GENRES: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, YA, LGBT+, Graphic Novel, Fiction
PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
RELEASE DATE: 24 September 2024
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
The second book in the YA graphic novel series about star-crossed lovers and misunderstood monsters, which is already a webcomic phenomenon!
All Dr. Henry Jekyll wanted to do was make London a safe place for rogue scientists. That’s why he and his best friend Robert created the Society for Arcane Sciences in the first place, and why their upcoming exhibition to show the public all the incredible things they can do for the world is so important. But ever since Frankenstein arrived, nothing has gone according to plan….
And now Jekyll’s dirty little secret is about to become a huge problem. Hyde, his devilishly devious alter-ego, is fed up with being jerked around and Jekyll not letting him out to play. And he’s just discovered a new trick that will allow him to take the driver’s seat of their shared body. With Hyde behind the wheel, it’s not just the impeding exhibition and the future of the society in jeopardy. The ruffian threatens to destroy something that’s even more dear to Jekyll: his relationship with Robert. Will Jekyll be able to regain control of his mind, body, and life, or will he lose everything he has been fighting for?
Volume Two collects Chapters 8-12 of this beloved webcomic, which is available in print for the first time ever. It also features loads of exclusive bonus content including a brand-new prequel story (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Meet Dracula!!!), a behind-the-scenes look at the comic’s origins, and more!
My Review
“Who are you, Mr. Hyde?”
As I mentioned in my review for volume one, I absolutely love this comic. And that hasn’t changed at all with the second one. The Glass Scientists is still amazing. Sage is still going incredibly strong with their retelling of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Everything I said in my previous review for this graphic novel still stands, so I’m not going to talk much about the story and the characters, as I feel it’s a little redundant. But! The way that the story and characters evolve during this installment is sooo good. And the angst begins here – though it hasn’t even gotten close to the way it is currently in the original webcomic. (It’s getting real, guys. These last few weeks – oh boy.)
There’s also a bit of a slow-burn starting to happen between Jekyll and Lanyon at the point of the comic that volume two covers, and it’s wonderfully written. (And it’s gonna make the angst coming up so much sweeter.) We also learn a lot of interesting things about several characters, and Jekyll and Hyde’s relationship is currently deteriorating beautifully. I can’t get enough of this world.
And of course, the art is still gorgeous. S.H. Cotugno is a fantastic artist with a lot of experience and it definitely shows. I enjoy their art style quite a bit. Oh! And I almost forgot, I loved the little extra added here (that being the little prequel story). I loved the one added to the last installment too, but in a different way.
So yeah, I realize that I didn’t really have as much to say about The Glass Scientists this time around, but I both didn’t want to spoil anything nor be redundant. Rest assured, I still super enjoyed this volume and definitely recommend it to fans of volume one, gaslamp fantasy, comics and graphic novels and the original Strange Case novel.
This book is also perfect for the upcoming spooky season, so if it sounds intriguing to you, I’d give it a shot. The vibes are excellent for October.
And, as always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in Darker by Four, the first in an epic contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June Tan.
A vengeful girl. A hollow boy. A missing god.
Rui has one goal in mind—honing her magic to avenge her mother’s death.
Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet—had he been born with magic.
Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble…and the human world will be next if the King is not found.
When an accident causes Rui’s power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.
As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose—literally.
Perfect for fans of This Savage Song and Only a Monster, Darker by Four will pull readers into a world of love and desperation and revenge—a world where every deal has a catch, no secret stays buried, and no one is exactly who they say they are.
My Review
Yiran turned from the road. “Why is it that when something bad happens, it’s always the three of us?”
“The hell would I know,” Zizi muttered.
So I found Darker by Four to be… Pretty good. It wasn’t my favorite book of the year by any means, but it wasn’t even close to the worst one. I actually enjoyed most aspects of it. Since it was on my second quarter of anticipated books of 2024, I’m especially happy. Particularly after how The Lost Story and The Girl With No Reflection went for me.
Anyway, the things I primarily liked were (some of) the characters, parts of the plot, some of the world building and the writing. But I also disliked parts of these same aspects of the novel. It’s a little complicated, I guess.
I ended up really liking Rui, which surprised me since I thought I wouldn’t. I’m very picky about the female lead characters that I read about, because most of the time I find that people don’t write them well (regardless of what gender the author is). But I actually really enjoyed her story and character arc, and found her to be decently written.
My least favorite character – and one of the other leads – was Yiran. There were just some things about him that I couldn’t stand, and aspects of his personality and decisions he made annoyed me often. But it seems like most of his stuff was merely building up his character arc for the sequel, so maybe he’ll be more tolerable then.
Nikai is a character that I don’t really have any feelings for. He appeared fairly infrequently and usually only when the plot needed to happen, so he felt more like a plot device sometimes rather than a character. So yeah, I don’t really know what to think about him.
Honestly, Zizi felt more like a main character than Nikai did. He was also one of my favorites and I enjoyed his personality and sass. The eccentric , sassy genius with a secret heart of gold is a character archetype I never get tired of following. His relationship with Rui was also something I loved following.
“You’re not wearing pajamas,” Rui burst out.
“How good of you to notice,” Zizi said.
The romance here was hit or miss for me. As I mentioned above, I really enjoyed what Rui and Zizi had going on. Their banter was great, and everything about their friendship and evolving romance felt very natural. I thought they were a good couple. And there was no love triangle BS going on here, which was something I was concerned about for a time while reading.
I didn’t like the romance between Yiran and Yuki though. Like, it literally came out of nowhere, and was one of the least natural things I’ve read in a while. I’m sure it was put here to set up the other half of the duology, but it still felt like it didn’t really belong here.
Zizi was cradling her face in his hands, gently wiping her tears. “That’s the difference between you and me, Rui,” he said, voice rough. “You want to save the world and the innumerable fools in it, whether they deserve a chance or not. But I— I would give up this entire world for a single breath to leave your lips again. And I don’t need you to feel the same way about me to do it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The plot was pretty okay and I enjoyed it well enough. Tan clearly wore her inspirations on her sleeve – like certain anime, xianxia, and other eastern influences – but I didn’t find it to be a bad thing. I liked getting the references, haha. I always enjoy reading how an author turns a story with a lot of common and well used tropes to their own. I also predicted most of the twists waayyy ahead of time (like within the first ten chapters early), which was a bit disappointing, but I ultimately didn’t mind too much.
My favorite thing about Darker by Four, however, was definitely the writing itself. There are enough descriptions where you can imagine everything well enough, but there aren’t so many that they’re cluttering up the novel and making it drag. The dialogue also felt very natural and snappy. I liked reading how the characters interacted.
I did find some of the descriptions themselves to be a little lacking, though. I didn’t like how the author described a couple of things, particularly faces. Just… the words used just didn’t feel like they worked too well. Other than that though, everything else was pretty alright.
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?”
“She means everything.” Zizi had spoken so bluntly it could only be the truth.
So yeah, all in all, I thought that Darker by Four was pretty okay. And the ending was interesting enough that I’m actually interested in reading the sequel to see how everything ends. Against all odds, I’m a little invested in these characters and how their stories will end.
I recommend this to people who enjoy Asian fantasy, YA, and anime. I think it works as a good read for anytime of the year – no particular seasonal vibes stuck out to me.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope that everybody has an amazing day/night!
Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! How’s your September going so far?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Posts I’ve Written That Give You a Glimpse of Me. For this one, share the blog posts (or social media stuff) that showcase your personality the most and offer the clearest window into your personality. These are the posts you wish everyone would read! I wasn’t feeling this prompt a few weeks ago, when it was originally for, but I’m feeling it now.
I could only think of eight posts this time, unfortunately. Which kind of sucks, ’cause this is the first time I’ve had trouble thinking of ten things for this list. (This might be why I originally passed on this prompt a few weeks ago, haha.)
One of my first ever posts. I really like the books I ended up picking for this one, though I think that when I did this post again in 2023, it was better written.
I really like doing monthly reading wrap-ups. From the beginning on this blog, I’ve discussed and analyzed my StoryGraph statistics every month on the Blog That Nobody Knows, and I’ve enjoyed it. I’m proud of how most of these turned out.
My review for Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garner is where I felt like I was starting to hit my stride to some degree, regarding how I wrote my book reviews. The way I write and structure my reviews is very different than it was almost two years ago now, and is ever evolving, but this was the first book review I wrote wherein I felt genuine satisfaction with the way it turned out.
I haven’t done a retrospective review in a while, but I’ve enjoyed making them nonetheless. I feel like my personality shines with some of these posts, because I love to talk about books I’ve read in the past, not just ones I’ve read more recently during my time with this blog. And going over a book again to see how it holds up with my present eyes is something I sometimes like to do.
I like to do these lists because it encouraged me to look into new books coming out. But I’m also too lazy to do this every month, so instead I do it seasonally. And thus, I get kind of unique lists sometimes. Plus, these are all pretty much strictly science fiction and fantasy only, ’cause that’s what I like to read.
This is a post I hold dear to my heart. The Legend of Zelda series is something that is very special to me, and is something that has impacted so many parts of my life. I did this post in celebration of the latest series installment – Tears of the Kingdom – releasing in May 2023. It’s one of my favorite posts that I’ve ever done.
I haven’t done a lot of them, but I’ve enjoyed every Book Tag I’ve taken part in. In each of the ones I’ve done, I put a lot of effort into the visuals and images (including doing and redoing the thumbnail/featured image multiple times). And I’m very proud of how it all turned out. I feel like the Taylor Swift book tags in particular give insight into me, because they show the kind of music I enjoy (to some degree), and they showcase a lot of the different novels that I’ve read or want to read in the future.
This post was the first series post that I ever created. And, even though I haven’t been very consistent with it lately, I like to talk about, admire and analyze book cover art which is why I originally decided to start doing it. I still enjoy doing it and know I’ll eventually come back to it. Hopefully soon and more consistently. It’s gone through a few title changes since I first started it, which might not be a good thing, lol.
So I dropped the ball a little bit last month, regarding my reading in August 2024. I read a little bit less than I did in July.
But I’m hoping to at least match my reading (of books, specifically) from last month, this month. Especially since September has a couple books coming out that I’m looking forward to in particular.
Well anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month.
August Reading 2024
I read 4 books and 1,430 pages
😐 MOODS: The Moods for August definitely varied more than the last couple of months. Adventurous was of course the biggest slice of pie on this particular pie chart, because it always is. But the secondary most Mood was Mysterious, which isn’t always the case. The other Moods included were Reflective, Lighthearted, Funny, Emotional and Challenging.
👢 PACE: My books from last month were split between fast and medium paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 160 and 477 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction in August. As is my usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were about as many Genres in August as there were in July. The Genre king for last month was once again Fantasy as is basically always the case – I don’t think I’ve ever had a month where it wasn’t. The other five genres were Young Adult, Shirt Stories, Science Fiction, Manga and Literary. (Once again – and I’ll probably keep saying this – it reallybothers me that StoryGraph lumps in reading demographics with genres though – they’re not the same thing!!)
📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As usual.) Nearly all the books I read were digital – only one was a hard copy.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 3.94. The ratings I gave were between 2.0 stars and 5.0 stars, so yeah.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a lot during the end of the first week and then first half of the second week of August. It was my biggest reading spike of the month, as well. Then I dropped off for a bit. I then read between the 20th and the 24th, paused again, and then read from the 26th all the way to the end of the month on the 31st.
So yeah, once again – even though I read several books in August – it wasn’t as many as I might’ve liked. I mostly enjoyed the novels I did read and did end up finishing, however, so I count that as a huge win for me.
I think I have a better chance of reading more books in September than I did this past month. For one thing, my husband and I are gonna start up with another arc of One Piece again (which means at least two super volumes). But also, there’s a couple of books coming out this month that I’ve been anticipating all year. Not to mention what I’m currently reading and all that.
Another thing in my favor, is that I tend to really get into novels in the fall, for whatever reason. It might be kinda weird, and I don’t know why it happens, but I pretty consistently seem to do the majority of my novel reading in autumn. Maybe it’s the atmosphere? The vibes? I just don’t know.
Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my August reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful day/night!
GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction
PUBLISHER: Orbit
RELEASE DATE: 2 April 2024
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie’s short fiction, including a brand new novelette, Lake of Souls.
Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe.
Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower.
Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls.
And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie.
My Review
“The days are longer near the end, are they not?”
The Lake of Souls short fiction collection by Ann Leckie has been on my radar since it came out earlier this year, in April. I’ve been interested in reading it since; I don’t read collections of short stories super often, and I’ve wanted to read more of them. So when I found out about this one, it immediately caught my eye.
And… it was pretty good. I liked most of the stories included here, and some of them I even really enjoyed. I’ve also been interested in picking up something by Leckie for a while, but wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to dive into anything, or which of her works I wanted to. This collection gives a very nice glimpse into her style and the way she writes. And I’m very glad I read this just for that. I wish more authors would do this, it gives a great look into the way people write without committing to something too large or time consuming, and allows a reader to experience a smaller sample of their writing.
A good chunk of these little stories were extra tales from universes that Leckie has already published works for, so I think a few things might have gone over my head, or I otherwise enjoyed some of the stories less than I might’ve because of this. All the stories were very followable, however, and I never got confused with anything that was going on with any of them. So if you’ve never read any of the author’s other stuff, you don’t have to worry about not understanding things. They’re all written in such a way that a newcomer shouldn’t feel overwhelmed.
“There are hard ways to do things, and easy ways,” said Saest. “The hard ways cost more. If a god makes a general statement, it could easily come true the hardest way possible. And it might have other consequences.”
Speaking of the short stories featured in Lake of Souls, these are my favorites:
Footprints
The Justified
The Sad History of the Tearless Onion (Note: This one is my favorite.)
Night’s Slow Poison
The Creation and Destruction of the World
The Nalender
The Unknown God
Saving Bacon
All the others are at least very interesting, though they didn’t grab me as much as these. All of the little tales included here are all very diverse, and I think that anyone will find a story to enjoy here.
I especially loved all of the varied settings and characters included in all of these different stories. Even the ones from universes the author had already created were all very distinct from one another, at least to some degree. Honestly, reading this collection made me interested in someday maybe picking up one of Leckie’s other works. (Which was definitely one of the goals of this short fiction collection, I’m sure.)
Can you speak of a thing without naming it?
I enjoyed my time with Lake of Souls and I’m glad I read it. Genuinely, I kind of recommend this to anybody – as long as you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy, that is – because I feel like everyone might find something to like here (as I mentioned earlier).
Anyway, as always, thanks to everybody so much for reading, and I hope you have an incredible day/night!
See ya ~Mar
“All humans die. The question is only when and how. Would you prefer a death you chose knowing the true circumstances? Or would you prefer to die deluded?”
Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house–a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.
For readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane and fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe, Piranesi introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth, full of startling images and surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds.
My Review
‘I said that this is a perfect world. But it’s not. There are crimes here, just like everywhere else.’
Oh. My. Stars. What an amazing little read this book was. Piranesi has been on my radar for years, but I’ve always put it off for various reasons. But I finally got around to reading it, and I’m very glad I did. Because this was a very good book.
I’m not gonna talk a lot about the stuff I usually talk about in my book reviews – and as a result this might be a shorter review – because I don’t want to ruin the experience of reading this novel for anyone who might read this post. Because the thing I absolutely loved the most about this book was how you could slowly piece together the plot and the backstory and the way all the characters (alive and dead) related to each other. It was a bit of a slow burn in a way, but a fantastic one.
I enjoyed following Piranesi’s journal entries and observing how he viewed his world. I think I said it in my first Emily Wilde review and I’ll say it here: We need more epistolary novels! The other characters were interesting as well – I especially found Piranesi’s evolving perception of The Other and 16 to be fascinating.
Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not. Perhaps that is what Raphael means.
The way Clarke describes here world is beautiful and otherworldly. The Labyrinth is serene and whimsical and mysterious and terrifying all at once. I especially enjoyed the Coral Halls – they sounded absolutely breathtaking. Her writing is also very, very good.
This novel was an even bigger breath of fresh air for me because it was a much better reading experience than the last book that I read and reviewed. I’m always nervous about starting a new book after reading a book that I didn’t care for or outright hated. So it was wonderful to read a book that I really, really loved.
I’m also looking forward to the Laika adaptation (probably) coming out a few years from now. I think they’re perfect for adapting this particular book, and hope that they do it justice.
So yeah, I know this is a shorter book review – especially compared to my last one – but like I said, I don’t want to taint any one’s experience reading Piranesi for the first time. Because it truly is an actual reading experience. So just read it – I think most people will really enjoy it.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!
See ya ~Mar
The sight of the One- Hundred- and- Ninety- Second Western Hall in the Moonlight made me see how ridiculous that is. The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end.
So even though I didn’t read quite as many books as I’d hoped, I was at least somewhat happy with my reading for July 2024. Like, I read six books – that’s not too bad.
I also still have a bit of a solid TBR going on (that I still haven’t touched, lol), and there’s some books coming out in the next month or so that I’m into, so hopefully I’ll be reading way more in August.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month.
July Reading 2024
I read 6 books and 3,153 pages
😐 MOODS: There were about the same amount of Moods as in June. Adventurous was of course number one, as it always is. The other three Moods were Lighthearted, Funny and Emotional, and they were actually pretty equal on the chart, except for Emotional.
👢 PACE: My books from last month were fast, medium or slow paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 200 and 700 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month. As is usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were about as many Genres in July as in June. The Genre king for last month was once again Fantasy as is pretty much always the case – I don’t think I’ve ever had a month where it wasn’t. The other five genres were Manga, Romance, Graphic Novel, LGBT+ and Young Adult. (It bothers me that StoryGraph lumps in reading demographics with genres though – they’re not the same thing!! And these last five are definitely reading demographics.)
📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As usual.) About a third of the books I read were ebooks, while the rest were physical copies.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.17. The ratings I gave were between 3.0 stars and 5.0 stars, so that pretty much tracks.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I read a ton during the second week of July, but that’s what happens we hen you read an entire arc of One Piece. It was my biggest reading spike of the month, as well. I also read some between the 17th and the 28th.
So yeah, even though I read six books last month, it still wasn’t quite as many as I’d have liked. I really enjoyed the books that I did end up reading, however, which was pretty nice. Hopefully I’ll read more in August, though.
I did end up having a bit of a minor slump during July, and I think it’s ’cause my husband was ready to continue buddy reading One Piece, and I wanted to read something else first. We ended up doing the buddy read of the next OP arc, and by the end of it I was kind of no longer into reading what was originally next on my TBR. Like, don’t get me wrong – I really enjoyed the Water Seven arc, it just all kinda messed up my reading moods for July. A little.
Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my July reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful day/night!
GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Graphic Novel, LGBT+, Fiction
PUBLISHER: Putnam’s
RELEASE DATE: 23 July 2024
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Perfect for fans of everything from Lockwood & Co. to The Haunting of Hill House, this gothic graphic novel follows a young medium with the gift—or curse, as some might say—to communicate with the dead. This ghost story “powerfully, tenderly, and empathetically examines death, grief, and the afterlife” raved Kirkus in a starred review!
Dorian Leith can see ghosts. Not only that, he listens to their problems and tries to help them move on to the afterlife. It’s a gift that’s made him an outcast to everyone in town. That is except for his dearly departed grandmother, who he’s partnered with to turn this paranormal ability into an honest living, and the local bookshop owner, who seems to be the only non-deceased person willing to give him a chance. But it’s all worth it to Dorian, who feels like he’s been given a bigger purpose. A chance to save those who cannot save themselves.
Then one day, the key to Death’s Door is stolen, trapping all the ghosts in the land of the living. Since he’s only one who can see them, the spirits rely on Dorian to retrieve the key before it is too late. If they can’t move on, they’ll soon be consumed by a ghostly rot that has begun to plague them.
As it continues to fester and spread, and the ghosts become desperate for relief, Dorian must do whatever it takes to find a way to bring peace to the restless dead—even if that peace comes at the cost of his own….
My Review
“There’s no fate worse than being forgotten.”
So, I was actually hoping to get this finished and posted yesterday, but I was really busy on Saturday , so I thought I might not. And I didn’t. Anyway, my review for The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor is here now, even if it’s a day late.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel; far more so than the last graphic novel I reviewed. Part of it was definitely because it was a ghost story, and I love those. But I also really liked the setting, the characters, the story, and – of course – the art.
Dorian Leith was a sweet protagonist to follow. I loved his personality and his caring nature, and how a big part of this story was dedicated to his character development. It was great to watch him realize that he can take time for himself, and to learn that his health and happiness matter.
I also enjoyed Brody, his housemate and love interest. I loved his quiet personality (and how he ran an independent bookstore!), and how he was a gentle soul. This book reminded me that, in fact, you can have two kindhearted and wholesome people in a romantic relationship without one of them being sassy.
Also, unlike The Lost Story – the last thing I read – this was a solidly built relationship. It was obvious why Dorian fell for Brody, and in turn it was very clear why Brody had feelings for Dorian. Neither of them were doormats either – both of them were willing to help each other, and not just willing to remain complacent when one of them was in denial of something. Their relationship was also very sweet and wholesome, and they’re definitely the cutest couple I’ve read about this year so far.
The two other important characters – Dorian’s grandmother, Lavinia “Lazarus” Leith, and little Lucy – were also wonderful and necessary additions. This graphic novel would not be the same without them, and even though they’re ghosts, I feel that they drive the plot forward even moreso than the living characters. Grandma Lazarus loved Dorian so much, despite the heavy burden of her regret, and I loved their dynamic. We need more grandmas in fiction. Dorian and Lucy’s sibling dynamic was also very sweet. Watching these two characters – even though they were ghosts – grow and evolve as characters was awesome.
I loved how the plot was nineteenth century esque, and was set in a fantasy setting similar to Gothic Britain. It was simultaneously cozy and mildly creepy, and absolutely perfect for the ghostly story it was telling.
The art was also fantastic. I also loved the colors and the way that hues and shades were used. It all really set the vibe well. The character designs were also great.
Also, and I didn’t mention this above, but I really liked the theming and parallels and other literary devices that Taylor decided to use. I’m not going to spoil anything, but the way that everything came together in the end was wonderful. I also loved all the world building she was able to sneak in, and how everything introduced had a purpose. It was a great story to follow.
This is something I absolutely recommend to fans of Gothic fantasy settings, ghost stories, and graphic novels. I think it would be best read sometime in October, paired with a latte of your choice. As well as a pumpkin spiced candle.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope everyone has a wonderful day/night! And that whatever book you’re reading currently is something you’re enjoying!
See ya ~Mar
Quotes I Enjoyed
[Dorian] “That’s the thing about “normal.” It’s different for everyone, and it’s always changing. It’s frustrating. And uncomfortable. And sometimes even feels pointless. And when there isn’t a point to be found, you simply have to make one yourself.”
[Dorian] “So this is how I die.
[Dorian’s Grandmother] “See you on the other side Dorie… One way or another.
[Dorian’s Grandmother] “Well. If i were in your loafers, I would have made a big to-do. And shown that Prudence Greeves a real haunting. Scary music! Flickering firelight! books flying everywhere!
“And the only way to put a stop to the MAYHEM would be for her to watch as her a her very house. In blood! And then they reconcile their differences… She pays you double for ridding her of a ghostly menace… et cetera.”
[Dorian] “Why do you keep suggesting i scare PEOPLE INTO submission?”
[Dorian’s Grandmother] “Because it would work, dear.”
[Morrigan] “Welcome to limbo… Dorian Ghostkeeper.”
Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell vanished in a West Virginia state park, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.
Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Jeremy is a famous missing persons investigator with an uncanny ability to find the lost, while Rafe is a reclusive artist unable to stop creating otherworldly paintings and sculptures he shows to no one. He bears scars inside and out from his disappearance but has no memory of what happened while they were gone.
Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth behind their time in the woods. While the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons.
But the time for burying secrets comes to an end when vet tech Emilie Wendel hires Jeremy to find her long-lost sister… the long-lost sister he and Rafe knew while living in that hidden kingdom. Now the former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories. Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy return to the enchanted world they called home for six months… for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
My Review
First you were missing. Then you were lost. Then you were forgotten.
Hey, I know it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted a book review. But I caught Book Indecision Syndrome last week after reading more of One Piece, so that’s why it’s been over two weeks. Sorry.
Anyway so, this book ended up disappointing me. Slightly. I’d really wanted to like The Lost Story. The premise interesting and unique and it has a lovely cover. But then, I don’t know, I guess I hyped it up way too much in my head, so when the book started to go a little downhill for me, I was more disappointed than I normally would’ve been.
Let’s just get into it. Okay, so I really, really liked the first third of the book. I thought the intrigue and buildup was great. But once the group actually got to the magical fantasy world (known as Shanandoah) the novel started to irritate me a little. I don’t really know why – it was probably a mix of different things, I guess.
For one thing, the world building took a dive. Like, without the intrigue and Shanandoah no longer being of the unknown, it kind of fell flat on its face. To me anyway. The magical fairytale aspect was gone entirely (which might have been the intention, IDK) and I realized that that was the only aspect the magical fantasy land had going for it in my mind. And Shanandoah didn’t live up to the hype for me, I guess, and that was probably my biggest issue with it. Also, the magic system was poorly defined and I had multiple issues with it that I don’t feel like going into.
I did like some of the cast, however. Rafe was the most interesting and compelling character in the book for me, and I enjoyed Jeremy and Emilie quite a bit as well. But after they crossed the border to Shanandoah, they and their dynamics with one another got marginally less interesting. And sorry, but Rafe and Jeremy’s romance really annoyed me. Mostly because it only got development from Rafe’s side. Jeremy was just immediately in love with him the second he laid eyes on him as teenagers, which is one of the absolute worst of romance tropes because then authors decide they don’t have to build on or give a reason (or reasons) that Character A is in love with Character B. It’s just so, ugh, and I really think it did a disservice to both Jeremy’s character, as well as his romance with Rafe.
Skya was the absolute worst though. She’s hyped up to be super amazing, and that might be part of the reason that I hated her. Also, for whatever reason, everything she did irritated me. And her relationship with Emilie never felt genuine to me. Maybe if she’d left to seek out her sister herself I’d feel like she cared about her the way the book says she does, but she didn’t so I didn’t. (I don’t care if she’s a queen or not, Shanandoah is a magic realm and they were fine without her before she got there as far as I can tell.) Sure, she got a beautiful room set up for her, but she basically just sat on her ass and waited for her sister to show up. For fifteen years.
The characters near complete disregard for the Earth dimension really bothered me. Like, it would have been so much more interesting to me if they came to realize that Earth has some good stuff too, that there were good things to be found besides moms, and that you can’t just go live in a magic world and forget all your problems forever. Which, I guess was one of the book’s points – and it does explore it (a little) – but I don’t like the way that it was executed. At all. (We the readers live on Earth, and the author makes it seem either boring and awful. I didn’t like that).
Also, the “big choice” near the end of the book is ultimately made for the characters, so it felt anticlimactic. Both climaxes also felt extremely anticlimactic, because The Lost Story‘s foreshadowing is so terrible and unsubtle that you know everything is gonna be alright both times. Also, everything in this book is ridiculously predictable, and that annoys me.
The thing that irritated me the most, though, was the Storyteller’s Corner section of the book. They interrupted the flow of the story, and needlessly clarified things or padded out the book unnecessarily. This line in particular irritated me especially:
“I wrote the story. I don’t make the rules.”
YES YOU LITERALLY DO! That’s the whole point of crafting and telling a story! The rules just don’t write themselves – they have to come from someone’s brain. I hate it when authors say crap like this, it feels like they’re trying to sound clever or pushing accountability off of themselves or something. (Neither works by the way – you just sound pretentious.) I don’t know. This is just something that makes my blood boil whenever I hear/read it. And to read it in such a meta way, in a work of fiction no less, felt extremely conceited to me. To write a story, you have to write the rules surrounding it. There’s no other way. Also, it was extremely annoying.
But the book wasn’t all bad. Like I said, the first third of the book was great – not to mention the ending was decent. I also liked that the book has a map of Shanandoah at the beginning. Maps in books are great. The characters also had their moments – except for Skya – and I did like them for the most part. The dialogue was also well written and natural for the most part, though it did get a little too quippy at certain times. (Enough so to be irritating.) The descriptions were also well done, and I liked that the book ended somewhat open ended, but mostly not. (If there’s ever a sequel however, I’m probably not going to read it.) The best part of the book for me, and the reason it got three stars in the first place, was because it has a great recipe at the end of the novel.
I do find it funny though, that this cover has been so often compared to the Chronicles of Narnia, and, one one occasion was called Narnia meets CSI. Because I didn’t think it was like that at all. (Also, the person who said the thing about CSI must not have seen it, because it wasn’t like that at all. Jeremy just had a magical tracking ability, there wasn’t any science or any biochemical testing whatsoever.) I thought it felt more like Peter Pan or even The Wizard of Oz, especially vibes wise. Actually, the only thing that reminded me of Narnia was kids falling into a magical world and then eventually leaving for some reason or another. (Though the plot of The Silver Chair is brought up and it sounded a bit like the plot of this book. I admittedly don’t know hardly anything about the Narnia books aside from the first four.
I think people who greatly enjoy and have nostalgia for classic fantasy fiction like I’ve listed above will enjoy The Lost Story. Also, those who like certain romance tropes will probably like it as well. If you’re expecting a fleshed out fantasy world with a well written magic system, however, you might be a little disappointed. This book is far too whimsical for that, and it’s not interested in telling its story that way. (Sorry if this review got a little ranty BTW – I had some things to say, lol.)
As always, thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
So last month, I unfortunately didn’t get to read as much as I’d wanted to. But I kind of expected that, what with going on vacation and all – it always completely destroys my schedule and productivity whenever I go out of town. Without fail. (Plus, I don’t read when during vacation. I dunno why.)
But it’s a new month, and I’ve got a good feeling about July. Heck, even though I haven’t posted as much as I’d have wanted to here so far this month, I’m posting Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for June 2024 within the first week of July, which is waayyy butter than last month. And I’ve got a solid TBR lined up of stuff I’ve been meaning to read that I’m excited about – not to mention whatever new releases catch my eye – so I think that this month’s reading is gonna be good.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into my StoryGraph statistics from last month.
June Reading 2024
I read 2 books and 960 pages
😐 MOODS: Not as many Moods as in May, but that comes with reading less books. Adventurous was of course number one, as it always is. The other three Moods were Tense, Hopeful and Funny, and they were actually pretty equal on the chart.
👢 PACE: My books from last month were all either fast or medium paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: Everything I read was between 300 and 700 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction this month. As is usual.
🎭 GENRES: There weren’t as many Genres in June as there were in the month before. (Again, it comes with reading less.) The Genre king for last month was once again Fantasy as is almost always the case – I don’t think I’ve ever had a month where it wasn’t. The other four genres were Romance, Middle Grade, LGBT+ and Young Adult. (It bothers me that StoryGraph lumps in reading demographics with genres though – they’re not the same thing!!)
📄 FORMAT: This particular pie graph is once again wrong. (As usual.) All of the books that I read were ebooks.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.0. The two ratings I gave were 3.0 stars and 5.0 stars, so 4.0 is exactly in between them.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: I didn’t read as much as I’d have liked during June. The only days I read were the 7th and 8th, as well as the last three days of the month. June 28th thru the 30th was also my biggest reading spike.
So yeah, June wasn’t the best month I’ve had this year in regards to reading books, but it certainly wasn’t the worst (I’m looking at you January and February). I’m excited about the books I’ve got on my TBR, and looking into the new releases as well.
As I’ve said, I’m really hoping that July is a good reading month. I’m starting the next arc of One Piece tonight, and I’m looking forward to reading the books that are out in the Legendborn Cycle and the Unorthodox Chronicles. And whatever comes out this month and catches my eye, of course.
Anyway, thanks for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my June reading in 2024. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have an wonderful day/night!
