twirl's reviews
94 reviews

My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 7 by Shinichi Fukuda

Not as flirty as I would like 😤 I feel like this slow burn is dragging a little too much

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

The pacing felt really slow, with a lack of balance between dialogue (either none for pages and pages or monologues) and very detailed descriptions. The characters that felt cliche and hard to root for. I felt like both the narrator withholding  information and the details so heavily eluding to information made it so that nothing felt surprising.

I would instead like to recommend Wilder Girls, which had more intrigue, cooler body horror, and more elements of queerness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Stalking

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Instead of a banned book, this should be required reading.

This could be really informative to anyone, from a young teen who knows very little about queerness to a they/them adult who had  different experiences. It’s useful to hear about other people’s journey. I particularly was surprised (and loved) how this book ended- not with a declarative “I know exactly how to exist now” but with a, “I’ll try again next time”. I think everyone just wants to have everything figured out, and the idea that you don’t have to, even as adult, is a refreshing one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content

My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 2 by Shinichi Fukuda

One of my favs in the series

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

3.0

Very cute, pretty art, fun characters! The world building didn’t make much sense to me and it was very cheesy at times (lol) but overall a fun read.

Just Roll with It by Veronica Agarwal, Lee Durfey-Lavoie

4.0

This book was so meaningful. The author balanced a fun and young character with deep thoughts and struggles in a way that would be both enjoyable for young readers and adults. I really connected with the main character Maggie. Even though I don’t have OCD nor know someone with it, I related to how she felt about struggling with her mental health and having a hard time reaching out. The adult characters in this book are so kind and such lovely role models. The art is also very cute. And as always, I love the casually queer background characters. It’s definitely one of the better young graphic novels I’ve read, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

3.5

The pacing was strange on this one. I loved the tie ins from previous plots/characters but I wanted more! The action was fun (and there was a lot of action). The ending was decent, nice to have that arc closed, though I wish we would have gotten more character development to show for it.

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

4.0

This book fell into the more typical pattern that is becoming of this series (particularly with its plot structure) but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Similarly to the last book, ending felt too quick with a lack of closure, though it made sense for the character. While the plot felt familiar, I felt like this book dealt more into the emotions of MB. They were… feelings. Sad about that ending.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

4.5

I love the characters and world building that this series has to offer. I really enjoyed this book focused on other bots and the dynamic between other bots and the main character was really interesting. I was surprised this was a series after reading the first book since I felt like the first book had practically perfect closure. I felt like this one has a bit of a slow start, since we had to uncover the reasoning behind why the adventure and where the main character was going. However, once things got started they were really fun. 

I would have loved to see more of a goodbye at the end of this book, being that it seems that these characters are not going to be apart of (or at least a large focus) of the next book, but that’s just my sentimental self. I absolutely love this so far and it’s been a while since I’ve been so hype about a series so you will for sure see me continuing to read this.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

5.0

This was so beautiful drawn, truly some incredibly detailed art. I loved the unique telling of fairytales, and how it paralleled with the characters. This is the shortest graphic novel I’ve read the conveys such heavy emotion, with deep complexities. It is quite beautiful all around. Also, don’t skip the notes about the writing at the end! It really emphasizes the deep detail and care the author and artist took to create this graphic novel.