Lila Danisa

Middle-grade book perfect for nowadays trend where family, friends, and people focused on their screens (phones, tables, game consoles, etc) more than connected to other human beings. This book is also subtly delivering the message that not everything you see in social medias as perfect as they seem to be.

I actually felt sad for Sonal at the beginning because her family (except Nanna) ignored and dismissed her. They done it unintentionally but I still felt the hurt and somehow it relatable with me personally. I was glad she had Nanna on her side.

I always awed on how children and middle-graders books smoothly sipped in live values in such as short books. This book is no different. For short books, I at least could get more than 3 live values. That's why I will never stop reading children and middle-graders books.

Thank you to Serena Patel, Union Square & Co., Sterling Publishing, Union Square Kids, and NetGalley for the ARC.

That was cute. Super light and super fast reading.

Though the title is Obsessed Bodyguard, I didn't see much obsession coming from Dillon toward London.

The storyline was still there, barely. Can't complain because I didn't expect much from this 67 pages length of novella.

That was good. Simple and easy read for (most likely) middle-graders. Quick and light reading but still had me on edge by the (slightly) horror and suspense plots.

I got the re-release version of this book through NetGalley and it has way better cover than the first edition cover. To be honest, I think I wouldn't read this book if what I saw first was the original cover. Well yes, I often judge the book by its cover. Sorry not sorry.

However, this new edition got better and intrigued cover. It's giving the strong horror vibes.

Thank you to Chris Priestley, Union Square & Co., Sterling Publishing, Union Square Kids, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Ah that was so good. Magical but still light and funny to read. The illustrations were so good. Remind me of manga and manhwa, like the perfect mix of both.

I didn't realize that this book is sapphic dark retelling of Red Riding Hood until half of the book. I think because this book has zero sameness on the original fairytale. The one that connected this book and OG Red Riding Hood was the name of main character (Red) and the wolves involved in the story. I might have forgotten the Red Riding Hood original story, but I liked this version way better.

For me, the storylines were so good. I predicted some parts, but other parts took me by surprise on how good those played out.

Thank you to Cherry Zong, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Beautiful book to teach the little ones (and grown-ups) to calm themselves in any situations.

With magical mindset as the guide, this book could turn the "bad feelings" into joyful ones. As an adult, this book easily convinced me on how to regulate my emotions. But for my 5 years old son, regulate emotions is still on our learning process. It's not easy but it's important to learn every day. To be honest, I learn a lot to regulate my emotions since I am become a parent. My emotional status is not stable yet, but I try really hard to stable it in front of my son. To be emotionally stable is long process and I try to do it every day with my son by reading books for example. Hence, this book is perfect for us.

The illustrations were good. Vibrant with colors but not overwhelming our sensory.

Thank you to Allison Joy, Boys Town Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

From Indonesian author and publisher but translated to English.

The story was actually fine, good even. But our (me and my son) concern was the overwhelming of the illustrations. It was so packed with colors, bright easily overwhelmed kind of colors. It made us difficult to focus on the story. For me, the characters illustrations were are positioned awkwardly, they were on in the center panels (?) so it was difficult to focus on them too.

Heartwarmingly beautiful 🥹🥹🥹

I cried so many times because somehow I could feel what Selah went through. My chest felt closing together when I read how frustrated Selah were at many moments in this book. I cried (again) when Selah finally got a bare minimum of what she deserved.

As a mother, this book kinda slapped me hard. I want my son could easily telling me everything when he grows up. Especially when his life got hard, figuring himself in this world. This book may not a guide, but I took notes on behavior differences that might lead my son to the spectrum. I have always suspected my son either in the spectrum or ADHD, but to make the diagnosis straight, he needs to see child psychologist. This book strengthen my decision to see the professional for him (and also for me).

Today is the first day of Ramadan here in Indonesia. Ramadan Kareem!

I have been reading this book for my son a week beforehand to prepare him for Ramadan. This year he would try to fast with us, InshaAllah. He is only 5 years old so he would only do half-fasting or until he gets really hungry. Disclaimer: I never force him to fast, he wants to do it himself. In Islam, it's not mandatory for kids to do fasting.

This book explained all about Ramadan dan fasting perfectly. Simple and easy to understand. Not only for kids, this book also perfect for grown-ups who want to know about Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

The illustrations were so helpful to immerse our reading experience. Point plus for this book because the illustrator is fellow Indonesian.

Baru pertama kali dalam 31 tahun hidup, saya membaca kata "dialektika" dan kata ini sama sekali berbeda makna dengan "dialek". Jujur, sangat mind-blowing dan merasa gagal sebagai WNI karena baru tau ada kata itu dengan makna yang luar biasa juga.

Dialektika adalah alat untuk memahami bagaimana alam di sekeliling kita bekerja dan upaya mereka berubah.

Ada 3 jenis dialektika. Dalam buku ini yang dibahas adalah "segala hal di dunia ini memiliki hal yang berseberangan".

Karena keterbatasan anak saya dalam berbahasa Indonesia, saya menerjemahkan buku ini ke dalam Bahasa Inggris dan kemudian membacakan untuknya. Kata-kata yang digunakan dalam buku ini sangat simple sehingga memudahkan saya untuk menerjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Inggris secara harfiah tanpa penyesuaian yang signifikan.

Buku ini bercerita tentang 7 singa bersaudara yang sudah waktunya untuk potong rambut. Sangat sesuai dengan keadaan anak saya sekarang yang menolak keras untuk potong rambut padahal rambut sudah awut-awutan dan menghalangi matanya.

Ketujuh singa bersaudara berserta ibu-ayah singa memiliki ciri khas tersendiri yang memudahkan saya dan anak saya untuk mengingat siapa yang mana. Sangat mengasyikkan untuk anak saya mengidentifikasi si ini dengan rambutnya yang begini.

Berkat buku ini, saya bisa berkompromi dengan anak saya untuk memotong rambut panjangnya. Buku ini dengan mudah menjelaskan bahwa kita tidak perlu khawatir untuk memotong rambut, toh rambut kita akan tumbuh lagi. Buku ini juga memvalidasi bahwa tidak apa setiap kita mempunyai preferensi dalam hal rambut pendek atau rambut panjang.

Ilustrasi di dalam buku ini sangat eye-pleasing dengan details yang sangat membantu jalan cerita.

Hahaha lucu sekali, ilustrasinya terutama. "hanya" gambaran tangan yang kemudian diwarnai, mungkin dengan crayons. Anak saya kaget pertama kali melihat karena belum pernah dia lihat ilustrasi semacam ini. Cukup refreshing buat saya dan anak saya yang terbiasa membaca picture books yang ilustrasinya menggunakan digital (?)

Cerita dan alurnya sederhana tetapi bermakna, terutama tentang pertemanan dan saling menolong.

Dikarenakan kemampuan Bahasa Indonesia anak saya belum mumpuni, saya harus menerjemahkan ke Bahasa Inggris agar dia paham. Syukurnya anak saya cukup menikmati membaca buku ini bersama saya.

Slightly better than the first book in this series. Still with the same type of FMC, but the MMC here had more balls than the MMC in the first book. Jake was only 25 (I think) but he was mature enough and took the right decisions.

Light, quick, and spicy reading experience.

Damn! That was so dark! My first ever horror graphic novel and it got me hooked!

The illustrations were chef's kiss to drown the readers even more in horror vibe alongside the story. The illustrations were darkly unhinged and distracting. Perfect for this book!

The story was simple yet deep at the same time. Surrounding the dark behind the scenes of exorcism. The ending was open ending realistic type of ending. For someone who expects happy ending, this book is not for you.

I really had a great reading experience with this book. I forced myself to stop reading when the night came because I didn't want to bother my husband when I needed to use the bathroom. Yes, for me, this book was scary and could easily make me didn't want to go to the toilet without company.

Thank you to Gus Moreno, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Awww that was so freaking cute!!!

Perfect for someone in the mood of light spicy age-gap romance.

Definitely insta-lust and insta-love kind of story but didn't matter for me because I was looking for this kind of reading experience. Life has been messy and heavy, this book is perfect escapism for me. I don't care that it was slightly (or truly) cringey not make sense at all story, yet this book served me a good distraction from currently horrible real-life world.

Coach Jeff, 50 years old hero, was having the starts upon seeing Molly, 23 years old heroine. Molly was a bold type of heroine and she also fell hard for Jeff for the first glance. Their accidental marriage was funny and definitely only happening in fiction world. They navigated their relationship well enough. Molly was hesitant to speak her mind but I loved that Jeff was so opened up with her and encouraged her to do the same. It was showing that Jeff was way mature and I liked it.

Thank you to Chloe Maine for the ARC.