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blithesquesttoread's Reviews (480)
Just two things:
a) Padma and Nati are my idols now. I'm gonna make my whole personality like them. *Cute evil laugh ha-ha*
b) If I ever decide to date a guy, istg he should be like William Ainsley at least. Not asking a lot.
Bonus:
This book is too cutee!
a) Padma and Nati are my idols now. I'm gonna make my whole personality like them. *Cute evil laugh ha-ha*
b) If I ever decide to date a guy, istg he should be like William Ainsley at least. Not asking a lot.
Bonus:
This book is too cutee!
My Summer of You is a manga I could certainly picture coming out as an anime movie. I usually don't watch movies alone these days but I will certainly love to watch this one!
We follow Wataru and Saeki as they navigate through summer while knowing Saeki likes Wataru in romantic way but they still remain the best of friends, going together finishing Saeki's request. I really liked how the whole manga gave off vibes of summer - people chilling out, going to visit places, having the whole feel to it of being long but rushed. There were certain instances where the story felt a bit rushed but I guess that aided to the whole "summery vibes".
Furthermore, I really appreciated how Wataru wasn't weirded out by Saeki liking him or showed signs of homophobia as I have seen in a few other manga. He was a bit surprised but never by the fact that a guy could like him. And how they discussed movies, went to movies together and flirted with each other without realizing they were flirting was honestly very cute.
Coming to things that could have been better... I did not appreciate the heteronormative stance that the book had with side characters assuming that Saeki was rejecting girls because he was "interested in a girl but they couldn't figure out which girl".
I was provided with an arc of the manga via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
We follow Wataru and Saeki as they navigate through summer while knowing Saeki likes Wataru in romantic way but they still remain the best of friends, going together finishing Saeki's request. I really liked how the whole manga gave off vibes of summer - people chilling out, going to visit places, having the whole feel to it of being long but rushed. There were certain instances where the story felt a bit rushed but I guess that aided to the whole "summery vibes".
Furthermore, I really appreciated how Wataru wasn't weirded out by Saeki liking him or showed signs of homophobia as I have seen in a few other manga. He was a bit surprised but never by the fact that a guy could like him. And how they discussed movies, went to movies together and flirted with each other without realizing they were flirting was honestly very cute.
Spoiler
And okay this is a bit of personal opinion and matter of liking, I liked how the ending chapter or the bonus illustrations did not have a sex scene and rather a more understanding approach towards the characters and their background.Coming to things that could have been better... I did not appreciate the heteronormative stance that the book had with side characters assuming that Saeki was rejecting girls because he was "interested in a girl but they couldn't figure out which girl".
Spoiler
There was this scene where Saeki shoved Wataru on bed to idk make him feel nervous about being locked in a room and he was touching him without permission. Now Wataru asked him to stop and Saeki did stop so a good thing I suppose but still I have mixed feeling about that scene.I was provided with an arc of the manga via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The thing I love the most is Middle Grade Books - they are full of characters with so many flaws, I cannot help but love them all. And when you add Queer stories to Middle Grade Books, I cannot help but jump on the chance to read them all. Me = surrendering all my love. There are in total 16 stories in this anthology and it makes sure to almost include all different identities on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. They didn't only talk about coming out, or finding a queer partner - but also the hate these identities face along with just simply existing.
My favorite stories included - "The Purr-cle of Life" where our main character goes to pick out a new cat at an animal rescue, which was a task that they found really difficult in the beginning; "The Girl's Best Friend" - I'll just say it deals with platonic crush <3; "Paper Planes" - it's simply about being their for yourself while being proud; "Petra and Pearl" - featuring two trans girls who met while writing fanfic and talks about coming out story of them; "I know the way" - a split timeline story with the historical side being about escaping the plantation and the present being about our protagonists being there for each other; "Balancing Acts" - our main character starts to understand that e can still love eir love for gymnastic; "Come Out, Come Out Whenever you are" - it is a time loop story of our MC standing up to his bully finally; "The Wish and the Wind Dragon" - a nonbinary pirate kid says hello as they go on to call and speak a wind dragon!; "Splinter and Ash" - our main characters are finding a way to be their true selves in a "traditional" court... and aahh you get the picture who totally awesome this anthology is!
I was provided with arc of this book in exchange of an honest review
My favorite stories included - "The Purr-cle of Life" where our main character goes to pick out a new cat at an animal rescue, which was a task that they found really difficult in the beginning; "The Girl's Best Friend" - I'll just say it deals with platonic crush <3; "Paper Planes" - it's simply about being their for yourself while being proud; "Petra and Pearl" - featuring two trans girls who met while writing fanfic and talks about coming out story of them; "I know the way" - a split timeline story with the historical side being about escaping the plantation and the present being about our protagonists being there for each other; "Balancing Acts" - our main character starts to understand that e can still love eir love for gymnastic; "Come Out, Come Out Whenever you are" - it is a time loop story of our MC standing up to his bully finally; "The Wish and the Wind Dragon" - a nonbinary pirate kid says hello as they go on to call and speak a wind dragon!; "Splinter and Ash" - our main characters are finding a way to be their true selves in a "traditional" court... and aahh you get the picture who totally awesome this anthology is!
I was provided with arc of this book in exchange of an honest review
Queer anthologies are awesome and we definitely need more of those!
I really liked reading about so many different characters and how they went about their life in just a few span of pages. There was such a diverse collection of characters, with Asian rep and sapphic rep at the forefront and I can just do this <3<3
This anthology includes fifteen short stories by fifteen authors and is a mix of different genres - contemporary, fantasy, superheroes and villains, adventure, sci-fi etc.
My favorite stories included Edges - The Grumpy and the Soft One, What Makes Us Heroes - Hero vs. Villain, My Best Friend's Girl - Best Friend's Girlfriend, (Fairy)Like Attracts Like - Mutual Pining, Bloom - Love Transcends Space Time, Boys Noise - Only One Bed at the Inn (pls lemme fangirl: one of the MCs is named Felix and that too idol *crying brb... will do it more if you get it*), Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Secret Royalty.
I was provided with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
I really liked reading about so many different characters and how they went about their life in just a few span of pages. There was such a diverse collection of characters, with Asian rep and sapphic rep at the forefront and I can just do this <3<3
This anthology includes fifteen short stories by fifteen authors and is a mix of different genres - contemporary, fantasy, superheroes and villains, adventure, sci-fi etc.
My favorite stories included Edges - The Grumpy and the Soft One, What Makes Us Heroes - Hero vs. Villain, My Best Friend's Girl - Best Friend's Girlfriend, (Fairy)Like Attracts Like - Mutual Pining, Bloom - Love Transcends Space Time, Boys Noise - Only One Bed at the Inn (pls lemme fangirl: one of the MCs is named Felix and that too idol *crying brb... will do it more if you get it*), Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Secret Royalty.
I was provided with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
a) If you can make it without crying while reading this one... damn
b) I picked this one up because of how beautiful the cover is, not knowing what it was about and I believe that was one of the best decisions of my life.
b) I picked this one up because of how beautiful the cover is, not knowing what it was about and I believe that was one of the best decisions of my life.
Okay wow. What just happened? Why did I choose to read this manga now?? WHYY :'(
I'm not sad because I didn't like it, quite the opposite actually. A sign of Affection is undoubtedly beautiful and cute to read. The female MC is just too cuteee! My heart was with her throughout the volume 1. The male MC is, well, weird? I mean when it comes to manga, expressions matter a lot I have come to realize and whenever he was with Yuki (MC) his facial expressions seemed weird, maybe coz he was trying to interpret things that Yuki said. It was fun really to figure out their interactions!
Yuki is a college student who is full of life. She is a curious bud as can be seen with her interactions but sometimes feel underconfident about her experiences. A chance encounter leads her to meet with Itsuomi-san, a friend of friend and things change in her life - starting with a rush of feelings. Itsuomi-san is a globetrotter and knows three languages, sign language not being one of them. When he meets Yuki, it is like he is invited to a different world to experience. And so their story begins.
The thing about this manga is that it got over too fast for me. I now need the second volume asap. Plus, I remember making a pact with myself about not starting manga which are ongoing but apparently I don't listen to myself :| Now I have to wait and I don't want to wait! But coming onto the story, as I said, it is cute and like a slice of life, leaving you to digest more of it. I loved Yuki and her friend! As for Itsuomi-san, I did like him but frankly, not as much as Yuki. I still need more content to come to a decision about him lol. Ahh, now I will just count days till I can finally read the second volume!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
I'm not sad because I didn't like it, quite the opposite actually. A sign of Affection is undoubtedly beautiful and cute to read. The female MC is just too cuteee! My heart was with her throughout the volume 1. The male MC is, well, weird? I mean when it comes to manga, expressions matter a lot I have come to realize and whenever he was with Yuki (MC) his facial expressions seemed weird, maybe coz he was trying to interpret things that Yuki said. It was fun really to figure out their interactions!
Yuki is a college student who is full of life. She is a curious bud as can be seen with her interactions but sometimes feel underconfident about her experiences. A chance encounter leads her to meet with Itsuomi-san, a friend of friend and things change in her life - starting with a rush of feelings. Itsuomi-san is a globetrotter and knows three languages, sign language not being one of them. When he meets Yuki, it is like he is invited to a different world to experience. And so their story begins.
The thing about this manga is that it got over too fast for me. I now need the second volume asap. Plus, I remember making a pact with myself about not starting manga which are ongoing but apparently I don't listen to myself :| Now I have to wait and I don't want to wait! But coming onto the story, as I said, it is cute and like a slice of life, leaving you to digest more of it. I loved Yuki and her friend! As for Itsuomi-san, I did like him but frankly, not as much as Yuki. I still need more content to come to a decision about him lol. Ahh, now I will just count days till I can finally read the second volume!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy via netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
Okay first of all... How could they end the manga like that?! I am sooo curious now and disappointed that I don't have the second part. Don't worry it isn't a cliffhanger ending, just a curious one (which seems to be worse than cliffhanger lol).
I really liked reading this particular manga! I gotta admit that it is quite different from the manga I have read so far and it didn't disappoint me! The artwork was really done well and I gotta say it was cute. The plot was a unique one, I mean we would know in the subsequent parts whether it uses any similar, popular tropes or not, but there was a lot of potential I could see developing in the further parts. I don't know if it is only me but both the main characters seemed a bit silly lol which no doubt was amusing and wanted me to explore the book further. I am excited to see how the story progresses!
*I was provided an arc by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I really liked reading this particular manga! I gotta admit that it is quite different from the manga I have read so far and it didn't disappoint me! The artwork was really done well and I gotta say it was cute. The plot was a unique one, I mean we would know in the subsequent parts whether it uses any similar, popular tropes or not, but there was a lot of potential I could see developing in the further parts. I don't know if it is only me but both the main characters seemed a bit silly lol which no doubt was amusing and wanted me to explore the book further. I am excited to see how the story progresses!
*I was provided an arc by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I want to begin by saying that I am positive I have an invisible faucet fitted somewhere near my eyes which breaks apart whenever I read. Nothing else can explain my reaction while reading this beautiful book. I honestly never thought Middle Grade Books would want me to try so hard as to not cry (a lie, I think I have been teary eyed in most of them). They are supposed to feel childish and a cool refreshing reads then why do they seem like coming home?
This books is no different, trust me. It started of slowly, just describing the friendship of Rylee and Twig and the plot setting that was chosen. It seemed during that moment that nothing significant would be coming out of it. The words described personalities of Twig and Rylee which made it easier for me to picture them. Then 9/11 attack was described and the what was the town’s response. And that was the turning point of the book. It was like slowly and gradually important stuff started to unwrap. There is no way I can talk about them without giving spoilers but I will still brief through all the stuff. We saw how sometimes friendship breaks apart, but can be still glued back in months or in years. Then we saw how families navigate through divorce and death. Beautiful narration of stories from oldies could be seen and even if I personally couldn’t get majority of the references, I still enjoyed reading about them. It’s like some people will be nostalgic about those stuff while some would be looking out to find something new, interesting and exciting. Various aspects of growing up were covered and somehow through all of this, I tried very hard to not see how my life had been during those years and what would the impact have been.
Finding Zachary Beaver was an excuse to make the readers go on a journey they wouldn’t regret being on. The blurb gives a gist of the different different characters and events it was going to discuss about. It’s really surprising how events affect not only our lives and understandings or surroundings for that matter, but how they tell people a story, an event however unfortunate to visit back to and think about how different things could have been. How hard this novel hits you is quite subjective I believe but there is no way that it wouldn’t hit you hard and make you wonder about a lot of things.
Trigger Warnings: 9/11 attacks description, Vietnamese war mention and discussion, Death of a loved one, Divorce, mention of instances of Bullying.
NOTE: I was provided with a copy via Netgalley for the Turn the pages tour in exchange for an honest review.
This books is no different, trust me. It started of slowly, just describing the friendship of Rylee and Twig and the plot setting that was chosen. It seemed during that moment that nothing significant would be coming out of it. The words described personalities of Twig and Rylee which made it easier for me to picture them. Then 9/11 attack was described and the what was the town’s response. And that was the turning point of the book. It was like slowly and gradually important stuff started to unwrap. There is no way I can talk about them without giving spoilers but I will still brief through all the stuff. We saw how sometimes friendship breaks apart, but can be still glued back in months or in years. Then we saw how families navigate through divorce and death. Beautiful narration of stories from oldies could be seen and even if I personally couldn’t get majority of the references, I still enjoyed reading about them. It’s like some people will be nostalgic about those stuff while some would be looking out to find something new, interesting and exciting. Various aspects of growing up were covered and somehow through all of this, I tried very hard to not see how my life had been during those years and what would the impact have been.
Finding Zachary Beaver was an excuse to make the readers go on a journey they wouldn’t regret being on. The blurb gives a gist of the different different characters and events it was going to discuss about. It’s really surprising how events affect not only our lives and understandings or surroundings for that matter, but how they tell people a story, an event however unfortunate to visit back to and think about how different things could have been. How hard this novel hits you is quite subjective I believe but there is no way that it wouldn’t hit you hard and make you wonder about a lot of things.
Trigger Warnings: 9/11 attacks description, Vietnamese war mention and discussion, Death of a loved one, Divorce, mention of instances of Bullying.
NOTE: I was provided with a copy via Netgalley for the Turn the pages tour in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly don't know on what basis I should give this book stars so I decided on these all aspects: Was it engaging? yes. Was it entertaining and made me want to look stuff up? yes. Was the art awesome? definitely yes. Do I wish it dragged more long? yes.
To elaborate, I loved this book a lot. It can be considered to be my first memoir and on top of that it was a graphic novel (I am trying to read more graphic novels!), so I was a bit timid to pick it up. But since it was set in South Korea and had a political theme and the MC loves to read books, I don't think I couldn't have not picked it up. I don't know much about the political affairs of South Korea but this surely made me super intrigued to know more about it. It talked about so many important things - corruption, police brutality, sexism, activism, feminism etc. And even though it discussed so many things, it didn't seem that heavy to read. I flew through the pages like my life depended on it and made so many notes to look things up.
I especially liked the fact that it didn't go much deep into the happenings or politicians because it made me look up about them. And apart from that, I don't think so much of information would have been suitable for this book. Apart from that, I cannot stress about how important this book is. Starting from as little as banned books, it made me wonder which all books are banned at present in my country and on what basis. It is exceptionally necessary to make students and youths to realize that govt. authorities are accountable to us because they have a societal responsibility that cannot be neglected. And at the same time, we as citizens shouldn't sit back and let things happen the way they are happening. Through a very simple example, this book passed on a very good message - nothing can be apolitical. Politics is present in every part of our lives, even when we think it isn't.
Apart from that there were these moments in the novel wherein not so implicitly, women's struggle were highlighted for which I am glad. I cannot believe that when I started reading this book, I was trying to translate some of my known words from English to Korean! Omg, these instances were so hilarious and it made me realize that watching all those kdramas did pay off in some way ;) And the art was just super fantastic!!! I loved it to bits <3<3 Oh and also, keep a pen and paper ready nearby because there is mention of various books that one might want to check out as well as certain political leaders and instances mentioned.
Trigger warnings: Violence, Tear gas, hinting at sexual assault.
I was provided an arc copy via netgalley and the publisher in exachange for an honest review.
To elaborate, I loved this book a lot. It can be considered to be my first memoir and on top of that it was a graphic novel (I am trying to read more graphic novels!), so I was a bit timid to pick it up. But since it was set in South Korea and had a political theme and the MC loves to read books, I don't think I couldn't have not picked it up. I don't know much about the political affairs of South Korea but this surely made me super intrigued to know more about it. It talked about so many important things - corruption, police brutality, sexism, activism, feminism etc. And even though it discussed so many things, it didn't seem that heavy to read. I flew through the pages like my life depended on it and made so many notes to look things up.
I especially liked the fact that it didn't go much deep into the happenings or politicians because it made me look up about them. And apart from that, I don't think so much of information would have been suitable for this book. Apart from that, I cannot stress about how important this book is. Starting from as little as banned books, it made me wonder which all books are banned at present in my country and on what basis. It is exceptionally necessary to make students and youths to realize that govt. authorities are accountable to us because they have a societal responsibility that cannot be neglected. And at the same time, we as citizens shouldn't sit back and let things happen the way they are happening. Through a very simple example, this book passed on a very good message - nothing can be apolitical. Politics is present in every part of our lives, even when we think it isn't.
Apart from that there were these moments in the novel wherein not so implicitly, women's struggle were highlighted for which I am glad. I cannot believe that when I started reading this book, I was trying to translate some of my known words from English to Korean! Omg, these instances were so hilarious and it made me realize that watching all those kdramas did pay off in some way ;) And the art was just super fantastic!!! I loved it to bits <3<3 Oh and also, keep a pen and paper ready nearby because there is mention of various books that one might want to check out as well as certain political leaders and instances mentioned.
Trigger warnings: Violence, Tear gas, hinting at sexual assault.
I was provided an arc copy via netgalley and the publisher in exachange for an honest review.