essjay's Reviews (635)

I really enjoyed the art (especially the backgrounds and plants), but the story was only so-so for me. I hate when the antagonist is cartoonishly evil, and that was the case here. 

Awad's signature fever dream style has become a favourite. I really loved this up until the last few chapters. The ending was fine, but maybe a little more grounded and definitive than I'd hoped for. 

I wanted this to be a different book than it ended up being. If you're at all well-versed in the genre, none of it will be new or surprising. I see so many reviews that say this is best if you know nothing going in, and maybe that's true, but literally all I knew before I started was the title and the cover...and I still knew exactly how everything was going to play out by about 13%. 

This was delightful, and I need to sit at Toadling's feet while she tells me all of her stories. 

I did not enjoy the style this was written in, and knew I wasn't going to enjoy myself. 

I don't even know that I liked this, but it was easy to sit down and lose myself in for a few hours. I realized last month that I've read several books lately where the women they're about stay unnamed for the duration of the book, and I do think it's an interesting stylistic choice. Especially in this book, when it's paired with the theme of said woman deciding to just take up space, instead of shrinking into herself. She takes up so much space, physically and emotionally, but it's all superficial and we're left wondering whether we know anything about her at all. 

I love Dairine. I love Gigo. I love this series and I'm so glad my kid is letting me read it to them. 

It didn't feel while I was reading like the high highs ("Guested," "Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane," and "Save Me from Myself") were enough to compensate for the low lows ("Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia," "Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle," and "Anna"), but I guess it did average out in the end. 

NGL, with a title like this, I was pretty disappointed there was not a single zombie story included in this collection. 

This book (and the accompanying short story) didn't feel as precisely written just for me as Body After Body did, but close enough. Reminiscent of Jenny Hval's Paradise Rot in the best possible way. Can't wait to re-read. 

I think I have more patience for this than I normally would bc the art is astounding.