March Wrap-Up
Happy April Fool’s Day!
What are some pranks you like to pull on your friends and family? My boyfriend loves a good prank and changed my computer screensaver to a picture of a shattered screen 😂 Anyhoo I can’t believe it’s already April. Another month just FLEW by. It’s officially not my birthday month anymore but I’m still reaping in the little packages I bought for myself, so my birthday haul isn’t ending anytime soon. Thank goodness for art prints and pre-orders! I ended up buying around 22 new books in March and 2 new bookcases to fit them all. Now I have a ton of empty bookshelf space and no books to fill them. I sense another couple book hauls in my future. I ended up reading a decent amount of books in March: 14 books and 1 audiobook. Granted most of my books were manga or graphic novels so it wasn’t too hard to read more 😂 Anyhoo onto my reviews!
My Library
Aggie Morton by Marthe Jocelyn
Review:
This was a reread so I could be ready to read the sequel. I loved it just as much as when I read it the first time! The mystery was so compelling and I did not expect the plot twist at the end at all. I love the characters and Aggie is just so precious! I’m so excited to read the next book!
5/5🌟
Whisper Me a Love Song Volume 2 by Eku Takeshima
Review:
I loved this just as much as volume 1! This story is so freaking cute! I love the characters so much and totally ship them. I love how there’s food involved now because I love reading about food in stories. There’s also a love triangle growing so I can’t wait to see more of that in Volume 3 and how it ends up working out. The ending was intense so I need more asap! But alas I must wait patiently till the release date in June.
5/5🌟
Netgalley eARC’s
The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din
Review:
TW for suicide, rape, child rape, sexual assault trauma, violence, self-harm
Just a warning this book is daaaaark. But even though it is dark, it really sheds light on the problematic devadasi culture and how it has evolved into a form of prostitution. Ana Lal Din includes a blurb in her acknowledgements about the issues she wanted to spread awareness about in this book. Some of the issues include the caste system, abuse of transgenders in South Asia, exploitation of resources from places like the Middle East and Afghanistan, and human trafficking. It was really hard to read about some of these issues, but I believe she portrayed everything very well and did not shy away from sharing the cold, hard truth. This is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable when they read it. The characters were also really well-written and going through their own internal struggles. I really liked reading Roma's chapters and I liked how despite all the trauma she suffers she still has empathy for others struggling such as Chirag. I really didn't like Levi's character though and I think what he did to Roma was completely unforgivable. I hope he turns out better in the next book and redeems himself. I get that he has a ton of trauma of his own but I just found him to be so unlikeable. Overall I think the story was really engaging and there's a lot going on especially near the end. The ending was a great cliffhanger though so I'm excited to read the next book.
3/5🌟
Poison Priestess by Lana Popovic
Review:
I really enjoyed Lana’s first book Blood Countess so I knew I had to read this one. This book was just as dark and mysterious as the last book and I was riveted. This is part of the Lady Slayers series but can be read as a standalone. There’s the repeating trope of poor girl gets out of poverty and taken under the service of a wealthy lady who is dark and lowkey deranged, girl grows into a strong but dark character, girl realizes she must be better and turns from the evil way and tries to escape from her wealthy mistress’ grasp. I love the Versailles and French time period of Louis XIV. The Messe Noire was so interesting to read about and I was totally here for all the dark spooky and seductive rituals.
4.5/5🌟
Gemma and the Giant Girl by Sara O’Leary
Review:
Lol I read this book to my boyfriend while we were waiting in line at the carwash. It was super quick and a cute little read about a girl doll who lives in a dollhouse with her parents and then a girl comes to play with them. The artwork was really interesting with the proportions of their heads haha. I loved the colours of the illustrations though, the pastels just gave it such a relaxing vibe. The message I got from this book was that there’s no place like home. This is a cute book to read to your child so go check it out 😊
4.5/5🌟
Our Not So Lonely Planet Travel Guide Volume 1 by Mone Sorai
Review:
I had mixed feelings about this manga. It seemed a little bit like the characters would mostly tell how they were feeling rather than show, but it was a cute little story. The relationship aspect started off very slow and it took me a second to realize the main duo was a couple. Once you read more they just get cuter and cuter though. I loved reading about their travel adventures and the people they met along the way. I also learned that there’s a variety of different gender identities in Thailand which is really neat. One thing I thought was a bit sad was how Asahi doesn’t like to express his relationship with Mitsuki in public; he doesn’t acknowledge their relationship. But I like how throughout their travels and experiences, Asahi slowly becomes more accepting(?) of their relationship and goes through some character growth. Overall this is a really fun and heartfelt story and I can’t wait to see where they travel to next! Also Mitsuki is just a literal ray of sunshine I love his character so much.
4/5🌟
She’s My Knight Volume 1 by Saisou
Review:
SO CUTE. I love this so much. I love how Mogami is taller than Ichinose because I can totally relate to the height difference in my own relationship 😂 I enjoyed the trope of how the popular guy has a total crush on someone who rivals his own popularity and he completely denies liking her even though it’s so obvious. There were some really fun parts in the story that played on the contrast of their gender roles and how Ichinose thinks their relationship is supposed to be (ie. he should be wooing her and making her fall madly in love with him and not the other way around). This was just a really fun manga to read and the emotions shown in the artwork was hilarious and really helped make the story even better. Facial expressions were on point.
5/5🌟
Embodied by Multiple Authours
Review:
I really wanted to enjoy this anthology but I don’t think it was my thing. I loved the artwork a lot and thought it really added to the poetry, but I could barely understand the poems unless I took some time to analyze the meanings etc. I appreciate that there is a reader’s question guide at the end of the book to spark some discussion about the poems, so I think it would be a great book for a book club or a school assigned reading. I understood the gist of most of the poems but there were some where I was still totally confused. I’m really glad the artwork was there because it really helped me understand the poems better. This is definitely not a light read so be prepared to think and analyze while reading this. If you take the time to read and understand it, I think it can be a very beautiful anthology about gender identity and love and being a woman.
3/5🌟
Edelweiss
Averee by Stephanie Phillips
Review:
I thought this was kind of a ‘meh’ story. I thought the concept of the rankings was super interesting and definitely reminded me of the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive”. However, for some reason the plot just didn’t grasp my attention or make me care about the events happening. This graphic novel was fairly fast paced though, so it was an easy read. There were some interesting bits about how rankings affected society so those parts fascinated me. Character-wise, I didn’t care too much for Averee’s character and I thought her relationship with Luke was very cringey and awkward. Zoe however was a great character and I loved how sassy and spunky she was. Overall this was a decent story and you’ll definitely like it if you enjoy the whole theme of the dark side of technology.
3/5🌟
Lovesickness by Junji Ito
Review:
TW: Suicide, gruesome images, gore, violence, throat slitting, …this manga is just full of dark things so FYI.
Y’all this book was creepy AF. It almost gave me nightmares. Ito’s artwork never disappoints on the creepiness scale. I read this at night and all the scary dead women were giving me goosebumps. I thought the story of the crossroad fortunes was so unnerving and it ended so abruptly which left me wanting more. The other stories in the book were so messed up and creepy as well especially the one about the Hikizuri siblings. The last story was very random but it added some humour to the end of the book which was probably the reason why I was actually able to fall asleep instead of staying up the entire night with the fear of the dead crossroad fortune girls coming for my soul 😂 Overall this is an amazing manga as always and I am super excited to read more of Ito’s work!
6/5🌟
Money Shot Volume 1 by Tim Seeley
Review:
I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this but I really freaking enjoyed this graphic novel. I love how sex is portrayed in a very positive and healthy way. I love how they have different body types for the women so not all of them look like Barbies (although the guys look like Ken lol) and omg they actually included body hair. The alien aspect made for an interesting storyline and I really enjoyed seeing how all the characters interact with each other. I feel like this also promoted porn that was ethically made, so using consent etc. Overall this is such a random story but I enjoyed every page.
4/5🌟
Money Shot Volume 2 by Tim Seeley
Review:
There was a lot of growth from the first volume and I enjoyed reading it just as much. In this volume they include sexually transmitted diseases and how consent is important. This alien storyline is a little lowkey bestiality but the characters are so sweet and the ending for the alien pair is so cute. There’s also some jellyfish so you also get a little tentacle action LOL. In all seriousness though this graphic novel is great and portrays sex in such a positive way albeit with aliens , but that just makes it a lot more interesting.
4/5🌟
The King’s Beast Volume 1 by Rei Toma
Review:
TW: Attempted sexual assault and prostitution
So this was much more of a darker manga than I expected. It also gave me a tiiiiiny bit of a Mulan vibe with Rangetsu disguising herself as a boy. There also isn’t too much of a romance aspect as there is revenge, so I’m assuming it’s going to be one hell of a slow burning romance. The plot about Rangetsu and her brother is so emotional and sad and I was definitely rooting for her to find out what happened to her brother. One thing I wondered though, and maybe it’s just the art style, but the story says Ajin boys are the ones taken to serve as the Imperial Palace’s beast servants but Youbi, a prince’s beast, looks really feminine. Other than that this is a very interesting story and I really want to know what happens next.
3.5/5🌟
Other eARC’s
Clare at Sixteen by Don Roff
Review:
TW - Child pornography, sexual assault, sex trafficking, serial killers, and gore
Thank you Parliament House Press and Don Roff for the eARC! If you’re a fan of dark thrillers and dark stories in general then this book is for you! It was amazing! I blew through this book in one night and loved every page. Clare is such a sassy and outspoken protagonist and I love how she’s a vegan which is such a contrast to all the killing she does. She’s such a sweet girl to her grandparents and I like how she uses her dark side to defend the weak and vulnerable. I enjoyed reading her thought process throughout the entire book. Also the short chapters in the book made it a very dynamic and fast-paced story. This book really fulfilled my craving for a dark and gory read. Great book and I am so freaking excited for the next one!
6/5🌟
Audiobooks
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Review:
I listened to this on Audible and it was AMAZING. This was such a heartbreaking yet hopeful story about Mia’s life coming to America from China and living (and working) with her parents at the Calivista Motel. There are so many things that happen in the book that showcase the racism and classism happening in America towards immigrants (and essentially anybody who wasn’t white) during that time. Some of the parts were so hard to listen to because it’s just so devastating to hear what people had to go through back then and realize that all that stuff is still happening today. It was really interesting to hear all of this happening from the innocence of a child’s perspective though and how hopeful she was about everything. I loved all the characters except Mr. Yao and I loved how the motel regulars and immigrants who stopped at the motel were like one big, extended family. I also love how the immigrants and motel regulars were so kind to each other and always helped each other out because they knew what it was like to struggle as well. This is seriously an amazing story and it’s also based off of Yang’s experiences. Whether you’re a kid or adult, you need to read this!
6/5🌟
So that wraps up my wrap-up haha! I hope you all have a fun April Fool’s Day and remember please be kind and don’t joke about serious things like your relationship or faking a pregnancy etc. Go read a book instead 😂 Pick up one of the awesome books I listed above and let me know what you think!
Happy reading and pranking 😜
