Say No Moor (Passport to Peril #11) by Maddy Hunter

Say No Moor by Maddy Hunter

My Rating: ★★★★★

In an attempt to expand the client list for their travel agency, Emily and her husband offer big discounts to the bloggers who travel with them to Cornwall, England. The only thing the bloggers have to do is cover their travels on their respective blogs. Emily hopes this will be the trip that will go off without a hitch, but things quickly go awry when two of the bloggers bump heads, a pipe bursts at the inn, and someone gets murdered all on the first day of the trip. Stressed about the blogger’s coverage of their trip, Emily strives to make everything right when she’s suddenly expected to run the inn and one of the travelers go missing.

While Emily and the gang are in England, they spend most of their time at the inn with some exploring and touring thrown in. I promise you that it is the furthest thing from boring. I found myself laughing so hard that I had to put my book down and dab my eyes with tissue. Hunter did it again and busted out yet another hilarious installment. The entertaining cast of characters worked well with the new characters that popped in and out throughout the story. I loved the interactions we got between the bloggers, although we seemed to only see a couple of them most of the time. It was a fun new addition to the cast of usual characters.

Speaking of the bloggers, I wish that we saw a little more of them than we did. Only three of the bloggers were distinctive and had their roles in the story expanded. The others popped their heads in every so often and that was that. I know that it’s likely these aren’t characters we’ll see again in the future, but I wish we saw a little more of the ones who were barely there because they didn’t make much of an impression on me. However, I think I’ll be okay with it because Jackie was featured a lot more than usual and I loved it. She’s one of my favorite characters, so I’m always excited when she appears.

I will say that the murder mystery is a secondary storyline, but that doesn’t bother me. I was having so much fun reading the series of hilarious events unfold that it doesn’t seem farfetched for the mystery to be secondary. We have the bloggers and the shenanigans going on between two of them, a theft, natural disasters, Emily and Wally having to man the inn, and nana showing off her cooking skills. Plus, one of the regulars goes missing, which adds yet another crisis to the mix.

All in all, Hunter does not disappoint. This is yet another sidesplitting installment that did not fail to entertain. It’s action packed, fun, and heartwarming. I’m looking forward to the next book!

My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 (Otouto no Otto #1) by Gengoroh Tagame

My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 by Gengoroh Tagame

My Rating: ★★★★★

A decade ago, Ryoji moved to Canada and eventually met and fell in love with his husband, Mike. Sadly, Ryoji died a month before the story starts, and Mike has come to visit his in-laws in Japan. He meets his brother-in-law and Ryoji’s twin brother, Yaichi, and his niece, Kana. Mike is in mourning, but he is excited to meet his husband’s family and go to the places that Ryoji always talked about. Yaichi struggles with previous misconceptions about his brother as well as the LGBT community, which he doesn’t know much about, and Kana is excited to have an uncle.

If you heard someone crying while yelling, “My heart!” in the distance, it was probably me while I was reading the first volume of this manga. It’s an incredibly heartwarming as well as sad story that had me clutching my box of tissue. Mike is a new widower and his grief is fresh and raw, which we slowly see as the story progresses. He’s taking the time to get to know his husband’s family as well as visit the places that Ryoji spoke about and frequented during his upbringing. During the story, he answers any questions that Yaichi and Kana ask.

Kana is just a kid and she has many questions, as kids do. She’s sweet and open to learning about the world without judgement. She quickly cares for Mike and is fascinated by the stories he has to share, which also allows her father to learn and receive answers to some of the questions that he wouldn’t dare to ask. Meanwhile, we watch Yaichi struggle with the silent grief of losing his parents as well as his brother, who he was not close with once Ryoji came out to him. We also watch Yaichi struggle with his homophobic thoughts as he learns about Mike as well as Ryoji’s life. As the story progresses, we see him learn and slowly start to accept his brother for who he was. This is a story that I highly recommend.

Plus One (Plus One #1) by Elizabeth Fama

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

My Rating: ★★★★

Sol was born into a world divided by day and night. Night dwellers are known as Smudges, and day dwellers are known as Rays. As a Smudge, Sol lives her life in the night. She is allowed to exit her home, work, and live her life at night. During the day, she must be home and inside unless she is given a Day Pass that allows. She’s never seen daylight except through a curtain. Sol’s grandfather, Poppu, is dying from terminal cancer and just wants to see his great granddaughter one time before he dies. However, she and Poppu haven’t seen her older brother since he was upgraded to being a day dweller, so there’s no way Poppu will be able to meet his granddaughter. Sol decides to purposely injure finger and abduct her newborn niece from the hospital and grant Poppu’s final wish, but things don’t go as planned. She finds herself under arrest and an official plus one of a day dweller with a baby who is not her niece.

I was excited to read this book for a long time, so let’s get the bad out of the way before I can get to all the good stuff. For some reason, the reasons behind people are either Smudges or Rays are not explained until about 32% into the book. This is a major world building snafu. There’s mention of a disease, and it’s clear that day and night dwelling is government enforced, but it’s not explained why that is until later. Why everyone lives this way doesn’t make a lot of sense until it’s finally explained. It’s unfortunate that this occurs so late in the book. What is this disease? Does it make people allergic to either sunlight or moonlight? And then if that’s the case, why is being a day dweller or night dweller government enforced? How can a day dweller become a night dweller and vice versa if it began as the result of a disease? These questions are not answered until well in the book, which overshadows the story as well as the world building that occurs up until this point.

Now that I’ve gotten the bad out of the way, let’s get to all of the good stuff. I love how incredibly complex the characters are. It’s clear that there’s a lot more behind the surface for every character we meet even if we won’t be seeing them again. It truly brings this world to life because everyone seems so real. I love how much this is explored with the main and supporting characters. Everyone has a backstory that impacts who they’ve become. They are so well developed that I can see how and why they are the way they are as each layer is revealed. It’s so refreshing to see this occur even with minor characters that aren’t featured for long.

At the end of the day, the two primary characters are teenagers and it’s clear in their thought process and the actions they choose to take. They’re on the cusp of adulthood and are forced to become adults early, but it’s clear that they’re teenagers deeply affected by the prejudiced world they live in. I like the way the story is resolved as well, and we’re left wondering if Sol and D’Arcy are ever able to connect again. We can also imagine the impact of their final bargain has on the world even if we don’t see it unfold on the story. All in all, this is a wonderful book that I plan on reading again.

A Magical Match (A Witchcraft Mystery #9) by Juliet Blackwell

A Magical Match by Juliet Blackwell

My Rating: ★★★★★

Lily is playing a delicate balancing act as she helps plan a fundraiser for the local women’s shelter and searches for the perfect wedding dress for her upcoming nuptials when a wrench is thrown into her plans. First, a scary man from her past arrives and demands that she return something that she doesn’t remember stealing from him. Then her fiancé, Sailor, is arrested for a murder he says he didn’t commit despite several eye witnesses. Just as she sets off to clear Sailor’s name, she comes down with a cold that appears to be affecting her magical abilities. The more she investigates, the more she suspects that a familiar magical enemy is behind the frame job and the cold that’s dulling her magical senses.

I have been a fan of this series since it first came out, and this installment did not disappoint. I love that Blackwell switches things up a bit as the series goes on to keep us on our toes as she tells her story. Just when Lily was getting comfortable, she has a crazy situation on her hands that requires her to prove that Sailor has a murderous look-a-like living in the same city. We feel the stress that Lily is under as she is forced to stretch herself thin, especially because she’s not at the top of her game.

Just to top things off, the murder victim is the scary man from her past who insists, in life and death, that she stole something from him. It forces her to investigate more into the part of her life that she doesn’t remember. I always love when we learn a bit more about a character’s past, and in this case, it allows Lily to learn what happened during the alarming meeting with her father in Germany many years ago. Plus, she’s forced to team up with characters she doesn’t always get along with, Aiden included. I enjoyed learning a little more about Aiden’s past as well as his first meeting with Lily. I always enjoy when we learn more about various characters that we see throughout a series. In this case, Aiden purposely shrouds himself in mystery, so I always look forward to what new things we learn about him.

It’s also wonderful that we finally meet Lily’s grandmother, Graciela, as well as her coven and Lily’s mother. It was heartwarming to finally meet some of the most important people in Lily’s life, as well as see Lily have a heart to heart with her mother after the rejection she’s felt for much of her life. It was truly exciting to have these characters all appear in the same place and interact with each other. As always, I’m looking forward to the next installment and where Lily’s journey will go next.

Amazing Origami Boxes by Tomoko Fuse

Amazing Origami Boxes by Tomoko Fuse

My Rating: ★★★★★

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

I love making origami, and little origami boxes are one of my soft spots since I used to make them all the time back when I was in high school. They always have a special place in my heart because a friend and I used to write letters and turn them into origami before delivering them to each other. It's been a while since I sat down and made origami when I saw this book and took it as a sign that it was time to revisit.

Tomoko's book is very informative and has a variety of origami boxes from simple to complex. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous. The instructions are clear and include a combination of graphs and written instructions as well as a instruction key before the very first origami box. It's great that the crafting level involved is listed for each box so that one can work their way up or choose a complex design if they are already at a higher skill level. The instructions are easy to follow, and any questions that one may have can be answered by looking at the written instructions that go hand in hand with the graphs. One really can't go wrong with this book.

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon, Matthew Seely

Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom by Terry Blas, Molly Muldoon, Matthew Seely

My Rating: ★★★★★

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

Four teenagers are dropped off at Camp Bloom, a weight-loss camp, and are hesitant for different reasons. One kid is torn up about being separated from technology while another is irritated that her family is sending her there to lose weight. It's just another boring summer when Jesse, one of the teenagers, sneaks off to eat candy and play games on her phone. She's followed by one of her peers because she dropped something and they both witness the murder of everyone's favorite counselor. Thanks to some blurry pictures taken on Jesse's phone, they learn that the killer is a member of the staff. With no adults to trust, they enlist two of their peers and begin to look for clues together.

This is such a fun murder mystery set at a weight loss camp. I wasn't sure what to expect when I read the synopsis and saw that the setting was a weight loss camp, but it was handled really well. The counselors seem supportive. One of the staff members is running a side business selling junk food. The campers are encourage to share their thoughts and such as well as join activities. It was realistic to see a character who wasn't overweight but was there because they viewed themselves as such and see the others reactions. I loved seeing the four main characters bond and become friends as they worked to solve the mystery.

It's such a heartwarming graphic novel that I wish it was around when I was a teenager. It's good to have stories like this around, especially for kids who can relate to the characters and need to see positive messages like this. It's fun, positive, and shows a variety of characters and how there's always something beyond the surface. I also love the art style, and I enjoyed seeing the concept art and how the panels were brought to life at the end. I look forward to check more work out like this in the future.

Beast by Brie Spangler

Beast by Brie Spangler

My Rating: ★★★

Dylan is a lonely, tall, strong, and extremely hairy teenager, which makes him a moving target wherever he goes. Just when he thinks he's stop growing, he grows yet again and wishes he wasn't always the tallest person he's ever known. After his school bans hats and his best friend sets him up with a bad haircut, he finds himself sitting on the roof and decides to jump, thinking he'll only get a bad sprain, and wakes up with a cast on his leg. Forced to attend group therapy, he meets Jamie, and she takes his breath away. She's pretty, funny, artsy, and isn't afraid say what's on her mind. The best part? She treats Dylan like a regular person rather than the beast people view him as.

This is a loose Beauty and the Beast retelling that takes place in a modern high school setting. There's no magic or curses, but Dylan does think he's cursed whenever he's throwing himself  a pity party. Told in the first person perspective, we follow Dylan as he struggles with his peers who view him as a big beast rather than a person. He's extremely shallow himself for majority of the book, so it was interesting to see him grow as a person even though he kept devolving into a selfish guy who was blind to how his actions affected others. However, I found it difficult to get behind him for a good portion of the book because of how angry and cruel he was many times. He's always yelling, "Me! Me! Me!"

Jamie is such a great character and I wish that there were at least some chapters from her perspective. We only see what Dylan sees, and there's so much more to her character than being a seemingly carefree teen. It's not her responsibility to hold Dylan's hand and guide him through his hardships while he lashes out at her. However, she is the Belle to his Beast, so this was something that I was expecting. She's also the only one who consistently calls Dylan out on his crap, which forces him to realize that part of his problems are coming from within.

Many of the characters are presented with realistic flaws. For example, Dylan's best friend is shady and manipulative as well as superficial and viscous. However, no matter how many good and bad points these characters have, they're demonstrated in layers, making them more realistic. It's a wonderful read even though you may want to jump in the story and share some of your wisdom with these characters at times.