Destiny (howling libraries)

Yeah... this isn't for me. 😬 I hate these characters lol

I'm leaving a review without a rating because I think I would've enjoyed this as a young teen, maybe even loved it. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me, but I'm not the target audience here, either. Without spoiling anything, I'll say that I struggled with the levels of angst and how romance-heavy the story was (despite not personally feeling like the characters would be a compatible pairing in the first place). I also found the villains to be very over-the-top and I predicted the twists very early in, which left me feeling irritated with the main character's total lack of awareness.

I read a final copy borrowed from the library, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also gifted an early review copy. All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: Andrew is asexual and gay; Thomas is bisexual/pansexual; multiple side characters are queer

✨ Content warnings: violence, gore, death, body horror, grief, bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, verbal abuse from authority figures, physically abusive parents, mental illness, anxiety/panic attacks, disordered eating, self-harm

A cute, sweet, fun time. Heavy on the insta-love, but I've reached a point in my life where I don't mind it so much in fluffy romance novellas.

I generally enjoy all of Junji Ito's works, but this was one of my favorites of his collections! I loved the fact that these were all adaptations of a person's actual, true life stories, so they didn't typically wrap up neatly or end with any sort of explanation. I found each story to be at least slightly unsettling, with a few legitimately creeping me out. I'd be interested in reading the source material at some point in the future, perhaps, though Junji Ito did admit that he took some liberties, so they might not be as captivating! 🤣

I love Bree Paulsen's books so darn much, and this was just as precious and wonderful as I hoped it would be. It's definitely heavier than Bree's Garlic books, given that our sibling main characters have one deceased parent and one terminally ill parent and they are living in the aftermath of a terrible war. That said, the love that shines through this family of characters is truly something special. It's a tense read at times, but it's worth the ride. I'm forever in awe of Bree Paulsen's stories and can't wait to read whatever they release next!

I read a final copy borrowed from the library, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also gifted an early review copy. All thoughts are honest and my own.

✨ Representation: BIPOC and/or queer characters, transmasc side character, implied ace/aro character

✨ Content warnings: death of a parent, terminal illness, grief, war, violence