April Round Up!

April was a busy month for me. I got both of my Covid shots! The second one was horrible and I was in bed for two days afterwards. I had a fever, body aches, chills, headache, and my chest hurt. The next day was a lot better, I was just tired most of the day. But the most exciting part was that my cousin got married!! I was one of the groomsmen! It was so much fun! I got to wear a suit and there were professionals to do our hair and makeup. I wore fake eyelashes for the first time and oh my god they were amazing! I could barely feel them once the glue dried down. I also got to see my mom and dad when I went up for the wedding and I got to have dinner at my favorite place with my bff. I hadn’t seen her in over a year and it was so nice to catch up in person. I hope that you guys had a nice month. Now onto the books!

The first book that I want to talk about this month is Ajin: Demi-Human vol. 1 by Tsuina Miura. This manga follows a high school student, Kei Nagai, who is killed when he gets hit by a car while crossing the street. But he doesn’t stay dead. That’s the problem. This newfound immortality brands Kei as a Ajin or a Demi-Human. Everyone seems to want a piece of the demi-humans. Scientists want to study them, killing them over and over to test the Ajin’s limits. There’s a huge manhunt for Kei as he escapes with the help of one of his childhood friends. They attempt to go into hiding and that’s pretty much where volume one leaves off. I’m super excited to read the rest of this series. I cannot wait to read the next volume!

(I bought the next ten books in the series because I couldn’t wait on the library to get them…)

The next book I absolutely adored was Patience & Esther by S.W. Searle. I got this as a Kickstarter reward and it was so worth the wait! Here is the description from Goodreads:

Patience is a kindhearted country girl, eking out a living in Edwardian England as tremors of social change rock the world around her. When she starts her employment in formal service on the grounds of an opulent country manor, she has no idea that her own personal revolution is about to begin.

Selfless, dutiful, and just a touch naive, she takes to both her place as a parlor maid and to her new roommate, the bookish and progressive lady’s maid, Esther. In another time, the two women would have kept one another’s company forever in their little attic bedroom, living out their days in the employ of a Lord. But it’s now the dawn of a new age. The expanding empire has brought with it not only plundered wealth, but worldliness and new ideas. Suffragists agitate in the street, idle-rich bohemians challenge sexual mores, and Patience and Esther slowly come to realize the world is wider and full of more adventure and opportunity than they ever imagined . . . so long as they find the will to seize it.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. There’s so much different representation that’s portrayed which was so awesome. We’ve got a lesbian interracial couple where one of them is fat and has stretch marks. There are also other gay people shown throughout the book. There is mention of the suffragettes and secret meetings, giving the right to vote to women, class inequality, and a whole bunch of other stuff – I don’t want to give to much of the plot away here though. I want you guys to read it and experience it for yourselves. This has been one of my favorite graphic novels so far this year.

TW for this one though: there is mention of disordered eating, there are very graphic (not in a bad way) sex scenes where you see everything that’s goin on, and mentions of racism.

I know there are mixed feelings on Citrus. That being said I think I’m going to give it a few volumes before I really form a concrete opinion on it.

Idk about this series. It’s giving me a weird vibe. But I’m going to read at least the first three to see if it grows on me. Normally I’m a fan of yuri manga but I’m not to sure on this one.

Up next we have Timo the Adventurer by Jonathan Garnier. Here is the description from Goodreads:

Timo’s been preparing to be an adventurer his whole (short) life—devouring books of valiant feats and incredible journeys, learning about navigation, botany, and other survival skills. But now that he’s taken the plunge, venturing alone into a new land, the fairy tale has become all too real. Will he fulfill his wish and become a true hero, noble steed and legendary weapon included? More importantly, will he be able to distinguish friend from foe?

This was such a cute graphic novel! I loved the illustrations. The artwork was very clean and cute and I think it would appeal to anyone. Timo was very cute but I also liked the growth that he had throughout the book. I identified with all the reading that he does – sometimes I feel like I’ve read everything in my little library too (not even close though). I loved the ending. It talked about something that not a lot of graphic novels for younger kids deal with – forgiving yourself. I really enjoyed it.

The next book that I really enjoyed last month was My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It follows Megan and Cass as they grow up throughout the years. It starts out with the girls enjoying summers together at a lakeside cabin with their families. They do everything together – swim, make art, tell each other everything. Time moves on and Cass ends up moving to NY. Megan finally convinces her strict parents to let her visit Cass in NY for a week. Megan is surprised at how much Cass has changed since she moved to the city. She has a whole new group of artsy friends, she’s got a tattoo, and she knows all the cool places in the city. Even through all the changes, Megan and Cass pick up like nothing has changed. They even make amazing art together! It’s so good that it’s going to be in a art show! But as the time comes closer for the art show, the girls have a falling out that leads to a betrayal that can’t be taken back. Will the girls’ friendship ever be the same?

This was such a great graphic novel. I thought that it showed female friendship – especially as we get older – in a different light. The betrayal and subsequent fallout was something that we’ve seen before but I liked how it was done in this book. The art world can really be cut throat and it was nice to see a softer side with Cass’ mentor and the other girls in the program. Overall, if you are a fan of Mariko Tamaki then this graphic novel will be right up your alley.

Lastly we’ve got Something is Killing the Children vol. 2 by James Tynion IV.

THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD.

Ok now that that’s out of the way… you should seriously pick this up. Right now there are only two volumes with volume three coming out this summer and they are such a quick read.

In this volume we continue pretty much exactly where the first volume left off (SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE): Erica Slaughter (love her name) killed the monster that was killing the children in the town of Archer’s Peak. But now she’s going to have her hands full killing all the offspring of the monster. Can she kill the little ones before they start eating the children again?

I have no idea about the answer to that question because the book ended 😦 BUT I preodered volume three and it should be here in June! I cannot wait to see what happens with the monsters and Erica. She seems to be going against the rules that House Slaughter has? But they never really explain what those rules are? They just show up and are like, you’re doing it wrong! kill the witnesses! and she’s like no I think enough people have died thank you very much. So I’m very interested to see what is up with House Slaughter and get some more background on that and how Erica came to work for them too.

I hope you guys had a great April! Did you get to read a lot? I’m so happy that I have both of my shots! I still have about a week until I’m fully immunized but I feel so much relief at just having them.