howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

Giant Days Vol. 4

5.0

It had been a few weeks since I'd picked up volumes 1-3, so I wasn't sure how quickly this volume would suck me back in, but within a couple of panels, I was wondering why the heck I put the series down for even such a short amount of time as this! I missed Esther, Susan, and Daisy, even though this wasn't my favorite volume so far (mostly because I'm quietly rioting over Susan and a certain someone being grouchy at each other).

Giant Days Vol. 6, Volume 6

John Allison

5.0

This has probably become my favorite graphic novel series ever. In fact... yes, it is officially my favorite graphic novel series of all time. I love these characters so much and meeting Big Geoff was honestly the highlight of the whole volume, because who doesn't want to be pampered and fed and waited upon, hand and foot, by your best friend's awesome dad?

Giant Days Vol. 8, Volume 8

John Allison

5.0

It wasn't my favorite volume of the series, but still an easy 5-star rating from me. My only complaint was feeling like things were a little disconnected in the beginning, but by the time I reached the second half of the volume, all was well again. I can't tell if the events in the last few pages were just drama at face value, or if it's an indication that the creators are gearing up for the end, but the idea of it being the latter makes me so sad. :(

Giant Days Vol. 7, Volume 7

John Allison

5.0

I'm so happy that we got more McGraw in this volume than we've been getting lately.

Giant Days Vol. 5

John Allison

5.0

It always feels so good to get back into Giant Days with another volume, but OHMYGOD if a certain someone doesn't get back together with a certain someone else soon I'm going to spontaneously combust.

Giant Days Vol. 10, Volume 10

John Allison

5.0

Honestly, if you'd told me a year ago that I would ever find a graphic novel series I could love so much, and that would be capable of holding my attention span this well, I would probably not have believed you, because I typically can't stick to one GN series for more than 3-4 volumes before I start trailing off and losing interest. Not an issue at all with Giant Days. I love these characters so damn much and I'm gonna be heartbroken whenever it ends, but thankfully, that ending hasn't been announced yet, so I'll just be over here, trying to decide if I want to wait for Volume 11's release or to just use up all my month's Hoopla credits on the individual issues so I can stop pining over the next installment.

Girl Town

Carolyn Nowak, Casey Nowak

1.0

This was so bizarre and boring and I just kind of hated it. The robot boyfriend story was almost redeeming enough for 2 stars... almost.

American Vampire, Vol. 1

Scott Snyder

1.0

Sometimes, you put a book on your TBR, and your friend even warns you, "Hey, this is pretty awful and I don't think you'll dig it," but you have to try it for yourself anyways, and then that friend ends up having been totally right because you found yourself bored to tears and skim-reading for almost 200 pages while nothing in the whole story was redeeming but the artwork on the vampires.

Yeah.

Jane Anonymous

Laurie Faria Stolarz

4.0

I really can't decide how I feel about this. I think 4 stars? This is definitely subject to change because I want to dwell on this one a little bit before I review it. I definitely couldn't put it down, though. RTC

Pennies

Pepper Winters

4.0

I’ve put off writing this review for months, because it’s just not an easy one for me to write. I don’t even know where to start with this book! Let me put it simply: Pennies is the kind of book you have to experience for yourself, because it is such a ride. It’s a roller coaster from end to end, and there’s a whole lot of terrible, awful, no-good stuff going down, but at the same time, it’s incredibly entertaining and I couldn’t get enough?!

First of all, this book is brutal at times. There is a lot of sexual violence and assault in this story, so if that’s a trigger for you, please proceed with caution! There were definitely moments I had to skim-read for a page or two to get past the worst of it, but the story held me so tightly that I couldn’t bring myself to put it down (and I’m told there’s a lot less abuse in the next book, though I can’t say for certain yet).

And before you think this is going to be one of those stories where the captive woman is rescued by a brave, wonderful, kind, gentle hero, well—*record screech* think again! I honestly hated Elder Prest almost as much as I hated Pim’s abusive “owner”, Alrik. Not because Elder was as abusive as Alrik, but because Elder’s internal monologue was so grating at times. Yes, Elder, we get it—you think you’re a raging monster who can’t control himself, blah blah blah… It got old, but his interactions with Pim were intriguing enough to be worthwhile.

At this point, you might be wondering, Okay, Destiny, you’ve had a lot of weird and vaguely negative things to say, so why are you so invested in this book? Let me tell you, friends—because the heroine is fantastic, and I am so invested in her that I can’t fathom the idea of not seeing where she goes with this whole thing. Despite the daily agony and terror she’s put through, Pim never loses sight of herself, never has her spirit broken, and fights tooth and nail to the bitter end. *insert Marge Simpson meme* I just think she’s neat. I may or may not have made myself write this review just now solely to justify buying the next book in the series ASAP.

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Buddy read with Taylor! ♥

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