#cybils2023

5 out of 5 stars

This was such a fun read and I loved the art. A young woman named Cam finds herself in a predicament after her father passes away; she has no husband (and wants none) and cannot inherit her father's wealth. With her father's blessing, she poses herself as a son and goes to the Capitol where people aren't bothered with keeping up with a mere Count's heirs.

Clock Striker, Vol 1 by Issaka Galadima with Frederick L. Jones 4 out of 5 stars

A young girl named Cast is growing up in a small, podunk town that doesn't have a lot of resources. She wants to be out there putting things together, tinkering with science and magic, but her teacher consistently tells her that her dreams of becoming a SMITH will never come true because 1) no one in her town is worth anything and 2) she's a girl. But Cast is determined to prove her teacher and everyone else wrong. She's given a prosthetic hand to tinker with and she manages to make it work just as a real-live SMITH comes to town. And not just any SMITH, a woman named Ms. Clock who is absolutely impressed by Cast's skill and takes her on as an apprentice.

Chaos is unleashed as Cast and Ms. Clock proceed to take down villains who are working real hard to try and uncover deadly weapons that were hidden long ago during the robot wars.

There was a really fast pace to the story that reminded me of anime that I watched in the TOONAMI days. It was reminiscent of Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist with the over-the-top characters and fight scenes. There was some worldbuilding dabbled throughout, but you got the sense that there is definitely more to explore, which I'm glad they didn't just try to infodump the whole world in one volume or do a really boring lead up to the action.

3 out of 5 stars

Set in the early to mid 2000s, Liv is moving to a new town with her mother. At her old school, she was bullied for being a bisexual goth and Liv is super nervous about what kids will say at this one. She tries to stick to herself, but other people start talking to her, much to her chagrin. Liv is convinced that, at any moment, they will turn on her. She does well in English class and her teacher tells her that she is doing amazing and could very well become a writer one day. Liv loves the affirmation.

She even starts to love the friendships that she has somehow stumbled into, though there is drama here and there with an exceptionally flirty boy who has a girlfriend. What is she going to do about this?

One snow day, her teacher sends her a message on her after giving her the book Lolita to read as her book report. Any adult reader will know that this is an instant red flag, but will Liv realize what's going on?

5 out of 5 stars

If you like historical fantasy with great art, then this is for you!

Set in 1930s Mississippi as the Great Depression gets underway, a group of young women have to deal with not only the racism of the time period, but also the worry of where their families will next get their meal and how they may be caught at any moment while they are racing their brooms for a bit of cash to make ends meet.

The illustrations were beautiful and the world-building of the magic system was fun. I do wish that there was a lot more though. We get small glimpses into the lives of the women outside of the racing scene, enough to know that they are a diverse group that are trying to make it and somehow manage to find each other to help discover who they are.

Cupcake Diaries: Mia in the Mix

3 out of 5 stars Mia had to move from the big city of Manhattan to a smaller place after her mom fell in love with someone who lived there and they moved in with him. She has started to make friends like the ones in the Cupcake Club where they've started to figure out that they can make cupcakes to earn money. She also has started to make friends with the PGC (Popular Girls Club) who has similar interests like fashion. It's causing a bit of strife with her Cupcake Club friends because some of them were bullied by the PGC, but Mia wants to see the good in people. She's in the mix of all of the drama and she doesn't know what to do about it. However, she finds out who her true friends are after her mother, who worked for a fashion magazine, has a big fashion show in the small town.

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa 5 out of 5 stars

Regina is the head cheerleader who has it all, the great grades, the popularity and the on-again, off-again athletic star partner, Chloe. Hawkins, who is the team mascot, has a MASSIVE crush on Regina and decides to shoot her shot by asking Regina out because her and Chloe broke up... except they didn't. Annnnddd cue the embarrassment from Hawkins.

Regina doesn't show that she has a 10-year plan and there can be absolutely no deviating from it. She knows that she is going go to Harvard Med, graduate with honors, get married at 27 (to Chloe, of course) and at 28, close on their first decently sized house. Chloe, however, is failing classes, which won't allow her to get an athletic scholarship if she doesn't pass. And Regina cannot marry a person who didn't go to college; it will ruin her 10-year plan. So... she hatches a plan to get Hawkins to tutor Chloe by banking on Hawkins's crush on her.

But Chloe starts to think Hawkins is kinda cute... wait, no, she doesn't. Cause that would be so bad! Especially if Regina finds out!

Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures by Jason Pamment

4 out of 5 stars

Ember wants nothing more than to fit in, but there's a little problem... and it's Ember. He is a tiny person that is the size of spiders and beetles, so Ember is having a hard time making friends and even going to school like he wants. Ember winds up being swept away and crosses paths with a sea turtle named Lua who says that she also felt small and couldn't find her place in the world when she was younger, but then she came across The Island of Lost Creatures and it helped her and now she wants to help Ember.

Lua takes Ember to the island where Ember is excited to make friends, but it doesn't exactly turn out how Ember wants, nor how Lua described the island. The other creatures make fun of him for being a "weird little turtle" and his only friend is a rolling boulder that doesn't talk. But then, strange things start happening and Ember isn't sure how what's going on...

This was a really cute graphic novel. The characters were adorably drawn, even the grumpy school teacher. It didn't exactly become a "found family" sort of book, but maybe a "found friendship"?

Charisma's Turn by Monique Couvson

3 out of 5 stars

Charisma is a teenage Black girl who seems to have anger issues. She is often going to the principal's office and getting told what to do and how to act while no one is listening to her or acknowledging here when she is doing well. She's just so frustrated about it that she lashes out even more. However, the school counselor sees this and understands that Charisma isn't bad, she just doesn't know how to work through her emotions without being labeled as an 'Angry Black Girl'.

Thankfully, the counselor helps set her down a path where she can acknowledge her frustration without letting herself be filled with negative emotions. She turns her emotions into a positive outlet by joining a group that's focused on social justice.