I didn’t care too much for this collection. There weren’t enough stories I liked enough.

Battle Royale (1.5 stars)

Nonsensical and red-head girl is annoying. She thinks she’s kawaii, but she’s not, boo. A few funny moments mostly with Wade’s interactions with groupies.

Sock Monkey in the Deep, Deep Woods (1 star)

Not bad if you like seeing inanimate objects get eaten alive. If there was some type of symbolism with the crow knitting another sock-monkey, I didn’t get it.

A Circuit Closed (-1 star)

This started off so promising! A young black girl being led by a creepy helmet to go toward the light. Apparently, the light was supposed to lead her to her soulmate. SO GLAD this girl had enough sense not to be with some racist, ugly, gum-on-the-bottom-of-your-shoe, need-to-get-over-their-inferiority-complex-hick-town, USA trash. No, no do not want. And that last line? Scrap it. I’m glad she found the dog and went. The unmitigated gall for them to say her natural hair looked like “dog’s butt hair” and called her a whore. It’s a rough rating because I don’t need to be subjected to garbage.

Slightest bit sad her soulmate was a dog instead of an actual human, but whatever. Dogs are wholesome creatures.

The Comic Con Murder Case (No rating)

Too short for me to give a review whether positive or negative.

Safe and Sound (3 stars)

Cool.

Widow’s Worry (2 stars)

Ehh.

Sticks and Stones (2 stars)

Baby got back.

Gear School (3.5 stars)

Cute! I liked the artwork and the gear was cool. Best of the bunch.

Samurai Heaven and Earth: The Forest (3 stars)

Somehow melancholy. I think I would like to see this as a full-fledged story.

An Empowered Story (1.5 stars)

A lot of fan-service but very little story/character personality.

Chickenhare: Random Bones (2 stars)

The artwork is super cute!

The Nocturnal Adventures of Scratch and Suck (2.5 stars)

Interesting with a gory ending.

Tricks of the Trade (3.5 stars)

:( +0.5 for the plot twist

The Axeman (1 star)

Not because the writing/art was bad just from personal enjoyment.

Christmas Spirit (1.5 stars)

Idk. I like happy endings

Eat the Walls (3 stars)

I liked it. Think Jonah swallowed by the whale.

Fear Agent: Nothing to Fear (2 star)

Dad searching for son and haunted by his grief.

The Goon (2.5 stars)

Journey to find the legendary missing pecker. No, seriously. Dick jokes galore.

I feel like things are moving quickly.

I had to read a banned book for school, so I chose this one from the list.

STORY:

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Klause (264 Pages) is about a werewolf girl, Vivian, who falls in love with a human boy. In the beginning, Vivian has concerns about her werewolf pack. The boys are becoming murderous and her mother is becoming callous and using sexual escapades to hide her grief. To add to Vivian's worry, most of her pack is dead. She desires non-werewolf friends because her wolf friends see her only as a mate. But, one day a boy at her school writes a poem about werewolves and she becomes drawn to him.

Vivian immediately becomes attracted (very sexually attracted as well) to Aiden, a meat-boy (read: human) because he's not like other boys. He's a gothic hipster, so I will give Vivian that one. Aiden's not the usual love interest but he is human, a prerequisite for any supernatural YA romance. Aiden and Vivian's relationship is insta-love. I mean how is someone your soulmate and you have only known the person less than a month? Also, Vivian was in heat every single page for Aiden when he's present.

Toward that super climatic point, I felt strong second-hand embarrassment. Embarrassment for Aiden. Embarrassment for Vivian. Embarrassment for everyone!



This story is interesting and creates anticipation well. What's going to happen next? Who's going to be pack leader? When will Aiden find out his girlfriend is a mythical creature, who howls at the moon? Despite me not liking most of the characters, these questions kept me turning the page. Blood and Chocolate is not a book I liked but a book I wanted to finish.

So, I liked the actual plot and tried to figure the ending out. The surprise murder mystery was fun.

What did I dislike? For some reason, I got a bit confused about whether Vivian was in wolf or human form. I did not really care for most of the characters, which leads to the next section.

CHARACTERS:

In the first twenty pages, Vivian seems a bit Mary-sueish. She has a perfect French accent, all her teachers love her, and she's beautiful. So, ungodly beautiful that it intimidates everyone. Vivian comes off basic at times, and she immediately sees girls and dislikes them. I mean ... How do you dislike someone from a simple glance? I did not like Vivian, but I tolerated her because the plot revolved around her.

Also, why is Vivian's narrative mad corny? Like what were those lines?


Quotes:

"Because I'm a pirate of the night and I want to see who's trespassing in my territory" (pg 22).

"I'll put a few more runs in those tights, honey if you look at me like that again" (pg 23).

"What red lips you have, he said in her ear.

"All the better to kiss you with, my dear," she replied (pg 51).

"I thought you would grab what I am with both of your hands and eat me up" (pg 192).

Girl bye.

The Five, Vivian's childhood werewolf friends, are rambunctious and forgettable. They all act like jerks. I did like Willem, the only decent one.

Esmé, Vivian's mom, was okay. She was a waitress and a proud cougar and loved her boy toys. Still, she had not gotten over the grief of her husband. Eh, I kind of liked her.

Aiden I just did not care about. I was indifferent to his friends too.

I guess Gabriel's my favorite. He had those creepy anti-personal-space issues, but he's the only one that qualified as likable. I have a soft spot for bad boys who are more than what meets the eye (Disclaimer: This applies to fiction only). I liked his backstory, but I am not sure how I felt about the aftermath. I mean this guy is still a creep who preys on underage girls and jams his tongue down their throats when he feels like it. Do you guys see why I am conflicted?

OVERALL:

This book had so much drama!



For all of Aiden and Vivian's insta-love qualities, I liked that Annette handled the relationship realistically. The ending I liked as well.

Would I reread this? No. Would I read a sequel? No. Despite the characters, did I enjoy the rollercoaster of emotions and absolute cringeworthiness? Yes, most definitely.