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wolfiegrrrl's reviews
241 reviews
Tarot of the Little Prince by Rachel Paul, Martina Rossi
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
In order to understand the connection between The Little Prince and tarot, one needs to be familiar with both. The booklet offers a very brief outline of each card, making sure to leave room for interpretation and exploration of the symbolism in Martina Rossi's art so each interaction with the cards becomes personal to the person using them. The story asks you to connect with your inner child and ask yourself how that can help you navigate the complexities of adulthood.
This deck is gorgeous and overflows with symbolism from both Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic and the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, though it leans much heavier on the former than the latter. I would highly recommend Tarot of the Little Prince to anyone who collects decks as art pieces, fans of The Little Prince story, and veteran tarot readers alike.
This deck is gorgeous and overflows with symbolism from both Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic and the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, though it leans much heavier on the former than the latter. I would highly recommend Tarot of the Little Prince to anyone who collects decks as art pieces, fans of The Little Prince story, and veteran tarot readers alike.
Ghost Town at Sundown by Mary Pope Osborne, Salvatore Murdocca
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The tenth book in the Magic Tree House series is every young kid's fantasy about what the Wild West was like, which is a fitting atmosphere for a story that was inspired by a child's fan letter requesting that Jack and Annie help the horses. From the moment you pick up the book, the beautiful illustrations bring to life the childhood wonder of these stories with a softness that is reminiscent of watercolor paintings. This time, Jack and Annie have yet another short and sweet adventure that leaves kids satisfied with their imaginations and adults (read: me) wanting to see them explore for just a bit longer in that world.
A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray (Scholastic Gold) by Ann M. Martin
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Squirrel is such a good dog who lives so many different lives throughout the course of her story and I am not ashamed to admit that I was sobbing through at least half of it.
This truly is a book about the different types of situations stray dogs can encounter out in the world. It teaches about their survival instincts, how they learn and develop relationships with humans through their experiences, and the different types of personalities of the dogs living on the streets. Also, it presents an interesting view of how dogs understand and experience emotions.
A Dog's Life prompts readers to empathize with the dogs in their lives, to treat them with gentleness and kindness instead of violence and anger. The author, like Squirrel, doesn't pass judgement; only hopes that we will be more thoughtful after having read her story. And it is a very good story indeed.
This truly is a book about the different types of situations stray dogs can encounter out in the world. It teaches about their survival instincts, how they learn and develop relationships with humans through their experiences, and the different types of personalities of the dogs living on the streets. Also, it presents an interesting view of how dogs understand and experience emotions.
A Dog's Life prompts readers to empathize with the dogs in their lives, to treat them with gentleness and kindness instead of violence and anger. The author, like Squirrel, doesn't pass judgement; only hopes that we will be more thoughtful after having read her story. And it is a very good story indeed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Confinement, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
There is some ageism from one character who appears a few times at the end of the book as well.
Saint Young Men, Omnibus 2 by Hikaru Nakamura
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
The introduction for this volume is about Japan's relationship with religion, which applies some interesting context to the interactions Jesus and Buddha have with the humans they encounter on their vacation. The overarching theme of how death is treated in Japan also pops up quite a lot throughout their adventures, delivering plenty of opportunities to juxtapose how the living view it as opposed to religious figures who have already died and dwell among them on a normal work day.
There is a lot to love about the chapters in this collection, but my favorite part is that we finally get to meet the archangels! They're so fun and, after seeing them unleashed, who could blame Matsuda for mistaking them for foreigners throwing a wild party in the apartment back in the first volume. The local yakuza guy features more heavily in the story with his family now too, which of course leads to even more entertaining shenanigans!
As usual, the translation and localization team did an excellent job adapting and explaining the jokes/references. Unfortunately, there are a lot of typos and some of the panels get cut off just the tiniest bit. It's not a huge inconvenience and doesn't make the manga unreadable by any means, but it is a little distracting.
There is a lot to love about the chapters in this collection, but my favorite part is that we finally get to meet the archangels! They're so fun and, after seeing them unleashed, who could blame Matsuda for mistaking them for foreigners throwing a wild party in the apartment back in the first volume. The local yakuza guy features more heavily in the story with his family now too, which of course leads to even more entertaining shenanigans!
As usual, the translation and localization team did an excellent job adapting and explaining the jokes/references. Unfortunately, there are a lot of typos and some of the panels get cut off just the tiniest bit. It's not a huge inconvenience and doesn't make the manga unreadable by any means, but it is a little distracting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Torture
The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
The Wings of Fire series is off to a great start!
The book is prefaced with the in-depth NightWing Guide To The Dragons Of Pyrrhia, which does a good job of establishing the world-building and key players in the story, and as a big fan of maps I was happy to see the double-page spread that greeted me when I first opened the cover. The pacing of the story is also delightfully jarring at times. The prologue immediately dives into the action and lets you know that war does nothing but create a body count. No sooner than we are introduced to the prophecy does one of the leading players in the war throw a wrench in the resistance's plans by committing volatile (and graphic) murder. The blows just keep coming from there. No details spared.
The book is prefaced with the in-depth NightWing Guide To The Dragons Of Pyrrhia, which does a good job of establishing the world-building and key players in the story, and as a big fan of maps I was happy to see the double-page spread that greeted me when I first opened the cover. The pacing of the story is also delightfully jarring at times. The prologue immediately dives into the action and lets you know that war does nothing but create a body count. No sooner than we are introduced to the prophecy does one of the leading players in the war throw a wrench in the resistance's plans by committing volatile (and graphic) murder. The blows just keep coming from there. No details spared.
I really like how Wings of Fire approaches its prophecy from the angle of "but what if we don't want to be part of the prophecy?" and prompts readers to question if it's ethical to essentially kidnap children and hold them hostage all in the name of "the greater good." It was a great choice to start the series from Clay's perspective to really cement in the readers' minds that striving for peaceful solutions to conflict doesn't make one weak or worthless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Torture, Kidnapping, Death of parent
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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
4.0
This book makes a decent attempt to teach readers what the relationship between the colonists and natives was like in central Maine in the late 1700s. The writing does a decent job of portraying multiple perspectives despite being told through the lens of a white boy who (as the reader insert for most of it) poses moral questions about colonization and racism, and takes his time coming around to the fact that maybe there are some things that will never be mutually understood despite everyone's best effort... and maybe that's okay. There is a lot that different communities can learn from each other as long as there is mutual respect between them.
The most distracting part of the story is, perhaps most obviously, the way Attean and his family speak pidgin English. It's a stereotypical portrayal and does not improve despite Matt's claim to the contrary.
And on the subject of the portrayal of indigenous peoples in media, I really appreciated the acknowledgement of the inherent racism in a lot of "classic" literature such as Robinson Crusoe. It's there and white people like Matt never really questioned it because "it's just a story" and "it just makes sense for white people to be superior" in their minds. So, having Attean show his anger at the implication that an indigenous person should be a white man's slave by nature and forcing Matt to really consider why this scene in his favorite book isn't okay is a decent prod for readers to use critical thinking skills when it comes to race relations.
The most distracting part of the story is, perhaps most obviously, the way Attean and his family speak pidgin English. It's a stereotypical portrayal and does not improve despite Matt's claim to the contrary.
And on the subject of the portrayal of indigenous peoples in media, I really appreciated the acknowledgement of the inherent racism in a lot of "classic" literature such as Robinson Crusoe. It's there and white people like Matt never really questioned it because "it's just a story" and "it just makes sense for white people to be superior" in their minds. So, having Attean show his anger at the implication that an indigenous person should be a white man's slave by nature and forcing Matt to really consider why this scene in his favorite book isn't okay is a decent prod for readers to use critical thinking skills when it comes to race relations.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Violence, Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Death, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Bridge to Terabithia is a story about two kids bullying everyone they don't like, choosing fat people as their prime target. For the majority of the book, I kept hoping that this was going to be part of their character development, but the resolution is weak. Instead of learning to actually care about other people's feelings, they only give characters who are suffering other hardships a pass while continuing to body shame the characters they haven't deemed worthy of their kindness. Sympathy for people suffering is of course a good message, but "fat people don't deserve sympathy unless they're suffering" is just not right.
The grandest statement the author makes is that boys can like drawing and girls can wear pants. That's weak feminism even for the time because she still actively cuts down fat women and girls at every opportunity. It's excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, she sends a bad message to victims of child abuse. This book's advice to kids suffering from an abusive home life is to "not mix personal life with school life" because "everyone will laugh at you and think you betrayed your parents" and "if your parents beat you up, get over it! it's not a big deal! it happens to everyone!"
This book had promise to it. There's a story in there about Jess learning to be more confident and processing his fears, then losing his friend and having to process that grief. Maybe there's even a story in there about learning to understand other people as well as yourself, but it's so fumbled by the attitudes of the author and the time period it was written in. As it stands, the ending is the most well-written part of this book.
The grandest statement the author makes is that boys can like drawing and girls can wear pants. That's weak feminism even for the time because she still actively cuts down fat women and girls at every opportunity. It's excessive and unnecessary. Furthermore, she sends a bad message to victims of child abuse. This book's advice to kids suffering from an abusive home life is to "not mix personal life with school life" because "everyone will laugh at you and think you betrayed your parents" and "if your parents beat you up, get over it! it's not a big deal! it happens to everyone!"
This book had promise to it. There's a story in there about Jess learning to be more confident and processing his fears, then losing his friend and having to process that grief. Maybe there's even a story in there about learning to understand other people as well as yourself, but it's so fumbled by the attitudes of the author and the time period it was written in. As it stands, the ending is the most well-written part of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, War
Small Steps by Louis Sachar
emotional
funny
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
4.5
This book is a well-written discussion about the different ways racism and ableism can manifest, how difficult it is for ex-cons/delinquents to find work and be treated fairly after they get out of prison (especially for people of color), and the commodification of children in the entertainment business. This should be a lot to tackle in one book, but Louis Sachar really pulls it off in his sequel to Holes.
Although I would recommend this book for teens (at the youngest) rather than the middle-grade demographic of its predecessor, it's a great entryway into the concept of taking baby steps one day at a time when trying to get to a good place in this chaotic, twisted up life.
Although I would recommend this book for teens (at the youngest) rather than the middle-grade demographic of its predecessor, it's a great entryway into the concept of taking baby steps one day at a time when trying to get to a good place in this chaotic, twisted up life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Physical abuse, Racism
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality
Minor: Cancer, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent
Kamigami no Asobi #1 by Sumida Moto
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
What first drew me to the series was the concept of a dating sim style story where the love interests are gods of various pantheons that have to learn the power of love to save the world and unlock their gorgeous magical boy transformations. Each character "route" is so heartfelt and endearing, and it made me fall in love with the characters all over again. They really care about each other so deeply, so their found family dynamic never fails to put a smile on my face. Having watched the anime first, I remember being surprised to learn that Anubis was a student in the manga (and I think also in the otome game they're adapting), so I was very happy to get to see another side of him here.
Oh no, the ending has Yui giving up her memories of the lyceum, crying the moment she touches the sword, thinking she sees/hears the gods visiting her, and then turning around to see no one there.... "and that was the prank from the gods" ROLL CREDITS I AM NOT OKAY ;;A;;
Oh no, the ending has Yui giving up her memories of the lyceum, crying the moment she touches the sword, thinking she sees/hears the gods visiting her, and then turning around to see no one there.... "and that was the prank from the gods" ROLL CREDITS I AM NOT OKAY ;;A;;
Words of Devotion, Volume 02 by Keiko Konno
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.0
The first three chapters of origin story were pretty interesting. We finally get to see the "I like you" that Tachibana said he never heard from Ootani back in high school.
And then we seem to jump forward in time again to catch up with what Shou and Alfred are doing. This time, Alfred has planned a surprise trip to Japan to see Shou and it was a rollercoaster of bad decisions, one right after another. I feel so bad for Alfred who found himself in such a difficult situation out of desperation... and then, despite his clear trauma, gets chastised for it.
Of course, Tachibana and Ootani are there to help make the situation better in their own way, and it was nice getting to see them break in the New Year together at the end.
Overall, this was a much more enjoyable volume than the first one was.
And then we seem to jump forward in time again to catch up with what Shou and Alfred are doing. This time, Alfred has planned a surprise trip to Japan to see Shou and it was a rollercoaster of bad decisions, one right after another. I feel so bad for Alfred who found himself in such a difficult situation out of desperation... and then, despite his clear trauma, gets chastised for it.
Of course, Tachibana and Ootani are there to help make the situation better in their own way, and it was nice getting to see them break in the New Year together at the end.
Overall, this was a much more enjoyable volume than the first one was.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Outing