These books are always going to mean so much to me. I read the first book not long after realizing I was queer. I re-read it again a few months ago in anticipation of reading the sequel and it felt like a checkpoint for the growth that I’ve had since I first discovered my identity and for all of the growth I have yet to come. Ari grows so much over the course of the first book that you might think he was done. The sequel serves as a reminder that we are always growing and changing, and it’s never too late to let new people into your life.

Ari’s visit to his brother and his visit to Camila’s grave wrapped up my main qualm from the first book, which was not fully recognizing Bernardo’s victim as a transgender woman. My one major qualm with THIS book is that I don’t think any event that happens 2/3 of the way into the book should be teased in the book jacket. I wanted to be more surprised and hurt by Jaime’s death, but I kind of expected it when the back of the book referenced Ari’s “shocking loss.”

Regardless of any minor issues I had with this book, I adore these characters. Like Ari and his words, I feel like these characters live inside me.

I really did not get it. Two pages into Buddy’s 100 page long letter of nonsense to Zooey and I decided I was not going to get anything out of this book.

I’ll start by saying I hate the covers for this run because they are so unnecessarily seductive, especially when Jessica Jones canonically doesn’t dress very seductively. 

I’m reading this run mostly because it’s the direct inspiration for the Netflix show that was so good, and sometimes I love how Jessica’s character is written. She’s cynical and a little abrasive but still humble and much kinder than Kristen Rytter’s version. (Which isn’t good or bad) 

But there are times when it’s so clear that she (and the other women in the run) are female characters written by a man. I also have to mention that he had Luke Cage use the N-word in the first volume which was entirely unnecessary and inappropriate. Just because you’re writing an explicit comic doesn’t mean you have to use every bad word out there!

The Scott relationship is interesting. Partly because their MCU counterparts would never work out in a relationship. But I see no serious chemistry there and Scott does not seem trauma informed at all and he is using the L-word way too soon.

I like the artist much more than I thought I would. He really nails Jessica’s facial expressions, especially in comedic parts.

I’m not even gonna leave a rating or anything I just had a lot of random thoughts to write down after reading three volumes of this. This has been a LOT of build up to Jessica’s past trauma. Like this volume was the first time they hint at all about Kilgrave and they still haven’t mentioned him. I’m not very optimistic about how they will do that story justice in just six issues.

Yeah so this is the best

Can’t look past the misogyny and homophobia. Or the theme of men not being able to control themselves

It definitely took me longer to get into this one than RWRB. I think I spent too much time in the beginning of the book wondering how they were going to reveal what’s going on with Jane, and it took me almost until

Jane’s history was fully revealed

for me to lose myself in the story. I enjoy magical elements but I’m not sure if I found this twist super believable. Of course Jane conveniently never has to use the bathroom or eat or anything. However, by the end I was fully enveloped into August’s beautiful little family and had fallen in love with all the characters and their flaws. As to be expected with CMQ,

the sex scenes were *chefs kiss* great. Beautifully captured the first time experience for a queer, bigger woman. (Even though it was on a fucking subway.)

I saw myself in August in ways that I didn’t want to admit. She felt very real. And Jane is every bisexual’s fantasy. Loved this ragtag team of queers.

This is gonna be more of a personal reflection than a review so don’t bother reading.

Was Achilles always full of selfish pride or did the war bring that out of him? Could he really have chosen to live a quiet life with Patroclus and been satisfied? Obviously Patroclus would have been. But Achilles seemed happy on the mountain with him and Chiron. Maybe something would have been missing. But obviously he wasn’t happy in war either. It’s like he lost himself in the magic of the identity that was bestowed on him. And when he put on the armor, Patroclus was lost in it too. I guess the prophecy doomed him from the start. I appreciated how Miller depicted women in this time. She was probably too generous with Patroclus’s empathy for Briseis but maybe there were some okay men back then. Thetis is of course against Achilles’ and Patroclus’ relationship, but she isn’t exactly set up as a villain. I think she is justified in her brooding anger, she was raped and forced to raise a mortal child and her fellow gods were in on it. I appreciated their conversation in the end. It was like she finally got to see and appreciate the mortal side of her son who she always pushed to be a god.