I found no humor in reading this book, it honestly gave me AI generated meme vibes. But somehow still didn't manage to even allow me to crack a smile while thumbing through.

Nadia did a fantastic job capturing this piece of history, but also the journey of healing and growth that Sitara goes through.

This book tugged at my heart strings constantly, and was so beautifully written.

I was really interested in the premise of this book, so much so that I tried to give it an honest shot not once but twice. But still found myself unable to really enjoy it.

This book is definitely part of a series and has so definite Mad Max vibes going for it.

But I found how the story to be set up and then told to be really hard to follow, and honestly left me uncertain about what this book was really about, or even what was really going on.

After reading it twice, I feel like I still have no idea what this book was about, and it's really disappointing because the art is gorgeous.

This was a beautiful read, it felt like Chloe Gong grabbed me and pulled me onto the streets of 1920s Shanghai.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and was nearly in tears by the end.

And the representation! *Chefs kiss*

I would definitely recommend reading this book though I would have you consider waiting until November so you can read These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends back to back.

My initial description to my Partner: They are like Tamaki and Haruhi, just make Tamaki less self defeatist and suave. But reverse the height difference.
My later description was Shojo Manga / Romance Trope Bingo.

This manga is super self-aware while also being incredibly wholesome.
The plus of breaking the gender roles of certain tropes was just a bonus for me.

Other things you can find: Crossdressing, Muffins, Side Characters that ship them as much as you.

I had a hard time getting into this at first, it is an incredibly unique form of story telling. That feels incredibly disjointed at first but it gets easier as you get further into it.

It is a beautiful story that honestly has so much re-readability, I want to re-read it once I can get it in physical form, and go through and read each specific story.

Synopsis: Reporter goes to Con. People start coming down with Con Crud. Twist it's not actually ConCrud its actually an antibiotic resistant bug,

Having grown up in a prep-er household, I've read more apocalyptic works then I care to count. They were very much a staple of what I read in High School. This book is something I would have inhaled back then.

However unlike the pieces of fiction I read in High School it feels like Cal McDermid has worked to ensure their work is rooted in science to the best of their ability. Which was nice to see.

My favorite part though is Kathryn Briggs' art. There are whole pages that I would sit and look at trying to dissect everything that was depicted. Especially towards the end of the novel as it begins to move towards an art style that we think of being similar to books from the middle ages. Drawing parallels to the destruction and chaos that the Black death caused.
I would recommend this book at minimum for Kathryn's illustrations in the last half of this book.;

This book was incredibly emotional to read, the weaving of Rebecca Hall's story with those she was researching was incredibly impactful. The art is from Hugo Martinez only works to further iterate that with the melding of present New York with that of New York's past. making it feel even more intertwined.

Reading this was a look at stories that do go untold, but also is a scathing reminder about the amount of historical knowledge that goes unknown either by the fact we aren't looking for it or it is held in the hands of private companies that refuse to disclose it.

This book felt intensely familiar at points like Marie-Noëlle rolled up a mirror and was like look at this. When she speaks about Matilda I got goosebumps at it triggered memories with my own friends.

In reality this book is a perfect example of "you wouldn't say this to your friends, why are you saying it to yourself." While reading this, at many points I want to reach out and be like no you are beautiful. But then I realized, my own inner dialogue is and has often been the same as Marie-Noëlle's and I didn't ever question it coming from myself. Which means I should probably take a note from this book and also reach out to get some professional help.

TLDR: This book is beautiful, while also feeling intensely personal.

I really enjoyed this story, and found the characters to be incredibly sweet and endearing. Paired with the art style, I want this book in my hands just because of how beautiful this art style is.