Review: Whisper Me a Love Song, vol.1 by Eku Takeshima

Title: Whisper Me a Love Song, vol. 1
Author: Eku Takeshima
Release date: October 2020
Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Pages: 176
Format: ARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description (from Goodreads): An adorable new yuri manga for fans of Kase-san and Yamada and Bloom Into You. One day, high school girl Himari sees a girl, Yori, sing in a band, and it awakens feelings she doesn’t understand… but Yori does!

Bubbly, energetic first-year high school student Himari falls head over heels for her senpai Yori after hearing her band perform on the first day of school. Himari tells Yori she just loves her, and, to Himari’s surprise, Yori says she loves Himari back! But when Himari realizes that she and her senpai are feeling two different kinds of love, she begins to ask herself what “love” really means…

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My Review

A little while ago, I decided I wouldn’t read mangas anymore because I rarely enjoyed the ones I picked. I often had to force myself to finish them and came to the conclusion that mangas weren’t for me and that’s okay. However, every rule has its exceptions, right?

Whisper Me a Love Song is an adorable story between first-year Himari and Yori, an older student and singer. I freaking love the two main characters. They’re both so sweet and adorable. I love Himari’s innocence and sense of wonder. She doesn’t fully grasp the nuances of relationships, but it seems she’s slowly catching up. Yori is older and knows herself a little bit more. From the way the story is told, it looks like Yori has already sorta figured out her sexuality.

I’m pretty pleased with the fact that when Yori announced to her group of friends she might be in love with Himari, none of them acted shocked as it’s usually the case in queer mangas. They didn’t even question her about it. Yay for normalizing queer relationships!

The art was really pretty and the storytelling kept me engaged. It rarely happens when I read mangas, but I didn’t want this volume to end! I’ll definitely read the second volume as soon as I can get my hands on it!

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for the ARC.

Review: Eliza and Her Monsters

Title: Eliza and Her Monsters
Author: Francesca Zappia
Release date: May 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 400 pages
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description (from goodreads): In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

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My review

I learned that Eliza and Her Monsters was a thing that was happening when I watched one of BooksandLala‘s videos, and I already knew that I would love it.  The expectations when I picked up this book were oh-so high, I was certain to be disappointed but to my greatest relief I was not let down!

Eliza and Her Monsters is all I had dreamed of. I could relate to Eliza so much. I’ve never been “internet famous” and I’m sure it’d be something that would make me highly uncomfortable, but being yourself online is so much easier (at least for me), and this novel illustrates it beautifully. I think a lot of young adults (and not so young) will be able to connect with that.

Eliza Mirk (LadyConstellation) is the author/illustrator of this really famous webcomic series, but she chose to stay anonymous. Nobody knows who she is except for her immediate family and a couple of online friends. In ‘real life’ though, she has no friend, she can’t seem to be able to really connect with her family and she has very few interests. Then one day, she meets Wallace, a new boy at her school who’s dealing with his own past. Eliza learns that he’s really into her series and even writes fanfiction for it. From there, their friendship develops slowly into something more.

This novel also deals with PTSD and anxiety which I think Zappia incorporated really well into the story.

I had some issues with how Wallace reacted at times, especially towards the end, but I appreciated that his behaviour was addressed and made clear that it wasn’t okay which makes this book even more awesome!

Overall, this book is amazing, and you should consider picking it up if you ever have the chance! It’s definitely one of the best YA books I’ve read this year 🙂

 

Review: Crooked Kingdom

Title: Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Release date: September 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Pages: 546
Format: Hardcover
Rating:

Description (from goodreads): Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

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My review

I’m just going to fangirl here. I absolutely ADORED this book. It gave me all the FEELS. ALL OF THE FEELS, GUYS. This series is seriously amazing, I cannot recommend it enough! Leigh Bardugo is a queen. I need more. Please.

Warning: Since Crooked Kingdom is the second book, this review may contain minor spoilers for Six of Crows. You’ve been warned.

So at the end of Six of Crows the gang makes it back to Kerch but they obviously don’t get paid because sleaze-Jan-Van-Eck and scumbag-Pekka-Rollins. Of course Kaz wants to take back what he was promised and more. “When you can’t beat the odds, change the game”, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do!

Aaaah! This book was fantastic and oh so full of feelings. Whether they want it or not, the gang all started to care about each other, and it is beautiful! They are all trying to protect one another in their own way. I was particularly touched by the friendship between Nina and Inej. I can’t resist a good f/f ship, and this one was ended out to me on a silver platter. In such a situation though, feelings can be your greatest weakness…

Kaz watched him for a long moment. “That’s the right move, Jes.”
This line made me cry my life.

This well-crafted sequel is fast-paced, packed with twists and turns, feels and enough ships to squeal and cry over. It’s all a fan(girl/boy)’s heart needs! And the last chapter 😍😍😍. Crooked Kingdom has one of the most satisfying endings I have ever read. BRAVO.

TBR: June 2017

I’m not usually one to plan what I’ll read in advance, but the #emojiathon is happening this month and I decided to participate. I think it’ll be a great way to maybe meet some new friends, discover some new books and kickstart my summer reading!

Information about this readathon if you are interested in joining:

1. 1. It takes place from June 1st to June 30th
   2. You have to complete 4 challenges in order to be ~successful at it (that’s one book a week).
   3. Twitter → HERE | Challenges → HERE | Creator → HERE

 

My emojiaton tbr

❤️️ (romance) – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I heard a lot of good things about this one and I enjoyed her Maybe series! They are great, light summer reads I think.

😒 (annoyed I haven’t read it yet) – Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. This book as been out since forever and I meant to pick it up then, but it never happened.

👶 (new release) – for this one I chose Eliza and her Monsters that came out this Tuesday! I’m so, so excited to read this. It was one of my most anticipated books of 2017!

📚 (freebie) – Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo since I’ve already started this one.

🍬 (guilty pleasure) – Black Widow: Red Vengence by Margaret Stohl. I’m super nerdy and Black Widow is my wife so even though I didn’t love the first one in the series and I find it’s more about the Red Widow than Natasha, I’m still gonna read these books because I always need more Nat in my life.

So that’s what I plan on reading for this readathon, but I’ll probably read a few other things as well.

Other books I plan on reading in June

I’ve got The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware checked out from the library that I really need to start and finish before its due back and 3 netgalley ARCs.

There’s also Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee that comes out on June 6th (I got an early copy, yay!!) and it’s another one of my most anticipated books of the summer. I really cannot wait to read it! All I really know about this one is it’s about fandom and there’s an asexual relationship (?). I’m all for that! Sounds great! I’m really pleased about the asexual rep. I hope it’s well done. There are so few books with asexual characters out there.

Gah! So many great novels coming out lately!

What are you going to read this month? Are you taking part in the emojiathon? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great reading month! xx

Wrap-up: May 2017

May is coming to an end, and I couldn’t be happier. What a crazy month it has been! I adopted a new cat, Jemma(you can see her on my IG, link in the sidebar), at the end of April, and Fitz hasn’t been very welcoming, so it caused a lot of stress both for the cats and me. I finished my (second) first year of college after deciding I wanted to do something else with my life and I’ve been job hunting all month. Phew! The only great thing about this month was that I procrastinated a lot and so I was finally able to kick the reading slump I was in, thanks ACOWAR!

Here are the books I read in May:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

⭐⭐⭐½

⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

⭐⭐⭐

Posted reviews:

→ The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

What have you read in May? Any good ones you would recommend?

Review: The Nature of Jade

Title: The Nature of Jade
Author: Deb Caletti
Release date: 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Rating:

Description (from goodreads): Jade DeLuna is too young to die. She knows this, and yet she can’t quite believe it, especially when the terrifying thoughts, loss of breath, and dizzy feelings come. Since being diagnosed with Panic Disorder, she’s trying her best to stay calm, and visiting the elephants at the nearby zoo seems to help. That’s why Jade keeps the live zoo webcam on in her room, and that’s where she first sees the boy in the red jacket. A boy who stops to watch the elephants. A boy carrying a baby.

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My Review

This book was a little jem. It’s one of those quiet yet powerful “coming of age” stories. The Nature of Jade is about family and facing your fears. About growing up and realizing your parents are humans after all. And love. This novel is filled with it and not only the romantic kind of love. This is realistic YA fiction at its best.

If you can’t tell yet, I absolutely adored this novel (and not only because it featured elephants, my favourite animal)! It’s one of those books I wish I had read when I was 18. Jade reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age. She has an anxiety disorder, but she doesn’t let it define who she is. She’s strong and capable she just doesn’t quite know it yet.

She starts volunteering at the nearby zoo where she works with the elephants. It becomes this safe place she retreats to. Her parents are having relationship issues and the household becomes tense. Her father thinks sport is the solution to any problems and her mother (PTA mom) is a little bit too involved in Jade’s school community. Her brother is the sweetest, a little Narnia fanboy!

Jade also not so accidentally meets this boy with his baby and of course, she falls in love (not the main focus of the book and it doesn’t cure her anxiety!!!), but love is never not complicated.

I guess I’m late in reading this book. It did come out in 2007 after all, but it’s such a beautiful read. More people should read it. I highly recommend it!