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argyledinosaur's reviews
210 reviews
Gon, Vol. 1 by Masashi Tanaka
4.0
I actually really enjoyed this, but I'm partial to dinosaurs so I'm going to be biased and I acknowledge that. I really liked the art in it, but I feel like it would've been easier to follow if it were done in color. It's a very quick read and is told solely through pictures, but there is a story that you follow through each chapter, and for the most part, even without text, it's pretty easy to follow. There were a few illustrations that I thought were kind of confusing, but other than that, I really liked it and thought it wasn't too difficult to follow.
Spirits & Cat Ears, Vol. 1 by Miyuki Nakayama
2.0
Uh... Where do I start?
The illustrations were good. I really liked them. The characters are super cute and the clothes and buildings and all are really well drawn. I guess I should've known from the cover that it was going to be kind of sexualized. I assumed it was going to be mildly sexualized, and I'm far from a prude, but this is definitely more sexual than I had anticipated, which isn't necessarily bad, but I wasn't ready. The story itself isn't too bad, but I think the plot is kind of thin. Basically this girl gets teased because of her cat ears so she stops going out into the public, but she has a familiar and has the potential to be a full fledged priestess. In order to be a priestess she needs to exercise demons and stuff, but she doesn't really do the exorcising her familiar does. But he won't exercise them until she says her "words of power" which are essentially "Restrain me" and then a collar and chain appear around her neck, and then he does all the work. Afterwards they go home and then he makes her put on a skimpy outfit, which she's not really down for, but that's common, I guess, in manga? Like, this is the third one I've read this year where the protagonist gets touched or forced to do something they don't want to do. That makes me uncomfortable, but I'm starting to get the impression that it's just more culturally accepted over there than it is here in the states.
Other than those few issues with it, it was okay. I'm not really hopping on the train to reading the sequels, but if the library decides to get them in, I might give volume 2 a chance and go from there.
The illustrations were good. I really liked them. The characters are super cute and the clothes and buildings and all are really well drawn. I guess I should've known from the cover that it was going to be kind of sexualized. I assumed it was going to be mildly sexualized, and I'm far from a prude, but this is definitely more sexual than I had anticipated, which isn't necessarily bad, but I wasn't ready. The story itself isn't too bad, but I think the plot is kind of thin. Basically this girl gets teased because of her cat ears so she stops going out into the public, but she has a familiar and has the potential to be a full fledged priestess. In order to be a priestess she needs to exercise demons and stuff, but she doesn't really do the exorcising her familiar does. But he won't exercise them until she says her "words of power" which are essentially "Restrain me" and then a collar and chain appear around her neck, and then he does all the work. Afterwards they go home and then he makes her put on a skimpy outfit, which she's not really down for, but that's common, I guess, in manga? Like, this is the third one I've read this year where the protagonist gets touched or forced to do something they don't want to do. That makes me uncomfortable, but I'm starting to get the impression that it's just more culturally accepted over there than it is here in the states.
Other than those few issues with it, it was okay. I'm not really hopping on the train to reading the sequels, but if the library decides to get them in, I might give volume 2 a chance and go from there.
Liselotte & Witch's Forest, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya
3.0
This was actually a cute story and I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. It follows a young woman who was exiled from her home and she's trying to learn some skills that she doesn't have due to her noble upbringing. Her wacky hijinks exasperate her one servant, Alto, but they amuse his twin sister Anna. Liz, the protagonist, gets attacked by a witch and she gets rescued by this strange guy named Engetsu that she's pretty sure she's met before, and when he starts calling her a childhood nickname that only her friend and her brother called her, things start to get interesting. I'm actually looking forward to continuing this series.
Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald
4.0
I can't remember much about this book other than the fact that the protagonist is a Muslim woman, she moves to the US with a visa and lives with her sister and brother-in-law while awaiting her arranged marriage or searching for her own husband or something like that. While waiting for a suitor, she falls in love with an American man. I read this book in like, 9th or 10th grade, which was about 8 or 9 years ago. My memory fails me, but I have been sporadically googling this book for weeks, trying to remember it. I finally found it a few minutes ago after googling the phrase "arranged marriage Muslim protagonist book" and I'm over the moon with the fact that I've found out what it is and can now re-read it.
I may not remember a lot about it, but if it's been driving me nuts for weeks, trying to figure out what it is, after not reading it for the better part of a decade, I would say it's probably worth checking out.
I may not remember a lot about it, but if it's been driving me nuts for weeks, trying to figure out what it is, after not reading it for the better part of a decade, I would say it's probably worth checking out.
Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
3.0
I was gifted a galley of this book by Firsttoread.com for reviewing.
Okay, I didn't technically finish the book completely. I skipped whole chapters to try to finish it quickly, and most of the characters bored me, so I just skipped the chapters that centered around them, so I don't have the full story.
It's not a bad story, but there are things about it that are unattractive me. I do not like books with multiple perspectives, and this book follows like, 5 different perspectives or something. The story is simple enough that I wasn't getting perspectives confused, I just feel that it was unnecessary and it made the book seem more bloated.
I did enjoy the first section I read, which was to page 100-something, but I noticed I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it up, which is when I started skipping chapters. It's an interesting enough story, following a psychic family, and it was very well written, but I don't think now was the right time for me to read it. I don't think I was in the mood for it, and I don't finish books that I'm not invested in or that I'm not in the mood for, because I know from experience that reading a book that I'm not in the mood for wil make me resent the book.
Having said that, I did genuinely enjoy the quarter of it I did read fully, and I will be more than happy to give this book another chance when I'm in the mood for it, which is why I'm rating it 3 stars.
Okay, I didn't technically finish the book completely. I skipped whole chapters to try to finish it quickly, and most of the characters bored me, so I just skipped the chapters that centered around them, so I don't have the full story.
It's not a bad story, but there are things about it that are unattractive me. I do not like books with multiple perspectives, and this book follows like, 5 different perspectives or something. The story is simple enough that I wasn't getting perspectives confused, I just feel that it was unnecessary and it made the book seem more bloated.
I did enjoy the first section I read, which was to page 100-something, but I noticed I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it up, which is when I started skipping chapters. It's an interesting enough story, following a psychic family, and it was very well written, but I don't think now was the right time for me to read it. I don't think I was in the mood for it, and I don't finish books that I'm not invested in or that I'm not in the mood for, because I know from experience that reading a book that I'm not in the mood for wil make me resent the book.
Having said that, I did genuinely enjoy the quarter of it I did read fully, and I will be more than happy to give this book another chance when I'm in the mood for it, which is why I'm rating it 3 stars.
The One That Got Away by Melissa Pimentel
5.0
Honestly, this book drew me in. I thought it was adorable, and frustrating, and at times emotional. I loved every minute of this book, even though some minutes were more frustrating than others. I loved the premise behind the book, the title speaks for itself, and I thought it was very well written. It was very modern, mentioning Twitter and iPhones and other things like that, which I found relateable and pretty cool.
The book is told in alternating chapters, one chapter being current, and the other chapter being 10 years in the past. I normally don't care for that kind of thing in books, but I thought it was executed very well here. I didn't see any glaring inconsistencies with the book, the plot was solid, if a little slow moving at times, and there were only a few grammatical errors that I hardly even noticed. This is a book that I am definitely planning on reading again.
My favorite thing about the book is that towards the end, literally in the first chapter or two, the main character decides to focus on herself and make herself happy, and I feel like that's something that a lot of people don't put any effort into or any emphasis on.
Overall, I thought it was a very cute story, and I love how the book ends, how it's a happy satisfying ending, but it's also left up to the reader to decide what happens next. If you like romance books, definitely pick this one up. It was fantastic.
The book is told in alternating chapters, one chapter being current, and the other chapter being 10 years in the past. I normally don't care for that kind of thing in books, but I thought it was executed very well here. I didn't see any glaring inconsistencies with the book, the plot was solid, if a little slow moving at times, and there were only a few grammatical errors that I hardly even noticed. This is a book that I am definitely planning on reading again.
My favorite thing about the book is that towards the end, literally in the first chapter or two, the main character decides to focus on herself and make herself happy, and I feel like that's something that a lot of people don't put any effort into or any emphasis on.
Overall, I thought it was a very cute story, and I love how the book ends, how it's a happy satisfying ending, but it's also left up to the reader to decide what happens next. If you like romance books, definitely pick this one up. It was fantastic.
The Girl in Between by Sarah Carroll
3.0
I received an electronic ARC of this through the website firsttoread.
The book was good. The writing was fine, there were no glaring errors in grammar or spelling. My issue with the book is a completely personal one. I have trouble reading about neglectful parents, abusive parents, and just in general, parents that could do better for their children. I acknowledge that it's a totally personal issue, and nothing to do with the story or the book itself. Having said that, there were times when I would be reading the book and I would have to put it down due to frustration with the mother, and then I wouldn't want to pick it up again.
Frustrations that I have with the book are also trivial and I don't think they bother others nearly as much. I like to have a specific setting in stories, even if it's made up, and I don't think it's ever mentioned in the book that it takes place in Dublin, even though a lot of people are under that impression. I honestly wouldn't have been able to figure that out on my own, I read it in other reviews. I'm also slightly annoyed that the girl doesn't have a name. Again, that's just a trivial little thing that bothers me more than it bothers others.
True frustrations with the story itself are very minimal. We're never told why the mother leaves Gran's and drags the girl with her, which annoys me. I would like to know the mother's motivation for making her daughter live on the streets with her. Another frustration I have is the ending, which isn't to say it's a bad ending, it's just confusing. The ending first makes it sound like the mother is dead, and then it sounds like the girl is dead, and then it sounds, again, like the mother is dead, because the girl is saying that if people were watching, they would see her, with no mention of them seeing her mother.
Overall, the book was good, but nothing that I would reread.
The book was good. The writing was fine, there were no glaring errors in grammar or spelling. My issue with the book is a completely personal one. I have trouble reading about neglectful parents, abusive parents, and just in general, parents that could do better for their children. I acknowledge that it's a totally personal issue, and nothing to do with the story or the book itself. Having said that, there were times when I would be reading the book and I would have to put it down due to frustration with the mother, and then I wouldn't want to pick it up again.
Frustrations that I have with the book are also trivial and I don't think they bother others nearly as much. I like to have a specific setting in stories, even if it's made up, and I don't think it's ever mentioned in the book that it takes place in Dublin, even though a lot of people are under that impression. I honestly wouldn't have been able to figure that out on my own, I read it in other reviews. I'm also slightly annoyed that the girl doesn't have a name. Again, that's just a trivial little thing that bothers me more than it bothers others.
True frustrations with the story itself are very minimal. We're never told why the mother leaves Gran's and drags the girl with her, which annoys me. I would like to know the mother's motivation for making her daughter live on the streets with her. Another frustration I have is the ending, which isn't to say it's a bad ending, it's just confusing. The ending first makes it sound like the mother is dead, and then it sounds like the girl is dead, and then it sounds, again, like the mother is dead, because the girl is saying that if people were watching, they would see her, with no mention of them seeing her mother.
Overall, the book was good, but nothing that I would reread.