Anisa
This won a Nobel prize! And I seriously don't get why. Like yes, it's great it's a Chinese author talking about his life in the older days like the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc. Maybe people who are older would enjoy this more, so I don't get why it was on an HS library, lol. Mo talked more about Le Wenglu and He Zhiwu than himself. And all we know about himself is that he's bad lucked, has a big mouth, was in the army, and loved these trucks a lot, that's it. We also know he got married, but not much about his wife. We know more about He Zhiwu's wife though, lol. I guess it was beautiful in its own interesting way. I gotta say I don't understand why people call him China's Kafka when Kafka's works are much different and bizarre, this one wasn't. Anyways, I'd say it wasn't bad, but not something I'd go on recommending to everyone and I'd reread...
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc comic book, the opinions are my own.
The cover, the premise, the art style were so amazing and got me hooked into it.
I gotta say it's soo weird, the witch girl on the cover isn't really a witch, but a young cosplayer who is kind of depressed and loves horror books, comics, and movies. Weird. I didn't understand almost anything, but it still made me read more. She summons this demon girl who grants a wish, but she doesn't know what to wish for so they become friends maybe even lovers, dunno. There's this other kid who comes to Teresa's shop who loves to read manga and the demon girl loves Japan so much for some reason. They become friends and just go to the woods and become drunk... There's also this ghost who is making people disappear and weirdly they meet her too. SPOILER turns out that little girl Matilda was the one missing, but people just forgot about her?? I didn't understand what wish did Teresa even ask for, and the end didn't feel like an end.
It was very melancholic and it felt like the one who came up with the idea was drunk too???
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC comic book, the opinions here are my own.
Well, the cover looked so cute! And for some reason, I thought the two main girls on the cover are gonna be a couple or something... I dunno. Also, I thought maybe it's gonna be what love really is in all its ways not just romantically. Everyone here was like straights and allo, annoying. Love is in family, friendship, things, books but it can be romantic too, but not only that. The art style and the views there are pretty good! And how we had dangerous kind of love mentioned... I didn't hate it, but not something I liked much either. I'd say if they drop another volume, I'm not gonna read it.
WOW, just wow! This book was soo good. It's written by an actual neurodivergent author so this was great!
It's about Addie an autistic girl who is obsessed with sharks and reading and the Scottish witch trials. It was soo cool to read about someone who knows soo much about her neurotype. She used all the right words, including being called autistic not someone with autism. She talked about her stims, her special interests, how masking is soo deliberating. I loved that her big sister was also autistic! I don't see that often, especially one who is an adult at university but still struggles! I loved how they mentioned they don't want any cure, autism isn't an illness, not a superpower either! I mean this was as if my own opinions on these topics were here. I also hate what happened to those poor mostly women but men too who were accused of being witches for simple things that made them different, as being neurodivergent, left-handed, read-headed, queer, or something. So Addie wants to do something, to make a memorial to commemorate them as they were falsely accused and killed in a way to apologize as these things should never happen. Also, Addie has some struggles with a teacher at school who is basically a real witch who is very mean and bullies her, she also bullied her older sister Keedie too before. Also, a school bully who turns out to be dyslexic herself, what a shame to bully some other ND... It was a very nice book, and I'd say the most accurate one about autistic people I read until now! I'm so impressed!!! I did relate to some parts with Addie including her obsession with books, lol, and her vibing and saying the truth to others. While I never told anyone outside about me being neurodivergent though... It's a harsh world here, people still judge, I'm like Keddie, not ready.
This is an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions are all my won.
Ok, so this is a 3.5-4 star for me.
The premise and the cover looked AMAZING (still do of course).
The plot is... kind of messy. I didn't feel anything special about it. Like I wasn't rooting for Tess much or anything. It went too fast at some points, and I didn't understand a lot of things, sadly. It's set in this Arthurian, Chamelout world and Tess is basically a descendant of the wizard Merlin. And she's also the princess of the whole Realm. I dunno why, but I wanted Tess to go to the dark side and stuff. Her riding a dragon, but also being a dragon herself confused me. So did the voices she heard. Her friendship with Kate and Tristan felt weird. It has magic, with these magic wands. I may read the other book in the series not sure. It just was OK, to be honest, not that great, but not bad either. It has potential, if only it was in first person and that it was written more with the flow and be kind of slow sometimes, not to just dump us info at points, and at some others make us confused not knowing what's going on. But as I said, I think it has the potential to be a hit fantasy series for middle graders!
Well, I finally read this book! No, it didn't take me long to read it even though I read it a bit slow in purpose. But I wanted to read this book for quite some time. Now I did. With that out of the way, let's talk about this.
I'd say it was a 4.7 or 5, not sure. It wasn't the best book ever, but I didn't dislike anything about it either.
Many may be familiar with the plot in some ways but it's basically a bunch of dwarfs, a wizard Gandalf and a little hobbit who go into an adventure to retrieve the treasure they lost a long time ago, and now the dragon Smaug has it. So I loved Bilbo, he was a very MC, and how he kept wishing he was at home with some tea, it was adorable! Also, he was the hero who didn't want to be. He was chosen by the wizard Gandalf to go on this adventure for some reason, but he doesn't want to. But he really changes through his adventure. He actually becomes the main one of the group who is constantly saving them, having new ideas and plans. He becomes well known for the ring he has. Smaug wasn't really that bad, but still, he should die! Also, this book has a LOT of songs. Like elves and some other creatures sing a lot! Bilbo loves to sing too. There are also rhymes and riddles. The riddle battle between Bilbo and Gollum was very cool, I couldn't figure out the answers myself though.
Something that I found interesting was that this book is so old, it's made in the 30s and it's soo good! This book is like a narration from the author himself, it's unlike other books. Here the narrator seems to have been in the action too, and how he cuts some details because there's not enough time, it's very fun.
I gotta say this was pretty good! I was very happy with it. It's a chill one that didn't make me stressed or anything, it's so calm. I'd say it's good to be read in autumn/fall, it just has the vibes.
Go read it!!!
This book has magic, fantasy, sci-fi elements, a black MC who is very insecure but will do anything for her family, diverse side characters, and ethical dilemmas.
It took me quite a lot to read it as it's quite long and a lot happens. It goes too long on describing so that puts the book to a 4.3 for me.
Basically, the main plot is around Voya who is a black Trinidad teenager waiting for her Calling to become a witch. In this world, magic works with Blood and Intent and when a person reaches puberty, which for witches happens later than to other people, they have a quest, a challenge, some choices to make. If they pass they get magic which an ancestor of them gives, if they fail they'll get magicless forever. Voya is soo enclosure at herself and is very sure she won't pass, and well as we say when you are too negative about something, that may as well happen. But her ancestor gives her a second chance, her task is Destroy your first love. Voya has never been in love, and the only one she thinks could be the one she has to kill is Luc an arrogant guy who she got matched within this futuristic program. Not looking great.
Voya was such an interesting character, I loved her. She goes on and on in inner monologs and dialogues with herself, which in times would make me annoyed, but she was nice. She was very determined and never gave up, and tried to see things in new ways.
It's cool as this book has many twists, and isn't the average fantasy book with a quest. This has soo many challenges and dilemmas mentally. Also, the task is completed in a way which I really liked. It's written pretty well, and it touches down a lot of issues, especially regarding racism but also issues trans people face. Yes, this is set in the future, 2050 to be exact and the world is more advanced than ours technologically (while still no apocalyptic robots and hell) but it's very close to ours as people divide themselves.
Basically, it's a pretty well-written book, with good world-building, and likable characters, while not being cliche and stuff. Romance may seem to be the main thing, but trust me, it's way more than that! Things aren't always bad and good, pure or impure, was the main lesson while also learning to do some stuff for yourself too and take a break sometimes (which Voya really needed).
Also, weird but Voya is 16, like me... but I can't see me in her. She's way more mature and brave than me, I'm basically like a child, lol.
This was soo calm and cute. It was like a hug. I loved Trille and Lena, they were such good best friends! Lena was so brave and got hurt a lot but she didn't care. Trille was so caring and loyal to her. Grandpa was nice too. Trille's grief was so real. I loved the way they spoke and how Norway was described. It seemed to have taken place in this country site on the north at fjords some years after World War 2. I recommend this to all! I read this for the BOTM of “Great Middle-Grade Reads” group, and it was very enjoyable and sweet!!!
Thanks to Edelweiss for this ARC comic book!
OK, so as the title suggests this is a completion of North American stories and legends. So I'm not indigenous nor American and this was interesting. In this, a lot of illustrators and writers of indigenous roots collaborated and it turned out cute! I think kids and young people who are indigenous and native Americans will find this very close to their hearts! I'm not sure how accurate it is, but since the people who worked on this are native Americans themselves I'd say it's must be accurate. The stories were cute, and I liked that I learned more about them and their cultures! SpoilerAlso, is it just me or were some of them kind of gay?:) I recommend it's pretty good, fast and great to learn more about indigenous cultures and legends!
The hell?! I literally didn't understand anything, but I liked it... It gave me Stranger Things vibes especially the 80s kids with bikes against weird monsters and stuff. I don't get the Apple logo. Also, I don't understand what is going on? There's swearing but it's cool. Mac is homophobic but it's the 80s so I guess... Also, I want to read the other volume too even though I'm completely lost, lol. Erin seems to talk a lot about Christianity and stuff. Anyways, it's nice!
Thanks, Edelweiss+ for giving me this cute ARC book to review for free!
So, this was cute! I loved Wednesday. I loved the illustrations. It was a sweet, fast read. I LOVED all the representation and diversity! Wednesday and Mister were mixed and had two moms. The kids at school were all different and of different backgrounds and ethnicities. I liked it! I recommend it to kids anywhere! Also, I didn't even read the first one, so gotta say it is well as a stand-alone book too!
Wow, I liked this! Thank you Chando the author for giving me this for free in exchange for an honest review.
I gotta say I loved that the main characters were adopted, siblings. We, unfortunately, don't see or read stories with adopted sibling often in a good light, even though those kinds of siblings is very often. I liked Mia and Lilou the most though, Atlas was kind of meh to me. I guess he just took all this Adora isn't my real mom a bit too high in the beginning. I really liked that even though he found his real dad he didn't think of Lilou and Nico and Adora as not a family anymore especially because Spoilerwell his dad died. I liked that. Also, I'm pretty sure dr. Faraday is gonna become a father figure now. This is weird considering that both he and Adora are Atlas's birth parents' doppelgangers, lol. The science in this wasn't really that realistic but who cares? It's sci-fi anyways. I did find it slow and too descriptive at parts. Maybe that's on me as I am not the best at paying attention to the boring stuff. I just like the action and the talking parts most. I loved that the author didn't make Atlas and Mia a couple. I hate when they do that, especially to first friends at stuff. I gotta say this book deserves more attention and more readers for sure. Maybe it will get popular, who knows? I may read the second one, not sure. If the author gives it to me for free too, then yeah?! lol.
Thank you Edelweiss+ for this ARC book!
This is just AMAZING! I mean, it's such a cute children's book about this female astronomer of the 1800s that not many have heard of, unfortunately. She's a big hero to girls and everyone and just the writing and illustrations are so cute! I loved this, I hope more kids learn more about Maria Mitchell!
Thanks, NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC amazing book!
Wow, this one was so good. It's a comic book set in the 50s in New Jersey. It's about Susie who is the youngest sister of a Jewish family who has emigrated to the US. It's good as it's actually based on the real story of Susie. Susie always had her nose in a book while her sisters were pretty and funny. I liked how good the living in the 50s was portrayed and the illustrations were soo very vintagey. Being Jewish in the US was portrayed so well as well, especially since this takes place just a decade after the infamous WW2. I recommend this to everyone and I'm so happy I read this!
Wow, this is beautiful, I love the art illustrations and the flow of the text. It's perfect for kids and moms to read together to share their love with them! I'm so impressed I didn't have that high expectation, but it's a MUST read, it's breathtaking!!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you Edelweiss+ for this beautiful ARC picture book, I enjoyed it!
This is so ADORABLE! It's a kids' picture book about Zahra and Ramadan. It celebrates little things and family. Zahra wants a sister so much and she gets that. I loved that they actually adopted one from the refugees which are so sweet! I recommend this to all who want to buy some cute picture books for their kids, especially Muslim families as this is a MUST! I'm gonna read this to my sisters for sure! Also, why did everyone have freckles? Cute.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me this ARC book to read and review for free. First off, the cover is beautiful, it's what drove me to it the most, the title is pretty catchy too!
This one was interesting, it's a YA fantasy series with Norse mythology. I personally am a big fan of mythologies but never had the chance to read a Norse one yet (I like Loki and Thor from MARVEL though). It's told from the perspective of Elin who is a dormant descendant, Aedan who is an unregistered clan member and has special abilities, and Tristian who is a Hunter out to find dormant. It's pretty YA generic but its focus wasn't romanced even if it seemed like it was a love triangle, I absolutely didn't ship any with anyone... I guess the chem wasn't there or I just don't see it. Anyways, the writing style was fun and the worldbuilding was done fairly. The book's main conflict is never really stated and understood well like it's some political thing, the clans are being mean and unfair or something, not sure... This book got me hooked and interested in knowing more, the ending isn't resolved as it's set to be a series so we'll most likely continue there in the next book. The plot was kind of slow at some parts though and I couldn't understand why Elin thought she liked those guys... She still was an interesting character but I just saw her accepting that she's some special person was done too quickly. Like in real life people wouldn't get comfortable with those supernatural stuff so fast?! But anyways the book was pretty good, especially as a first and I'd like to read the next ones too! I'm excited as I love fantasy books with mythology and no romance focused. So, yeah read this!!!
Nje liber interesant per disa femije qe ikin per ne Itali nga Shqiperia per nje jete me te mire, por e shohin qe lumturia nuk gjendet te vendi por te njerezit, shoqeria e familja. Ishte liber i bukur, mu jane dhimbsur femijet shume ne disa vende dhe me vjen mire qe ka libra interesante nga shqipetaret.
An interesting book about some Albanian kids who emigrate to Italy for a better life, but find out that happiness is found in people, friendships, and family. It was a good book, I felt bad for the kids so much in some parts and I am so glad some good books are written by Albanians... No offense to Albanians obviously, I'm one of them, lol
This was creepy and weird but in a good way! I've never really heard about these freak shows, so I was new to that, but the story about Jane and Issy was cute. I liked that she still saw her sister and Jane wasn't gone gone. The end was nice as they were finally free from that creep carnival. Also, it was nice that the author put on resources and stuff in the end about freak shows. I never thought I'd read something like this, but hey it was good! I recommend!
I got an ARC from EDELWEISS+ as an exchange for an honest review.
This one was so different from what I'm used to. I mean, sadly I never read a book where the MC is indigenous nor nonbinary. I liked it! It was very obviously inspired by Alice in Wonderland but in a modern, indigenous way. I love how they say “Cristopher Colombus didn't discover America” as I say that too all the time, I find it so ridiculous that history and geography books say that... The queen was more hardcore in this one. The pacing was a little too fast for my liking, but the illustrations were good. I liked that we got a dictionary of indigenous words used in the back as I didn't understand a lot of things. I recommend this, and I'm glad I read it!
So I read this like a year after the first one... I suck at reading series, I know. But I'd say I remembered quite a lot, but also forgot a lot. I liked this, it was very fun and beautiful. I liked that this one was so much into Sophie's doubts and internal struggles. I'd say I like Keefe but Fitz was kind of annoying, which of course is understandable in this case anyway. I liked that we got more about Black Swan and I'd like to know more too. This one didn't end much in a cliffhanger in end though, and I'd say we may have had less action in this one. More emotional and mental stuff instead. I'd say this was pretty good! I loved it, and it's definitely a fun book series! I still don't like that there's literally no diversity whatsoever... and that all the guys crush on Sophie for some reason... Also, Sophie is so special and always gets hurt and goes to the physician was kind of overdone... It was pretty repetitive and I don't get why they have no therapist in this place at all??? But hey, I'm not mad, just maybe it could be better? Or it already is in the other books, I don't know. But I'd give the other ones a try, after some months, lol.