Movie Night (The Woods #4) by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas

 
Movie Night by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas
My Rating: ★★

A year after the events of the previous volume, we discover how far everyone from Bay Point has come. Nearly everyone has been working together to turn the school into their new home. The fight for who will be the next leader of everyone from Bay Point is on as it becomes increasingly apparent that the fight is getting dirty. Meanwhile, Karen has gone off the deep end and soon finds herself tangled up in more secrets that New England are keeping their lips sealed about.

I’ve been enjoying the series up to this point and this is the volume that’s taking an odd and unexpected turn that is making me feel iffy about where it’s going. I’ll read the next volume and make my decision then, but this is the volume that is making me question the series. There’s also a time jump with a clunky opening left me a bit confused at first. I’m also sad that we barely saw New England this time around, especially after the events that took place in the previous volume. It just feels like it was all glossed over to quickly move to what’s clearly the next big storyline.

However, some of it was good. Since a year has passed, there’s a jump in all the relationships as well. There’s a romance that’s on the rocks, friendships that have frayed to completely ended, family relationships that have gotten closer while others are further apart than ever. We also see some rivalries, including one that had some good foreshadowing leading up to it in the previous volumes. In addition to the relationships and rivalries, we also see a jump in all new to this moon’s living situation as they’ve been working hard to make it home while trying to retain the things that are forever left behind on Earth. These are all interesting things that I had been looking forward to seeing develop, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes if I decide to continue the series after the next volume.

All in all, the good and bad was split pretty evenly here. Hopefully it sorts itself out in the next volume, but I’m not feeling very hopefully at the moment with the way this new major storyline appears to be going.

The Duke and I (Bridgertons #1) by Julia Quinn

 
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
My Rating: ★★★★

As Daphne Bridgerton enters her second year hoping someone of interest will begin courting her, all she gets is yet another marriage proposal from someone she’s already turned down before. At the same time, Simon Basset has finally returned to England and is hoping to avoid the marriage hunt all together. Unfortunately for him, society has other plans for him, and he finds himself cornered by every mother hoping to snag their daughter a good marriage. Together, Daphne and Simon agree to fake a courtship to better her marriage prospects and save him from being cornered by a bunch of moms again… until the courtship begins to feel all too real.

I started the Netflix show last year and have enjoyed it very much, so when one of my friends and I were talking about the books, we decided to give them a go together. I heard a lot of rumblings without spoilers about the first book, so I was expecting it not to be good. Imagine my surprise when I got started and really liked it! I loved the writing and found the characters much more likable in the book. I’m not saying the characters aren’t likeable in the show, but several of them are far more likable in the book.

I really enjoyed following the story during its ups and some of its downs, its funny moments, and was excited to learn more about the characters I’ve been following in the show. I was disappointed at the severe lack of Eloise, but I know she’ll have her time to shine and will hopefully make a bigger appearance before then. It was also fun to read the bits of Lady Whistledown’s publications while knowing who she is already.

For those of you who have not seen the show, I’m going to warn you that there is a rape in the book. For those of you who have seen the show, I want to let you know that it is even worse in the book. Daphne was a likable character up until she blatantly ignored the withdrawal of consent from Simon. As far as I’m concerned, Daphne can kick rocks barefoot for all eternity. Once it got to this point in the book, I felt sick to my stomach and I feel absolutely awful for Simon.

There are two epilogues at the end of the book, and the second one does contain some spoilers for one of the later books. If you still want to check out the series but want to avoid the spoilers, you should probably skip over the second epilogue. I plan on continuing the series, though I think I’m going to take a break after the second book so I don’t get ahead of where the show is.

New London (The Woods #3) by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas

 
New London by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas
My Rating: ★★★★

Now that the inhabitants of Bay Point High School are aware they are probably stuck far away from home, they are faced with surviving in an entirely new world. The good news is that they aren’t alone, and that there’s an entire community that’s been thriving for some time. Unfortunately for all involved, there are sinister forces at play in and out of that community.

This volume really hit the ground running. We’re still following the same characters, but now there’s a whole new community introduced, and we get to see that the general population of it isn’t so bad. New London is thriving, and it all seems rosy on the surface, but like anything, it holds some secrets that are far from friendly.

One of the things I enjoyed about this volume is that we got to learn about how New London came to be, and who was once talking to the stones the same way Adrian is. It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out. There’s a reason someone or something has been bringing people to this place every so often. I think it’ll be interesting to eventually find out what that reason is and how the characters will eventually get to that point.

I’m extremely interested in seeing how the story pans out. I like that we’re starting to follow some of the new characters that have been introduced, so I’m excited to see what’s in store for them as well. I think the likelihood that we’ll find out what’s going on back on Earth is slim, but it’d be interesting to see a glimpse of that if it were to happen. I will say all those flashbacks from the previous volume are really starting to pay off, so I feel a lot less iffy about them now.

Cottagecore Galore: A Timeless Coloring Book by Katie Vaz

Cottagecore Galore: A Timeless Coloring Book by Katie Vaz

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Andrews McMeel Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you are looking for something cozy for your coloring book hours, look no further! This entire book is full of beautiful, cozy pages to color that fit all my cottagecore needs. Every single page is absolutely beautiful and brings everything from pretty quilt patterns to fruits and baking. It’s such a simple and beautiful book to have on hand and fill with natural colors or put a funky spin on the pages as one sees fit.

I really like that there’s a good variety of scenes depicted with beautiful artwork. There’s flowers, bunnies, baking, picnics, tea, spice jars, and the list goes on. It’s the perfect coloring book for any fan of cottagecore who love the calmness of it all. Plus, it’s aesthetically pleasing even before coloring the pages!

Dekoboko Bittersweet Days (Dekoboko Sugar Days #2) by Atsuko Yusen

 
Dekoboko Bittersweet Days by Atsuko Yusen
My Rating: ★★★★

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

Rui and Yuujirou have been best friends since they were kids. Now that they confessed the feelings they’ve been harboring for each other, it should be smooth sailing. They haven’t told anyone about their relationship, but life is good until they face the possibility of a long-distance relationship. Will their relationship survive this bump in the road?

I’m going to be honest here. I’m a clown and didn’t realize this was the second in a series. That said, the opening of the book is a reminder of everything that went down in the first volume before kicking off the story, so I wasn’t lost at all. I will be reading the first volume, but as I write this review, I have not read it yet. I can say that it’s very easy to get into the story thanks to the refresher that’s intended for anyone who didn’t reread the first volume before digging in.

I absolutely loved the story from the start. It’s a very sweet story about best friends who have always known they were meant for each other. While I missed out on watching them confess their feelings and discover they feel the same way, I did get to see them in love and living their best lives. I also got to see them hit their first big struggle in their relationship, but I won’t mention if that’s resolved because that would be spoilers!

I loved every character that was featured. While I love Rui and Yuujirou, Rui’s brother is my favorite character in the book. I do wish we got to know the supporting characters more, but it’s entirely possible that we got to know them well in the first volume. I’ll find out when I read that. However, as it stands, some of the supporting characters fly through while others are there often but don’t get much character growth. If this series were to continue, that’s something I’d love to see.

All in all, I think it’s a wonderful love story full of funny and sweet moments. This is the second book I’ve read from Atsuko Yusen, and I’m excited to see what else they come up with. So far, this is the second cute and heartwarming story with a touch of humor that I’ve read from them and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next.

The Swarm (The Woods #2) by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas

 
The Swarm by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas
My Rating: ★★★

When a high school is transported from Milwaukee to an unknown location somewhere in the universe, everyone is left with questions that no one can answer. They’re all alone in this new world except for all the insects and animals they’ve never seen before… or so they thought.

I immediately had to pick up the second volume of this series because I needed to see where the story was going. While it’s not what I was expecting, it was nice to see the backstories of more characters. I’m not the biggest fan of the way the flashbacks were handled, but it’s more because they caught me off-guard than there being an issue with them. I simply was not expecting the volume to open with a flashback, so I was really thrown through a loop at first and wasn’t quite sure where the flashbacks were going the first two times they happened. That said, they were handled well and really made a difference in how well I knew the characters involved by the end of the volume.

I’m interested in getting to know more of the characters as the series continues, and I hope we eventually see what’s going on back on Earth. We’ve met some of the character’s family members through flashbacks, and it’d be nice to see what’s going with everyone and how an entire school vanishing in thin air is being handled. I’m also interested in learning more about the people who have been living on the moon the school has been transported to.

All in all, I think there’s a good chance this is going to be a good sci-fi series as I continue to read it. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we start to see even more sci-fi elements as time goes on.

The Arrow (The Woods #1) by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas

The Arrow by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas
My Rating: ★★★

When a high school is transported from Milwaukee to somewhere in the galaxy, no one knows what’s going on. The entire school population is left in a chaotic mess complete with bizarre killer animals and insects. All anyone knows is this isn’t Milwaukee anymore, and help is not on the way.

I picked this up expecting a crazy sci-fi story and that’s exactly what I got. We follow a couple members of the school staff and a handful of students, giving us a good variety of perspectives after the entire school relocates to another moon. We’ve got people who think they know everything, those confused but feel like they need to do something, and many who are just sad and frightened.

While there’s a good variety of characters, there were three that irked me from the start: the mean teacher, one of the students working under him as school guards, and Adrian. The first two just had bad vibes from the start and only got worse to demonstrate the bad side of humanity. I can see why those two characters are there and they are meant to be disliked. However, Adrian is the classic character that thinks they’re the only one who knows what’s going on and what to do, which makes him extremely irritating. It seems like Adrien is going to have a large arc. I hope I don’t spend the entire time wishing he’d be written out.

Otherwise, I think it’s a great series opener. It’s fast paced, the artwork is stunning, and there’s a good amount of sci-fi and mystery aspects that are going to make me keep wanting to turn the page. I’m interested in seeing where this goes and if the characters we follow will expand as the story develops.