A bunch of teen girls in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Sounds like... fun? It is! (for the reader at least :D). Their journey to safety is filled with drama, blood, betrayal, new experiences and of course zombie killing.

This web comic pulled me in from strip one and I love the dynamic in the main team. It was nice to get to know all the characters slowly and I loved that we got an insight in all the characters . I love the main team of girls the most, but there are also so many amazing side characters that it definitely isn’t easy to pick favorites (well I do love Kayla the most i think (black butch lesbian, how amazing is that?), but i love the other characters nearly as much) especially in the second book.

I love how diverse this web comic is, there are many black and asian girls and boys, there are (polyamorous) sapphic girls, there are gay guys, there is a fat girl, there is a trans girl, there are kick ass girls who will fist fight zombies that threaten their friends, there are girls who cry and are terrified by the new situation.

The website used makes it easy to navigate and the art style is adorable! It’s seriously so nice to read and the main characters felt very real to me.

Review crossposted to my blog here

Well I'm not quite sure where I stand with this book. It was definitely not what i thought it would be, and while that was nice at times, it really annoyed me at others.

I did enjoy the satire at first, but the snarky comments got boring after a couple of chapters. I get that this book is a satire, but the satire was so obvious that after a while it lost its charm. Especially the "commercial breaks" got old real fast. Some scenes however where truly funny and I got many good laughs out of this book.

I loved the diversity, which makes it even more sad that I did not absolutely enjoy the book.

And there is the most terrible thing of all: Insta Love! The Hot Pirate Guys and all the girls swoon after 0.5 seconds, UGH! Gross! I know romance is super important for most books, and all, but honestly girls you could do so much better! Plus it's really boring to read about all those girls grow suddenly love-sick the moment a hot guy swaggers in (who also acts like a complete douche like ?? how can anybody like him?... but maybe there's just the lesbian speaking)

While I don't think it's the worst book in existence, and while I know that it's message is quite important (girls liberating themselves from the society who told them since they where kids that they had to be the most beautiful, everything else doesn't matter? Very Good! especially considering the real life beauty pageants TV Shows in which 5 year olds are already forced to stand on a stage and compete, which is just terrible) I just... didn't particularly enjoyed the way the plot unfolded.

I also think the book dragged the plot out for a bit too long, but the ending was nice.

I wished there had been a bit more focus on Taylor, her descent into the Wild Girl would have been interesting to watch, but it had to take a subplot to the Hawt Pirate guys.

All in all it was a nice read, a bit too long, and I'd probably not reread it, but it still had some super funny scenes that i really enjoyed.

Why I read it: a friend recommended it to me and I went in blind except for knowing that there was LGBT rep and that it was about a bunch of teenage girls stranded on an island.

Do I recommend it: If you enjoy to read Satire and have the time, yes. If Satire and Social Critic are not your thing, then no. While it was funny at times, it definitely is not one of my Top Ten Funny Books and as I just read The Diviners I was probably expecting something... a little different?

Review crossposted to my blog here

Disclaimer: I won this book in a tumblr giveaway, but this has not influenced my review.

Erin lives in Henry, a small town in America. She has been bitten by a vampire, but thanks to a friendly group of werewolves she is not alone while she finishes her transformation. With a secret government Agency trying to hunt her down she has to learn and adapt quickly to her changed life, which is not always easy (vampire motorics take their time to learn!) It all get's even more dangerous when her mother and sister are abducted by said secret government Agency. Erin now has to figure out a way to free them.

In my opinion Erin acted quite natural after figuring out that vampires and werewolves are real and that she was on her way to becoming one. She freaked out and questioned everything, which I probably would do to. I also admired her for not getting angry in some situations which she as a plus sized black women faced.

I enjoyed Kasey's take on the mythology a lot, it was next to the diverse cast of characters one of my favorite parts of the novel.

And when I say diverse in this novel, I mean super diverse. We have our friendly neighbour hood lesbian couple, but also our vampire clan leading lesbian (with her wife, both woc) and a vampire/werewolf gay couple. And lets not forget Tier a trans boy werewolf (though as somebody whose mother tongue is german, I couldn't help but laugh at his name. Tier means animal in german and he's a werewolf haha, get it? :'D) + protective werewolf leader Mum Nadia.

Other stuff I enjoyed where the hints at Erin's old life, talk about racism and racial profiling and the bullying she had to endure due to her being not thin. I also connected with her lack of Friend-Making-Ability TM.

I really liked the sisterly bond between Erin and Demaria (fun fact: their mother let Erin pick her baby sisters name while she was a child by pointing at her favorite letters. Poor Demaria but it's so funny and sweet!) I'm super excited how their relationship will be explored more in the second book.

While the writing was not the best and I definitely think there is way for improvement I'm super excited to learn more and figure out what's going to happen next.

I had to take off one star because of all the grammar mistakes and the occasional typo (also I had the feeling that words were missing on occasion?)

First reaction: A newly turned vampire (a black girl too) having to figure out her after-life surrounded by werewolves AND hunted by the government? Niiiice! After seeing that there would be a diverse cast of characters I was even more intrigued.

Do I recommend it: Yup. Despite its grammar mistakes, I absolutely loved the vampire and werewolf lore and the loads of diversity. It was really nice to read and I can't wait for the second book.

Review crossposted to my blog here

Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Clancy grows up as a Loner in a small town in Australia, crushing on the local hot girl. Her not-so-normal life gets shaken up terribly after her father is involved in a car crash with two dead. Besides this she also has deal with her not really having any friends that she can talk to, and with her weirdo brother and his conspiration theories. When Sasha, the hot girl, suddenly starts to show interest in her it all gets even more complicated.

I adored Clancy's character, she was a typical teen at times, angry at everything in this world but most at all herself, fighting with her mum, feeling inadequate and yes, that too, dealing with internalized homophobia.

I liked that Clancy already knew that she liked girls. I can however understand why she still hated herself for it at times especially when she was already emotionally vulnerable. Growing up gay in a small town can be incredible hard and not ever gay teen gets over that easily, so it was nice to read about that as well.

I also liked how Clancy growing up poor and on the outskirts of town was portrayed and that it effected her family's social status as well. I imagine that this made it way easier for the rest of the town to turn on them even when they didn't know most of the facts about the accident.

I loved the family dynamics because you could see that despite all their problems they still loved each other. Angus' and Clancy's interactions where incredible sweet, yet incredible sibling-like and I enjoyed it a lot! (especially at the ending, ah I love it!)

Another thing I liked was the way how Nancy's and Clancy's friendship was handled, especially after the accident and that it wasn't easy to form it, especially considering how Clancy always feelt as if she doesn't quite fit anywhere.

The romance was a bit of a downer though, and I have to say that I expected the ending to play out... well not like this. There are loads of homophobic slurs used at some points which doesn't make certain parts any easier to read, so be warned.

One question that remains: Why does tomboy Clancy, who owns one pair of boots and literally never wears make up, work at a make up centre? Where there no other jobs available? How can you give people make up tips when you don't wear it yourself? (I couldn't!)

Also apparently the Slang is very Australian, but I don't know much about australian Slang, so I can't comment on it, except that some of the phrases didn't sound like the UK English that I learned in school :D It was nice to read though.

Why I read it: I've been interested in this book ever since I found it on goodreads. A coming-of-age story with a lesbian main character set in a small town? And she already knows that she likes girls? Yes please!

Do I recommend it: Yes. While it's not the book to read if you're looking for a lesbian romance (sobs softly - I expected something different as well) it is a nice book about growing up and making real friends, with a nice, yet dysfunctional family and a nice main character.

Review crossposted to my blog here