Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ravensandpages's Reviews (598)
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ARC received in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan!
First of all, I am overjoyed to announce that I am starting 2024 as a healed man. I read 91% of this book in one day/sitting, and I have never felt better or more fulfilled. If I reset my reading challenge to 300, look away.
Second of all, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce MOST ARDENTLY to you, the ninth installment in Feiwel & Friends' young adult remixed classics series. I've been watching this project attentively but hadn't been brave enough to dip my toes into trying them until MOST ARDENTLY, a reimaging of Pride & Prejudice with a trans Bennett boy falling in love with a gay Darcy. I blacked out and when I opened my eyes, the ARC had been requested and was open on my Kindle. I cannot thank past me enough.
Those like me who already love Pride & Prejudice will recognize the bones of the story: an overbearing mother of five pushes her oldest to catch the eye of a new neighbor, his friend is prideful and arrogant and enters into a push-and-pull relationship with the second oldest Bennett, and said Bennett suffers a series of awful proposals. It keeps many of the core story beats of the source and many of my favorite scenes, but also carves out its own original space inside the world of Pride & Prejudice in a lighthearted and engaging way.
Die-hard Austen fans who are expecting a 1:1 remix are not going to find that here, and of course they won't. MOST ARDENTLY is not intended to be, and it's honestly exactly what I was hoping for. The writing and dialogue preserve the Regency era feel, but the story has been expertly condensed to a YA pace and . I simply couldn't put it down once I truly got into the groove, and it was all I was thinking about every time I had to pause for even a moment.
If you're a fan of Pride & Prejudice, of trans boys finding love and happiness, historical romances, and happy endings, I cannot recommend this one enough, but do be sure to read the author's note at the beginning for content warnings. Please preorder and support this wonderful series!
❧ 4.5 ★
First of all, I am overjoyed to announce that I am starting 2024 as a healed man. I read 91% of this book in one day/sitting, and I have never felt better or more fulfilled. If I reset my reading challenge to 300, look away.
Second of all, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce MOST ARDENTLY to you, the ninth installment in Feiwel & Friends' young adult remixed classics series. I've been watching this project attentively but hadn't been brave enough to dip my toes into trying them until MOST ARDENTLY, a reimaging of Pride & Prejudice with a trans Bennett boy falling in love with a gay Darcy. I blacked out and when I opened my eyes, the ARC had been requested and was open on my Kindle. I cannot thank past me enough.
Those like me who already love Pride & Prejudice will recognize the bones of the story: an overbearing mother of five pushes her oldest to catch the eye of a new neighbor, his friend is prideful and arrogant and enters into a push-and-pull relationship with the second oldest Bennett, and said Bennett suffers a series of awful proposals. It keeps many of the core story beats of the source and many of my favorite scenes, but also carves out its own original space inside the world of Pride & Prejudice in a lighthearted and engaging way.
Die-hard Austen fans who are expecting a 1:1 remix are not going to find that here, and of course they won't. MOST ARDENTLY is not intended to be, and it's honestly exactly what I was hoping for. The writing and dialogue preserve the Regency era feel, but the story has been expertly condensed to a YA pace and . I simply couldn't put it down once I truly got into the groove, and it was all I was thinking about every time I had to pause for even a moment.
If you're a fan of Pride & Prejudice, of trans boys finding love and happiness, historical romances, and happy endings, I cannot recommend this one enough, but do be sure to read the author's note at the beginning for content warnings. Please preorder and support this wonderful series!
❧ 4.5 ★
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ARC received in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Annick Press!
Age 16 is a moving coming-of-age story across nearly fifty years that tells the tale of Roz and her mother, Lydia, and grandmother, Mei Laan, and how hard being 16 is across generations. From Toronto to Hong Kong to Guandong, all three girls face trials that bleed into their relationships and illustrate a crucial, emotional portrait of generational trauma and young girlhood.
I didn't love the pacing and art style all the time, but the way the grandmother and mother interacted, the fractures in their relationships, they all hit incredibly close to home and I am very glad to see this join a beautiful literary canon of young adult graphic novels. It really speaks to both the teen experience and the adult experience in a way that makes me wonder if I'll appreciate this even more when I get older. If you're a fan of The Magic Fish or Mariko Tamaki's work, I would recommend giving AGE 16 a try.
❧ 3.5 ★
Age 16 is a moving coming-of-age story across nearly fifty years that tells the tale of Roz and her mother, Lydia, and grandmother, Mei Laan, and how hard being 16 is across generations. From Toronto to Hong Kong to Guandong, all three girls face trials that bleed into their relationships and illustrate a crucial, emotional portrait of generational trauma and young girlhood.
I didn't love the pacing and art style all the time, but the way the grandmother and mother interacted, the fractures in their relationships, they all hit incredibly close to home and I am very glad to see this join a beautiful literary canon of young adult graphic novels. It really speaks to both the teen experience and the adult experience in a way that makes me wonder if I'll appreciate this even more when I get older. If you're a fan of The Magic Fish or Mariko Tamaki's work, I would recommend giving AGE 16 a try.
❧ 3.5 ★
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder
arc received in exchange for an honest review. thank you, netgalley and yen press!
This light novel begins a series centered around the origin of the four seasons, and the agents who keep the cycle turning. It first follows Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, who returns after a decade of disappearance and does not return just with her chosen season, but a brave decision to face the trauma and regret of what happened ten years ago.
Like many others, I mistakenly thought this was a manga, and I don't have much experience with light novels. I enjoyed the lovely artwork and the unique formatting for things like flashback pages, but overall I didn't enjoy my reading experience. It was really hard to get into in the beginning because of Hinagiku's speaking patterns, and I didn't particularly enjoy Sakura as a character right away. I think I enjoyed Rosei more overall, especially with the dip into darker themes, but overall the story didn't captivate me and I was a little confused on the purpose of the Agents and relation to the seasons.
I personally won't be continuing, but if you enjoy stories about reconciling mistakes and dark pasts as well as worldbuilding centered around the four seasons, I would recommend you give this a try. I've heard the physical version especially is quite lovely!
This light novel begins a series centered around the origin of the four seasons, and the agents who keep the cycle turning. It first follows Hinagiku, the Agent of Spring, who returns after a decade of disappearance and does not return just with her chosen season, but a brave decision to face the trauma and regret of what happened ten years ago.
Like many others, I mistakenly thought this was a manga, and I don't have much experience with light novels. I enjoyed the lovely artwork and the unique formatting for things like flashback pages, but overall I didn't enjoy my reading experience. It was really hard to get into in the beginning because of Hinagiku's speaking patterns, and I didn't particularly enjoy Sakura as a character right away. I think I enjoyed Rosei more overall, especially with the dip into darker themes, but overall the story didn't captivate me and I was a little confused on the purpose of the Agents and relation to the seasons.
I personally won't be continuing, but if you enjoy stories about reconciling mistakes and dark pasts as well as worldbuilding centered around the four seasons, I would recommend you give this a try. I've heard the physical version especially is quite lovely!
This was surprisingly really cute, and I liked the art style a lot.
I have not read the Dominion of the Fallen series (yet!), but I still enjoyed this novella and Thuan as a character! I’m looking forward to reading the continuation.
dark
tense
fast-paced
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Tor!
If you're in the mood for a Christmassy horror read, LUCKY GIRL invokes all my favorite things about dark winter nights and spooky holiday traditions. This novella follows Ro, a struggling writer, who meets four lonely others celebrating one final meal at a local diner soon to close and invites them over for an impromptu Christmas dinner. Ending the night with a round of ghost stories invokes a bloody past that refuses to lay down once its ugly head has been reared.
I quite enjoyed the tone and prose of LUCKY GIRL, which to me perfectly encapsulated the feeling of hearing a story told by firelight. I think the characters' depths perfectly matched Ro's interest in them, and the balance between past and present was done quite well. I always love a story that blurs the lines between monsters of myth and monsters of men, and this really pulled it off for me.
I only had two qualms overall; one is that I fear the title is too long. LUCKY GIRL on its own perfectly encapsulates the story, and I think the rest of it may lead one to think the story drags on, but it certainly does not. I think the ending could have been drawn out a little more, less tell than show, because the narrative lost a bit of that spellbinding and engaging tension once the tone shifted to indicate the end.
The twists did get me and I adored the motifs of the bells, as is central to any Krampus story. If you're looking for a swift horror read this Christmas, I would recommend you try LUCKY GIRL!
If you're in the mood for a Christmassy horror read, LUCKY GIRL invokes all my favorite things about dark winter nights and spooky holiday traditions. This novella follows Ro, a struggling writer, who meets four lonely others celebrating one final meal at a local diner soon to close and invites them over for an impromptu Christmas dinner. Ending the night with a round of ghost stories invokes a bloody past that refuses to lay down once its ugly head has been reared.
I quite enjoyed the tone and prose of LUCKY GIRL, which to me perfectly encapsulated the feeling of hearing a story told by firelight. I think the characters' depths perfectly matched Ro's interest in them, and the balance between past and present was done quite well. I always love a story that blurs the lines between monsters of myth and monsters of men, and this really pulled it off for me.
I only had two qualms overall; one is that I fear the title is too long. LUCKY GIRL on its own perfectly encapsulates the story, and I think the rest of it may lead one to think the story drags on, but it certainly does not. I think the ending could have been drawn out a little more, less tell than show, because the narrative lost a bit of that spellbinding and engaging tension once the tone shifted to indicate the end.
The twists did get me and I adored the motifs of the bells, as is central to any Krampus story. If you're looking for a swift horror read this Christmas, I would recommend you try LUCKY GIRL!