Wrap-it-Up!

aka March is OOOOOVEEEER!

 

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Also, before I get too far into this…there are going to have to be some more changes over here. I’m going to be starting a new job in two weeks, with more fixed (and longer) hours. I’ll need to figure out how to adjust my posting schedule with this new development. As soon as I have it figured out, you’ll all be the first to know, but for now it’ll remain as two days a week.

 

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Okay, now for the real reason you’re all here. WRAP UP TIME!

 

 

In Search of Peter Pan

 

 

 

In the late 1920s, Melvin Z. Woodworth is an author with writer’s block and a mystery to solve. He takes a vacation to the Swiss Alps to try and kill two birds with one stone—and do some excellent hiking and skiing while he’s at it. But the little village, so long slumbering on the wrong side of the Industrial Revolution, is threatened by a force of nature—and, of course, contains secrets of its own. Cosey’s masterful graphic novel is presented here in full-color English translation for the first time: an ode to nature, culture, mythology, and a simpler—yet riskier—time.

 

 

 

2 stars

ARC

What I liked: The art and linkages between Peter Pan and our main character’s deceased brother were the best parts of this graphic novel. I also wouldn’t have minded more of Baptistin, a secondary character who was cloaked in mystery and danger.

 

What I could have lived without: There was some nudity that didn’t really make sense to me. It didn’t feel necessary in the least, and I didn’t particularly care for the romance. I wish that more time was spent focusing on the mystery of the brother rather than the pursuit of the mystery goal. It was like, the moment he saw her, his objective became skewed.

 

 

Chasing the Alpha

 

 

3 stars

Look out for my review on Friday!

 

 

 

Tiny Infinities

 

 

5 stars

ARC

I loved this one. See my mini-review here.

 

 

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. 
“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract”.
Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?

 

 

 

4.5 stars

Reread

What I liked: You guys, the first time I read this one I wasn’t very impressed (I gave it 3 stars). Something about this second time around made me fall in love with this story. Where before I couldn’t bond with our main character, I understood and could appreciate her strength for what it was. I still haven’t seen the movie. WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEEEEE????! It was fantastical and perfectly suited for the age range (and above)

What I could have lived without: The way the adults on Earth (with the exception of her mother) treated Meg after her father disappeared. More care was needed.

 

 

 

Meet Cute

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. MEET CUTE is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors

 

 

 

4 stars

What I liked: In this case, my favorite stories of the anthology were Nicola Yoon’s The Department of Dead Love and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s Say Everything. These were the types of stories that I expected when I picked this book up. Fitzpatrick’s couple was perfect together, from beginning to end and Yoon’s couple gave me heart eyes all the way through.

 

What I could have lived without: Most of the other stories were just meh for me. I didn’t care for the characters or their love enough to move past a three.

 

 

 

 

Again!! Vol. 1

Kinichiro isn’t even that bad. It’s just that on the first day of high school, his narrow eyes made him look shifty, so people assumed he was trouble. Now it’s graduation, and he’s looking back on three years with no friends. He never even joined a club. But after a bloody collision and an accidental fall, he wakes up a high school freshman, with the chance to try it all over… AGAIN!! 

 

 

 

3 stars

ARC

This one got me at: From the co-creator of Yuri! On Ice. God, I miss that show. Victuri foreverrrr!

What I liked: It wasn’t as heart-tugging as Yuri, but our main character is reminiscent of the self-doubt and self-deprecation that was synonymous with YOI. So I was sufficiently invested.

 

What I could have lived without: Another trademark YOI characteristic is brutal cliffhangers. I wish Kubo hadn’t carried that over…but I’ll live. I guess. I also didn’t completely understand why Kinichiro is an outcast in the first place. The reasons for shunning him did not make sense to me.

 

 

 

 

Spectacle Vol. 1

Pragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn’t believe in anything supernatural—until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they’re sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. With few leads, a troupe full of secretive folk, and strange paranormal occurrences popping up around the circus, solving the case seems near impossible. But the murderer in their midst may be the least of their problems…

 

 

3 stars

ARC

What I liked: All of the pretty, pretty art! It was soothing and yet mystical at the same time. The idea of the whole thing was also intriguing. Imagine going about your life conning people, only to realize you’ve somehow gained the very gift that you were pretending you had all along. Imagine! And to have to use it to solve your twin sister’s murder? Child!

 

 

What I could have lived without: Ugh. Bloody cliffhangers!

But also, more time needed to be spent on mystery solving. That sub-plot was a major distraction. Interesting yes, but still, distracting.

 

 

 

 

 

Obsidio

 

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion? 
Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 
With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

 

 

5 stars

I’ll miss this series, but the duo are writing another series together sooooo…

What I liked: Everything was tied up. Nothing was left unresolved and I could appreciate that. No, I wonder whatever happened with xyz. Nope. I KNOW ALLLLLL!

 

 

What I could have lived without: That ONE death. It gutted me, and I know it worked in the favor of our heroes but, jeeze.

P.S who do I petition to get a companion story of just AIDAN?

 

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What did you read in March? Anything good? Any of these sound good to you?

 

 

Dee ^_^