Beautiful cover! I liked reading a story set primarily in Costa Rica (and later Cuba). The story has a mixture of lightheartedness while dealing with such serious situations, climate migrants and deforestation. 

Dariel’s the son of celebrities and has a magical voice. I adored the fact he has like a Disney princess voice with the way animals flock to him whenever he sings. It felt like a bit of magical realism, which I love. 

Soleida has been uprooted and left hurting, living as a recent refugee. She no longer has an anchor and continually worries about her parents’ safety. It felt unclear to me, but

but Vivi was either lost at sea or died. Most likely the latter, but I don’t know.

 

I thought the insta-lovey connection between Dariel and Soleida made sense. They’re teenagers who think they’ve found someone who understands them. The smiles and kisses followed quickly. Despite this, I didn’t feel anything toward them. The characters felt flat, and I don’t know if that’s attributed to them or just the story being in verse. But I’ve connected to characters written in verse before. 

The ending is farfetched (this is a gauge for your cynicism), but everything is wrapped up nicely with a bow. This is Hallmark-level cute and ends with a unique, probing question. 

The rate we consume beautiful artwork is unfair; I know it had to take a lot of painstaking time to create this. But the plot didn't intrigue me.

I enjoyed the insight on some lesser-known environmental issues, but the Green Girls got away with a lot. Emma waved around her father's status as a trump card. For  young readers, they should understand pulling some of the (well-meaning) stunts the girls did will not pan out the same for them.

This was weird in a good, heartwarming way. What’s life like when you’re the only one who had a heart? Hard. Everyone else is numbed to their emotions, but June can't help but feel. Drawing and her sister are the few things keeping her tethered until that thin string snaps as well.

I don’t like to make comparisons because it can cheapen things at times. But this gave me a Studio Ghibli vibe with a magical circumstance, a girl and a boy depending on each other, and love at its core.

The color direction is deliberate and works well.

 I enjoyed this. I didn’t know Carter began as an actress at first. There were so many movies she had a hand in! I always like seeing other creatives’ processes, but I wish the book included way more concept art and designs. 

In particular, I’ve seen other concept designs floating around for the Wakanda Forever designs. As I say this, I see a The Art of Wakanda Forever book is scheduled for January 16, 2024, so those may be more explored there. 

 Overall, this was great. Even the book design is thoughtful. Encased around red with black and gold trimmings on the side. 

I was surprised this wasn’t a Zondervan title. Unfortunately, terrible fantastical things keep happening to Mabelrose, but she keeps a good attitude and a strong prayer life throughout it. The artwork gave me a nostalgic anime Newgrounds feeling that’s mostly nice. Backgrounds are very nice and add to the world. There’s also lore/a difference between anthropomorphic characters and talking animals here. 

Even though this had a dragon and talking magical creatures, it couldn’t keep my interest and I skimmed the last few pages. Sometimes, the text was overly crammed too. The plot points just moved too fast and Mabelrose was boring as a character.

This is wonderfully dumb and charming. It’s giving Invader Zim but fluffy. I enjoyed Jeff as a stubborn little alien just trying to conquer a planet to no avail. The dino inhabitants of the world don’t really get him, but they are happy to extend friendship.

I enjoyed this and would read another one. A feel-good story everyone should read!

 I really love this series. It’s like purified water; all the bad stuff’s been filtered out. In a world of instant talk no jutsu, I like that Genau didn’t stop being so stoic.