It's the same excellent and captivating art and it's lovely to spend more time with the sweet characters. This is cozier than the mActually 3.5 stars.
It's the same excellent and captivating art and it's lovely to spend more time with the sweet characters. This is cozier than the main series - being simply them at home building relationships over food and caring taking for each other.
But it was also completely devoid of any stories at all. There are for sure some recipes I'm inspired to explore and give a try... but I'm unlikely to pick up the next book in this spin off.
I am grateful that buying it forced me to finally start reading Witch Hat Atelier which had been languishing on my TBR (you don't need to have read the originating series, but I wanted to have some idea who everyone was before I dove into this so read the first two volumes first.)...more
I think right now one of my favourite things about this series is that Coco isn't some "accidental prodigy" she's actually not great at magic. Yet. HeI think right now one of my favourite things about this series is that Coco isn't some "accidental prodigy" she's actually not great at magic. Yet. Her greatest gift is actually that she IS an outsider so she thinks about things differently. She's got good ideas and thinks outside of the box, but she's not stunningly amazing at actually doing magic. I'm super interested to see where she goes....more
My FLCBS (friendly local comic book store) told me that they observed I really enjoyed Magical Girl books and they thought I'd for sure want to read MMy FLCBS (friendly local comic book store) told me that they observed I really enjoyed Magical Girl books and they thought I'd for sure want to read Mamo and they were absolutely correct. Honestly, I'm going to need Milledge to give me more books, if not with Jo and Orla, at least in this world.
If filipino, sapphic, witches in a super interesting world + this stunning are isn't enough to sell you on Mamo, I don't know what else to tell you....more
This is swiftly becoming one of my favourite manga. Simon and Nicola are both such lovely people to spend time with and Miyanaga soActually 4.5 stars.
This is swiftly becoming one of my favourite manga. Simon and Nicola are both such lovely people to spend time with and Miyanaga somehow manages to make every character who comes across the page someone I love.
This is the epitome of cozy and if you were looking to just dip your toes into manga to see if you like it this series would be one of the ones I suggest starting with....more
I really enjoyed this book - enough that I'm definitely going to need the last three (I also love that it's a complete series at four books). I loved I really enjoyed this book - enough that I'm definitely going to need the last three (I also love that it's a complete series at four books). I loved the cozy vibes and the choice to use sepia ink to lean into those vibes.
The book does a great job of pulling you right into the world and the characters and keeping you turning the pages to try and figure out how Nicola got here. I also appreciated that while this is a demon world, it definitely leans cozy cottage core goth (is that a thing? Cute Goblin core maybe?) rather than horror or grotesque.
The only thing keeping me from given it 5 stars is that it really read like a series of cute and sweet vignettes but in the end I felt like I was missing a through thread for the overarching story (Why's Nicola here? What's the end goal? etc)...more
Basically I just really enjoyed everything about this book. Art, story, characters. And I too love that feeling when the arrogant blowhards are revealBasically I just really enjoyed everything about this book. Art, story, characters. And I too love that feeling when the arrogant blowhards are revealed to be arrogant blowhards... ...more
This was just fine. I think an actual middle grader would enjoy it more than me though. And frankly, I feel really shitty giving it suActual 2.5 stars
This was just fine. I think an actual middle grader would enjoy it more than me though. And frankly, I feel really shitty giving it such a low rating.
I love that this is a book that happens during Ramadan. I love that it includes Djinn (we need more books with Djinn) and some of the mythology around Djinn.
But I felt like our Djinn could have been replaced with... say... new transfer students and nothing about the story would have actually changed. I also feel like there were a lot of plot points that had strands dropped or just didn't come together in a satisfying way.
There were also graphic choices where it was not clear what was going on and the graphic elements did not always enhance or help to move the story forward... maybe this would have come together better as an actual novel vs graphic piece....more
Exactly the kind of story I expected from Miyazaki. As a watercolour painter myself seeing his work in this format was a real treat.
I'm not sure if tExactly the kind of story I expected from Miyazaki. As a watercolour painter myself seeing his work in this format was a real treat.
I'm not sure if the book itself is worth 5 stars, but I actually enjoyed the author and translator notes almost as much as the book itself and they definitely pushed up it's rating in my estimation....more
It was fine. I've been pondering it and I can't think of why I didn't like it more, the best I can say is that it just didnMore accurately 2.5 stars.
It was fine. I've been pondering it and I can't think of why I didn't like it more, the best I can say is that it just didn't connect for me. I also don't have a list of terrible things about it. It just... was. And it was fine and that's all. Not upset I read it, not the least bit interested in reading more....more
I've been having a hard time with disliking the books I've started lately, and unfortunately I can't tell if it's because of the boActually 3.5 Stars.
I've been having a hard time with disliking the books I've started lately, and unfortunately I can't tell if it's because of the books, or just me and my mood. I started this book a few weeks ago and just wasn't feeling it and put it down about half way through.
I finally picked it back up yesterday, and while I still can't say if my feelings for the first half were because of the book or me but I actually really liked how Robinson brought everything together and was pleasantly surprised with the ending.
I'm giving it 3.5 because I wasn't originally feeling it, but rounding it up to 4 because the ending was great.
CW: the main character struggles with anxiety and this book has a LOT of her catastrophizing with her anxiety and might be hard for others who struggle with that for the first few chapters. The catastrophizing is called out throughout and later chapters have it being challenged and overcome....more
100% worth the purchase just for the art. This reminded so much of an updated Secrets of Nimh - a colony of mice is in danger of extinction and needs 100% worth the purchase just for the art. This reminded so much of an updated Secrets of Nimh - a colony of mice is in danger of extinction and needs to move but there are no easy solutions and a branch is moving against them from within. I wish the pages with the cast of characters had been in the front matter rather than the back matter but otherwise I just found it to be a truly beautiful book telling a really engaging story.
I really loved how Mac went about telling (or not telling) the story of what happened to the humans because of course mice wouldn't know what was happening on the larger political or environmental scale. Instead we're left to work it out (mostly) for ourselves using the images of the landscape as clues.
I chose to read this slowly, one chapter (or part) each day which really let me take my time and sit with the art which is truly gorgeous. I bought this on a whim and am so glad I did....more
The art in this is gorgeous. If graphic novels were rated just on art alone this would be a 4-5 star book. I don't love the chActually 2.5-2.75 stars
The art in this is gorgeous. If graphic novels were rated just on art alone this would be a 4-5 star book. I don't love the choice to write some of the copy in cursive font - or maybe it's the cursive font they chose that I found annoying (this from an adult old enough to have been taught cursive).
Storywise... I found Balzar's character strangely inconsistent. I was not the least bit surprised who had actually done it in the end (though why literally makes no sense at all). I absolutely hate how the character of Tara was dealth with. It feels like a section that explains why we're even talking about slyphs was edited out making those bits feel like dangling threads. I'm waffling on my stars/enjoyment rating because this better not turn out to all be a dream...
That said. I was engaged enough and liked the art enough to read the next book. When my library gets it in. This isn't a "let's go out and but physical copies" grade book - even though the art makes me wish it was. RATING Significance: 5 - Mediocre Writing: 6 - Good Enjoyment: 6 - Good Plot/Character: 6 - Good Total: 23 = 2.75 Stars
I'm experimenting with a new review system that rates 4 key categories on a 1-10 scale and rounds down into a star rating (adapted from the CAWPILE system by Book Roast)...more
I went into this thinking I'd really love it, it looks just like something I'd love (also that cover colour palette - so my thing),Actually 3.5 Stars.
I went into this thinking I'd really love it, it looks just like something I'd love (also that cover colour palette - so my thing), but actually I spent the first third of the book thinking I would DNF it. I don't know if I can put my finger quite on what it was that wasn't working for me... but it became a moot point because somewhere around the 50% mark I started to really get into it and I ended up finishing it up fine.
I still can't tell you wasn't working for me (pacing? World building? Lack of connection to the MC?) but once the Hollowbones got involved the story picked up for me. I enjoyed it, and I'd even recommend it (for young readers mostly) I still didn't love it. Hence rounding down the rating....more
Maybe 3.5 stars? I'm not sure. I didn't love this quite as much as I did the first one, but it was still excellent. And while, at the time, I was so uMaybe 3.5 stars? I'm not sure. I didn't love this quite as much as I did the first one, but it was still excellent. And while, at the time, I was so upset with Cad driving them in the wrong direction, but in the end I was glad that Probert decided to show that Cad was still a flawed and growing individual and not as perfect as he came across in Book 1. Now Cad's optimism etc... is his personality vs because he was So Mature and Wise....more
Midway through this volume is where my rereading stopped, this was a little less fun than the first volume, but it's all new story Actually 3.5 stars.
Midway through this volume is where my rereading stopped, this was a little less fun than the first volume, but it's all new story for me from here on out....more
I was buying the Oddly Normal books when the comic was first being printed. I remember really enjoying them, and then being really frustrated when I sI was buying the Oddly Normal books when the comic was first being printed. I remember really enjoying them, and then being really frustrated when I stopped being able to snag them at my comic book shop. I'm not sure if Image put a pause on publishing them, or my shop just didn't bother to keep them in stock, but I was super disappointed I didn't get to find out what happened next to Oddly.
Imagine my surprise when my library's digital loan system suggested I might like to borrow the Oddly Normal volumes - AND they had all of them. It's only been 7 or 8 years but I'm finally working my way to the ending!...more
I really enjoyed this whole world and the art of this book so much that as soon as I finished my digital copy borrowed from the library I told my husbI really enjoyed this whole world and the art of this book so much that as soon as I finished my digital copy borrowed from the library I told my husband I might need to order my own print copy.
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