Book Review – Page 44 – The Constellation of Moon

The Hidden Witch Review

Posted on November 16, 2018

The Hidden Witch by Molly Know Ostertag

Aster and his family are adjusting to his unconventional talent for witchery; unlike the other boys in his family, he isn’t a shapeshifter. He’s taking classes with his grandmother and helping to keep an eye on his great-uncle whose corrupted magic wreaked havoc on the family.

Meanwhile, Aster’s friend from the non-magical part of town, Charlie, is having problems of her own — a curse has tried to attach itself to her. She runs to Aster and escapes it, but now the friends must find the source of the curse before more people — normal and magical alike — get hurt.

Rating:

Boy, I definitely have been on a Middle Grade and Graphic Novels frenzy all of a sudden, oh well. I am reading other books and have read other books but alas somehow my reviews have piled up.

This gem arrived on Halloween to make my night so much better (the sudden graphic novels extravaganza is because they’re great for bed time reading). As you may know, I have already reviewed the first one which is The Witch Boy.

This story introduces someone new to the town and it is a foster child. Now, this is something that I don’t usually see in graphic novels, so it was interesting to see and it worked into the narrative.

It was also interesting to see the journey of trying to fix the wrongs that had been done by Grandmother and the whole “boys can’t be witches, women can’t shapeshift”. And considering it has been a big change to have Aster join the girls, and the fact that this isn’t going as well as planned (I feel so much for him, poor Aster). It felt well done as a story, I loved the “redemption arc” of the story. It wasn’t a “plot twist” because this isn’t about a pot twist, but rather about a wholesome story that empowers everyone.

That is exactly what you get, the dream “Scholastic Catalog” graphic novel. The one young me would’ve loved to see arrive, and to be honest, even adult me loves it too.

Moon recommends

This whole series. The Witch Boy was great and The Hidden Witch doesn’t disappoint either. I won’t bore you with all my recent witchy reads, but go have a quick look on my reviews, there’s a lot to choose from.

Book Review

How to Catch a Witch Review

Posted on November 14, 2018

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How to Catch a Witch by Abie Longstaff

Charlie and her family have moved from the big city to a small country village, and everything feels wrong. Their cottage is old and creepy. Anxiety about her new school is causing Charlie’s stutter to return. And the villagers are just plain weird. Not least, Agatha, who may not have a broomstick or a cauldron, but is definitely a witch…

Rating:

I got lucky, as I was browsing my local Waterstones, I saw this books on a stand and they were signed by the author (I have this one and the sequel signed). The story looked very cute and interesting, so I had to get it (plus signed, right? no one can resist such a deal).

I read this quite quickly as it was easy and it was a nice mix of contemporary and fantasy/witchy fun. The beginning reminds me a little of Spirited Away, as in the main character just moved and isn’t very keen on it. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but somehow it does for me.

This does not ruin it but rather make me more intrigued to find more, and Charlie is an itneresting character. She has a stutter and it was interesting to be inside her thoughts as she tries to navigate the new town, the new school and life in general, plus that odd buzzing in her head.

At some point she wishes she could catch a witch to give her a spell to get rid of the stutter, and lo and behold, she meets one! And makes a friend.

The story was sweet, very empowering and helpful to see that “flaws” aren’t always bad and can be used for good or to benefit something. It also had a lot of power on friendship and life which I also thought was delightful.

Moon recommends

If you’ve been following this blog, I have been on a Middle Grade and Witchy reads streak, so what can I recommend? The Aprentice Witch is a good choice, it is not the same as How to Catch a Witch but it has some interesting elements.

Book Review, Books

Lumberjanes Vol. 1 Review

Posted on November 12, 2018

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Lumberjanes Vol 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Shannon Waters

FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX!

At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… And they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here.

Collects Lumberjanes No. 1-4

Rating:

So as you know I have read Nimona and recently I have gone back to graphic novels/manga (I know they are not the same, it is more that I am reading more of both). I used to read a lot of both then just slowed down and now my love for them has been renewed.

This was one of those graphic novels that are a lot about craziness and characters rather than a big plot. It feels like the authors are trying hard to include as many crazy things as possible into one group of girl scouts.

I can’t say I fell in love with it as it left me feeling oddly confused and unsure if I liked it or wasn’t that crazy but I have heard good things about it and I want to give it a chance, so I have bought the next volume and will read it then see what comes next.

It isn’t the crazy kind of graphic novel as Monstress is, this is definitely more about fun craziness and just about the experience of being a scout, however, I have never been one or known anyone that has, so maybe that makes this harder to appreciate? No crazy camp experiences either.

It does make me smile to read it and it was quick and “light” so if you want some kind of mindless fun this is probably it with a touch of bizarre just to make sure.

Moon recommends

I’d suggest starting with Lumberjanes if you fancy the experience. Since Noelle Stevenson is part of the minds behind this, why not try Nimona? Or maybe you’d like to try Moonstruck? They’re both good in different ways.

Book Review

Getting Lost and Finding Oneself

Posted on November 8, 2018

The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby

Bri and Mari are cousins, and growing up, also best friends and soul mates. But over the teenage years they lose touch, and their lives develop in somewhat opposite directions. While Bri travels the world, hikes crazy mountains and make new friends, Mari chooses a more shallow path; that of a social media influencer. Cooking pretend (photo suitable) meals, dating a pretend (social media hot-shot) boyfriend, she’s lost touch not only with Bri, but also with their common dreams of future adventures. But then suddenly, everything changes. Bri loosing her step on a steep climb, and Mari receiving her diary and backpack on what would’ve been their shared eighteenth birthday, sets Mari off in a new direction. One of hiking, exploring, and in a way recapturing the relationship with her now gone cousin. This is a story about getting lost on trails, and finding oneself when trying to get on the right way back.

Rating 🐖🐖🐖

Starting this book, I really thought I was going to love it. The cousin friendship, the growing apart, the mountain climbing and cute illustrations and handwritten passages from Bri’s diary – I just knew I was in for a treat. The story set off well, with Mari taking on the erratic landscape, while leaving everything she knew behind.

Then, however, nothing much happened. Sure, she climbed some more mountains. Made some friends (and there’s a love story in there too). Found out some things about Bri. But pretty fast, there was nothing more to the story than depictions of blisters, beautiful sunsets and quotes about finding oneself.

I really liked the concept of this book, but ironically enough, Mari’s journey towards finding her true self is plotted with the typical kind of shallow quotes that she wanted to get away from when leaving the influencer life behind. It is however a cute, easy read and pleasant feel good story, and if that’s what you’re looking for, The Other Side of Lost is a good option.

Dr. Bea approves

If you’re in for more wild life adventures, Wild by Cheryl Strayed or Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer might be your next read.

Book Review

The Boy Who Lived With Dragons Review

Posted on November 6, 2018

The Boy Who Lived With Dragons by Andy Sheperd

Tomas has a secret – a big secret. He has his own tiny dragon, Flicker! A dragon which grew on a very special tree at the bottom of his grandad’s garden. And not only that – his friends Ted, Kai and Kat have dragons too, all grown on the same dragonfruit tree …

Having your own dragon is magical – but Tomas is also about to find out what living with a dragon is REALLY like. When the fire-breathing kicks in and you get singed every five seconds, it’s like having an unpredictable volcano in your pocket. Learning to train the dragons and keep them out of trouble at school and home will take all Tomas’s creativity and patience … What is more, the dragonfruit tree is starting to look droopy and unwell. Tomas and his friends have got to do all they can restore it to health and uncover its deepest mysteries, as well as trying to work out what big secret local bully Liam, ‘King of Trouble’, has got up his sleeve … One thing is for sure, life is never dull when you have a dragon in your pocket.

Rating:

All the dragons, there’s more dragons, not just Flicker this time! Because Tomas’ gang now has dragons too and they are finding it tricky to take care of them.

For a start, Flicker tends to behave well, but the other ones, not so much and they each do different things like camouflage, or massive fire, or an “ice” fire. And Tomas is struggling to figure out how to help them take care of their dragons and train them as he keeps trying to figure out things himself with Flicker.

Flicker is a gorgeous little dragon and a very smart one so he will help Tomas as best s he can, specially as they realise that the dragon fruit tree seems to be slowly dying and they don’t want that to happen. The question is why and how (since his Grandpa takes good care of the garden and plants, so definitely not him). Maybe it is the angry neighbour Grim (Jim)?

The illustrations once again are funny and add to the story very well and the story itself is cute and fun and just a nice sunny kind of book.

Moon recommends

This is book two, so maybe you want to start with The Boy Who Grew Dragons?

Book Review, Books

The Boy Who Grew Dragons Review

Posted on November 4, 2018

The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd

When Tomas discovers a strange old tree at the bottom of his grandad’s garden, he doesn’t think much of it. But he takes the funny fruit from the tree back into the house – and gets the shock and delight of his life when a tiny dragon hatches! The tree is a dragonfruit tree, and Tomas has got his very own dragon, Flicker …

Tomas soon finds out that life with Flicker is great fun, but also very … unpredictable. Yes, dragons are wonderful, but they also set fire to your toothbruth and leave your pants hanging from the TV aerial. Tomas has to learn how to look after Flicker – and quickly. And then something extraordinary happens – more dragonfruits appear on the tree. Tomas is officially growing dragons …

Rating:

With a title like that, how could I resist? I saw it in Waterstones and promptly bought it and the sequel. (And there’s another one coming out soonish).

We meet Tomas, who is helpiong his Grandpa to clear up his garden and try to grow something. As they do this they find a strange fruit which turns out to be a dragon fruit (pitaya). And well, Tomas takes one of the fruits home because he is curious about it, and then all of a sudden it hatches a tiny dragon!

Flicker is a cutie, however what is Tomas going to do now that he has a small dragon?

This was really fun to read, and I loved the fact that it is a “not everything is perfect” kind of story. The illustrations make it even better and hint at things to come. And it is also interesting to see the relationships of Tomas and family and friends.

All in all a quick enjoyable read.

Moon recommends

I have recently been reading a lot of Middle Grade, so check out The Dragon with The Chocolate Heart for example, and obviously The Boy Who Grew Dragons.

Book Review, Books

Nine Review

Posted on November 2, 2018

Nine by Zach Hines

In an alternate world startlingly close to our own, humans have nine lives—and they can’t wait to burn straight through them.

As you shed lives, you shed your awkward phases: one death is equal to one physical and mental upgrade. Julian’s friends are obsessed with the idea of burning lives, but Julian is determined to stay on his first for as long as he can. His mother, the ultimate cautionary tale, burned through her first eight in just a few years, and Julian has no intention of succumbing to the debilitating rebirth sickness that she inflicted on herself.

But the regime has death incentives aimed at controlling overpopulation, and Julian realizes that he’s going to have to burn at some point—especially when he becomes a target for Nicholas, the manipulative leader of the Burners, the school’s suicide club. And when Julian eventually succumbs, he uncovers suspicious gaps in the rebirth system that may explain exactly why his mother went so far down the rabbit hole years ago. Along with a group of student dissenters, Julian sets out to find answers and is soon on the verge of exposing the greatest conspiracy ever unleashed on the world.

He has just eight more lives to uncover the brutal truth.

Rating:

The concept of this book intrigued me very much, and I knew it may not be a “popular” book that everyone wanted to read, but it definitely had me at the premise.

What would I do with 9 lives, and also, how do you cope with rebirth? How do people come back to life? There were so many questions. So many of them. And some never got answered, however, one things this book did was a great world bulding (not that it shows itself like a word vomit, thankfully) and it gave you information as you needed (not exactly when you wanted it, but it was worth waiting to find out how they were reborn, what happened as you died.

There was also a lot of intersting characters, and it posed a question on suicide and death.

And population control, as the goverment gives economical incentives for families to reach a certain “lives expended” quotient so that they can earn more or get better jobs/promotions, or better homes/neighbourhoods. And it was interesting to see how it had been posed in this book and made me wonder if we had those lives how it would be controlled.

I think I would’ve been one of those that stayed at her first life for as long as possible as the panicky anxious part of me would think “but what if someone runs me over? or a fire happens? I may loose a life then and what if I was already on my 8th or something like that?”

All in all it was a much creepier read than I expected it to be, but it was also extremely interesting and it kept me hooked.

Moon recommends

Read Nine for a spooky creepy look at life that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A book that kept comign to mind as read this was Scythe which treats the whole “immortality” in a different way but also ponders what humanity does when death isn’t somethign that happens in the same way it used to.

Book Review

The Boneless Mercies Review

Posted on October 29, 2018

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

A dark standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory.

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies—girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life.

When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies’ one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Rating:

It took me a little to get into this book. Mostly because it starts with a death and that is an interesting way of starting (it reminded me a little of palliative care). However, once I got more familiar with the world and what being a Mercy meant, then it became easier to follow.

It is like a lyrical epic quest story and there was beauty about that, as it was also intriguing to learn about all the ways of seeing the world that each “group” had. A witches war, the quicks, and so many others that made me want to know more about each of them.

Another interesting thing was the way relationships exist here and how things just flow and happen. There’s a lack of judgement that was strange and magical to read, and it was interesting to see that woven intot he tale. You never know for sure what is going on.

I also loved the actual monster fight, but not a lot to say since I do not want to spoil it, but it had a thing I liked and didn’t like and it was refreshing to see.

Moon recommends

Reading The Boneless Mercies. I haven’t read such a lyrical feminist adventure in a while (combined, I have read one or the other) and it was good to read. I am not entirely sure what kind of book fits with it so hard to suggest something else. Maybe Fallible Justice, even if it is a little different in style (it is urban fantasy rather than just fantasy).

Book Review

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Review

Posted on October 27, 2018

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua

In The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious set of adventures

Meet two of Victorian London’s greatest geniuses… Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron: mathematician, gambler, and proto-programmer, whose writings contained the first ever appearance of general computing theory, a hundred years before an actual computer was built. And Charles Babbage, eccentric inventor of the Difference Engine, an enormous clockwork calculating machine that would have been the first computer, if he had ever finished it.

But what if things had been different? The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage presents a delightful alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine and use it to create runaway economic models, battle the scourge of spelling errors, explore the wider realms of mathematics and, of course, fight crime – for the sake of both London and science. Extremely funny and utterly unusual, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage comes complete with historical curiosities, extensive footnotes and never-before-seen diagrams of Babbage’s mechanical, steam-powered computer. And ray guns.

Rating:

For all those that don’t know, I started learning how to program when I was 7-8 years old. But the fall in love with coding and diagrams and everything else only happened when I was 12-15. (I would happily stay in coding than go out during recess, my nerd flag flies high).

So of course, this book caught my eye when I was grief shock browsing Waterstones after the news of my aunt’s death. It was as if the book called my name and I happily got it.

It is a comic, not a “this is totally legit and happened” kind of book. However it is full of footnotes of the research done for the comic and the footnotes are linked to real information about their lives.

The artwork is dynamic and fun, the footnotes fill you up with information about Lovelace, Babbage and their families/lives. And it has some alternative universes shenanigans that I adored, so all in all it is a delightful read if you aren’t expecting only a graphic novel and can cope with footnotes larger than the comic on the page that will make you laugh, and want to strangle someone and at times go “oh, I didn’t know that, crazy!”.

[Also, the book underneath the book, is the book I used to learn and then teach programming].

Moon recommends

Go read about Lovelace and Babbage, or go check out Rosie Revere kind of books, or any kind of book that floats your boat!

Book Review

Orgo Runners: Skull Cavern Review

Posted on October 25, 2018

This will be a slightly informal review as this is a short story. But I won’t skip the rating so no worries there.

Rating:

This is meant to be a spooky adventure and I think for children it would be (I can totally imagine this being read to them and having to do voices and it works for the creepy/scary factor quite well). And of course it is but a short story, placed between books.

One of the things it does very well is to make you want to read the next book, as it hints at things to come that they discover in this particular cavern. (I definitely want to know more, but to say what about would be to spoil this story).

The pacing is fast and it still covers a kind of recap included in the story, just in case you have read the books a while ago and don’t remember everything. Trey and Badger were very happy to see that Orgo and Gugubats are still part of the story, even in this short one, so they posed alongside the book, eager to please.

[In case you haven’t been following on twitter, Trey is the Orgo on the left of the picture, and Badger is the Gugubat on the right holding the book. A group of us post pictures of the adventures of our little Orgos (and gugubat) with the tag #iwantanorgo #orgoadventures which you can follow if you’re curious].