Safe to say that I'm on my way to finishing out this series. Book two was even better than book one which is a big deal for me cause I really enjoyed book one. Of course, that might have something to do with the brilliance of Robin Miles' narration. As I said before, she really makes you feel the emotion. The character of Binti has obviously started to move forward in her life at the university, learning to adapt to the changes that took place as a result of events in the first book, and now is dealing with a lot of trauma around those events. We also see that things haven't been easy; not just in terms of how people judge her, but also in terms of how people judge Okwu. She's also now finally forced to face the personal guilt surrounding the circumstances of her departure that was pushed to the background given what happened before. Naturally, she decides to go home. . . and well, lets just say things don't go as planned. I mean, do they ever? Nothing can ever be simple in life whether it's fiction or reality.

For Binti it's definitely an understatement that things take quite the turn. One of my favorite things about this series so far is that we get to learn about this character as she learns about herself. It's interesting to see the way things progress with the choices that she makes and that these choices aren't easy. That she's being forced to confront things she'd rather not? It's a powerful thing. We often try to look away from those things, which Binti does try to as well, except life doesn't always allow that to continue. . . and that's definitely something Binti is facing now. Considering what the character learned and what happened at the end of this book? I'm really excited and curious to see where book 3 is going to take the character. 

I love, love, love anything Dragon Age related. I'm aiming to read more of the books & play more of the games (as so far I've only played DA: Inquisition) so coming across these comics was a nice find. Even moreso was how surprisingly fun and fresh and yet Dragon Age they still feel. It gives me more of the lore of the world with interesting characters and beautiful art. This was such a great story, I loved both the main characters and definitely enjoyed seeing more of Varric - who is a favorite of mine. I definitely plan to read the others available to me soon. Preferably before my trial of Comixology Unlimited runs out! 

All the feels

I absolutely love this graphic novel. Even with the heavy content explored in this volume (content warnings for ED, mental illness, & self-harm) it’s still just a sweet, wholesome, and heartwarming love story. Nick and Charlie’s journey in this issue is even more powerful, and there were moments that spoke to me — and made me cry pretty hard — in a truly relatable way. The stories of Charlie and Nick’s friends are wonderful too. While they’re side characters, they feel like more than that and the way they all support each other is wonderful. I hope that at some point we get some more of the other characters. I’d love to see more of Charlie’s sister Tori though that’s just one example. While I’m bummed that volume 5 will be the final chapter of Charlie and Nick’s story? I can’t wait to devour it just as I did this one. Guess it’s also time to start purchasing the physical versions for my shelves. 

This book has heavy, emotionally challenging content which might be a given considering the subject matter though I still wanted to put it out there. If you're not in a great place? I'd recommend holding off a little. I'd been putting this book off for awhile cause I knew it'd be a difficult listen. Yet I'm glad I finally got to it. While I cried a lot while reading this book? I also smiled and laughed and blushed and raged and a thousand other things. There's obviously stuff in here that I could not relate to — experiences that I can't even imagine going through let alone surviving — yet there's other parts that are relatable as well. It's a great book that's enhanced by the lovely job Diane Guerrero does telling her story. It feels more like sitting with an old friend who's having a chat than listening to a story from someone you've never met before. What she goes through is something that nobody should ever have to especially as a child. The injustices dealt to her parents were awful and cruel, and again something that nobody should ever have to go through. This story like so many others is proof of the change that needs to happen in the United States so that people get the help they should instead of being treated in such an unjust and unethical manner.