i feel awful, thanks is a cozy graphic novel following jo, a charming witch who just accepted her dream job creating potions in london.

since jo is originally from spain, this story is able to delve into the anxieties of new beginnings: a new city, a new job, and making new friends. lara pickle also explores ideas such as toxic positivity, harmful coping mechanisms, and dismissive relationships. i really loved her idea of our emotions being dragons that sometimes may require taming. emotions can be scary, and that's okay!

i love graphic novels because you can tackle important topics and look absolutely beautiful while doing it. the art stye and color pallet of this one is mwah *chefs kiss*

i do wish that there was more world building and explanation to the emotion dragons before they came into play. i never felt lost, but i would've loved more! i also felt that the plot lacked some flow and bounced around from plot point to plot point. this was my first lara pickle and i will definitely continue to keep this author on my radar.

thank you netgalley and oni press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

chloe has one goal and that goal is to get a life. after a near-death experience causes her to reevaluate her life, she creates a list of things she would like to accomplish so she could die with no regrets. there are various things on this list: go camping, do something bad, etc. falling in love, however, was not one of them.

i really enjoyed the disability representation done in this book. chloe is the first character i've read with fibromyalgia and i feel it was done well. her condition was not at all her whole personality, yet you were still able to get a glimpse into just how many facets of life it affects. i felt that each character (even the sisters as side characters) were likable and full of personality.

i felt that harder topics such as abusive past relationships were portrayed well very and with care.

i really liked the verbal banter between chloe and red, but i felt that the internal dialogue was sometimes a little over sexualized. while i am by no means a ~closed door, fade to black~ girlie, i felt that a lot of it was uncalled for and to be quite honest: cringy.

i would have liked a little more depth to the plot (more adventures with the list), but alas this is a romcom and i got what i signed up for so i really can't complain.

this book was a part of my -24 in '24- in the "out of my comfort-zone" category because i tend to shy away from books strictly in the romance category. that being said, i'm glad i read it because i did enjoy my time; however, i'm not sure if the other sisters' books will be something i pick up. they might not be the ~flavor~ i'm looking for. what is that specific flavor you ask? i have no clue. LOL we shall see...

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

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mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

i had really high hopes and expectations for this one and perhaps that’s where i failed myself. i ended being completely underwhelmed. this book brings up many interesting topics (wealth, climate change, social class, greed, famine) yet failed to dissect any of them. it actually ended up feeling like a love story which i most definitely was not expecting.

the author played around with the formatting of this book which i also didn’t enjoy (run ons, italics for dialogue, etc).

overall, this book wasn’t for me. and i’m sad because i really wanted to love it. oh well! on to the next ..

Rouge by Mona Awad

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

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adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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themoodylibrary's reviews 231 reviews

themoodylibrary's reviews
231 reviews