i have been reading some graphic novels/comics this year but i haven't really been including them as part of my year-long goal. not because i think they don't count or anything silly like that, but just because they are one-offs or trade paperbacks that are part of a larger series and i would rather wait and hold my thoughts for the time being. however, i felt the need to include this one because it is just so wonderful.

i adore k. o'neill's work. reading their work gives me the same feelings as watching a studio ghibli movie. it's cozy, it's breathtaking, it's inspiring, and it hugs me in a way that feels both strange (in a whimsical, ethereal way) but also familiar. this story is no exception. i really enjoy this sort of quiet that breathes within the pages of this book, as a lot of the spreads are without words. the dialogue is so calm but has a certain directness to it. it reminds me so much of the english dubs of ghibli movies. i really love the way k. o'neill draws nature scenes. i could just stare at the pages for hours tbh. this is such a cute, queer story!!! i love it.

i did enjoy reading this, but it did feel a little like it was trying to be too many different things at once and in such a short novel. i didn't know much about it going in, other than that the main two characters are a plague doctor and a mermaid- and that sounded like an interesting enough combination to me. i found the story of the children following the saints that keep regenerating to be interesting and almost wish that would have been investigated more. how did such a place come to be? where did the orphans arrive from? where were the saints from? and what granted them this power to keep regenerating? how did the plague doctor come to be there? the hunt that the children partake in was reminescent of lord of the flies. there were references made to the little mermaid that i found to be a bit irrelevant to mention. it just didn't feel very related to the rest of the story and i felt it was only mentioned because this story also contains a mermaid- and even though the mermaid of this story is very different- this story doesn't feel like it is trying to be a subversive retelling so it just feels out of place. i do like this as a bit of a found family/queer romance while navigating trauma and abuse and i do think it is a successful story in that aspect. the writing was very descriptive, sometimes in a way where it felt a bit like word salad- but in a way that i felt still fit the story? like in a poetic way, almost like someone casting a very omnious spell. idk hard to explain.

this could really be a 3 or even a 4.5 star read because my thoughts and feelings are ALL OVER THE PLACE with this one and i go back and forth. conceptually it is easily 5 stars. the idea is incredibly compelling and it had me very invested. the way it is written is easy to read and flows well. but it was definitely BRUTAL. (as someone who is vegetarian) i could really see some people being ANNOYING about the concept and only applying it to animal rights while totally ignoring the parallels to human rights violations and how this type of brutality flourishes under capitalism. and had i read this in college i probably would have been that annoying person LMAO. i think the author did a great job of making the "transition" feel like an entirely possible outcome were this type of virus to exist. after reading dengue boy earlier this year (which is also by an argentinian author) i am actually sort of interested in learning about the political climate of argentina. because something is up. lol.

the ending truly pissed me off. and i saw it coming. the only thing is i did not expect his wife to be so immediately okay with it- but i think that REALLY drives the point home that people can become desensitized to ANYTHING when it comes to matters of comfort and survival. the main character's internal narrative throughout the novel shows this as well- he is disgusted by the actions of others and himself, but he continually shows up to work, to the lab, to the butcher's etc. and ultimately uses jasmine to get what he wants and discards her once those needs are met. idk if i would ever re-read this book but i will definitely be thinking about it for a long time.

i picked this book up from the library on the basis that sawyer in LOST can be seen reading it and was curious to see how it relates to the themes of LOST. i can see why this book is made reference, besides the obvious "the black thing" being in reference to the smoke monster. i think had i read this when i was younger i may have had a different opinion on it but for present me it was ultimately lacking. i really do however enjoy the whimsical nature of mrs. whatsit, mrs. who, and mrs. which and their cryptic ways of speaking. the book mostly deals with the "invisible" battle between dark and light and to me has very blatant religious undertones. (apparently this book did come under fire by christian groups though for its inclusion of 'witchcraft' which is funny to me) this particular edition i got had an appreciation letter that describes the book as being a response to american ideas of what life under the threat of communism is like- as on the planet camazotz where all the houses are the same, with children dressed the same and playing in the same way, etc. which is of course, very silly because capitalism (and all authoritarian forms of governing) does the same thing. the conversation of conformity is interesting seeing that the most autistic coded character in the whole thing is the first to be manipulated by IT. that seems off to me. but a detail that i do enjoy is that the "beast" Ixchel characters at the end who help nuture Meg back to life cannot see. they are unable to understand the difference between light and dark, even as meg tries to explain it. and yet even without that understanding, they are able to do what they can to help meg and her family. i think this is important because i'm tired of the light vs dark motif and its obvious racist undertones. the way the Ixchel characters are written about reminds me of the mulefa in His Dark Materials. i think that LOST interrogates the themes of faith vs. science (and morality) in a much more aggressive way and i think that is sort of what i was hoping for in this novel and it simply wasn't there. still an enjoyable read and i do think the writing style of this is nice and has a whimsy to it that is pleasant!! but in a sort of c.s. lewis way that i don't entirely vibe with.

i reread all of Saga!! (i needed to catch up with the newer volumes) and just WOW. Brian K. Vaughn's storytelling is so powerful. the range of emotions i experience while reading this story is all over the place. it's wonderful, disgusting, eloquent, shocking, funny, and heart breaking all at the same time. you really never know what is going to be on the next page and coupled with fiona staple's artwork- it's damn near perfect. a beautiful science fiction saga that follows a non-traditional family with a secret and how a war between a planet called Landfall and its moon, Wreath, affects their lives and cascades into the lives of everyone they meet. I JUST HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS. PLEASE READ IT.

picked this up at the thrift store. really dig the cover art. i did attempt to read lord of the flies once before, i think in my later high school years and for whatever reason i did not end up finishing the whole thing- but i did remember what i had read of it rather vividly (especially the ????weirdly sexual?? scene of them killing the pig). i decided to revisit the book now, as it is in conversation with my current re-watch of LOST, as well as yellowjackets- which i watched somewhat recently. i wasn't aware of how the story ended and i was really pleased with the irony of it- which i think is SO important to the overall point that golding was trying to make. i definitely understand why this has been so influential to other works of survival/dystopian fiction. very glad to have finally finished it!!

i got this at the thrift store for 50 cents. my friends were very surprised to learn that i had not read this. i found it similar, obviously, to 1984. i'm very glad that the edition i have had some information in the back about aldous huxley's personal life, as well as some criticisms and praise for the book over different points in history- which provided me with some good context. i found the worldbuilding to be quite strong. i found parts of it uncomfortable to read, particularly the portions that take place on a reservation in New Mexico. the way people of color and disabled people are dicussed (though maybe realistic for this type of society) is difficult to read. so while the story was very thought-provoking and timely and i can appreciate the conversation the book is trying to have, i did not always find myself enjoying it.

my friend molly let me borrow her copy!! and right in time for the film release. i really did enjoy this one. i enjoyed reading some dystopian/scifi situation that had a satisfying, happy outcome for a change. i really enjoyed the friendship between grace and rocky. i feel like the humor in this book was just the right amount and made the character likeable. i am NOT good at math at all but the way the math and science was presented in the book was easy for a dumbass like me to at least feel like i was understanding what was going on. i liked the way the flashbacks cut in and out of the present (reminded me of LOST lmao). i have but few complaints. one was that for how detailed and researched and thought out the science and math portions of the book were, i feel like the author really relied heavily on stereotypes to convey some of the non-american characters. second was the scene when dubois and shapiro are being VERY upfront about their sexual relationship only for us to later find out that they exploded in a lab together- leaving grace as the only other viable candidate for the mission. the writing in that portion took me out of it for bit, and maybe that was necessary, to remind me that this book was indeed written by a man.

i put a hold on this one at the library. after reading a dowry of blood i was still itching to read some more vampire stuff and settled on this retelling of carmilla. i did enjoy it but it didn't exactly deliver what i was hoping it would. i think i was hoping for something very drawn out, suspenseful, and lots of sapphic yearning lol. the supression in this novel was less about her desire to be with carmilla and more about her supressing her emotions in order to please her husband and keep up appearances. (although arguments could be made that those are one and the same) i found that even though this book is a great deal longer than carmilla, the suspense element just isn't there, which is what i enjoyed about reading carmilla. i also felt that the ending seemed rushed and too convienient.

i picked this book up at the bookstore entirely because the cover art/brief synopsis on the back intrigued me. i think conceptually, this is a really good book. it takes place in a distant future where the world has been transformed due to climate change. the economy of this world is backed up by pandemics and the need for medicine, PPE, etc. causes stocks to skyrocket. as a natural result, some pandemics are created by stock executives in order to cement their financial gains. we follow the main character- dengue boy, or later, dengue girl- a mosquito-human hybrid, the result of one of these planned pandemics- as they navigate difficult interactions (and violence) because of their appearance. the main reason i think i've rated this one so low despite admiring the concept is simply because it does include a lot of violence (including sexual violence) involving children that was difficult for me to stomach reading. (and while i fully recognize that an ultra-capitalist society plunged into irreversible climate change with inhumane wealth gaps results in that type of violence, that doesn't mean i want to read about it in such detail) the ending was not satisfying to me either, despite dengue girl getting her revenge. glad to have read it, but ultimately not for me.

i was lent this by a friend (thanks kate!!) for some context, i was in high school at the height of twilight popularity and was a little off-put by vampire media. i did attempt to read twilight once but i remember trying and coming to a point where she was like really concerned with smelling like fish (and to be clear being a teenage girl IS *that* ridiculous) and i just. did not continue reading. ANYHOW. i sort of avoided vampire media after that, but i picked up carmilla in december of last year and tore through it so quickly. i had heard things about this book and honestly the cover art was alluring, so i gave it a go. the first part of the book interested me, i read the first ~80 or so pages in one sitting. i think the way the book is written in "letters" is a nice way to break up longer chapters. however, the rest of the book did not hold my attention. this is no shade to anyone who enjoys this type of book but it started to read like a romance novel and that is decidedly not for me. i also felt that the ending was rushed. i would have liked more attention or details revealing what dracula's research entailed. i'm on the asexual spectrum and while i don't consider myself sex repulsed, i did find that the sexual encounters in the book to be a little...obviously indulgent? idk if that's the right way to put it. but they just seemed to be central to the plot and central to the character's connections to each other and that just wasn't enjoyable for me to read lmao. i think the author attempted to write about cycles of abuse and power, but ultimately fell short. the last "bonus" chapter....i could not take that seriously.

i started this one in december but finished it in january so i am counting it as part of my year-long goal. it is a bit of a chonker, but i didn't find it difficult to get through. i was intially drawn to it because of the title and its biblical significance and i was not disappointed. the author did a TON of research re: linguistics and etymology and how both human interconnectivity and care and love- but also colonialism and capitalism and violence have literally shaped words and given meaning across different cultures. it also explores how, often, the language we use today is derived from and (whether we realize it or not) perpetuates this violent and colonial history. i found the characters to be fleshed out and the magical realism elements to be finely woven into the book and perfectly believable, not only in that universe where such magic exists but believable in a sense that if such magic existed in this world, colonial powers would absolutely be utilizing it in a similiar way. i found it to be an apt example for how academia and research can be utilized as an arm of the government. (and similar to what we have seen recently in the US with pro-palestinian protests and encampments on college campuses springing up only to be met with extreme displays of state violence..) it explored thoughts on revolution and what forms of protest are the most effective, which was not something i was originally expecting to see in a fiction title. i did feel at times that the metaphors and allegories were overly explained by the author and i have seen others say the same. i think it would have been fine had it been more subtle. the ending was tied up well- but it was not a satisfying, happy ending. it was tragic and betraying all the way through. the ending almost had me crying. also, i loved the information included in the footnotes throughout the book- very informative and i have decided that more books should have footnotes!!