Lumberjanes - Stevenson, Ellis, Watters and Allen

09:06 Unknown 0 Comments


I read “Nimona” by Noelle Stevenson was the first real graphic novel I’d ever really read in full. On searching for a copy of my own, as I’d borrowed mine from a friend, I came across this one. Lumberjanes follows the five girls from roanoke cabin at Miss Quinella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. Let us just stop for a second and admire this wonderful setting name. It’s probably one of the funniest I’ve ever come across in a novel of any kind and I am thoroughly impressed. I knew that this was going to be imaginative and creative from that moment on. 

So we follow the girls; Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley at this summer camp. However not is all that it seems when they encounter three eyed foxes, a secret cave and a very intriguing anagram. However this will not be standing in the way of their incredible summer spent together. All of the girls have a talent that they can bring to the group and all are valuable members of the team. They’re even awarded badges which correspond to their actions. They work together in harmony in order to battle their way through their problems, showing that togetherness is important. The narrative is split up by pages from the Lumberjanes manual which I think is incredibly funny, showing the actions a lumberjane must perform to receive a badge, which often corresponds with the actions in the chapter. 

The art in this novel is very reminiscent of the art style in Nimona. All of the characters are very different in appearance which therefore makes the story easy to follow and remembering the characters is very easy. The colours are vibrant which makes it very enjoyable to read and I loved that each and every pane is jam packed full of colour and action. It’s all just very appealing to the eye. I’ll definitely be picking up volume two soon, and hopefully I can convince some friends of mine to cosplay with me at some point. I desperately want to do a cosplay of April. She’s definitely my favourite character of the bunch - red hair with a white bow, purple jacket and pink shorts. Super cute and girly with a kick ass attitude. 

Overall a very quick and enjoyable read. Will definitely be picking up the next volume to continue on this story, and find out what on earth is going on. 

Total pages - 127
Total read time - 30/45 minutes
Rating /10 - 7.5

Recommend - Yes

0 comments :

The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells - Virginia Macgregor

12:49 Unknown 0 Comments

Dear Adam,
I’m sorry. 
I have to go. 
I love you. Tell Ella and Willa I love them too. And take care of Louis. 
If you need help, ask Fay, she’ll know what to do. 
Please don’t try to find me. 
Norah



There is something about the way that Virginia Macgregor writes characters that makes me fall in love with each and every one of them. Her writing style is effortless and her novels are a joy to read; a real breath of fresh air despite tackling some really hard issues. This is the second novel of hers that I’ve had the pleasure to read through NetGalley, and I can honestly say she’s quickly becoming one of my favourite authors to read. 

The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells follows a few different characters but it all focuses on the return of Norah Wells, a mother of two, after she disappeared from their lives six years ago. On entering their lives, everything that she once knew has changed, and she changes the lives of everyone else around her. Her husband Adam has called in the help of Fay and she is now his girlfriend, living in Norah’s place and acting as mum to the youngest daughter, Willa, who doesn’t remember Norah at all. Ella, the eldest daughter, however, has been holding out for her mother’s return, even starting up a twitter campaign with an active following. She refuses to call Fay “mum” and won’t let her touch the room that her mother once resided in. But once her mother explains her reasons for leaving Ella starts to doubt her wishes really bought her the outcome that she wanted. This novel starts with the promises of a happy ending, but shows that really family is a lot more complicated than it would seem. 

The novel is set over the space of a week, after Norah returns to the 77 Willoughby Street, with an epilogue of five months later. I love that it’s split into days and morning, afternoon and evening, with each of these split between the different characters; Norah, Adam, Fay, Ella and Willa. Macgregor is incredibly talented when it comes to writing different characters. Although she writes in the third person, each chapter has a distinctive voice. My favourite is probably Willa’s chapter. This adorable little girl just fills me with so much joy. She spends a lot of her chapters confused, because of the sudden appearance of this new woman that Ella keeps calling mum, but she juxtaposes this with a love of life and excitement for her impending birthday. She’s so full of love for everyone. No matter what. She even asks Adam if the new woman can stay because Ella loves her if it’s Auntie Norah from the pictures. 

Ella is a wonderful character. She reads so naturally off the page. She’s a teenager and Macgregor captures that so perfectly, even down to her relationship with boyfriend Sai that her dad doesn’t approve of. The reactions of Ella to everything that happens with her mum’s return, and her love for her little sister are so well written that I was instantly drawn into her. I wanted to sit down and talk her into listening to Norah about her reasons for leaving; and if I couldn’t do that I’d at least follow her on twitter. She’s funny and unpredictable but also incredibly determined when she sets her mind on something; like winning the 10k race or getting her mother to leave. 

Fay and Norah are definitely characters I enjoyed reading about, if only for the fact that they’re complete opposites of each other. Fay is very orderly and clean whereas Norah is more spontaneous. Fay is shown to be a more controlled mother, worrying about Ella’s grades, whereas Norah remembers when she was Ella’s mother and would take her out of school so that they could go to the science museum or on other such days out, as that was a different kind of education they wouldn’t teach her at school. I think that the balance that Macgregor keeps between the two is incredible. It would be very easy to turn around and claim that one or the other is the antagonist in this novel, but they’ve been crafted so masterfully that both have pros and cons in terms of being mothers and lovers to Adam. 

Adam is a very interesting character to me. He suffers panic/anxiety attacks, for which Fay tells him that the best way to recover is to think of a safe place. But this, to him, is Norah and that in turn makes him panic more because he remembers that she left and she didn’t tell him really why. He is caught between the love of the mother who left and the mother who stayed, both of whom he loves in very different ways. Despite his panic attacks, Adam is an incredibly strong father figure, laying out rules for the girls. However this is only because he’s grown to be the man he is with the help of Fay, after Norah left. 

The weaving between the present tense and remembering the past really brings this novel to life. The things they remember aren’t necessarily extravagant events, but little things like Ella and Norah both remembering their running races at sports day, and Willa remembering Mrs Fox so well. Between this and Fay recalling how she tried to find Norah, it’s a beautifully structured story. The plot twists are beautifully developed and there is something so charming about the ending as well. It’s satisfying without feeling too contrived or unbelievable. 

Overall this novel is full of intrigue and there are definitely some moments where I had to sit and cry for a while, but this was such a lovely read. One, I have to admit, that I read in one sitting. I laid in bed and couldn’t put this book down, literally. It’s such a lovely story that’s heartwarming and heart wrenching and everything in between. It’s one story that I will revisit as I grow up and I think that every time I will take something new from it; be it about being a good daughter, a good mother, a good wife, or even about how to treat animals. 

Please pick up a copy of this book on January 14th (a week today!) and support such a lovely author, who writes incredible books like this!! 

Total pages - 480
Total read time - 4 hours
Rating /10 - 9

Recommend - Yes

0 comments :

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz

07:37 Unknown 0 Comments

One summer night I feel asleep, hoping the world would be different when I woke. in the morning, when I opened my eyes, the world was the same. I threw off the sheets and lay there as the heat poured in through my open window. 
My hand reached for the dial on the radio. “Alone” was playing. Crap, “Alone,” a song by a group called Heart. Not my favourite song. Not my favourite group. Not my favourite topic. “You don’t know how long…"
I was fifteen. 
I was bored. 
I was miserable. 
As far as I was concerned, the sun could have melted the blue night off the sky. Then the sky would be as miserable as I was. 

Also look how gorgeous this cover is  as well! Despite the stickers

This novel has been highly admired by so many. In fact, it has been awarded six different awards; including two best book of the year awards. I’m quite late in picking this up, but after hearing it explained in youtube videos and on blogs, I wanted to read it immediately. And I’m so glad that I did. 

The plot follows a lonely teenaged boy called Aristotle Mendoza meeting Dante Quintana. The two instantly become friends despite their obvious differences. There are several events that push the two apart and draw them back together. Throughout all this time Ari really starts to question himself and how he feels, including questioning his parents about his imprisoned brother and why they love each other. It’s a novel very centrally based around love, friendship and family. 

There is something just incredibly precious about this book. I couldn’t leave it alone. I picked this book up and started it, put it down to sleep and ended up awake at 2am finishing it in tears because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The writing style is beautiful and genuine, with the interwoven Spanish/Latino dialogue of both boys. I think that this is such an important aspect to the book because, as well as dealing with the idea of love, it also deals with the concept of identity. Whilst Ari is definitely more comfortable with his Mexican heritage, Dante sees it as being a hinderance in his life. Throughout, the two talk about being Mexican and what that means to them. In addition to this LGBT+ identity is focussed on two. About half way through the novel it is expressed that Dante thinks he might be gay, but suppresses it when his family move away and he tries kissing girls. Whilst Dante is talking about this in his letters, Ari struggles with his own sexuality, adamantly expressing that he couldn’t love him. 

This friendship is something that Sáenz introduces is very natural and the shift between friendship and relationship is so seamless that really it’s almost shifting throughout the novel. Both boys introduce the other to something new. Dante teaches Ari how to love being outside and the value of friendship as well as poetry, whilst Ari teaches Dante how to love who he is, and how to trust people especially when it comes to things that he’d once be very secretive about. But the joy of them really is just how free they are with one another and how they live alongside each other with no shame. There is no shame in either of them walking down the street without shoes, or loving someone. 

Their parents are also very interesting characters. Ari’s parents are slightly more disconnected; his father is rather closed off and neither will talk about their son who’s in prison. This does start to upset Ari when he feels that he can’t connect with them, after seeing Dante’s parents. They are both well educated and work, as well as both being incredibly loving and supportive. Although Ari’s mum does show him affection, Dante’s mother and father both show their affection physically, kissing cheeks and embracing a lot. This does cause a slight shift in their friendship at the beginning because Ari feels as if he doesn’t fit in with his family, but eventually they both grow to accept one another’s different family. 

I don’t remember being so emotionally affected by a novel since I read M. R. Carey’s “The Girl With All the Gifts”. I sat up at 2am and cried whilst thinking about all of the messages in this novel. Loving unconditionally and embracing life whilst it’s still there is just something incredible that this book reminded me of. The characters will stick with me throughout and I will definitely be re reading this in the future when I’m having a bad day. The end of this novel is just so satisfying and the final line just fills me with so much joy to read. I definitely recommend that anyone in a reading rut reads this, or anyone struggling to come to terms with their sexuality, suffering with bad friendships, or is just feeling sad. This book is sad in places, but definitely more of a pick me up. I can’t write enough good things about this book. It’s definitely one to read and experience for yourself. 

Total pages - 359
Total read time - untimed
Rating /10 - 9

Recommend - Yes 100%

0 comments :

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )