wickerlibrary's Reviews (441)

Grey Dog

Elliott Gish

4.0

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Unusual Fragments: 20th Century Japanese Fiction

Sarah Coolidge

3.0

Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories

Mariana Enríquez, Antonio Díaz Oliva, Tomás Downey, Camila Sosa Villada, Mónica Ojeda, Sarah Coolidge, Maximiliano Barrientos, Lina Munar Guevara, Julián Isaza

3.0

overall just not very memorable

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Sangu Mandanna

3.75

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

wish i felt more attached to the characters and their dynamics but it was still enjoyable. this also had my favorite third act “breakup” twist ive ever read, and i really loved how mature and communicative the characters were rather than relying on miscommunication tropes and cheap arguments.

Mage and the Endless Unknown

S.J. Miller

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

love a fucked up freaky little story like this especially one that has such a cute and unassuming cover

We'll Prescribe You a Cat

Syou Ishida

3.0

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Angelica and the Bear Prince

Trung Le Nguyen

3.0

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As expected, the art style here was lovely, and the casual inclusion of so many relationships and dynamics and identities made me feel very warm and fuzzy inside. However, I found the storyline itself felt incredibly rushed and choppy. There were conflicts that would suddenly, in the next chapter, jump to being resolved (ex. the disagreement between Jelly and one of her friends). It happened so jarringly that I would often go back to see if I had missed a page or something, which was unfortunate. I wish there was just MORE of the story-more time taken-especially in regards to the conflicts, because the resolution of everything happened in so few pages and in such a convenient manner where everyone suddenly knew their flaws and was forgiven and resolved, which was very unsatisfying for me. As sweet as the dynamics here were, I also felt genuinely nothing for the romance/friendship happening on page. There was barely time spent on it, and the only real dynamic that was present felt like a very one-way venting relationship rather than anything with real chemistry. Overall, I felt like there were so many loose ends, not enough time spent developing characters and their arcs, and too little pages to explore everything fully. Still, a quick and beautiful-to-look-at read, I just left rather disappointed in the end.