The Prince and the Dressmaker ~ Jen Wang

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I first heard about this book from Hannah at A Clockwork Reader. I was interested in what she said about it, that it was a graphic novel about a prince that wears dresses and had LGBTQ+ rep in it. Usually I'm not drawn in by graphic novels, but this was one of the first that pulled me in.

Summary

Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!

Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.

I am so incredibly glad that I picked this up! I chose it for my BiblioGames Readathon for my class Gym, which is a book that is in a format that I don't typically read. I read a few graphic novels in elementary school but none of them were as quality as this one, so I'm going to say this is my first graphic novel! And I loved it.

The artwork/drawings (I'm not sure the correct terminology yet) were phenomenal, they were very detailed and it was very easy to detect expressions from the characters (without looking at the words).

THE STORY WAS SO CUTE THOUGH. Ah I loved it so much. I loved the secrecy at first that he was her client but he didn't want to reveal himself to her because he was afraid. Then as the story went on he became more and more comfortable in his own skin. Frances & Sebastian's friendship was precious, I couldn't tell if they were really more than friends... like they kissed but I'm not really sure what that means. It doesn't really make a difference to me because I just loved their dynamic. Also the ending where the King joins in the fashion show type thing was truly incredible and I honestly wasn't expecting it. I was expecting more just a support from the audience type of vibe but no, it was all out "I am doing this with you because you're my son and I love you."

This was just overall so adorable of a story. It was a perfect first graphic novel for me and a great Pride Month read 🏳️‍🌈

Rebel of the Sands ~ Alwyn Hamilton

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is one of those books that I picked up a while ago that I thought I might still enjoy today. But honestly I bet I would've enjoyed it less when I picked it up before.

Summary

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three.  She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

This book confused me so much. Every time I thought I understood what was going on, there was more description added or more backstory added that just confused what was actually going on in the plot. On the other hand, some things that would've made the plot easier to understand were not explained enough! This book could've been so much better if the right things were explained instead of writing more about things that would eventually confuse the reader more than they probably already were.

There were some things that I did like about the book (but being confused the whole time somewhat ruined them for me), I liked the magical aspect. I thought that the underlying magic running through the desert was interesting and to be honest, I wasn't really expecting what ended up happening with it but I did enjoy that part. Another thing I enjoyed was the desert setting. Not a lot of the books I read are set or told in an environment like that, so it was a nice change to see a story told in such a unique setting. Finally I liked the banter between Amani & Jin. You could tell they had chemistry from the first night they met each other and it was clear they were going to be a thing for the whole rest of the book. I did enjoy their little fights because it added depth to just a romantic relationship, but I also enjoyed the tiny bit of heat there was between them at moments. One thing I didn't like was how Jin lied to Amani for almost the entirety of the book about how he was subtly guiding her to the rebellion camp and how it wasn't really talked about after that except for how Amani was upset about it but she didn't ever confront Jin. I hope that is something that is some how resolved in the next book.

Little Fires Everywhere ~ Celeste Ng

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book SHOOK me. I went into this with both high and low expectations. This book is a bestseller and I've seen it literally every time I go book shopping, whether it's a poster or it's displayed or something, it's always there. So that should've gotten me hype and it did but since I tried reading this as an ebook a year or so ago (before I really got into reading again) and didn't really enjoy the part of it I read then, I was still expecting those same feelings. NOPE. I ended up loving this

Summary

Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia's.

Ahhhh I loved this book so much. So much that I have been procrastinating writing the review because I'm nervous that I won't do the book justice. But then I told my mom she HAD to read it and she's liking it so far... so I figured that should be enough motivation for me to write this review.

One of the things that I liked about this book was how I didn't really know where the plot was going. That is such a strange thing for me to say because that is actually one of my pet peeves of books; when the plot has no direction. But in this book it just made sense. However, the farther you get into the book there are some plot directions that push it towards some major points in the story but then you get pulled out and into something completely different while still making sense and keeping my attention. It was a very unique way to tell a story and it very well could've been a miss with me but I ended up really loving it in the end.

Talking about the end, that was the one thing that I felt lacked. Maybe it was because I pretty much knew the ending from the beginning? I'm not sure, but I just felt that there were some loose ends that I wanted tied up. That totally goes against the grain of the rest of the book however because everything is random and more real to life. In life there are some loose ends that you'll never find the answer to and you just have to deal. So I guess while the ending lacked for me, it didn't necessarily make me like the book less it just left me wanting to know what would've happened between characters and what would've happened if some plot points where actually explained to the characters (you'll understand what I mean by that if you've read the book). At the same time, this ending is what made the book good because it followed the 'trueness to life' feeling that the rest of the book had so I don't know. I'm conflicted. But that isn't a bad thing.

Ah the characters were beautiful. I loved the contrast between the Richardson's and Mia & Pearl. The dynamic ended up working so well while still being so different. I also enjoyed how as the story progressed you got to know tiny tidbits about the characters that might've been skipped over in other books. I just loved the direction that every character went in. There were some that I felt could've had a little more explanation and depth (Moody & Trip) but I understand they weren't the main focus of the story. Even though I'm still not 100% sure what the main focus was. I loved the relationships that came to be, especially Mia & Izzy and Mia & Lexie. I admired Mia because she openly let the two girls into her life and comforted them in the way that they needed without really expecting anything in return, or even wanting anything. I can tell that Mia has a kind heart even though she has some baggage and loose ends in her own story.

The main thing that shook me about this story was May Ling / Mirabelle baby thing! I cannot imagine something so intimate being publicized like that, even though more intense stuff is like that in the news today. I guess it just irritated me but I can't really tell you why because I don't really know where I stand on the argument. It's complicated in my head because I am adopted. So the whole time I kept thinking about what if I was May Ling / Mirabelle, what would I want to happen? Who really should end up getting me? Why? Ugh it just pulled at my heart strings. Of course my adoption is completely different because it's open and I know and talk to my birth parents all the time but it was interesting to see that aspect in a story near or around the same time I was born (Story takes place in the 90s I'm pretty sure, and I was born in 1999).

Along with that, there were also just a lot of interesting subjects touched on in this book. Complicated adoptions, being a surrogate, abortion, teenage sex, problems with perfectionism, and other things that really grabbed my interest.

So even if you don't think you'd enjoy this book I still recommend it to you. Whatever taste you have in books, I think you could find something enjoyable about this book. Or if you're like me, you'll just absolutely love it and rate it five stars.