Hannah Woycik

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Pie Comics began as a college comic strip way back is the mid ’00s, when flip phones roamed the earth. But it wasn’t until a shoulder injury forced John to simplify his drawing style and improvise the comics instead of actually sitting down and writing them that Pie Comics became the beloved strip it is today!”

I’ve never read or heard of Pie Comics, but I wish I’d found them sooner! I was expecting a graphic novel with a plot, maybe a retelling of Goldilocks, and it seems like lots of people who have read this thought the same. This was almost better than I thought it would be. It’s just a collection of adorable and hilarious comics. Each comic was wonderful and just my kind of humour, with the cutest illustrations. I would absolutely love to read more from McNamee because I loved this collection so much!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Meet Ozy and Millie, two middle-grade students in Seattle who also happen to be foxes. This comic centers around these two best friends as they take on the everyday challenges all middle-graders face—bullies, tests, and the dread of going back to school after a surprise snow day.

Ozy is a young male fox whose adoptive father happens to be a dragon and frequent presidential candidate. Ozy’s calm and thoughtful demeanor is constantly tested by Millie’s rambunctious and rebellious pursuits…”

 

Ahh! Ozy and Millie was so cute! The dialogue and jokes were hilarious, and I really appreciated the scenes between the adults and their wit. The kids were adorable and smart, and I loved the friendship between Ozy and Millie. I haven’t read Simpson’s other series, Phoebe and Her Unicorn, but if it’s as charming and funny as this graphic novel, then I’d love to check it out too!

I thought the art was beautiful and the plot was fantastic. I loved Ozy’s father, a fabulous probably gay dragon who is wise and sassy as heck. This was just an all-together fantastic graphic novel and I’d love to read more about these characters! Millie was a strong female fox, who didn’t take any crap from anyone. Ozy was too smart for his age and own good, but he was hilarious and loyal. They’re interactions with their friends and bullies was lovely and I didn’t want it to end.

Ozy and Millie came out August 28^th, so make sure you go grab your copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen-year-old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.

Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.”

Sheets is a cute graphic novel with a deeper plot. The colours were stunning, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style. The emotion in the characters tugged at my heartstrings, but other characters were quite annoying and frustrating. Also, yes, I know this is about ghosts, but it seemed kind of unrealistic. How did a kid get away with running their laundromat? Did their father get help or did he just make promises?

I thought the ghost world was cute! I loved Wendall. What a sweetheart. I thought the other ghosts were endearing. I hated the “bad guy” and I thought he was completely overexaggerated. The plot didn’t flow very smoothly, and I was confused by the dialogue sometimes.

Marjorie, while a child, was honestly a complete doormat. She let everyone walk all over her, she let Mr. Saubertuck do whatever he wanted in her shop, leaving pamphlets and advertisements. Like, how dare he? That was infuriating, and she just let it happen! Nobody stopped him!

I did enjoy parts of this graphic novel. There were cute bits, especially in the ghost world. Wendell was a dear, but his death was super sad. Ugh. Just all-around sad.

Decent graphic novel! I’d recommend it to some people and I’ll check out more by Brenna Thummler in the future for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“When Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clear the debris of a storm, the last thing she expects is to discover a colony of Aquicorns—magical seahorse-like residents of the coral reef. As she explores the damaged town and the fabled undersea palace, Lana learns that while she cannot always count on adults to be the guardians she needs, she herself is capable of finding the strength to protect both the ocean, and her own happiness.”

Aquicorn Cove is probably one of my favourite graphic novels. Ever. It’s short, at just 96 pages, but it packs a punch. I’d be a liar if I said this little graphic novel for middle-graders didn’t tug on my heartstrings – okay, yeah, I cried.

The artwork is stunning. I was enchanted from page 1. The colours are so aesthetically pleasing, and I just couldn’t get enough. I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy of this, so I can drool over the art.

The dialogue and plot were fantastic. I don’t think I have any complaints, other than wishing it was longer. Katie O’Neill is a master storyteller and I am excited to pick up her other works in the future.

I loved the characters. I loved the whimsy. I loved the magical elements. I loved the harder topics it touched on. I loved the dynamics in the family and the strong relationships. I LOVED IT.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Sister BFFs follows a pair of sisters who are not quite adults but trying desperately to act like them. From job searches to embarrassing encounters with former crushes, these twenty-something sisters navigate the ups, downs, and in-betweens of early adulthood – together…”

This was a cute, short collection of comics based on the author’s real life. I have a little brother, so I usually love reading about awesome sibling dynamics. Unfortunately, this was advertised as “sweet” and “witty” and I didn’t really feel either of those words accurately describe this collection. The sisters argued too much; they were downright mean to each other for no reason. Unwarranted picking, bugging, rude retorts. It just didn’t sit well with me. I like reading about siblings who love each other and have an incredible bond, like my brother and me. And yes, obviously we fight sometimes, but that’s not my kind of humour. I don’t like fighting. It just didn’t charm me like I thought it would be going into it.

The plot didn’t have a direction – it just felt like a peek into some the lives of some rude people. These characters were supposed to be adults, but I know 5-year-olds who are more mature than them. Juvenile and childish are the best words to describe these characters. I detested them, to be quite honest.

Some people may love this, they may connect to the sibling rivalry and rudeness, but it just wasn’t for me. I don’t know if there was anything outright wrong with it, but I didn’t like it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“A coming of age tale, this is the first installment of the Thin Thinline Trilogy, the fiercely independent Nina Overstreet has an axe to grind. A talented singer-songwriter slogging her way through the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk music scene of 1963, the Queen of Kenosha, Wisconsin, realizes that standing on the cusp of stardom gets her little respect and barely a cup of coffee in New York City…”

Queen of Kenosha is about Nina Overstreet and Nick Ladd, and Nazis. This graphic novel is set in 1963 in Post-War America. The cover is beautiful, and the artwork is stunning. I’ve enjoyed other works by Howard Shapiro, but this one is by far my favourite and I’m really looking forward to the next ones in the trilogy.

The story progressed at a good pace. Decent length for a graphic novel, and I’d even read a full novel about Nina and Nick. I loved their dynamic and their slow-burn relationship, from friendship to budding romance.

I know what time this is set in, but the sexism and racism were a bit hard to swallow; a bit infuriating to be honest. I loved how Nina stood up for herself though and how she didn’t take any shit from anyone.

“…ex-FBI operatives in a clandestine agency to stop the establishment of the Fourth Reich by undercover Nazis…” How cool does that sound? The coolest. And Howard Shapiro delivers with butt-kicking agents and witty dialogue.

THAT CLIFFHANGER THOUGHHHH. Oh mah god. I’d had suspicions but that blew me out of the water. It definitely left me psyched for the next volume.

Queen of Kenosha releases October 9^th, and I’d recommend pre-ordering it because it’s sure to be a big hit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“From acclaimed artist Brett Wagner comes a book about the tall tales that parents tell their kids in the hopes of getting them to do something—eat, sleep, apologize to their sibling, or learn to do something the right way. Fun, heartfelt, and a little bit weird, Lies We Tell Our Kids exposes the not-so-great generational parenting tactic of lying to your child for the greater good!”

Okay so now that I’m thinking about it, I am definitely not the correct age demographic for this little comic book. I don’t see why I couldn’t have enjoyed it then, seeing as I’m an old soul.

I honestly thought this was so dumb. I try to not be too harsh but holy smokes. I really was annoyed while reading it. I get that he was trying to be silly but I don’t think lying to your kids to make your job easier is very kind at all. Obviously, tiny white lies are fine, such as pretending to like your child’s joke, but some of these were just stupid and cruel and could really scare your kid, which then causes more problems. Probably not the best way to go about things.

I, of course, am not a parent myself, and maybe this was supposed to be satire, expanding on the whole ‘lying to your kids’, but I just thought it was ridiculous. Nothing funny about lying. I’ll also add the art was kind of ugly.

Okay that’s enough ranting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Through campy pop culture rhymes and beautiful oil paintings, the narrator of our book guides you through a list of things you CAN grab while offering more poetic ways to refer to a woman’s genitalia than the word “pussy” that Trump so vulgarly used. As the narrator goes on, she lets you know more about her relatives (a reclusive aunt with a lazy eye) and her interests (Justin Bieber’s Instagram) while never losing sight of her mission to make the President as uncomfortable as possible. We think that the President, not to mention men in Hollywood, Wall Street, the news media and beyond, can benefit from reading our book. No matter who you are, or how dumb you are, you’ll be able to understand this book’s simple message: Hands off my pussy!”

Okay, great. Right up my alley. I hate Tr*mp and I love stuff that makes fun of the atrocious things he’s said.

Man, I wish this was better. I think one of the main things that turned me off is how vulgar it is? Which is like, Hannah, you watch Game of Thrones, what are you talking about, but hear me out. It’s not exactly the nicest visual to have your vagina referred to as a “crusty crustacean”, a “yogurt factory”, and a “meat locker.” GROSS. It made me sO uncomfortable and I can’t even tell you why. I just felt…violated, I guess? Wasn’t a good feeling, I know that.

Okay, you say, Hannah you should’ve expected something like this going into a book with pussy in the title. Which is a fair point. But what’s the point of reading if you don’t give things a chance, even if you aren’t sure if you’ll like them or not. I tried, and I didn’t like it, but I stepped out of my comfort zone, which is something.

This is a super short comic/graphic novel, but it got to a point where the repetition of “you can grab this political reference, but don’t grab my vag” was becoming boring. I also thought the art was super ugly.

But it could’ve been worse and I added a star, totaling 2, just because it’s against Tr*mp, lol.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

“Sharky Malarkey follows the adventures of Bruce, a washed-up shark actor, and a colorful assortment of dysfunctional people, animals, and inanimate objects.

Bruce is equally outlandish and relatable—he’s vain but insecure; hotheaded but cowardly; craves attention but fears intimacy—his over-the-top antics are all too human.”

Oh. My. God. This collection, based on the webcomic, WAS SO GOOD. Holy shit, man. The title and cover had me pulled in immediately and I was hooked from page 1. I laughed out loud throughout, and my 13-year-old brother even loved it. I’ve been telling all my friends about how hilarious it is, and I can’t stop gushing!

The art is beautiful and silly, the humour is slightly political and hard-hitting, but done in a really classy way. I loved how real it was, while still being about an actor shark. I cannot wait to see what’s coming next from Megan Dong; whatever it is, I want to read it.

Sharky Malarkey comes out September 18^th, 2018, and I highly recommend you preorder or pick up a copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is a collection of anonymous break-up stories, accompanied by cute cartoons.

It’s a fairly short graphic novel, so I suppose it could be classified as a comic book. I thought some of the stories were funny, and I really liked the drawings to go along with them, but the slut-shaming and fat-shaming didn’t sit well with me at all. I also didn’t find this as funny as it was marketed to be. I’m finding it almost difficult to write this review because my feeling are so “meh” about it. There were definitely a few of them that made me smile but all in all, I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. Just meh. I wouldn’t recommend it though; some of the stories were rather frustrating, sad, and downright mean.