eloise_bradbooks's Reviews (801)

As much as I appreciate what this book was aiming for, I just couldn't really come to care as much as I should have. I couldn't stay interested in the story.
I think that having read and loved Pet before reading Bitter made this one "less interesting" by the fact that we already know (to some extent) what's going on, what will happen, what the vibes are. (I am terrible with prequels for these exact reasons)
The incredibly intriguing ambiance and lyricism of Pet felt absent in this book. Bitter was more of a revolution in a YA contemporary book, which doesn't make it bad, it just makes it different than what I was expecting.

4.5 - Najwa gets back into competitive scrabble a year after her best friend and Queen of Tiles, Trina, dropped dead in the middle of a game. But when Trina's instagram becomes active again with cryptic posts, Najwa starts realising her best friend's death may not have been natural, and starts investigating.
I found myself quite surprised at how much i enjoyed reading about scrabble geniouses and their competition. I appreciated how the chapters started with great scrabble words and their definitions, just like Najwa loves to think. And i loved how the love of words became a major part of the mystery.
It was also nice to read about a story taking place in Malaysia, following a Muslim main character. There's also a side non-binary character.
All of this to say, I can't find anything to fault this book. It was really good, i was invested.
It's just missing that little spark that would have made it a 5/5 great read but I'd still thouroughly recommend it!

I really appreciated the portrayal of a transgender woman, a man suffering from PTSD, questioning gender norms and sexualities in the Victorian era. While it may not be as "realistic" as we might expect society to be in those days, but I don't believe that is absolutely necessary in fiction. Portraying these characters and relationships as they are portrayed in this book is a way to show what it could be like, maybe, if you're surrounded by accepting and loving people, whatever time you live in.

I also felt like the author was meant to write stories from this era.

I did however feel like the book was very long, it dragged quite a bit in the middle, the "will they mange to get together" was way too long and repetitive I literally rolled my eyes for some time.

But this only really is a small part of this big heartwarming story of love, family and acceptance.

Certes, c'est une préférence plus qu'une critique :
J'aurai préféré avoir plus d'informations sur comment repérer des fake news, comment fonctionnent les sites comme les décodeurs pour décoder les infos (on a eu ça sur une double page...), plutôt qu'une centaine de pages nous rappelant quelles fake news ont circulé ces dernières années (choses qu'on sait tous à peu près déjà).
C'est dommage car on pourrait vraiment faire une BD super intéressante et éducative sur ce sujet, surtout pour les jeunes aujourd'hui qui pourraient facilement être amenés à croire ce qu'ils voient sur les réseaux sans vérifier sa fiabilité.
Ça rate le coche pour moi, même si dans le fond, ce livre contient des choses intéressantes.

There is everything I'm meant to love in this book: a cool steampunky atmosphere in Cairo, talks of Egyptian Gods and intersting female characters.
Shame it was so short, i need to get the other novella and maybe novel to make my mind up properly.

Some books are just really good. The writing's good, fun and addictive to read. The characters are interesting. And most importantly, it's the relationship between the characters, how they interact, love each other, long for each other, respect each other, that makes your heart swoon.

Well this was a fascinating way of telling the story of a woman dealing with multiplicity, or ogbanje as it is known in Nigerian culture.
I've known of something similar called dissociative identity disorder. This story clearly represents this disorder, without ever really saying it.
There's this complete feeling of curiosity and wonder while reading: is this a personality disorder or a myth or is this really a spirit/god controling a woman's body and mind?
The fact that this is semi-autobiographical and that the author actually deals with multiplicity makes the story truly authentic and believable and yet remains close to fantasy.
The writing was beautiful. And although it took a while to get into (it was tough understanding what was happening at first), you quickly get drawn into this story with really interesting "characters".

Une bonne BD sur le besoin d'être en couple, de convenir aux idéaux de la société et des rôles qu'elle donne aux genres, mais surtout de se contenter de qui on est, d'être heureux et libre dans sa vie amoureuse et sexuelle et son image de soi.

Mademoiselle Caroline nous montre son chemin vis à vis de la dépression dont elle souffre depuis des années.
C'était plutôt clair, bien expliqué, surtout a la fin lorsqu'elle trouve comment tenir le coup.
J'ai particulièrement apprécié voir ses carnets de notes "de l'époque", lorsqu'elle faisait des petits dessins pour expliquer ce qu'elle ressentait au moment présent.
Le seul petit bémol pour moi est la typographie qui rend la lecture parfois difficile (dans le sens: on n'arrive pas à lire son écriture..).

Honestly the cutest graphic novel you will ever set your eyes upon