Tag: book reviews

Rez Kid by Andrea Landry
Isabella Fassler

‘My moshum taught me to pray for those with hard hearts. He says there’s always a soft part.’

Oh my goodness, the art in this book is absolutely stunning. Each page is beyond jaw-dropping. I’m seriously so impressed by the illustrations! Lovely work!

The message of the book is absolutely heart-warming, too. A young girl who is being bullied and teased at school tells her family about how bad of a time she’s having on the bus. Each family member in turn shows her how wonderful her home is and what she might share with her classmates. The story and message is honestly very kind and wholesome, and I’m utterly in awe of how beautiful the illustrations and details are. Definitely worth checking out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

My Earth Journey by Evelyn Dean

I would never be alone as long as there were forests.

This was a really sweet, uplifting little story full of daydreams and escapism. The protagonist finds herself transported from the disappointments of fair-weather friends at school to the kind, playfulness of animals who bring her on a journey through the natural world. It’s almost reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland except the animals aren’t fantastical or speak, they’re simply taking her through their homes and daily routines in the rivers, forests and sky. But there is something very gentle and lovely about the whole thing.

I also really appreciated the guide at the back of the book that gave detailed information on the uses and benefits of various plants, as well as the meanings and beliefs associated with the presence and arrival of different animals into our lives. Very informative and interesting!

This is a great little book for young kids learning to navigate friendships and disappointments, but also interesting for adults who want to learn more about wildlife. Definitely worth checking out!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Missed Steps by L. Sherleen

MILD SPOILER WARNING

This was very sweet and generally lighthearted other than a few scenes. I truly felt for Kyle and what he went through. (I didn’t get the initial ostracism from the other characters at all, though. Like we go in and out of contact with people? Being a bullying brat – as a group, no less – about it because of one summer without contact seems a bit bizarre to me.) Some plot points didn’t totally work for me or I didn’t find entirely plausible (like the final dramatic moment just didn’t seem … like I didn’t really follow how it manifested or how Mark’s brother could apparently just ‘do’ things when legally none of the rest of them could), but overall I was going ‘Awww’ for most of the book and several scenes made me smile and giggle. I do have questions about Mark and Damien, too. I felt like we got so much on Kyle’s family but not as much on Mark’s (unless I missed something!).

I think Chris was probably my favourite character after Mark, and I liked Tommy and Eddie. Honestly I felt bad for Eddie. Like I get why Kyle was wary and standoffish, but it was also uncalled for and got Eddie a lot of hate and suspicion from other characters that he didn’t deserve. Overall though, Kyle and Mark had a great dynamic and were pretty adorable together. Mark’s overprotectiveness was utterly wholesome and endearing.

Definitely going to check out more by the author!

Ghost Says Meow!: A Halloween Story by Lauren Kukla

“You all sound great.
You really do! But
why not try out
something new?”

Oh gosh, this was absolutely adorable! The rhymes are super cute and well done, and the illustrations are just precious. I really appreciated the book’s message of being unafraid to be different and embracing being yourself even when others are telling you that it’s wrong to divert from the norm.

Definitely a fun, wholesome book for young kids!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

A Spoonful of the Sea by Hyewon Yum

Many mothers ago, a haenyeo with a big belly saw a mother whale eating seaweed after she gave birth.

This was such a lovely little read that explains the meaning and history behind making and serving miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) every year for a birthday meal. I love the idea of expectant mothers diving to get seaweed for soup to keep themselves and their babies healthy because whales do the same thing. The animal lover in me just adores that.

The illustrations are just precious and I loved the watercolour style! Definitely a great book for kids, especially if you want to emphasise the importance of family, nature, learning from animals, history and tradition.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Just in Case: Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault by Megan Clendenan
Illustrated by Brittany Cicchese

Only eight hundred miles from the North Pole, away from wars and weapons, safe from earthquakes, fire, and even an asteroid, buried deep in the Earth on an island in Norway, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault holds priceless treasure.

Oh, this made me cry. In a truly, wonderfully hopeful way. My conservationist/environmentalist book from childhood was The Wump World which truly shaped me as a lover of the world. But The Wump World is pretty darn bleak even with the hopeful-ish ending. I loved it, I reread it, but oh, my heart broke for the wumps. Every time I read it, I was so sad for the wumps and their destroyed home. Just in Case on the other hand, seems like the happy complement to it. Seeds from all over the world stored in the ice for safekeeping? Original seeds, protected for the future? Possibly for hundreds of years? Safe from war, disasters, loss of use because focus is driven by demand? I was instantly emotional.

I’m also astonished I didn’t know about this place?! I had to look up the Svalbard Global Seed Vault while I was reading and it’s such a cool concept! I’m absolutely delighted by its existence! YES, ALL THE SEEDBANKS! LOVE IT!

More than 580 million seeds. For you, for me, for everybody. Just in case.

The part that really, really made me emotional was reading about how it’s been used already and a seedbank that was endangered by modern warfare was able to send its seeds to Svalbard, keep them safe, and later retrieve them for replanting. Isn’t that beautiful? My environmentalist, Earth-loving self lost it at that part.

I honestly cannot recommend this little book enough! For kids and adults! Go grab a copy and have a good cry about lovely, hopeful things humans are doing for the future! Go, go, go!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

“There’s good in it, too,” he went on. “I am the first person people see when they draw their last breath. I am the messenger who can deliver them to those they’ve missed. I am the one who assures them not to worry, or who delivers a swift death to those who are not welcome into the afterlife. I am many things, but what I am not is ashamed.”

Oh wow. So, I read this in a day. SO. GOOD. You know those books where you read book one and you instantly want to read the entire series and you’re disappointed to find out that the latest one isn’t out for another few months? Literally me right. GIMME ALL OF THEM, ADALYN GRACE, I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS.

Belladonna’s been one I’ve been meaning to read for a good long while – years, honestly – but I finally got in the mood – my mood reading cannot be tamed – and now I’m annoyed at myself that I took so long to dive in because it is awesome. I loved Signa and the personification and characterisation of Death. I loved the historical fantasy, gothic romance, murder mystery vibes that all worked together very well. (I got kinda Secret Garden and A Great and Terrible Beauty vibes at various points throughout, two books very dear to my heart. [You should read them!]) And for a book about death, this was truly a kind, empathetic, loving depiction of the subject and I truly appreciated it. Grace’s prose and worldbuilding are phenomenal and her characters are just wonderfully written. I also totally guessed one of the Big Twists and I’m quite proud of that. It wasn’t super obvious (don’t worry, it’s very well done), but I was on the hunt to unravel the mystery, so yay me! The other Big Twist I did not see coming, though. (I may have spoiled myself on that front, too, because I flipped ahead like a GOOBER.) But both were fantastically done. The ending was also a great cliffhanger and I’m stoked for book two!

Honestly the whole concept that Grace came up with is just really fascinating and fantastical and balanced quite a few concepts very well. I do have some questions that I hope are addressed in the next book, but going off this book alone I’m all kinds of intrigued and impressed. I also really loved the setting. Signa struggling with wanting to fit in because of how lonely she feels in high society contrasted well with the paranormal mystery aspect of the novel. (SEMI-SPOILER: Death at the tea party, telling her to eat scones, was very funny.)

I hope the mystery in the next one is just as fascinating as this one! I also want to learn more about Blythe. Signa’s protectiveness of her was very sweet and I really hope we get more of their friendship going forward. The dad, too!

QUOTES I LIKE/HEADS UP FOR SPOILERS:

– “You summoned me. I’ve done nothing but come where I was called. I’m not your enemy—”

– Had Signa been looking, she would have seen that Death’s shadows wilted. She would have seen that he reached out for her, only to draw back before she could reject him. She would have seen his shadows wrap themselves around Magda’s mouth, silencing the woman before she could say another cruel word.

– “Since the dawn of this earth, I have waited. You are mine, and I am yours. And together, this world is ours.”

– “Is she here?” Every word was fragile. Every breath threatening to break him. “My wife, is she here?”

Mourner For Hire by Caitlin Moss

This is my job. I have turned a passion into an income, and you cannot fault me for that. It doesn’t make it less good or less worthy. It doesn’t make it less meaningful, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I care less about the people I do it for, just because they pay me.

Okay, this was a really pleasant surprise. I totally picked this on a whim because the cover was charming and the idea of a ‘mourner for hire’ was really unique. And honestly, I’m really glad I gave it a chance. Vada is a great character. She’s completely blunt and honest and heartfelt and kind. She tells people when they hurt her feelings and when she cares about them. There were so many moments – I’ve seen a lot of romcoms, so I was expecting it – where I thought her conflicts with Dominic might have lead to a miscommunication or swallowed feelings or whatever, but she was so forthright with him. I really appreciated that.

Dominic, I struggled with more. He was really lovely at the start, and I did like him overall as a character, but I felt like there were a lot of moments where he was kind of ‘mad for the sake of being mad’. That said, while it could have felt contrived and just to set up conflict between them, it did work insofar as people do act irrationally and lash out when they’re grieving. So while he did drive me a bit bonkers here and there with the way he reacted to Vada – who was nothing but honest and kind and patient with him – I was also able to go with the flow of the plot because it didn’t just feel like conflict for conflict’s sake. More that he needed someone to be angry with after his mother passed and Vada was an easy target for that anger and grief. So, all that’s to say that despite the fact that he could be a bit frustrating at times with his insistence on doubting Vada’s motives, he didn’t cross the line into unlikeable.

I will say I totally did NOT seeing the paranormal side of this coming at all. (I’ve since looked at the synopsis – which I did not read all of before diving in – and it’s literally right there, so egg on my face. But still!) It was a twist I really liked, too! I wasn’t sure where the story was going to take it, but at the end of the book I had an ‘Ahhh, okay, I like that’ moment. So, hats off to the author on that front!

Overall, this is a really solid romance novel about grief, death, life and forgiving yourself. I’m definitely going to check out more from Caitlin Moss because this was a lovely surprise of a novel.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Grandmother Moon by Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason
Illustrated by Trisha B. Waters

Sometimes you only need to stand beneath Grandmother Moon, close your eyes, and breathe. If you’re very still, you’ll feel her light gently kiss your cheek.

Oh, this was simply lovely and beautiful and sweet! The illustrations are so gorgeous! Each page was utterly captivating. The style is super cool. I’m not even sure how you describe it, but it’s like a watercolour-type style that’s very relaxing and vibrant.

The story follows a young girl and her grandmother on their Friday evening drive to the reservation – a weekly tradition they cherish – discussing the importance of the moon and its significance and presence in their lives. Learning about the different types of moons was also so interesting for me – like the Strawberry Moon, the Thunder Moon, the Long Moon, etc. There’s even a handy, informative guide at the very back of the book that details each moon’s meaning and time throughout the year and how their calendar has thirteen moons with twenty-eight days. The ‘Turtle’s back’ imagery that depicts the moons was also very, very cool.

For such a short little illustrated kid’s book, this one manages to pack in so much history, artistry and knowledge from the author’s ancestors. I honestly really loved learning about their traditions and stories. Highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Punctuation to the Rescue by Cheryl Olsten

This is a very cute little story about the importance of punctuation marks and how each one is used in a sentence but conveyed in a fun, colourful, wholesome way that young kids will likely enjoy! Each punctuation mark character brings to life their uses in a sentence – as in, Question asks questions, Comma pauses a lot, Exclamation exclaims a lot, etc. I thought the inclusion of old forgotten punctuation marks was a fun little ode, too.

Definitely a good, educational read for younger kids!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.