Hello! Day One of Blog Every Day in May has the topic set to Tell Us Something New or Introduce Yourself. I don’t have much time to do that at the moment, but here’s the link to my 1st day of BEDM last year which was a similiar post. Some of it is out of date but it’s still generally the same! I need to do an About Me page for the blog, so maybe this will be the kick I need to do so.
Usually when I list what I’ve read during the past month, I list it in order I read it. But in April I read a lot of graphic novels and short stories, so I thought I’d have a post just for those and the next one for all the longer books I’ve read.
Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang and Matthew Wilson
Four 12 year old newspaper delivery girls team up early in the morning following Halloween when weird things start happening in the neighbourhood. I requested this on NetGalley after I saw Sanne from Books & Quills mention it. I really liked what she showed and it lived up to my expectations. The girls are kick ass, the colour scheme is beautiful and I loved the pace and story. It reminded me a bit of Lumberjanes. I’m looking forward to reading more of this when it comes out.
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell
It’s no secret I’m a big Rainbow Rowell fan so I was excited to see there was a short story for World Book Day out (which I showed the other week in this book haul post). Kindred Spirits is about Elena, a MASSIVE Star Wars fan who decides to spend the week before the latest release queuing outside with all the other huge fans. But when she gets there she finds out there’s only two other people there. It was a cute story, worth reading if you’re a fan of Rainbow Rowell and YA but as it’s only a short story it’s not a must-read.
Jane, The Fox and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault
I picked up this book after seeing Mercy from Mercy’s Bookish Musings talking about it. Shy and lonely Hélène finds herself being bullied by the girls she thought were her friends. They taunt her about her weight and how much of a loser she is. Hélène starts to build these things and is very insecure. Her only comfort is reading Jane Eyre. I loved this, it was heartbreaking at times but it really resonated with me. I loved the art work, how Hélène’s parts are more greyed out and Jane’s parts are done with colour. There are spoilers for Jane Eye so if you haven’t read it and don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read this first! But it’s well worth picking up, it’s one of my fave graphic novels.
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Anya is a typical teenage, embarassed by her family, self conscious about her body, wanting to fit in at school and has a crush on a guy who just so happens to be dating the most popular girl in school. Just when she thinks life can’t get worse she falls down a well and meets a ghost! After leaving the well, this ghost stays with Anya, which has it’s perks at first but takes a turn for the creepy and weird. I liked this, I liked how there’s a lighter fun side to it but also a dangerous side too. Anya doesn’t experience much growth, which might have been a nice addition to the story. A quick fun read!
Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard
Cruel Crown contains two short story prequels from the Red Queen series. In Queen Song, we see Cal's mother Coriane as a 15 year old and how she met Cal's father, the still to be King Tiberias, and how they fell in love. In Steel Scars we see Captain Farley, her help in the rebellion and how she comes to meet Shade and Mare Barrow. It was fun to see more sides of the story and learn more about some of the characters we don't know much about in Red Queen. These are not essential to the plot but rather helps to round out views more. I preferred Queen Song but I still enjoyed seeing the overlap of Farley's missions with Mare and the Queenstrial. If you loved Red Queen and Glass Sword (I reviewed both here), then you'll enjoy reading these short stories.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
American Born Chinese has 3 stories running through it. The first is the centre to this story, Jin Wang, who finds himself the only Chinese-American student in his class when his family moves. He just wants to fit in, though he is bullied constantly. The second is the Monkey King, which is one of the oldest Chinese fable stories. The third is Danny, a popular high school kid who’s life is ruined every time his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee, the epitome of negative Chinese stereotypes, comes to stay. I enjoyed the stories as they were but when they all came together is was amazing! The themes of racism and acceptance are really well portrayed. I’ve heard good things about this author’s Boxer and Saints books too so I’m going to pick them up if I can.
Saga Volumes 1-5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
I had heard of Saga before picking up Paper Girls, so after reading that I decided I should pick up Saga after all, as I have heard some pretty amazing things about it. When I got to the library Volumes 1-5 were in so I just got them all out! Where to start on this?! I can’t describe what this is about properly! The book opens with two characters, a couple, where the woman is giving birth. We quickly discover that these are two people from the opposite sides of war who fell in love and ran off together, eventually having this baby. It becomes pretty clear fast that people want them dead, especially when they hear about this baby. Set in space, it’s got elements of sci-fi and fantasy. It contains sex, bad language and violence, so if you’re not happy with any of those, give this a miss (or make sure you’re happy for younger readers to consume it). I saw someone somewhere describe it as a rock opera set in space and I think it fits! I love the story, the characters, the drawing style and look forward to continuing with the series!
That’s it for now, I’ll have the rest of April’s Reads up soon enough, all with my stats and breakdown of the month. It’s been a fun, interesting new month for me overall! I’m pleased I picked up these graphic novels and have more planned for the future.
This post continues digital advanced reading copies from NetGalley. I am under no obligation to post reviews and all opinions are my own.
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