rainbowbrarian's Reviews (1.85k)

Lady Camembert has no intention of marrying. At least not to a man anyway, because of the old fashioned laws in her country she cannot inherit without marrying. To spare her this unjust future, her dying father, arranges for her to move to the capital to live as a man, as Count Camembert. To keep her secrets she’s forced to live in insolation with her most loyal servant, Feta. But life in isolation is no life at all and soon she’s found herself at a fancy ball where she catches the eye of Princess Brie. Heart bubbles ensue, but what kind of future can they possibly have with such a secret that must be kept?

This graphic novel is PERFECT melted together in a cheesy romance that will delight you. The art style is gorgeous and funny and I loved all the characters. Diya Munoz is the brilliant mind behind the webcomic Blades of Furry, which if you haven’t read, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? I’m showing my age a bit here *grabs cane* but this reminded me a little bit of Shoujo Kakumei Utena, my favorite anime from college. Roses, gorgeous fashion, intrigue, dancing... it’s just So. Good.
You’re going to love all the cheese puns. Literally legendairy amounts of lactose laughter. A dashing dairy darling woos a perfect pasteurized princess. I could go on. I mean come on, a love story based around grilled cheese and fashion. Designers like Lady Gorgonzola, Gucheese, and Cheddior grace these pages. Cam (Camembert) is SUCH a dramatic dork in all the best ways and she and Brie are beyond smitten with each other.

One other thing I loved was the way random modern technology was sprinkled in. During a down moments we see Cam hiding in her bed with a blanket over her head playing a Nintendo Switch! So it feels like it must be this au historical world but then there’s “Gucci” and the video game. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s well worth the lactaid ;)!

Just not my cup of tea.

Always the Almost is the story of Miles, a trans guy who wants to win back his ex boyfriend and beat his rival in a high stakes piano competition. When Shane breaks up with him after he comes out as trans, Miles is determined to prove to Shane that he’s the same person inside. His friend Rachel isn’t a fan of this plan, but she’s trying to be supportive. But then Miles meets Eric, the new guy in school and they just click. Eric is an artist and even though Miles can’t really afford any distractions, Eric is fun... and charming... and maybe he’s more than a distraction.

This review has some slight spoilers! Be warned. There is a lot to love about this story. Edward Underwood, the author, does a really great job talking about some of the mental aspects of transitioning. Note here: transitioning doesn’t just mean, surgery and hormones and none of those things are required for a person to ‘transition’. All trans people are valid no matter what they choose to do or not do with their bodies. I really appreciated getting a window into Mile’s feelings that he was still the same person he’s always been while dealing with the fact that his friends and family (and Shane) are seeing him differently. I feel like the topic is handled with compassion and grace. I was also very impressed with the handling of Shane’s characters. I feel like most of the time we read these stories the ex is always a horrible person who just dumps the trans person and is one dimensionally awful. To be fair, that story line reflects a too-common reality, so I’m not saying it’s not a valid plot. But getting to see the background hints of Shane dealing with the loss of his girlfriend, and the way he’s trying to give himself space so he can then turn around and be supportive of Miles, is one of my favorite things in the book.

And Eric, the love interest, sweet and lovely Eric. I can’t say enough good about him. Eric is sort of exploring his gender identity in this story and although he indicates that he thinks he may be non-binary, I believe he continues to use he/him pronouns throughout. Every time we learned a little bit more about him through slow reveals of his family, his past relationship, and his art, I feel more in love with him. He was SUCH a good boyfriend, always trying his best to talk things through with Miles and validating his identity and his thoughts and feelings. There were moments when you just wanted to grab Miles and rattle him as he pined for Shane when wonderful loving Eric was RIGHT THERE.

Miles’ friends Rachel and Faith were well done too. I feel like their relationship challenges made them even more realistic and human. We’re reminded that these are high school kids, many of them in their first real romantic relationships and those things can be hard. The characters aren’t perfect, they’re human and they make human mistakes and have big emotions. The author did a great job of creating fully realized relatable characters. And let’s not forget Miles’ piano teacher who is at first this scary stereotypical strict piano teacher with a mysterious reputation. Even she is given a chance to become more dimensional. I loved seeing her casual acceptance and support of Miles’ trans identity and the way she adapted her instruction to helping him realize himself fully as a trans musician. Things like reminding him that performing in a suit jacket is going to feel different than in a sleeveless dress. Very well done. The only people left really one dimensional was the antagonist piano rival and teacher, but every story needs some mustache twirling villains and you love to see them get what’s coming to them.

Pick this one up for a wholesome story of learning who you are and how to reconcile that with the world around you. Real Love right in front of you, cute hand holding and dates, artists in love, slow burn, and healthy relationships developing.

This book was a tasty little snack. It was just the right amount of scary and tension for me. It's sort of like Alien, only the lead female doesn't have to run around in her underwear most of the time. And there wasn't a cat.

I really liked Jack, she was very well realized. I liked getting to see inside her head and feel her feelings with her. She was scared of this very terrifying situation, but she handled it. She didn't have to be this superhero character who was never afraid and always in control. She responded like a person would. We saw her at her most vulnerable, but still standing up and doing what she had to do, acting as the captain while the real captain hid in his cabin.

I don't always like these kind of space ship with a threat stories because I hate when people start turning on each other, but this one didn't have that and it was good. If you're into space horror, give this one a read, it's nice and short!

Comics aren't exactly famous for being queer friendly, but they've been making strides to try to fix that. As a person who doesn't read a lot of superhero comics, I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety and diversity of characters in this book.

As a comics casual reader, I'm still left feeling like I'm missing a lot of the stories and that always bothers me a little bit. But on the other hand, if I really wanted to know more I guess I'd have to read more comics. It's a tough balance to strike. What I need is a character background 101 for each character!

These colorful bios are definitely a step in that direction though. They give that very shallow overview of the characters origins and how they got to where they are.

I love a well done horror movie and so does Cade, the young queer latinx boy in this story. His family is struggling financially and he and his step dad head out to a ranch to help earn more money for the summer. Cade is not into the idea, thinks the work is really hard, doesn't want to leave his home in Abliene, and is kinda scared about the idea of being a queer brown kid in the middle of rural Texas. And who can blame him? But when he meets the ranch owner's son, Henry, he thinks just maybe there might be something good out here after all. When he starts hearing scary things about Henry and his family he starts to wonder if instead of just watching from the couch, he might have fallen into a real life horror story.

This is a good book for teens who are allies and for queer kids who are just starting to explore their identities. As an older queer person I felt like I'd read this story before. I wouldn't recommend it to mature veteran queers though. We've read it before. I did, however, really like the way Terciero spelled out the horror movies as a metaphor for queer life, I think that'll be a great thing for allies to learn. At points it did feel a little bit after-school-special, but that's why I would suggest it for younger readers.