3.5 Stars

Umm… okay. The Journey of Yuan and Kian is an interesting story about a land unicorn and a sea unicorn. The two become friends and decide to play after work. But darkness descends, making it impossible. The duo plans to learn to fly so that they can poke holes in the sky for some to appear.

They go from one animal to another asking for help. Each of them directs the duo to another and takes them one step closer to the mission. They finally learn how to fly (from a stork) and poke holes in the sky, allowing the stars to appear.

The moral is to believe in yourself and persist until you achieve. The book is text-heavy, with text on one side and illustrations on the other. Adults will probably have to read it out to the kids.

Coming to the illustrations, I’m still not sure if I like them or not. Drawings have been placed on real background pictures. While it is cute, the overall result looks more like an outdated animated movie. I’m not sure how it’ll look on paper. The e-copy wasn’t exactly wow.

To sum up, the book is pretty decent and entertaining but not something I'll remember for long.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and BooksGoSocial and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#TheJourneyofYuanandKian #NetGalley

One-Liner: Super duper cute.

• Illustrations- check
• Adventures- check
• Naughtiness- check
• Fluffy fur balls with big eyes- check

The book has everything a cat lover would want. It’s a collection of slice-of-life incidents as the senior cat, Sue, has to babysit Tai-chan, a curious little kitten. Someone gives Natsuki Tai-chan for a few weeks, and he hands over the kitten to his aging cat Sue. Tai-chan makes Sue run around the house when all she wants to do is sleep. Tai-chan finds his friend, guide, and family in Sue.

Isn’t the concept beautiful? The illustrations, text size, and layout are neat and appealing. The dialogues are to the point and easy for kids to read. Another bonus is the different types of meows and mews cats use to express themselves.

To sum up, Sue & Tai-chan is a sweet, cute, adorable, and lovely collection of teeny misadventures in Natsuki’s house.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#SueTaichan1 #NetGalley

*******

Read the full review here.

3.3 Stars

One Liner: A few hits and misses

*Minority Opinion*

Paris, 1940: Laurence has her bookshop, The Book Dispensary, and sells books, prescribing poems/ quotes to the buyers. The talk of war seems nothing more than a distant nightmare until it cuts too close to home. The Nazi army camps in her village, and Laurence is determined to not bow down. Becoming a part of the Resistance seems like a natural thing to do.

But when an unexpected development puts her in grave danger, Laurence knows she has little to no chances of survival.

America, 1993: Jeanne discovers that her life wasn’t what she assumed it to be. Being a female cop forced into early retirement before her 50th birthday was bad enough. But the truth is disturbing and fills her with questions. What is the story behind the bookstore she inherited? What does a tiny village in France have to do with her? Where do Laurence and Jeanne’s lives merge and how?

What I Like:

• The portrayal of resistance is beautiful. It isn’t just about picking up arms or getting into physical fights. Laurence shows how her kind of resistance is equally important.
• After reading graphic descriptions of the atrocities multiple times, a lighter version was enough for me.
• Books play a vital role in the story. There’s a list of the resistance book club reads at the end.
• The side characters are intriguing in Laurence’s track. Together, they create the atmosphere needed for the setting.
• There’s no forced love track for Jeanne, which I appreciate.

What Didn’t Work For Me:

• The dual timeline books always have the risk of imbalance, and it happened here. The focus is more on the past (which I like). The contemporary track feels more like a prop. In fact, the contemporary track could be removed and substituted with an epilogue (either in the third person or from Wendell’s POV). That would make the book even better (not to mention cut it down from 400+ pages to around 350).

• I understand the importance of hope, but reading so many hopefully’s annoyed me. The same goes for the number of times we are reminded about Jeanne being a cop. It makes no difference to the story.

• I’m not sure if I missed or if there’s no proper reason provided for Gigi’s behavior (whatever is shared and hinted at is not enough). Her character arc is odd, and I still don’t understand why she has so much space.

To sum up, The Paris Network is a decent book based on true events but doesn’t have the wow factor. Pretty much a mixed bag for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #TheParisNetwork

P.S: Mine is a minority opinion, so please read the other reviews before deciding.

4.5 Stars

Quarto is back with another lovely collection of 50 tales from around the world, and this time it is Nature stories! The stories are categorized into different aspects of Nature:

• Flower, Fruit & Seed
• Wind & Weather
• Creatures Great & Small
• Sun, Moon & the Stars
• Lead and Tree
• Lake, River, Ocean
• Desert, Mountain, Stone

There are stories from many countries, and two from my own (India). How Lightning Began and The Tree God are Indian nature stories, though it makes me sad to admit that I haven’t read them before.

As with other folktales, most nature stories impart a moral lesson about vice and virtues. Themes like greed, jealousy, selfishness, acceptance, sharing, love, kindness, selfless sacrifice, etc., are common across the stories.

The Stone Soup (Portugal) and the Jack and Beanstalk were a part of my childhood. The last story, The Fire on the Mountain (Ethiopia), has been retold among the Akbar & Birbal Tales and Tenali Ramakrishna Tales and is a popular one in my country. The Six Brothers (New Zealand) has teeny similarities to Indian folklore about the rainbow (though the sky and earth never get to marry or have kids in our version).

The illustrations are typical Quarto style, the kind I’ve come to appreciate in these collections. They complement the stories without taking the focus away from the theme or the moral of each story. Kids will enjoy reading the stories and using the illustrations to imagine the rest.

Listing a few of my favorites below:
• The Acorn and the Pumpkin (France),
• The Twelve Months (Czech),
• How Freshwater Mussel Brought Rain (Africa),
• Light Daughter of Snow (Russia),
• The Girl Who Helped Thunder (NA, Muskogee),
• The Honest Penny (Norway),
• Green Dragon Pond (China),
• A Garment for the Moon (East Europe)

To sum up, A World Full of Nature Stories is a great book for kids and adults who love folktales. The collection is assorted to keep every reader interested.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, Frances Lincoln Children's Books, and Quarto Publishing Group and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#AWorldFullofNatureStories #NetGalley

3.7 Stars

Imagine reading Beauty and Beast in a live animation Manga edition. The color scheme worked really well to set the mood. It took me a while to understand how to read (the instructions are the end, which I read after finishing the book. That’s the trouble with e-copies), and yet, it felt as if the dialogues didn’t follow the same pattern throughout.

I love how the servants are creepy cute. Sounds like an oxymoron, but the book had The Addams Family vibes (one of my favorite shows as a kid). Reading the Beast’s POV was interesting. His vulnerability came out well, even though the book seemed a bit rushed. Guess it’s probably because of the format.

I’m not sure how much I enjoyed the live animation art. Some of it was superb. However, in some scenes, the expressions seemed forceful. Maybe that’s how it’s done. I confess I have almost no knowledge of this art form. I requested the ARC just to enjoy the fairytale in the full-color edition.

To sum up, the Beast’s version is a good take on the original and adds depth to the storyline. I love the illustrations of the rose in the glass jar. The magic and power translate to the page perfectly.

Thank you, NetGalley and TOKYOPOP, Disney Manga, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #DisneyMangaBeautyandtheBeastTheBeastsTaleFullColorEdition

3.5 Stars

This is Belle’s version of the fairytale and has a lighter color scheme to suit her nature. The illustrations felt a bit uneven in this one. Some were beautiful, but a few didn’t reach the mark.

Since I read this after Beast’s version, I’ll go ahead admit that I like his POV more. Belle’s love for him seemed too sudden. Another thing was the abrupt pacing of the story. I had to check if I skipped a page more than once.

What I did like were the inventions and stuff. Some of Belle’s illustrations were so pretty and live animation. Her eyes stood out in a couple of pages. That was cool! And the illustrations of the objects were really good in this one.

Reading the books together might seem a bit boring with a couple of the same pages, but it’ll give a complete picture of the story. Grab them if you want to try reading fairytales in Manga and live animation.

Thank you, NetGalley and TOKYOPOP, Disney Manga, for the ARC(s) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#DisneyMangaBeautyandtheBeastBellesTaleFullColorEdition #NetGalley

4 Stars

Oh, the illustrations are charming. They’ve been done using a traditional technique, something similar to block printing on sarees and dresses (Indians would know what I’m talking about). The result is old-school and beautiful.

The fable is about owls that are always happy while the other birds eat, drink, and fight through the day. When asked, the owls reply that they find beauty and peace in nature, thus being happy no matter what.

The birds don’t understand, but hey, the owls are wise and snuggle back into their home to be happy. I think adults would enjoy this more than kids. However, the book can show kids a different kind of art and interest them in various concepts and art forms.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and NorthSouth Books and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#TheHappyOwls #NetGalley

4.5 Stars

Deep in the magical forest, the Night Librarian gets ready to spin a tale as critters, bugs, fireflies, bats, beetles, and mice sit down to listen. They are transported to the dreamland and go home sleepy-eyed to continue the dreams.

The book, as such, is nothing more than poetic prose about critters getting ready for a bedtime story. What makes it special are the illustrations. I mean, they are WOW! The full-page illustrations in watercolors are mesmerizing and surreal. The color scheme is perfect. I could look at every page for minutes and still not feel bored in the slightest.

The text has been carefully placed to not disturb the illustrations. But that meant the text size is quite small (especially in the electronic copy). If you want a bedtime book for kiddos with no specific story but fabulous illustrations, grab this one.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and NorthSouth Books and am voluntarily leaving a review.

#TheTwilightLibrary #NetGalley

4.3 Stars

One Liner: A few misses but a satisfying read.

1940, Russia: Anya is an English-speaking Russian sent to England as a spy. She has to work as a Land Girl in Norfolk and pass on information to the Russian authorities. Nikolai is her partner in crime (or spying). He is an intelligent young man with soulful eyes and secrets of his own. When the war gets complicated, Anya and Nikolai know they have to depend on each other to survive in the enemy country. They devise a plan to find each other if things go terribly wrong. But did they find each other or perish in the war?

Present Day, Norfolk: Laura takes up the job of restoring the old garden in the Norfolk Manor. She is struggling with personal issues and trying to make the right decision. When she comes across a box buried under a willow tree in the secret garden, Laura is determined to get to the root of the mystery. Maybe unraveling the mystery will also help make sense of her life.

What I Liked:

• Both timelines get almost equal importance in the book. In many dual timelines, I find the contemporary track diluted or ineffective. Here, Laura’s track is well-sketched to create a likable heroine.
• The elements of nature weave in and out of the story to create a mystical effect. The garden is also a character in the book.
• The book deals with Russian spies in England during WW II. It felt refreshing to read another perspective.
• Despite dedicating alternate chapters to the past and present, there are no bumps or jerks in the narration. It only adds intrigue to the story.
• The emotions come out strong, especially towards the end of the book. Even though some of it seems a little too neatly tied up, it was satisfying to read the ending.
• The second half gains pace (or maybe I just slow fast-read to finish the book). Though a lot happens, none of it is overwhelming or confusing.
• I wondered why a particular secret was dragged through the first half. It made sense after reading it. The revelation happened just when it should. That’s a very good execution.
•

Spoiler

There’s something highly satisfying when reading about older couples finding their lost love.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• The story starts with long, winded sentences (probably to set the mood) that slowed my reading pace. It didn’t help that I tend to zone out when every alternate sentence is three to four lines long.
• A little more about Jamie’s past/ life would have made things even better. There’s hardly anything we know about him compared to Laura. That dimmed the impact the relationship should have on the reader.

To sum up, Garden of Secrets is a heartwarming and satisfying read, despite the slow start.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #GardenofSecrets