Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

13 reviews

obscurepages's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I wanted something short and sweet and wholesome, and this book was exactly it! 😭

The art and the colors in here are AMAZING. I'm in awe every time I turn the page and see a visually stunning scene right in front of me. This doesn't overshadow the main story, too. The storyline is easy to follow, but also exciting and thrilling on its own. I can see why fans of Steven Universe and Adventure Time would love this. I know I did!

This book was about friendship, discovering your potential, and of course magic... and it's just so so good 🥹

Also!! Sapphic romance + friends (to lovers) who write fanfiction together?? Lowkey wishing there's a companion novel for Beetle and Kat's stories 😂

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clarabooksit's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0


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rtaire's review against another edition

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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

4.0


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krys_kilz's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-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

3.5

This graphic novel was cute and a lot of fun. Loved the artwork and coloring as well! I found the story to be a tad cheesy, but that could be because it's geared towards a younger audience. 

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Omg this was ADORABLEEEE 🥺🥺🥺 this is 100% going to join my collection of my favorite queer graphic novels on my shelf 
So so so good and wholesome and I loved it so much 

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wends_nblw's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad 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

3.0

For the first half, I really enjoyed it. I thought Kat and Beetle's relationship was cute. However.
I just couldn't get past Kat's willingness to let her aunt disrespect Beetle and her grandmother. I understand she was under a lot of pressure and stress, but her aunt makes remarks about them being goblins and threatens Beetle's grandmother's title. Then when Beetle is obviously upset by this, she insists that her aunt is a good leader and wants to be like her. I just couldn't get past it.
 

Other than that, BG was so cute and relatable. The art was stunning, character designs were beautiful and it was overall a good book.

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.25

I loved the autumnal/Halloween-y vibes that this book had. The art and panel arrangement was fab (the final battle sequence was INCREDIBLE), and I didn’t realise it was queer which was an added bonus!! Gran was an absolute bad-ass and definitely my favourite character, though I also loved Penny. It just took me a while to get through as I didn’t feel super compelled to pick it back up again once I had set it down. 

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socolorfull's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-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? No

5.0

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE!!!!! 

It might be labeled a middle grade book but it was so freaking adorable, I'd recommend it to all ages. I loved it. 

I will say, some parts were confusing for me to follow but I also don't read a lot of graphic novels so the format is sometimes challenging for me. 

ALSO the kids are supposed to be 12 years old, but they read as more highschool aged, maybe 14-16 years old instead. 

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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This graphic novel has been on my radar for a while, and I'm happy to say that I finally read it! And it's absolutely adorable from start to finish, with great art, great characters, and fantastic world building.

I'm a sucker for purple/pinkish color schemes in books, which I think is one of the reasons I liked the art so much. But Layne also uses the art to help with the world building and in fleshing out the main characters. The art and the writing worked really well together, building this world and drawing you in right from the beginning. 100%, I would read all the graphic novels that Aliza Layne puts out.

One of the things I really appreciated about this book is that there are LGBTQ+ characters, but the story isn't about that. They just exist in this world and nobody blinks an eye. Yes, we've come a long way in portraying LGBTQ+ characters in books, but more often than not, the storyline is still about their queerness. Coming out, being accepted, etc. Like any other kind of representation, we need variation, so let's keep books like this coming!

In my quest to read more middle grade stories, I'm definitely glad I picked this one up.

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