Lonely Receiver by Zac Thompson, Jen Hickman

 
Lonely Receiver by Zac Thompson, Jen Hickman
My Rating: ★

I received a copy from Diamond Book Distributors through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Catrin’s Artificial Intelligence life partner leaves her after ten years of bliss, she’s left hurt, angry, and confused. She can’t believe Rhion left her when she purchased and created her for her every need. The longer Catrin is left alone, the more she falls apart. She owns Rhion and she’ll do anything to get her back, even if that means destroying her life in the process.

I think this is an interesting concept, but the execution quickly went off the rails and never found its way back. There are some interesting things here, like where do AI life partners go when they leave? It turns out it’s extremely rare for them to leave, so it would’ve been interesting if we saw what Rhion was up to while Catrin was falling apart. Instead, the story quickly goes off the rails and we watch Catrin fall into profound loneliness and obsession, leading her to enter a new world of cybersex trying to feel something.

When I say she enters a new world of cybersex, what I’m saying is that there’s page after page devoted to these orgies. That’s not even including the other pages devoted to sex and general nudity. It was completely unnecessary and became increasingly uncomfortable by the page. We also get a weird AI shadow being who speaks in poetry that Catrin goes on to sleep with. Honestly, this book was strange, confusing, and very devoted to depicting cybersex rather than delivering a story. The only thing I came away with was questions about why there were pages upon pages devoted to sex and nudity rather than an actual storytelling.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

 
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
My Rating: ★★★★★

Final girls are last ones standing when a murderer came through and took away their friends, family, and anyone in the vicinity. Unfortunately, Lynnette has found herself a final girl after surviving two massacres. It’s affected every aspect of her life. Her only true friend is her plant, Fine, but at least she’s always had the final girl support group. Everyone in the group is the sole survivor of a massacre, and each one has been battling with their past in some way or another since. When the person holding the meetings together is found dead, Lynnette is terrified that she’s next. Unfortunately for her, she’s just entered a living nightmare she hoped would never happen because someone with murder on their mind is targeting every final girl in their group.

When I picked up this book, I knew that it was a thriller. What I didn’t expect is that it would be the fastest paced novel I have ever read. It really hit the ground running with nonstop action up until the very end. Inspired by slasher movies, it focuses on what happened to the fictional sole survivors of massacres whose stories became slasher movies. The book is peppered with news articles on the various movies, interviews, and other information that are related to the characters. I thought it was a great addition to the book because it gave us a little more information about how the media dealt with it in addition to taking a small step back from the action before it resumed.

We follow Lynnette, the sole survivor of two massacres that took away her family and then her foster family. When the story begins, we see how the horrors she survived has affected her. Lonely and living with her best friend, a plant named Fine, she’s fearful of another attack happening at any moment. Lynette has OCD, agoraphobia, and suffers from paranoia. The three things that she’s holding onto is that she’s safe thanks to all her safety precautions, she saved Fine when she was unable to save both of her families, and she has her final girl support group. Then things start to go south when Dani announces she’s no longer coming to group and the person who was essentially the final girl’s matriarch has been murdered.

One of the things that I liked about the book is that Lynette is not exactly the most reliable narrator. She’s extremely paranoid and jumps to every conclusion that floats by, but I completely understand why she is the way she is. However, because she’s so paranoid, she ends up being the one person who realizes that someone is coming for the remaining final girls. I felt bad for her when no one wanted to believe her, but I also understood why the other women ignored what she had to say. They’re all survivors who are dealing with their own personal problems whether or not it has anything to do with their past.

I also think that there are some great characters in this book. I’m incredibly sad for these characters and the things they’ve had to survive, which makes me so glad that they are fictional. While you don’t have to agree with Lynette’s decisions, you can understand why she makes them even if that’s not what you would do if you were in her shoes. She has heart and really does care about the people she’s made connections with even if she’s kept them at an arm’s length. I also loved Julie, Michelle, and Heather and the dynamic they had with one another. I have to say that Julie and Heather had some of the best lines as well.

While this book isn’t for everyone, if you’re looking for a thriller that’s going to keep you on your toes, this is the book for you.

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo

 
Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo
My Rating: ★★★★★

Twilight is one of the top spies there is. He specializes in going undercover and can seemingly do anything to get the job done. When Twilight receives his latest assignment, he discovers that he’s finally been stumped. You see, his new assignment requires him to have a wife and child to unknowingly go undercover with him to complete the assignment. It wouldn’t be so bad if a fellow spy could adopt a kid to go undercover as his fake wife, but there’s a shortage on spies due to people reporting them. Now Twilight is pressed for time and unknowingly marries an assassin after adopting a telepath.

This is probably one of the funniest books that I’ve read in a while. We follow Twilight, who is extremely talented at going undercover, especially if it requires him to change his face. When his new assignment takes him way out of his comfort level, all kinds of hilarious things happen and cause him to think he’s losing his touch as a spy. It gets even more hilarious once his wife comes into the picture because they have no idea who the other really is.

Other than how funny this book is, I love the dynamic between each of the characters. While the relationship between Anya and her new assassin mother, Yor, hasn’t had time to develop yet, I think I’ll love that one as well in the next volume. That said, the relationship between Twilight and Yor is so cute. He has no idea how to be a parent and she thinks being a spy is like her favorite TV show, so some hilarious events unfold. However, she is happy to finally have a home that will hopefully stick, and he has grown to care for her.

The relationship between Twilight and Yor hasn’t had a lot of time to develop yet, but I think they match each other well, especially because Yor also needs the cover that being married provides. She seems to also care for Yor in her own way. I’m interested in seeing how their relationship develops into how the dynamic between the three of them continues to develop as the series continues. I can tell this is going to be a great series, so I’m excited to check out the next volume.

The Dawn of the Witch, Vol. 1 by Kakeru Kobashiri and Tatsuwo

 
The Dawn of the Witch, Vol. 1 by Kakeru Kobashiri and Tatsuwo
My Rating: ★★★

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

Saybil, known as Sayb, is a magic student on his way to becoming a mage. At least, he hopes being a mage is in his future because he’s the worst student the Academy of Magic has ever seen. Horrible at magic and unable to remember his past, Sayb’s last shot at not having his memories from the academy sealed away is scrape by with a passing grade in a special class. Unfortunately, he and his classmates may never make it to the class when things go awry, and they find themselves in danger while in transit.

I went into this book expecting magic school hijinks. I supposed you could say there were magic school hijinks, but it was definitely not what I was expecting. We follow Sayb, who is one step away from flunking out of the Academy of Magic. He also suffers from amnesia and doesn’t remember anything from before he was discovered by Professor Los, who is leading the way to the special class.

The synopsis described their adventures as a field trip, but is it really a field trip if the class can last up to eight or so years? I’m not picky about that, but if you’re expecting magic school shenanigans on a field trip, just expect less shenanigans while the characters are traveling to their long-term destination. That said, the book does go back and forth between comedy and serious drama. One of the main plots of the book has to do with witch hunters. How they appear to the characters is quite serious, as expected, so prepare yourself.

I thought that the core story was quite interesting. I loved the world building and learning about the character’s backgrounds. The book is also exposition heavy at times to establish the story, which makes a lot of sense since this is setting up a series, so it didn’t bother me much. I will say that one of the info drops is very text heavy, so if that’s not something you want to see in your graphic novels, this may not be up your alley.

My only complaint about this book is that there is a lot of panels devoted to randomly sexualizing the female characters. Hopefully this is something that gets abandoned because it makes absolutely no sense and just comes out of nowhere every time it happens.

The Empress of Xytae (Tales of Inthya #4) by Effie Calvin

 
The Empress of Xytae by Effie Calvin
My Rating: ★★★★

In a kingdom strongly blessed by Reygmadra, the goddess of war, Princess Ioanna was quickly not welcome in her family. You see, she was blessed by Iolar, the god of law. Between Ioanna’s extremely strong blessing making her a truthsayer and being the heir to the throne, she’s led a very lonely life that is lacking love from her own family. Things quickly take a turn for the worse when her father dies in a duel and her younger sister decides she’s the rightful heir and decides it’s time for Ioanna to leave, dead or alive.

I’ve loved this series from the very beginning, so I was excited to start this novel since it involves a time jump. When we last saw Ioanna, she was a kid being delivered to safety as a plot to kill her was being defused. Now she’s going to be the empress of Xytae, but only if she gets enough people to back her claim to the throne as she prepares to battle her sister’s army.

This time around, we meet Ioanna as she’s meeting the runway princess of Vesolda, Vitaliya. It’s clear that Vitaliya is the love interest from the very start even though she’s hungover and unable to find her room. Once things go south and it’s clear that Netheia is planning to kill her older sister, Vitaliya becomes caught up in Xytae’s problems as Ioanna is forced to flee the kingdom. I loved watching their adventures and see them slowly fall in love while fleeing and getting to safety.

It was really interesting to see Ioanna face a very harsh reality as she learns the truth about her kingdom: it’s falling apart. Along the way, she also learns she’s stronger than she thinks now that she’s standing up on her own, and that there are many people willing to support her once they learn the truth of her blessing that she’s been ashamed of her entire life. It’s not something she accepts easily, especially since she’s torn between whether or not her mother knows what’s been going on and if it’s been hidden from her.

I also loved seeing some familiar faces from previous books as well as hearing about what’s happened to the ones we didn’t see. One of the things I like about this series is that we get to revisit older characters over never seeing or hearing from them again. Personally, I like it better when we get to hear what happened to them or what they’re up to even if we don’t see them. It’s a huge bonus, especially since they were such a focal point in the past. I’m excited to see where Effie Calvin takes us next, especially since we’ll be following Netheia.

The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow (The Okay Witch #2) by Emma Steinkellner

 
The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner
My Rating: ★★★★★

Just when Moth Hush thought being a witch would solve all her problems, life lets her know that is not the case. She’s still being bullied at school and only has one friend, Charlie. When the bullying meets new heights on the first day back at school, Moth has had enough and she’s ready change everything when she finds a magical charm. What’s the use of magic if she can’t use it to help her fit in with her peers?

I loved the first book, so I was extremely excited when I heard that it was getting a second installment. I’ll be even more excited if it turns into a several book series because I’d love to see Moth’s adventures as she faces different problems. Plus, I’d love to continue learning more about her family as the series continues if that’s something that happens.

This time around, we follow Moth as she tries to face her bullies once and for all. Of course, using magic to create a version of herself that is accepted by her peers goes south when it turns out the magical charm is revealed to be a curse. Through this excellent story, the story teaches its readers that changing yourself for other people doesn’t always give you the intended results. We see the other side of what Moth’s bullies really think about her even after starting to accept her in addition to the magical consequences of her choices.

I also liked that we saw how four different people dealt with their different situations with not being accepted by society, and that each had a different outcome. One of them had quite a dramatic supernatural outcome that clearly represented what could happen after changing who you are long-term. I thought the moral of the story was excellently weaved with magic.

I’m excited to see how this story continues should the series continue. I’ve enjoyed both books so much. I’ve got my fingers crossed that there’s a third installment at some point because Emma Steinkellner has developed such a stellar story with wonderful characters.

The Demon in the Wood (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #0.5) by Leigh Bardugo

 
The Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo
My Rating: ★★★★★

In this short story, we get a glimpse into who the Darkling and Baghra were and how they lived long before the series starts. It was quite interesting to see these characters at a completely different time in their lives, especially the Darkling. It takes place long before he was as jaded and evil as he was when we saw him in the series. The loneliness of never having any friends for long, constantly on the move, living in fear, and living under a variety of fake names with fake life stories was depicted flawlessly. 

It was really neat to see Baghra long before she was cooped up in her unbearably hot home teaching Grisha how to use their abilities. Baghra definitely had the same sharp tongue and attitude, but she seemed softer yet fierce in a completely different way here. I could see that the bond she had with her son was an incredible one, which makes their future as mother and son even more bleak than I previously thought. 

I became so absorbed in the story that I was sad when I got to the end. While I enjoyed the series, I found this prequel far more interesting. I honestly wish we had gotten a prequel series following the pair during this period of their lives up until the Darkling took the path he did. If this short story was ever expanded into a full-length novel, I would be all over it.