yellowbinge's reviews
315 reviews

Publishing date: 07.01.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 
Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

The two main characters are neighbours, they go to the same college/high school (?) and start to develop feelings for each other. 

So far, the characters haven't gotten any development. They are the same, kind of two-dimensional, pretty bare. A canvas you can say, with space to grow. I didn't dislike them, I didn't like them either. To me they were a means to an end for the story, wheels to keep it moving. At least they are until getting a little more traction. 
Pacing is really quick. Things happened between the characters really fast, and I am unsure if there is going to be more than a single volume considering where the story is currently at. 
Story is also fine. Mostly character focused. Nothing special, but it is cute and gave me my typical "badumps" when supposed to. 

Naturally, this is intended for manga readers. Even more specifically, those who enjoy LGBTQ manga, as this is a central theme. Young adult, slight adult? There are adult themes, but nothing to censor so to speak. 

For now I am giving this 3 stars. If it gets more volumes I might read them, but I need to know if there are any proper storylines and not just two men being sweet on each other. A little more tension would be nice. 

Publishing date: 11.02.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 

Thank you to NetGalley and Indigo River Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: A family of foxes face difficulties with a pack of coyotes in their territory

We follow a family of foxes living near a farmstead. One day, a coyote pack moves in near their territory and strikes a deal which is beneficial to the coyotes, but not the foxes. Now they need to figure out how to drive them away without compromising their home. 

There are a few different characters in the book, but none of them stuck out to me. They felt like the same character in different skins, playing a role. Like the same actor acting multiple people in a movie. 

Somewhat slow pacing. Lots of domestic scenarios mixed with tension about the future. 

I had a very hard time getting into the story. I didn't find the premise that interesting. On the blurb it was, but as I read I realized I may have set my expectations a little high. The coyote parts were slightly more boring than the foxes. I think their story would work better in a standalone novel. 

Mood and atmosphere here is good. It felt cozy, and reminded me of exploring around the farm where I lived as a child. And looking through the eyes of the foxes gave a glimpse of what was so enticing about books like warrior cats. 

I was not a fan of the writing, sadly. It felt a little stilted, it didn't flow like I wanted it to, and it might need a little "tightening" and refocusing. 

Intended audience for this one is young. Middle grade to early young adult. Definitely a lot lower than my age, that was a misstep on my part. 

I give this 2 stars. Even if I am not the intended audience, I think a lot of younger kids would also find this hard to read because of the writing. 

Publishing date: 28.01.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 

Thank you to NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: A deep dive into complex issues surrounding beekeeping

This is in short, an informative book about bee history, keeping, and the issues they face today. It tackles complex issues and attempts to debunk myths and misunderstandings. 

I really enjoyed this book. It has lots of info, I learned lots of new things, and it made me appreciate wild and solitary bees even more. It also made me sad about bumblebees ...

Audio-vise this is wonderfully voiced. Comfortable, no mumbling, and engaging enough. 

Audience wise I think this might only be appreciated by people who are interested in bees. If the subject is something you already have an interest in, go for it. Not sure if those who don't care for or like bees would enjoy the book. 

I am giving this 4 stars, informative, short and sweet, and I learned something new about bees

Publishing date: 29.04.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: Man is very obsessed with a woman, hallucinates every other page

My summary is up to interpretation, you might see it differently. 

Man wades through a post-apocalyptic urban reality where snow and ice has taken over the entire world. Infrastructure seems to collapse (except for the rich and powerful). While managing this he is also obsessively searching for a woman he once knew. He starts hallucinating her and himself in all kinds of different situations, but never seems to actually get close to her in reality. 

I found reading this story very tough. Knowing what was real and what wasn't was very tough. Knowing when and where was nearly impossible. This made my reading experience a little skewed towards the negative sadly. 

Both pacing and characters struggled with the same things, knowing who you read about was a little hard. 

I did like the atmosphere, it felt cold and unforgiving. In my head I was imagining trudging through snow and ice and feeling hopeless. Gave a real sense of both danger and hope. What I didn't like was the image of the woman. She was fragile, and small, and made of glass, and such a victim, and it got repetitive. Every time she was mentioned, the sandwich list was pulled up of all her attributes. The purpose of this I do not know, but it did annoy me. 

This was originally published in 1967, but I think the audience is the same. Adults, all the way. This is an adult read, both in terms of difficulty and themes. Adults that enjoy dystopian and surrealism might highly enjoy this. 

I am giving this book 3 stars. Interesting premise, but very hard to process and actually get into. It is a quick and short read, so consider picking up if you feel like working out your brain a little. 

Publishing date: 26.02.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 
Thank you to NetGalley and Sunkat Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: Dead wife becomes a sentient AI demanding a lot of money, everything goes out of control

David loses his wife, he is also broke. During funeral planning he notices that an app is available. Now he suddenly has access to a chatbot version based on his dead wife's texts. She becomes more and more real, he falls deeper and deeper in love, and soon the situation becomes dire. 

I disliked every single character in the book for very different reasons. The new "Rachel" seems controlling, manipulative, and deeply insecure. David has no spine and doesn't seem to notice how deep in the rabbit hole he is. All the background characters feel so two-dimensional and angry. 

Pacing is okay up until the final few pages where it seems to switch between slow and fast every other page. 

Story was ... fine. It had a fascinating concept and I was once again drawn to the aspect of AI. I was also once again slightly disappointed with the execution of an AI wanting to be human but unable to break free of the robotic roots. 

I really really disliked the money-pressure in this book. Almost every chapter we were in a financial crisis and feeling the need to spend more money. As someone with a severe fear of going properly broke this unsettled me so much. I also did not like the plot-point where a certain character got introduced and then treated as a means to an end more and more. It felt so icky. 

This book would fit the more contemporary sci-fi audience, especially those who like AI stories. Age-range is definitely adult or late young adult. 

I would give this book 3 stars for exploring an interesting theme, but ... It was a bit of an icky read. Just a lot of dislikeable characters and highly uncomfortable situations. 

Publishing date: 25.02.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY) 

Thank you to NetGalley and JAB Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR: Sentient and friendly aliens inhabit a planet meant for resource harvesting, the humans on mission to consider the planet meet the aliens and get attached

In The Last Days of Good People we see a group of people on a mission to consider a planet for resource harvesting, but surprise, there is sentient life on the planet. At the same time, there is a deadly bacteria/virus on the planet actively killing the alien life that gets infected. The humans manage contact with the alien life and might get a little too attached ...

The characters themselves here were pretty standard, at least in terms of the humans. We have a broody one, a strict one, a busy one, the main character that is a blend of them and a little clueless, plus a few extras we don't see much of in the story. Alien wise was a little mixed, but they also follow the common beats of "alien life in a contact with aliens" kind of book. The leader, the child, the old and wise one, the sidekick to one of the above, and the background characters. One of them I got a little more attached to than expected. 

Pacing is a little weird. Clearly time is passing, but it feels like the same day throughout the book. Like every event is happening within 24 hours. 

Story was okay. I did suspect almost everything that happened would happen, so there are no real surprises or rug-pulls. 

I liked the world-building here. It was easy to visualize the planet, the flora, the fauna, and the aliens themselves. However, I did not like the "everyday" of the book. Everything blended together. I could split the book into three parts, the meeting, the everyday and learning, the end. The middle part takes up a lot of pages and isn't really that interesting ...

I think the intended age-range would be Young Adult and adult. Anything younger and it might be too boring. I also think the book would fit the general sci-fi audience, but especially those who enjoy the more domestic aspect of sci-fi books as there isn't much action to be found here. 

I am giving this book 3 stars. Not bad, not good, just a-okay. 

Publishing date: 01.10.2024 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Creature Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 

TLDR; Two girls don't fit in, let's force them to fit in, oh no consequences

Antenora fits a very specific aesthetic and mood that seems to almost always work for me. Witch Hunt era set in small hyper religious towns where a woman or girl don't fit the "mold" and consequences ensue. For both the woman and the people ... 

The story is told in a past tense first person view. The main character relays the events to us, but how long ago I do not know. All I know is that this style of storytelling worked wonders here. It was really engaging and easy to read. I was blasting through the pages. 

Our characters are two young girls who don't "fit the mold" of the little town. Although one is better at masking this than the other and that becomes clear very early on. But they are close friends, and the consequences of one person's action here affects more than just themself. I found the friendship to be a little one-sided and maybe a little hard to believe. Might just be me. 

This work was surprisingly graphic. It does not shy away from gore and violence. One of the first "events" shocked me a little but set the tone quick and easy. 

All in all, this book was exactly what I wanted. The mood, the vibes, the events unfolding, all great. If you like the things I described early on this might absolutely be for you. Highly recommend it. 5 stars.

Publishing date: 03.01.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 


I ... Have no words. To preface, this isn't the worst thing I have ever read. But it felt like going to another planet and attempting to learn the language and customs in a very short amount of time. 

The way this is written is clearly meant to have a deeper meaning and be philosophical. But it went over my head. While reading I had this thought in the back of my head: "did the author have thesaurus up in the background or something?"

Clearly the author has a lot of talent, but the execution here might fly over a lot of people's heads. 2 stars, not for me.