howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

Archival Quality is an interesting and somewhat dark story about a young woman who becomes the overnight archivist librarian for an asylum-turned-library, where dreams of a strange and tortured young woman lead her on a chase for answers and a way to offer reprieve to a broken, lost spirit haunting the library.

The art style in this graphic novel isn't my favorite, but it's made up for by how much I enjoyed the plot and how easily I could relate to Cel. Celeste is struggling tremendously with her mental health, but she's afraid of seeking help, despite the fact that her illnesses cause her to lash out, react irrationally, and panic over everyday situations. There's a panel in the book where she gets angry at her boyfriend and then breaks down crying and saying she doesn't understand why she's angry and she's just tired of feeling this way, and wow, did I feel that.

I definitely think the main plot of the story isn't the ghost or the mystery, but is Cel's struggles with her own mental health and the journey she embarks upon to find her way to therapy and seeking help, so I wouldn't recommend going into this expecting any sort of scary, in-depth ghost story—but if you can relate to that feeling of having no control over your mental health and being unsure of where to go for help, I think Cel's story might resonate with you, too.

Thank you so much to Oni Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#1 Binti ★★★★★
#2 Home ★★★★☆
#3 The Night Masquerade ★★★☆☆
#1-3 Complete Trilogy Edition ★★★★☆

They say that when faced with a fight you cannot win, you can never predict what you will do next. But I'd always known I'd fight until I was killed.

I've been meaning to pick up these novellas for ages, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to review the entire trilogy now that it's been released in a bind-up. This is a series that starts off really strong—enough so that I'd say the first book, Binti, is one of the most enjoyable novellas I've ever read, as well as one of my favorite adult sci-fi reads ever.

While the first novella lacks a bit in world-building, it more than makes up for that absence with character development. I loved Binti as a character and really treasured her thirst for knowledge and her bravery despite all of the immense obstacles trying to hold her back from her future. Okwu, on the other hand, I had mixed feelings about at first, but quickly came to treasure as a character despite the rocky nature of their meeting.

There was always so much I didn’t know, but not knowing was part of it all.

The thing about this series is that it can almost be hard to know who you want to root for, because everyone is flawed and history is muddled—which I found incredibly true-to-life for many circumstances, especially considering histories of wars and feds, so I appreciated that there were no "perfect" groups or characters in the equation.

Unfortunately, I'll admit that the series did become less enjoyable for me as time went on. The second novella, Home, was still a very fun read, but it became tougher for me to reason with the lack of world-building and the random info dumps; on the other hand, though, The Night Masquerade went too far in the opposite direction and gave me too much information and history with too little action and character development.

Even back then I had changed things, and I didn’t even know it. When I should have reveled in this gift, instead, I’d seen myself as broken. But couldn’t you be broken and still bring change?

Minor complaints aside, I wholeheartedly recommend this series. It's an incredibly quick trilogy to get through, there's a gorgeous portrayal of culture and how significant cultural history and rituals can be to people—especially to individuals who have a history of being oppressed, like Binti's people, the Himba—and, if you're a fan of audiobooks, I strongly recommend Robin Miles' delivery of these stories.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Pilu of the Woods is an MG fantasy graphic novel about a little girl named Willow who gets in a fight with her big sister and goes running off into the woods, where she meets Pilu, a forest spirit. As they adventure together, Willow is forced to come to terms with her "monsters"—the emotions that cause her to lash out at her loved ones or to think poorly of herself—and she must learn how to take care of those feelings and deal with them in a healthy way, without hurting her family.

I don't know if a graphic novel has ever given me quite as many Feels as Pilu did, but wow, this little story is incredible. Don't be turned off by its marketing as a middle grade story, because it is without a doubt the sort of tale that could be enjoyed by anyone of any age. The artwork is stunning and some of my favorite I've ever seen in a graphic novel, the plot is beautiful, and the characters are so lovable.

Even though the hard copies won't be out for a little while, I've already added the final edition to my shopping list to pick up later because it's so lovely and precious that I know I'll reread it again and again. Be warned, though: you should probably have tissues on hand, because the ending of this little graphic novel had me weeping the most bittersweet tears. ♥ Well done on crafting such a gorgeous little world, Mai!

Thank you so much to Oni Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I want to think that God smiles
when a black woman is brave enough
to love herself.

I don't say this lightly when I say that soft magic. is my favorite collection of poetry I have read in years. It is powerful, and brave, and loving, and comforting, and flawless. I want to paper my walls with every page of this collection. There's nothing I can even say that Upile Chisala couldn't say a million times better, so instead of reviewing this, I'm just going to leave you with a few of my favorite poems and let them speak for themselves:

Little boys with sunshine in their giggles are being
mistaken for men
Because their bodies were built like those
of warriors.

—

If no one has called you brave lately, I will.
You are fighting sadness with everything you've
got and for that you are mighty.

—

Beloved,
gather up all the hurt in your body
and tell it how you weren't meant for broken.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If there’s one thing in life Eden can count on, it’s her best friend, Bonnie—until Bonnie runs away with their music instructor, and everything gets thrown into a whirlwind of police interrogations, suspicion, and fear. The worst part is that Eden knows where Bonnie’s gone, but how can she betray her best friend?

If there’s anything I enjoy in the YA contemporary genre, it’s conflict—especially when the drama going down is something that real teens face, and especially when it’s a topic that authors aren’t often willing to tackle. A lot of authors could write a similar story and keep it black and white—girl’s best friend runs away, girl tells police, best friend is brought home, pedophilia is vilified, and that’s a wrap. That’s not Sara’s style at all.

→ L I K E S :

“Do you ever think about just… running away?”

The thing is, there are two huge obstacles to Bonnie’s coming home, and we’re reminded of them often: 1) Eden feels a duty to protect her best friend, because what 15-year-old doesn’t think they’ve got things figured out? and 2) Bonnie ran away with her teacher. She wasn’t taken kicking and screaming; she’s been groomed by this powerful, attractive, seemingly ‘caring’ figure in her life and he’s convinced her they have an entire life together. Bonnie doesn’t want to come home, so how can Eden force her to?

There’s blood, and then there’s family. They’re not always the same thing.

I really appreciated that Sara was willing to go there, without ever making it seem as though what was happening was anything less than awful. Her approach is incredibly refreshing and necessary in its honesty, which might be my favorite thing about her writing as a whole. On top of that, Eden is biracial (white/Brazilian), adopted, dyslexic, and struggles in school—all of this leading up to a phenomenal commentary regarding how different the media would be reacting to the entire situation if the girl in question weren’t a white, able-bodied, middle-class girl with perfect grades like Bonnie.

“I think that’s what love is. It’s caring about the person’s entire life, not just the bit with the two of you in it.”

Besides the genuine way she approached the topic at large, my other favorite thing about this whole story was Eden’s boyfriend, Connor. Sara writes the sweetest, softest boys as love interests and Connor is just so wholesome and precious and loving. I adored the fact that his steadiness contrasted so starkly against the ridiculousness of the situation Eden had been forced into; likewise, her adopted parents are flawed but mostly wonderful, and I loved the support system Eden had in place.

→ D I S L I K E S :

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed Goodbye, Perfect very much, it just wasn’t quite a home run for me! I’ve actually sat on this review for a few days in hopes of nailing down why it never hit 5-star status, and I’m still not sure, but I had the same issue with my other read of Sara’s, A Quiet Kind of Thunder. She writes lovely characters and plots, but something about the stories never fully “wows” me.

→ F I N A L THOUGHTS :

That aside, this is a quality contemporary read that I wholeheartedly recommend checking out for yourself. I know Sara Barnard is going to continue being an author I reach for time and time again because I trust her to craft really enjoyable stories that perfectly straddle the line between heavy and comforting, and I can’t wait for my next read of hers!

→ RECOMMENDING TO… :

I’d recommend this, and any of Sara’s other works, to anyone who enjoys YA contemporary releases and is looking for a healthy mix of conflict and fluff.

Content warnings for pedophilia, grooming, mentions of child pornography, abduction

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Simon Pulse for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The bad news is you can only heal yourself.
The good news is you can only heal yourself.

Child of the Moon is a poetry collection and a story—a tale of abuse, healing, survival, colonialism, immigration, self-loathing, feminism, pride, and finding everything we need within ourselves (with a little help from the moon, of course).

Trauma robbed me of my potential.
May all my pain turn into healing so the women who come after me don't have to carry it
and can live their potential.

Semaan's writing style isn't my favorite—far from it, to be honest—but the messages being portrayed in this collection are so powerful, and important, and beautiful. My heart ached for her throughout the entire thing, and I feel grateful to have been allowed this glimpse into the author's life.

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

For all the badasses reluctant to show their soft side—you are not alone.

Unfollowing You is a story of a "situationship" (because, let's be honest, judging from the text, it never really reached full "relationship" status) going wrong. It starts off cheesy, but with promise, but sadly, goes downhill very quickly in quality and the poetry becomes off-putting, childish, repetitive, and unrefined.

Time with you now feels
like a trip to Taco Bell;
great in the moment
regretful the next day.

Yup... that's a direct quote.

I was still going to give this 2.5 stars until I reached the end and there was an advertisement for Bumble thrown in the mix. (Bumble is a dating/meet-up site.) I don't mean it was casually mentioned, I mean that it was literally spouted off like an advertisement—"You should leave Tinder and move to Bumble!"—complete with an incredibly corny tagline, one of those "Give love a try!" sort of motivational moments. It's a mess. I honestly can't help but suspect that the entire collection was written for the sole purpose of promoting this dating site now.

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Content warnings for miscarriage, loss of child, infertility, depression

Based on the author's personal experiences with her partner, Waves follows a couple trying to have a baby, and the ways they are forced to find healing afterwards.

I don't know what I was thinking requesting an eARC of this graphic novel.

It was beautiful, and tragic, and so honest, and well-done... and one of the most miserable things I've ever read. I couldn't stop sobbing. Waves is brutal and, despite how great of a graphic novel it is, I wouldn't even know who to recommend this to because it's so sad. That said, it easily deserves the 5-star rating I'm giving it. I especially loved the snippets with the woman in the boat, and the way her progress paralleled with her healing journey.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hug my little rainbow baby and cry some more. I genuinely hope that Ingrid Chabbert and her partner have found peace and healing. ♥

Thank you so much to BOOM! Studios for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In theory, this sounded like it was going to be hilarious. An author who got bored enough to start posting ridiculously absurd "help wanted" ads on the internet and publishing the email conversations that ensued? It reminded me of a nonfic/humor collection I've loved before, so I honestly thought this was going to be a big hit—and it is! At first.

It starts off pretty funny, if a bit tedious—I definitely found myself skimming some of the stories because I was just getting bored of the constant repetitive nature of the messages (not that the emails are similar, but that each specific "incident"'s conversation would have a lot of messages where the author repeated themselves). After a while, though, I began to notice a theme with some of the email conversations: many of the people responding to the ads really needed the money and were willing to do anything to get it.

Maybe this is just my own personal issue, but once that "clicked" for me, it was impossible to view this author as anything other than a raging jerk because, I mean, imagine someone offering you hundreds of dollars to do some weird but feasible thing when you really need to get your rent paid or buy your kids groceries, and then after days of having your hopes up, they tell you it was all a joke so they could make money off of this book. I dunno, y'all, I'm a mom and I'd do anything to keep my kid fed and safe and I'd probably come after somebody over this shit if I had been forced into a desperate enough spot to respond to Mahon's ads.

I dunno, I'm being a spoilsport and I know it, but this kind of sucked and I have no respect for the author.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm so disappointed in this book, and I'm not even sure if it's fair for me to be this disappointed, but here we are. I love cryptid stories and literally spent countless late nights as a kid/teen (okay, who am I kidding, I'm 26 and it still happens frequently) digging through cryptid forums and sites and blog posts, devouring any stories I could find. Even if the stories took place thousands of miles away from me, it didn't stop me from loving them (though my favorites, of course, are the ones that took place in my home state of Georgia or surrounding states).

All of that said, as you can imagine, I was super excited to read this, but it wasn't what I expected at all. It's broken up by states, which was a cool formatting, but each state only has an illustration of one of its cryptids, and... honestly, I'm not convinced some of those illustrations weren't traced over old Neopets designs. Sorry.

Artwork aside, instead of giving history on established cryptids that a lot of people actually believe in, most of these were nonsense (one of the Georgia cryptids' sections claims that it's a widely held belief in this particular area, and having lived very near that region as a kid and knowing a ton of people from the town? No, it's not). Half of the stories given were basically just like, "This ONE PERSON in *insert year* claimed they saw this and now everyone believes it!" and, frankly, that's not how cryptid stories work from my experience. Maybe Offutt's circles run a little differently, but ask anyone in mine, and we'll all agree that a cryptid story isn't fun until there are enough corroborating stories to make it plausible.

Sigh. I didn't mean for this review to become a rant. I'm sure the author is a great person who thought they'd write something really fun and kooky, but the delivery wasn't there for me at all.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!