For this volume alone (chapters 1-3), I rate 3 stars.

The first volume follows an robotics inventor -Alistair - who dies and is revived 16 years later in a synthetic mind and body. He is told his former business partner - Brendan - revived him, but his former business partner has no idea what is happening. After their initial reunion and some conflict, the business partner begins investigating the mystery. The story jumps between the present plot and flashbacks of Alistair and Brendan's past. Queer and trans rep too!

This is setting up for a good story, but I found it a very boring and slow start with lots of dialogue and scenes that I wasn't particularly interested in. The art is beautiful and moments between characters are tender, but the condensed nature makes it hard to really feel the characters and their relationships and they feel partially underdeveloped. This begins to improve towards the end of the volume and a plot is introduced for one particular character that I thought had more life. 

A Tale for the Time Being follows Ruth on Vancouver Island as she is reading the old diary of a young girl in Japan. In the present, Ruth struggles to write her next novel while exploring Nao's world. In the diary, Nao writes about her experiences at home and at school, with a focus on a growing relationship with her amazing grandmother. 

Readers switch between Ruth's perspective and Nao's first-person diary, but the diary chapters are full of footnotes with Ruth's comments. It creates a really unique and intimate reading experience where, when reading the diary, you not only feel like you are in the shoes of Nao, but also that you are in the shoes of Ruth as she is reading.

I loved this book. It is immersive and the format, characters, and the element of magical realism mystery are all incredibly compelling. However, this is a hard and painful book with detailed descriptions and reflections on TW

war, natural disasters, bullying, sexual violence and exploitation, poverty, and suicide

. But, without minimizing these topics, Ozeki brings in reflective moments informed by her Buddhism and genuine moments of connection that balance these hard topics with hope.  

The book is definitely slow, but I enjoyed the pacing aside from finding it too slow in one or two places. 

I am holding out as I love absurd and goofy worlds and I'm sure it will take time to get to know the characters and feel invested, but so far it has felt like dragged out monster-of-the-week filler stories with side characters that get more attention than the loosely developed main cast. Don't get me wrong, I love a good monster-of-the-week format but I need a bit more to latch onto than this. 

I started becoming more invested towards the end of this volume, though, so I'm remaining optimistic.

If you are looking for a post-apocalyptic adventure, this might not be for you. The present day setting follows characters navigating a post-apocalyptic Great Lakes after several years after a devastating pandemic. The post-pandemic and during-pandemic world is incredibly compelling, but most of the book bounces between the lives of a few characters pre-pandemic.  

A lot of the past sections focus on things related to not being happy with where your life is going/has gone. I would not recommend reading this book if you’re in a stage like that in your life. With the way St. John Mandel writes, it can feel quite heavy and depressing sitting in those feelings. 

 

If you are thinking about reading this after watching the show, I highly recommend reading. The show changes quite a few things and the book is a similar but much different and worthwhile experience. The book also handles

Frank’s death

in a less ableist way and I thought the show does Jeevan and Miranda’s characters a bit dirty.

 
St. John Mandel writes in a way that I haven’t experienced before. Partially through using 3rd person omniscient, she does an incredibly good job of capturing a really melancholic, distant feeling that was intense to sit with but also so engaging. I also absolutely loved the non-chronological skips in and out of different characters’ lives.   

 

The present day characters aren’t particularly developed as the present day is more about the collective experience of a post-pandemic world which I didn’t mind. This is where I’d recommend readers watch the show because it was cool seeing a different take on the story with more focus on present day.

 

My biggest issue was the ending. I liked it as a concept but it was really rushed and read more like a brief summary of events which made for an unsatisfying conclusion after the slower build. 

NOTE: This author grew up in Hawaii, but is not Native Hawaiian. In an interview, he describes learning about the myths depicted in this book from friends and in school.

I really think this book is something special — It’s nothing and more than what I expected so I’m going to keep this review vague to try to maintain the mystery factor for other readers.

First of all, the PROSE. I wish I had the words to better describe Washburn’s style beyond that it feels so sharp and tactile. He also has a way of making the most mundane or unromantic things beautiful. This style is maintained across POVs while still keeping each character’s voice distinct.

For the story itself, the magical realism element is less of a focus and more of an avenue to deeply explore complex family dynamics and trauma (particularly related to colonization and poverty). The book switches between the POVs of three siblings as they grow up in a home where one gifted sibling carries the burden of helping financially support the family and the other two are in his shadow and, then, as all three try to ‘make it’ in some way on the mainland while separated from their family and dealing with old and new trauma. And it’s done so well.

It’s definitely heavy and emotional, but the characters also bring a lot of light and humour.

Unfortunately, I thought the last third lost itself a bit. I liked where it went, where it was going, and where it went after that, but that middle ‘where it was going’ part felt rushed compared to the care and depth in the first 2/3. This might have been what Washburn was going for, but it didn’t work as much for me. That being said, I’m excited for a future reread to see if my thoughts change and I’m eagerly awaiting Washburn’s next work.  

I thought I was going to feel eh about this book and, after reading the first chapter, I was pretty sure I was going to hate it. Obviously, I was wrong on both counts.

This book is so incredibly tender and the characters have so much life. The heart of the story is the main characters navigating their past trauma and relationships and it’s balanced really well with sitting in those feelings and also finding love and healing. Blake shines in her work on character and relationships.

Yea, there are some cheesy cliches, but isn’t that the point? The only time I struggled with the cliches was in Iris’ characterization which I thought was a bit one-note but she functions more to drive the plot while the focus is primarily on Delilah, Claire, and Astrid. 

This is a pretty fantastic book. I’d highly recommend reading cover to cover (even if over a long period of time). Very informative and also relieving to let go of so many myths. I considered myself reasonably well-versed in vaginal and sexual health but there was a lot that I learned in every section that I wouldn’t have known to look for if I was just using it for individual chapters or as reference material. 

This probably won’t address every question/problem you have, but Dr. Gunter thoroughly covers a wide range of topics and does a solid job at focusing on science-based information while also acknowledging the failings of medicine in serving women and the need/value of anecdotes. There is also a section on empowering people to safely and effectively research their vaginal health online. There is a section on trans men and women and Gunter references trans men with vaginas throughout, but my hunch is that the information may be lacking from a trans health perspective. 

I’m surprised the number of reviews on how U.S. heavy the book is. Stats, details on the medical system, $$$, and resources are U.S. centred, but I think the meat of the book and even the resources will be valuable to many. That being said, I live in Canada so it might not have stood out to me that much.

It can get boring and drawn out, but as far as fact-heavy non-fiction, I found it really engaging (though sometimes cheesy) and Gunter has a lot of personality in the audiobook if some chapters drag on for you. 

My only frustration is that there is an entire chapter on pregnancy and childbirth but no mention of abortion. I’m not sure if this was because it doesn’t fall under OB/GYN scope or if Gunter didn’t want to alienate her conservative audience, but it was incredibly disappointing because Gunter briefly touches on several other issues outside her scope. If a section on abortion in the pregnancy chapter wasn’t within the scope, there could have at least been a brief acknowledgment that abortion is valid  with some possible resources.

There are some great and endearing moments here; love the socially awkward rep. But, this instalment drags a bit for me when read on its own.

The art is still inconsistent at times, with character features and art style slightly changing between back-to-back panels sometimes. But the art is still high enough quality and has the same general vibe that it didn’t bother me too much. 

CW: disrespectful caricature of voodoo

This is an incredibly cozy, tender story about young love and found family in a beautiful, unique world. All the characters are women and nonbinary folx and every relationship featured is queer (yay!). The art, colours, and paneling are all amazing (but might be good to read in ebook format if you struggle with smaller text). 

Readers follow Mia between her present work restoring ancient sites in space and her past time meeting and falling for a girl, Grace, at her school. The chapters following Mia's time at school and her relationship with Grace are perfect and well worth the read, especially if you're a queer person who didn't have the chance to comfortably explore your sexuality in grade school. These parts are also framed really well by the little moments in Mia's present where she bonds with her work team. 

Where I struggled is the present-day plot as the book progressed. The present-day characters felt surface level or caricatured at times which was fine at first as it worked as just a framing narrative, but was harder for me in the latter half of the book when they became the focus. A few characters are given backstories to drive the plot and they either feel more 'telling vs. showing' or feel random and underdeveloped.

The setting in the last act is beautiful and different parts of it are highlighted through the plot, but it was harder for me to get into as it felt thrown together in order to show a cool world and get to a specific endgame. The endgame setting itself also felt purely created to introduce a key plot point in the past story and, with it being featured so much at the end, I needed way more development to get into it. This works since the focus is on the relationships and not a concretely developed world, but I needed a bit more to keep me grounded in the story. 

That being said, I really liked

the maturity and realism

in how

Mia and Grace's reunion went

at the end. 

Following Elly’s first night and day at work and all the misunderstandings and challenges that ensue, vol 2 is when Blood Stain really begins to shine. 

The art is dynamic and has a lot of personality which, combined with the characters and antics, makes for an incredibly fun read if you like a healthy dose of the ridiculous. We also start to see more of Elly’s active imagination in the form of videogame themed daydreams which are such a treat. 

My only complaint would be that the art can be inconsistent and some panels feel slightly lifeless but I did not find this detracted from the story or my enjoyment of the art overall. 

TW:

Short one panel flashback of a character being bullied as a kid.