Bookishly Stuff

I was a little unsure at the beginning because memoirs can be a hit or miss sometimes, specially for people that I am not particularly familiar with, and the start was a bit slow an unassuming.

However, the narration had such a nice way of making things flow, that it kept me hooked, and I was soon really invested in Mae's story.

It is NOT an easy one to go through, I'll tell you that much. It deals with pretty much every trigger warning a young person can go through (as Wagner's is through a big portion of the book), but I think her reflections are something really worth giving a hard look at, even if we don't agree, even if they're hard pills to swallow, because this is just one girl's story among many that still have to go through many similar situations, to this very day.

“Wolf’s Red” by Samantha L. Eno

Because of the title and cover, I had the slight impression that this was going to be a “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling of some sort, but actually, there’s barely any resemblance there other than a couple of easter eggs like the MCs cape or the great grandma living in a cabin in the forest. The book is a completely new concept of what the inspiration source could have been.

The story follows a big set of characters (we read through 7.5 different characters’ perspectives), which makes it hard to pinpoint who the real main character is supposed to be. Going by the cover, we could assume that Rosella is supposed to be the most central of them. And so we follow along as she tries to shed her ignorance cultivated by the many years lived away from the “real world”, motivated by her mother’s overprotective nature and fear of the unknown. It’s exactly this ignorance that makes Rosella the target of bullying, which results in some unnecessary cruelty from her classmates. There’s trauma galore in this book; there’s barely any light in any of these characters.

Later we discover some dark creatures looming in from the deepest parts of the forest, entangling the story between the cruelty of the real world, and the dark mysteries that the forest holds, with evil little creatures ready to take over. With the help of her wolf friend, and the wisdom of her great-grandmother, Rosella will venture into the unknown to take back the hope that they stole from her.

The book is written in a particular style that makes its characters behave in a way fitting of an anime show, with over-dramatic dialogue that, paired with the dark topics at hand, makes the characters seem unearthly cartoonish.

There were moments where I felt it could have been trimmed a little bit, since we get extra information that doesn’t seem valuable enough to point out (like a long explanation of how the fabric of a hoodie is fresh but also warm, and its soft and cute and the brand), but that’s more of a personal preference of mine.

“Everlong” by @rraeta

This book is the definition of a late October read. It’s definitely a moody one, given the topics at hand, and if you’re looking for a cheerful romance, then it may not be exactly this one, but it’s still a beautiful read with soft and lyrical writing. And in my opinion, the less you know about it before going in, the better.

For that same reason, I don’t want this to be long and spoil anything. The basics are that there’s a girl sitting on her bench every single night, her only company pen and paper. Then there’s a selfless boy who changes her life forever.

It’s an easy read, and I zoomed through it once I got to the second half, wishing that I could somehow melt in the pages so I could have all the knowledge of the words in my brain at once.

“She Is Coming” by Midori Anzai

I´m not much of a manga reader, but I read this so fast, I just couldn’t wait to get to the end (in the best way possible). It’s a short story, so it’s a quick read already, but the mystery of it already makes it a page-turner.

"Merchants of Light and Bone" by @kiraofthewind

First, I want to point out that this book is intended for an adult audience, and I would recommend checking the TWs before continuing, as it is a story that handles a wide range of difficult topics.

With that out of the way… OH MY GOD. This book had me in a chokehold! I’m not exactly a fast reader, and it is quite a big boy, but I just couldn’t put this book down until I was done. I devoured every single chapter. The setting! The characters! The drama!

I would say that the first half of the book is mostly character driven; we get to meet the polyamorous thruple family consisting in Amiere (a sapient lion-hybrid), Liesle (a sapient winged-lion hybrid), and Su (a 4 arm Godblood). I call them hybrids for the purpose of the review, but there’s much more to each character than the animal they resemble. The thruple has six kids, with one more on the way. Sadly, in the opening we meet the family right when they lost one of their children.

The first part is like a telenovela, were we see our main characters (through the eyes of Amiere), trying to cope with the loss of their daughter, Tawny, mixed in with the bitter return of unwanted old friends, and the pressure Amiere feels to not disappoint his boss.

“Peaches and Honey” by @rraeta

If I only had one sentence to describe this book, it would probably be “A love/hate letter to human mortality”. Although, “It’s freaking amazing” could also work.

First of all, I would say that there isn’t much of a plot, and it’s a character driven book, with humanity as one of its main characters. And that’s the magical beauty of it. We do follow one specific character, Anna, and her eight century long, life journey through immortality, granted by a god with the help of a peach. Simple enough.

However, eight hundred years is a long time. People change. The world changes. And the human race isn’t the most forgiving when it comes to hard times. Anna discovers this soon enough, and through every chapter we ‘re reminded of our own true history (disguised in this fantasy). Our wars, our hunger, our pain. Many important events that changed the lives of each and every person living at this very moment.

The book invites us to reflect on the bad that we’ve done, but also in the beauty of our nature. Of the precious gifts that we give for granted. On the smallest details that we carry in our everyday lives. There’s no light without some darkness, and we live through a careful balance of both. Anna is the messenger of this letter addressed to us.

But of course, there’s more laced into it, as is the romance Anna gets enveloped by through the years, but that felt more like a secondary trait of the book. Still, it was sweet watching it develop little by little.

"The Magic Collector" by Chesney Infalt