Fox & Rabbit Celebrate by Beth Ferry and Illustrated by Gergely Dudas
Rating:
Ownership: Preordered after reading the first two.
Series: Fox & Rabbit
I love this little series of books which remind me a lot of Narwhal and Jelly, and of course you can read my review of the first two books here.
Fox is feeling a bit like fixing things because it is with an F, so obviously, Fox goes around finding things to fix but then it is Robin’s birthday and they want to plan a fun party so they go on an adventure to do so and honestly it was super sweet because they want to make a huge pizza and lots of fun things and honestly I loved reading through it plus the artwork is adorable and it obviously has a fox so win for me!
Ownership: Saw it in Forbidden Planet and it looked good so I bought it.
Witch for Hire is part high-school drama, part mystery thriller, part horror, and part fantasy. As such, it is a very odd combination that somehow works once you realise you are getting a little of everything. We have Faye who sits with the outcasts that somehow make it once good luck touches them except for Faye who wears her witch hat and doesn’t seem to care.
So when Cody who is the little sister of the popular girl finds herself shunned by her sister for not being cool enough, and into the rejects table with Faye, she thinks she’s found a good new friend.
Faye isn’t convinced of taking Cody under her arm or meddling in strange happenings that keep causing incidents and this weird series of pranks that are getting more and more dangerous until they seem to be entirely out of control. And even if Cody admits that she joined this odd challenge to become popular which is behind the pranks, it doesn’t fully explain what is going on.
Faye finds herself at odds with her way of doing things and wanting to help, but she fears the consequences and meddling despite her don’t care attitude.
It is a very interesting book and I just wish it was a little longer because the story is interesting even if quite twisted, but because of how twisted it is, it would have benefited from more back story in some places and just more context in others and tying a few loose ends that don’t detract from the story but that would make it a lot better.
As for the artwork, it is quite dark with an old school vibe and yet a twist of modern. In general, it seems to carry the effect of being a part of here and there and combining them in a way that works not just for the plot but for the artistic style and the way the story is told in pictures.
Overall a recommended not as well known witchy story to read.
Ownership: A copy of this book was provided upon request from the publisher but I also bought a final copy, which is packed somewhere in a box currently.
Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.
I’ve been following Sara and her artwork for ages, and when I found out Squire was in the making, I was super excited about it.
Let me tell you, it did not disappoint and I can’t wait for more of it to come!
Squire follows Aiza, who dreams of becoming a Knight because it is a huge honour and also because it will probably mean people bully her less and she will be popular and a heroine. And finally, because she can then achieve Knighthood and have full citizenship. Initially, her parents are against it, reminding her of her heritage and why she is shunned, but in the end, they let her go.
At the training, she meets up with a few rivals and several other hopeful youngsters wanting to be knights. But as much as the training is hard, she is keeping her identity secret and this causes tensions.
To say much more would be to spoil the plot but I loved the many characters shown through it and their own unique stories and motivations, but not only that, the artwork is fun, the story has a lot to tell and it is, in general, a good read that I breezed through.
If you want new adventures of someone dreaming of becoming a Knight, of defending their country and the conundrum of their identity against what the values of this knighthood are, look no further, with fascinating and intricate artwork [some of those backgrounds are stunning] and a cast of characters that would provide you, someone to cheer for regardless of what your personal favourite type of character is, this I a book not to miss and read as soon as possible.
Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation by Anne Toole, Elmer Damaso, Bryan Valenza and Jim Campbell
Rating:
Read before: No
Ownership: A friend requested it form the publisher for me because I love Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Frobidden West and the whole story and world.
Disclaimer: Receiving a review copy from the publisher does not affect my opinion of the book. If you think I review it highly it is due to me knowing my taste well and therefore not requesting books I won’t enjoy. And I am not obligated to review the book if I do not like it, so you may not see bad reviews due to me preferring not to hype down a particular book. I only do reviews of books I disagreed with if I think it is worth bringing a topic or warning to light.
If you have read the first main book on the Sunhawk and a little bit of a taster before Horizon Forbiddne West came out, I reviewed the volumes here. It was a good book delving on Tallanah and finding new beasts, which gave a good introduction to what the new game would bring.
Liberation is different in that it is instead giving us more backstory, the parts of Erend’s story and how his sister became the amazing person she was, how they ended up being part of the Oseram who helped Sun King Avad dethrone his father, and all that. The art as usual is amazing, and the story was interesting as we have Erend trying to tell his story while they track one of the relevant characters to the past of him and his sister. Aloy is being very much herself, which I liked because she definitely sometimes feels like she has bigger priorities and bigger things, and then it is her friends who love her who bring her down back tot he world and go “hey, you have things to worry about, but so do we, and we can help each other, no one is an island”.
It was just a very very nice comic for me to read, it added to the lore, explained the relationship and love Sun King Avad had for Ersa, and just how much everyone could admire her and why. It showed too why Erend has big shoes to fill and how unfit for it he is and yet how hard he tries. And of course, it shows us how different Aloy is to this and how much she tries to understand this part fo the story and world that she was never a part of because of how she was an Outcast and set aside and then suddenly had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders without really choosing to. And yes, we know she could have said no, but that would not be true to herself. She ahs a big heart despite sometimes forgetting it.
Highly recommend adding this book to your comic collection and to your Aloy and her friend’s collection. It is as good or even better than the first one.
The Wizard and Me: More Misadventures of Bubbles the Guinea Pig by Simon Farnaby and Claire Powell
Rating:
Read before: No
Ownership: World Book Day buy
So I have a soft post for book switch magic and I had my eye on the original book from which this one is based, however I will say that as much as the artwork is adorable, this was not the book for me.
Why was it not? There is a lot of poop and that kind of humour that I just didn’t get behind, it isn’t my thing and I get why it is done but I don’t agree with it and prefer not to read about it. The guinea pig also has a particular type of being which is annoying and meant to be a bit of rubbing the wrong way and being too amazing to deserve to be treated that way etc when they are not, also a point lost there.
However, I did see how this book was focused on you know pet ownership and kids may be getting a guinea pig from a pet shop and potential adventures and misadventures that could happen which I thought was fun and cute and well done for the book. So it was not all bad, just unfortunately it didn’t amaze me or make it one I would like to keep
But if your little one enjoyed the main book, this is fun add on or if they are into this kind of humour then do take it, it is a quick read and good on pet ownership!
Look, if I was going to buy one book for World Book Day, it’d be this one because it has foxes on the cover. I have not read the original book of Grimwood, so this was my introduction to this world.
As such I really liked that it comes with a little character introduction with funny commentary, which helped set the mood of what was to come in the little tales around the campfire. And I liked that a lot.
The short little book is all about a special festival in Grimwood where people do fun activities and at the end tell stories around a campfire. So we go through the characters and they each tell stories, some are true, some are almost certainly not even if they claim they are but it is funny to read and see where they exaggerate or make it up or in some cases where the story ends up being quite short. I loved the variety of stories and that their stories very much tell you a lot about who the character is overall. Interesting to see that the way one tells a story will change the story or how a story told can tell you a lot about the teller.
A hilarious little book with cute illustrations, and lots of laughing moments and silly moments. Good introduction to pique your interest for the book of Grimwood.
Fox & Rabbit and Fox & Rabbit Make Believe by Beth Ferry and Gergely Dudas
Rating:
Series: Fox & Rabbit, first two volumes
Read before: No
Ownership: Found the first in Forbidden Planet, could not resist, read it ordered the second one and third.
This was an impulse buy because it had a fox and a rabbit on the cover and they are the main characters, plus they are relatively small books and easy to read. What can I say? In the same line of comics like Jelly & Narwhal, we have Fox and Rabbit who are best friends and have adventures together.
The very first one has a few episodes of stories of them having adventures and it also introduces us to other friends like the robin who is always thinking about food. I really loved the robin. Or the turtle that is always late and asking what they have missed. But overall the adventures are wholesome and sweet, and they just were a nice pause and lovely to read.
The second book picks up a little after the first and is all about using your imagination and having adventures in a variety of ways which was adorable, a bit more “fast” paced than the first book but still good.
As much as they are simple books and easy to read, they are good at touching on confidence, friendship and how to navigate certain situations, so it was lovely to read, plus I accidentally shared this with my best friend and there was a chapter that was perfect for our friendship so it felt particularly fated to be a good book.
Ownership: Saw it in Forbidden Planet last month, couldn’t resist it, bought it.
Ok, so apparently this was initially released in smaller episodes, but now it is a full book and honestly, it is a very interesting story of a young girl who goes on a dare to a tower where a witch lives, but I mean, it’s all a tale, right? right?
It gets even better, or should I say worse, when her little brother joins in and lo and behold the witch was not a story, so there is danger. Turns out this sets a chain reaction kinda thing that turns into a quest to become a witcha nd defeat a big enemy that is trying hard to destroy the world, and so we follow our main character around the “world” and on her quest to learn, master her powers, and save as many people as she can.
The reason it is not a five fox is that it has some continuity problems that kept me scratching my head or absolute blanks in the story where I genuinely had no clue where it had gone. But the story is good and the artwork interesting, it does start quite slow and then suddenly everything is happening. That was also a downside. We get so many pages of slow world-building and her friendship with townpeople, but once she is on her quest you barely get some pages of some parts of the action and this upset me, because I get you don’t need a blow by blow breakdown but there is just not enough to understand fully what is going and it was just a bit like “hey, you could put more details since we had a lot of prologue”.
But it is still a fun story, so if you need a witchy graphic novel with old story kinda legend vibes, then this is a good choice.
Ownership: Preordered because it was my kind of book.
Book with foxes? Check! Book with a little bit of grief? Check! Illustrated? Check!
The Fire Fox is a lovely book with soft dreamy artwork that fits the story, and it is a lovely heartwarming, hope inspiring story. The story is about Freya and her mum going to a little cabin in the woods to get away since her dad has passed. This has made the colour leak a little away from their lives. But then Freya meets a magical fox in the snow that she befriends and follows into the forest. The trek around the area and is just beautiful to read, and I recommend it as a good night story, or to talk about grief and hope.
I also really like that it is inspired in the concept of fire foxes that spark the Northern Lights, which is a cute concept and I ended up reading up on that too.
Happy Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead)! I had to post this today since it fits perfectly with the day and the book. Gustavo is a shy little ghost who loves playing the violin. He is very good at doing all the ghostly things that ghosts do: walking through walls, haunting objects, making objects fly and glowing in the dark.
But he is shy and he finds it very hard to make friends, or queueing to buy “eye” scream (love the pun, honestly), so as the Day of the Dead comes near, he decides to be brave and do something to deal with this.
The artwork is adorable, the little Mexican details all over the place and the illustrations made my heart warm and fond, and it was such a lovely sweet story about being spooky, making friends, and being a little courage. And even though it is not focused on Day of the Dead as the main theme, the spooky topic, the shyness, everything made this little adorable book a winner in my heart, and I loved it.
Absolutely recommend as a lovely spooky season gift, or read out loud book to share with children, it may be good for talking about not just Halloween but other countries and their specific traditions.
