bennysbooks's Reviews (668)

I have read so many of Auxier's books at this point, and love all of them. This time the whole family read it, and my partner was as entertained as the rest of us. I hope we get more of Auggie! And there seems to be some set-up for Veena which would be so much fun. 

These books are so beautiful, silly, and warm. The five-year-old loves them as much as I do. I liked the cleverness of the Tattle-Tail, and the sweetness of the Unfeeling Brute (whose requests made us giggle). We're already planning to read #3 later today if we find the time. 😂

Sweet story with a smart setup, but I wish it had been longer so that there was more time to develop story beats and emotional resonance. Even for a graphic novel for kids I thought this was too quickly paced; there were multiple instances where what happened in a few frames could easily have become an entire chapter. It made the story harder to follow at points, or resulted in jarring transitions. Basically I just wanted more (I think this would make a great series or middlegrade novel). 

Honestly, this was too accurate a portrayal of anxiety to be very much fun. I identified heavily with Paris; I think I hide it better, and it doesn't impact my relationships like this, but his internal world is extremely similar to mine. Which made this a very painful reading experience. I cried a few times seeing myself reflected in this character, and while that can be a great and healing thing, it's not why I picked up the book. The Rosaline Palmer book did a better job balancing the heavy topics with light romance vibes. And it makes sense - living with anxiety to this degree really doesn't leave you with much respite. You are constantly at war with your brain. I think Hall did a great job, I just wasn't at all prepared for what this book was. I feel understood, but I also feel quite heavy. 

This is my second DNF of a climate fiction book recently, so I think I'm just not in the right headspace. But I hope to return to this in the summer because the writing is fantastic! So both a soft dnf and a recommendation. It definitely has the potential to be a favourite when I'm ready to grapple with the subject matter.

Could have been slightly easier to follow, but the worldbuilding was fascinating and the story propulsive. 

Exactly what I needed this week. Baking, lovable characters, believable tension, comfortingly queer. Hall sometimes writes lines that are too sweet for my tastes and make me cringe, but that was rare here and honestly the rest is just so damn good I will forgive it every time. Rosaline's struggles felt super relatable in so many ways. And if you're a fan of British Bake Off, I lived for the balance struck between paying homage to the show while also pointing out the façade that is reality television. Ugh, I just want to read it again for the first time. 

Side note: this deserves a much better cover 😭