curiouslykatt's reviews
1089 reviews

This story follows Civil Townsend through the beginning of her nursing journey in the 70s to present day (2016) so you’ll face some time jumping but it’s easy to follow. Civil in the 70s is an enthusiastic newly graduated nurse ready to do good in the community and make a difference, we know these overzealous positive people. Hell most of us probably were these people in our early years. Civil’s first case is a family with two underage girls who she is suppose to administer birth control shots to twice a year. Civil soon discovers the health clinic she is working for is not entirely what it appears to be. Is she really doing good in the community?

“Put the girls in three of these misguided categories: poor, Black, & mentally unfit. Had I done the same? I had initially deemed the girls unfit to be mothers too because they were poor & Black. Because they were young, because they were illiterate. My head spun with shame.”

What unfolds is a story about a nurse who loves her patients and a journey to find people to help and bring the dark practices to light. What Civil was not expecting was the darkness is not isolated to her little Alabama clinic.

“Are they trying to kill us off Lou?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“It’s like the Holocaust what they did to your people in Europe isn’t it? Whatchu say your parents fled?”

“Not exactly, but it’s bad.”

You’ll experience really touching moments of when you care deeply for others and see where helping crosses the line into hindering. There are moments of tenderness and bittersweet victories. This story is going to make you mad, it’s going to break your heart, and it’s 100% worth it.

“”But my name is Civil, with a V.”

He just grinned.

Say I Love You, Volume 1 by Kanae Hazuki

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3.0

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Mixed bag of unease, spine-chilling creepiness, but a lingering of missing satisfaction.

A young couple along with their daughter and family dog move into a newly built apartment building: Central Plaza Mansion. The one big catch is location, the apartment complex neighbours a temple and graveyard. Which is all well and good, as long as the neighbours stay quiet and peaceful.

This is an extremely slow moving story and much of the horror is strictly psychological horror. There’s enough to create an overall feeling of unease, but not enough to throw you down a terror spiral.

I did spend a lot of time worrying Cookie (the dog) was going to be an early casualty to the building, which if you know me it’s the absolute worst for me.

This story does explore how grief and past jealousies can linger, fester and contribute to present day horrors.

Overall it’s an enjoyable enough read even with the overall experience being a bit lacklustre for what I was hoping for from the book.

Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 7 by Naoya Matsumoto

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4.5

Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom by Lucia Jang, Susan McClelland

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

Alice in Borderland, Vol. 6 by Haro Aso

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced