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diamondxgirl
One of the best graphic novels I've read on terms of the graphics part. This is a story of few words, which took some getting used to on my part. Love where it ended and can't wait to see where it goes next
Such an unexpected gem. Everything from the art to the story to the link with the music of the 70s...absolute perfection.
Magical cats...need I say more?
This book so didn't go how I thought it would, which is great because it was EVEN BETTER than I thought it would be!
Tell Me Something Real is told in first person by Vanessa, who is unofficially tasked with keeping her family together at far too young an age. Surrounding Vanessa are older sister, Adrienne, who is partially checked out, much younger sister, Marie, who has an obsession with the virgin saints and disturbs her teachers, their father, who works long hours to take care of his family, and their mother, who is terminally ill with leukemia. The setting is the 1980s and the girls take frequent trips to Mexico with their mother so she can obtain FDA-not approved treatments of Laetrile.
Side note: Laetrile treatments were the cause of Steve McQueen's death. Basically he poisoned himself to death because what you actually ingest is cyanide.
On one visit, the family meets Caleb and Barb, who are there because Caleb is in remission but that's not enough for Barb. The Babcocks offer their house to the family so Caleb can be close to the treatment center. Caleb and Vanessa bond over their loss, Caleb with his loss of time due to illness and Vanessa with her loss of self considering her complicated family dynamics.
Her death will destroy us, but it will also free us of small burdens.
I can't say much beyond that because I don't want to give away what happens. It's surely a shock and a far different situation than I expected. From the halfway point, I was hooked.
I really enjoyed how the book was split into three parts: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Prognosis. They're telling of the family's journey. I enjoyed how strong each of the sisters was, but also their father. He became central to their journey. Calla's writing is strong, and her story is even stronger.
I'm excited to catch Calla out on tour this fall because I have so many questions for her!
Tell Me Something Real is told in first person by Vanessa, who is unofficially tasked with keeping her family together at far too young an age. Surrounding Vanessa are older sister, Adrienne, who is partially checked out, much younger sister, Marie, who has an obsession with the virgin saints and disturbs her teachers, their father, who works long hours to take care of his family, and their mother, who is terminally ill with leukemia. The setting is the 1980s and the girls take frequent trips to Mexico with their mother so she can obtain FDA-not approved treatments of Laetrile.
Side note: Laetrile treatments were the cause of Steve McQueen's death. Basically he poisoned himself to death because what you actually ingest is cyanide.
On one visit, the family meets Caleb and Barb, who are there because Caleb is in remission but that's not enough for Barb. The Babcocks offer their house to the family so Caleb can be close to the treatment center. Caleb and Vanessa bond over their loss, Caleb with his loss of time due to illness and Vanessa with her loss of self considering her complicated family dynamics.
Her death will destroy us, but it will also free us of small burdens.
I can't say much beyond that because I don't want to give away what happens. It's surely a shock and a far different situation than I expected. From the halfway point, I was hooked.
I really enjoyed how the book was split into three parts: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Prognosis. They're telling of the family's journey. I enjoyed how strong each of the sisters was, but also their father. He became central to their journey. Calla's writing is strong, and her story is even stronger.
I'm excited to catch Calla out on tour this fall because I have so many questions for her!
I've said it before but I so judge books by their cover, and rarely fully read descriptions. Most of the time this works out in my favor, and sometimes I get phenomenal results...Just like I did with The Thousandth Floor.
Someone sold this book to me as Gossip Girl meets the future, which is somewhat true. The Thousandth Floor is set 100 years in the future, where the gadgets are slightly more advanced and the teens are still up to no good. I appreciate the setting that Katharine established - it's not unrealistic to expect the world to look just as she's set it out. Everything is a bit more automated (for those who can afford it) and it's inconvenient to go out in the world when everything is self contained and regulated within the tower.
Personally, I read the hell out of the Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars series. But The Thousandth Floor is so much more than the petty drama that often occurred in Gossip Girl. Written in four perspectives, you'd think things would get pretty jumbled but they never do. I was on board the whole way through and always felt like I knew who was where and doing what. The Thousandth Floor makes you care about all of the characters, even the ones you really don't want to like. I was terrified of the path they were headed down, worried about the choices they made. Sometimes I wanted to yell at the book - WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Alas, free (book) will persevered, to the dismay of all of those who interacted with the four main characters.
The one thing I hope we get more of in the future is the history of the tower. This is a pretty unique structure (one of a kind, actually) so I want to know more about how it came to be and its dark history. With 1,000 stories within this world, I imagine 1,000 stories is not out of the realm!
Someone sold this book to me as Gossip Girl meets the future, which is somewhat true. The Thousandth Floor is set 100 years in the future, where the gadgets are slightly more advanced and the teens are still up to no good. I appreciate the setting that Katharine established - it's not unrealistic to expect the world to look just as she's set it out. Everything is a bit more automated (for those who can afford it) and it's inconvenient to go out in the world when everything is self contained and regulated within the tower.
Personally, I read the hell out of the Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars series. But The Thousandth Floor is so much more than the petty drama that often occurred in Gossip Girl. Written in four perspectives, you'd think things would get pretty jumbled but they never do. I was on board the whole way through and always felt like I knew who was where and doing what. The Thousandth Floor makes you care about all of the characters, even the ones you really don't want to like. I was terrified of the path they were headed down, worried about the choices they made. Sometimes I wanted to yell at the book - WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? Alas, free (book) will persevered, to the dismay of all of those who interacted with the four main characters.
The one thing I hope we get more of in the future is the history of the tower. This is a pretty unique structure (one of a kind, actually) so I want to know more about how it came to be and its dark history. With 1,000 stories within this world, I imagine 1,000 stories is not out of the realm!
Excuse me while I pick up all the tiny shards of my heart, as this book just took it and completely smashed it to smithereens.
Jade got me in trouble from day one.
When I started Kook, I wasn't sure what direction it was going to take. Was this a story of two broken characters and their journey toward something better? Was it going to be more contemporary and about a summer a group of teens spent together? Whatever I thought it might be, it was so much more.
Kook is the story of Sam, a newly relocated teen with a slight chip on his shoulder thanks to losing his dad in a hazy accident when he was young, and Jade, a girl who also lost a parent (though not how you'd expect) who surfs as a way to cope with her home life. Newly relocated near the water, Sam is closer to learning the true story of what happened to his dad, and also to discovering what his dad was working on when he died. This knowledge helps deepen his relationship with Jade, and takes them down a path that will forever change them. Sam starts out secretly learning to surf to impress Jade into thinking he's no longer a kook - a learner or wannabe. She's a bit guarded so it's not going to be that easy to persuade her. But Sam is pretty persistent and before long, he's somewhat of a regular to her group of surfer buddies.
This book feels deeply personal, as I imagine it is for the author. I had no idea the emotional pull it would have until it hit me like a ton of bricks. The story largely revolves around surfing and Sam's journey in learning, but ends up in a place you won't expect. It's a story of healing and being a teen, all at the same time. The teens in this book are definitely reckless and daring, for better or for worse.
Originally published abroad, Kook is stylized for the country it takes place in, meaning I had to look up some of what the terms mean in American English. That doesn't take away from the story, though! I hope you'll take a chance and check it out!
Jade got me in trouble from day one.
When I started Kook, I wasn't sure what direction it was going to take. Was this a story of two broken characters and their journey toward something better? Was it going to be more contemporary and about a summer a group of teens spent together? Whatever I thought it might be, it was so much more.
Kook is the story of Sam, a newly relocated teen with a slight chip on his shoulder thanks to losing his dad in a hazy accident when he was young, and Jade, a girl who also lost a parent (though not how you'd expect) who surfs as a way to cope with her home life. Newly relocated near the water, Sam is closer to learning the true story of what happened to his dad, and also to discovering what his dad was working on when he died. This knowledge helps deepen his relationship with Jade, and takes them down a path that will forever change them. Sam starts out secretly learning to surf to impress Jade into thinking he's no longer a kook - a learner or wannabe. She's a bit guarded so it's not going to be that easy to persuade her. But Sam is pretty persistent and before long, he's somewhat of a regular to her group of surfer buddies.
This book feels deeply personal, as I imagine it is for the author. I had no idea the emotional pull it would have until it hit me like a ton of bricks. The story largely revolves around surfing and Sam's journey in learning, but ends up in a place you won't expect. It's a story of healing and being a teen, all at the same time. The teens in this book are definitely reckless and daring, for better or for worse.
Originally published abroad, Kook is stylized for the country it takes place in, meaning I had to look up some of what the terms mean in American English. That doesn't take away from the story, though! I hope you'll take a chance and check it out!
Take a deep breath before starting this one because you'll likely be holding it the entire time you're reading. What a beautiful, weighted, perfect story that I didn't know I needed until I read it!
I'm tired of drunk and desperate. I'm tired and angry at me. For letting myself get smaller and smaller in the hopes that he would notice me more. But how can someone notice you if you keep getting smaller?
I absolutely love Charlie. She is anything but perfect. She's messy and a little messed up. Her support system is worse off than she is, at best. So much bad shit has happened in her life and yet, she's still here. She makes it clear: she's not trying to die by suicide. But how do you live when you never really have?
The book starts off with Charlie's hospitalization. Charlie isn't saying a word but her message is loud and clear: bad stuff has happened and her self harming behavior took a turn for the worse. Her body is riddled with scars from cutting and her self-worth is minimal. She's homeless, the walking wounded, and her friends and family have enabled her in some fashion. Upon a too-soon release from the institution, she heads out to a friend's place. From there the story develops into her journey of healing and growth.
I had recently finished Exit, Pursued by a Bear, and was pleasantly surprised by how the main character handled her trauma. I was equally surprised with Girl in Pieces because while Charlie's journey isn't straightforward (it's very much one step forward, two steps back for quite a long time), it's clear she understands what she needs to do and is fumbling through figuring it out. Her small triumphs made me smile and cheer for her. Her backslides made me sad and I hoped for her the way you would a good friend who's struggling.
I remember when the publisher's representative handed me a copy of Girl in Pieces. She told me it was one of the best books coming out this fall and also one of the most emotional releases. She couldn't have been more correct. This is a story of mental health that gets it right, not because the adults are so great and because the person gets what they need (they aren't and she doesn't), but because Charlie navigates through this period of time and comes out at the end. Sometimes that's all you can hope for. And it's enough.
I'm tired of drunk and desperate. I'm tired and angry at me. For letting myself get smaller and smaller in the hopes that he would notice me more. But how can someone notice you if you keep getting smaller?
I absolutely love Charlie. She is anything but perfect. She's messy and a little messed up. Her support system is worse off than she is, at best. So much bad shit has happened in her life and yet, she's still here. She makes it clear: she's not trying to die by suicide. But how do you live when you never really have?
The book starts off with Charlie's hospitalization. Charlie isn't saying a word but her message is loud and clear: bad stuff has happened and her self harming behavior took a turn for the worse. Her body is riddled with scars from cutting and her self-worth is minimal. She's homeless, the walking wounded, and her friends and family have enabled her in some fashion. Upon a too-soon release from the institution, she heads out to a friend's place. From there the story develops into her journey of healing and growth.
I had recently finished Exit, Pursued by a Bear, and was pleasantly surprised by how the main character handled her trauma. I was equally surprised with Girl in Pieces because while Charlie's journey isn't straightforward (it's very much one step forward, two steps back for quite a long time), it's clear she understands what she needs to do and is fumbling through figuring it out. Her small triumphs made me smile and cheer for her. Her backslides made me sad and I hoped for her the way you would a good friend who's struggling.
I remember when the publisher's representative handed me a copy of Girl in Pieces. She told me it was one of the best books coming out this fall and also one of the most emotional releases. She couldn't have been more correct. This is a story of mental health that gets it right, not because the adults are so great and because the person gets what they need (they aren't and she doesn't), but because Charlie navigates through this period of time and comes out at the end. Sometimes that's all you can hope for. And it's enough.
DNF @ 60%. I have the same problem with this one that I did wth Afterworlds...it's BORING. If you want a real story with a similar concept, there's an episode of The Twilight Zone that should meet your need.
Dual perspectives are the in thing this year...and that's just fine, because I'm totally digging it. When We Collided is the perfect title for this storm of a book featuring two teens dealing with their own stuff and living through it together.