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howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)
I really, truly appreciate the idea behind this collection: a bisexual Chinese author talking about how hard it was to come out to her mother, stipulations that come with being from an immigrant family, the struggles of a conservative mother, and more. All of that said, unfortunately, the execution didn't work for me. I didn't enjoy the art style, some of the layouts of the comics were a bit hard to follow, and the narrative voice as a whole didn't mesh with me. I really wanted to like this more than I did, sadly.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I have an idea you aren't going to like me very much.
By all accounts, the above quote should be correct. A morally grey, snarky, violent, heartless antihero main character? He's awful, truly, absolutely vile at times... and yet, the joke's on you, unnamed narrator, because I happened to love this protagonist.
Prosper's Demon features one of the most unusual devices I've ever read, in that we follow an anonymous narrator who plays both hero and villain in his own story, and the casualties of his decisions are terrible at times. He's more or less remorseless, seeing things as "for the greater good" and all that, and despite how much sick satisfaction he seems to take in his own brutality at times, I couldn't help but devour every page.
The demons in this story are also a bit unusual, and they don't quite follow the "Satan's legion" sort of archetypes I'm used to seeing. They've each got their own little personalities, too, especially this one particular demon our narrator has a long-standing feud with. The utter exasperation when these demons see our exorcist coming is downright hilarious. "You again?"
So, in order to get Master Prosper to like me, I had to give him an opportunity to prove that he was right and I was wrong, deluded, an idiot. Easy peasy.
What is most unusual about this novella, though — and coincidentally, what I adored most of all about it — is that, despite its often dark and violent nature, it is hilarious. The narrator's sense of humor is definitely a dry one, and I laughed out loud so many times reading this. I can easily see this being the sort of book I'll reach for over and over again just because it would be such a fun, quick read whenever I'm feeling slumpy or having a bad day (or just needing a good, morbid chuckle).
Thank you so much to Tor.com for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review!
It's genuinely such a shame when a book that you anticipated so strongly lets you down, especially when the premise is this great! The plot alone had me thinking The God Game had to be at least halfway successful for me, and in the beginning of the book, I still held strongly to those convictions, but the further into this story I got, the lower I felt my rating dropping.
My first complaint is perhaps my fault (though I don't think so, honestly): I was expecting a more immersive "game" than this. I went into this thinking these characters were going to be thrown into a legitimate game-esque world, and while they do see some things through augmented reality that aren't solidly in the physical realm with them, for the most part, we're left simply following around a bunch of teens as they receive ominous text messages. While I could certainly see how this would work for some readers as it makes it feel more like something that could actually happen, it felt lackluster to me and left me constantly wanting just a little bit more than I was given.
Secondly, in a book this high-risk, where characters are constantly being forced to do awful things and are placed in tough situations, it's hard to feel the weight of those ultimatums when it's impossible to root for anyone involved. The story primarily follows the Vindicators, a friend group of five teens brought together by their loves of coding and their general "outcast" vibes (aside from one, sort of). With these five, plus a slew of side characters we periodically get insight into, it quickly became "too much"; I don't feel that the writing in this story was able to carry such a large cast, so it left everyone feeling a bit one-dimensional and bland. On top of that, you know going into the story that tough decisions will be made, but at their cores, each of these teens just feel so unlikable, whether it's Charlie's cruel interactions with his grieving father, or Alex's sociopathic tendencies, or Peter's conniving, arrogant attitude.
I also think it's worth mentiong that, while I think the author wanted to do something positive by including a variety of characters (Kenny is black, Vanhi is Indian and a lesbian, and Alex is Asian-American), it's not done well. Most notably, Alex's entire family dynamic bothered me. We've all seen examples of the tired, outdated stereotype where Asian characters are held to higher standards by their parents: Alex's father is horribly abusive and every ounce of it revolves around high expectations re: Alex's grades, athleticism, etc. Every POV we're given from Alex's father highlights his background as an immigrant and refugee who "just wants better" for his kid — yeah, yeah, we get it. It feels like it's beaten into the reader's head that all of Alex's father's abusive tendencies come from a place of love, which is bullshit on so many levels, and frankly, the entire depiction of the abusive relationship in and of itself felt weird and unrealistic. There's also some dreadful utilization of the "homophobic bully turns out to be a repressed gay kid" trope, and don't get me wrong, I know that's something that happens in the real world from time to time, but it felt like it was done for cheap shock value and, on top of everything else (and the unapologetic slur usage), I was so unsurprised and over it by the time it rolled around.
There's also the writing to consider, which is the one thing I will say I felt bittersweet about: while I can't say I thought it was very well-done, it was definitely quick-moving and action-packed enough to make the story go by quickly. If it hadn't been for the fact that something is constantly happening and there's no real filler material (which is admittedly an impressive feat for almost 500 pages), I probably wouldn't have even finished it, but it was just engaging enough to keep me reading. Unfortunately, that didn't pay off in the end, between the low overall rating I settled on and the fact that the ending went so thoroughly off the rails that I found myself skimming the last few chapters just to hurry up and be done with the whole thing.
When I started writing this review, I thought I would give The God Game 2 stars because despite all of this, I still think it was a cool premise at its core, but after getting my thoughts out in words, I've realized I really don't have anything good to say about the execution here. I'm sure this book will be beloved by many readers but I am clearly not one of them and don't believe I'll be picking up anything else from this author in the future.
Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for providing me with this finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content warnings for:
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My first complaint is perhaps my fault (though I don't think so, honestly): I was expecting a more immersive "game" than this. I went into this thinking these characters were going to be thrown into a legitimate game-esque world, and while they do see some things through augmented reality that aren't solidly in the physical realm with them, for the most part, we're left simply following around a bunch of teens as they receive ominous text messages. While I could certainly see how this would work for some readers as it makes it feel more like something that could actually happen, it felt lackluster to me and left me constantly wanting just a little bit more than I was given.
Secondly, in a book this high-risk, where characters are constantly being forced to do awful things and are placed in tough situations, it's hard to feel the weight of those ultimatums when it's impossible to root for anyone involved. The story primarily follows the Vindicators, a friend group of five teens brought together by their loves of coding and their general "outcast" vibes (aside from one, sort of). With these five, plus a slew of side characters we periodically get insight into, it quickly became "too much"; I don't feel that the writing in this story was able to carry such a large cast, so it left everyone feeling a bit one-dimensional and bland. On top of that, you know going into the story that tough decisions will be made, but at their cores, each of these teens just feel so unlikable, whether it's Charlie's cruel interactions with his grieving father, or Alex's sociopathic tendencies, or Peter's conniving, arrogant attitude.
I also think it's worth mentiong that, while I think the author wanted to do something positive by including a variety of characters (Kenny is black, Vanhi is Indian and a lesbian, and Alex is Asian-American), it's not done well. Most notably, Alex's entire family dynamic bothered me. We've all seen examples of the tired, outdated stereotype where Asian characters are held to higher standards by their parents: Alex's father is horribly abusive and every ounce of it revolves around high expectations re: Alex's grades, athleticism, etc. Every POV we're given from Alex's father highlights his background as an immigrant and refugee who "just wants better" for his kid — yeah, yeah, we get it. It feels like it's beaten into the reader's head that all of Alex's father's abusive tendencies come from a place of love, which is bullshit on so many levels, and frankly, the entire depiction of the abusive relationship in and of itself felt weird and unrealistic. There's also some dreadful utilization of the "homophobic bully turns out to be a repressed gay kid" trope, and don't get me wrong, I know that's something that happens in the real world from time to time, but it felt like it was done for cheap shock value and, on top of everything else (and the unapologetic slur usage), I was so unsurprised and over it by the time it rolled around.
There's also the writing to consider, which is the one thing I will say I felt bittersweet about: while I can't say I thought it was very well-done, it was definitely quick-moving and action-packed enough to make the story go by quickly. If it hadn't been for the fact that something is constantly happening and there's no real filler material (which is admittedly an impressive feat for almost 500 pages), I probably wouldn't have even finished it, but it was just engaging enough to keep me reading. Unfortunately, that didn't pay off in the end, between the low overall rating I settled on and the fact that the ending went so thoroughly off the rails that I found myself skimming the last few chapters just to hurry up and be done with the whole thing.
When I started writing this review, I thought I would give The God Game 2 stars because despite all of this, I still think it was a cool premise at its core, but after getting my thoughts out in words, I've realized I really don't have anything good to say about the execution here. I'm sure this book will be beloved by many readers but I am clearly not one of them and don't believe I'll be picking up anything else from this author in the future.
Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for providing me with this finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
Content warnings for:
Spoiler
violence, death, grief of a family member, abuse, drug usage, suicidal ideation, self-harm, ableist slurs, homophobic slurs, fat-shaming, misogyny—————
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There were a lot of little things I LOVED about this, but also a lot of big things I... didn't :( Full review coming soon!
I love The Awkward Yeti, so whenever I see that there's a new collection up on Netgalley, I jump to download it as soon as possible. I think this has to be one of my favorite works of Seluk's yet, even though it totally branches out from the usual style! Instead of a collection of short, humorous, silly comics, this is actually a collection of true medical stories that were submitted (mostly by patients, but sometimes by providers) and then dramatized through comics. They're still adorable and hilarious (the gallbladder has my heart forever with its little "you don't wike da stones?" moments), but it's also super informative and morbidly fascinating. Whether you're new to The Awkward Yeti comics or a long-time fan, I strongly recommend picking this one up!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
ETA: Queen Schwab has now joined the small, elite group of authors who has hit bestsellers lists in Adult, YA, and Children's releases, and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. 💖
As someone who loves ghost stories, stories set in Scotland, middle grade horror, and Victoria Schwab, City of Ghosts is like some sort of literary perfect storm for me. It was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, to the point at which, when I received the eARC approval notification, I literally stopped everything I was doing to start reading this. All I can say is that it did not disappoint.
Some people call it intuition, others second sight. That tickle at the edge of your senses, telling you there’s something more.
Cassidy is able to see ghosts, and to travel beyond the Veil, thanks to an accident that left her somewhere in between the living and the dead. Despite the bizarre nature of her everyday life, Cassidy is such a level-headed, calm child, and I loved that about her character. Even as a kid, I could never relate to MG protagonists who were particularly reactive or prone to outburst, because that wasn’t my personality, and I would have lived for a main character to see myself in like Cassidy. She has this “old soul” quality to her that’s so charming and sweet.
Crossing the Veil is like opening the closet door. Of course, the difference is, monsters aren’t real. The closet was always empty. The Veil… not so much.
I absolutely adored the world Victoria created here, and thought the Veil itself was a delightful touch. I loved the idea of this semi-tangible thing that Cassidy could cast aside to enter the world of spirits, and you can tell that the entire dynamic of the Veil is one that Victoria has thought out in complexity, from the consistent rules it has. I was delighted to see that, even in a children’s story, Victoria cut no corners.
The living may take strength from love and hope, but the dead grow strong on darker things. On pain and anger and regret.
While I do consider City of Ghosts spooky enough to be considered horror, I think it’s going to be important for readers to keep in mind that this book is middle grade horror—it’s written for children, not adults. I’m seeing a lot of negative reviews from long-time Schwab readers who feel that it isn’t scary enough or is too predictable, and obviously everyone has the entire right to their own opinion, but to offer another perspective: as someone who is a long-time middle grade horror fan, I feel that this story absolutely excels at accomplishing its goals. That said, it is on the lighter end of the MG horror spectrum, so if you’re looking to hand a copy of this to a kid in your life, I’d say it’s suitable as long as they aren’t terribly easily frightened.
But we both know Jacob’s not a normal ghost, just like I’m not a normal girl. Not anymore. There was an accident. A bike. A frozen river.
The last thing I want to touch on is Cassidy’s best friend, Jacob—a little ghost boy who saved her life, and in the process, became tangled up in her everyday world. He stays in her home with her, and her parents have more or less accepted his presence, even. He’s supportive and protective, an absolute delight of a character. He’s a perfect best friend to Cassidy, and he’s so precious that I just wanted to squeeze and protect him.
I wish I could slip my hand into his. Give him some of my warmth. But all I can do is promise that I won’t let him freeze. That I’ll never leave him behind. Where you go, I go.
Of course, this book is by Victoria Schwab, and I don’t know if the woman is altogether comfortable with writing a story without any sadness. Without spoiling anything, there’s a conversation that occurs at the end of City of Ghosts that has me simultaneously eager and incredibly nervous to continue the series, because, well… let’s just say that it feels like some very uncomfortable foreshadowing, and I don’t think even the kiddos are safe in Victoria’s worlds.
If we were in a comic book, this would be our origin story. Some people get a spider bite, or a vat of acid. We got a river.
Honestly, City of Ghosts was literally a flawless read for me. It held all of the charms and whimsy that I love so much in MG horror, with the added bonus of Victoria Schwab’s gorgeous storytelling and characters. I am so happy that I pre-ordered a finished copy of this ages ago, because I know I will reread it time and time again, and I cannot wait for the announcement of the second book!
All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Scholastic for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!
Jen Wang has such a way with storytelling that always manages to make me smile and laugh while still punching me in the heart with feels (in a good way), and Stargazing followed that trend beautifully. I absolutely adored this graphic novel! Moon and Christine are both so precious, and they feel like real kids, you know? The diversity represented is so sweet and the commentary on biracial and/or Asian-American kids feeling "not Asian enough" made my chest ache for friends who have told me they've gone through similar things.
On top of the story itself being so precious and offering up such a lovely story of friendship and overcoming insecurities and loneliness, there's also the art, which is iconic and stunning and sweet. I adore how expressive the characters are and the color palette used — Jen's style is one of my all-time favorites.
I can't add this to my library's order list fast enough and know that I'm going to be recommending this book to anyone and everyone who will listen to me rave about it!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
On top of the story itself being so precious and offering up such a lovely story of friendship and overcoming insecurities and loneliness, there's also the art, which is iconic and stunning and sweet. I adore how expressive the characters are and the color palette used — Jen's style is one of my all-time favorites.
I can't add this to my library's order list fast enough and know that I'm going to be recommending this book to anyone and everyone who will listen to me rave about it!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Sometimes, as reviewers, there are books that are hard to review for one reason or another, and to me, the worst of those occasions comes when there's a book that I felt so confident I would love (in this case, due to my pre-formed love for quite a few of these creators), only to find that the end result was nothing like my expectations. Sadly, In Darkness, Delight is one of those occasions.
I'm not sure what it was about this anthology and me that seemed unable to mesh, but there were a disappointingly low number of stories in the collection that warranted 4 or more stars from me. I found many of them to be anticlimactic, and there's an overarching theme in many of them that I struggled with: I adore it when a horror creator can merge heartbreak and fear, but when I'm only given the former without the latter, I find myself wondering how that particular piece fit the theme of the collection at large.
There are a lot of talented creators in this lineup who I will continue to support and eagerly await each release from — I'm still obsessed with last year's Doorbells at Dusk collection, which featured many of the same creators — but sadly, In Darkness, Delight just didn't ever quite pan out for me.
Finally, I'd like to quickly give a shout-out to my favorites in the collection: 'In the Ground' by Patrick Lacey, which details a boy's descent into possible madness after the loss of his father; 'The Pipe' by Israel Finn, in which we're treated to a terrifyingly claustrophobic view of a white supremacist's torture methods; and 'The Rules of Leap Year' by Monique Youzwa, which has one of the most interesting and unique premises I've ever seen as a family attempts to murder one of their own on each Leap Year.
Content warnings for violence, murder, body horror, suicide, racial slurs, ableist slurs, murder of a pet, substance abuse, and domestic abuse
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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Buddy read with the lovely and amazing Cassie! 💕🌈
I'm not sure what it was about this anthology and me that seemed unable to mesh, but there were a disappointingly low number of stories in the collection that warranted 4 or more stars from me. I found many of them to be anticlimactic, and there's an overarching theme in many of them that I struggled with: I adore it when a horror creator can merge heartbreak and fear, but when I'm only given the former without the latter, I find myself wondering how that particular piece fit the theme of the collection at large.
There are a lot of talented creators in this lineup who I will continue to support and eagerly await each release from — I'm still obsessed with last year's Doorbells at Dusk collection, which featured many of the same creators — but sadly, In Darkness, Delight just didn't ever quite pan out for me.
Finally, I'd like to quickly give a shout-out to my favorites in the collection: 'In the Ground' by Patrick Lacey, which details a boy's descent into possible madness after the loss of his father; 'The Pipe' by Israel Finn, in which we're treated to a terrifyingly claustrophobic view of a white supremacist's torture methods; and 'The Rules of Leap Year' by Monique Youzwa, which has one of the most interesting and unique premises I've ever seen as a family attempts to murder one of their own on each Leap Year.
Content warnings for violence, murder, body horror, suicide, racial slurs, ableist slurs, murder of a pet, substance abuse, and domestic abuse
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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Buddy read with the lovely and amazing Cassie! 💕🌈
Rhiannon Hunter worshipped at the altar of no man.
Sometimes, ratings and reviews are hard, and this is one of those times, because this is probably one of the most “meh” 4-star reviews I’ve ever given a book. I can’t find any good reason to lower it to 3 stars because it objectively has so much good stuff going for it, but when I think back on it — having finished reading it several weeks ago now — it feels like the sort of book I’ll forget about pretty quickly.
Rhiannon’s a likeable heroine and Samson’s enjoyable enough as a hero (if a bit bland). There’s a lot of conversation around some really necessary and tough topics, like the treatment of pro athletes regarding sports-related injuries, and the way assault/abuse survivors are often cornered into keeping quiet about their abusers, especially when the abusive person is someone in a position of power.
All of that said… I don’t know, something about it just never fully “clicked” for me, but I’m leaving this at 4 stars because it does have a lot going for it. I really loved the diverse range of characters (Rhiannon is black, Samson is Samoan, Rhiannon’s bestie/housemate/business partner is Thai-American and fat, her assistant is Indian and queer… everyone important in this book offers some sort of valuable and beautifully done rep), and because it’s the sort of book that I will happily recommend to others even if it wasn’t the perfect read for me.
All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Whew. Okay. Let me start with two things:
Something Like Gravity strikes me as the perfect example of why many (not ALL, but MANY) authors aren't capable of writing proper representation outside of their own lanes. What I thought was well-intended (if sometimes problematic) trans rep from a cis author is being called out by many own-voice reviewers as being very poor representation, and that hurts my heart, because I know there are own-voice books with trans representation that aren't getting the hype and marketing this book has received.
When I first finished the book, I gave it 4 stars because I had enjoyed it for the most part. Even to my misguided reading, there were some major issues I had (such as the trans character being outed without consent by another character spying on them while they changed clothes - I honestly almost DNFed the ARC at this point because it was so out of left field and infuriated me, but I kept going because I hoped it would be addressed fully later. Now I've come to realize that not only was it not handled well, but frankly, it shouldn't have happened at all, at least not without TWs for trans readers who could be immensely triggered by it). That said, I thought the characters were fairly likeable and I think Smith's prose is really lovely.
After reading multiple own-voice reviews, though, I've come to realize that there are a lot of issues with this book — but that's not the only reason I changed my rating. I finished this book about 2 months ago at the time I'm reviewing it, and it has been so immensely un-memorable that I literally forgot it was on my "RTC" shelf until earlier today. When I sat down to review it, I struggled to even remember what had happened because, in hindsight, these characters and this romance are bland. Maia is low-key awful, Chris' entire personality revolves around 10% PTSD, 90% running (and there are some comments made about Chris' views of his own body that are a struggle), the plot is mostly non-existent, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about any of the side characters if my life depended on it.
All in all, this was a mediocre book made worse by poorly-researched representation. I definitely want to try more of Amber Smith's work because, like I said, her narrative voice itself is really nice and I've heard many people say her plots and characters are usually a lot better than this. But... yeah, this one didn't do anyone any favors.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
1) I am genuinely so sorry to any of my trans friends who may have been hurt by my initial positive rating/remarks about this book. I was seeing things through an incredibly ignorant (and cis) lens. This is one of those instances that reminded me that, when it comes to books that are not own-voice, I should really be looking for own-voice reviews before I start recommending these titles to others.
2) Honestly, feel free to stop reading my review here and check out the own-voice reviews here and here, because they touch on points that I would never have thought to criticize this work for (like the improper usage of a binder that seems to not have been well-researched at all on the author's part).
Something Like Gravity strikes me as the perfect example of why many (not ALL, but MANY) authors aren't capable of writing proper representation outside of their own lanes. What I thought was well-intended (if sometimes problematic) trans rep from a cis author is being called out by many own-voice reviewers as being very poor representation, and that hurts my heart, because I know there are own-voice books with trans representation that aren't getting the hype and marketing this book has received.
When I first finished the book, I gave it 4 stars because I had enjoyed it for the most part. Even to my misguided reading, there were some major issues I had (such as the trans character being outed without consent by another character spying on them while they changed clothes - I honestly almost DNFed the ARC at this point because it was so out of left field and infuriated me, but I kept going because I hoped it would be addressed fully later. Now I've come to realize that not only was it not handled well, but frankly, it shouldn't have happened at all, at least not without TWs for trans readers who could be immensely triggered by it). That said, I thought the characters were fairly likeable and I think Smith's prose is really lovely.
After reading multiple own-voice reviews, though, I've come to realize that there are a lot of issues with this book — but that's not the only reason I changed my rating. I finished this book about 2 months ago at the time I'm reviewing it, and it has been so immensely un-memorable that I literally forgot it was on my "RTC" shelf until earlier today. When I sat down to review it, I struggled to even remember what had happened because, in hindsight, these characters and this romance are bland. Maia is low-key awful, Chris' entire personality revolves around 10% PTSD, 90% running (and there are some comments made about Chris' views of his own body that are a struggle), the plot is mostly non-existent, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about any of the side characters if my life depended on it.
All in all, this was a mediocre book made worse by poorly-researched representation. I definitely want to try more of Amber Smith's work because, like I said, her narrative voice itself is really nice and I've heard many people say her plots and characters are usually a lot better than this. But... yeah, this one didn't do anyone any favors.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!