Lila Danisa

"We are both fucked up and damaged beyond repair, but together we’re different."

- Chapter 46, 94%

Not gonna lie, I was crying toward the ending. It was so sad but also heartwarming.

The overall story was good but I wish there were more details on Bailey's past. It was so vaguely mentioned and the solving also felt rushed. Maybe I need to read Brynn and Brent (Bailey's sister and brother) books to understand more about their family (bad) story.

I also felt like the story was kinda being dragged and repetitive. The relationship between Bailey and Wes were complicated, for me it was fast but also so slow burning. Another miss for me was there was no explanation on what triggered Wes and Bailey finally gave up their three years of dislike relationship. They were just suddenly onto each other. The lack of chronological timeline bothered me.

Thank you to Madi Danielle and The Smuthood for the ARC.

Me reading classic after a very long time not and indeed, I understood almost nothing in this book especially the last story.

This book contains 6 short stories with very different range of themes but the writing style is definitely the same which I assume was Oscar Wilde's style in writing. Oh what a writing style that was! Throughout the whole book I was questioning myself whether I knew English language at all. English is not my first language but this book indeed humbled me with its hard-to-comprehend kind of English.

I thought I would read this book for my son but dammit me myself couldn't understand the story, how on earth I gonna retelling these 6 stories to my son 😅😭 So I gonna skip this book as reading material for my son and decided tp claim this book for myself and reread multiple times so I understand this book more.

Moreover, after the struggle of understanding this book, I don't feel this book is suitable for kids despite the title is Oscar Wilde's Story for Children. Maybe middle-graders could understand this book by the guide of school teachers.

The illustrations in this book actually helped me a lot to understand the story.

The style of illustrations also very fit with the story. Full of fairy tales vibes and the mysterious-ness of the story.

Despite my lack of comprehension, I understand(ish) 5 out of 6 stories in this book. Here my short outtakes from those 6 stories:

1. The Selfish Giant

My second favorite. So heartwarming and beautiful. Though the ending was sad, but it was sadly beautiful.

I was able to retelling this story to my son for his bedtime eventhough I changed the ending.

2. The Happy Prince

My favorite one. Sadly beautiful. This story broke my heart yet the ending became the medicine of that broken heart. Loved this story so much.

I was also able to retelling this story to my son with many personal censorship.

3. The Devoted Friend

Wah, this story made me so mad I wanted to jump to the story and beat Miller so hard. What an arrogant a$$hole!!!

This story didn't pass the vibe for me to read it for my son.

4. The Nightingale & The Rose

Goddammit! This story broke my heart into two 💔 The Nightingale didn't deserve this kind of story. I am so sorry for her 😭

5. The Remarkable Rocket

LOL this story was awkwardly funny. Full of satire. I scoffed so hard with how pompous the rocket were, until the very end of the story.

6. The Young King

This story was the hardest one for me to comprehend. My mind was blank no matter how many times I tried to focus on the story, especially the first half of the story. Fortunately I could understand(ish) the story by the end of it, though this story left unsettled feeling for me because I still not fully understand it.

Thank you to Oscar Wilde, Little Island Books, and NetGalley for the ARC.

4,5 rounded-up to 5 stars because of the ending! What a character growth that was!!

Fairy tales combined with science and this awesome book created. Wow, so mind blowing how the author could change the fairy tales into science. Not only that, the author amazingly combined the characters in famous fairy tales into a new detective/mystery story which Detective Oinklock and his assistant Gaeko as the main characters to solve the mystery connected the story. What an chef's kiss story!

Not to forget the ending of this book. So beautiful and full of messages. Read this book and you will know what I mean.

The illustrations were so good. Funny, colorful, detailed, and helpful to understand the story. Though the layout was bothering me. Too messy and not chronological which made the main story sometimes distracted.

Though I got this book for my son, I could only read to him the fiction parts of the story. The science parts were too difficult for him to understand since he was only 4 years old. I tried to explain them science parts, but I think it didn't stuck to his brain yet. I would definitely reread this book to him so as he get older he could understand this book better.

Thank you to DongA Science, Poppypub, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow, what a mess! Beautifully messy this one was!!

This book was awkwardly funny. Like a satire, an awkward one. I had moments where I wanted to laugh out loud for the antics of the characters and the story, but I didn't think those were appropriate to laugh to.

Heavy subjects were discussed here. Trauma, PTSD, self-harm, gore, pedophile, and other dark subjects. Though all of them got wrapped simply in one weird awkward storyline.

The illustrations were good. Fit with the grittiness of the story.

Thank you to Stephanie Phillips, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

That was too sweet!!!

The story was perfectly matched with Saint as a baker who made sweets for live and the town named Cupid's Cove.

What made this book interesting, for me at least, was the dynamic between the MCs. Saint, the MMC, was a baker, read romance books, and knew nothing about cars. Mikey, the FMC, was a mechanic. See, I loved that both MCs didn't have the stereotypical descriptions/characters for hero and heroine. Yet both of them secure in their roles. Mikey had a little bit insecurity problems, but like gentleman he was, Saint helped Mikey to regain her confidence. Loved this part so much.

The plots were so freaking cheesy and I loved them. Saint and Mikey definitely had insta-love but it was being delivered well and I had no problem with it. Though at some parts, the story felt like flat and repetitive.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. So light and perfect for quick-hot reading. Though the author already spoiled the next book ending, I think I will still reading it when it releases.

Thank you to Daisy Wren and Luna Literary Management for the ARC.

“When you rewrite your thoughts, you create new ways to think about a situation. It’s called CHANGING YOUR PERSPECTIVE. You look at things differently, from a new point of view. When you do that, the story you tell yourself can change. And your feelings can change too.”

What an inspiring book!

This book inspired kids to write whatever feelings they have at any moment. Same concept as journaling to adults but easier to understand for kids.

Though my son can't write yet, through this book I encouraged him to tell me whatever happen to him and we will write it together in his personal diary. Yes, my son has ✨️diary✨️. I proud that he opens up easily (to me) and regulated his feelings by trusting me to write them up.

Though this book is for kids, I (as an adult) swallowed this book and its messages easily than if I read self-help books. For me, this book aprroachment is easier for me to accept than any other self-help books I ever read. I learned more from children books than (adult) self-help books.

Thank you to Jennifer Law, Boys Town Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Damn!!! That was so good!!!

Graphic novel containing 4 stories about a "creature" of many names but mostly called Unute which represented with Keanu Reeves' face.

To be honest, Keanu Reeves name was the first reason why I picked this book and finding that the story evolving his face, I pleasantly enjoyed this book so much.

Like I said, there are 4 stories in this book. The plots were the same since the stories were all about Unute. But each one has different charms. I honestly liked 4 of them. Though if I can rank them, here's my rank based on overall aspects (story and illustration):

1. In Fallen Empire.

Gah! This one broke my heart. It was beautiful yet heart breaking story.

2. In A Faceful of Bullets.

I could see the "humanity" of Unute and it was being delivered so well.

3. In The Lost Book of B.

The start of Unute story. The story was kinda messy and confusing. I needed time to understand.

4. In Poetry of Madness.

My least favorite. Maybe because the story was around the real event of the losing Atlantis, I am not that fond of retelling story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. Though the gore was another level. Glad I am not afraid of "little" bit of gore-ness.

Thank you to Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, Steve Skroce, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Ah this book brought me back to my childhood memories where every Sunday I watched Power Rangers on TV and every once a month my parents brought me to the bookstore so I could read Power Rangers comics. My parents didn't have enough money to buy me comics, so they left me for hours in bookstore to read the display comics which always Power Rangers ones. Dammit! I am crying now just remember those hard yet beautiful memories.

This book consists of two different storylines centered on Pink Ranger. Both stories were all over the place, messy. However I could still understand the storylines and enjoyed them so much. For me, both stories ended up in cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers, hence I can't give this book 5 stars. But if I need to choose, I like the first story better than the second one. The first story didn't mess with any of Rangers' characters and I thankful for that. However, the second one had better plot twists than the first.

The illustrations were good tho I prefer the second part illustration than the first one. For me, the second part illustrations had more details than the first part.

Overall, I had fun time with this book. Both from the story and the nostalgic memories this book brought out of me.

Thank you to Tini Howard, Amy Jo Johnson, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

What an educational and adventurous book!

My son, who currently obsessed with space things, loved this book so much. The story was perfect for kids because what could top up a spaceship suddenly appeared in front of you, brought you to the moon, met space creatures, helped said space creatures and came back to earth to eat dinner? Chef's kiss!!!

The illustrations were also good. Remind me so much of Rugrats. The style, for me, was kinda same with Rugrats cartoon style. My son especially loved the illustrations for the details of spacesuit and the spaceship.

This book is also full of simple educational trivia like moon-dust, lunar rover, etc. My son mostly already knew about those but he liked it when those trivia became part of the storyline.

This book is definitely in our re-read shelf because my son already asked for me to read it.

Thank you to Ashley Wall, MamaBear Books, and NetGalley for the ARC.

A cute story about Maatla The Magnet who finally found a friend after being "bullied" by other shelfmates.

The story was light but kinda hard to navigate. I need to simplified the story and the words for my son so he could enjoyed the story.

The illustrations were good, detailed, and supported the storyline.

This book also simply explained about how magnet works. Easy to understand without directly explained it.

Thank you to Bakang Tshegofatso Akoonyatse, Iskanchi Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

What a silly book!

My son loved this one so much. He laughed at the silliness of these 4 pandas. He loved the illustrations because he said it was like an animation movie. I totally agreed with him.

This book was so easy to read. The story of 4 band of panda friends looking for the sun after they accidentally took a nap. That storyline made my son who hates napping eye-sided me and said "see, nothing good about napping" 😅

Though for me, these 4 pandas didn't handy at all. The story didn't show them as handy group of pandas. My son didn't question it so I dodged myself for his usually curious questions of correlation.

Thank you to Jamie McMahon, MamaBears Book, and NetGalley for the ARC.

"Reading about and discussing emotions offers you an opportunity to better understand a young child, to open a dialogue about how they feel, and to help them learn how to express and cope with those feelings."

Indeed, that's why I never tired to read books to my son. I want him to grow as mentally stable person. I might not one myself, but as a mother, I want my son to be better than me. Hence, I create a routine to read books with him. Up until now, almost 5 years, we have a good habit to read at least one book a day.

This book explained simply about curios feeling. To enhance the curiosity the kids naturally have. The way this book explained it as a detective feeling was top tier. My son loved it so much. It intrigued him since he loved to pretend himself as a detective.

Though my son couldn't write yet, through this book I encouraged him to documented whatever he currently feels by making a video of himself talking about whatever he feels. Same concept like vlog, since he could operate his tablet better than anything.

The illustrations were good. Vibrant with colors and good details.

Thank you to Lindsay N. Giroux, Free Spirit Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC.

That was entertaining!

Since my son is the product of different nationality/race parents, he already knew about different languages as early as he understood word itself. He is more fluent in English (for now) but he knows that English is not the first language for his mother (me). He knows that there are different words for everything, including how the animals sound. And this book is the perfect story about it.

My son's daddy (yes, my husband) speaks Spanish fluently and he tagged along whenever my son read this book. He would read the Spanish sentences and translated them for us. Three of us always had a good time with this book.

The story was simple and both English-Spanish words being used were easily to understand. The touch of magic in this book was also good for the storyline.

The illustrations were also good. We (my son, his daddy, and me) loved them. Colorful and full of details.

The mentioned of bunch of food always successfully made us hungry for Mexican food. Glad my husband is (very) good at cooking so he can cook the food for us.

We (especially me) were so happy because there was a world map showing how cat sounds in different languages and it includes Indonesian's cat sounds. Well yeah, I am Indonesian and easily proud when my country being mentioned 🫣😅 Though it was written slightly wrong (myong instead of meong), we were pleased.

Thank you to Colette Smith, Victory Editing, and NetGalley for the ARC.

"Two broken people trying to put each other back together."

Indeed, both the MCs in this book were broken. They thought they were beyond repaired but then they found each other and starting to heal.

⚠️ Please read the trigger warnings before reading this book. It's important because the subjects discussed were heavy and explicitly described ⚠️

I loved both Chase and Paisley. Like I said, they healed each other beautifully. They were both so tightly keeping their fears but they never gave up to try open up and face their pasts.

Though Chase and Paisley's story of healing was beautiful. I felt like there was something missing in their relationship. I still felt they loved each other mostly because of the forced proximity and they didn't have the sizzling chemistry I wish they had.

For me, there was also unsatisfied feeling after I finished reading this book. I wish the author explained more about Paisley's ex. I was so curious about what happened to him. He was the antagonist, he deserved bad ending but the author failed to mention it.

Despite those bumps, I enjoyed this one and at some parts of the book I even cried. Maybe because somewhat the story resonate with me.

Thank you to Laramie Briscoe and Chaotic Creatives for the ARC.