ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost is a very unique spin on a classic fairy tale. Belle spent her childhood as a tomboy known for her strange violet hair, but after the loss of his wife, her father keeps her contained in their house in order to "protect" her. Nearly losing her spark, Belle manages to escape after years of confinement in order to find out what happened to her mother and find a way to the beast who took her.

This manga didn't grip me the way I was hoping it would, but I love that it blazes its own trail in a way that keeps the original story recognizable while building a unique world of strange magic and enemies. This story is balancing a lot and it amazed me that it pulled so much off in just the first volume. The emotional struggles Belle has with her PTSD and her father weave in well with the big struggles of the face stealer, Prince Cyril, and the mystery of Belle's mother. This is one of the most unique twists on the story I've seen, and if you're looking for a retelling unlike any you've read before I'd definitely recommend this! 

 ❧ 3.5 ★ 

If you are thinking about reading this, consider doing literally anything else, such as practicing self care and reflecting on whether or not you love yourself. 

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This comedic, episodic shoujo is a heartwarming look at four oblivious friends. Yamada has been in love with his childhood friend Seno since they were children, while Yamada's two closest friends Akama and Toda are both have feelings for each other and don't realize the other returns their affections.

The little vignettes in this manga pass pretty fast, and I laughed out loud multiple times. This has all the follies of teen love and obliviousness, and I enjoyed it quite a bit! The art style wasn't my favorite but I think it suits the silliness of the story.

One thing that did confuse me was the bonus middle school story at the end... had to whip out my detective glasses to see if Akari is trans or if she just used to be a huge tomboy. Who knows! Either way, I love a good over-the-top girl archetype and I'm looking forward to reading more. 

 ❧ 3.5 ★

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sweet BL manga that follows three simple, happy stories. The titular Would You Like To Be A Family is my personal favorite, following Take, a wallflower designer who becomes tangled with a coworker in a different department after running into him and his son at the supermarket. Kuma's Feeling follows a naive, experienced high senior who has his gay awakening after seeing his friend's older brother's ex run out crying. The premise and their behavior were a bit weird, but at least Kuma was an adult. 💀 The last, The First Love Psychology, is a cute college romance between an extroverted, helpful first year and an introverted psychology major too obsessed with surveys and data to see what's right in front of him.

Would You Like To Be A Family? was an odd collection. I would have liked to see more development with the first story, or at least have the next two stories be more related to the family/child aspect. I  probably would have loved this as a teen, but as an adult I found this lacking a lot of depth. This gets an extra half star for having one of my favorite tropes, but beyond that, this was very, very simple. If you're looking for some cute first love stories with no angst, this will be a nice, quick read for you.

 ❧ 3 ★

ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Penguin Teen!

Josie and Neena have been thick as thieves all throughout high school, but their impending separation looms on the horizon. While Josie is staying local in North Carolina for college and living at home, Neena is about to move two thousand miles away to go to school in California. To have one last trip together, Neena and Josie decide to go on a three-day hike in Pisgah National Forest. They have new equipment, charged phones, printed trail maps, a solid bear canister, and each other: what could possibly go wrong?

While the answer is "a lot," the build to it is a tense crawl. Tension creeps into the story as the girls get deeper into the forest, hiking slowly upward and getting more tired and argumentative by the day. When things go wrong, it is a steep, quick descent. When this book got going, it didn't stop until the gruesome end! I will warn readers of this review that this book is a YA about some foolish high school girls, so going in with lowered expectations regarding their behavior will definitely ameliorate your reading experience.

While I had some struggles with this book like later odd backstory flashbacks from supernatural touch (?), the fun whiplash from a tense medium-paced first 50% to a whirlwind final 50% that I finished in literally one hour, I quite enjoyed this book!

trigger warnings: broken bones (external), detailed on-page injury, car accident (mentioned, fatal, some detail), death of a parent, parental neglect, flashing, sexual assault, lost limb, necrophilia (mentioned, threatened), rape (mentioned, threatened), parental abuse, child sexual assault (mentioned)

 ❧ 3.5 ★