Title: Dryad, Vol. 1 Author: Kurtis Wiebe, Justin Osterling (illustrator) Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy Publisher: Oni Press Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: January 5, 2021 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Best-selling writer Kurtis Wiebe (Rat Queens) and newcomer artist Justin Osterling launch a new fantasy saga!
The Glass family has spent thirteen years hiding peacefully in the sleepy forest settlement of Frostbrook where Morgan and Yale planted roots and raised their twins, Griffon and Rana. But secrets never stay hidden, and the entire Glass family find themselves the target of an unearthly attack on Frostbrook.
Now on the run from Muse Corp., they must flee to the massive city of Silver’s Bay to hide in plain sight. Rana and Griffon find themselves uprooted and answering for their parents’ mistakes. But, they’ll soon find that the past has a way of finding you, no matter where you run
Review:
Yale and Morgan have hidden their family in a small village for thirteen years. When their children find some hidden ruins in the forest, demons are unleashed. Yale and Morgan have to rescue their children and escape to the city where they came from to fight against the terrorist group Dryad.
This story started slow but sped up as the story progressed. I found it a little difficult to figure out who everyone was at first, especially since there was a thirteen year jump within the first few pages where their children grew up. Once I figured out who all the characters were, the story became more exciting.
The illustrations of this graphic novel were beautiful. The village and forest at the beginning had vibrant colours. When the story shifted to the city, the colours were darker and more monotone. These colours reflected the change in tone of the story.
I found the ending a little confusing. Some new characters were introduced, setting up the story for the next graphic novel. This left me wondering what was happening, since it wasn’t really an ending for the main characters.
This was a good graphic novel, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the next one.
Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Have you read Dryad, Vol. 1? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Glimpsed by G.F. Miller.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Title: Glimpsed Author: G.F. Miller Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy Publisher: Simon and Schuster Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook, Paperback ARC Release Date: January 5, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of Geekerella and Jenn Bennett, this charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true.
Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. And she knows what they want even better than they do because she can glimpse their perfect futures.
But when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vibha crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster. Suddenly, every wish Charity has ever granted is called into question. Has she really been helping people? Where do these glimpses come from, anyway? What if she’s not getting the whole picture?
Making this existential crisis way worse is Noah—the adorkable and (in Charity’s opinion) diabolical ex of one of her past clients—who blames her for sabotaging his prom plans and claims her interventions are doing more harm than good. He demands that she stop granting wishes and help him get his girl back. At first, Charity has no choice but to play along. But soon, Noah becomes an unexpected ally in getting to the bottom of the glimpses. Before long, Charity dares to call him her friend…and even starts to wish he were something more. But can the fairy godmother ever get the happily ever after?
Review:
Charity is a fairy godmother. She’s also a teenager at Jack London High School. Charity gets “glimpses” of people’s dreams coming true, so she has to figure out how to make it happen for them. But when one of her granted wishes ends in disaster, she has to wonder if she’s doing the right thing. Then she gets an anonymous message threatening to expose that she’s a fairy godmother who is manipulating students. Noah, her blackmailer, agrees not to expose her identity, if she grants his wish. After spending time with Noah, Charity has to question if she deserves her own happily ever after.
This story is a cute play on the traditional fairy tale. Usually the fairy godmother is a side character who doesn’t get a happily ever after. Charity comes from a family of fairy godmothers. Her grandmother is also a fairy godmother, and she acts as her mentor. The fairy godmothers who manipulated their “Cindys”, the people they get glimpses of, and didn’t give them a happy ending, are known as witches in fairy tales. I liked this comparison of fairy godmothers and witches, since they are both usually characters who guide the heroes to either succeed or fail.
Charity believes that since she’s the fairy godmother, she doesn’t get to have a happily ever after. She gives her “Cindys” their happily ever after, which she thinks is her entire purpose. However, even when she grants the wishes, it doesn’t always turn out the way it was destined to end. Charity has to fix the wishes she’s already granted as well as figure out her own happily ever after.
This is an adorable modern fairy tale.
Thank you Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer
About the author:
G.F. Miller can write 80,000-word novels, but ask her to sit down and write 250 true and meaningful words about herself and she is likely to have an existential crisis. Who am I, really? She ponders. What do I want to be known for? Does anyone even read the back flap or visit author websites?
But eventually she will pull herself together and tell you that…She married her college sweetheart and is mom to three littles who routinely make her heart burst and her head explode (it’s a messy business, love). There are puppies big and small residing at her house (you’ll be seeing a lot of them if you follow her on Instagram). She’s been to a dozen countries, but not nearly as many as she would like. She loves learning all the things. She cries at all the wrong times. She makes faces at herself in the mirror. She believes in the Oxford comma. And she’s always here for a dance party.
While the stories she has brewing in her soul vary wildly from one another, there are three things they will always have in common: love, snappy dialogue, and happy endings.
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls’ school and a well-respected author of “silver-fork” novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories—the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Mr. King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks.
Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until Mr. King started taking all of his readers–and his profits. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher’s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the rights of the less-fortunate.
Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King’s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure her secret identity is never discovered.
For the first time, Elizabeth experiences the thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.
Title: Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) Author: Kristin Cashore Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Dial Books Source: Library Format: Ebook Release Date: October 1, 2008 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.
She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.
Review:
Katsa is a Graceling, a person with two different colored eyes who has a special ability. Katsa can kill any man with her bare hands. Since she has this special skill, she is sent on missions by the king, her uncle. On one of her missions, she meets Prince Po, another Graceling. This meeting changes her life and sends her on a journey to find the reason behind Po’s grandfather’s kidnapping.
I’m so glad I discovered this series. This was a whirlwind adventure with danger, suspense, and romance. Katsa was a strong character, physically and mentally. She knew exactly what she wanted, so she was surprised when she learned new things about herself, such as when she found herself falling in love.
This story had so many shocking scenes. The characters suffered a lot, but they grew stronger because of it. There were a few times when I thought the characters had painted themselves into a corner, and I couldn’t think of a way they could possibly get past their challenges. This made the story very exciting.
I’m so excited to read the next book in this series!
What to read next:
Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Other books in the series:
Fire
Bitterblue
Winterkeep
Have you read Graceling? What did you think of it?
Title: Punching the Air Author: Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Poetry Publisher: Balzer + Bray Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Audiobook Release Date: September 1, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.
The story that I thought
was my life
didn’t start on the day
I was born
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
The story that I think
will be my life
starts today
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.
Review:
At sixteen, Amal Shahid was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. He was an artistic student and a poet. The only way he can survive prison is to express himself through his art. Over and over again Amal is let down by the adults around him. He needs to figure out how to speak his truth and fight for justice.
This is a story written in verse. The poetry suited the emotional story. Amal had a lot of emotions that he expressed through his art. He was able to explore his anger in a constructive way by writing poetry and drawing. This story couldn’t have been told the same way if it was written in prose rather than verse.
I listened to the audiobook version of this story. The physical book has some illustrations that I missed out on in the audio version. However, I loved the narrator for the book. He sounded like a teenage boy, so it was like Amal was telling his story. He put a lot of emotion behind the words, which made the story come alive. I really want to check out the physical copy to see the art, but the audio was very good!
This is a great, powerful story!
Thank you Balzer + Bray for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Have you read Punching the Air? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“There was a reason Gavin Scott rarely drank. He was bad at it.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
And the book is… The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club #1) by Lyssa Kay Adams.
Goodreads synopsis:
The first rule of book club: You don’t talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
Check out my review of The Bromance Book Clubhere.
Have you read The Bromance Book Club? What did you think of it?
Jill's Book Blog 