“Anything can happen, Stella Endicott, anything at all.”
Stella Endicott loves second grade and is looking forward to writing a poem with metaphors that will impress her teacher, Miss Liliana.
Things don’t go as planned when Horace Broom, second grade know-it-all and the bane of Stella’s existence, calls her a liar.
An argument ensues, which results in Stella and Horace being sent to the principal’s office. While Stella is determined to meet her fate with curiosity and courage, Horace isn’t so sure.
While facing fears and finding metaphors, Stella and Horace find some common ground and an unexpected new friend.
This is a sweet story that includes a few words that the target audience may find difficult. Chris Van Dusen’s illustrations are as wonderful as I’ve come to expect, with expressive characters and humour.
Leroy Ninker’s story felt unfinished to me in Leroy Ninker Saddles Up and Stella’s story feels unfinished here. Although there is a conclusion, I’m left with unanswered questions. Did Stella ever get to share her poem with the class? What did Miss Liliana think of it?
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Stella Endicott loves her teacher, Miss Liliana, and she is thrilled when the class is assigned to write a poem. Stella crafts a beautiful poem about Mercy Watson, the pig who lives next door – a poem complete with a metaphor and full of curiosity and courage. But Horace Broom, Stella’s irritating classmate, insists that Stella’s poem is full of lies and that pigs do not live in houses. And when Stella and Horace get into a shouting match in the classroom, Miss Liliana banishes them to the principal’s office.
Will the two of them find a way to turn this opposite-of-a-poem day around? In the newest spirited outing in the Deckawoo Drive series by Kate DiCamillo, anything is possible – even a friendship with a boy deemed to be (metaphorically speaking) an overblown balloon.
… a girl who was cursed. Soraya lives her life in the shadows, knowing she is poison to everyone around her, including her mother, Tahmineh, and her twin brother, Sorush, the shah of Atashar.
She had read enough stories to know that the princess and the monster were never the same. She had been alone long enough to know which one she was.
Hidden from the world, Soraya spends most of her time in her golestan (a walled rose garden) or navigating the passages hidden within the palace walls. She longs to belong but can only catch distant glimpses of the life that could have been hers. She would do anything to break her curse.
Soraya wasn’t as easy for me to love as Mina and Lynet from Girls Made of Snow and Glass. This seemed fitting to me as it can sometimes feel like we’re approaching a caged animal when someone is hurting like Soraya is. We tend to push people away when we see ourselves as unloveable, making it difficult to accept (or even recognise) when someone is trying to reach out to us.
When we feel like we exude poison into the world we either burrow deep inside of ourselves or lash out at others, opposites with the same intent. Hurt them before they hurt you. Don’t allow yourself to get too close to them because they’ll leave you in the end anyway. Don’t get your hopes up for someone to love you for who you truly are because, frankly, who in their right mind would?!
Anger and shame fought for control within her, and so she forced her body into the position of shame, because it was safer.
As I spent more time with Soraya I began to love her because of, not despite, her pain. The pain of not belonging is amplified when it’s your own family that declares you an outcast, through their actions if not their words. I yearned for Soraya to find acceptance.
I grew to love Parvaneh, a parik, almost as much as I adore her name, which is Persian for “moth or butterfly”. I wish I could have gotten to know the other pariks better and wanted the opportunity to learn more about their history and culture. I also wanted to find out more about the other divs, the drujes and the kastars; I don’t know nearly enough about them.
I loved the way Persian mythology was woven into the story, and I particularly appreciated the Author’s Note at the end of the book where the ways various elements in this story line up with and also diverge from their origins were explained.
I’ve seen parts of myself in all of Melissa’s girls so far and I quickly become immersed in the worlds she creates. I can’t wait to see what world she’ll invite me to explore next.
“It’s time for you to become who you were meant to be.”
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
A captivating and original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse.
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming … human or demon. Princess or monster.
Short stories are usually a mixed bag for me but this book’s blurb sold me on my need to dive right in. I had planned on reading a story a day and that worked for a couple of days, then I couldn’t help myself. With a diverse cast including mothers, witches, demons and a preacher’s daughter, and themes of loss, suffering and resilience, this was unlike any other short story collection I’ve come across.
One of the things I love about short stories is that there’s usually something there for everyone. I’ve enjoyed finding out what stories resonated with other reviewers. My favourites are marked with 🖤.
Your Clothes a Sepulcher, Your Body a Grave
First love can be complicated …
I thought if I only loved you enough, I could make the story come untrue.
The Women Who Sing For Sklep
A composer seeks a new sound.
“You do not want to become one of us.”
The Warriors, the Mothers, the Drowned 🖤
A mother’s fierce love for her child and the lengths she will go to to protect her.
“Many others did this before you, better than you,” says the coyote. “And they never made it out alive.”
Too Lonely, Too Wild
She may not have inherited Grammy’s witching power, but she did inherit the family Bible.
No one goes halfway bewitched.
Roiling and Without Form
Molly has only ever known life at the Flamingo but can’t help wondering what’s beyond the marsh.
She sees everyone like this: dangerous or edible. Maybe even Molly. Maybe especially Molly.
Life Cycles
A son sets out to pay his father’s debt.
“Go anywhere you like. But not my nursery.”
The Fifth Gable
Marigold yearns for a child and hopes the women of the four-gabled house can help her.
“Whatever else you do, dear, remember to blame yourself.”
White Throat Holler 🖤
The Blanchard sisters and Esther Grace, a preacher’s daughter, hunt demons.
“You know your town isn’t like other towns,” he said.
“Why not?”
“It just isn’t.”
Russula’s Wake 🖤
Jane’s children are Paley’s, and they need nourishment.
With no other Paleys around, sometimes Jane could make herself forget that the Paley rules were rules for a reason, that they were supposed to protect the people who followed them.
The Lights We Carried Home 🖤
A film crew, a haunted child and a sister who needs to know the truth.
Before I went to school, I thought everyone lived in a kerosene haze and listened at night to the screams of the dead.
Thin Places
Miss Augusta has a new student: Lilianne, the new lighthouse-keeper’s daughter.
Thickening, thickening, filling the crack,
The sun comes out, the water goes back.
White stars in the night, red rain in the day
There’s grass on the shore, there’s fish in the bay.
At times I felt like I was plonked right in the middle of a story and had to scurry to catch up. Other times, the story finished and I wished for an entire novel so I could continue to explore. Sometimes I’d sit there at the end of a story, trying to figure out how I could explain what I’d just experienced to someone else. A couple of times I was certain I’d missed something crucial because I was hazy on the why or the how.
Whether they told of obsessive love, strange appetites or the bonds of family, each story felt delightfully off-centre. With such a limited word count I was often surprised by how easily I could visualise the world I was visiting and a lot of the descriptions, even of things that were uncomfortable, felt beautiful.
Thank you so much to Undertow Publications for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Kay Chronister’s remarkable debut collection of modern horror tales, Thin Places, echoes with the ghosts of Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, while forging its own unique gothic sensibility. Here there be monsters! And witches!
These are tales of monstrous mothers and dark desires. Love, grief, death; and the exquisite pain and joy of life. With transcendent prose, Chronister chronicles the lives of powerful women and children; wicked witches and demons. These are the traumatic ghosts we all carry, and Chronister knows what it means to be human and humane. Powerful and hypnotic, these are tales you won’t forget, from a vibrant new voice.
“We are standing at the threshold of one of life’s great mysteries”
Dr Harlan Riley hadn’t been the same since he was found “wandering the desert southeast of Cairo”. Scars covered his body and he alternated between speaking an unknown language and uttering cryptic warnings. It is five months months after his death, in March 1937, when a team of British archaeologists find Nebenteru’s tomb, whose secrets Harlan took to the grave.
I have witnessed miracles. Nightmares. Forgotten realms.
Leading the team is Dr Nathan Trummel. His own personal team is made up of assistant, Piper, blind psychic, Dyfan, and bodyguard, Aiden Gosswick. They are joined by mercenaries, Sergeant Dan Vickers and Corporal Teddy Quig, and a guard, Corporal Rex Sykes.
An Egyptian guide, Bakari Neseem, an American photographer on assignment for National Geographic, Caleb Beckett, and a number of labourers, archaeologists and students round out the team. With this many volunteers signing up to enter the final resting place for an unknown number of explorers, it’s fairly certain the pharaoh’s tomb is likely to become many of theirs.
Late to the party is Imogen, an expert in Egyptian mythology and Harlan’s granddaughter. Raised by Harlan and his sidekick on expeditions when she was a child, she’s likely to be quite useful in navigating the potential pitfalls ahead.
“Damned are we who enter the abyss.”
Once the bloodbath got under way the story went in a direction I hadn’t expected. The world building was extensive and it often felt like I was walking alongside the team, or perhaps somewhere closer to the middle of the group so whatever was coming next would get them first.
Peoples’ true natures rose to the surface and tensions were high as the explorers faced their demons, and I’m sure the characters’ blood pressures increased each time they noticed sentences that commenced with:
Twelve explorers
All nine explorers
The eight explorers
I couldn’t help seeing parallels between Imogen searching her grandfather’s diary for clues and Indiana Jones using Henry’s diary to find the Holy Grail.
I grew up sharing my Nan’s love of Egyptology and know she would have loved this book. The way the mythology was injected into the storyline made me appreciate how much time the author must have spent researching it and had me Googling some unfamiliar names to figure out if they originated from history or the author’s imagination. When the lines between reality and fiction get blurry I know an author has well and truly sucked me in.
I had two main niggles:
The way the explorers made their way through the various gates was repetitive at times.
I felt the epilogue was unnecessary and its contents frustrated me. The chapter prior to this provided a natural end to the story for me and I wish it had concluded there.
“Something’s coming.”
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Deep inside the tomb exists a hidden world of wonder and terror.
In 1935, British archaeologists vanished inside an Egyptian cave. A year later, one man returned covered in mysterious scars.
Egyptologist Imogen Riley desperately wants to know what happened to the ill-fated expedition led by her grandfather. On a quest for answers, she joins a team of archeologists and soldiers in Egypt. Inside a mountain tomb, they’ve found a technologically advanced relic and a maze of tunnels. Dr. Nathan Trummel believes this tomb leads to the most guarded secrets of the pharaohs. When the explorers venture deep into the caves, they discover a hidden world of wonder and terror.
But every hospital, even with patients like these, has at least one inmate who’s weird even for the mental ward.
Patient name: Joe
Date of First Admission: 5 June 1973
Patient’s Age at Time of First Admission: 6
Previous Treatments: Unknown
Current Treatments: Mild antidepressants and sedatives
Treatment Administered By: Nessie, Nursing Director
Diagnosis: Disputed; his “symptoms seemed to mutate unpredictably”
Patient Release Date: N/A
This type of patient is obviously insane, but nobody knows how they got that way. What you do know, however, is that it’ll drive you insane trying to figure it out.
When Dr. Parker H — begins working as a psychiatrist at Connecticut State Asylum he’s young, arrogant and confident he will be able to cure the patient the rest of the staff believe is incurable.
“So, tell me. Why do you want to attempt therapy on an incurable patient?”
Joe has been a patient at CSU for over twenty years and no treatments have worked. It’s gotten to the point where he’s almost entirely isolated due to the fact that the people who attempt to treat him either die by suicide or wind up admitted to CSU themselves.
I’ve also come to a conclusion: Whatever Joe has, I’m sure we can’t cure it. I don’t even think we can diagnose it. It’s obviously not in the DSM.
If it turns out that psychiatry isn’t the answer for this man, then who do we need to call instead?
A priest?
Mulder and Scully?
Moose and Squirrel?
(Hello, boys)
Dr H — adds instalments of Joe’s story on “a now-defunct web forum for medical professionals” over the course of seven weeks, his own recollections interspersed with physician’s notes. We’re told that all names have been changed.
The first instalment, where Dr H — describes CSU, was interesting but it made me wonder if the narrative was going to end up fairly dry. I needn’t have worried. I soon became hooked, searching the pages for clues that would help me diagnose Joe. I love stories set in asylums so I was probably always going to enjoy this book but I was surprised by how compulsive this read became.
I planned to only read the first entry to get a feel for the book before tackling something that publishes sooner. However, this one ended up jumping the queue and I am already trying to figure out when I will have time for a reread. I’m very grateful to have had the entire story to binge on; it would have frustrated me so much if I’d had to wait for new instalments to become available.
It’s been a couple of days since I finished reading and I want to compare theories with someone. Since I don’t know anyone else who’s read it yet I need to blurt something out here. But, SPOILER AHEAD! I have a theory about the end of the book but it’s based on a spoiler so PLEASE don’t read the next paragraph until you’ve finished the book.
⚠️ I have my suspicions about Jocelyn. I could be entirely off base here but I think she was killed by ‘Joe’ when he attacked her, and he then shapeshifted to become her. I want her pregnancy to result in a creepy human/whatever-Joe-is hybrid so I can hopefully find out more about what Joe actually is in a sequel (if there is one). ⚠️
I’m really hoping for a sequel as I have plenty of unanswered questions and need to know what’s next for Dr H — and Joe. I also need some information about Joe’s sister.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the opportunity to read this book.
Bonus Content: A prequel to this book, I used to get letters from my nightmares, was available to read on Reddit at the time I wrote this review. While most parts are available to read on the Reddit website I needed to download the app to read parts 3 and 8 due to sensitive content. While the prequel answered some of my unanswered questions I would recommend you read The Patient first. Had I read the prequel first I would have had a better idea of where Joe’s story was heading and this would have taken away some of the joy of discovery.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient.
We learn, as Parker did on his first day at the hospital, of the facility’s most difficult, profoundly dangerous case – a forty-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis. His symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.
Desperate and fearful, the hospital’s directors keep him strictly confined and allow minimal contact with staff for their own safety, convinced that releasing him would unleash catastrophe on the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mystery patient, things spiral out of control, and, facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.
You can blame a news article, Australian Town Terrorised By Muscular Kangaroo Attacking People and Eating Gardens, and Twitter for the existence of this book. Most of the people who egged the author on are now fictionally deceased, slaughtered by Skippy. Meanwhile, I’m waiting as patiently as humanly possible for The Asylum to film this story for me. I love The Asylum!
I was interested in reading this book mostly as a bit of a joke but also because I thought it would be pretty un-Australian of me not to, and strewth! It was a bloody good yarn! (Emphasis on the bloody!) That’s 4.5 blood soaked stars from me!
When this novella begins, Morgan Creek, a small outback town, has 400 people but won’t for much longer if Skippy, who’s gone to the dark side, has any say in the matter.
The roo’s mouth opened with a soft grunt. Its eyes glowed fiery orange. John startled, realised it wasn’t reflected streetlight, but the beast’s eyes had seemed to ignite with a kind of internal flame, bathing its face in a glow like a campfire. It grunted again, guttural.
I started making notes of all of the characters’ names and snippets of information about each of them, then quickly realised the futility of this. After all, so few were destined to survive to tell the tale.
With so many bone crunching, blood spattered, insides are now your outsides kills in this story it was difficult to choose a favourite. However I was quite partial to the visual that accompanied reading that someone’s “head burst like a ripe fruit.” While Morgan Creek remains drought affected at the end of the story its red dirt has certainly copped a drenching of the blood of its recently sliced and diced.
I was fairly certain this wasn’t the first time Skippy had gone dark and in my wanderings I found Waterborne, a Zombie Kangaroo Short Film. I hope this makes you chuckle too.
The Death Toll: 28 (26 of those can be directly attributed to the rampaging roo). This doesn’t include the people only mentioned as missing. If I didn’t witness the kill myself or stumble over the remains, I haven’t counted it.
[Because I made notes of who died as I read I’m including the list here but this is only for my benefit. Please don’t ruin it for yourself by opening this spoiler if you haven’t read the book yet! RIP: John, Jake, Kylie, Stu, Carl, Cindy, Brennan, Scott, Charlie, Michael, Matt, the two unnamed Hightower boys, Laurel, Laurel’s husband, SD, Shane, Amanda, Cassie, Rich, Mindi, three unnamed patrons at the bar, Sharon and Bill, who all died by roo. Also Gomzi, who was accidentally shot when SD died, and Pauline, who was also shot. On purpose.]
The Roo is not all splattery fun though. Real issues affecting Australians are also addressed, from the devastation that accompanies drought to domestic violence and death by suicide.
If you’re not a native Aussie you may find some of our slang incomprehensible. I had actually expected to find more slang than I did but for those of you who can’t tell the difference between ‘yeah nah’ and ‘nah yeah’, there’s a handy glossary at the end of the book.
Once Upon a Nitpick: A fair few typos have managed to sidestep the proofreading process, especially near the beginning. One character’s surname also changes between chapters 2 and 4.
There’s definitely room for a sequel. Hopefully coming soon to a Kindle near you … 🇦🇺 Drop Bears: Not So Cuddly After All 🇦🇺 Wombat and the Cubes of Doom 🇦🇺 Stone the Crows vs. The Flamin’ Galahs
P.S. Not directly related to this book but I found this by accident when I was thinking about other Aussie icons that could feature in a sequel (there definitely needs to be a sequel) … Someone has made a horror movie about drop bears and I cannot wait to see it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Something is wrong in the small outback town of Morgan Creek.
A farmer goes missing after a blue in the pub. A teenage couple fail to show up for work. When Patrick and Sheila McDonough investigate, they discover the missing persons list is growing. Before they realise what’s happening, the residents of the remote town find themselves in a fight for their lives against a foe they would never have suspected.
I’d like to introduce you to my new favourite dragon, Zog.
He’s Madam Dragon’s most enthusiastic student and he desperately wants to earn one of his teacher’s golden stars.
Throughout the book Madam Dragon’s students learn all of the dragon basics, including flying, roaring and breathing fire.
“Now that you’ve been shown, you can practise on your own”
While Zog is practicing his new skills he encounters Pearl, a caring, friendly young girl. Throughout the years they continue to meet and become friends.
I usually try to read the book before I see the movie because the book is always better, right? This time was different. I was introduced to Zog and Pearl via the short film, and it was only as I was watching the Special Features that I realised Zog had books written about him long before he was animated.
I borrowed the DVD from my library, assuming I’d make it maybe 5 minutes before ditching it. This was not to be. I fell in love with this orange dragon! Then I introduced Mum to him and as we watched it together, she fell in love with him too. We plan to watch it at least another couple of times before my loan expires.
Naturally I followed up by borrowing the book from the library, which solidified my love for these characters. While I adore this book, I actually enjoyed the movie more. Shh!!! Don’t tell the book I said that.
What clearly came across to me in the movie was that while Zog and Pearl tried their best to live up to others’ expectations of them, they were denying who they really were. When they were honest with themselves and others about how they were feeling and what they truly wanted out of life, they were given the opportunity to fulfil their dreams.
It was obvious in the movie that Zog didn’t really fit in with the other dragons. Pearl’s story was also expanded so I gained more of an understanding of the role she was being trained to fill. I liked them in the book but their personalities came to life on screen and I was more focused on their friendship developing through the years. I smiled while I read but I laughed throughout the movie.
Now that I know of Zog’s existence I’m looking forward to going on more adventures with him. I’ve already ordered Zog and the Flying Doctors from the library so you’ll be hearing all about that just as soon as I can wrestle a copy from a child’s hands a copy becomes available.
I’m adding the movie to my list of DVD’s I absolutely must own. This is one of those stories that I would happily read/watch over and over, with or without a child.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Zog, a young accident-prone dragon, who wants to be the best student in dragon school, is the keenest dragon in the school, but will he ever win a golden star?
Ella is excited to be spending time in the Himalayas with Jack, her famous uncle, during the school holidays. Accompanied by a small film crew, they’re determined to track down the elusive yeti and then share their incredible find with the world.
Tick is a yeti who knows, like all yeti do, to stay far away from humans. Curiosity gets the better of him though and he can’t resist a quick peek at these strange creatures. This decision could have dire consequences, not just for Tick but for every yeti.
“We all make mistakes in life, Tick. It’s how you respond to them that counts”
Although this story is told from both Ella and Tick’s perspectives, and Ella does play a vital role, I will remember this book as Tick’s story. I adored this yeti, from his sweet nature to his “idea flies”, which manage to both cause trouble and help him. Tick’s story proves that we can live beyond our labels.
“If we are not true to ourselves, young yeti, then we are nothing.”
Humans and yeti aren’t the only creatures you’ll find in this book. I was quite partial to a yak called Shaan. I learned of the existence of a bird with the best rainbow of feathers I’ve ever Googled: the Himalayan monal. Then there was Flittermouse, the most adorable bat I’ve ever wanted to befriend.
I loved learning about yeti history and culture. The lighting system in their setts was ingenious – they clap to wake the glow worms! I smiled each time it happened. I especially enjoyed learning the fun, descriptive yeti names, which included “Nosh (she who makes nibbles)” and “Crisp (he baked in the sun)”. I never tired of their varied greetings; my favourites were “Even a tiny star shines in the dark” and “One shall not reach the top of a mountain by sitting on the bottom”.
By thinking outside the box and being open to new ideas, characters in this book learn that just because something has always been done a certain way that doesn’t automatically mean it’s the only (or best) way to do it. When you are brave enough to try something new the results can be amazing, even if it can be scary in the beginning.
There’s an overarching theme of conservation which plays out throughout this story. While the message was clear, I never felt like I was being hit over the head with it. I appreciated Ella having the strength to speak her truth to adults and loved that her voice made a difference. It’s empowering for kids (and anyone, really) to read about characters who stand up for what they believe in.
My main niggle was Jack’s turnaround near the end of the book. While it was inevitable and I’m very glad it happened, he changed his tune too quickly for me to find it believable. Having said that though, I’m not this book’s target audience and doubt I would have quibbled about it had I encountered this book as a child.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
An epic adventure with big feet and an even bigger heart!
Ella is in the Himalayas with her uncle searching for yeti. But what seems like the adventure of a lifetime is cut short when she realises that these secretive creatures might not want to be found.
Tick knows it’s against yeti law to approach humans. So when some arrive on the mountain, why does he find himself peering through the trees to get a closer look?
What Tick doesn’t know is that his actions will set off a series of events that threaten the existence of yeti all over the world. What can he do to make things right? Just when all hope seems lost, help comes in the most unexpected form …
I’ve been hovering between ‘will I or won’t I?’ since I first saw this graphic novel listed on NetGalley. I loved the blurb but sports and I don’t mix so well, unless movie marathons or TV series hurdles somehow became Olympic events while I was busy binge watching.
I saw some early reviews of this Volume that told me I didn’t have to adore basketball to fall in love with this story so I finally decided to give it a go and, great news! Those reviewers were right! You don’t need to know anything about basketball to appreciate this graphic novel.
This is Charlie.
She has recently transferred to Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics and is not interested in playing basketball, not even after meeting the rest of the potential team: Liv,
Ashley, Tiffany,
Nicole, and Jay.
Liv is persistent though. She and the rest of the Avant-Guards wear Charlie down and she finally agrees to join the team, just in time for their first game.
This story has great diversity, with POC, LGBTQIAP+ and mental health all represented, which I appreciated. Although basketball brings the characters together, the focus is on friendship and having fun.
I loved Noah Hayes’ illustrations. They brought the personalities of each of the characters to life and drew me into the story. I don’t usually mention the colours used in graphic novels separately but I wanted to acknowledge Rebecca Nalty, who coloured this graphic novel, as it was the colours on this cover that initially caught my eye and made me want to read the blurb.
I really like the entire team and want to get to know them all better. While it was Liv’s enthusiasm that hooked me initially, the positivity, diversity and snippets of banter between the friends were what made me want to join their team. I’ll definitely be continuing to read this series. I’m even looking forward to the potential romance, despite being a fairly staunch romantiphobe.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and BOOM! Box, an imprint of BOOM! Studios, for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
When Charlie transfers to the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she struggles to find her feet, but winds up exactly where she belongs … in the school’s (terrible) basketball team.
As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind … until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be.
From Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer, Goldie Vance) comes an ensemble comedy series that understands that it’s the person you are off the court that matters most.
Monstress Volume 3: Haven is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Graphic Story category.
Maika, Kippa and Ren have now made it to Tear Shed, a refugee camp.
Corvin is also there and he, Maika and Kippa have some awkward moments in a coffee shop.
Maika also meets Vihn Nem, the Royal Engineer of Pontus, who offers Maika and her friends sanctuary in exchange for her reactivating the Pontus Shield.
Lady Atena and Resak meet up with the Prime Minister and Admiral Brito to discuss politics, fake news and the potential threat of the Mother Superior.
While Maika and Zinn are working together to try to fix the Shield,
all hell is breaking out as the war has begun.
Kippa’s cute factor, which I didn’t think could cope with any additional adorability points, skyrocketed. I love her to bits and want to adopt her. Her loyalty, positivity and courage put most adults to shame.
I wasn’t quite as invested in the story during the first half of this Volume, as everyone seemed to be positioning themselves for the inevitable war, but I got sucked back in, only to find myself perched on the edge of a cliff at the end. If anything bad happens to Kippa I’m going to ugly cry, I just know it!
Once again the artwork was exceptional. I’m in awe of the details and just want to keep paging through each Volume. One of my favourite images in this Volume is this one,
but my absolute favourite is this awesomeness.
Yes, of course the location of my favourite illustration is a library! I can’t help myself where majestic libraries are concerned.
I expect a reread will help me to figure out the connections I’ve missed during this read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Maika Halfwolf has begun to unlock the mysteries of her past – but the challenges are only going. In this third volume of Monstress, collecting issues 13-18, Maika’s journey takes her to the neutral city of Pontus, where she hopes to find temporary refuge from her pursuers. Unfortunately, Pontus may not be as safe as Maika and her allies had hoped.
As the impending war between humans and Arcanics creeps ever closer, and powerful players fight for the chance to control her future, Maika finds she must work with Zinn, the Monstrum that lives inside her, in order to ensure their mutual survival. But even that alliance might not be enough to prepare Maika for the horrors to come.
Schizanthus Nerd 