(I kindly received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.) 

This was a sweet start to a new romance series, where a girl must convince three rebellious classmates to come back to school or risk losing her scholarship. I love a good "bond or else" trope, and I was happy to see that the boys came through for her instead of blowing her efforts off for the whole volume. The art style was very cute, and I loved to watch the growing bond between Rei and the main girl. At first, I was worried I'd have to note that I wanted more screentime from Yuki, since he didn't seem to have as deep as a personality as Rei and Chihiro. When you learn why, my eyebrows picked up! I'm looking forward to the next one. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sprite and the Gardener is a heartwarming, adorable story. It's set in a world where sprites used to take care of gardening, but now that humans moved in and maintain their own yards, sprites have become obsolete. However, Wisteria, a sprite new to town, discovers a love for gardening after asking questions about the way things used to be and questioning how they are now.

The soft coloring and unique, whimsical art style were perfect for the tone of this book. The sprites (and humans!) were diverse and very expressive, even when they were drawn small! I love a gentle nature fantasy, and this delivered on every level. I was expecting this to be a story where humans moved in and ruined everything, but I was surprised to see that only the sprites were affected, not nature in general. Of course, I don't hate themes of humans damaging the earth and needing to change, since that's the reality we live in and it does need to change, but it was refreshing to see humans portrayed as creators and caretakers! The ending was heartwarming and sweet, and I can't wait to see more from both the artist and the author. 

me: i'm normal
me: [rereading this in a feral fugue state, barely upright, practically foaming at the mouth, told someone to read it twice and didn't remember] 
me: so normal