Reviews

Aerial Magic - Season II by Ari North

anneschreurs's review

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

athornton_2197's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

wardenred's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

When the ground tilts underneath you, there's no point wishing that it hadn't. Wishing won't do anything. Instead, you have to stumble on forward and find a way to make things work.

This comic made me tear up quite a few times—in a very good way. It's just so heartwarming and affirming and full of empathy. Even more so, perhaps, than the excellent first installment. Or maybe I just felt that way because the POV shifted from Wisteria to Cecily and with it, the focus shifted to a slightly more adult mindset. Whatever the case, this reminded me of Becky Chambers's works with all the coziness and the kindness and trying to make sense of the messy, complicated, wonderful human experience.

Wisteria, despite no longer being the POV character, is still very much present in the story and displaying so much growth. She's sassier and more sociable. She's making new friends and crashing parties. In the four months that passed between seasons, she made a regrettable mistake involving dating the local apothecary. She's also still very emotional and full of self-doubt and struggling with fabric-based spells, and none of that makes her growth any less visible.

Cecily is a wonderful narrator, and I so much related to her struggle with showing vulnerability. It was lovely to see the backstory about Lachlan and her family and her past, and I absolutely adored the whole plot thread about her relationship with Jo. It's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately, for unrelated reasons: how maybe sometimes the point isn't to solve problems but to live through them, and this storyline drives that idea home beautifully. Yeah. Maybe sometimes, that's exactly the point.

I'd be remiss not to mention Amal's storyline, too—it's beautiful and bittersweet and exactly what it should be, and I loved seeing what it meant for Cecily and how it made her grow and open up. That last chapter where this thread got to the conclusion was especially well done, with next to no dialogue and the art doing all the work. The facial expressions, the colors, the lighting—it was so easy to imagine the conversation without reading it. Honestly, the art here overall is just amazing, with such beautiful colors and such clever framing and all the diversity in faces and body shapes. Simply 10/10.

The series is on an indefinite hiatus right now, but I really hope that maybe someday, we'll see a Book III. This is truly a world I want to keep immersing myself in.
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nyxtingale's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring slow-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

4.5

bookwormsyd's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad fast-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

albs8's review

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4.0

The story is so nice. I love the representation of this webtoon and how the characters try to change for good. The art style it's also great, it makes me feel at peace(? If that makes sense) and the music (if you use webtoon) it's great and makes the story even better.
It's a pity that it's on hiatus till who knows tho

sparsa_maj's review

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5.0

6/5
Beautiful and made me cry and still feel warm.

svftsapphic's review

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

“It finally feels like i’m home”

Somehow I feel like this one topped the first season for me, and that’s saying a lot because I adore the first season so much. 

I just feel like so much more got explored within this season, especially within the realms of mental health. This season focuses on Cecily, who is very much present in the first season but it gives us an opportunity to learn more about her. We see how much of a people pleaser she is, that she’s willing to put herself completely aside just to see the people she loves happy. She tries so hard to put everyone’s feelings first that she neglects her own feelings and emotions most of the time. I loved watching her be able to open up to those around her, especially with Jo as their relationship is extremely important to me. I loved seeing them communicating more and being open and vulnerable with each other, as that’s what relationships thrive on. 

I loved learning more about Lachlan this season, I would argue that was my favourite aspect. Getting to see where his mistrust comes from and seeing exactly why he behaves the way he does around strangers getting close to the family. Lachlan’s and Cecily’s relationship is personally the heart of the whole comic for me, they care so incredibly deeply for each other, they’ll always have each other. 

The story of Amal and his conflict between wanting to leave or not also really intrigued me. I was genuinely surprised when he ended up leaving because I never expected one of the main characters to leave the story in the middle of season 2. Despite my initial shock, I know that that’s what was best for him, that he’s getting to explore the world more and finally find out where he fits in the world. I wish him the best and I hope that if Ari ever returns to this comic that we get even a slight mention of how he’s doing.

sunwoo's review

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lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

the book is unfinished, but it really gave me so much comfort : ( 

goofy_gabrielle's review

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.75

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