Saturday, December 28, 2019

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu


Synopsis:
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft.

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

(Synopsis from Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:
I've been wanting to read more graphic novels this year. It's something that I love to do, but don't do very often for whatever reason. I heard quite a few people on booktube talk about how good Mooncakes is so I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, I ended up not enjoying it as much as I had hoped I would.

Mooncakes had so much potential. The graphic novel is full of things I usually love reading about, such as witches, shifters, and LGBTQ+ characters. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me. Throughout reading the graphic novel, I was confused because parts of it didn't seem to make sense. It almost felt like there was another book in the series that came before it that I should have read. However, when looking on Goodreads, it appears to be the only book in the series. There were references to things that had happened to the characters previously and inside jokes between them that I didn't get at all.

The other thing that I didn't like about Mooncakes was that the main characters didn't have distinct personalities. They were just cookie cutter and plain. Other than their physical abilities, there was nothing to make them stand out from other characters in the graphic novel, or characters I had read about in other books. In fact, I had to go slow and keep looking at the art work to remember which character was which because their personalities were so similar. I had to backtrack several time in the story line because I kept getting them confused.

I really wanted to love Mooncakes. It has all of the elements that I usually love in a story line. However, this graphic novel just wasn't for me. I found it confusing, and hard to distinguish between the characters. I would like to give this author another try in the future though because I know a lot of people that did love this graphic novel.


I give Mooncakes: 2/5.

Want to know more about the authors?
Suzanne Walker
Website: https://www.suzannewakeenwalker.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzusaur
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzisaur/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7008509.Suzanne_Walker

Wendy Xu
Website: http://www.artofwendyxu.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/angrygirLcomics
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artofwendyxu/

I received this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Friday, December 27, 2019

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover


Synopsis:
Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

(Synopsis from Goodreads).

My Thoughts:
Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite authors. I read Hopeless when it was first released, and have been addicted ever since. Therefore, it was no surprise to me that I loved her latest novel, Regretting You.

Regretting You is definitely in my top five books of the year. There's so much that I loved about the book. First of all, I love how Colleen Hoover can write crazy plot twists. I didn't read the synopsis at all, so what happens towards the beginning caught me completely by surprise. There were a few things after that that completely shocked me too. There's a certain thing that's revealed in the middle that I didn't see coming at all. I had to stop and re-read that part to make sure I was reading it right.

Also, I love the relationships that she creates between characters, whether it be a family dynamic or a relationship dynamic. Morgan and Clara might not always have the perfect relationship with all of the chaos surrounding their lives, but when it comes down to it, they have each other's backs. I like that the author shows that real side to all of the relationships in the book. Love, whether it be family or romantic, is always messy and complicated, but one hundred percent worth it in the end.

In fact, the only thing that keeps this from being a five star book is the ending. I found it to be a little lackluster after all of that build up, especially the way the school project ended. I just expected more. Other than that, I absolutely loved Regretting You. Although at this point, I'm pretty sure Colleen Hoover could re-write the phone book and I'd love it. I can't wait for her next release.  


I give Regretting You: 4.5/5.

Want to know more about the author?
Website:  https://www.colleenhoover.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorColleenHoover/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleenhoover
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleenhoover/
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/colleenhoover
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5430144.Colleen_Hoover

I received this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.