Heathers but make it GAY!!!!

This is gay and it slaps!

This book is fun and interesting, and if you enjoy the Heathers you will enjoy this book. The one thing I wanted was for more information about werewolf society in this world.

Content Warnings: Death, Cheating, Fatphobia, Lisbiphobia, Murder, Blood, Starvation, Violence, Sexual Harassments, Sexual assault,

This book was incredibly heartwarming, This book is an exquisite representation of found family.
I am also excited to see where the rest of this series goes.

Paloma also gave me some strong Chihiro (Spirited Away) vibes throughout this book.

I found the premise of The Wolf Queen to be interesting. I think it could allow for some fascinating explorations of Gender and different power dynamics in a society where Werewolves change Gender every full moon and human women lay eggs instead of birthing babies, and for some reason, those eggs are what is required for werewolves to settle into either a man or a woman.

But all of the weird, interesting stuff going on in the background ends up falling to the wayside in reality for what ends up being a very monotonous plot.

The choice to make the Immortui that the Petrigré and co collect to be a Black Boy feels icky in so many ways. Especially as we watch Petrigré use him as apparently, Immortui exists purely to serve and must obey orders.

Overall I felt very meh about most of this and likely won't seek out the rest of this series.

I know sometime in the far-off past, I picked up this book, even though I was not too fond of the cover. I did check it out. If it ever went any further than that, I honestly couldn't tell you.

But I will say I do kind of regret being deterred by the old cover because I honestly enjoyed this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Cinder as a character and most definitely enjoyed Iko way more than I expected to at the beginning of this book.

But honestly, I can't find much else besides that to say because, in many ways, this book did feel like the setup to a larger, grander story later on, especially when I didn't feel like we got the "prince returning the shoe" moment in this book.

I started off being in love with this book, it just felt like a natural read and I fell in place so easily. It is one of the few books I didn't find myself listening at 2 or 2.5X speed because I felt like it was being spoken at the slowest pace ever. I still listened at the slightly expediated rate of 1.5x the speed of the original but I found myself fully engrossed in this tale.

I don't know where exactly this book started to curdle for me, but I didn't find that same enjoyment in the later parts of the book. Much like Nora begins to become fatigued with the constant swap of lives.
I became fatigued by this book, but for a completely different reason. In reality it comes down to the depiction of Depression and of Suicidal Ideation as a whole. The fact that in every life she was looking for those meds, as if it showed proof that she was still failing at being happy. The focus on them made it seem like seeking treatment for mental health is innately a failure.

But also the whole resolution, left a sickenly sweet taste in my mouth overall. Because throughout this book we are shown that everything in life can be "good" or "perfect" and you can still want to die. But this book doesn't really address that, or even the work it takes to get to a point that isn't the case. Which made what should have been character growth feel hollow in the end. Which is hard as someone standing in similar shoes.

So I guess in the end, I'm what ruined this book for myself.

Content Warning: Suicidal Ideation, Suicide, and Self Harm are basically all anyone talks about in this book.
Other Content Warnings: Attempted Murder, Blood, Death, Depression, and Violence.

I don't know why I kept reading this like I legitimately spent 3/4 of this book gritting my teeth thru reading. 1. It's sad to know that mental health stigma/treatment is just as bad in 2070 as in 2020, if not worse. 2. Apparently, someone's suicidal ideation is what people just spend their lives thinking about to an obsessive amount.
This was incredibly disappointing as someone whose experience with suicidal ideation is quite similar to Minami's, where it is always there but primarily passive.

The fact that Hanada chose to only focus on the suicidality also means that we are missing out on the opportunity for growth because Minami's depression is obviously not being successfully treated and is; as a result, a husk of a human being. This man does not have any hobbies, does not take days off, and eats solely nutrition cubes whose flavors are basically decided by RNG.
This choice to only focus on a symptom rather than the illness as a whole also means that when we have a moment that should have been impactful and an actual realization for Minami, it ends up falling flat. For example, not being his time to die could have been an impactful and thought-provoking moment for Minami.

My final and possibly biggest peeve is the entire last half of this book. Anyone who has been through any mental health triage training will tell you it never hurts to ask someone if they are considering killing themselves. By doing so, you will not be giving them the idea. Hanada takes this knowledge and burns it to the ground.
While there is some difference in how this question is presented by the antagonist vs. how it would be by someone meaning to help. The fact that Hanada chose that to be the reason that Minami spirals was infuriating. Especially when you hear that he hadn't previously considered methods of killing himself outside of dying in the line of duty.

The world is intriguing, but everything else is honestly hot garbage, and I hate it.

This started off so cute and I wanted to like it so much, but this wasn't even mediocre.
This boy has no respect for the things this penguin is doing for him.
The male protagonist is very much just a man child, and the penguin a stand in for a girlfriend.

Lulling and melancholic this story carries you along it's well worn path.

The Art style is incredibly unique, using body language rather then facial expressions to covey emotions.

This did not feel as it had any resolution but I can't say I'm angry about it, because it just felt right. Like this was the inevitability we had been working towards since the beginning.

Though this did feel like the natural conclusion, I do find myself questioning, what in the world is going on in this book. Both with the missing persons, and in the romance, and also the other side plot with the zines.
I do feel like I could read this book 6 more times and not truly understand what is going on.