Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden

 

Clementine: Book One by Tillie Walden

My Rating: ★★★★

Clementine is on the road and hoping to find somewhere she can live by herself in the first of a new trilogy series following this well-loved character. The best way to deal with trauma is to run away from it, or at least that’s what she thinks. Unfortunately, Clementine is about to learn that you can only run so far before things start to catch up to you.

I haven’t finished the game series yet, but I got so excited when I saw that there’s now a graphic novel, I had to start reading it right away. Plus, I’m a fan of Tillie Walden’s work, so I was really excited to see what they would be doing with the characters! We follow Clementine sometime after the game series ends. I can’t say how much time has passed between the games and this book since I haven’t finished playing the games yet, but we do eventually learn why Clementine decided to take off on her own.

During Clementine’s journey, we see her try her best not to stay anywhere too long so she doesn’t get attached to anyone. Fate has other plans, because she meets new people and begrudgingly gets attached to them as her own grief and trauma slowly catches up to her. While this is a series about survival, this volume has a lot of focus on trauma and attempting to figure out how to cope in a world that has completely fallen apart. I plan on finishing the games before reading the second book so that I won’t have any gaps in what happened before the trilogy starts. However, despite only being halfway through the games, I really enjoyed this book.

Once a Queen (Once a Queen #1) by Sarah Arthur

 

Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur

My Rating: ★★★

I received a copy from WaterBrook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Eva Joyce travels to England with her mom, she’s excited to meet the grandmother she’s never once heard from. The only problem is that her grandma is sweet with a scary side, and Eva’s been instructed to contain her curiosity while visiting. Magic and fairy tales are not accepted by her grandmother, and the more Eva explores the property, the more she discovers there’s a huge mystery rooted in the fairy tales that are very much a reality.

I thought this seemed like a fun book, so I was excited to check it out! We follow Eva, an extremely curious teenager who is fascinated with all things fantasy and mysterious. She’s grown up moving from one place to another all based on where her father has found work, and while her parents don’t mind her curious nature much, it’s not welcome at her grandmother’s home. For some reason, she’s not allowed to bring up her dad, magic, fairy tales, and strangely enough, trains. It turns out it’s all connected to a terrible tragedy where two family members and a family friend lost their lives, which turned her grandmother into the woman she is in the present.

I think this book was enjoyable at times, but it’s a book that would be more enjoyable for its target audience than it is for adults. It has everything from mystery, magic, and a tragedy that destroyed a family. It was fun seeing Eva discover that the fairy tales she grew up with were very much a reality, and that her dad’s lifetime work is connected to her family in ways she never could’ve imagined. However, the mystery was frustrating. It was clear from the start, but the way the characters danced around it and kept telling Eva it wasn’t their story was just really irritating. I think I would’ve found it more mysterious and fun if I was reading this back when I was in middle school, so it’s definitely great for its target audience.

The characters were both complex and interesting even if Eva seemed to think she knew more than she did. I think Eva was just a lonely kid excited to find out that her favorite fairy tales were real. I also understand how much she hoped to get her grandmother’s approval, especially since she never really knew any family outside of her parents. It was nice to see her make a friend and even keep that friendship going after the huge fight they have, especially since it didn’t seem like she really had friends back at home.

While the book was a fun read, it was also frustrating at times, and I think younger readers will likely get drawn into the story much more than I did and not notice when things seem to stall. I do think it’s interesting enough that I may check out the second book when it eventually comes out. Now that the tedious nature of the mystery is out of the way, it’ll be interesting to see how the story progresses.

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy (Smythe-Smith Quartet #4) by Julia Quinn

 

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn

My Rating: ★★★★

Sir Richard Kenworthy is on the market for a wife. He has a very specific list of requirements, but above all, he needs someone who will marry him in two weeks. It’s why the annual Smythe-Smith musicale seems so promising. Surely one of the Smythe-Smith ladies will be desperate enough to marry very quickly. Richard has heard they’re desperate, but what he doesn’t realize is that they’re only desperate to stop having to perform in the musicales. While he’s in for a huge surprise about their musical talent, there’s no way he could’ve ever prepared him for the lovely Iris Smyth-Smith. The problem? He’s falling in love, and now he feels even more guilty about her not knowing why they need to marry quickly.

I’ve been enjoying this series, and I found that I really liked following Iris and Richard. They hit it off really quick even though Iris is suspicious of Richard, who is riddled with guilt. I think they made a solid couple when all was said and done. They were both quite interesting even though it was bugging me that they didn’t just drop Richard’s secret early on. I thought it was kind of silly that his chapters kept dancing around it when the man would obviously keep thinking about the actual details. Either way, I loved seeing them come back from the first big hurdle in their relationship. Honestly, I don’t think Richard thought it through as much as he thought he did because he seemed to not have a plan for some pretty major things.

Despite the secrets and anguish, this was actually a hilarious read. There were some passages that had me laughing so hard that I was crying from laughter. The final performance from the Smythe-Smith family was an excellent send-off. I’m going to miss all the shenanigans with the dramatic stories and the hilarious unicorn obsession.

Devi's Distraction (Icehome #6) by Ruby Dixon

 

Devi's Distraction by Ruby Dixon

My Rating: ★★★★★

I haven't been reviewing the spin-off series, but I do have to say that this book is FIRE. Holy crap! This is definitely my fav book of the series. It's going to be so hard to top it. It's full of soft moments on top of there being a ton of depth, but there's still hilarious moments. Plus, N'dek and Devi's chemistry is off the charts. I'm always excited about learning more about everyone's relationships with each other as well as what different animals and sea life live on the planet. More than anything, I love that Ruby has been devoted to making sure that disabilities are represented through the OG series as well as the spin-off.

Introverts Unite to Color! But Separately and In Your Own Homes: A Comically Calming Adult Coloring Book for Introverts by H.R. Wallace Publishing

Introverts Unite to Color! But Separately and In Your Own Homes: A Comically Calming Adult Coloring Book for Introverts by H.R. Wallace Publishing

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from H.R. Wallace Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a coloring book targeting introverts, you’ll be happy to find it exists! Inside you will find a whole bunch of super cute and fun coloring pages with funny and relatable quotes. I really liked how fun and relatable many of the pages were, with a bunch of simple and aesthetically pleasing patterns to color in! My only issue is that the 17th coloring page says, “My spirit animal is a turtle we’re both content in our shells.” It’s taking spirit animals, which are sacred to indigenous people, and totally taking it out of context. I’ve heard and seen this a lot over the years because a lot of people don’t know where spirit animals come from, so it’s entirely possible that the people behind this book are also unaware, but it was still sad to see this as a coloring page.

A Kingdom of Souls and Shadows by Leslie O'Sullivan

 

A Kingdom of Souls and Shadows by Leslie O'Sullivan

My Rating: ★

I received a copy from City Owl Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Eala Duir has spent much of her life trying to live on the safe side. If the path isn’t tried and true, she doesn’t want anything to do with it. Everything changed when her grandmother passed away. First, a vague letter from her  grandma reveals that Eala’s real name is not Ellie like she’d been raised to believe it was. Then her grandma asks her to go to Ireland to find out the truth about herself, but all she has to get her started is the cryptic message that was left to her. Once in Ireland, it turns out that the fae world her grandmother always spoke of is real, and that she can travel between worlds. What is Eala’s fate, and why is it so deeply connected with the sassy Sionnach Loho?

I really liked the overall concept of this book, but I ended up DNFing it at 52%. We follow Eala as she’s going through a major life transition. Not only is she trying to adjust to life without her grandma, but she’s suddenly thrust into a world of fantasy and magic while trying to figure out where she came from and what her grandma’s cryptic message means. While Eala has her best friend, Colleen, at her side, she quickly discovers that the answer to all her questions comes in the form of a sassy Irish man: Sionnach.

Eala is a solid person, but she’s also a pretty boring character to follow. Even when she’s in the thick of things, she’s the least interesting person in the mix and it’s easy for her to blend into the background. All of the other characters are far more interesting, and I think I would’ve liked the book a little more if we had Eala and Sion as rotating narrators.  Sion is a man of many words, but he also keeps his cards very close to his chest, so there’s a lot of missing information that only he can drop into the story. By the halfway point, I was far more frustrated by the lack of communication between the characters than Eala is, and this story is directly impacting her life.

As I said, I really like the overall concept of the book. Eala can travel between worlds, including everything in between, but there’s also rules to follow. Rules that Sion has been very tight lipped about, which throws them into some pretty tight spots. Reading this ended up being frustrating in the end because it seems like there’s something huge sitting right around the corner, only that corner keeps getting further and further away. I think that there are some readers who will love this book, the romantic interest that is a red herring, and the pacing of the story. Unfortunately, it’s not a book that’s a hit with me.

When a Cat Faces West Vol. 3 by Yuki Urushibara

 

When a Cat Faces West Vol. 3 by Yuki Urushibara

My Rating: ★★★★★

Hirota and Chima are more than familiar with flow as everyone’s favorite flow experts. Just when they think they’ve seen everything, they find a new case caused by cats in the worst of places… or best of places if you’re Hirota!

I had a feeling that this would be the final book in the series and I was right! This is both a good and a bad thing. I really enjoy this series, but it also feels right to end while it’s still in a good place. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, which is why I was delighted to finally learn Hirota’s backstory. What a twist! It was also great to see how each of the characters bonded even if they didn’t particularly care for each other.

I don’t want to say too much because then it’d spoil the story, but this was an excellent way to wrap up the series. I also enjoyed the author’s note at the end and getting to learn what inspired the story. Between this series and what inspired them to write it, I really want to check out their other publications.