sindri_inn_arsaeli's reviews
1120 reviews

Troll Magic: Hidden Folk from the Mountains and Forests of Norway by Theodor Kittelsen

dark mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.0

Highly evocative and atmospheric, both in the lyrical translation of the text and the dark, beautiful illustrations.

Get Jiro! by Anthony Bourdain

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

The best I can say for it was it was fast. I read the whole thing in two 20 minute chunks, and I'm still not sure why I came back to finish it. It was basically a kitchy themed blood fest. There's surely an audience out there for it, because the art was pretty well done, but turns out it's definitely not me.

The art was good for the style, well matched to the story, and in a different book I probably could have enjoyed it a lot more. But there was very little in the way of actual story building or character development. There was also significantly less of any type of food description than I expected from something with Anthony Bourdain's name on the cover. The majority of the book was build up to large spreads of gory violence. As far as content warnings, there was really only minimal sexual content even, this was just about blood. Apparently there's at least one sequel - I will not be picking it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

A coworker recommended this title to me, and kept pushing it up my reading list until I had to read it. Fast paced, great characters, GREAT exposition on the world building, I'm so glad he did! My only personal dip in how I'd rate it comes from my general complaint with pretty much all books in the genre, which was also why I didn't read it sooner: I tend to be fairly picky about YA books, because the "being a teen" part of these stories often feels like it's more important than the main plot of the story, and I can no longer relate I suppose. Case in point, I come from the genres of adventure, fantasy, and mystery, so I was definitely ready for the missing artifact to be a major plot point, and I expected a search to happen at some point. In my usual fantasy fare, the potential impeding catastrophe would supercede any concerns for things like school, but in a magical realism YA book like this, school and what socially happens there is more important. There were also some background details that could have been a product of YA fiction, or could have been just a young author, as I'm less familiar with this genre it was harder to tell - background characters had a tendency to feel like they were waiting around for the main characters to perform any actions, and how there was no description of time passing unless the moment was about the main characters. Towards the end, the boys wake up in the morning and go shopping, and with very little other action described, it's suddenly dusk. 

A few SPOILERS to follow up some nice foreshadowing (I'll try to keep them vague):
I liked that I really didn't start to suspect the villain until right up to the end. I only had about a chapter or so to think, "oh no, is it going to be this character?"
Towards the very beginning, knowing that the book was going to include teen romance, I didn't think I was going to like what I suspected the outcome to be between a ghost and a living person. I expected an ending that was overly contrived that would make me roll my eyes. But while I did guess the main fact of the ending, the way it played out fit so much better with the rest of the story than I had been expecting, and I ended up really enjoying it!

I Am the Storm by Rebecca Guay, Jane Yolen

hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is a reassuring and gentle book for young readers about severe weather. The pictures are soft, and focus on a family in a safe place from the weather, and doing something fun to pass the time. And the repeated refrain is that "when the storm passes, as storms always do," life will eventually return to normal. A sweet, easy, and comforting read.

Big by Vashti Harrison

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautiful, soft illustrations in this book of gentle self love and acceptance. I found the image of the girl handing back hurtful words to others saying "these are yours- they hurt me" the most powerful and helpful for children (and adults!) in the book.

Very Good Hats by Emma Straub

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Cute, but not super funny. Would be a fun enough read with smaller children, but while I'm an adult that still loves picture books, I felt solidly Not the main audience for this one.

What We Talk about When We Talk about Books: The History and Future of Reading by Leah Price

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

DnDoggos: Get the Party Started by Scout Underhill

adventurous funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Absolutely charming! Full of innocence and enthusiasm, this book is truly about the love of the game of Dungeons and Dragons, with the most lovable pups to guide the way. Fantastic to read with young kids who may be interested in gaming, the framing device of the dogs playing the game does a really fantastic job of demonstrating and explaining some of the most basic mechanics of the game in plot, making the book fully accessible to anyone, even those who knows nothing about the game. Having the plot follow the game, especially one staring a bunch of friendly dogs, makes the stakes very low, allows for nice fast pacing, and makes for a fun, relaxing read. The humor is clever and cute, and funny to adult and kid readers alike. My 8 and 11 year olds burst out laughing multiple times in the book! And clever little jokes the the hot dog water coming in pints, and Pickles' LOTR/hobbit reference was a nice nod to the adults who could think "I understood that reference!" A great read, and one I'm happy to recommend!

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Teach Us about the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff

reflective medium-paced

3.0

Not bad, but it couldn't really grip me, either. I did a LOT of skimming, and I don't feel I lost out on much of anything. It was hard to gauge the timeline of how long she spent with each culture she wanted to visit, but the emotional/memoir side of the writing seemed very sudden and blunt, like she was suddenly taught whatever the lesson was in as little as a day, and while she claimed at the end how much her journeys with her daughter have changed both of them that didn't feel reflected very well in the narrative. And as far as the specific parenting advice she is trying to to pass on, there was SO much repetition, it honestly just got boring. Plus, I'm really starting to notice after having read a few books of this broad type (parenting guide mixed with memoir, especially if geared towards getting kids outdoors,) and it's REALLY starting to bother me how much it's a joint parenting venture if written by a man, but when a woman is writing about trying to be a better parent, the father is almost invisible, and seems only to be mentioned a few times as if to reassure the reader that even thoigh he was part of zero soul searching trips or experiments, the fact that hes in the house gives him points. I don't know if her husband is an amazing parent or a complete jerk who assumes she'll do all the work of raising their daughter, because he's barely mentioned either way.

This book came highly recommended, but for the type of book it is, it definitely hasn't been my favorite.

Eowulf: Of Monsters & Middle School by Mike Cavallaro

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

As a Passionate Beowulf and Beowulf-adaptation lover, this was bound to be a good fit for me, and it was. Nice illustrations, very quick pacing, and the right amount of exposition to cover the previous books that introduced Eowulf. Had it been one of the first adaptations I'd read, it definitely would have rated higher. But it did everything very well, just not enough to top some of my absolute favorites. For a much more realistic and emotionally based graphic novel using DnD roll play as a framing devise, I loved Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag, a favorite trilogy using the trope of children of monster hunters learning that not all mosters are evil is Giants Beware, Dragons Beware and Monsters Beware by Jorge Aguirre, and a truly amazing modern graphic take for kids on the original Beowulf myth is the fantastic Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith. This was a great book, but for anyone who loves it, it's also just the beginning, and a great starting point for even more amazing graphic kids lit!