kailey_luminouslibro's Reviews (3.79k)

At the beginning of the Trojan War, Paris has run away with Helen, and an army waits upon the shore to journey to retrieve her. But the winds are not in their favor, and they cannot sail. Agamemnon is told by the prophets that to ensure a change in the wind he must sacrifice a virgin, his own daughter Iphigenia, to the gods. He wrestles with the decision, quarrels with his brother Menelaus, and lies to his wife Klytemnestra. The armies threaten treason. Achilles vows to protect the maiden. Agamemnon curses the fate that will tear his daughter from their family. Ultimately, the decision lies with Iphigenia herself.

This translation/adaptation of Euripides' story really captured my attention! It reflects all the intense emotions of the Greek play and explores some deep themes. Honor and respect are lost and gained. Family ties and loyalty are tested. I really enjoyed the rich language of this adaptation.

The illustrations are beautiful! I love the ink style of the art, and the bold lines. Every character's face has fierce emotions, and you can see the tension in their body language. It really enhances the story!


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Emma finds a bottle washed up on the seashore, and inside is a genie! But the genie has lost his magic because another genie stole his nose ring. Emma and the genie travel by magic carpet to the land of Barakash where they hope to retrieve the stolen nose ring. However, the entire land is being terrorized and Emma will have to think quickly if she wants to get her three wishes.

This is such a fun story! I really liked the crazy characters and weird setting. The magic is enchanting, and I loved how silly the plot can get sometimes. Emma meets some hilarious people, and the adventure is exciting!

I liked the illustrations with this book, but the design for the genie doesn't really fit the way I imagined him from the description. The cover art is different from the artwork inside, so maybe that threw me off.

The ending is a little bit quick, and seemed like it was just thrown together, so I took off one star for that. But otherwise, I really enjoyed this story. It's magical and fun!

I loved Mr. Roger's Neighborhood tv show as a kid, and it is lovely to read more about Mr. Roger's life and how he started his tv show for kids. He was a wonderful Christian, and it's incredible to see how his faith in God inspired him to help children and teach them that God loves them.

The writing is concise, but gives a good outline of Mr. Roger's life from childhood through adulthood. I liked that the design of the book includes little factoids, small paragraphs that make it easy to read, and even a quiz at the back of the book.

There are cute illustrations all through the book and some photographs at the end. I really liked the cheerful art style!

Charlie is a girl who is exploring what music truly means to her. As her class at school put together a list of their favorite songs, their music teacher introduces many styles and genres of music and encourages the students to listen and feel the emotions within the music. One boy, Luka, expresses himself through singing with courage and strong feeling, but the other students make fun of him to the extent that he doesn't return to school. Can the class find a way to use music to repair what has been broken?

I'm not sure if Luka's character was homosexual or trans or what. It is purposefully left unknown. It is hinted that he might be homosexual, because some other kids ask him if he is in love with another boy in class, and he responds, "I don't know. Maybe." All we know is that Luka is teased and people whisper behind his back because he is a little bit different.
I love that this book teaches that all people deserve to be treated with respect and kindness!

Charlie is enchanted when she hears the unique voice of a famous opera singer. Although her classmates dislike opera, Charlie wants to learn everything she can about it, and tries to emulate the famous singer. It opens up new horizons for Charlie and she learns some history about opera.

I love the way this graphic novel talks about music and how it can impact people! Charlie's life is changed and her friendships are made stronger as they connect over music.

The artwork is really beautiful, and I love the fanciful designs that depict the way music can swirl around the character and inspire them with new ideas and feelings. The art is very emotional and vibrant!

Two sisters embark on a long journey to the wild North, searching for giants. Legend says that if you can kill one of the giants and capture its strength in a magic stone, then you will be able to bring the dead back to life. The sisters will brave any danger and endure hardship in the frozen wastelands if it means they can bring their mother back from the dead. But they are not the only ones searching for the giants.

This book is heartbreaking and hopeful. The sisters are grieving for the loss of their mother, and along their journey they meet other people who are grieving as well. But each culture has their own way of dealing with loss, and they meet a group of people who embrace death just as they embrace life, with grace and hope. Ultimately, the sisters have to find a way to process their grief and decide how to live.

There are a couple of suicides in this book, both of which are tragic and sad. One is a culturally-accepted ritual of assisted suicide, and the other suicide is a violent death. I like that the book brings up these questions about death, but leaves it to the reader to decide what is right and wrong. The assisted suicide is not portrayed as good or bad. It is just the custom of this particular culture. The reader can interpret it in their own way.

I love the art style! Every page is full of shadows and lights that bring an emotional influence into the art.

The worldbuilding of the magic and different cultures in this book is really excellent. With just a few sentences, we get a picture of the bigger world beyond the main story.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone. 

This book helps you to navigate the difficulties of being a highly sensitive person and embrace the strengths that come with high sensitivity. Instead of being stuck in limiting beliefs and anxiety, you can learn to act from a place of trust and courage.

I love that this book focuses on trusting your own intuition and living out your true values. I was especially interested in the section about replacing resistance with resilience. I tend to be a fearful person, so it was lovely to be encouraged to live with bravery!

The only thing that I didn't enjoy about this book was the constant anecdotes. I was looking for a book with just the facts, but this book has a lot of stories from different people about their own experiences with high sensitivity and how they applied the methods of the author to overcome their traumas and be more fulfilled. It is nice to see how these ideas can be applied in real life! However, it wasn't exactly the style that I was looking for.

I liked the writing style of the author! It feels very personal and authentic, like you are just having a conversation with the author over a cup of coffee. It feels like the author comes alongside you to encourage and coach you.

There are several charts that illustrate the methods in the book, showing how we can move beyond our fears and into creativity and strength. I really liked that visual element that helped to demonstrate the ideas in the text.

This book is so inspiring!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

A group of teenagers have been trained to terraform a distant planet, but their spaceship stalls and they are awakened out of cryostasis ten years too early. They explore a nearby planet looking for supplies, and a mysterious presence begins to make itself known.

This graphic novel was a little too scary for me. There is some gore and blood that was gross.

I liked the characters, but they didn't have a lot of depth. They mostly spend their time freaking out about all the things that are going wrong on their mission. They are cranky and mean to each other. These people are not friends. They have been assigned to this terraforming mission, but do not exactly work well together. I wish there had been a character arc of the teens learning to work together and forming closer relationships, but most of them die before that can happen.

The art style is good, but everything is so dark. It made it difficult to see what was going on in the panels. I wish the coloring were brighter, but the darkness definitely fits the mood of the story.

I liked the mystery of the weird planet they explore. They find some weird ruins with strange markings, and there is an arcane history to be uncovered. Everything they discover makes them more afraid.

This was not my style of story because I don't like scary stuff, but I think someone else would really enjoy this graphic novel.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This book has everything you wanted to know about North American trees! From giant redwoods to the humble apple tree, you can learn about how trees are so important and beautiful. How deep do the roots go? How do different trees blossom and pollinate? How do their seeds grow into such mighty trunks?

Each page has beautiful illustrations and charts showing how each tree looks throughout the seasons. We learn how to identify their leaves and bark, and the cones, seeds, flowers, or fruit. The charts teach us the different types of tree shapes, how they spread their seeds, and what habitat they grow in.

I really like the detailed illustrations that make it easy to visual each type of tree, but I wonder if photographs would have been more useful for identifying purposes. But the art work is so pretty, so I can't complain!

Every page is absolutely gorgeous! This book is like a breath of fresh air.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Children need a little roughhouse play and gentle wrestling to help them develop emotionally and mentally. Blowing off some steam can help them regulate their emotions and learn to express themselves in healthy ways. Roughhousing and silliness actually lights up parts of the brain that will make children smarter. They learn how to interact with people socially and manage their impulses.

This book is full of silly games and fun things to try with your children. You can play the floor is lava, make a fort out of pillows, or be a monster chasing them through the house. You can build an obstacle course outside, choreograph a pretend fight scene for a movie, or have a water balloon fight!

These games are so imaginative and cute! Some of them involve more physical activities like running and jumping or picking up the child to fly them around the room, but there are plenty of activities that are perfect to do sitting down together if you are not very physically strong. There is something for everyone to try, no matter your age or abilities.

I really like that the games are illustrated, so that you can easily see what to do. The instructions are simple and clear, and I like the art style of the illustrations.

I'm so excited to try some of these games with my nieces! I think they will love it!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone

On her first day at a new school, Mwikali discovers that she is descended from a long line of Kenyans with mystical powers. She and her friends must find and destroy the dreaded Forbidden Mask before the powers of darkness can gather and unleash its evil power.

I enjoyed this imaginative story! Mwikali and her friends all have different abilities and powers which they are just discovering. They learn and grow together, and Mwikali gradually begins to gain confidence in herself and trust her friends more. I really loved her character arc!

The plot is a little bit predictable, and I saw the plot twists coming a mile away, but it was still enjoyable. There were a couple of things in the plot that felt forced. Instead of unfolding naturally, some things seemed way too convenient and coincidental. But I really liked the writing style! The pacing is good. The action is exciting. The friends' mystical powers are very imaginative and full of enchantment.

It was so interesting to learn about Kenya and its culture. The history of Kenya is woven all through the story. But I wish this book had a glossary for words that are unfamiliar or in a different language. I wanted to learn all about the language! I ended up looking up a lot of things on the internet and got inspired to learn more about Kenya and its rich history.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.