Russell's writing is gorgeous and evocative, but I found myself feeling bogged down (is that a Florida joke? Maybe) by the sheer amount of emotional effort required to get invested in a story, watch it fail to conclude, and then do the same thing over and over again. The similarities between some stories increased that challenge for me.

DNF @ p.66

Pru, Franny, and Cat all live on Gumm Street in a beautiful, idyllic town and HATE each other. When Ivy moves to their street and brings her curse, weird things start happening...

I like the characters and the writing is fine, but I just can't get into this. I think it's too bizarre for its own good- strange details everywhere that don't amount to any greater purpose other than making everything super weird (but in a way that the main characters are used to and therefore don't notice). If the strangeness created a mood, like in a Roald Dahl or Neil Gaiman book, I would be into it, but instead it seems like an effort on the author's part to add as much whimsy as possible without regard for how it shapes the story.

Anansi* performs three "impossible" tasks for the sky god and thus reclaims the folklore of the Ashanti people for the mortals. I loved the folkloric narration of the story, with the onomatopoetic language and the repetition. The art is absolutely gorgeous as well.

*My complaint: Anansi doesn't actually have any ideas himself- his wife Aso solves each puzzle and sets Anansi up to get all the acclaim. Frustrating, yet typical. Anansi isn't known for being honest or fair to those around him, but I wish Aso would put at least one of her many feet down and take some credit.

Violet helps her shy dragon friend Dave feel appreciated and accepted by her community. Cute, but I felt like Dave’s moods and journey of growth could have been more deeply explored.

I like the illustrations but I don’t get the moral (?) or the grandma’s advice (??) or the ending really (???)

I enjoyed reading this, but the characters aren’t at all fleshed out and it’s a bit heavy on the name-dropping. Kurt’s narration didn’t especially ring true for me.

Crossovers are the WORST!!! I need continuity and this has none of that!

In the chaotic hellscape that is the Battleworld, there is an island of relative peace and calm. Under the governance of She-hulk, Arcadia keeps its citizens safe—that is, until a giant shark comes through a mysterious portal and leads to the banishment of one of Arcadia's foremost heroines. Now the lady heroes of the island must come together to discover the source of the portal and return their world to its idyllic former state.

This is a super fun comic, but I think it suffers due to having too much going on. There are so many familiar faces, making for an iSpy reading experience, but in terms of plot and dialogue, this volume falters due to its overly ambitious nature. Especially in the midst of a giant fight, the quippy dialogue comes across as out of place. Very enjoyable to see so many women kicking ass, nonetheless.

While kids will certainly giggle as they guess at the reasons behind each face, I found the nature of the expressions to be a bit too oblique at times, disconnected from what the text tells me inspired them.