papercraftalex's Reviews (368)

This was such a unique experience to read (perfect for purple readers iykyk). The art style is stop-motion based and it really lent itself to the overall story. The inclusion of different indigenous languages throughout was beautiful. I learned a lot about indigenous history from this book and I feel touched by the narration. Amanda Strong is truly an artist.

It was a little on the nose at first, but definitely found it's footing quickly. I think it's a perfect continuation of the individual Avatar comics we've been getting and one of the better ones. I am begging that Azula's redemption arc is done in a trilogy or at least not in one comic. She deserves a big journey.

Mako is the least interesting character ever, but somehow Kiku Hughes (of the amazing Displacement graphic novel) managed to make him a real boy. This story really added to the lore of the Avatar world in a way that felt so natural and I hope is expanded on in the future. It was especially great to read after Ashes of the Academy and juxtapose the Fire Nation right when it's re-building versus when the world is so different. I love Mako and Bolin's brotherly energy in the comic and learning more about their family was spectacular (especially that twist!). I really enjoyed this comic and I hope Kiku is included in more Avatar projects!

I agree with another reviewer that said that this memoir reads like a novel. Sara Glass has a way of making her own life story so thrilling to read and I was constantly wondering what would happen next. It was a great way to learn more about the different Orthodox communities and I appreciate narratives that don't denounce the entirety of their religion when they were in one particularly bad sect. I love memoirs by queer people with different life experiences because it is so easy to think of our family as having a singular experience and stories like this remind me to look outside of myself and remember to include all groups of people in my queer activism. 

Now that we are in the second Trump presidency, I've found myself reaching for books from his first stint to reflect on how things have changed and how we can remember the lessons we learned the first time. Thick is a book I've had on my shelf for several years and I think was perfect for this kind of reflection. I often struggle with essay and short story collections because I find the quality of each story to be so variable, but Thick did not have this problem. The essay I found most impactful was "Girl 6" in which Dr. McMillan Cottom explores how often prominent intellectual Black women are tokenized and how Black women are not able to be mediocre. Girl 6 juxtaposed perfectly with her early essay "Dying to Be Competent." I also particularly adored "In the Name of Beauty," where Dr. McMillan Cottom shares deeply personal stories about how difficult it is to be lacking pretty privilege. Overall, it was an amazing essay collection that I think everyone should read, especially those of us in the margins.

The first half of this book had be so absorbed and enthralled, then it resolved into a lackluster, idiotic thriller. It had a great premise and world-building with believabily flawed main characters, then threw that all in the garbage for a ridiculous plot. It took me months to finish because the second half was so bad. I go into specifics with spoilers below.

I don't think it was a horrible choice to make Emmett Maggie's mother, but Emmett's character because basically a cartoon villain. The beginning had great commentary on the Foucauldian nature of technology and social media and I wish she had stuck with that instead of basically throwing the characters into a blender of chaos and stupidity. And the fact that Emmett was so mad that Noa got her drug addicted, emotionally abusive mother deported (when Noa was a teenager), that she nearly killed her and then kept her in a simulation for possibly forever is just ridiculous. After all of this, Maggie's character basically fell apart. She became a mother/daughter object rather than a character with motivations and thoughts. I love multiple POV books. I love books with ambiguous endings. I love books that have nuanced commentar on women technology. But I very much did not love this book.

Overall, I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

JP Seabright has done an amazing job at making AI empathetic and destroying my emotions in the process! Some of the poems absolutely wrecked me. I don't know if it was intended by the other, but I saw the main narrator as a metaphor for autism. Robots are often a metaphor for autistic people in media, but without going in to depth about the loneliness and otherness that robots and autistic people feel, but this chapbook hits the nail on the head with this metaphor. I absolutely will be revisiting these poems every time I need a good cry.

I received this book from Querencia Press in exchange for an honest review. 

Alexandra Weiss crafted a stunning mixed media chapbook about his experience with cancer and chronic illness. It is unbelievably unique and made me reflect on what I see as poetry and how I can be like them and find it in the small and mundane. It's an especially crucial piece of work in these times.

I received this book from Querencia Press in exchange for an honest review.

I was not expecting to love this series as much as I did! The first volume was enjoyable, but this volume blew me away. I couldn't put it down and felt such a rush of adrenaline. I'll definitely be reading the companion series Queen's Quality, but I believe it works well as a 3 volume series. 

It's difficult to say I enjoyed Little Moons because of its sad and dark content, but I'm glad to have read it and happy the author was able to share this story. MMIW is a topic too often brushed under the rug and I hope more people will read and share stories to spotlight this issue.