ellornaslibrary's reviews
500 reviews

You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was adorable and sweet and a lovely holiday seasonal read that I'm glad I was finally able to read. The narrator did a great job. However, let me just say that I didn't expect to hit somewhere around like 85% and be so angry I wanted to strangle some side characters. Like woo, the rage that overtook me and hasn't gone away yet.

I feel that if you want to read this and have any triggers around emotionally, and mentally, abusive and manipulative parents/guardians or toxic parenting, especially when dropped unexpectedly during a cozy read, to maybe avoid it. Cause I don't have triggers around that and the anger that overtook me was powerful.
The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.
I just really couldn't get into this book. I really wanted to like it. Perhaps I'll try it again another time.
Total Suplex of the Heart by Joanne Starer

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw both the cover and premise of this graphic novel, I was so excited and I'll start by saying that I wasn't totally disappointed I requested the arc. The art was beautiful and the story was interesting. It was also a quick read. While the FMC, and a lot of the side characters, weren't exactly likeable characters at all times that didn't necessarily make them all bad. It made them human and showed some truth into how close-minded that industry could be, and still can be, at times. However, it wasn't until the end that I realized. . . I was a bit disappointed. Now, I know that while the story is fiction the author states that it has basis off her own personal experience and I took that into account, but I still couldn't overlook the choices made if the story was still altered to be more fictional than memoir. Reading beyond here includes a little bit of material that could be considered spoilers to some and if I could adequately review this without including it I would except that isn't possible.

So these were my issues:
Every other character that was a woman was awful in comparison to the FMC including the one who was supposed to be her friend. The DV that happened was horrible yet it felt like it was being suggested that the guy was doing it cause of her mental illness/disability and having such issues does not make one an abuser. At the end, the only other woman character we're supposed to like - that isn't presented as being awful the entire time - is then turned into someone we're supposed to frown at again, but that isn't my issue. No, my issue is this character who was the FMC's friend gets with the guy who committed DV against the FMC and the FMC doesn't tell her at all. Like it never comes up even though they used to be friends and even if they weren't anymore like that just rubbed me the wrong way.


So, in the end, those things really just ruined the read for me.
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Content Warning: Everything by Akwaeke Emezi

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

5.0

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Thank You, Night by Dan McCauley

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective

5.0

This was a really great book. I was really pleased by how well the mental health aspects were represented. Most adults don't seem to acknowledge the stress, anxiety, and other things that children deal with on the daily. They'll say stuff like "what do they have to be stressed about?" as if only adults can experience things in life that bring about these moments. I remember being a child dealing with stress about school, about things going on in my family, about school work, about friendships, about my own worries as a growing child. . . and feeling like there wasn't anyone who understood me. A book like this would've been great. The poetry of the writing made it easier to understand the points being made to the reader with the art accompanying it beautifully. Together they both told a story that teaches kids ways they can see the bright side even when things are rough.
Soulful Struttin' by Julia Pierre Hammond

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adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

This was a delightful read that could definitely brighten anyone's day. It was nice to read about a family with parents outside the conventional, and traditional, gender norms usually pushed in other books. Here the father was helping with the cleaning, and while the daughter helped with them as well the brother helped the mother in the garden. All around it subverts the idea of who should help with household duties/chores. On top of that there's something delightful in seeing this beautiful father-daughter relationship brought to life between the art and the musical writings. And it gets to be educational as well in the way that it teaches about different types of music as the cleaning progresses through the story.
Sadie Soars into Space by Arezu Sarvestani

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informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

Space is something I've always loved to learn about since I was little. Books like this one would've been right up little me's alley. The colorful choices of the art really help to pull you into the story, and make the educational material easier to grasp. It's an adorable story about Sadie who tells a story of her journey through space in that beautifully imaginative way kids do. My only complaint was I felt like the way the educational bits were placed around the page could be a little too disjointed. Pulling your gaze away from the main sentence; making you wonder what you're supposed to read first. That can be a little overwhelming for children, of course. Besides that though the information in here was done really well and explained in ways that children this age could easily grasp.
Wind Is a Dance by Debra Kempf Shumaker

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informative lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book. The art combined with the poetry of the writing made it a soothing read. On top of that, it taught me stuff even I didn't know at 39-years-old and refreshed my mind where it concerned stuff I'd learned in school yeaaaaars ago. It also made learning a fun, bright experience. The art itself adds to the soothing experience in the best way as it's so well done. The colors used were a beautiful choice and made the words more captivating. I would definitely recommend this book as an educational tool for parents or teachers, but also just as an enjoyable read for those of any age.
The Terrifying Tales of Vivian Vance by Josh Ulrich

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A fun, adventurous read that gives vibes of stuff like Veronica Mars or Nancy Drew just with a fantasy/sci-fi twist. The characters were definitely a delight though it was hard to like Vivian at first given her first interaction with the other characters. Not that it was hard to sympathize with the why of what she was doing, just it wasn't exactly a nice thing and it's obvious that this is intentional. The character does grow though as the story progresses. The overall arc was a lot of fun though I do wish one thing about the ending had been different. Yet I suspect I know why it wasn't though I'd have to read more - if there is more - to find out. The art style was done well especially for the old-timey style of the story. Loved how colorful it was as well. I don't know if this story was necessarily my absolute favorite though it did give me some appropriate spoopy vibes for the season. If there's more published though, I'd definitely still pick it up and see how it goes as I did enjoy my time reading this graphic novel.
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