This was a bit of a rollercoaster emotionally, at least for me, because I was so upset to see Frankie pulled into to some gangster-mess. It’s frustrating but also sad with Frankie dealing with his father, his wanting to study in the US, and keeping an eye on his friend Winston. There are some sparks of romance, but ultimately, it’s in the background until the latter half. The love interest is an artist, but she’s no manic-pixie girl. She does political art and social commentary in her work and is very focused. I also loved that Frankie wanted to be an engineer. The few moments we see Frankie’s analytical mind work is well-done. 

In this story, the familial relationships drew me in. I loved learning about Frankie’s Uncle Joe (who I want to stomp out!) and his Aunt Jenny. The relationship between Frankie and Samson, his father, was so interesting to me. I just wanted to know more about their strained interactions and how things were before Frankie’s mom passed. 

Overall, I have had my fill of street-life and/or drug culture media, but I read this because it was set in Jamaica. A lot of mainstream books are in the US or UK, so it’s a welcome change of pace. I wasn’t aware that political parties got gangs to back them. I thought this was a good page-turner because you know everything’s going to go off the rails, it’s just a matter of when. I couldn’t put this down, so I had to finish this with sleepy, tired eyes in one night. 

I dig the art style, the mechas, and the elaborate, beautiful flat coloring. I even like the idea of a robot underclass, “builder bots,” rebelling against the higher caste robots, and the basic premise of the story. 

But I think the execution was confusing. There was the evil Serpent, then the gods who gifted a weapon to Pyx(?), robots getting corrupted, and so on... The trio got close too fast. The MC was amazed that a character was being nice to her, and I was like you just met them. You don’t know her enough to know if she’s always surly or not. Maybe time was passing quickly, but I didn’t see that distinction.

Overall, I was a little lost with the story, and it was difficult, at times, to decipher whether Sagitta or Pyx was talking. The lore seemed interesting, and it may have worked with better pacing. Like, over two volumes? The artwork was endearing though. Just visually-appealing.

 There were some parts of this I really liked and others that felt meh. Delicates acknowledges the complicity behind bullying. Just because you didn't take part in it per se doesn't mean you didn't help contribute in a way.

Basically, this is Marjorie drifting apart from Wendell, Eliza being herself and the frosty response that got her, and middle-schoolers being immature jerks (because they're middle schoolers). 

 Loved it! I can't wait to see this animated. This is bittersweet, but I loved seeing the freshman before they turned second year and the introduction to Yuta.

more sadness. that's Gojo's best friend

 

 Very slow-paced but intrigue steadily builds throughout the story. The male lead, Malik, is soft-hearted and always messing things up while Karina is clever and headstrong but bratty.

I needed more time with the Kestrel to feel anything for her. I know her death was the catalyst for Karina to become Sultana, but it felt underdeveloped.

 

I think it’s lovely the book includes content warnings at the beginning. 

 Cute. This is pretty much a stand-alone though some characters here appear in season 4 or are movie-exclusive characters. One of the stories acknowledges that some “villains” are just innocent, misunderstood people. The appeal of this series is seeing your favorite characters team-up with unlikely partners.

Overall, characterization is bland, and Urakaka is boring. Girl, why are you here? Everyone else gets to knock people’s teeth out, but all she can do is retrieve a balloon for a little boy. We can't want it for you; you gotta want it for yourself, baby.

Anyway, we don’t get anything new here, but, if you like the MHA formula, you won’t mind. This series really shines when animated. 

Too dry. I couldn't get into it. The humor isn’t translating well for me. Maybe it would work better animated.

Not bad. Spooky

 While I’m personally a bit drained from the real-world parallels/social commentary (black communities being underfunded/sabotaged, police brutality, protestors getting whooped as if they’re criminals, unsafe neighborhoods, etc), it works very well here. I feel for Quin. His desire to be accepted and have friends, his frustrations about learning the hero business all by himself, and his questioning his morality/who’s really the bad guy are all so good. The “villain’s” motivation makes sense too. No one is black or white here. 

If superheroes really existed, I could see some asking if they would be another form of cops. The unrest from so much systematic stuff just bubbling over…I just really enjoyed reading this. 

Also, I love the cast of New Orleans superheroes. Glow, Noble, and so on seem so cool. I would like to read stories from their perspective as well. 

Happy to see Lunella get less bratty, or, at least more self-aware. My major qualm with this series is how unlikable Lunella can be at times as a know-it-all.

The story with the moon was super adorable, and I'm interested to see where things go with Lunella's "new partner."