Moonstruck, Vol. 3: Troubled Waters by Grace Ellis, Shae Beagle

 
Moonstruck, Vol. 3: Troubled Waters by Grace Ellis, Shae Beagle

My Rating: ★

Saddened that her best friend won’t be around for the annual mermaid festival, Julie is content with attending with her girlfriend, Selena. All is going well until they meet up with Selena’s friend and roommate, Skyla. Things start to go south, especially when it becomes clear that something is lurking around the corners watching Julie’s every move.

I absolutely loved the first volume. While the second volume was a big rocky, I still liked it and was looking forward to seeing where the story went. Sadly, this volume is a huge miss for me. While the artwork was absolutely stunning as always, we find Julie and Selena in a bit of a pickle of their own making. I assumed they’d grow together after the last volume, but it’s revealed that they’ve been rather awkward with each other rather than communicating in the time between the two volumes. It’s very clear that their relationship is thriving on their lack of communication, anger management issues, and topped with a good amount of jealousy.

Unfortunately, it turns out I don’t enjoy following Julie and Selena after the first volume. There isn’t much character growth and they both seem to keep taking steps backwards. It also quickly becomes apparent that rather than looking at herself and noticing what her toxic traits are and working on them to better herself, Julie blames those flaws on being a wolf. The whole story ends with her making a very hasty decision that isn’t going to solve anything for her because she’s focusing on the wrong things.

While I didn’t like the main plot, I did love the side characters, who don’t make much of an appearance this time around. Maybe I would’ve felt a little better about this volume if some old favorites were around with the new characters to break up just how awful this relationship truly is. You’re not going to see me happy for Julie and Selena if they get back together, which appears to be the endgame. I’m not sure where this series is going anymore or if I’m interested in the next volume after this because this book was a hard miss for me. All I know is that Julie and Selena should go to therapy and work on themselves before getting back together or entering new relationships. 

Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen

Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Lydia Kang, Nate Pedersen

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Workman Publishing Company through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re interested in reading about epidemics, then this is the book for you! Each short chapter presents a different disease and the epidemic that quickly followed their discoveries. While the true patient zero for any of the diseases are unknown, the patient zeroes presented here are people who are well-known to be early accidental spreaders of the disease they contracted.

I picked up this book because I’m a huge fan of Lydia Kang. While I know this is non-fiction, I thought the concept was interesting, especially since we’re living through a pandemic. Each chapter covers a disease, where it likely originated from or how long it was around before it was first detected, who got it, how it spread, and what damage it caused. The book is also sprinkled with photographs and different facts related to epidemics that is related to the chapter they’re featured in.

I have to say that it was interesting to learn that pandemics are usually handled pretty badly in varying degrees. I knew our species has a history of repeating ourselves, but it hits harder when you realize we’re repeating history yet again in real time. This was a very interesting read, and I’m looking forward to seeing more non-fiction books come from Lydia Kang.

Tidesong by Wendy Xu

Tidesong by Wendy Xu
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Sophie is sent to live with her Great-Aunt Lan and Cousin Sage to prepare to audition for the Royal Magic Academy, she’s apprehensive while still excited because her imagination has run wild about what it’ll be like. Sadly, Sophie’s dreams are quickly shot down when she overhears her Great-Aunt Lan speaking badly about her right after they first met. To top things off, she’s not even practicing magic. All she’s doing is a bunch of chores they claim will be the foundation to learning how to harness her magic. Finally, when Sophie has had enough, she decides to show her family what she’s capable of. Unfortunately for her, the spell quickly gets out of hand, and she finds herself nearly drowning and accidentally erasing the memory of a water dragon, possibly putting everyone she loves in danger.

This is such a cute and heartwarming story that has beautiful artwork. I loved seeing the story come to life through the images. If it wasn’t for the fact that this is a graphic novel, it’d almost feel like I was watching an animation. That’s how great the flow of the story went with the stunning artwork.

We follow Sophie, a young girl who is under pressure to do great at her audition for the Royal Magic Academy. Through the story, we watch her go from being obsessed with proving that she’s talented and useful to discovering what she actually wants is different from what her mother and grandmother want for her. I could relate to her because growing up, I was pressured into thinking all the goals I had were all things I wanted. At some point, I realized the reason I was so miserable was because all my goals were not anything I chose for myself. They were goals selected for me.

While this is a fictional fantasy book, I think that Sophie’s story is an important one, especially for children. Sophie doesn’t just realize that she’s taking a route that she doesn’t want for herself by auditioning for the Royal Magic Academy. She also learns what she’s capable of, what her talents are, and what she wants for herself. It’s an important message for kids, and it’s even better if they also have people who support them just like Sophie does when she puts her foot down and makes a major decision about her future.

Aru Shah and the City of Gold (Pandava Quartet #4) by Roshani Chokshi

 
Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi
My Rating: ★★★★

When Aru wakes up in a mysterious place with a girl claiming to be her biological sister, she isn’t sure what to believe. Is Kara really her sister? Is she truly good or just pretending so she can gain her trust? Something tells her that Kara isn’t lying, so she trusts her. Tentatively. Unfortunately, it turns out her soul sisters have a range of mixed feelings about Kara, but they don’t have time to discuss it. Kubera has invited them to visit him and pass his trials. If they don’t show up, they won’t have access to his troops or any aid from him, and they must race against the clock to get around the Otherworld’s traveling ban to get there.

The series may be winding down, but it’s certainly not getting any slower! We have a new character joining the potatoes this time around. While I liked Kara, she was a slightly different version of Mini. Now, Mini is my favorite character, so of course I liked Kara. I just wish there was a greater divide between her and Mini’s characterization. That said, I think she did bring something new and fun to the potatoes, so I don’t actually have any complaints about her.

Oh boy. This book had me glued to every single page going along with the characters on their journey. I felt bad for Aru and Kara so many times, especially given Kara’s backstory and the revelations that hurt her. The distrust that divided Aru from her soul sisters and how much they were squabbling was very realistic, except for the celestial connections of course.

I am disappointed by one plot, though. It’s been very clear that it was a very significant plot that was going to change everything since it was first brought up. However, the closer we got to it happening, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be anywhere near as big as it was supposed to be. Essentially, it fell flat on its face. Sure, I’m interested in seeing how this will impact this one character when we see them again, but did this prophecy coming to life in any way significant? Sadly, it’s overall impact is mostly minor, and that is what makes it so disappointing.

While this isn’t my favorite book in the series, I did enjoy it. There were so many twists and turns in addition to meeting more new and interesting characters. I’m a little sad that this series will be coming to an end with the next release, but I’m also excited to see how everything wraps up.

Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #3) by Leigh Bardugo

 

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
My Rating: ★★★

Weak, powerless, and frustrated, Alina finds herself trapped in the clutches of the Apparat somewhere deep underground. The Apparat offers protection… at a price, and that price is following his orders while isolated and kept on a very short leash. Thankfully, Alina has a small group of friends and allies who are following the Apparat’s instructions while plotting to get out of there and go find the final amplifier so she can face the Darkling one final time.

It took me sometime to get into this book because the first 35% or so was dreadfully slow. I was rather disappointed that the opening chapters was mostly exposition letting us know what transpired during the short period of time between the second and third book. This would’ve been okay if the Apparat and his followers made a huge showing later in the book. Instead, it didn’t really pay off and I found myself bored and feeling like the story wasn’t going anywhere until almost halfway through the book.

I am also disappointed in how little Alina uses her powers and how much she relies on finding the third amplifier to give her strength. Even with the amplifiers, you’d think she’d want to focus on practicing her abilities, sharpening her skills, and pushing those abilities to the limit to see what she could achieve. The amplifiers to increase her strength, but what’s the point of that without putting in more effort on her end? It just seemed kind of odd, especially since she craves the increase in power. You’d think she’d want to also put more effort in to maximize her abilities, but maybe I’m expecting too much from

Complaints aside, once the story picked up, it really picked up. I was glued to the pages and excited to see where the story was Alina and company. There were some shocking events that took place. One event had me thinking this was the end for this character for sure. I wish what happened to them was further explored, but I’m happy with the information we got and how it was resolved.

I am surprised with how the final events unfold. I both like and dislike this because I think they’re excellent twists, but the way one of them plays out needed more of an explanation. The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make a single ounce of sense. However, if I don’t think much about it, I guess I can live with it. I just wish we had some information to expand on how A led to B and C because it doesn’t make sense and seems like it wasn’t well thought out.

Wait. I thought I wasn’t complaining anymore… I swear I did enjoy the second half of book! I loved many of the characters and where the story took them. I was sad to see some of them injured and others killed, but I’m also surprised that so many of them survived to the end of the book. We also got some very interesting backstory that I was very excited to see. I’m a little sad to say goodbye to these characters now that it’s over, but I can’t say this was my favorite book in the series.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty
My Rating: ★★★★

In a society where it’s taboo to ask questions about what happens when we die, you can always count on kids to ask all the hard-hitting questions. Caitlin Doughty takes several questions that have come her way thanks to tiny humans without filters and wrote a book answering them. What happens when we die? Why don’t bugs and animals eat our bones? What happens if someone dies in space? Caitlin takes her knowledge as a mortician and applies them to each question in a serious yet fun way that’s easy for kids and adults to understand.

I’m not sure why I picked up this book but I’m glad I did. Caitlin is the perfect person to answer the many morbid questions that have come her way. Each chapter is serious, informative, and funny without being distasteful in all the right spots. There are also illustrations perfect for kids in each chapter along with information that’s easy to digest whether you’re a child or adult.

In fact, you may even find questions you remember having as a child pop up. I know I did! I always wondered what would happen if someone were to die in space. When I was a kid, I watched an episode of some TV show with my older brother. One of the characters died and their coffin was launched in space. As a kid, I then wondered what would happen if we died in space and if we would be launched into deep space. Thanks to this book, I now know what would happen if anyone were to die in space, which is a question I had not thought about in many years.

While this book is kid friendly, I do think that parents should read it beforehand to decide if it’s appropriate for their kids. I think it’s perfect for older kids in the 10+ age bracket, but it may be confusing for most children younger than that.

Kitchen Witchery: Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients by Laurel Woodward

 
Kitchen Witchery: Unlocking the Magick in Everyday Ingredients by Laurel Woodward
My Rating: ★★★

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

If you’re interested in spell work and want to expand your knowledge about it from a cooking standpoint, this is the book for you. While it does talk a lot about organic ingredients, which is not exactly affordable for many people, I do think that a lot of the information not pertaining to organic foods is very informative. It talks a lot about setting your intentions and learning about the properties of foods, which expands reader’s knowledge. I love that there’s also information on how to create your own tools with what you have on hand.

I think it’s great because it’s spell work meets a cookbook since there’s a combination of recipes included. Spell work can be a cup of tea, combining herbs, or even a meal, and I think there’s a lot of information here for anyone who is drawn kitchen magic. The possibilities are endless. I think this is a great starting point for anyone interested in either getting started with magic or just looking to expand their general knowledge.