Review - It Doesn't Matter Anymore

It Doesn't Matter Anymore
by Natasha Yentrouc
Date: 2024
Publisher: Natasha Yentrouc
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novelette
Pages: 60
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon

I don’t know what year it is. I don’t know where I am. I don't even know my own name. None of that matters anymore. The only things that matter are the three things I know.

I am still alive.

Everyone else is gone.

I can’t die.

When that is your whole world, everything else just doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter anymore.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

My god, that was depressing. I'm sure it was supposed to be, but now I feel like I need to go read something about puppies and rainbows if I don't want to be sad for the next week.

This is a short story about a technologically enhanced human soldier who can't die. The reasons for this are explained, but weak, and I'm pretty sure I noticed a way that these soldiers could die if they really wanted to. That would've negated the morose ending of the book, though.

The main character, a woman who's been on her own for years after a worldwide war wiped out nearly everyone and everything, is highly unlikable. Even though the story is fairly short, it's long enough that I couldn't wait to get out of her head. She doesn't remember much from before she was tinkered with by the scientists, including her name. I suspect it may have been Debbie (as in Debbie Downer).

I was willing to overlook some of my minor quibbles in the beginning because the overall premise was interesting. I thought it might even be a three-star read. Eventually, though, as the character started to grate on me, I noticed more and more problems. Verb tenses switched back and forth. I couldn't tell who was talking half the time due to the way the paragraphs were divided. And the formatting on the e-book was just weird, switching between indented and unindented paragraphs throughout. All those little things pulled me out of the story.

If you're feeling too happy and want to pull yourself down a bit, give this story a try. Otherwise... maybe skip it.

Premise: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Editing: 1/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.13 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Date: 2020
Publisher: Canongate Press
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 304
Format: e-book
Source: Kobo

'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?'

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I can't believe this is a bestseller. I can't believe it won the 2020 Goodreads Award for Best Fiction. Seriously... what am I missing here?

This is a mediocre book with a promising premise but a tremendously unsatisfying execution. The first 80% is unbearably slow, with our bland heroine, Nora, trying out different lives. Hints of something that could've been really interesting (the Hugo storyline) were brought up and then never revisited. The whole story wraps up in an unrealistic, saccharine bow in the last 10%, with an entire chapter slamming the reader over the head with an anti-suicide message. Is this a thinly disguised self-help book? If so, it's not very helpful. Nora's life completely sucks (family dead or estranged, no partner, no friends, no job, dead cat), so her actions at the beginning, unpleasant and misguided though they might be, make sense. The moral of the story is that you shouldn't kill yourself because it's only your perception of your life that's off. Unfortunately, the book contradicts itself by having things that are actually different in Nora's life after her attempt, so it's not just a matter of perception. Her brother is suddenly there for her. Her friend in Australia stops ghosting her. Sorry, but those aren't just a matter of perception, so the story's message ends up undermining itself.

The Hugo storyline is never spoken of again. (It could've been interesting.) And if you were hoping for a happily ever after on the romantic front, you're going to be disappointed. Rather than offering some satisfaction there, the author chooses to spend an entire chapter bludgeoning the reader with the "life is so wonderful" message. I'm sorry, but if you hint at a romantic relationship but never follow through, it's a crappy move. Realistic? Sure. But this is a story about a magical library that lets people relive their regrets and see if the path not taken is actually something to strive for... so I wasn't looking for realism.

Overall, I'm disappointed. The writing is okay (though rather plodding and juvenile at times), and the premise of the Midnight Library itself is really cool. But Haig doesn't do nearly as much with that premise as he could have, leaving us instead with a pedestrian half-story featuring a main character who's difficult to relate to (and therefore care about).

Seriously. I don't get the hype.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing & Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 2.57 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - I'm Glad My Mom Died [AUDIO]

I'm Glad My Mom Died
by Jennette McCurdy
Date: 2022
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Reading level: A
Book type: memoir
Length: 6 hours 26 minutes
Format: audio book [unabridged]
Source: library

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I heard a lot about this book last year. With a title like that, how could a reader not be intrigued?

This is a rather harrowing memoir of Hollywood, abuse, illness, family dysfunction, and, yes, love. The provocative title seems to have turned a lot of people off. After listening to this audiobook, though, I can understand why it was chosen. Emotions are complicated. Families are complicated. When there is such emotional chaos in a family, it's understandable that there might be a certain amount of relief when the source of much of that chaos is removed from the picture.

Jennette's mom put her through a lot. The woman was not well, physically or mentally. She was a hoarder. She had extremely narcissistic behaviours. She lived vicariously through her daughter, seeming to see Jennette as little more than an extension of herself. The harrowing depictions of abuse (that Jennette didn't even realize was abuse until years later) are hard to listen to. Coming out with the raw details must have been incredibly difficult, and I applaud Jennette for being courageous enough to do so.

This is an important book, especially for people who may have similar relationships with family members. Ignoring the abuse doesn't help. Keeping secrets doesn't help. All those things serve to do is push the problem further into the future... where it will have to be dealt with at some point, especially if you want to have any semblance of a healthy, normal life.

I just want to add that I'm not the biggest fan of audiobooks in general. But, in this case, I would recommend listening to this book rather than reading it. Jennette does a great job with the narration. Her dry humour comes through when it's appropriate, and yet there are other times when you can hear the genuine heartbreak in her voice. This is her story, after all... and it's wonderful to get to hear her tell it to us.

Overall, this is a really strong memoir. I've never seen iCarly, and I didn't even know who Jennette was before this book came on the scene. But I found this to be a fascinating memoir, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

 
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Performance: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Review - The Lighthouse Witches (DNF)

The Lighthouse Witches
by C. J. Cooke
Date: 2021
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 357
Format: e-book
Source: Kobo

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse.

A lighthouse that weathered more than storms.

Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation.

Coincidence? Or curse?

Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left.

Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . .

But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

DNF @ 27%

Nope. I just can't do this to myself anymore. Even if it is set in Scotland. Even if is about witches and paranormal occurrences. Every time I think about picking this book back up, I immediately think of something else I'd rather be doing. Vacuuming. Taxes. Waxing my legs in slow motion.

This book suffers from some of the worst editing/proofreading I've seen in a traditionally published title in a while. The continuity is awful. Characters sit down when they're already sitting. They help each other up when they're not even down. Events are changed, and then not all instances are caught. (At one point, the mother slaps her daughter across the face. The girl runs away, clutching the back of her head as if she's banged it, and the mother says the kid is injured. Later, a reference is made to when the mother "pushed" her daughter. I'm guessing the shove was changed to a slap, but not every reference was caught.) When the teenage daughter runs away, the middle sister tells her that their mother hasn't noticed yet... and then, a few paragraphs later, says their mother is freaking out over the disappearance.

Even if I wanted to subject myself to a few hundred more pages of that kind of thing, I'd still hate the characters. The mother is some sort of underdeveloped artiste type who says she loves her daughters more than she shows it. (She seems rather indifferent, honestly.) And the girls... They're 15, 9, and 7, but they all come across as about 4 years younger than their actual ages. The teenager pouts and runs away from home when she's upset, says her mother probably won't even care, and then writes a letter to her boyfriend, telling him that she's probably going to get murdered by a serial killer, so he can have her CD collection (at which point she says something about how her boyfriend was probably going to murder her for it anyway). The 9-year-old has no character development, either as a child or as an adult (parts of the narrative take place when she's all grown up). The 7-year-old acts like a toddler, clutching her stuffed giraffe and being carried around. (She's actually 7½. Why can't she walk?)

But the biggest thing that got my goat was the ridiculous plot point of the family's disappearance. I can't really say much more without major spoilers, but suffice it to say that there's a pretty big plot hole there. Either that, or the police in Scotland don't keep very good records.

I kind of want to know what happens, but I just can't take the stupid characters, continuity problems, and implausible plot points anymore. If someone makes a movie out of this one day, I'll watch it. But as a book... nope. I'm done.

Review - Little Birds

Little Birds
by Hannah Lee Kidder
Date: 2018
Publisher: Hannah Lee Kidder
Reading level: A
Book type: short stories
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: library

“Little Birds” is a collection of glimpses into some of the darkest corners of our lives–the lies we tell ourselves, the ways we hurt others, the painful truths we pretend to face. Each story is a raw, unflinchingly human experience.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I read Kidder's Starlight last year, and enjoyed it more than I enjoy most short-story collections. Little Birds went on sale, so I snapped up a copy.

Here are my thoughts on the individual stories:

"Dear Emma"

Well, that's a dark way to start off a collection. Interesting flash fiction, though.


"What Remains"

Another depressing sort of story, this time about a woman who likes to bury dead things in her yard. There's a reason, of course.


"By the Window"

Two sentences. They say a lot.


"Qui Vive"

Eh... okay. Ew. Whatever.


"He Wrote Me a Song"

Unnecessarily sad. Sometimes I'm not sure whether people write these sorts of stories just for shock value, or what.


"An Envelope"

That was anticlimactic. And now I don't like the main character.


"Crop Stet"

This "story" is one awkwardly worded sentence. I have no idea what the title means.


"Winnow"

This feels both too long and incomplete. We get the overall idea of what's going on pretty early, but then nothing ever really comes of it; the basic premise is just reinforced.


"Ignorance"

Deep. Short. What more is there to say? (This review is four words longer than the story.)


"Wolverine Frogs"

Dark and disturbing. Well written, though.


"Little Birds"

I don't know if this is from the point of view of a stalker or an ex (who's just acting like a stalker). But it makes me wonder all sorts of things that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to wonder about. Am I overthinking it? I never know with literary fiction.


"Green"

Another boring snippet. To be honest, I don't think I'd call some of these "stories"; they don't have a beginning, middle, and end. Many of them have a theme of leaving... and this is no exception.

"Cane Sprouts"

By far the longest story in the book, "Cane Sprouts" is a snapshot of a family living on the edge of the bayou. The grandfather is sick, and two grandchildren have come back to visit. They go fishing. That's about it. I was a bit distracted in this one with some of the grammar slip-ups and continuity problems (at one point, it's implied that the narrator somehow peels an orange with one hand; either that, or she's got three hands).

Little Birds is an okay collection, but I can really see the growth between what's included here and what's included in Starlight. Some of these stories are super short, and while there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, it kind of makes for an imbalanced collection when the final story takes up a full 40% of the book. I'm really not a fan of adult contemporary/literary fiction; it's not escapist enough for me. So, overall, I enjoyed Starlight, with its fantasy and horror vibes, far more.

That said, I would still recommend Little Birds to the right audience. If you like adult contemporary short fiction with heavy themes, try Little Birds. If you prefer fantasy and/or horror short fiction with heavy themes, you might enjoy Starlight more.

Overall: 2.77  out of 5

Review - Holiday Spirit

Holiday Spirit
by Tyler J Gray
Date: 2021
Publisher: Archive of Our Own
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 7703 words
Format: e-book
Source: Archive of Our Own

Christmas morning kids open their presents, only to scream in horror. Someone has ruined Christmas. Who? Why? Where is Santa Claus?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a bit of a confused (and confusing) story about a horrid Christmas morning, a centuries-old grudge, and the magic of belief. It... doesn't work.

I'll give the author an A for effort, but there are just so many problems with this. It's a story about believing in Santa Claus, and yet there are graphic descriptions of violent and some rather scary monsters. (Don't even get me started on the spiders.) I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be; it seems like a story that should be for children, but it's completely inappropriate for them due to the graphic content.

The writing is also technically pretty bad. Most of the punctuation is wrong. Getting through it all was a bit of a slog.

I think the author was trying to make a statement here about the Christmas spirit and commercialism and believing in something good and pure... but the whole storyline that involved beating animals with sticks and somebody losing their hands didn't seem all that Christmas-like to me.

I did, however, love one bit at the beginning, though it probably wasn't intended to be so badass. Upon being beset by spiders on Christmas morning, the parents have the following exchange:

“What are we going to do!” mom yells.

Dad thinks for a few seconds, rubbing his chin and blowing a dangling hair out of his eyes.

“Bomb the house?”

Well, that escalated quickly. (They were talking about a bug bomb, but I still like to imagine they were talking about dynamite or something. With some spiders, that's the only reasonable course of action.)

Overall, this needs work. The heavy-handed messaging, violence, and poor editing combine to make this a bit of a chore to read. But I'm still chuckling over the mental image of this couple blowing up their house over a few spiders, so I did get some enjoyment out of it.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 1/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.14 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Blister

Blister
by Jeff Strand
Date: 2016
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 275
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

They call her Blister. She’s a hideously disfigured twenty-three year-old woman, living in a shed next to her father’s house, hidden away from the world.

Jason Tray is a successful cartoonist, banished to his agent’s lakeside cabin for a few days of mandatory rest and relaxation. One night, while hanging out with a couple of the locals at a dive bar, he takes them up on their offer to go “see Blister,” having no idea what they’re talking about.

He peeks through the window at the most nightmarish thing he’s ever seen.

In the morning, he wakes up, hung over and regretful. He’s better than this. He needs to…apologize?

From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of PRESSURE, DWELLER, and WOLF HUNT comes a tale of fiendish secrets, ghastly crimes, and human monsters.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Based on the fact that the top categories for this book on Goodreads are "horror", "thriller", and "romance", I think it's safe to say that Blister sort of defies categorization. I picked it up because I'd seen some good reviews of it, and when I read the preview, I liked what I saw. This actually turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable read, even though it doesn't fit into the genres I tend to read the most.

The cover totally makes it look like this is going to be a terrifying gore-fest, but it's actually an interesting story about a secret in a small town. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, some intriguing characters, and a great pace that keeps the story moving along at a nice clip. I really liked the narrator's voice; it never took itself too seriously (well, Jason did draw cartoons for a living, so he wasn't a super-serious sort of guy to begin with), and I found myself grunting with laughter at a few points while I was reading (which I rarely ever do).

I'm super picky about the technical stuff, so it says a lot that the story was good enough that I was able to overlook quite a few typos and other small mistakes and still enjoy the heck out of the book. Overall, though, the writing is fairly solid and there's nothing that made me want to fling the book across the room in a fit of pique.

I have absolutely no idea who I'd recommend this to. It's probably too dark for romance fans, too light for horror fans, and too silly for thriller fans. But if you're looking for something a little different, you might be pleasantly surprised like I was with this entertaining little morsel.

Premise: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 2/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3.63 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - The Murders of Molly Southbourne (DNF)

The Murders of Molly Southbourne
by Tade Thompson
Date: 2010
Publisher: Tor.com
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 128
Format: e-book
Source: Tor.com

Every time she bleeds a murderer is born. Experience the horror of Tade Thompson's The Murders of Molly Southbourne.

The rule is simple: don't bleed.

For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she's been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.

Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she'll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

DNF @ 27%

I want to emphasize that not finishing this has nothing to do with the quality of the book. I simply got sidetracked, and then my computer crashed. Since this book was a free download from Tor.com (and I hadn't backed it up), I lost it.

What I did read was quite intriguing. If I can find a copy at the library sometime, I might finish it. As it stands now, though, it's going to be a DNF.

Review - War and Peas

War and Peas: Funny Comics for Dirty Lovers
by Jonathan Kunz & Elizabeth Pich
Date: 2020
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reading level: A
Book type: comic collection
Pages: 160
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

From the creators of the hugely popular Instagram comic War and Peas, this offbeat four-panel comic features a dark, fairy-tale aesthetic and a twist ending each time. War and Peas: Comics To Die For combines twisted humor with a beloved cast of characters including the grim reaper (seen here as an unintentionally lethal man of leisure), a robot in hopelessly in love with his scientist creator, and a promiscuous yet self-assured witch. Unlike most webcomic collections, this one tells a story using dozens of never-before-seen comics to chronicle the lives of several different characters and their follies during life, death, and their glorious reunions in the the afterlife (and the after-afterlife).

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I've never seen the webcomic, so these comics were all completely new to me. Despite the subtitle, they aren't all that raunchy. There are only a few that wouldn't be appropriate for younger readers (most teens have probably seen worse, anyway).

I enjoyed some of the recurring characters such as the slutty witch, the two Bobs, the little ghost boy, and the robot. None of the comics were laugh-out-loud funny (at least, not in my opinion), but they are amusing.

I might have to check out the online version. There's plenty to smile over here, so now I'm curious about the comic's origins.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Writing & Editing: 3/5
Illustration: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Limbs

Limbs
by Tim Meyer
Date: 2019
Publisher: Grindhouse Press
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 163
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

I am not a monster.

Ray Bridges, a professional electronics salesman, is looking for love in all the strange places. He spends most nights sneaking into support group meetings for the disabled in order to satisfy his deepest, darkest desires—to hook up with unfortunate, down-on-their-luck women who’ve recently lost a limb. There's a name for Ray’s preference; it’s called acrotomophilia, a paraphilia involving amputees.

Conflicted, Ray wishes he could change. But he can’t. His body won’t let him. Nor will his mind. He’s destined to live this life, forever. That is... until he meets the perfect girl. Falls in love with her. Only problem: her arms and legs are attached.

Unable to find her attractive, Ray embarks on a dark, twisted journey of self-discovery, one that will force him to make an impossible choice: abandon his pursuit of true love or find a way to make it work, even if that means getting the girl of his dreams to shed an appendage.

Weird, comedic, and often raunchy, Limbs is the craziest love story ever told.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

In 2019, I read over 1100 separate works. The vast majority of those were picture books. For 2020, I wanted to diversify a little. Read some things that are completely different. I have to say that Limbs falls perfectly into that category. It's a little comedic and a lot disturbing.

I think I understand why the author chose to aim this at adults (after all, a character with acrotomophilia isn't something you're going to find in a middle-grade contemporary) but I question his choice to make his main character thirty-two. This could've easily been a "new adult" title featuring younger adults, since Ray was really only a mature adult in a technical sense. He works as a sales associate in an electronics store, his friends and co-workers all seem to either be students or still live with their parents (or both), and his exchanges with his best friend, Percy, sound like a couple of stoned eighteen-year-olds trying to sound cool. Dude!

All that aside, however, I kind of like Ray as a character. He's complex and terribly flawed, and the first-person point of view lets us witness all the churning chaos of his mind. Is he a monster? At times, it sure seemed like he might be. And yet, I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next.

The rest of the characters are a mixed bag, though. Kayla, the love interest, has emotional reactions that seem a bit unrealistic (to the point that I wonder if they're just there to provide complications for the plot). Many of the secondary characters seem a little like caricatures; they're types more than fleshed-out people. I think my favourites were probably the little hellions at the laser tag place; they weren't exactly realistic (oh, god, I hope they weren't based on real kids), but they were so awful as to be hilarious.

The story grabbed me and kept me hooked up until the end, where it sort of devolved into a cheesy supervillain story. At that point, especially, it read "young", and had the subject matter not been so utterly graphic, a reader might be tempted to think they were reading some dark YA. The villain turned out to be so over-the-top that, in spite of how awful he was, I kind of wanted to laugh and roll my eyes at the same time. (I'm not sure if that's what the author was going for or not.)

The fact that this is a short book (under 200 pages) and the tight plotting mean that it's a quick read. It also means that it was a short manuscript, so there's really no excuse for the shoddy editing. The writing's not terrible, but it's not great, either. The typos don't help. The continuity problems really don't help. It's a shame when these little errors (and there were so many of them!) prevent a decent book from becoming a really good one.

I'm not sure who I'd recommend this one to. It's full of sex, violence, gore, and features a strange sexual desire. It's not as funny as I was expecting (unless you count the unintentionally funny parts), so it's kind of dark overall. If you like that sort of gory horror/romance story, complete with graphic sex scenes, you might get a little more out of this one than I did. It wasn't bad, but I can't say that I really loved it.

Premise: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 2/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.13 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Striped Pajamas (DNF)

Striped Pajamas
by Fırat Yaşa
Date: 2019
Publisher: Europe Comics
Reading level: A
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 98
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

After being fished out from the cold currents of the Bosporus, an enigmatic young man barely hangs onto both life and reality. Having lost all memory of who he is, he comes to be identified by his outfit: Striped Pajamas. As he embarks on an insightful quest to discover himself, his consciousness gets entangled in a love story that sways between fantasy and reality—a story that steadily approaches the truth.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

DNF @ 27%

I started reading this back in September and then stopped. It was just so weird. The main character looks like a Muppet, and there are weird animal-human hybrids running around. When I came back to it a few days ago, I was totally lost. The story hadn't grabbed me, and I had no idea what was going on.

Based on the title, my guess is that all this weirdness is some sort of nocturnal dream. But I'm not interested enough to keep reading and find out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing a digital ARC.

Review - Christmas Tale

Christmas Tale
by Mark Lawrence
Date: unknown
Publisher: Mark Lawrence
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 3
Format: e-book
Source: author's website

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is just a short little snippet from the author's website. It's not even a story. It's just the beginning of a scene. It could've been really funny, had it been followed through with... but as it is, it's just a bit of nothing. A couple of Satan's minions recruit a couple of demons to make Christmas especially aggravating. That's the premise. Unfortunately, it's also the whole story. Just when we find out what the plot's going to be, the story ends.

I guess you could view this as an exercise in minimalism. Or you could interpret it as self-contained. But I think I probably would've gotten more out of reading a few Goodreads synopses! Really. This is a good start, but I was hoping for a lot more.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.29 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Bird Brain (DNF)

Bird Brain: Comics About Mental Health, Starring Pigeons
by Chuck Mullin
Date: 2019
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reading level: A
Book type: comic collection
Pages: 144
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Bird Brain is a collection of brutally honest, brilliantly weird comics exploring what it’s like to live with mental illness... using pigeons.

When Chuck Mullin began experiencing anxiety and depression as a teenager, she started drawing comics to help her make sense of the rollercoaster. Eventually, she found that pigeons—lovably quirky, yet universally reviled creatures—were the ideal subjects of a comic about mental illness. Organized in three sections—"Bad Times," "Relationships," and "Positivity"—and featuring several short essays about the author’s experiences, Bird Brain is a highly relatable, chuckle-inducing, and ultimately uplifting collection of comics for anyone who has struggled to maintain their mental health.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

DNF @ 54%

It's tricky when you're reviewing something so personal. But I couldn't finish this one, and I feel I should mention the reasons why, since it might save someone else an unpleasant experience.

Let me start by saying I have no problem with the premise or the intent behind these comics, at least individually. It's brave for anyone to share their mental health struggles with a bunch of perfect strangers. No, my problem is not so much the subject matter. In the case of this book, it's a quality versus quantity issue... and the quantity is what's causing the problem.

If I'd come across these as web comics, encountering them one at a time, I might have liked them more. The problem, as I see it, comes when they're all put into one place. It leads to overwhelm (especially for those who might be suffering from mental health issues themselves). I felt the same way about The Grumpy Guide to Life, which was a book that collected a bunch of Grumpy Cat memes. One or two are amusing. A whole book of them leaves you feeling like you hate humanity. Bird Brain suffers from the same problem; where one comic might have seemed insightful and witty, a whole bunch of them together feels like the book is starting to beat the reader over the head. I had issues with the "Bad Times" section, because all of those comics about the pigeon getting overwhelmed at parties just left me scratching my head and wondering why the pigeon didn't just stop going to parties if they were that torturous. But it was the "Relationships" section that really put the nail in the coffin for me. One or two comics about relationship insecurities and a great partner would've been fine. Comic after comic about how supportive and perfect the pigeon's partner is comes across as a bit tone deaf (many people with severe mental health issues don't have a partner, and it kind of rubs salt in the wound to see this point belaboured the way it is). I don't think it was the intent, but this section comes across as a little braggy; I don't think I would've felt the same way had I encountered the comics one at a time in some other format.

I'm also not a fan of the huge chunks of explanatory text (I thought I was getting a collection of comics, not a prose memoir) or the way the author generalizes mental illness as if all conditions are the same. You don't see people trying to compare a broken finger to colon cancer, even though they're both physical ailments... so I don't appreciate having all mental illness lumped together, either.

The pigeons are amusingly drawn and, like I said, I might have liked these better if I'd encountered them one at a time. In a collection, it's all just too much. Sometimes comics work better in a serial format; not every comic needs to be collected into a book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Review - During the Dance

During the Dance
by Mark Lawrence
Date: 2004
Publisher: Mark Lawrence
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 9
Format: e-book
Source: author's website

A short story about a child with a gift for seeing past the world.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I hadn't read anything by this author before. This short story didn't really help me make up my mind as to whether I want to try one of his novels, either. It was just okay, with some questionable comma use and an ending that seems more hokey than profound. But I didn't hate it, so I might try something else of his in the future.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 2/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 2.57 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - The 12 Mehs of Christmas

The 12 Mehs of Christmas
by Max Bisantz & Francesco Sedita
Date: 2019
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Reading level: A
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Celebrate the holiday season with Gudetama the Lazy Egg in a yuletide ode to naps, soy sauce, and the comforts of being left alone.

On the first day of Christmas, thy true love gave to Gude...

...something the egg doesn't want. Take it back. Let Gudetama sleep.

Ring in the twelve days of Christmas with a yuletide ode to the world's laziest egg.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Can someone please explain to me what this is? It appears to be simply a take on "The Twelve Days of Christmas" featuring twelve weirdly random presents (everything from Russian nesting dolls to mayonnaise) and a sentient fried egg who's crabby for no reason. The song would be difficult to sing, given that the meter is ignored (it's pretty bad when all you have to do is replace words and you still somehow manage to mess up the flow of the song). Oh, and at one point, we have to see the egg's butt cheeks.

This was in the kids' section of my local library. I don't think it's actually a kids' book. Kids will probably think it's stupid. Maybe this grouchy egg has a cult following or something. But this book likely won't appeal to people who aren't familiar with the character.

Premise: 1/5
Meter: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.43 out of 5

Review - Ah, Autumn

Ah, Autumn (Breath of Joy)
by Kathy Joy
Date: 2018
Publisher: Capture Books
Reading level: A
Book type: picture book
Pages: 44
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

In the cycles of the earth, glory rises and falls in the breeze. There is nothing like crisp Autumn air to make you feel alive.

Let all things autumn slip under your skin in the rakishness of dying blooms. A harvest time souvenir, Ah, Autumn is a deep breath of colorful joy. Inhale the pages to be filled with happiness and thanksgiving. Everyday life is now a novelty.

Ah, Autumn should be shared at the harvest table and with the best of friends! Exhale brisk, musky memories and yearnings penned by radio D.J. Kathy Joy, a girl with two homes: Colorado and Pennsylvania.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Despite NetGalley classifying it as such, this is not a children's picture book. It's a pretentious free-verse poem with adult-level vocabulary illustrated with free photographs, bad Photoshop work, and a free font that that makes the whole thing look really amateurish (it's not Comic Sans... but it still looks awful).

There's nothing in here that's inappropriate for children, but it's simply not suitable for them:

Things of grace that
are borne in death,

Whispered prayers in
sacred spaces
and
hauntingly elusive
echoes of
voices gone before.

Does it
make it poetry
If I insert
random capitals
and
Line breaks?

Needless to say, the grammar here drove me batty. I understand artistic license, and I'm willing to overlook certain things... if they're done consistently. Here, though, they're not. Grammar and punctuation be damned; some pages just look like a bunch of words were thrown at them.

I'm also not a fan of books that are illustrated with stock photos. I mean, most of the photos are nice and all, but there are a few pages where the layout and/or Photoshop skills leave something to be desired.

I don't know who I'd recommend this to. A lot of adults aren't going to be impressed by the look of the book (what is that awful font that's used throughout?!) and kids probably don't want to sit through a poetic ramble where they don't understand half the words. Who's the audience?

I'm afraid I don't know...

Thank you to NetGalley and Capture Books for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 1 out of 5

Review - Sorry I Ruined Your Childhood

Sorry I Ruined Your Childhood
by Ben Zaehringer
Date: 2019
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reading level: A
Book type: comic collection
Pages: 144
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Berkeley Mews' appealing, accessible art style belies a cartoon world of dark humor, dry wit, and irreverent reimaginings of popular culture. In Berkeley Mews, bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, and everything usually ends in disappointment or death. Satisfaction guaranteed!

A subversive, hilarious, dark-but-uplifting collection of comics skewering the commercial figures, Disney stories, and pop cultural touchstones that Millennials and Gen X-ers grew up with in the '80s and '90s. Ben Zaehringer's versatile art styles and wicked curveballs are sharp, clever and accessible, prompting many readers to comment that the author is "ruining their childhood" in the most delightful way possible.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't think I was that familiar with these comics before reading this book. I may have seen one or two here and there online, but never really paid much attention. Collections like this can be hit or miss; sometimes it seems like there's just too much all in one place. But I actually found that the selections here are so diverse that I didn't really get bored or feel like I was seeing too much repetition.

Some of these are laugh-out-loud funny. Some will make you think. There are plenty of pop-culture references for Generation X-ers and Millennials (and Xennials) that'll have you taking a few trips down memory lane. Some of the comics are a little disturbing, but the drawing style is usually so simple that even when things get gory, they're not too difficult to look at.

Overall, I quite enjoyed these. The book is a quick read (you could easily finish in one sitting, if you wanted) but it's packed full of amusing stuff.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Writing & Editing: 4/5
Illustration: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Snow, Glass, Apples

Snow, Glass, Apples
by Neil Gaiman
Date: 1995
Publisher: Neil Gaiman
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 56
Format: e-book
Source: The Dreaming

A young princess … her skin as white as snow … her hair as black as coal ... her lips as red as blood … an innocent young girl victimized by her evil stepmother.

Or is she?

Neil Gaiman’s “Snow, Glass, Apples” turns the traditional “Snow White” fairytale on its head and tells the story from the point of view of the “wicked” stepmother, who knows the truth about this less-than-innocent girl and attempts to save the kingdom from her unnatural and monstrous stepdaughter.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

That was oddly disturbing.

It's an interesting take on the "Snow White" story, to be sure. But, for me, it goes just a little too far. The necrophiliac prince is clever, but the subsequent rape of a child (she's only thirteen) pushed this from "disturbing" to "disgusting" for me. (If it had been less graphic and more implied, I might not have been bothered by it as much. But there's too much description, including mention of the little girl being "pounded". What? No... I don't want to read that.)

Twisting the tale around to make the "wicked queen" a sympathetic character was an interesting choice, and it works, for the most part. There is definitely something wrong with the little princess. And while the queen's actions are perfectly logical, given the sort of supernatural creature she was dealing with, I don't think the story really needed--or benefitted--from all the sexual stuff involving the child. Imply it, fine; but don't actually talk about genitalia and stuff oozing from between people's legs.

I would've appreciated a content warning with this one. Because Gaiman has also written for children, there might be confusion and unintentional trauma if people pick up what they think is an innocuous fairy tale retelling.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing & Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Gaia Blues

Gaia Blues
by Gud
Date: 2011
Publisher: Europe Comics
Reading level: A
Book type: graphic novel
Pages: 64
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Gaia is the ancient name of our Earth, a place now endangered by growing human pollution. A family of polar bears is about to discover what are the effects of this situation, in a story told entirely with no words.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is depressing and fatalistic. The blurb on the back cover reads: "Will Gaia save herself from the nefarious effects of Mankind? Perhaps there is a solution..." What's Gaia's solution? Melt all the ice and flood the planet. There's just one problem with that: there's not enough ice in the world to do what this book shows.

Yes, humans suck. We've treated this planet like a garbage can. We've polluted the atmosphere. We've mucked up the oceans. We've decimated the forests. We've polluted the land, and then seem surprised when we get sick living in a toxic environment. But what good does a book like this do? There are no suggestions, no solutions. According to this, we just have to get used to living on solar-powered boats. Or maybe on an island of floating garbage.

This just didn't impress me. It didn't shock me, or tell me anything I didn't already know. The fact that it's aimed at adults is even worse; viewed as such, it seems condescending. It's also defeatist, but at the same time judgmental, almost as if the book is scolding the reader for wrecking the planet.

But if you're going to offer just condemnation rather than helpful solutions, you're kind of part of the problem.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing a digital ARC.

Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing & Editing: n/a
Illustration: 2/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall Rating: 1.29 out of 5 ladybugs

Review - Herding Cats

Herding Cats (Sarah's Scribbles #3)
by Sarah Andersen
Date: 2018
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Reading level: A
Book type: comic collection
Pages: 112
Format: e-book
Source: library

Sarah valiantly struggles with waking up in the morning, being productive, and dealing with social situations.

Sarah's Scribbles is the comic strip that follows her life, finding humor in living as an adulting introvert that is at times weird, awkward, and embarrassing.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Herding Cats is the third installment in the Sarah's Scribbles series of books. I read Big Mushy Happy Lump last year, but I still haven't managed to track down a copy of the first book yet. It doesn't really matter, though; these titles can stand on their own.

This is a collection of comics that poke fun at our neuroses and make astute observations about today's world. I bookmarked so many of the comics as I went through this volume, and had a hard time deciding which one I liked the best. There's so much to laugh at... and to relate to. As an Xennial, I might be a little bit older than the majority of Andersen's audience, but I still get a chuckle out of a lot of the situations she depicts in her drawings.

That said, the drawing style didn't really speak to me here as much. There are a lot of panels that use blurring for effect, and I don't like the way it looks. (I can't remember the previous volume having as much of this.) On the plus side, though, there's a little guide by Andersen at the end called "Making Stuff in the Modern Era: A Guide for the Young Creative" that's basically a humorous cheerleading section full of encouragement for artists (and a bit of commentary on Internet culture). It's worth a read, especially if you're a creative type who likes to "make stuff".

Overall, I think I enjoyed this one about the same amount as I enjoyed Big Mushy Happy Lump. Now I just need to see if I can find Adulthood Is a Myth.

Quotable moment:

Writing & Editing: 4/5
Illustration: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 ladybugs