visceralreads's reviews
142 reviews

Such a cute book about magical cooking!! I love how being queer is normalized in this world and I would've loved more depth into magicullinary (basically it's cooking but instant and requires magical skill to perfect) but overall I think this is a pretty wholesome graphic novel. It also touches on burnout and it's explained in a way that younger audiences can grasp. Will recommend this to everyone young and old

What!!

To be honest, I know nothing about field hockey or how American high school varsity culture is like so I won't be digging deep into it. What I WANT to know is why the fuck is everyone worshipping the eponymous Coach (he's literally just A Guy and not all that istg) and why do they keep brushing off his verbally abusive and manipulative antics? Like I get that the girls are so in AWE of this Coach guy that they're all kissing his ass and gaslighting themselves into thinking that his yelling and all is his way of strengthening their field hockey spirit and pushing them to do their best but I honestly don't care for that. I ain't a sports person so take this as a grain of salt.

BUT there was ONE thing I hate about this book and it's Coach's relationship with Mel, the team captain. I don't understand how Mel doesn't get that this weird chatting-till-late-night, secrets-stay-between-you-and-me, i-was-invited-to-your-family's-dinner-and-we-held-hands-under-the-table thing between her and Coach is wrong, or even downright problematic. You're seriously gonna brush off your kinda-boyfriend because Coach is more important? Hell nah, you're being groomed, missy. And I'm glad it took you 350+ fucking pages to realize that. Wait, scratch that, I didn't even see an on-page confirmation from Mel that she's aware this thing between her and Coach is Bad. damn.

The story itself bore me to tears. I'm sorry, I should've DNF'd this right from the beginning because there was like exposition upon exposition, but I promised myself I'll have no DNFs this year. Six POVs and the whole story crammed/dragged into 24 hours of present-day action is not a good idea, I'm sorry. It's also very hard to tell when the flashback ended and the present-day action started because the only thing that changed is the tense! The story was so messy and hard to follow and didn't give me that committing-some-tomfoolery-past-our-bedtime thrill I was hoping for when I read the premise.

TLDR: boring; do not recommend; the story is hard to follow; weird coach-student relationship; I hope Coach goes to jail for whatever he did because that last chapter did NOT do the girls justice, like what kind of ending is that man... 

Thank you Oni Press and NetGalley for the ARC! My opinion is my own.

There's a lot to unpack in this one. I'm not really sure what the plot actually was about as the drama between Cleo (the MC) and her friends felt so closed, like you have to be them to understand the drama you know what I mean? That being said, the story bored me but I think I got the gist of it at around 75% of the book, when things are starting to pick up. I personally loved the art, there's a very gothic and 90s japanese manga feel to it. I like the font selection for the dialogues, it kind of reminds me of the koRn font; although the handwriting font for Cleo's diary was really hard to read and I found myself skimming those parts. However there was a very distinct same face syndrome between the characters so it was hard to tell them apart sometimes (I didnt even realise all Cleo's friends changed their hairstyles until towards the end of the book!)

‼️ Heavy trigger warnings for this book though, as there are lots of slurs and ableist stuff thrown around as a joke. (Although there's queer and disabled rep in this book, which is pretty neat since this comic's been written 20 years ago if I'm not mistaken. ) And also SH scars are shown on page lots of times so I guess I should also put that as a trigger warning to be sure.

Despite everything, I'm quite intrigued about this strange and freaky town, and I want to see what happens next after that wild cliffhanger! 

Tell Me How It Ends follows Iris Galacia, resident tarot reader in the Galacia Gambling House, who escapes from home to earn enough for her mother as she helps a stranger rescue a friend in the kingdom of Excava. The book includes queer characters (+ aroace rep too!!!), neurodivergent characters (adhd, autism), magical species, lots of interesting worldbuilding/spirits lore, tarot cards, the foundest found family ever, and sneaking into a castle and other sneaky shenanigans.

I'm so grateful to have a physical copy gifted to me by Quinton themself as part of a giveaway! Although I took like 3?? months to read it due to this year being my senior year and being busy for weeks on end to prepare for uni,, I FINISHED IT!! AND I LOVED IT!! (i apologize for some incorrect info in the review; i read the first half of the book months ago </3)

Honestly, I thought the story was slow, especially when the ship ride took a long time to complete reading when I was more interested in what Iris and Marin would do once they arrived at Excava. However, in that time, Iris really went deep into tarot reading and explained every part of the card and how it affects the meanings of the cards and I think that's pretty cool^^

As I said, this is the foundest found family ever. I love the different dynamics between each character and Iris and Marin are the cutest platonic relationshippers I've read about in a long time!! I also love the inclusion of spirits in nature and how they mingle with caemi (the magical species in this book), and the spirits scenes were written so vividly! especially with the water spirits when Iris and Marin were on the ship. 

Some parts of the writing could be refined more, as they seemed quite hard to read/digest and awkward sometimes, but as a debut novel, this is a really good effort and I'll 100% read the next one!! I can't wait to see what Iris and the gang are up to the Chaos in the Cards #2!

POSITIVELY SCREAMING AT THE WHOLESOMENESS OF THIS BOOK!!! i love the transfem journey of Lulu (Snap's best friend) and the lesbian rep (Jessamine and Jacks) and I love how bubbly and curious Snap is too. The mix of goofy and somber moments of the graphic novel is so wonderfully balanced and I really enjoyed reading this!! WAAAAA

[3.75 stars rounded up]

TW: mentions of past emotional and physical abuse from family members, maladaptive daydreaming episodes, sex, temporary loss of limbs, fire-related wounds, loss of past loved ones (by illness)

Good stuff first: I love the fat and nonbinary representation in this book and how casual it is without bringing too much attention to it; maladaptive daydreaming representation! this is the first time I've heard about it honestly and I like that it's there (I wish it would be more consistent and not only coming up when the plot needs it to); I ADORE the illustrations in this book, it's so cute and ethereal (and sexy too hehe) and they helped with visualizing the characters as well; the writing is just golden, like many quotes stood out to me because they were just so beautiful and the way some scenes were written... *chef kiss*; and last but not least, a healthy sapphic relationship! there's consent, communication, and cuddles <3

Also, this book has smut, but the author underlined the chapter and put a symbol before the smut paragraph which is a thing I want in books now for when I don't feel like reading spicy scenes (sex-averse ace here). The scenes themselves were so well written too, and I didn't feel uncomfortable or grossed out while reading them! Some themes are explored like

anal play, bondage, toy play, shapeshifting

but I didn't mind them too much (I just skimmed the parts lol)

Now, I'd like to talk about some other things in the book that didn't hit the mark for me. The relationship between Ainsley and Priscilla was so rushed, from the insta-love to that ending. I get that they're in love but that quick? But they're a cute couple though, so I have to let that slide for now (/lh). Another thing is that that climax-ending sequence left so many unanswered questions for me and it was all just too fast and dizzying. And also I would've liked more worldbuilding, especially with the fact that magical creatures live with humans. Maybe a little history of the place or background information would helped, and also yes, the place itself could've been less vague because all this time I thought they all were in some US town but they seem to be in Scotland or Ireland (sorry I'm that slow).

All other comments aside, this is a beautiful sapphic book on hope and new relationships (family, friends, and romantic ones). Thank you Faeri Sami for the free ARC copy! My opinion is my own.

[3.5]
i dont understand the hate for this comic, i get that it isnt "canon" or that it was "fanfic-y" (i dont know much about dc/titan lore so obviously i dont understand the hate) but i'll rate this based on my reading experience.

Story:
i think that the story was a little surface-level, especially with the whole starfire/blackfire lore. The writing also feelings insufficient in some parts and the buildup towards Mandy and Claire's relationship was minimal. I wouldve liked Claire's apology to be more heartfelt but that's just me

Characters:
Mandy, the mc, seemed a little flat to me as we don't really see her whole personality outside being starfire's daughter and that she's goth and likes Claire. The same goes for Linc (bff) and Claire (LI) too. However, i like Mandy nonetheless, i think she's pretty badass and her fashion sense is amazing too. (also the way she confronts Blackfire was lowkey hilarious and so in-character)

Art:
absolutely amazing, i love how the lineless and vibrant style really fits the story and i especially love the designs of the Titans (again, idk titan lore so maybe they actually look like that in the comics) and omg Raven feature!! and her outfit is fire!! The graphic novel is also easy to follow and just so pleasing to the eye

All in all, the story didn't leave a huge impact on me but I enjoyed reading the graphic novel anyway :D