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The White and Blue Between Us by Kiyuhiko

The cover was what first drew me in, the colors and the art appealed to me. And I feel like it really matches the story. It evokes this feeling of summer and being the only two people in the world when you're together. The inconsistency of the story threw me a little off. In the beginning you get a version of how they got together and then in the bonus content at the end, there's another version. I kind of hated the plot. I like the estranged friends reconnect after several years trope, but there was nothing that made me feel like they actually cared about each other? It all felt selfish to me. Especially the main character. He just thinks about what he wants and doesn't care about Mishima's feelings and then Mishima's inner monologue it's just "He's annoying". I was disappointed with the story but I believe the translation job was well done. It didn't feel awkward like it does sometimes.

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Til Death Do Us Bard

Pages: 365 Published: 21 Nov 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The main reason for wanting to read this was the title. From the moment I saw it and then read the blurb, I got obsessed with getting my hands on this book. I pre-ordered it (it only comes out in late November) and then NetGalley sent me an early copy in exchange for an honest review and I almost screamed. Yes!!!!! My expectations were high: I wanted that cozy feeling I got from Legends & Lattes and I was so ready to devour it the moment I got it.

What you need to know: There's a gruff ex adventurer married to a tall skinny bard that have old married couple banter even though they've been married for less than a year. The bard disappears one night and the adventurer will not rest until he has his husband back. They meet a full cast of characters in their journey and discover villains way scarier than they predicted.

My first thought when I started reading was that I was not loving the writing style but that it was probably because I had such great expectations. And then I thought "I would love to see this in graphic novel form because the visuals are great" and I kept feeling it all throughout the book. The plot is very interesting, and I loved the whole ex-wife vs new husband dynamic, I loved the countess and Pie and Gary, but it all went by so fast. I think I've never read something so fast paced. It was just action, action, action, which just cements my thought that it would be a great graphic novel. In this format (novel), I would've liked to see a bit more introspection, more pauses, more focus on the characters and their relationships, their feelings. I also think the formatting of the file I got didn't help since it made it seem even more jumbled. But yeah, prepare for a fast paced adventure!

I loved that no one is a damsel in distress. My favorite line was Pie telling Logan "No. I also get to have fears." I liked their arguments and the way they both love each other so much. I think the flashback interludes were important to made the reader care more about their relationship. Often with these kinds of stories it's hard to make the reader care about the missing partner because we don't know enough about them to form a connection, so getting to see how they met and how they got together was really important.

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How It Unfolds by James S.A. Corey

Pages: 38 Published: 27 Jun 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I bought the entire The Far Reaches series on a whim and so far so good.

This short story is about a man, Roy, who is part of a team of astronauts on a mission to terraform new planets (presumably due to overpopulation). The twist is: they're not being sent into space, their clones are. More specifically, when the mission lands on a new planet it will create a duplicate of the team and everything they need to form a new colony. This way, they can bypass the problem of these journeys often lasting more than a person's lifetime - just synthesize new copies of these people when you get there!

The premise is really cool, and though the science is a bit dubious and not really well explained (how do you duplicate matter using just light?), it works well inside the universe of the story. However, the constant jumping back and forth in the timeline and the different perspectives makes it a bit confusing to follow in the beginning.

For me, I think the format worked, but based on some of the comments I've read, some people definitely did not understand what was going on (one person thought it was always the same character and we were seeing his past and future and not different iterations of the same person lol)

So, yeah, a different format maybe would've given the reader a deeper understanding of this universe, but I think the point of the author was not to write a hard sci-fi story but more of a philosophical exploration of the concept of time and our relationship with the past. Especially since the main focus of the story seems to be Roy's relationship with his ex-wife, Anjula.

In Anjula's words:

“It’s possible to be faithful to something that’s in the past. It’s not a betrayal to build something new when something old is finished.”

and Roy's response:

"Honor the past without living in it"

It’s a story about realizing that just because something ends doesn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful while it lasted and also, nothing lasts forever. Things will always end and it's not because they are over that they failed. It does a nice job with the parallelism between Roy and Anjula's story and the fall of past civilizations. And the title was clever, I liked it.

As a personal preference, I think I would've liked this story more if it was more focused on the sci-fi element than Roy's history with Anjula.

For a short story I get why it was written like this, but as a sci-fi nerd, I think I would've liked a longer story starting with (spoiler) the crew arriving in this new planet, trying to parse through all the info coming from the other colonies, some flashbacks from the original Roy, the messages from their descendants, and the whole rigmarole of finally realizing they were on earth but millions of years later. (end of spoiler)

I really liked that final twist but it would be even more satisfying after like 200 pages of build-up. Meaning, I really liked this story but I wanted more of it, I guess.

All in all, the story is pretty dope, it just isn't 5 stars to me because I wanted more sci-fi. On to the next one!

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Murder on the Rockport Limited! by Clint McElroy & Carey Pietsch (Artist)

Pages: 240 Published: 16 Jul 2019 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Once again, a perfect adaptation of the podcast. A few scenes were shortened and a couple of jokes changed but it’s still pretty loyal to the original. I loved this mystery, I loved Jess and the juicy wizard, and even the ten year old boy detective. I remember laughing out loud while listening to the podcast and reading this had me smiling again with all the goofy shit they do. I love Taako to death ❤️

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Jungle Juice, Vol. 1 by Hyeong Eun, JUDER

Pages: 304 Published: 19 Sep 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: death, violence

Jungle Juice is a webcomic currently being published on Webtoon and Vol 1. compiles the first 12 episodes of the series. Being an avid webcomic reader for at least half a decade, I was excited to read this one.

The premise of the story is that whoever uses the insecticide "Jungle Juice" to kill a bug is in danger of getting the bug's DNA mixed with their own and becoming a human-insect hybrid. The main character has been hiding his wings for years, thinking he's a freak, when suddenly everything changes and he finds out he's not the only one, joins a human-insect academy and begins his adventure in this new world he didn't know existed.

The art is awesome. I went ahead and the checked the original webcomic for comparison and I really like how it was adapted to the book format, the differences are minimal from what I could see. The characters are also really interesting and you can tell there's still a lot to come. I imagine the story will delve into the side characters back stories and expand on the ways this universe works, which means there's a lot of room for the story to grow.

I've gotta say that having read a lot of webcomics, manga and watched a lot of anime, there wasn't a lot that felt new and distinctive about Jungle Juice to me. Yes, it has an original concept, the whole human-insect thing, but it follows the usual premise of a lot of other shōnen lit - it gave me My Hero Academia vibes, to be honest. Also it seems to suffer a bit from the ever-present exposition syndrome anime and manga have. Sometimes a bit of show, don't tell goes a long way.

That said, I think the fans of the webcomic will love owning this graphic novel and I hope it has a lot of success!

Big thanks to NetGalley, Yen Press and Ize Press for the ARC!

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Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Pages: 250 Published: 18 Jul 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: death, gore

I’ve always heard that Chuck Tingle is a great writer despite the completely unhinged subjects he decides to write about, so I’m glad this lived up to the hype. From what I know of his other works, Mr. Tingle has a way of making sure you get the point of the story even if he has to be very blatant about it and he definitely brought that into this one. I don’t think it’s possible to read this book and not understand the message being shared here.

I had a lot of fun trying to guess what was going on before the characters did. I kept highlighting quotes and annotating the shit out of them with my predictions while simultaneously stopping to look around bc I was getting spooked - it is a horror book after all - and the dark was starting to mess with my head, help

I really liked the main character and the other two secondary characters, I was afraid we wouldn’t get enough info on Willow to care about her but nope. Oh and I loved, loved Saul. And Rose is a freaking badass and I’m so glad she was written the way she was.

Also, the visuals, my guy. Everything was so visceral and so clear in my mind that I’m pretty sure I’m gonna dream about it tonight. From the description of the characters - I could picture them so clearly - to the darker stuff, it was all so vivid. (And gory, damn. I’m not gonna be able to forget some of the mental pictures any time soon, that’s for sure)

Good writing, good plot, good characters, all around a fun read. I don’t know a lot about Mr. Tingle’s upbringing but if he did not grow up in an extremely Christian household/community, then the amount of research put into this really freaking shows, damn

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Negative Space by B.R. Yeager

Pages: 312 Published: 15 Apr 2020 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: death, suicide, gore

reading this was like being on a bad trip which is kinda fitting since every single character in this book spends most of their time swallowing or smoking any drug they can get their hands on.

I was compelled to read this by the cover, something about it just called to me.

the prose is beautiful and it sucks you in but it feels like you’re trapped in a hallucinatory nightmare. the suicides, the apathy, the cruelty, the gore, it’s never ending and so heavy, when I got to the end I could only sigh in relief.

but the problem is that there’s no pay off. you get to the end and you still don’t understand why the suicides are happening, what the rituals were, what Tyler was doing (was he behind the suicides?), what was consuming them, if any of it was real or if it was just whorl. It feels unfinished to me, idk

[miens-reading-nook]

Thrown off the Ice by Taylor Fitzpatrick

Pages: 280 Published: 13 Dec 2018 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: mcd

When I saw all the five star ratings I got a little suspicious because when a book is being hyped everywhere, it’s usually just that - hype - and probably not that good, but fucking hell, this book absolutely destroyed me. I didn’t know what I was getting into, I was not expecting the turn this story took. Seriously, with that two sentence blurb, I had no idea this was how it was going to end. (though I should’ve from the dedication at the start, I realize now) All I can say is this: this is a great story, wonderfully written but it’ll break your fucking heart. You can’t help but love the two mcs (I only wish we knew more about them, I desperately want to know why Liam got so fascinated with Mike at the start), the writing keeps you engaged the whole time, I couldn’t stop reading, and it’s a love story like none I’ve read before. It’s so far from the usual romantic cliches and tropes, but still so raw and so real?? I could talk about this book for days. Just, incredible. And I don’t understand that one comment I saw calling this book boring and saying they couldn’t feel anything for the characters when I was legit bawling my eyes out from the moment i understood what was going to happen.

[miens-reading-nook]

Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy and Carey Pietsch (Illustrator)

Pages: 256 Published: 17 Jul 2018 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reading this after finally starting the podcast all these years later was like getting inoculated with that "vile shit" at the end and finally being able to see what everybody else was seeing. I've been hearing about TAZ since before I even found MBMBaM (which i've been listening to for years) and it took me ages to put two and two together. TAZ has the same goofy vibes all the other mcelroy content has and this graphic novel was the perfect adaptation of the podcast. And since I was basically listening and reading at the same time, I got to see it all played out right away which was awesome.

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The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

Pages: 544 Published: 23 May 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow, straight to my top 5 of 2023. Five stars ��� Okay, so, think Altered Carbon (your brain is mapped and your consciousness can be transferred to new copies of your body or other bodies, making you virtually immortal) but make it less gory (still pretty bloody, though), a bit spookier (scary fungus destroying everything everywhere) and add a little ✨spice✨ (casual queerness) and you've got The Blighted Stars. I don't even know where to start. I read this last night and I'm still vibrating with excitement. It's books like this one that remind me why I love sci-fi so much. First, I'll say that the casual way queerness was introduced in the story melted my heart. Sometimes people are just queer and that's it. I loved that. Second, sometimes you love a story because of its characters, sometimes it's the world building, other times the plot. With this book, well, its everything. Tarquin and Naia - the main characters - are great. As soon as I started reading I just wanted to know more about them. The world-building is great too and relatively easy to follow: - In a distant future, 5 corporate families rule over a world where resources are scarce and people are starving if they're not under contract with one of the families. Humanity is spread out over multiple dying planets and space stations, and the race for new habitable planets is on as a deadly fungus consumes every bit of plant life it touches. - Tarquin is the second heir to one of the families and Naia is his father's ex-bodyguard turned environmental terrorist. After their ship crashes on a dead planet that should’ve been thriving, they’ve got to figure out: 1) how to survive, 2) what the hell is going on. I feel like I could talk about this universe for hours so I'm just going to copy paste some of the notes I took while reading: "Yaassss, we love good queer representation" "The misprints are so fucking creepy" "Okay, but the plot is so cool." "Oh this fungus is scaryyy. I like it" "I JUST REALIZED THIS IS NOT GONNA BE FIXED IN ONE BOOK OMGGGGG THIS BOOK IS GONNA MAKE ME LOSE MY MIND" - this was when I realized this was probably part of a series lol "Okay I dig how much of a romantic tarquin is." And then it's just a bunch of theories trying to guess the plot as I went along 😂 I love when a book gets me this excited. When the story lingers in my mind and I find myself thinking about it over and over again, wondering about the implications of certain details, about the rules of this universe and what that means for the story going forward. I don't even know what else to say, I just know that it was super fun (and stressful) to read this and I love Megan O'Keefe's brain ❤❤

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Delay of Game by Ari Baran

Pages: 308 Published: 14 Nov 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I cannot express how excited I was when I got the notification from NetGalley that this book was in my inbox waiting for a review. I loved Game Misconduct so I knew this was going to be good.

This story starts with Zach getting traded to Philly after a couple of scandals too many and then there’s an immediate time skip to two years later. I loved this choice. The author could’ve chosen to give us the background of the character but instead there was a “show, don’t tell” moment that I really appreciated.

The first thing I noticed, and I felt the same with the first book, is that the characters are so freaking fun. None of them are particularly bright, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence, but they feel so real and so relatable. Even the background characters that don’t show up that much. They’re still fun to read about and you can tell that the author put a lot of thought into them too (I hate when the other characters are so bland that they become indistinguishable in my head).

I loved the way they got together. It seemed like the natural progression of what they were doing but it was still so exciting and nerve racking. They’re both so dumb in completely different ways, I loved it.

Oh I loved getting to seeing Mike and Garcia. I expected them to maybe be mentioned once or twice but I was glad that Mike was an important character in Zach and Nate’s story too. (I loved Zach and Mike’s talk, when Zach first comes over, it made me tear up 🥺)

The only thing I didn’t love was the resolution of the main conflict. All that build up and it got fixed in a couple of sentences? A bit anti-climatic. From that point until almost the end I was feeling a bit meh about the story, mainly because I had been loving it so much until that point, but then the end made me love it again. The article at the end made me actually laugh out loud haha

And I’ve seen that the author is planning more works for this series, I can’t wait! They have a very particular way of writing that is so satisfying to read and they never miss with the characters.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for the early review copy, I was so excited for this book and I’m glad I didn’t have to wait until November to read it.

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Time to Shine by Rachel Reid

Pages: 382 Published: 26 Sep 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Okay but this is so cute ❤️

Big thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC!

I picked this up because I absolutely loved Heated Rivalry and The Long Game, so I knew I was in for a good time no matter what and I was right!! Is it perfect? No. Did I love it anyway? Heck yeah!

The main characters, Casey and Landon, are so lovable. Honestly, it was impossible not to become invested right away.

At the start, idk why, I had the fleeting thought that maybe this was gonna be a bit boring, but a few pages went by and I was 100% dialed in. I can’t find the quote but in the beginning Landon says something about how quickly Casey wins people over despite being a bit “too much” most of the time, and I kid you not, I had to laugh when I realized it happened to me too! I don’t remember my first impression of Casey but all I know is that suddenly I was one of these characters, completely won over by this 23yo golden retriever with adhd who never shuts up.

And Landon!! His sadness, his grief, was so palpable, I just wanted to reach into the pages and hold him, poor kid.

As with the other works I read of this author, what struck me the most was how easily she made me feel all kinds of emotions. I got butterflies in my stomach, I cried, I laughed, all of it. I love when that happens, when the build up to the moment you’ve been waiting for is so well crafted that a few words can give you an adrenaline rush like you’re actually in the room with the characters.

I felt that Time to Shine was well-written, it had the right amount of hockey, the side characters were interesting and multidimensional, and the main couple is absolutely adorable.

The only reason this is more of a 4.5 stars to me instead of 5 despite all the fun I had, is that it’s all a little too perfect. The characters always say the right things, there’s very little conflict and nobody puts their foot in their mouth in a way that is not cute or easily fixed. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, nothing wrong with not having to suffer through the agony of stupid misunderstandings and easily preventable miscommunication, but maybe this story could have done with a bit more depth?

There were a few subjects that I would’ve liked the author to have explored a bit more, if I’m being honest.

Landon’s sexuality (I don’t mean defining it, I mean his journey and his feelings about it), the impact of what happened to Erin on Landon’s family (it was one of the major plot points but then the resolution was a few lines and a hug), the past 8 years of Landon’s life, Casey’s relationship with his family, and more real world consequences to what’s happening around them. It was a little too cute and perfect.

Final thoughts: I loved Casey and Landon’s characterization, their relationship was so funny and I loved the way they talked to each other. There were some killer lines and the love felt so real.

[miens-reading-nook]

The Baker and the Bard by Fern Haught

Pages: 160 Published: 5 Mar 2024 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A big thanks to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the ARC in exchange for an honest review, what a cute and cozy story!

As soon as you start reading, you're immediately immersed in this world Fern Haught created. There's no need for an introduction or exposition, you're instantly familiar with the characters and the world they live in. It was a very sweet story and you'll finish it with a smile on your face!

The art style was pleasant and consistent, and the colors are always soft and warm, which adds to the cozy feeling of the story. The plot was simple, I would argue it fits more in the middle grade/teen category than YA, but it was nice and well executed. Without giving too much away, it was nice to glimpse into a world where everyone is kind and well intentioned.

It's not five stars for me because I think it could do with a bit more depth into the subjects it raises. like habitat destruction and gender identitiy.

Either way, this is a great book to read with your kids or young cousins or if you're young yourself. It's a very subtle way to start a conversation and it has a very cute message.

[miens-reading-nook]

The Control Problem by Norah Woodsey

Pages: 414 Published: 20 Dez 2022 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I went into this without knowing too much about it because I wanted to avoid spoilers and I was pleasantly surprised by the premise and the twist it took. Living in an era where AI seems to get more relevant by the day, it's interesting to read something focused on the role AI can have on our lives, how it can be used to control us and what the consequences of living in a world like this are.

However, even though the premise is cool and the plot too, the execution left a little to be desired. I don't know if it's because it's harder for me to focus when I'm listening to an audiobook versus reading a book, but I kept getting distracted and having to rewind and trying to find the place I stopped paying attention. I think maybe the format - the diary entries (so detailed and full of uninteresting details) - might be to blame for this, but I'm not sure.

Overall, I think this story had a lot of potential to make me like it but it was just a bit too slow to hold my attention. I recommend it, though! Maybe try the written format instead of the audiobook :)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[miens-reading-nook]

Nadia Comaneci and the Secret Police by Stejărel Olaru Translated by Alistair Ian Blyth

Pages: 312 Published: 6 Apr 2023 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: abuse

I always struggle with non fiction books, as I imagine a lot of people do when they're used to reading fiction. I feel however that this book in particular was a very hard read. I've read other comments and I saw someone suggest that this translation/this ARC was purposefully confusing and badly edited to prevent piracy, which I'm not sure is even something publishers do so I'm not inclined to believe it. I also saw several users on goodreads giving very positive feedback on the Romanian version, so I'm thinking that the confusing sentences and the weird formatting might be just for the translated version.

I was so annoyed by the unreadability of the file that it was hard to focus on the story, which unfortunately is not at all what I was expecting. This is a very well researched book and it seems like the author reading did his homework with this, but the way it was written was very dull. It was hard to find the will to continue reading and I wanted to quit several times. Once again, I'm not sure if it's because of the translation work or if the original is just as boring, but I didn't like reading this book.

Nevertheless, thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, I wanted to know more about Nadia and Romania during its communist era and this book did deliver on that promise.

[miens-reading-nook]

Travelers by Brett Riley

Pages: 311 Published: 2 Aug 2022 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

First, I have to say that this second installment of the Freaks series is better than the first one, which was a nice surprise! It didn't feel as flat as I felt the first one was, it was nice to see them a bit older and see their dynamics grow, but I was still not very captivated by the characters, I have to admit.

I think overall it was an okay story, the story line with the task force was fun, but having read something similar before (Long Exposure by Kam Heyward) it probably didn't have the impact it would have otherwise.

In conclusion, I think it's not a perfect book but it's definitely a fun read for fans of YA sci-fi!

Also, I want to thank the publisher and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney

Pages: 135 Published: 20 Out 2022 My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Content warnings: child death, cancer, grief, suicide

This is one of those books you know will stick with you for the rest of your life. It's been a few months since I've read it and I still think about it from time to time.

Rob Delaney managed to put into words an indescribable situation and I admire his courage to do so. It was incredibly hard for me to read this but I also finished it in an afternoon, so that tells you all you need to know. It will break your heart in a million pieces but it's impossible to put down.

I was most surprised by the levity Delaney brought to this story. This is one of the hardest things a parent will ever go through and somehow he made me laugh more than a couple of times. He made me smile and wish to be part of his family. I cannot imagine the pain they all went through (though Delaney does a wonderful job of describing it) and still, what I will remember the most about this story is not the river of tears running down my face and how I had to stop reading a couple of times just to cry for a bit, but the love these people have for each other. This is a story full of love and it's impossible not to feel it.

I recommend this book to anyone who feels brave enough to give it a try, because it's definitely worth the read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Spiegel & Grau for the ARC!