vanessajae's reviews
2 reviews

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Sara Kipin, Kody Keplinger

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

3.5

 The gothic aesthetic of Thorns not only fits this dark story well but is also based on Pamela’s interest in sustainability. A lot of the issues the characters deal with, specifically body autonomy, are spelled out for the reader, which seems appropriate for YA’s target audience of teenagers. Although Keplinger handles these issues very well and makes sure the readership understands what exactly the problems are, Pam is still punished for standing up for herself and embracing who she is. Yet, she gets away with a real crime too easily. Where the novel also lacks, in my opinion, is the drawing style, which is very flat and doesn’t show a lot of details. The resources for abuse survivors are appreciated. 

Arcana by Brittany Warman, Chadwick Ginther, Beth Cato, Angela Slatter, Susan MacGregor, Sara Dobie Bauer, Rhonda Parrish, Jim C. Hines, Joseph Halden, Annie Neugebauer, Sara Cleto, L.S. Johnson, C.S. MacCath, Dan Koboldt, Eliza Chan, Diana Hurlburt, J.G. Formato, Gabrielle Harbowy, Alexandra Seidel, Cat McDonald, B.D. Wilson, Greg Bechtel, Sarena Ulibarri, Kevin Cockle

mysterious medium-paced

3.0

The premise of Arcana immediately piqued my interest because just like the meaning of tarot cards, the meaning of stories depends on the reader and in this case, the plot of the stories depended on the author’s interpretation of their assigned card. Despite the 22 different themes, the majority of the stories turned out pretty similar: mostly fantasy, mostly including romance. This works well in terms of coherence, however, also results in the stories blending in together. Stories that managed to stand out to me are “The Marriage of Ocean and Dust” by Alexandra Seidel with its beautiful imagery, “One More Song” by Eliza Chan with its interesting worldbuilding, and “Vestige” by Annie Neugebauer, which appeared completely out of place with its gruesome horror elements but since the assigned tarot card is Death, it seemed fitting. I also enjoyed “Larkspur and Henbane” by Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman and would have loved to read more poems.