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howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)
DNF @ 60%
I loved the diversity in this story, but the writing wasn’t for me. Maybe if it was a full book and had time for more explanations of the world and events, but as it stands, there’s too much info crammed into too small of a space for me to connect with it.
I loved the diversity in this story, but the writing wasn’t for me. Maybe if it was a full book and had time for more explanations of the world and events, but as it stands, there’s too much info crammed into too small of a space for me to connect with it.
You can find this review and more on my blog!
Much like the first book in this poetry series, Amanda writes about feminism with a pleasantly surprising level of intersectionality and care; she touches on topics like transphobia, menstruation, rape culture, body-shaming, eating disorders, romanticization of abuse, and more. Her thoroughness is the reason I keep coming back to her writing - as well as her unapologetic nature when it comes to tackling rape and abuse culture in particular.
That said, I struggled with the same problems I saw in her first book:
1) Repetition - much of the poetry in this book feels and sounds so much like the first book, or like other poems within the same collection. I feel like I read the same phrasing a few too many times, though I won't count off for this one as it'd probably be less noticeable if you didn't read every poem back-to-back like I did.
2) Her writing - something about her writing voice reminds me very much of the poetry I wrote on MySpace as a teenager, and not in a good way. If it was occasional, it would be a really enjoyable, nostalgic touch, but since it's almost every single poem, it begins to feel very dated.
3) Inspirations used - there were three or four pieces in this book that felt like that had been lifted almost verbatim from inspirational quote images and tumblr posts I've been seeing float around the internet for years. It would be one thing if it was vague wording or base paraphrasing, but some of the imagery painted is just too on-the-nose to ignore. It gave me a weird feeling of deja vu throughout several pieces.
Despite the issues I felt, the content is important. We need more feminist pieces. We need more rants about rape culture, abuse, transphobia, misogyny, and body shaming. I will forever applaud Amanda for taking the steps that she does to promote intersectional feminism through her work, and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetry of its kind. While I will probably not pick up her future works, as I think this book made me accept that her writing is not my cup of tea, I would still encourage you to give this book a try.
Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
#1: The Princess Saves Herself in this One ★★★★☆
#2: The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One ★★★☆☆
#3: The Mermaid's Voice Returns in this One ★★★★☆
i didn't come here
to be civil.
i didn't come here
to sit you down
with a mug of tea
& a blueberry muffin
to coddle you as
i try to convince you
that respecting
my existence is essential.
Much like the first book in this poetry series, Amanda writes about feminism with a pleasantly surprising level of intersectionality and care; she touches on topics like transphobia, menstruation, rape culture, body-shaming, eating disorders, romanticization of abuse, and more. Her thoroughness is the reason I keep coming back to her writing - as well as her unapologetic nature when it comes to tackling rape and abuse culture in particular.
That said, I struggled with the same problems I saw in her first book:
1) Repetition - much of the poetry in this book feels and sounds so much like the first book, or like other poems within the same collection. I feel like I read the same phrasing a few too many times, though I won't count off for this one as it'd probably be less noticeable if you didn't read every poem back-to-back like I did.
2) Her writing - something about her writing voice reminds me very much of the poetry I wrote on MySpace as a teenager, and not in a good way. If it was occasional, it would be a really enjoyable, nostalgic touch, but since it's almost every single poem, it begins to feel very dated.
3) Inspirations used - there were three or four pieces in this book that felt like that had been lifted almost verbatim from inspirational quote images and tumblr posts I've been seeing float around the internet for years. It would be one thing if it was vague wording or base paraphrasing, but some of the imagery painted is just too on-the-nose to ignore. It gave me a weird feeling of deja vu throughout several pieces.
Despite the issues I felt, the content is important. We need more feminist pieces. We need more rants about rape culture, abuse, transphobia, misogyny, and body shaming. I will forever applaud Amanda for taking the steps that she does to promote intersectional feminism through her work, and would recommend this to anyone who enjoys poetry of its kind. While I will probably not pick up her future works, as I think this book made me accept that her writing is not my cup of tea, I would still encourage you to give this book a try.
Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
As someone who has struggled most of my life with disordered eating, I am a total sucker for contemporaries about EDs. They can be triggering when done poorly, but when done well, these books can be incredibly cathartic for me, so when I read the synopsis on this book, I knew it was right up my alley.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This book offers an incredibly realistic view of EDs. It starts off by explaining how people suffering from anorexia can develop lanugo, a downy coating of hair on their body, and I was hooked from that moment because it told me that Ballard was willing to face the side of EDs that most authors won't touch, or don't know about. It continues to tackle anorexia and other EDs in a very straightforward and honest method, which I appreciated SO much.
The narrator is likable, and her thought processes made sense to me. I was able to relate to her, and I liked that she didn't insist on shutting everyone out and being a stereotypical "mean girl" MC like we see so often in books about ED treatment.
The side characters are complex and enjoyable, and I felt real, legitimate empathy for some of them. On the other hand, Elizabeth's mother is awful but pitiable, and I found myself conflicted on my feelings for her (in a good way!); on the one hand, she was horrible to her daughter, but on the other hand, she was struggling as well, and I couldn't discount that.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
The secret admirer plot felt like an afterthought, because even though it's mentioned in the synopsis, I didn't feel like it was really the forefront of the story? I also gathered that it was supposed to feel like this big puzzle with a surprise ending, but it really just wasn't fleshed out enough for me to care very strongly about it, so I didn't feel much of anything either way when the big reveal happened.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
All in all, this book wasn't the most extraordinary YA contemporary I'd ever picked up, but it was my favorite ED-related book that I've read, so 4/5 stars feels like a really fair rating to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA contemporaries about tough topics like EDs and mental illness, but I would warn caution to anyone who may be triggered by in-depth conversations regarding disordered eating, body dysmorphia, parental verbal abuse, or mental illness.
Thank you so much to Alexandra Ballard and the lovely folks at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC! My thoughts in this review are entirely my own.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This book offers an incredibly realistic view of EDs. It starts off by explaining how people suffering from anorexia can develop lanugo, a downy coating of hair on their body, and I was hooked from that moment because it told me that Ballard was willing to face the side of EDs that most authors won't touch, or don't know about. It continues to tackle anorexia and other EDs in a very straightforward and honest method, which I appreciated SO much.
The narrator is likable, and her thought processes made sense to me. I was able to relate to her, and I liked that she didn't insist on shutting everyone out and being a stereotypical "mean girl" MC like we see so often in books about ED treatment.
The side characters are complex and enjoyable, and I felt real, legitimate empathy for some of them. On the other hand, Elizabeth's mother is awful but pitiable, and I found myself conflicted on my feelings for her (in a good way!); on the one hand, she was horrible to her daughter, but on the other hand, she was struggling as well, and I couldn't discount that.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
The secret admirer plot felt like an afterthought, because even though it's mentioned in the synopsis, I didn't feel like it was really the forefront of the story? I also gathered that it was supposed to feel like this big puzzle with a surprise ending, but it really just wasn't fleshed out enough for me to care very strongly about it, so I didn't feel much of anything either way when the big reveal happened.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
All in all, this book wasn't the most extraordinary YA contemporary I'd ever picked up, but it was my favorite ED-related book that I've read, so 4/5 stars feels like a really fair rating to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA contemporaries about tough topics like EDs and mental illness, but I would warn caution to anyone who may be triggered by in-depth conversations regarding disordered eating, body dysmorphia, parental verbal abuse, or mental illness.
Thank you so much to Alexandra Ballard and the lovely folks at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC! My thoughts in this review are entirely my own.
“Where does seeking justice end and seeking vengeance begin?”
I really enjoy books that offer a unique social commentary, especially when it’s relevant to modern times, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. It touches on cyber-bullying, the social media jury phenomenon, and more, as well as some ever-relevant morals, such as honesty and trust.
PLOT ➳➳
When Genevieve wakes up in a hospital, she’s told she’s been in a coma for a week – a coma caused by the car crash that killed her youtube sensation boyfriend, Dallas. A car crash that she was driving in. The journalists and reporters are all saying that the head-on collision is to blame on the other driver: Brad Freeman, a man who’s already got at least one drunk driving charge under his belt. This prior blame, coupled with Dallas’ rise to stardom briefly before his demise, leads the internet into a frenzy. Social media sites everywhere are full of comment threads of users wishing death upon Brad and his family, with the majority fully convinced that he must have been another reckless drunk driver, taking the life of poor, innocent Dallas.
The problem is, Gen is the only one who can testify for or against Brad… and she doesn’t remember the night of the accident, but something in her gut tells her that things aren’t what they seem.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This was my first Paula Stokes book, and I really enjoyed her writing voice! Her style makes for a quick and easy read without being mediocre, and there was constantly this underlying theme that she was proving more than one important point to her readers, which I liked. Obviously, not every story needs a moral, but this book has them, and portrays them well.
I also found Gen to be a really solid, likeable MC. She’s made mistakes, and while some of them have been traumatic, it’s always clear that she’s not a “bad person”; the mistakes she’s made were things that anyone could do if they’re not being cautious or thinking carefully, which drives the point home that much further.
I also really loved the fact that we’re shown this perspective of her relationship with Dallas that easily explains how she can be interested in a new guy not long after his death; despite her own concerns that people will judge her for moving on too fast, I never felt like the progression was rushed or unnatural. Plus, the love interest in this book is a real catch, and his gay dads are so adorable you can’t help but love the entire little family.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
I actually don’t think there was much of anything I outright disliked about this book; it’s more than it wasn’t anything mind-blowing, so I couldn’t quite justify 5 stars. I don’t think that this book is the kind of story that will stick with me for long, because I didn’t just love it. I actually found it just a little bit difficult to relate to Gen and Dallas, with the whole brilliant-girl-genius and overnight-youtube-music-sensation vibe. Plus, both of Gen’s parents are surgeons and her step-mom is a boss at this fancy government park, so everything felt very… upper class and a little bit unapproachable, if that makes sense.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
All in all, is this the kind of book that will stay with me for a long time to come? Probably not. Is this the kind of book that I might reread in the future? Debatable. Would I pick up other titles from Paula later on, though? Absolutely! I think she’s got a whole well full of potential and I can’t wait to see where she takes it.
Thank you so much to Paula Stokes and the lovely folks at HarperTeen for this ARC! All opinions expressed here are my own.
You can also find this review on my blog!
I really enjoy books that offer a unique social commentary, especially when it’s relevant to modern times, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. It touches on cyber-bullying, the social media jury phenomenon, and more, as well as some ever-relevant morals, such as honesty and trust.
PLOT ➳➳
When Genevieve wakes up in a hospital, she’s told she’s been in a coma for a week – a coma caused by the car crash that killed her youtube sensation boyfriend, Dallas. A car crash that she was driving in. The journalists and reporters are all saying that the head-on collision is to blame on the other driver: Brad Freeman, a man who’s already got at least one drunk driving charge under his belt. This prior blame, coupled with Dallas’ rise to stardom briefly before his demise, leads the internet into a frenzy. Social media sites everywhere are full of comment threads of users wishing death upon Brad and his family, with the majority fully convinced that he must have been another reckless drunk driver, taking the life of poor, innocent Dallas.
The problem is, Gen is the only one who can testify for or against Brad… and she doesn’t remember the night of the accident, but something in her gut tells her that things aren’t what they seem.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
This was my first Paula Stokes book, and I really enjoyed her writing voice! Her style makes for a quick and easy read without being mediocre, and there was constantly this underlying theme that she was proving more than one important point to her readers, which I liked. Obviously, not every story needs a moral, but this book has them, and portrays them well.
I also found Gen to be a really solid, likeable MC. She’s made mistakes, and while some of them have been traumatic, it’s always clear that she’s not a “bad person”; the mistakes she’s made were things that anyone could do if they’re not being cautious or thinking carefully, which drives the point home that much further.
I also really loved the fact that we’re shown this perspective of her relationship with Dallas that easily explains how she can be interested in a new guy not long after his death; despite her own concerns that people will judge her for moving on too fast, I never felt like the progression was rushed or unnatural. Plus, the love interest in this book is a real catch, and his gay dads are so adorable you can’t help but love the entire little family.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
I actually don’t think there was much of anything I outright disliked about this book; it’s more than it wasn’t anything mind-blowing, so I couldn’t quite justify 5 stars. I don’t think that this book is the kind of story that will stick with me for long, because I didn’t just love it. I actually found it just a little bit difficult to relate to Gen and Dallas, with the whole brilliant-girl-genius and overnight-youtube-music-sensation vibe. Plus, both of Gen’s parents are surgeons and her step-mom is a boss at this fancy government park, so everything felt very… upper class and a little bit unapproachable, if that makes sense.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
All in all, is this the kind of book that will stay with me for a long time to come? Probably not. Is this the kind of book that I might reread in the future? Debatable. Would I pick up other titles from Paula later on, though? Absolutely! I think she’s got a whole well full of potential and I can’t wait to see where she takes it.
Thank you so much to Paula Stokes and the lovely folks at HarperTeen for this ARC! All opinions expressed here are my own.
You can also find this review on my blog!
#1 And I Darken ★★★★★
#2 Now I Rise ★★★★★
#3 Bright We Burn ★★★☆☆
They had nothing better, nowhere else to go. They were loyal to her, and to the hope that perhaps she would find them a place in the world.
FIVE. FREAKING. STARS. Now I Rise is non-stop action, death, war, betrayal, and general bad-assery from Lada. She was built into this amazing, fierce little creature in the first book, but her leadership qualities as well as her dedication to Wallachia really shine in this one.
PLOT ➳➳
After leaving Mehmed's side to carve out her own path to the throne of Wallachia, Lada Dracul finds herself without allies, assistance, or power to speak of, besides the loyalty of her men. When she finds that Mehmed has not been entirely honest or beneficial to her cause, Lada's rage encourages her to finally embrace the cruelty of her nature and to seek out the throne via any means necessary.
Meanwhile, Radu helps Mehmed plot to overtake Constantinople, but the waters become muddied when Radu is sent into the city as a spy and begins to second-guess his own motives as well as the sultan's. Will Radu's love for his childhood friend be enough, or must he, too, find his own way?
LADA ➳➳
"Why must I always be a man's servant? If anything, I should be partners with the devil, not his servant."
She's incredible. I honestly just couldn't help but grin at so many of her remarks and witticisms throughout the book, and I love every second of how devoted her men are to her. She so blatantly refuses to be held down by any man. When it is brought to her attention that her ideals for her people are so vastly different from the plans of the men currently in power, rather than adjust her scheming, she just starts taking what she feels is rightfully hers. She is brutal, wicked, at times shameful, but overall... there's just such solid character development. I could wax on for hours about how much I love Lada Dracul.
RADU ➳➳
Much like in the first book, the chapters alternate viewpoints between Lada and her brother, Radu. Let me preface what I'm about to say with one fact: I loved Radu in the bulk of the first book. I thought he was sweet, kind, charismatic, and just an altogether really likable protagonist. After reading this book, however... I can't go into much detail without spoiling massive plot lines, so all I will tell you is that Radu's opinions of Mehmed are so high that it leads him into some very unsavory situations.
That said, Radu is not a bad character. He's infuriating at times, but he's also complex, well-written, dedicated, and loyal to a fault. Despite how much some of his decisions made me want to scream (one of his choices did make me actually slam the book shut), I still loved seeing things through his eyes, and watching him interact with the world around him. I'd love to shout a gigantic "THANK YOU!" to Kiersten for having perfected the task of writing a character that I can absolutely rage at, yet thoroughly love at the same time.
WORLD BUILDING ➳➳
Beyond Lada and Radu themselves, there is such a wonderful and rich cast of characters in this book; we don't meet many new people, but we get to spend a lot more time with some of the lesser characters from And I Darken, and there are some beautiful developments that take place. The politics are still heavy, but not as overwhelming as I found them to be at times in the first book. Kiersten did such a great job of building the world in the first book, that she had to spend very little time expanding upon it in this book, which is a big portion of why I loved this so much more than the first one.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
All in all, this book was absolutely incredible and has solidified The Conqueror's Saga as my favorite historical fiction of all time, as well as one of my top series picks. I can't wait for the final release in this series, and to see where Lada and Radu's adventures will bring them in the end. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, heavy politics, plenty of violence, and enough back-stabbing and conniving to last you for ages.
Thank you so much to Kiersten White and the lovely folks at Delacorte Press for sending me an ARC of this book! My opinions in this review are entirely my own.
“But that was before I’d met a human: before I’d seen the depth, intelligence, even empathy, in Ragna’s eyes; before I knew that humans spoke the godstongue and smiled like starfish.”
First of all, we've got a chubby, bisexual cross between the little mermaid and Ursula, who falls in love with a badass lesbian viking, and has to face down the tricks and scheming of a gender-queer Loki (proper "they" pronouns and all). Julia Ember can just keep on keepin' on with this awesomeness, because I lived for the rep and diversity in this book!
The plot itself was never anything particularly mind-blowing, nor were the world-building or character development. I wished there was more back story to go off of in a few spots, too (such as in the case of Ersel's relationship with Havamal, which sometimes felt like it was more of a prop than a legitimate plot point). Ersel is a really delightful character, albeit simple. She felt very one-dimensional to me at times. She's a genuinely good character who wants to do the right thing and take care of the people she cares for. Her "goodness" was even frustrating at times, because she seemed to view things in such a black-and-white manner that I had to roll my eyes at a few of the remarks she made and assumptions she jumped to.
I also was mildly annoyed with her behavior towards Loki; she was fully aware that Loki is the god of tricks and lies, yet she was somehow shocked and dismayed at Loki's trickery? Even when Loki eventually did good things for her (that I won't divulge, due to spoilers and all that), she refused to give the god any credit, and I kept thinking, "Is spitting in the face of a god really a smart move?" and kind of expecting her to get the crap slapped out of her for doing it. I dunno, suspension of disbelief and all that.
Ragna is a pretty awesome character, or so we're told, but again, there just wasn't a ton of character development to prove it. We really don't see a lot of Ragna, and when she is "on screen", so to speak, we're mostly just stuck listening to Ersel think to herself about how much she likes her, or how intrigued she is. This was the biggest point in the book that I would use as an example for why I would say that this book would have benefited tremendously from a lot less internal monologue, and a lot more actions and external dialogue.
As far as other characters go, they were all pretty "meh". Honestly, I think my favorite side characters were the beluga whales, who, coincidentally, received more development and attention than any other side characters in the book, I think (no, I'm not joking, and I'm also not really complaining, because come on, BELUGA WHALES? They're adorable!).
Despite the fact that it may sound like I have a bunch of complaints about this book, they're all honestly fairly minor. All in all, I really did enjoy this story a lot. I went into it expecting some LGBT retelling of the Disney version of the story, but instead was greeted with something that was much more true to the original Anderson tale, with a healthy dose of Nordic mythology that was so enjoyable. I always love reading about mythology, and the Norse gods in particular seem to be neglected in most of the fiction that I read, so that was refreshing! It was an easy, short read (I finished it in a day), and left me with that warm, fuzzy feeling of a fully satisfying ending.
The single biggest "pro" for this book, for me, wasn't even the bi rep (though that was close!)... it was the fact that this book heartily addressed the outdated societal expectations of women to become mothers at all costs. I loved the fact that Julia was willing to tackle that topic head-on by breaking it down to its smallest pieces: some women do not want to be mothers, and that does not make them broken, or incomplete, or "less than". It simply means that their wants are different from what society primarily expects of them, and that is more than okay. Ersel doesn't want to be shoved in a hole to spend the rest of her life breeding, and says more than once that she may never want any children at all. She is judged and chastised for her wishes, and even faces the very real fear that she may be forced into motherhood against her will. I saw so many of my dearest friends in Ersel's thoughts on the matter, and my heart ached for any woman who has suffered through similar problems, so I would call this a potential trigger warning for anyone who's been through that pain.
At the end of the day, I would be more than willing to read future endeavors from Julia. I think once she nails down the whole character development aspect a little further, she's going to knock my socks off. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good LGBTQ+ story or retelling, or is just looking for a nice, heartwarming story to read.
Thank you so much to Julia's publicist for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
First of all, we've got a chubby, bisexual cross between the little mermaid and Ursula, who falls in love with a badass lesbian viking, and has to face down the tricks and scheming of a gender-queer Loki (proper "they" pronouns and all). Julia Ember can just keep on keepin' on with this awesomeness, because I lived for the rep and diversity in this book!
The plot itself was never anything particularly mind-blowing, nor were the world-building or character development. I wished there was more back story to go off of in a few spots, too (such as in the case of Ersel's relationship with Havamal, which sometimes felt like it was more of a prop than a legitimate plot point). Ersel is a really delightful character, albeit simple. She felt very one-dimensional to me at times. She's a genuinely good character who wants to do the right thing and take care of the people she cares for. Her "goodness" was even frustrating at times, because she seemed to view things in such a black-and-white manner that I had to roll my eyes at a few of the remarks she made and assumptions she jumped to.
I also was mildly annoyed with her behavior towards Loki; she was fully aware that Loki is the god of tricks and lies, yet she was somehow shocked and dismayed at Loki's trickery? Even when Loki eventually did good things for her (that I won't divulge, due to spoilers and all that), she refused to give the god any credit, and I kept thinking, "Is spitting in the face of a god really a smart move?" and kind of expecting her to get the crap slapped out of her for doing it. I dunno, suspension of disbelief and all that.
Ragna is a pretty awesome character, or so we're told, but again, there just wasn't a ton of character development to prove it. We really don't see a lot of Ragna, and when she is "on screen", so to speak, we're mostly just stuck listening to Ersel think to herself about how much she likes her, or how intrigued she is. This was the biggest point in the book that I would use as an example for why I would say that this book would have benefited tremendously from a lot less internal monologue, and a lot more actions and external dialogue.
As far as other characters go, they were all pretty "meh". Honestly, I think my favorite side characters were the beluga whales, who, coincidentally, received more development and attention than any other side characters in the book, I think (no, I'm not joking, and I'm also not really complaining, because come on, BELUGA WHALES? They're adorable!).
Despite the fact that it may sound like I have a bunch of complaints about this book, they're all honestly fairly minor. All in all, I really did enjoy this story a lot. I went into it expecting some LGBT retelling of the Disney version of the story, but instead was greeted with something that was much more true to the original Anderson tale, with a healthy dose of Nordic mythology that was so enjoyable. I always love reading about mythology, and the Norse gods in particular seem to be neglected in most of the fiction that I read, so that was refreshing! It was an easy, short read (I finished it in a day), and left me with that warm, fuzzy feeling of a fully satisfying ending.
The single biggest "pro" for this book, for me, wasn't even the bi rep (though that was close!)... it was the fact that this book heartily addressed the outdated societal expectations of women to become mothers at all costs. I loved the fact that Julia was willing to tackle that topic head-on by breaking it down to its smallest pieces: some women do not want to be mothers, and that does not make them broken, or incomplete, or "less than". It simply means that their wants are different from what society primarily expects of them, and that is more than okay. Ersel doesn't want to be shoved in a hole to spend the rest of her life breeding, and says more than once that she may never want any children at all. She is judged and chastised for her wishes, and even faces the very real fear that she may be forced into motherhood against her will. I saw so many of my dearest friends in Ersel's thoughts on the matter, and my heart ached for any woman who has suffered through similar problems, so I would call this a potential trigger warning for anyone who's been through that pain.
At the end of the day, I would be more than willing to read future endeavors from Julia. I think once she nails down the whole character development aspect a little further, she's going to knock my socks off. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good LGBTQ+ story or retelling, or is just looking for a nice, heartwarming story to read.
Thank you so much to Julia's publicist for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
"You don't know what's going on inside of someone, really. There's a hidden universe in there... full of secret stars."
In this issue of Doom Patrol, Gerard Way puts his own unique spin on a classic set of characters. While you may recognize the cast, everyone can find something brand new to love in the beautiful, bold artwork and zany dialogue of Brick by Brick.
---
The afterword of this graphic novel summed up so many of my thoughts regarding the book. Gerard wrote, “We want you to feel like it’s 3am and you have no idea what’s going on, but somehow you do,” and that is such a fantastic fucking way to phrase how I felt throughout the entirety of this comic book. I wasn’t raised on comics much (because I didn’t have a lot of access to them or exposure), so this was my very first taste of Doom Patrol. I’ll be upfront with you guys: I requested this ARC on NetGalley primarily because I have never outgrown my absolute adoration for My Chemical Romance or Gerard Way as an individual, and when I saw his name on it, I had to have it. That said… I thoroughly enjoyed this comic book.
The characters are absolutely brilliant. I wanted most of them to be real just so I could befriend them all, because they’re so clever and enjoyable. The dialogue is fun, and I’m certain it will bring a smile to your face, though more than once, it made me pause and think for a moment, too (as with the quote I used at the top of this review). The artwork is glorious, and colorful, and vibrant, and everything that I want in a graphic novel.
Overall, though, I’m going to have to agree with the thoughts I’ve seen from a lot of reviewers, as well as the reviewer that Gerard himself quoted in his afterword: I can’t review this story. It isn’t that I didn’t love it – because I did – and it isn’t that I was confused by it – because I wasn’t (not by the end, at least). It’s just that this comic is such an experience. Like any other roller coaster ride, someone could tell you about it all day long, but you’d never fully understand the delight of it until you strap yourself in.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys Doom Patrol, DC comics, or just a damn good story. I can’t wait to see what else Gerard has in store for the world.
In this issue of Doom Patrol, Gerard Way puts his own unique spin on a classic set of characters. While you may recognize the cast, everyone can find something brand new to love in the beautiful, bold artwork and zany dialogue of Brick by Brick.
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The afterword of this graphic novel summed up so many of my thoughts regarding the book. Gerard wrote, “We want you to feel like it’s 3am and you have no idea what’s going on, but somehow you do,” and that is such a fantastic fucking way to phrase how I felt throughout the entirety of this comic book. I wasn’t raised on comics much (because I didn’t have a lot of access to them or exposure), so this was my very first taste of Doom Patrol. I’ll be upfront with you guys: I requested this ARC on NetGalley primarily because I have never outgrown my absolute adoration for My Chemical Romance or Gerard Way as an individual, and when I saw his name on it, I had to have it. That said… I thoroughly enjoyed this comic book.
The characters are absolutely brilliant. I wanted most of them to be real just so I could befriend them all, because they’re so clever and enjoyable. The dialogue is fun, and I’m certain it will bring a smile to your face, though more than once, it made me pause and think for a moment, too (as with the quote I used at the top of this review). The artwork is glorious, and colorful, and vibrant, and everything that I want in a graphic novel.
Overall, though, I’m going to have to agree with the thoughts I’ve seen from a lot of reviewers, as well as the reviewer that Gerard himself quoted in his afterword: I can’t review this story. It isn’t that I didn’t love it – because I did – and it isn’t that I was confused by it – because I wasn’t (not by the end, at least). It’s just that this comic is such an experience. Like any other roller coaster ride, someone could tell you about it all day long, but you’d never fully understand the delight of it until you strap yourself in.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys Doom Patrol, DC comics, or just a damn good story. I can’t wait to see what else Gerard has in store for the world.
There are some unmarked spoilers, but it's not really the kind of book where anything is a "twist", so... continue at your own discretion?
I honestly tried to salvage my thoughts into something USEFUL, but this review would be better described as a rant. If you're the type of GR user who loves salty tangents, please keep reading.
PLOT ➳➳
It's the summer before Anise's senior year, and she's got to make this summer count: she's going to spend every waking moment catching waves, spending time with her very best friends, and planning the annual Surf Break event that draws tourists from all around to Santa Cruz to watch great surf and even better bands. It's going to be a summer to remember... until Anise's aunt Jackie is hospitalized due to an accident, and her father is dragging her out to Nebraska to take care of her young cousins. For the entire summer. How can Anise survive a summer without her unofficial family, the salt water, and the childhood BFF who's suddenly catching her eye?
WRITING ➳➳
This book was an incredibly quick and easy read, but that isn't necessarily a compliment in this review. Maybe I've become jaded by the amounts of fantasy I've been reading lately, but this just feels so overly casual. The banter feels incredibly forced at times, like there's just this really concerted effort to convince the reader that this is just a couple of teenagers chatting with each other, but it didn't come across well at all for me. There's so much filler material in the dialogue!
ANISE ➳➳
There are honestly so many things I could say about how much I hated Anise's character, but I'll just stick to a few main points. Still... buckle up, y'all.
• She’s incredibly self-centered and rude. She spends the majority of the book moping about one thing or another, whether it’s having to take care of her cousins, having to help her aunt, staying in the house her mother grew up in, being away from the beach, skateboarding… I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt for the first 30% or so of the book, and kept chalking it up to, “she’s just being written as a melodramatic teen!” but this was honestly too much.
• She refuses to believe that anything on the planet could hold a candle to her beloved surfing. She literally goes on multiple inner and outer tangents about how pathetic every sport is compared to surfing, and how surfing is soooo much harder than everything anyone else does… until she tries skateboarding, which just leads her to complain about how hard skateboarding is, and how lame it is… until she magically is a pro skateboarder after SEVEN DAYS of practice, and then overnight, it becomes the most amazing thing ever and she’s a born-again evangelist of the religion of the Almighty Skate Park.
• She literally kisses her LIFELONG BEST FRIEND right before she leaves, knowing she’s about to leave, and then within five minutes of meeting Lincoln, it’s like, “who the hell is Eric?” and she stops responding to any of his messages or even making any attempt at all to salvage their friendship?
• Actually, on that note, she bails on ALL of her friends and manages to completely alienate every last one of them. Of course, by the end, everyone has forgiven her and pretends nothing happened (including Eric, who, you know, spent the entire summer waiting for her to come back so they could resume their budding relationship but lol NOPE she’s ~in love~ with Lincoln!).
• Despite her insistence that Lincoln is basically The Greatest Dude Ever, she treats him like complete garbage. He tries to cheer her cousins up? She yells at him. He offers to spend his money to drive her to Santa Cruz in time for Surf Break? She spends the entire trip sulking and moping and treating him like garbage. He goes to Surf Break and tries to hang out with her friends? She gets wasted and ditches him for the entire evening. LINCOLN, RUN. JUST RUN.
Sorry... I had a lot of feelings about her.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
Lincoln and Tess are enjoyable characters. They're both really sweet and way more patient than Anise has ever deserved for a moment in her life, thank you very much. Anise's dad is also a patron saint and he has these fantastic heart-to-hearts with her that actually portrayed a healthy, loving father/daughter relationship, which I don't see nearly often enough in YA contemporaries.
OTHER STUFF I DISLIKED ➳➳
The ending. I mean, there's this huge build-up over whether or not Anise and Lincoln will be able to survive the distance, with her in Santa Cruz and him in Nebraska. Despite Lincoln's very obvious and intentional efforts to get close to Anise and to offer himself to her as legitimate relationship material, she just keeps telling herself that there's no way they can make it as a couple because he wants to explore the world and she doesn't. I mean, I know they're just a casual summer fling couple, but if you're going to keep telling the reader that you're head over heels for the kid, the least you could do is act it.
I digress. The ending is so open and just... nothing gets resolved, at all. We have no clue what will happen between Anise and Lincoln, plus Anise's first conversation with Eric after she gets home basically consists of her ogling him, which felt a bit tasteless given the fact that she showed serious interest in him and then ditched him and led him on while she chased another guy?
Also, there's this whole big story arc regarding Anise's mother, who basically only shows up once every few years, for a few days at a time, before disappearing again. No phone calls, no letters, just the occasional postcard with no return address or phone number or anything. It's bizarre enough that we're told Anise's father just accepts all of this as normal familial behavior, but to make matters worse, we spend the entire book hearing about Anise's mom and how she's probably going to show up at Aunt Jackie's house as some sort of surprise visitor, and then... nothing happens. NADA.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I would not recommend this book to you unless you just really love surfing and/or skateboarding, and don't mind really obnoxious narrators. The only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 is because Lincoln is amazing POC rep and disability rep and I loved his lil' cinnamon roll self.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sending me this ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I honestly tried to salvage my thoughts into something USEFUL, but this review would be better described as a rant. If you're the type of GR user who loves salty tangents, please keep reading.
PLOT ➳➳
It's the summer before Anise's senior year, and she's got to make this summer count: she's going to spend every waking moment catching waves, spending time with her very best friends, and planning the annual Surf Break event that draws tourists from all around to Santa Cruz to watch great surf and even better bands. It's going to be a summer to remember... until Anise's aunt Jackie is hospitalized due to an accident, and her father is dragging her out to Nebraska to take care of her young cousins. For the entire summer. How can Anise survive a summer without her unofficial family, the salt water, and the childhood BFF who's suddenly catching her eye?
WRITING ➳➳
This book was an incredibly quick and easy read, but that isn't necessarily a compliment in this review. Maybe I've become jaded by the amounts of fantasy I've been reading lately, but this just feels so overly casual. The banter feels incredibly forced at times, like there's just this really concerted effort to convince the reader that this is just a couple of teenagers chatting with each other, but it didn't come across well at all for me. There's so much filler material in the dialogue!
ANISE ➳➳
There are honestly so many things I could say about how much I hated Anise's character, but I'll just stick to a few main points. Still... buckle up, y'all.
• She’s incredibly self-centered and rude. She spends the majority of the book moping about one thing or another, whether it’s having to take care of her cousins, having to help her aunt, staying in the house her mother grew up in, being away from the beach, skateboarding… I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt for the first 30% or so of the book, and kept chalking it up to, “she’s just being written as a melodramatic teen!” but this was honestly too much.
• She refuses to believe that anything on the planet could hold a candle to her beloved surfing. She literally goes on multiple inner and outer tangents about how pathetic every sport is compared to surfing, and how surfing is soooo much harder than everything anyone else does… until she tries skateboarding, which just leads her to complain about how hard skateboarding is, and how lame it is… until she magically is a pro skateboarder after SEVEN DAYS of practice, and then overnight, it becomes the most amazing thing ever and she’s a born-again evangelist of the religion of the Almighty Skate Park.
• She literally kisses her LIFELONG BEST FRIEND right before she leaves, knowing she’s about to leave, and then within five minutes of meeting Lincoln, it’s like, “who the hell is Eric?” and she stops responding to any of his messages or even making any attempt at all to salvage their friendship?
• Actually, on that note, she bails on ALL of her friends and manages to completely alienate every last one of them. Of course, by the end, everyone has forgiven her and pretends nothing happened (including Eric, who, you know, spent the entire summer waiting for her to come back so they could resume their budding relationship but lol NOPE she’s ~in love~ with Lincoln!).
• Despite her insistence that Lincoln is basically The Greatest Dude Ever, she treats him like complete garbage. He tries to cheer her cousins up? She yells at him. He offers to spend his money to drive her to Santa Cruz in time for Surf Break? She spends the entire trip sulking and moping and treating him like garbage. He goes to Surf Break and tries to hang out with her friends? She gets wasted and ditches him for the entire evening. LINCOLN, RUN. JUST RUN.
Sorry... I had a lot of feelings about her.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
Lincoln and Tess are enjoyable characters. They're both really sweet and way more patient than Anise has ever deserved for a moment in her life, thank you very much. Anise's dad is also a patron saint and he has these fantastic heart-to-hearts with her that actually portrayed a healthy, loving father/daughter relationship, which I don't see nearly often enough in YA contemporaries.
OTHER STUFF I DISLIKED ➳➳
The ending. I mean, there's this huge build-up over whether or not Anise and Lincoln will be able to survive the distance, with her in Santa Cruz and him in Nebraska. Despite Lincoln's very obvious and intentional efforts to get close to Anise and to offer himself to her as legitimate relationship material, she just keeps telling herself that there's no way they can make it as a couple because he wants to explore the world and she doesn't. I mean, I know they're just a casual summer fling couple, but if you're going to keep telling the reader that you're head over heels for the kid, the least you could do is act it.
I digress. The ending is so open and just... nothing gets resolved, at all. We have no clue what will happen between Anise and Lincoln, plus Anise's first conversation with Eric after she gets home basically consists of her ogling him, which felt a bit tasteless given the fact that she showed serious interest in him and then ditched him and led him on while she chased another guy?
Also, there's this whole big story arc regarding Anise's mother, who basically only shows up once every few years, for a few days at a time, before disappearing again. No phone calls, no letters, just the occasional postcard with no return address or phone number or anything. It's bizarre enough that we're told Anise's father just accepts all of this as normal familial behavior, but to make matters worse, we spend the entire book hearing about Anise's mom and how she's probably going to show up at Aunt Jackie's house as some sort of surprise visitor, and then... nothing happens. NADA.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
I would not recommend this book to you unless you just really love surfing and/or skateboarding, and don't mind really obnoxious narrators. The only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 is because Lincoln is amazing POC rep and disability rep and I loved his lil' cinnamon roll self.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for sending me this ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
"That's one of the more infuriating bugs in the human software. You can have two ideas that are total opposites and believe them both completely."
Since this is a book about eating disorders, I'll go ahead and warn that my review on its own could potentially be triggering. I'll add full content warnings for the book itself at the bottom of my review.
PLOT ➳➳
A lot of things are going wrong in Matt's life lately: his sister has gone missing, he's bullied relentlessly for being gay, he can't come out to his mom because she's too beaten down from her under-paying job, and worst of all, he's got a crush on the guy he thinks is responsible for his sister running away. When Matt stops eating, though, things start to fall into place: the hungrier he is, the stronger his newfound powers get, until he's suddenly able to stop time, hear things towns away, and smell the history of every student in his school.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
First of all, it's an own-voices m/m book, and you can tell. The gay rep feels so raw and authentic, which was my favorite aspect of the book. Matt is a hormonal gay teen, and the book shows it, with his inner turmoils about boys he finds attractive, or his shame over the porn and fantasies he enjoys. He struggles with body issues in the ways that only a queer teen can: it's bad enough to compare yourself to others from an outside point of view, but it adds an entirely different struggle to EDs when you're also comparing yourself to what you find attractive.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
The ED superpowers. Wow. I wish so badly that the author had left out this entire story arc and just kept it as a standard contemporary novel. I cringed so hard every time Matt explained how his powers weakened when he ate. I understand that it was probably meant to portray the way ED sufferers sometimes feel "powerful" when they restrict; I get that, I've been there. I'm not coming at this from an uneducated perspective. But oh my god, it was not worth the trigger factor it brought along with it. If it felt triggering to me, someone who has been on the upswing for a few years now and is in a decent mental state of mind, I shudder to think of what this could do to someone who's in the pit of their struggle right now or is on the verge of relapsing.
The jumpy nature of the plot itself. Matt's primary concerns switched from one topic to another so frequently and suddenly that I found myself getting a little bit frustrated by the end. If you asked me what this book is about in one sentence, I wouldn't even know what to tell you. Is it an LGBTQ contemporary? Is it a book about eating disorders? Is it a "coming out" story? Is it about Matt finding his missing sister? I think it wouldn't have been a problem if he'd just prioritized one specific story arc over the rest, but I didn't really feel like that was happening.
SPOILERS ABOUT THE ROMANCE:
The love interest is really cute and sweet until suddenly sex comes into question, and he becomes incredibly pushy, which ruined his character for me. I mean, we're talking about a character throwing tantrums when his virgin boyfriend says he isn't ready for sex. Matt even acknowledges, when they do have sex, that he wishes they were doing it because he wanted to, and not just because he felt like he had to or his boyfriend would leave him. It was such a sad and unnecessary turn of events.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
If you are easily triggered by situations related to eating disorders, I honestly would not recommend this book to you at all; however, if you can handle it, and if the plot interests you, I'd say give it a try. I think there were a handful of issues in the book, some of which included what I listed above, that were just personal problems for me and wouldn't hinder other readers from enjoying The Art of Starving. I did really enjoy Sam J. Miller's writing voice, and I think he is a great guy who maybe just had a few ideas that I felt were misguided, so I can say with complete certainty that I will be picking up his next release and giving his writing another try.
Content warnings: anorexia, binge eating, minor sexual harassment (peer pressure), alcoholism, suicidal ideation.
Thank you so much to HarperTeen for supplying me with a beautiful finished copy of this book for review! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Since this is a book about eating disorders, I'll go ahead and warn that my review on its own could potentially be triggering. I'll add full content warnings for the book itself at the bottom of my review.
PLOT ➳➳
A lot of things are going wrong in Matt's life lately: his sister has gone missing, he's bullied relentlessly for being gay, he can't come out to his mom because she's too beaten down from her under-paying job, and worst of all, he's got a crush on the guy he thinks is responsible for his sister running away. When Matt stops eating, though, things start to fall into place: the hungrier he is, the stronger his newfound powers get, until he's suddenly able to stop time, hear things towns away, and smell the history of every student in his school.
WHAT I LIKED ➳➳
First of all, it's an own-voices m/m book, and you can tell. The gay rep feels so raw and authentic, which was my favorite aspect of the book. Matt is a hormonal gay teen, and the book shows it, with his inner turmoils about boys he finds attractive, or his shame over the porn and fantasies he enjoys. He struggles with body issues in the ways that only a queer teen can: it's bad enough to compare yourself to others from an outside point of view, but it adds an entirely different struggle to EDs when you're also comparing yourself to what you find attractive.
WHAT I DISLIKED ➳➳
The ED superpowers. Wow. I wish so badly that the author had left out this entire story arc and just kept it as a standard contemporary novel. I cringed so hard every time Matt explained how his powers weakened when he ate. I understand that it was probably meant to portray the way ED sufferers sometimes feel "powerful" when they restrict; I get that, I've been there. I'm not coming at this from an uneducated perspective. But oh my god, it was not worth the trigger factor it brought along with it. If it felt triggering to me, someone who has been on the upswing for a few years now and is in a decent mental state of mind, I shudder to think of what this could do to someone who's in the pit of their struggle right now or is on the verge of relapsing.
The jumpy nature of the plot itself. Matt's primary concerns switched from one topic to another so frequently and suddenly that I found myself getting a little bit frustrated by the end. If you asked me what this book is about in one sentence, I wouldn't even know what to tell you. Is it an LGBTQ contemporary? Is it a book about eating disorders? Is it a "coming out" story? Is it about Matt finding his missing sister? I think it wouldn't have been a problem if he'd just prioritized one specific story arc over the rest, but I didn't really feel like that was happening.
SPOILERS ABOUT THE ROMANCE:
Spoiler
The breakup. I understand that Tariq didn't feel like he could deal with watching Matt struggle, but I feel like it reinforced this idea that people with eating disorders aren't worthy of being loved. Even once Matt had been in treatment and was doing well mentally, Tariq essentially tells him, "I love you, so we have to stay friends"? It didn't feel realistic, and it also played into what is becoming a trope in YA literature lately, which is that almost every freaking book featuring a queer MC ends in a breakup. Literally, it sees like maybe 15-20% of LGBTQ contemporaries now end in a happy relationship.The love interest is really cute and sweet until suddenly sex comes into question, and he becomes incredibly pushy, which ruined his character for me. I mean, we're talking about a character throwing tantrums when his virgin boyfriend says he isn't ready for sex. Matt even acknowledges, when they do have sex, that he wishes they were doing it because he wanted to, and not just because he felt like he had to or his boyfriend would leave him. It was such a sad and unnecessary turn of events.
FINAL VERDICT ➳➳
If you are easily triggered by situations related to eating disorders, I honestly would not recommend this book to you at all; however, if you can handle it, and if the plot interests you, I'd say give it a try. I think there were a handful of issues in the book, some of which included what I listed above, that were just personal problems for me and wouldn't hinder other readers from enjoying The Art of Starving. I did really enjoy Sam J. Miller's writing voice, and I think he is a great guy who maybe just had a few ideas that I felt were misguided, so I can say with complete certainty that I will be picking up his next release and giving his writing another try.
Content warnings: anorexia, binge eating, minor sexual harassment (peer pressure), alcoholism, suicidal ideation.
Thank you so much to HarperTeen for supplying me with a beautiful finished copy of this book for review! All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Thanks very much to NetGalley, the author, and the publicist for reaching out to offer me this ARC, but it's not for me. I tend to steer clear of comedic fiction because I rarely enjoy it, and this was no different. I felt like the comedic aspect was just trying way too hard and I found the narrative altogether unlikable.