2023 Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: February

Ya girl hit a reading slump hard in February. I started a lot of physical books, but ended up reading mostly e-advanced reader copies (eARCs or ARCs), and mostly graphic novel ARCs at that. If you didn't know, graphic novels help immensely with reading slumps! The one book that wasn't an ARC was an audiobook that I buddy read with a friend. If you're unfamiliar with the buddy read, it's a cool thing that holds each person involved accountable to reading a certain number of pages or chapters a day. StoryGraph has a buddy read feature that allows readers to work at their own paces, adding comments about certain passages on certain pages, and the other readers involved can't see those comments until they've reached that point in the book (genius). I highly suggest checking out that feature if that sounds appealing to you!

Here are my stats for this month, not including formats and genres.

And now, let's get into the reviews!

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shelves: ARCs, Chick Lit

Review: Weyward is a gorgeously written novel with an equally gorgeous cover and a promising premise that, at its roots, tries to be feminist in its storytelling. Weyward follows three women through time: Altha, a young witch in the early 1600s, as she learns from her mother and makes bold decisions regarding the livelihood of a childhood friend and love interest; Violet, a young woman in the 1940s who is struggling with finding herself and wrestling with the unsettling feelings around her mother's death and her father's role in her life; and Kate, in her early 30s, caught in a violently abusive relationship with a controlling partner.

What I loved: the descriptive writing, the alternating timelines, the magical realism, and the overall idea for the story. Green witches are my favorites, so there is cottagecore aesthetics to the max here.

What didn't work for me: That every man, with the exception of Adam Bainbridge, Graham Ayres, and Henry Ayres (all with relatively minimal page time, and one who is dead for the entirety of the story), is an absolute wretch. I was so disappointed that there weren't more male characters (since it's trying to be feminist after all) that were not better people, who displayed good natures and kind hearts, and who played bigger roles within the narrative. Instead, this book makes one believe that the sole reasons for the Weyward women's woes comes from men, which not only makes it look like they're just terrible at picking men, but also just misses the mark in my opinion.

A great concept, but one that didn't meet the expectations I had for it. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me advanced reader access to this. Weyward publishes March 7, 2023.

Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shelves: ARCs, Beach Reads, Favorites, Modern Lit, Romance

Review: Thirst for Salt follows a 37-year-old woman recalling her 24th year as she gets entangled in a relationship with a 42-year-old man. I thought the ways this book navigated relationships--both romantic and parent-child--were beautifully done. It was understated, but packed a punch. I loved the descriptive writing and the ways places were painted on the page. This character-driven novel doesn't feel overly pretentious the way other books like this can feel. Everyone has their own flaws, but I didn't hate them. It was a lovely exploration of love--how our life experiences shape how we give, receive, and perceive it--and the ways that our main character handles her first "grown-up" relationship. This was also my first book in a long time that didn't have quotation marks, so that was a little weird. Lol.

At times, the book failed to hold my interest so that's why it only got four stars for me. But another book to add to the Sad Girl Lit Fit category! I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House for the eARC! This title publishes March 7, 2023.

Rizos (or Frizzy) by Claribel Ortega

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shelves: ARCs, Children's Lit, Favorites, Graphic Novels

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for giving me advanced reader access to the Spanish version of title in exchange for an honest review. This title publishes in Spanish on September 26, 2023, but the English version is out now.

Rizos, or Frizzy in English, follows Marlene as she learns to love and accept her naturally curly hair. Marlene is Dominican, and therefore has both Spanish and African roots, which plays into the story of her hair, a story that she grew up trying to stifle. Her mother takes Marlene and herself to the salon every Sunday where a hairdresser spends hours detangling, heating, and relaxing her hair.

After Marlene attends her cousin's Quinceañera and hears how much her family talks about appearances, she gets fed up and goes to school with her natural hair. The kids at school pick on her, which leads to a big confrontation. Afterward, Marlene spends the weekend with her Aunt Ruby, who embraces her natural hair, and she teaches Marlene how to properly care for her curly hair while also instilling in her how beautiful it is. "There is no such thing as good hair or bad hair." This weekend ends up deeply impacting Marlene, and leads to her embracing a part of herself that she always struggled to accept.

I thought this was a beautifully illustrated story as well as a deeply heartfelt one about family and friendship. It gave me the opportunity to practice my Spanish while also discussing acceptance within communities where anti-blackness has been championed and, in turn, damaging whole groups of people for way too long. I highly recommend! A wonderful middle grade graphic novel.

The Sprite and the Gardener by Rii Abrego

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Shelves: All-Time Favorites, ARCs, Environmental, Fantasy, Gardening, Graphic Novels, Young Adult

Review: The Sprite and the Gardener follows a new sprite, Wisteria, as she learns what her purpose is and explores her powers in helping a young gardener, Elena, revitalize her mother's garden. It's a short graphic novel, at less than 90 pages, but it is beautifully illustrated and has a heartwarming storyline.

I loved that all the other sprites were named after flowers, and I loved how Wisteria's character growth ended up bringing together her little community of garden fairies for the benefit of the neighborhood. It felt magical while reading while also highlighting the values of individual talents and how they can be combined in a group effort to make something bigger and beneficial happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me advanced reader access to this title. The Sprite and the Gardener publishes April 4, 2023.

Arca by Van Jensen

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Shelves: ARCs, Dystopian, Graphic Novels, Sci-Fi

Review: Arca is a sci-fi take on the Allegory of the Cave. The world has fallen apart because of a disease that rendered human life on earth impossible, and the upper class elite (known as Citizens) have come up with a plan to save humanity. They've built a massive vessel, the Arca, to take humans to "Eden," a new Earth where they can start over. The Arca has all of the comforts the Citizens left behind, and teenage servants (or Settlers) work for them up until the age of 18 when they graduate and become Citizens themselves. But Effie, a Settler, picks up that this life isn't what it seems and seeks to find answers.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters--they all felt pretty cold and not very likable--and the illustration style also wasn't my favorite, but I appreciated the twist of the classic story we all know the outcome of. Because, at the end of the day, you've seen movies and read books with this premise and you know how it all ends. It was fast-paced, and held my interest amid my current reading slump. For fans of sci-fi, particularly sci-fi with messages of social revolution, I think it will be an enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for giving me advanced reader access to this title in exchange for an honest review. Arca publishes July 11, 2023.

The Talk by Darrin Bell

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shelves: ARCs, Favorites, Graphic Novels, History, Memoir-Biography, Nonfiction

Review: The Talk is a heartbreakingly honest look at the life of political cartoonist Darrin Bell, and how the issues of race in America have permeated his life. This graphic novel memoir begins with Darrin confronting two dogs, which inspires him to carry a rock for protection, and leads to his mother having a discussion with him when he was just six years old about how he wasn't allowed to have a toy water gun that looked like a real gun because of the color of his skin.

He grows up having to confront the prejudice and racism that he witnesses while also observing how those around him handle these issues. His brother seems fine with ignorance and avoidance, his mother bulldozes it as soon as she or her children are confronted with it, and his father shuts down emotionally. Through political cartoons, Bell is able to show the ways Americans are still entrenched in racism while exploring his own feelings in how the world views him and anyone else like him.

This is such an important memoir, easy to comprehend and powerful because of its medium, and highlights how different it is growing up Black in America. White kids never had to have a talk about race with their parents. White kids look at police officers as protectors rather than threats. Reading this makes my heart hurt and desperately wish things were different, and I hope everyone who reads this feels the same so that change can happen in a big way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for giving me advanced reader access to this title. It publishes on June 6, 2023, and should be required reading for anyone who thinks racism doesn't exist in today's society (well, and even everyone who does tbh).

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Shelves: Beach Reads, Chick Lit, Fantasy, Short Stories, Romance

Review: Love in Colour is a collection of short stories in love's different forms, but all of our main characters are people of color. Babalola takes myths and sets them in modern day, as well as telling some more recent stories. All of these love stories are between male and female, so if you're looking for LGBTQIA+ stories, they aren't here. I thought this was a beautiful celebration of love. If you're a fan of romance tropes, almost every one is represented here. All the best parts of love stories are here.

Because it's a collection of short stories, there were some that I liked more than others but together, they all felt mostly like a cohesive selection that was perfect to read around Valentine's Day. There were so many endearing moments, and every one of the stories was written beautifully. I listened to the audiobook and thought it was done so well.

Sea Change by Gina Chung

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Shelves: ARCs, Favorites, Modern Lit

Review: Sea Change very much falls into the "sad girl lit fic" category that others such as My Last Innocent Year, Thirst for Salt, and Queenie belong in. We follow Aurora, or Ro, a thirty-year-old Korean American who is struggling with feelings of being stuck in a dead-end job and reeling from a lack of closure over her father's disappearance on a research trip for work when she was 15. Her ex-boyfriend has been chosen for the first mission to Mars, in which Earth will intend to establish a colony. Her best friend just got engaged to her dream man and is planning a wedding. Meanwhile, Ro works at the aquarium her father worked at and cares for Dolores, a giant Pacific octopus her father brought back during one of his work trips. She is also tip-toeing around her relationship with her mother, which has been dysfunctional for as long as she can remember.

If you're looking for a unique plot, I don't think you'll really find one here. This follows the typical story arc for the books I've read that are similar to it, but our main character is Korean American, which I appreciated. It's character-driven, and slow-paced, understated in what it has to say, but written very well. I enjoyed the commentary on relationships in general as she explored the dysfunctional relationship between her parents, her friendships, and her romantic partnership, and how the trauma she experienced as a child and teen affected the ways she approached each.

The main reason I docked it half a star is because of the way the book went back and forth between the present day and the past. It was fine, and the past influenced the things we learned about the present, but sometimes it got a little long-winded or meandering when I felt it could have been tighter. And Dolores didn't have as big a role in the narrative as I hoped she would, given the cover and the description.

Overall though, I'm glad I read it. Thank you to Vintage Books and NetGalley for giving me advanced reader access to this in exchange for an honest review. Sea Change by Gina Chung publishes on March 28, 2023.

Play the Fool by Lina Chern

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

Shelves: ARCs, Beach Reads, Mystery-Thriller

Review: Play the Fool by Lina Chern is described as a cozy mystery, but I don't read a lot of thriller and mystery novels to know the difference between regular mysteries versus cozy mysteries. Maybe because it feels low stakes? Maybe because there is some dry humor and somewhat quirky characters? I'm not entirely sure, but Play the Fool didn't quite have what I hoped it would have. We follow Katie True, a 20-something who reads tarot cards and works at a tchotchke shop at a mall outside of Chicago. She meets and befriends Marley, someone a little older than her, who is working at a store not unlike Hot Topic. When Marley fails to turn up one day, Katie's not too surprised until Marley's boyfriend stumbles into the store disheveled. He agrees to get his cards read, and after some snooping, Katie finds a picture of Marley shot in the head on his phone. This leads Katie down a path she can't turn back from as she tries to solve the sudden murder of her friend.

What this book was: fast-paced and action-packed. Quirky with some lovable characters. But it was also: predictable, a little far-fetched, and unrealistic. I didn't believe in the "best friend" relationship or the love interest plot lines. I saw the humor, but it didn't really work for me. The "I'm a mess" main character trope was fine, and I enjoyed that she was a tarot card reader. It added intrigue and uniqueness, but overall, this book just didn't deliver what I hoped it would. Maybe for fans of mysteries and thrillers, it will hit differently! Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for giving me advanced reader access to this title in exchange for an honest review. Play the Fool publishes March 28, 2023.

Did Not Finish

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Shelves: ARCs, Chick Lit, DNF, Modern Lit

Review: I DNF'd around 22%. I seem to be in the minority here of disliking the book so I'm glad this is resonating with people. The only characters I even mildly liked were overshadowed by the terrible set of daughters this story mostly follows. I think, because this was related to Little Women, I went in with much higher expectations, and I was let down. I didn't enjoy the way Beth was referenced like the least of the OG March sisters just because she died. I disliked Julia and Rose, only mildly enjoyed reading about Sylvie, and the other two sisters were barely mentioned. So, I don't care enough about this story to continue. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/The Dial House for giving me advanced reader access in exchange for an honest review. This title publishes March 14, 2023.

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

Shelves: DNF, Classic Lit, Nonfiction, Short Essays

Review: This is a DNF for now (certainly one I plan to come back to) at around 31%.

I definitely picked this up thinking it was something different (a memoir, or an autobiography), which is on me. Instead, it's a series of short essays--some reactionary and in response to books, movies, and other media that deal with Black Americans. In the first two or three essays, I hadn't engaged with any of the media he's discussing, in addition to just constantly wondering when I'd get to the memoir stuff, so I was lost and not as invested in the content as I should have been. While there are great points he makes in beautiful persuasive writing, I was just waiting for something else that never came.

So, I'm putting this one down for now, and will return to it when I'm ready for these kinds of essays. Maybe I'll pick up one of his works of fiction this month as a replacement.

Denison Avenue by Christina Wong, Daniel Innes (Illustrator)

Shelves: ARCs, DNF, Graphic Novels

Review: DNF around 10%. I went into this thinking it was a graphic novel, but it wasn't. So, my mind was not in the right place for it, and I ended up submitting without feedback on NetGalley. It's the story of a gentrifying Chinatown-Kensington Market in Toronto, Canada and one I might consider picking back up again after it's published. Thank you, regardless, to NetGalley and ECW Press for giving me advanced access to this in exchange for an honest review. This book publishes May 2, 2023.

Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, Joel Christian Gill (Illustrator)

Shelves: ARCs, DNF, Graphic Novel, History, Nonfiction

Review: This was an ARC that I received on NetGalley, and they only made the first 72ish pages available. I thought this was a major disservice to this book, considering the heaviness of the topic. I understand the size of the document, etc., but at that point, I think a decision should be made because only part of the information the book is trying to share is being provided. I will most definitely be picking this book up once it's published, but I was disappointed that only part of this was available to read as an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for giving me advanced reader access to this title in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading it in full when it publishes on June 6, 2023.