pastelwriter's reviews
1099 reviews

Mindy McGinnis strikes again with another incredible novel! I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did, as I’m not really a reader of survival stories, but this was well worth the read!

First of all, I love how messy our main character is. Much like all of the main characters of this author, Ashley is far from likable. She’s not like other girls because she’s into nature and hiking and has many practical skills related to this. She’s also poor, unlike all her friends, and incredibly prideful. She doesn’t want to ask for help. It’s demeaning. She’s grown up knowing how to be independent and get herself out of situations she’s either gotten stuck in or put herself in. And I honestly love that. For a novel that is mostly spent in the head of a character lost in the woods, it’s precisely the fact that she’s far from perfect that makes her so interesting to read about. 

Second of all, I really appreciated the part of this narrative dedicated to Davey Beets. It felt very realistic for Ashley to have so much admiration for a guy who taught her so much of how she knows how to engage with nature. The way the story goes because of the strong feelings she has for him makes the story all the more impactful. I think there was certainly a part that was unrealistic, but I loved it because of how it brought things full circle for Ashley. I’m always in favor of sacrificing realism for the sake of narrative cohesion and not leaving things unanswered. 

As for the reading experience itself, as a character driven reader, I ate this up. I was perfectly content following Ashley and all the harrowing shit Mindy McGinnis put her through. I love learning as much as possible about how a character thinks and what makes them tick, and this is a perfect example of that. Plus, the narrative doesn’t make compromises. Ashley’s surroundings very seriously impact her present reality regardless of how much time is spent on Ashley thinking about her past. Nature truly has it out to get Ashley as she’s lost in the Smokies, and the threat feels very real. I can only hope I could fare half as well if I was in her precarious situation! 

All this to say, I loved this fucking book. It was riveting. I loved the characterization of Ashley. I loved how messy she was. I loved reading about all the shit she had to do to survive. It was great! 

This manga was absolute chaos to start with 💀 It definitely captured my attention. That’s for sure!

I was ultimately snared into keeping my attention on this manga because I’m a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine dynamic. Ichinomiya is an absolute menace to society…and with good reason! He’s feral, unsociable, and an extremely talented dancer. Then there’s Minobe. He’s sweet and good-tempered. He likes ballet, but he lacks the drive to make him stand out as a dancer. The two get paired up…and it’s 🤩 for Minobe for the whole volume. 

Truly, my favorite thing about this volume was how genuinely Minobe liked Ichinomiya. There was no pretense and no hesitation. He was clear and direct while also being patient with Ichinomiya’s strong character. It made it all the sweeter when Ichinomiya starts reciprocating the feelings. He starts to feel treasured by Minobe, and it makes it clear to him that Minobe is worth his time. 

The absolutely FOUL part of this manga is the ballet teacher who needs to FACE CHARGES and be sent STRAIGHT TO PRISON. The fucking disgusting dynamic and “relationship” he has with Ichinomiya makes me sick. And he literally physically harms him TWICE in this manga. I need him to ROT IN HELL. 

All this to say, I’ll definitely be continuing this series! 

This was just a silly little time! I wasn’t truly sure what I was getting myself into when I picked this up, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

For such a thick first volume, however, I feel like I don’t really get where we’re going with Hyunsoo’s past. It seems so…vague yet troubling. Of course I know our goal is a relationship between Hyunsoo and Youngchan, but I’m more curious about what is being left unsaid. 

I am impressed however that this truly does seem to be committing to a storyline, and we meet a lot of different characters in this volume alone! 

This volume ended in a cliffhanger of sorts tho…so I’m definitely curious to continue! 

Hhmm… I have complex feelings about this book.

On the one hand, I can see the vision of this. It very clearly is addressing issues of censorship. It had the reader contemplate what is typically deemed “worthy” of being censored vs what one could want to self-censor. It’s this idea that usually profanity and sexual acts are typically considered (especially in the US, and especially when talking about queer people) necessary to censor. However, it explores the notion that sometimes there are things in our lives that maybe are not perceived as being necessary to be censored, but that are still worthy of being private. That there are things we don’t have to share with the world because they’re that special. 

However, I feel like this book reads more like a short story that needed more development. There was simply not enough here for any of the characters to truly have any depth to them. They all fell into different stereotypes in order for the story to shallowly explore some of its themes. If Ness had developed the story further, however, and been able to use the black-out in more moments to build significance, this could have truly been amazing. 

As it stands, I don’t regret reading this at all, but I was left wanting more from it.

This series continues being an obsession of mine! 

Absolutely loved that we got Yoshiki and Hikaru doing some research on the history of their village. We’re slowly uncovering more information about the “impurities” that are plaguing this town now that Hikaru is not really Hikaru. It meant we got to see some new and interesting characters interact with the protagonists. 

I also continue loving the aesthetic and vibe of this series. It truly impeccably creates atmosphere and tension. I love the sound effects (I often truly hear them in my head!) and the way the mangaka chooses what to focus on in specific tense or “spooky” moments. 

Again. I love this series. I’m obsessed. No one can change my mind that this continues having strong queer energy and subtext ✨

This was an incredibly mid read for me from Clio Evans. Usually I love her works, but this one was just okay.

I think the main contributing factor was that I wasn’t really into the kinks the main characters were into. I don’t mind reading about them, but it makes the whole experience “meh” for me.

I also thought the pacing of this one felt very off. Most of Clio Evans’ work that I’ve read has a pretty fast pace because they’re so short…but I felt like this one was lacking plot which made it a bit of a struggle to get through. I felt no true urgency and thought too much time was spent with Mari and Raider in the caves just fully on their own. It just felt like a whole bunch of nothing happened and the characters couldn’t convince me of the “trouble” with just words. 

Truly wish I had liked this one more, but I simply didn’t. 

I tried TWICE to give this a chance…but I just couldn’t do it. 

Generally speaking, I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing style. I find it engaging and interesting. However, it was not enough to make me be able to deal with some of the issues I had with this novel. 

1. I couldn’t take the fact that we had a 35 y/o man absolutely smitten with a 20y/o young woman…who he met…when she was FOURTEEN!!!! I just couldn’t deal with it. It made me uncomfortable, and I felt like it was an unnecessary dynamic added to the story. 

2. There was no fucking need for so many scenes to be told BOTH from Carlota’s perspective AND Montgomery’s perspective. The “added” information was hardly ever elucidating enough to feel warranted. It was just a waste of time, energy, and page count. The point of a dual pov isn’t to read things twice but to get access to parts of a narrative that truly would be unknown if it was single pov. 

3. Montgomery and Carlota both made me feel conflicted as characters. Carlota was too childish and acted like a brat …and Montgomery was often too morose and self-hating. I could’ve seen myself eventually liking both…but ultimately I didn’t have enough patience to find out. 

I truly wanted to love this, but there were too many little things that kept me from doing so. And based on what others have said about the events that transpire in this novel… I have no interest in following that shitshow. 

Another cute installment in this series! 

I’m glad that in this volume we get to see Aoki and Ida discuss progressing their relationship when it comes to physical touch. They’re both definitely awkward but so freaking cute! I adore them 💖

I’m also left shaken by the fact that Akkun and Hashimoto are finally a thing! 😱 Despite Akkun being a total dumb dumb… we finally got success in this department! I’m glad though that Hashimoto is direct and confronts Akkun with some of the questions she has. Truly iconic of her and necessary! 

And…that’s about all I have to say about this volume 😂✌🏼

Another day, another Mindy McGinnis book I’ve read and loved 😔👌🏼

For the sake of full transparency, I must first admit the reasons why this is not getting 5🌟 despite having literally brought me to tears by the end. One of the key reasons is that the summary of this book reveals far too much than it needs to. There’s a key moment that happens about 140 pages in (almost 50% into the novel!) which is shared with the reader in the blurb. Absolutely foul decision that then had me just anxiously waiting for it to happen and feeling annoyed with how long it took. Trust me when I say that you shouldn’t read the full blurb for this one!

Now that that’s out of the way, I can continue with what I loved.

The biggest thing about this novel was how it felt like a punch to the gut. It was devastating. My emotions felt raw whenever I picked this up. I literally just kept telling one of my friends “I was not expecting to be clocking in for Sad Girl hours, but it keeps happening!” It was an unexpected experience while reading a Mindy McGinnis book. I’m usually expecting unhinged energy and chaos, but not to feel sad. I’m not complaining, but it’s definitely one of the things that made this novel stand out!

Something else that was vital here was the overall message about people who struggle with mental health problems. I was so worried and unsure about how and where McGinnis was going to take this novel because our main character has auditory and visual hallucinations and starts believing she was responsible for a heinous act…but of course I needed to follow what I preached to my friend before I started this novel: In Mindy McGinnis I Trust! Of course McGinnis didn’t lead me astray! She handled difficult topics with her usual mix of deranged energy but also grace.

Finally, I had the pleasure of being pleasantly surprised by the main plot twist of the novel! I was committed to a specific narrative being the one that was surely the truth, but I was wrong! The seeds for it all were truly there, so when it was revealed many other things immediately clicked into place. And that’s something I appreciate about a McGinnis book. She might be chaotic in the routes she takes, but she always has solid character motivations and breadcrumbs to support her big twists! 

I truly was not expecting this year to become a Mindy McGinnis year, but boy am I glad about that! She just keeps throwing bangers my way 🙏🏼

I love this series so much 💖😭💖 It’s easily becoming one of my favorite BL series! 

First of all, I love that this series has more than once made characters face their prejudices. In this volume we get Okano who Aoki gets as a tutor. At first they’re getting along super well, but then Okano finds out Aoki is dating Ida and starts acting super distant. Ultimately, he’s made to contend with his prejudices and realize that he can be friendly with Aoki without it meaning that Aoki will inevitably develop romantic feelings for him. 

We also finally get Aoki and Ida talking a little bit about doing more “traditional” couple things…such as holding hands! It’s so freaking cuuuteee!!! We even get a little bit of jealous Ida in here. Be still my heart!

Akkun also finally GETS A CLUE in this volume (while still being a dumb dumb) and manages to convey to Hashimoto how she matters to him and he was trying to protect her feelings 💖 Finally some progress with this slow going romance! 😭

I’m curious to see where the side plot of Aoki getting a job will lead…so definitely looking forward to continuing the series!