There truly is a manga for every topic. In this quirky manga, God contracts a design team to create His animals. Cool! I think this story will appeal mainly to animal lovers. There are a few (animal) penis and poop jokes, so it’s a little childish and adult at the same time.

There’s not a lot going on here, but the animal facts and analysis are charming. Even though I’m an artist, and I’m all too familiar with tweaking designs to make them work, I found this story boring. I’m still waiting on volumes 2 and 3 from the library, so we’ll see if my opinion changes.

[rating from enjoyment] 

This story is for readers who want to see a MC slowly succumbing to the dark side. Xifeng is a poor, beautiful girl who has a terribly toxic relationship with her aunt, Guma. It’s tough to see how manipulative her aunt is, but it’s the push she needs to start her journey. I won’t lie, it’s entertaining to see how Xifeng begins to pull the puppet strings of those around her. She starts playing chess with anyone who gets in her way.

I’m on the fence on whether I want to read the next book. Keep in mind, the beginning of this story is rather slow, and we get introduced to some characters who barely have any presence yet we’re supposed to feel for them. But I enjoyed my reading experience so far. 

 Fairly cute and nonsensical. Perfect for kids and admonishes using your imagination. Cute Easter eggs throughout as well. 

Adorable and so much fun! I love stories that don’t treat kids as if they’re stupid. A big chunk of the book takes place in Asia, from Nang’s country to Korea and Japan. There’s even a quick section on how to pronounce Korean consonants and vowels. I thought the story was cute, and the humor was funny. Major Saturday-morning cartoon vibes. The ending feels too easy, but it’s fitting. 

This was so easy to read despite the heavy subject matter, and each page is gripping with tension and conflict. I generally shy away from slave narratives, fictional or nonfictional, because I have to be in the right headspace to read about the horrors of enslavement and black people suffering. I’m quite familiar with North-American chattel slavery, but this is my first time learning about some West Indian/Caribbean enslavement. It’s always so interesting how we hear so little about slave rebellions and uprisings.

Anyway, this was a great read! The brotherhood between Keverton and Moa and the loveliness of Hamaya broke my heart.

 Is it legal to have a book this heartwarming? A lonely man gets a cat, and my heart just melted over and over. I say this as someone who's not a cat person too. 
 

  

I went through a lot of gory mess with this series, but this is a fitting end. Mark's been put in such a hard position with Anissa's child, and he tries to handle it the best way he can.

I still don't know how I feel about the rapist redemption.

 

First, this cover is GORGEOUS! Andrea Porretta and Karyn Lee did awesome work. The font, the way the pink fades into white, just the whole hardcover. I absolutely love how Orion and Lila look; I love Orion’s name too.

This story is cozy like a warm sweater, major slice-of-life vibes. There’s not much drama, which would be okay if our cast of characters were more entertaining. I didn’t care for any of the cast though I enjoyed Lila-Pilar’s sister relationship.

The ending is fitting and every loose end gets tied. If something was mentioned before, it gets closure. This is my third novel with a British, male love interest who’s BLAND. Orion’s polite, a little bookish, and over-protective, but not much else. I think I personally didn’t mesh with him. Lila fared better than him because I was interested in her coming to terms with her take-overish, aggressive personality, but, at times, it felt like her whole personality was just Miami. 

I usually like light-hearted things, but I almost dnf’ed this multiple times. Still, if you like Hallmark movies, I think you’d enjoy this. It’s by no means bad, just serviceable to me. 

 Lovely illustrations along with a charming story. I enjoy children’s stories that don’t treat the audience as if they’re stupid. Here, Arietta has to fight with what many adults do, doing what you love or what makes you money. Is there ever a real balance? I enjoyed this a lot! Super cute is an understatement.

it’s very unrealistic that they would let the princess travel without her body guards, even to Arietta’s house. But who cares