felt a little too bloated and might have worked better at novella length. Otherwise, the writing is very straightforward and very signature to the author, and I'm glad the publisher didn't change that.
A very smart examination of evangelical Christianity, and I loved that the main character had autism, we need more of that in stories.