Graphic novel recommendations

I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I've been at my granny's place the past few weeks and I didn't bring my laptop there, so... *shrugs*

I've read 4 graphic novels this year so far, which is a lot compared to my past 21 years of my life. (unless you count manga because I've definitely read hundreds of those) They were all pretty great in their own ways, so I thought I'd share them with you =)

Just bear with me not giving a shit about my photography skills.

Nimona / Noelle Stevenson 

I had no idea what was going on when I started this. There's this girl who appears out of nowhere, tells this super-villain that she wants to be his sidekick, and turns into a shark. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON. I LOVE THIS ALREADY, my exact thoughts.

This was action-packed and the relationship between Nimona and Lord Blackheart was really cute and memorable, like a father and daughter (": Also, probably the only fantasy-ish thing I really enjoyed so far.

Seconds / Bryan Lee O' Malley

I find it hard to summarise a graphic novel because I always jump into them without knowing a single thing.... This one has a girl who owns a restaurant, and who was given second chances again and again under mysterious circumstances.

The artstyle in this is really cute and it reminded me of some children's manga, but with colour. The story was gripping, and although it was really funny it had its dark and deep sides; you'd not only enjoy it but it'll also make you think.

This One Summer /  Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki

Every summer, Rose and her parents go to this beach house for their holiday, where there's this other girl Windy whom she always hang out with. 

Well, pretty much that's it. I really liked the art in this, but the story itself was a bit off. It's supposedly about growing up, which I guess was represented properly in the mundane parts of it? The story or characters didn't leave any impact on me, not positive not negative, and that's kinda sad. 

Through The Woods / Emily Carroll 

5 short horror stories. That's all you need to know.

This was really creepy and it legit gave me goosebumps, and even my other half thought it was scary, which is something. The cliffhanger endings will leave you like "Whaaaaaaat?" and your imagination will run wild with all the possibilities.

Plus, the artwork is really beautiful *.*

And that's all for tonight. All the libraries and bookstores are closed for today and the next 2 days, which leaves me rotting out of boredom because there's no work )= but lucky I have an infinite stock-up of books to read! =D but I'm currently reading Station Eleven and if that happens in real life, I wouldn't have anymore infinity books.

Totally Should Have book tag

I haven't been doing book tags.
(maybe because I am still nobody in this book society so nobody has tagged me...)
But I've seen some Booktubers do this, so I've decided to jump in on the bandwagon too!
(even though nobody invited me...)

1. Totally should have gotten a sequel
Honestly, none of the solo books I've read should get a sequel. They're always perfect as a standalone!

2. Totally should have a spin off series
Because I always read contemporary.... I don't have many favourite series. I PROMISE I WILL READ LESS CONTEMPORARY THIS YEAR AND READ MORE OF OTHER GENRES!

3. An author who totally should write more books
Marissa Meyer! She's become an auto-buy author for me, and also: I need to read more fairytale retellings. I have a feeling she'd be the person who would write those ;)

4. A character who totally should have ended up with someone else
Lara Jean Song in PS I Still Love You, by Jenny Han. No spoilers! But boy was I pissed when I got to the end.

5. Totally should have ended differently
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas should have ended with what exactly happened. /:

6. Totally should have a movie franchise
The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows Of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.
Any magical realism books, basically.
And also the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

7. Totally should have a TV show
Not TV show, but the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu would actually make a really great anime, in my opinion.

8. Totally should have had only one point of view
Maybe the last Mara Dyer book, but then again I didn't really like the series anyway so I don't think it'd have made a difference.

9. Totally should have a cover change
Just One Year by Gayle Forman. Yeah, that cover. Ugh. Need the silhouette cover like Just One Day please!

10. Totally should have kept the original covers
I don't think this counts, but the Ruby Red trilogy in paperback should have been in the same covers as the hardbacks /: I love the hardcovers!

11. Totally should have stopped at book one
Slammed by Colleen Hoover. I didn't see a need in it being stretched into a trilogy... In fact I don't see a need in contemporary novels being more than a standalone, in my opinion.

Til next time!

Made You Up / Francesca Zappia

What's it about: Alex has a daily struggle of being unable to tell what's real and what's not, thanks to her schizophrenia. After a long time of being labelled "crazy", she isn't prepared for normal, but I guess that is exactly what shall be thrown at her in her new school...

Hmmm. This was tough to rate. I didn't love it, but didn't exactly hate it either. Some parts I do not understand what was going on, and I'm not sure if that was what the author was going for. In the end, I gave it just 2 stars out of 5 /:

These are the parts I like:
-the initial relationship between Alex and Miles, when they couldn't stand each other.
-the setting of high school.
-the epilogue.

What I don't like:
-the premise of an "unreliable narrator". I didn't feel it; Alex was just like a normal girl to me.
-Alex's illness wasn't really touched on much in my opinion. At some parts I almost forgot she is schizophrenic. Again, I'm not sure if this is what the author was going for.
-the rush of the romance between Alex and Miles.

I'm not sure why there's so many 5 star ratings on Goodreads, because I didn't entirely see the factors that made this book worthy as such. It was fast-paced because of the setting of high school (which I do enjoy) but at the same time some parts just kinda bored me a little.

I guess I'd recommend this one to those who wanna read about being able to fit in society with their flaws/mental illnesses.

Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn

Okay. So about half a year ago someone spoiled the movie for me, which made me not wanna pick up the book. Also, I read Sharp Objects and hadn't really enjoyed it, that's why it took me a while before I decided Hey, let's go to the Adult Fiction section for once and pick up Gone Girl.

I am gonna cut to the chase.

THIS. WAS. PERFECT.

Okay, okay, before I start gushing I need to talk about the synopsis of this book. Gone Girl is a psychological thriller that revolves around Nick Dunne and his wife, Amy Dunne, the inspiration for these popular kids books, Amazing Amy. On their 5th wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and all the signs point to her husband.

Like all great books, this was best enjoyed not knowing much about. I hadn't watched the movie, of course, not even its trailers or anything. Unless you included the spoiler that I mentioned, I didn't know much about it.

I was so attached to the characters in different ways, so much love for Amy, I loved her voice during the entire book (despite her flaws if you know what I mean); and so much hatred for Nick because yeah he was honestly a douche. (kinda hated Go too just because she was supporting him so much)

This disturbed me so much that it made me not wanna get married.

Also, during the period I was reading this, I was very angry with my other half because of a fight we had, and it actually made me hate him more, just because of the way Nick was. THIS IS VERY DISTURBING, NO?

Overall this book was cleverly written, gripping, and really creepy sometimes. From beginning to end, I was hooked and enjoying the ride. Maybe an Adult thriller once in a while would be a great habit to start this year =D

By the way, Glory & Gore by Lorde just perfectly describes Gone Girl. 

Don't Look Back / Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back / Jennifer L. Armentrout

What it's about in one sentence: When Sam comes back after her and her best friend Cassie's disappearance, she doesn't remember a thing; not the things she liked, not what she was like, and definitely not what happened that night.

Gave this 4 stars on Goodreads! The moment I started reading, I could not put it down. It was fast-paced, a page-turner.

Honestly it gave me a mix vibe of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas because of certain reasons, but I tried my best to close my eyes on those comparisons and that is how I enjoyed this one =)

I liked how Sam was shocked to know how she was like before she lost her memories, and how she slowly but surely got over "evil Sammy".  Before she disappeared, she was a real bitch to everyone at school. You could see how the kids feared her or hated her, through the little interactions she had with them.

Honestly I thought it was kind of cute how her bitch clique was saying Look at that kid there you used to call her a fat bitch and you once took her food and offered her a salad to eat instead and she was just like No! I wouldn't do that!

I was supporting her the whole way, and just as badly wanted to know the truth as she did, even though she herself was questioning her own sanity.

Her brother's support for her was unbelievable, I mean, maybe because I have an elder brother who practically treats me like a stranger and that is why I didn't find it realistic for a brother to be so caring and supportive. I was a bit envious, but it works for me. I loved him as well as Julie, they make great side characters.

One thing I didn't 100% appreciate though is the romance between Sam & Carson. Okay, I liked their childhood past and whatnot, but I feel their relationship after her accident was a bit rushed. I don't really like rushed romances /:

Overall a really great mystery YA, would in my opinion make an amazing, suspenseful film!

We All Looked Up / Tommy Wallach

When I first got this book, I already had an emotional attachment to it. My best friend from secondary school got me this as a birthday gift, even though we hadn't been talking much, and I'd been hanging out with my friends from work a lot more.

We All Looked Up centres around 4 kids with labels in high school; the Athlete, the Slut, the Overachiever, the Slacker. When it is made news that an asteroid is about to hit, they are left with 2 months to leave these labels behind, to get to know one another, to really live.

This made me think: if an asteroid was about to hit, would I rather spend my remaining time with those friends I spent 4 years in secondary school with, but haven't been meeting or even talking with; or the friends I've been spending everyday of the last almost-year with?

Just these thoughts alone made me think I was gonna get my heart broken by this book.

Unfortunately... that didn't happen. (only a booknerd would feel disappointed about not having her heart broken hah!)

I didn't love the characters, not a single one from the 4 different point-of-views the chapters were in. Peter, dating a girl for 3 years and finding her annoying as time went by; what kind of guy is that? I felt disgusted, and could not understand why he did what he did in the darkroom.

Even as the chapters went on, I couldn't see the characters as real people. There wasn't much character development for any of them, and I couldn't fathom why they were the way they were. For me it was a failed attempt at making the characters have some side story or whatever.

I think the characters alone was a huge factor in making me really not enjoy this book, sorry to say.... I wasn't really focused and whatever was happening didn't keep me on the edge.

One good thing I liked about this book was the ending, which I shall not elaborate because spoilers. All in all, it was a great premise, but not so great characters and execution for me.

Why We Broke Up / Daniel Handler

Gave this 2 out of 5 stars guys. 

So where do I start.

In Why We Broke Up, Min writes a long letter to her ex, Ed, along with items from their relationship, telling the story of why they'd broken up.

When I started reading, I actually flew through the first 70 pages or so. And then it got a bit difficult...

I liked Min's voice, aka I appreciated it being in first-person, but the running sentences didn't do it for me. I didn't get half of it whenever she talked like that hah.

I didn't understand how Joan felt about her to be honest. Joan to me had this sort of split personality and I couldn't figure out if she liked Min as a person or not.

Let's not talk about Ed, I never liked him from the beginning. He was obviously gonna be that kind of guy who played around, who had an ex girlfriend here and another ex girlfriend there. Kinda cookie cutter in my opinion.

And I was a bit annoyed at how every character Min met was calling her "different". It was too much, kinda exaggerated. Maybe it was to build up to that "he called me different, but in reality I was just the same as other girls" situation, I don't know.

I would have given this book just 1 star if it hadn't been for the fact that I liked Min's voice, and because I was able to relate as I personally went through a similar story 2 years ago. Would recommend it to secondary school girls who like to read about love and relationships and blah blah blah.