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Juliet Takes a Breath Graphic Novel Review

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Um, I think I expected a little too much from this one... The graphic novel adaptation of Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera (and illustrated by Celia Moscote) is about 19-year old Juliet, who is queer, Latina, and lives in the Bronx. She gets accepted to do a writing internship with her favorite queer feminist author, Harlowe Brisbane. After coming out to her mother as a lesbian goes wrong, and her girlfriend Lanie starts to seem distant with her, Juliet hops on the first flight to Portland, Oregon to work with Harlowe. Harlowe lets Juliet room and board at her house, and she gets familiar with people in her social circle, mostly Harlowe's ex named Max and her new girlfriend Zaira (they first meet at a writer's club). Juliet also goes a lot to the library to do research and gets close with an intern there named Kira. Juliet is happy to be surrounded by a lot of like-minded people at first, but Harlowe is probably not who she seems to be... This story did a lot of things th...
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Under All the Lights Review

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  This is the stand-alone sequel to When it All Syncs Up by Maya Ameyaw , which I read and reviewed earlier this year! You can read that review here .  Under All the Lights follows Aisha's (from the first book) boyfriend Ollie, who is a amateur musician. Recently his family has fallen on hard times financially, and he has been having a lot of conflicts with his dad. When a homemade music video of his goes viral after being shared by popular singer Jesse Jacobs after a musical festival, he is given an offer by Jesse's record label to tour around the country (Canada) with him! Ollie accepts the offer. His goal is to help his family, and maybe the tour will be his one way ticket to a good music school. But he has to do all of this while managing his anxiety, which isn't easy. Just like When it All Syncs Up , it's a book that deals with a lot of heavy stuff (but handled in a good way!) while also pursuing ones dreams. The book is also very diverse, too. Ollie is Algerian-Ca...
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Bone: Rose's Story

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  This is not a typical review. It's just that I read the entire Bone series by Jeff Smith a few years ago when I first started my blog, and it was epic! I need to reread the series sometime, and the rest of the supplemental material. This book is the prequel about the character Thorn's grandmother, and the events of what led to the conflict that we see in Bone (if you know, you know). I gave it 5 stars !
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Underrated Books Part 22!

  At least one of these are actually quite well known.  You can look at the previous parts under the Navigation page, as usual! 1. Morisaki Bookshop duology by Satoshi Yagisawa --Takako just broke up with her boyfriend and left her job...and finds herself living with and working at her eccentric uncle's used book store. Slowly Takako starts enjoying life again with all the new people she meets--and finds out something shocking about her long-lost aunt.   2. Mysteries of Trash and Treasure Trilogy by Margaret Peterson Haddix --of course I have to share something by Ms. Haddix! Each book follows Colin and his new best friend Neveah figuring out life-changing mysteries through the junk each of their parents collect.  3.  I Want to be a Wall manga series by Honami Shirono-- A 3 volume manga series about an asexual lady and a closeted gay man navigating their new life as a married couple not in love with each other. They also learn more about what it means to be...
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April Wrap Up!

  I had a great reading month! I read a total of 11 books and DNF 6 . Links to reviews if applicable. 5 stars: 1. The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay 2. A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll 3. Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi 4. Somali and the Forest Spirit Volume 4 by Yako Gureishi 5. She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat Volume 3 by Sakaomi Yuzaki 6. Nicola Traveling Around the Demon's World Volumes 1-4 by Asaya Miyanagi (I reviewed the first two volumes)   The 4.5 star book: One Piece Heroines Volume 2 by several authors (original creator Eichiro Oda)   The 4 star book:  In Over Their Heads by Margaret Peterson Haddix    Books I DNF because I thought they were bad:  1. Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree 2. Sorceline by Sylvia Douye 3. Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley.     Books I DNF because I thought they were boring: 1. The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan 2. The Queer Girl is Going to by Okay by Dale Walls ...
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Underrated Books Part 21!

  I want to get back in the groove of posting another part of this series once a month. Let's see how it goes. 1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls -okay, this one is actually kind of popular in memoir circles! This is the story of author and journalist Jeannette Walls and her life growing up in an unconventional and dysfunctional family, and how she escaped and changed her life for the better while acknowledging you can never truly escape your past.  2. Aquicorn Cove by K. O'Neill -another whimsical book from author K. O'Neill all about protecting the environment to protect the animals--including magical ones!  3. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei -you know what, this memoir is quite popular, too! This is a graphic novel memoir about popular actor George Takei's experience as a victim of the Japanese internment camps during WW2, and a little bit on how he became an actor as an adult.  4. Sylvia Doe and the 100 Year Flood by Robert Beatty -a middle grade novel a...
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Bitter Review

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TW: mentions of trauma from foster care, and of being hurt by law enforcement.  Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi is the prequel to Pet , which I read and reviewed earlier this year. You can read that review here .  The story is about Jam's mother (from the first book) back when she was a teenager and an art student. She lives in a boarding school called Eucalyptus which is a safe haven from the rest of Lucille--which has recently been having a political uprising. Bitter wants to make Lucille a better place for her and her new social circle (consisting of her friend Blessing, Blessings girlfriend Alex, and Bitter's new boyfriend Aloe), but she finds it hard when she has her own trauma from being in different foster homes. She would rather paint and stay in Eucalyptus than go to protests with Assata. Assata is the movement of people overthrowing the corrupt people in power, which some people Bitter knows are a part of. Bitter eventually learns that she can make her own change through he...
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