laurelthebooks's reviews
655 reviews

The villain (Morgana) writing YA books and eating cheeze-its, an Arthur that’s here, queer, and more concerned with chess and pretty girls? Merlin in a space suit? Gwen with a battle axe? Plus an invading fae realm? Oh, and the parents actually exist for the main character?!

This comic is a wild ride from start to finish.

I need to stop picking up graphic novels that make me feel emotional - this was one was predictable, sad, and glorious all at the same time.

 This review is of an ARC, many thanks to TOR for running a giveaway!

I'm going to start with some comparisons because when I finished this book I felt like I had just finished something that took some of my favorite parts of several different books and mashed them together.

The Vibes: The chaos tinged with death was straight out of Muir's Locked Tomb Series for me. You get dumped into things right at the start and get to feel out the world and the environment in the same way - I loved it. (Although, for me, this book tops Gideon because these vibes have an elegant twist to it that just hit right for me.)

The Politics: The political set-up and whodunnit set-up here sent me tripping right back to A Memory Called Empire, except Charm is absolutely not an ambassador and more of spoils of war that's been here long enough to accumulate a facsimile of power. Charm and her boneghosts playing off of the people in power for their own ends intrigued me greatly.

The Characters: Have you read EJ Beaton's The Councillor? If not, go check it, but if so - the characters Mueller has in this book have the same complexity to them as Beaton's. The backgrounds of the characters are a little less diverse by default of our main character's circumstances - there are only so many people that she can interact with. The world gives promise of even more variety, and there are several off screen characters that I am highly curious about after the end of this book.

ALSO! I do have to admit that I still adore this cover. The cover is what caught my eye in the first place, and I love those gorgeous, gorgeous bones.

The pacing was slow to start, and there were a few awkward POV transitions, as well as unexplained statements that seemed to contradict a bit of what we had learned about the world - some of which can likely be attributed to an unreliable narrator. I'm actually hoping to re-read it after is published (March 22!) to see if any of that is ironed out.

Overall, I found this a twisty, dark mystery with an interesting world setup that managed to pack some fascinating characters on the page. Pain was by far my favorite character, and how Charm and her boneghosts interact with the world (plus how they were created) reminds me why I love creative uses of necromancy and psychics in fiction. The use of trauma here was just like...wow. I've seen it attempted before, but not this masterfully and not without verging on having trauma serve as magic in an ick way for me. A high five to Mueller from me for that.

For now, this is going on my list of favorite reads of the year. Do check the CWs! Dark and graphic things abound here. 

 While this contains some out of date references (say, the marshmallow experiment which has since had further studies done with differing results), it really is a collection of some common sense items when working with a diverse group. However, common sense for these groups isn't necessarily intuitive. Working with diverse groups is something that needs thought about and practiced - although patience, thoughtfulness, and a sense of decency go a long way in helping.

Common pitfalls and errors are identified and suggestions provided for improvements - a good, basic overview of things to consider when working within a diverse group. 

Not a perfect book, but one that put to words things I had been noticing beautifully.

This memoir uses fairytales as a foundation for a tale of growing up and realizing what you can and cannot be - I appreciated the references strewn throughout and the works consulted at the end.

Could this have been more in-depth? Definitely! Did I still majorly enjoy it for its use of disability and fairytales and how they interact with life? 100%.