howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

There's so much rep in this, and it's a really cute and sweet graphic novel. Definitely heavy on the religious/Christianity aspects at times, so if that isn't something you enjoy reading about, be forewarned. I usually don't pick up books with religious sub-plots, but I liked the fact that As the Crow Flies represented the fact that queer Christians exist and that's okay, as I know it's a group of the queer community that gets erased a lot.

#1 Dead Until Dark ★★★.5
#2 Living Dead in Dallas ★★★★
#3 Club Dead ★★★★★

“I don’t like having feelings,” Eric said coldly, and he left. That was a tough exit line to top.

This is the first installment in the series where we barely spend any time with Bill at all, and this is my first 5-star rating in the series. Coincidence? I think not.

I loved this one so much. I could barely put it down because I was having so much fun learning more about Sookie's world, spending time with Eric, and meeting all of these exciting new characters (like Alcide, who is precious even if he's a little misguided at times, heh). I would've liked to see a little bit more of Sam and the rest of the Merlotte's crew, but at the same time, it was fun to spend so much of the book in a brand new area.

I also felt like the stakes (ha) were a lot higher in the drama of this installment than the two before it — maybe that's just me, but it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat a bit more. This series isn't without its problems by any means, but I'm having so much fun with it and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Lumberjanes follows a group of five young girls through their misadventures in a Girl Scouts-esque camp setting, complete with magical twists such as three-eyed foxes, mythical critters galore, secret caves, and more. It's a story of clever wits, resourcefulness, adventure, and most importantly, friendship to the max!

—

Let me start off by saying that this book is, first and foremost, CUTE. AS. FUCK. I really adored the artwork and the characters so much. The art itself is precious, the characters have such great personalities, and the friendship depicted made teenage me super envious. I totally always wanted a group of gal pals that I could go off and have fun adventures with, and Lumberjanes showcases it perfectly.

Not only is the story line fun, and not only are the characters a delight that I just totally want more of, but this book has amazing diversity in the character lineup. There's also a hint of romantic tension between two of the girls that feels so innocent and adorable and makes me wish that these books had been around when I was younger and feeling less accepting of my own sexuality. I would have lived for this kind of representation! It feels natural and real and has all of the best elements of those teenage crushes we all had, with timidness and blushing and the works.

While I'll say that the pages explaining the badges themselves were a bit boring, it wasn't enough to detract from my rating as they're not necessary and you could honestly skim past them without missing anything important. I just cannot say enough good things about this book and really can't wait to get my hands on volume 2. I would recommend this to anyone who's looking for a cutesy graphic novel with a whole lot of mischievous antics and fun.

Sigh. This is 100% one of those "it's not you, it's me" things, because this graphic novel series is doing so many things right. Like the first volume, I loved the artwork, the diversity, and the adorable f/f romance featured... but again, like the first volume, the plotline lost me. While I was able to overlook it during Volume 1 thanks to the novelty of how freaking adorable this artwork and these characters are, sadly, it wasn't something I could move past in Volume 2. I think it's all just way too Nancy Drew for me (not as in "this is a ripoff", but as in "I didn't like kid-detective-gang stories then and I don't like them now, Scooby-Doo eternally excluded").

So, yeah. It's one of those series that I wish I could adore like everyone else does, but sadly, I'm going to have to sit out the rest of this one, I think. That said, if you like cutesy mystery stories AT ALL, please check out Goldie Vance, because it really does deserve the love it gets.

Just like with the other book from this author I've read, Decluttering at the Speed of Life, it's a valuable resource, yet I'm honestly really relieved I borrowed it instead of buying it, for a few reasons:

1) It's repetitive as heck. Just like the other book.

2) Once you take away a few core values from the book (like setting a specific day each week for laundry and not budging from that), it's a lot of filler material and anecdotes for no reason. The "meat" of this book could easily be fit into 50pg or less.

3) If you haven't read Decluttering at the Speed of Life yet, SKIP IT and read this instead. No joke, about 80pg of this book covers literally THE ENTIRE OTHER BOOK. If you saw my review for Decluttering, you might remember me complaining that the entire second half of the book was the same guidelines being rephrased over and over for each specific room in your home? Yeah, well, that was proven by the fact that another 200+pg. book could be fit into only 80pg of this book.

I dunno, y'all... I'm so torn. This book and Decluttering both truly did give me tips that have already helped me and my spouse TREMENDOUSLY with our house, but at the same time, these books feel so gimmicky and unnecessary that I cannot in good conscience recommend them to you unless you can borrow them, find them at a great price, or have a lot more spare book-buying cash laying around than I do (because I'd frankly be mad as hell if I'd spent $16.99USD each on these books).

While the Donner Dinner Party is still an infamous tragedy that definitely strikes me as an adult, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with historical tales of disastrous events like this one. The cannibalism alone was enough to intrigue me, much less all of the other awful layers to the Donner Party! So, when I saw that a nonfiction graphic novel series had decided to tackle the tale, I had to check it out — I wondered if it would sugarcoat things, and frankly, it didn't at all, which impressed me. This was a really enjoyable (and surprisingly humorous) take on the story, and I learned a few new things, too.

pros:
- normalized queer rep that is very sweet ♥
- cute art & pretty color palettes
- relatable for anyone who's lived through the horrors of middle school, but esp. if they were/are in drama!

cons:
- honestly... kind of boring :(
- the MC is so boy-crazy it got a little old. I wanted to see more of her interacting with friends she wasn't crushing on!

All in all, though, this was really cute and I enjoy the thought of giving two middle fingers up to everyone who thinks this book should be banned for a chaste, one-panel kiss between two consenting boys, so... yeah, 4 stars. :)

pros:
- the art is beautiful
- these color palettes are A++++
- puppycat is hilarious with or without context

cons:
- even as someone who HAS seen some of the cartoon, this makes very little sense, and I feel like it would make NO SENSE AT ALL to the average person who picks this up without knowing it's a cartoon series as well
- no cohesion WHATSOEVER to these little story snippets

This is one of the most unexpectedly disappointing reads of the year, geez.

Katie O'Neill never stops stunning me. Her stories are so beautiful and so is her art, and the characters, and the world... all of it is perfect. There's a great story about environmentalism and doing our part in the world to keep things clean and not take more than we need, which was really sweet and heartfelt. I just loved the whole thing so much and I truly never get tired of Katie O'Neill's stories. <3

2.5 stars

I only reread this one because I mean serious business about doing a full series reread of the "original" Goosebumps titles (where does that even end, though, I wonder? yet TBD), but I distinctly remembered reading this installment once and only once as a kid because I disliked it so much. I just think it's incredibly boring and apparently, that feeling hasn't changed in the 20-ish years since I first read it.