Candy Bunny Reader

  I do this tag every year sometime in June.  Check out my answers for the previous years on the Navigation page! 1. Best book you read so far this year? I've got two: The Witch Who Chases the Sun by Dawn Chen and Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura   2. Best sequel you read so far this year? Amari and the Metalwork Menace  by BB Alston and Under All the Lights by Maya Ameyaw.   3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.  Smash or Pass by Birdie Schae 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year. This is actually a revised edition of a book originally published in 2009, but The Diaries of Emily the Strange: The Lost Days is coming out in September 2026.   Another one is the second book of the Kiki's Delivery Service series (yes, it's a whole series) titled Kiki and the New Magic . The author is Eiko Kadono.  The book was originally published in Japanese back in 1993 and getting an English release i...

  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 ...

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...

  I read a total of 8 books and only DNF 1 .  Here they all are: The 5 stars: 1. Sakura Saku Volume 9 (the last volume!) by Io Sakisaka 2. One Piece: Law's Story by Sakagami Shusei and Eichiro Oda 3. Shadows House Volume 8 by Somato 4. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi 5. When it All Syncs Up by Maya Ameyaw     The 4.5 stars: 1.  Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura 2. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan 3. Shadows House Volume 7 by Somato    The 1 DNF (because I thought it was bad):    The Island Volume 1 by Gordon Korman

Please read the full list of trigger warnings for this book here: https://booktriggerwarnings.com/Pet_by_Akwaeke_Emezi  Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is a young adult dystopian (although set in a utopia), speculative, and urban fantasy book. It is set in a utopian community called Lucille that has is run by Angels (people considered good) and has (supposedly) eliminated all of the Monsters (people considered bad) after a revolution a long time ago.  The main character is a trans girl named Jam who has selective mutism. One day she accidentally brings to life one of her mother's paintings, and a creature emerges from it named Pet. Pet is there to search for and destroy a Monster that still exists in Lucille. It needs Jam's help because the Monster is at Redemption's (Jam's best friend) house.  The whole situation is shocking and confusing, but Jam will do anything to help and protect her best friend and his family.  This book wasn't very long (only 12 chapters), but it reall...