Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery

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Moriarty the Patriot volume three

By Takeuchi Ryosuke

4 stars

This volume has lots of cool plot lines. I do dislike the setup with Sherock being the main character of a stage for the city to watch, corruption being revealed but it makes sense. I love John and Miss Hudson here as well as the throw backs to the older Sherlock stories. It continues with the rich people hunting poors plotline which I dislike for it breaking the immersion and realism of the story as I explained in my volume 2 review. Still it's really good and I can't wait to read volume 4.
The poppy war

By R.F. Kuang

4 stars

This is a really good book. It does a great job with its anti war themes. Well some of Rim choices like not writing her foster brother are questionable, choices it's understand why she doesn't as she was abused and is attempting to survive in this world which doesn't want her to thrive. But the war starting mid way through the book and replacing the cost of characters I know with different ones isn't great. The book should have been purely academic in setting with the second book getting hinted to as a war breaks out. All that said all the characters are relevant and play important roles. Learning the terrible things which happened to her classmates is terrible and raises the stakes for the war. I liked the shifts in her and Nezha relationship dymatic it was interesting and the fight with chimera was genuinely scary mainly because it brought back her foster brother a character who I'd forgotten about, thus making his return hit harder. Especially since Rin's reasons for not thinking of him make so much sense as I went over earlier. Her mentor well eccentric makes sense why he is the way he is considering what God's do to the human bodies they inhabit in this universe. Altan was a pretty unlikeable character even though Rin liked him. I don't think the readers are meant to like him tho, but understand why he is the way he is which is something I do. His backstory is so heartbreaking. Also Rin being a speer is a predictable twist good but predictable twist. Same with the empress being evil. I'm glad Rin was called out for being an evil person for commiting the genocide against the invanding armies homelands spefically by her oldest friend. And a character the audience is meant to like. I know I do. I'm excited for the sequel considering the fact that the Spike beneath Rin leadership are going to try to take down the empress but have clearly started to lose there grip of sanity even if that can't see it. Which is gonna be a good read. Hard. But good.
Moriarty the Patriot volume two

By Takeuchi Ryosuke

4 stars

This was fun. I adored the art and plots and the introduction of Sherlock was really well done. Even if I don't care for the evil rich man kirdnapping children and homeless people to shot. I wish the story was more grounded in reality then that. It's tackling some very real issues and it's removing some of the real world commentary, realism by including such a cartoonish subplot.
Barda

By Ngozi Ukazu

4 stars

Barda by ngozi ukazu comic review- Barba is a DC young adult graphic novel about big Barda, origin story. It depicts the brutality of living upon Apocalypse, her relationship with the other furies, granny goddess and Scott Free. It did a great job in trenching me in the world of apocalypse allowing yourself to be immersed in the mentality surrounding worship of Dark side, and how and why it was developed. From love being forbidden, to the belief that nothing can ever be improved so it is pointless to try. Barda is shown right from the first page to be somewhat rebellious because although love is forbidden, she thinks of it, and is reading a romance novel. This novel is a recurring element of the plot, being brought up at the beginning of every act, as a metaphor for a lot of things, most clearly the relationship between Scott Free and Barda the plot is building. The plot itself is about a lot of things, not just the relationship between Barda and Scott Free, all of them tie back to Barda, as she is the main character. It’s about Barda who is hunting for the anti life with the other furies for Darkside and her promotion to leader, and meetings with Scott Free in the X pits. I love the relationships she has with the other characters as I mentioned previously. The reason why I do is that all of them expand upon Barda as a character. Granny Goodness serves as an explanation for why she is such a brutal warrior, Aurie showcases a more caring side to her, and Scott Free showcases the cult-like mentality she has, over Dark side, but also her curiosity of the land beyond Apocalypse. And why she has the romance novel. There were a few flaws with this graphic novel, the two biggest to me being one, I wish there was more of Scott Free. I know this is a big Barda graphic novel about her origins but Scott Free - and his romance with Barda - plays a role, within the plot, and I think a few more scenes of the two, would make the romance feel more natural it is still very well done as is, I adore the philosophical conversations they have surrounding Darkside, love and Freedom, and secondly the art can feel disconnected from the story. Specifically with the scenes of torture. I suppose that may be the point, that this is how granny goodness views the torture of children within her care, as something fondly to look upon and without it being something bad then or now, which matches up with her character perfectly. Plus the art is really good beyond this, And I do like it, but it feels jarring when these scenes of what is supposed to be brutal torture is drawn in this manner. To conclude Barda is an amazing graphic novel, the romance, superhero and scifi genres, as it story which contains all these things and does a brilliant job with them.
Finale

By Stephanie Garber

4 stars

I liked this book but it felt a little patched together. I wish there was more of the girls mum, and her being the lover of the fallen star and Scarlett his daughter lacked foreshadowing in my opinion, and Nick should've had a bigger role. I also disliked how he was defeated the foreshadowing was there but it felt eh. I still enjoyed it especially Donnatella plotlines. But I feel Legend writing well good could've been better. Also there was two love triangles. Eww. I hate love triangles there's only ever been two I've liked wicked and the hunger games. But that's because there was some more themtic and metaphorically relevant to the plot and the people not choosing someone makes sense.
Legendary

By Stephanie Garber

4 stars

This book was amazing! I adore Tella as the protagonist, and loved her relationships and romances. I love the mysteries and reveals about her mother even if I find the name paradise the lost to be stupid. The empress was an interesting character and I wish there was more of her. But too late now. The end of legend being the heir is so cool and I can't wait for the next book.
Squished

By Megan Wagner Lloyd

4 stars

Squished is a good graphic novel for what it is but I feel it juggles too many plates. Moving, needing space, The changing family Dynamics. It's not overwhelming but I think the story would've benefitted from just doing one of these things. That said I was sold on the sibling sibling dynamic and well I only have one subling - a sister- I can really like to Avery with the changes in her older brother and friends and the desire for her own space. The art is alright. It's colorful, and well drawn but there was never any panels which made me go wow! It just was there to convey the story. It didn't feel special in any capacity like the artist just drew enough to ensure it was adequate and didn't really care to do anything more. So alright. 4.3 stars. It's good for what it is as a primary school aged graphic novel.
Laid back camp volume one

By Afro

4 stars

This is manga really matches it name as it quite laid back as a story just about girls meeting, and working together on camping. The biggest conflict is Rin reluctance to join the club, and lack of supplies for it but that just makes for more interesting scenarios, seeing how the girls work around these limations with funding and exploring why some people would rather camp alone. I love the art, it matches the vibe perfectly and the camping advice is fairly accurate coming from the perspective of someone who was only done camping a few times. 3.7 stars
The fragrant flower blooms with dignity volume 1

By Saka Mikami

4 stars

This book was good. It has a nice romance set up with good art. I adore the dynamic and the somewhat Romeo and Juliet situation between them since the schools hates each other. Inspite of this the two have developed a good relationship and have clear communication without any toxic bullshit happening. My only problem is Kaoruko Waguri is very short and intally mistook for a middle schooler by Rintaro Tsumugi during there first meeting. It's odd to add that to the story. Like yeah she doesn't act like a child but the story points out she looks like one and she's drawn like one. I'm praying it revealed she has some illness or some other reason for her being so short as its odd and it's odd to place it on the table in my opinion. They could've had her short but not mistooken for a middle schooler just him assuming she goes to a different high school then the one she does for that subplot.
Friends forever

By Shannon Hale

4 stars

Real friends is a great conclusion to the trilogy. It deals with many themes such as depression, friendship, and dating. Opposing the last two this book is a lot less relatable to me. I have never had depression or tried dating as I'm focused more on school. Shannon appearance is important to this book as well tying into her depression and self worth issues but it's not something relatable to me either. That's not to say this book is bad. It's very good and serves as a great conclusion to the series but the relatablely of the early books made the reader experience better for me as I felt seen and could slip myself into Shannon's shoes with ease. Still I liked it and the book was good and serves as a good end to a good book series
Best friends

By Shannon Hale

4 stars

This book pretty much is a great continuation of the first for me. It continues on the freight of focusing on friendships, I wish it included more of the siblings, but I understand why it didn't. I was Shannon had one upped Jenny in some way as she was quite poorly treated by her for no reason but I get why not. Jen felt like she was changing in the end of the first book but the story just reverts back to how she'd been acting with a few slight differences here and there But I suppose it does make sense as she only came to dislike the system when it was inconveniencing her. I don't think Jen means harm by it but still. It's a great book overall and I do like the end of Shannon choosing to forge her own path in high school, it's the best thing for her and I'm hopeful for a good ending.
Real friends

By Shannon Hale

4 stars

This book is really good, and I adore it writing, and found it quite relatable in certain ways. It women get me of my own experiences with friendship and sibling and identity in primary school well my problems were different they did exist, and this book was relatable to me for that reason.
Fates be changed

By Farrah Rochon

4 stars

Fates be changed is an amazing twisted tale, I adore the character writing and the historical setting worked very well for the story. I really liked the writing for Merdia interactions with her past mother and her conclusion of realizing she needs to do right by her people but that doesn't mean she needs to wed which Elinor and her father acknowledges.
Moriarty the Patriot volume one

By Takeuchi Ryosuke

4 stars

I did not care much for this manga. Right off the bat I disliked the art style. It looked much more simplistic compared to some of the other manga I tend to read such as vinland saga and witch hat Atelier. It contains three different scenarios in which they bring down ultra filthy rich people who have done some pretty scummy things, well the way they go about this is morally dubious these people are much worse so it's fine, but I suspect that the behaviors will escalate. I liked watching them do stuff make a scheme and explain everything by the end. The schemes felt fairly realistic and well thought out. I like the social and political commentary within the series but to be quite frank here I don't care that much for this I think I'll write some more because I do want to see Sherlock and I think the introduction of Sherlock will be the shake up it needs for me but I really feel that a lot of my issues just kind of comes down to this having being a genre of books I was actually once very into but now not so much at least not for an entire manga volume worth of stories. Still it's feeling interesting and it's not actually that bad it's just not my cup of tea per se 3.7 stars out of five.
Sisters

By Raina Telgemeier

4 stars

Sisters is a great graphic novel. As a sister myself I can somewhat relate to it even if I'm the younger sister so it's a little bit removed for me, and my older sister does not remember time before my birth since we only have a three age gap. It's enjoyable I love the progress of the relationship, And how and spice of they conflicts and constant fighting there is an underlying level of care there they're not great at showing it but the two of them do care about each other it's just that they live in such a close proximity and have to share a lot that they end up in conflict. The snake thing was hysterical to me but still very enjoyable. I liked the cousins. They seemed like just jackasses at first especially the boys But they do care about right now even if calling her Penelope was really dumb. I like the conclusion, it was just nice to see her interacting with her family, I wish the parents not getting along that well had been a little more foreshadowed for but it makes sense as the whole point of it is that Raina hasn't been paying that much attention, So she doesn't really notice which drives some of the conflict with Amara. Great graphic novel overall Even if I'm a bit too old for it now, it is still very relatable mainly with the sisters thing. 4.5 out of 5
Smile

By Raina Telgemeier

4 stars

I loved this graphic Novel when I was younger and still do even if I wish something such as her making new friends was expanded on more. The graphic novel still delivers a complete story.
Burning crowns

By Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

3 stars

This book was alright. I hated the Wren love triangle but I'm glad she got with Tor. But the triangle tainted it for me and I despised the whole oh special soul connection cause of the spell. Kai is brought back and is still alive and it's stated that his Father was manipulating him. I wish that had been more expanded upon. Also Rose and shens conflict felt very artificial her forgetting about the imminent danger but they kingdoms are in because of King's choice was ridiculous, and I find the ending of her getting married to shin but still being a queen of Anadawn quite unrealistic. Rowena is pretty bitchy in this book to Rose which is pretty s***** of her considering what Rose did back in the first book for her. Also there was an attempted rebellion because they were Queens and that's just not touched upon at all in this book, when another witch who shares there face is attempting to overthrow them and do some pretty heinous s*** to many people from both their kingdoms and others. The final fight was anticlimactic. This threat was built up for books and she just ends up getting shotted and dies. I did really like the healing hills more because of the lore than anything else, and for all my complaints a lot of this just comes from the fact that I've kind of outgrown this breed of YA. I like a lot of YA I don't get me wrong but with exception I don't really care that much for romanticy YA of this kind because it's very much aimed at middle school at least thats my opinion. It was all right three out of three
Witch hat Atelier volume 5

By Kamome Shirahama

4 stars

This volume was intense. The fights and magic were so cool, alongside the glimpse into the brimmed hat culture. I'm worried for Euini and what happened to him was a great injustice and shows how cruel the brimmed hats are. I'm glad that he escapes, and will be pursuing a cure as opposed to getting memories erased, and the others will be covering them but that makes me worried as Coco is already on the raidar of the knights and thats who they're going to be questioned by. So I'm worried for volume six which falls in line for how I've felt for the end of most of these volumes but I'm excited as they're going to the heart of the witches world which is definitely going to give important information and allow deeper insight to the culture of witches.
Witch hat Atelier volume 4

By Kamome Shirahama

4 stars

I adored seeing the test, and learning about the time before they made it so only witches could use magic to prevent wars, and being shown that kingdom explains why. The body horror element well not touched upon to deeply as this is a kid book series was definitely there and I'm glad that those people found peace. I'm really worried for the next issue considering they've been attacked by the brimmed hats and one of them has a seal on there skin which is against the rules.
Witch hat Atelier volume 3

By Kamome Shirahama

4 stars
Cursed crowns

By Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

3 stars

3 stars. Very generic, I wish it was more different, not sure how I feel about the magic being one strand again, I hated Kai and wished he died, I'm curious about the treaty which lead to the creation of the dessert kingdom and I hate the Shen is a prince because it's a classist trope to make all the good guys long lost royals/nobility and I can't buy Shen remember his life from when he was like what 2-4 years old? It's unrealistic to me. I'm going to read the third as I'm curious about what's going to happen with the ice kingdom and evil queen. Captain Davers betrayal was something I could see from a mile away. He did not like witches and the Baron needed a high ranking spy for the information he was getting.
Witch hat Atelier volume 2

By Kamome Shirahama

4 stars

I like this volume it's great to see more magic and Coco growing closer to the other girls and I'm very curious about Agott past and what happened which drove her to learn magic with such ferocity.
Absolute Wonder Woman

By Kelly Thompson

5 stars

Five stars. I f****** love this comic. I adore the designs for the characters, the writing, the art overall. I love the relationship between Circe and Diana, as mother and daughter, I'm curious as to what the amazonians did to earn this punishment, I love that Wonder Woman is now a witch its a great expansion on her powers, I'm concerned about Hecate prophecy, Prometheus was f****** awesome, and Persphone was beautiful, the trick with the pomegranate seeds was brilliant, I love the origins behind this version of the lasso, and I just adored this comic and can't wait for the next
Mister miracle

By Tom King

3 stars

3 stars. The art was really good And do a great character and directions but I just don't think I'm the demographic for this comic. Also they massively mischaracterized Orion and I'm salty about that. Orion is betrayed as being this brutal and worthless person and make no mistake here that is part of his character but it isn't so dominant, He has a more caring side to him and him and Scott relationship is typically much more nuanced, with there being love and care but also envy. This story it's purely antagonistic in these nothing really brotherly about it. Still it was a good read and I'm not the target demographic
The New Gods Vol. 1: The Falling Sky

By Ram V

4 stars

4.5 stars. I adored this book but I think it's not very good if you're just looking to be introduced to the new gods as it's very much a good book but it's written with the idea that the reader knows the characters of the new gods. I especially loved Orion and Scott free interaction they feel like loving brothers, Big Barda was a standout as per usual, and Olivia was adorable. The references to older gods and the source and the baby being some sort of magic prophecy child all felt very mythical which was great because this is a book about the gods of this universe And I very much felt that way. Their ancient, powerful long living some are hateful and some are loving. But they all feel like gods. Not the average characters within DC.
Steven universe to be happy

By Sarah Gailey

3 stars

3.5 stars. I liked the story's and they made a lot of sense for the characters but I didn't adore any of them, they were just alright.
Witch Hat Atelier volume one

By Kamome Shirahama

5 stars

I adored this book, Coco is a great protagonist she's as intrigued by the magic as I am as the reader, and great art. It reminds of studio Ghibli
The Deep Dark

By Molly Knox Ostertag

3 stars

3.7 stars. Wish the dragon and it's orgins had been expanded on, but still I love it as an allegory for mental health, and internalized self-hatred and the only way to handle it is to accept these parts of yourself you do not entirely love. I wish Huge had properly reunited with his family, But it makes sense he didn't considering the implication of what happened which is another thing I wish we got to see.
Vinland saga volume 9

By Makoto Yukimura

5 stars

I adore Vinland saga and volume nine is a continuation of this incredible written work. I love the fight, the bear metaphor and Hild backstory, and Thorfinn having to confront his past from both enemies and former "allys" turned enemies. It's really great to see that Thorfinn past will continue to play a role, as he is someone with many enemies who won't leave him alone just because he's changed and this book is a reminder of that for Thorfinn and the reader of this fact. The ending scene of Thorfinn with the little girl necklace, and the mother begging for mercy is heartbreaking and realistic. I adored it. 5 out of 5.
Twin crowns

By Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

4 stars

I really liked this book. All the characters were compelling and the conclusion was perfect with all the build up, and made perfect sense for what has been built up, and left me yearning for more. Rose's views on witches witching is a little abrupt for me and I just wish it had been done a bit slower it's still very well done I just think they needed to be a bit more breathing room. 4 stars
Supergirl women of tomorrow

By Tom King

5 stars

I've never really been a big fan of Supergirl but this book is really really good, and does a great job fleshing her out and making her unique from Superman in a way other writers fail to do without breaking away from her previously established characterizations and I adore ruth as a standalone character and the artist is f****** amazing.

10 - 0 - 1

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Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery

32,047 pages read and 3,729 team points

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