wolfiegrrrl's reviews
241 reviews

Given that the author is a self-proclaimed lover of the idol world, this series doesn't seem to be making any plans to deeply explore idol culture beyond the "idols give their lives/love to their fans and their fans' love in turn keeps them moving forward" narrative that is often already perpetuated by idol media... but there could be so much potential for it down the line if the story ever becomes brave enough to address it. For the time being, I can at least appreciate the acknowledgement of how hard idols work at their job just to survive in their career.

As it is right now, the first volume focuses on introducing the main characters and the ways their clashing personalities are somehow a surprising fit for each other. There is very little development in between the establishment of the idol ghost as a plot device, the comedic ways their polar opposite personalities confuse Yuya's few loyal fans, and the brief acknowledgment that he and his partner should work on building up their relationship.

It very much seems like the goal of the plot will be to slowly develop Yuya's motivations for his current career path with each experience encouraging him to grow into an idol who wants to put in the effort for his fans, and maybe even for Asahi and Kazuki as well. The bonus panels at the end make it very clear that neither Yuya nor Asahi have any interest in romance... and yet, I find myself craving love geometry in this series.

Asahi and Kazuki have some absolutely adorable chemistry. They understand each other's feelings and insecurities about being idols, and their one sort-of date got off to a very sweet start. Plus, Kazuki already gets blushy whenever he contemplates how cool he thinks Yuya is. The potential for Asahi and Kazuki to develop feelings for each other and the shenanigans that could ensue with Yuya in the middle is too great. It is unlikely that this will happen, but there's probably fanfiction for that, so my interest is piqued.

There wasn't anything wrong with the book. I had enjoyed another book by the same author and decided to pick this one up next, but I just couldn't get into it. I like the concept, just had to finally accept that I was never going to keep reading.

There isn't much in the way of real plot for this Dino Sports series, but the rhymes are fun.

It's a nice way to introduce different types of dinosaurs to kids who are interested in learning their names. But aside from just listing names, showing basic size differences, and categorizing the dinosaurs as meat-eaters and plant-eaters... it's very surface level.

I can't even say these books are that great at explaining the sports these dinosaurs are participating in. It's pretty clear that this series is for kids who already know the terminology well enough to understand what's happening in the story. Older kids will probably have an easier time of parsing it out, but younger kids are definitely more invested in looking at the pictures and learning whether the meat-eaters or the plant-eaters are going to win this time!

I will say that the concept of this dinosaur fantasy world is fascinating. Dodo has abandoned the world of competition for a well-earned vacation and Diplodocus probably drowned that poor tiny dino so carelessly buried on that beach, facing zero consequences as usual. This certainly isn't Diplo's only offense, but I do have to wonder if Dodo would have made sure proper precautions were taken by the onlookers during that stretch of the competition if he'd been there.

I love Geoffrey and his litter of kittens with my whole heart and I would live for them in a heartbeat. The exploration of his complicated relationship with his father and the way that he projected his fears onto animals were so well done.

Also, we love to see the Word of God confirmation at the very end that Moriyama fell for Kanda at first sight!

Moriyama admits out loud that he thinks Kanda is a silver fox! His brother having no chill and thinking of Kanda as a god just proves that strong feelings for Kanda run in the family, so perhaps this was inevitable in the end. Honestly, the sibling rivalry and feelings of betrayal caused by years of favoritism and high expectations from their parents hit hard. So many characters have terrible parents in this series, so Fukumaru and Marin having such a close family bond is such a breath of fresh air when we get to see them.

If the author hadn't said this volume came from personal experience, it still would have been very obvious that they know what it feels like to lose a beloved cat. The emotions are so raw. I loved seeing the humans come together to help find Fukumaru and I'm also really glad that the cats got to learn just how treasured they are.

My favorite moment is without a doubt the roly-poly pillbug bio.

Based on the setup of the first two books, it has been made very clear that RainWings are an allegory for racism in the Wings of Fire universe; so The Hidden Kingdom started out promising, considering how racism plays a punishing hand in the atrocities of war. Through the course of this book, Glory (and the readers through her) learn that the truth about RainWings and their society is a lot more complicated than the rest of Pyrrhia is willing to believe and, from there, the book laid down the groundwork for a tricky subject to navigate for a middle-grade audience. With the introduction to the concepts of genocide and colonialism brewing on the horizon, the handling of this allegory begins to get shaky and fall apart the deeper into the rainforest our dragonets of destiny go, but if you squint you can maybe pick out a lesson this book is attempting to teach about the complexities of racism.

I sure hope Tui T. Sutherland is trying to say that, even if a group of people look or act one way on the surface and the bigotry seems to be based in something observably present (like RainWing "laziness"), it doesn't mean that's all there is to them or that they should be treated as lesser beings just because they live different lives than you do. After all, it's counterproductive misrepresentation to boil down an entire community to a few shallow features. But the explanation given for how racism against RainWings became so widespread disappointingly lends itself to a much more insidious reading of this book that unfortunately feeds more into racism than attempts to discourage it, so I'm personally torn. It's obvious we don't yet have the full story and sympathy is definitely on the side of the RainWings (for the most part), so my fingers are crossed for some improvement on the treatment of this subject as the series continues.

Otherwise, Glory gets a nice character arc where she finally carves out a place for herself in her own destiny. Her personal journey runs parallel to and branches off Tsunami's, likely due to the fact that they were always butting heads on the topic of leadership, so it was nice to see her come to terms with the idea that depending on others for help is okay.

The age of this book quickly makes itself known by the language it uses, particularly the page where Chester the cat casually lets rip the g-slur in rapid succession. I was already struggling pretty hard to feel engaged with the text due to the children who talk like adults trying to imitate children - sometimes I don't mind it, but it was particularly hard to read here because there is so little variation between how each character is written that they don't really have distinct voices of their own - so that page felt like a slap to the face when I got there.

Otherwise, the story is cute and I love the message of tolerance and acceptance that Harold teaches the readers through his journey with Bunnicula. Besides, the concept of a vampire bunny who drinks vegetable juice instead of blood is too adorable to find much fault in.

This first volume is a cute and snappy introduction to the series, its characters, and the worlds they inhabit. The girls are still a bit of a mess as they try to get a grip on this new situation, but it's fun watching them try out their powers in ways that feel pretty realistic to what kids would likely use them for. W.I.T.C.H. is a magical girl fantasy about magic and friendship, so the first book being called The Power of Friendship really sets the stage for what's to come.

You can tell this is a WebToon printed in a book format. It's a slice of sci-fi life where queer people can live out a fantasy we can currently only dream of. The ability to essentially shapeshift on a whim without surgery?! Sign me up! But the implication that people can use body mods to race-fake goes disconcertingly unaddressed outside of one line where Sunati says she wants to keep her facial structure and promised her mom she wouldn't change her skin color.

This first volume is a collection of short episodes about Sunati and Austen getting to know each other and learning that first impressions can be misleading, and it introduces us to a colorful supporting cast of diverse characters. They're all interesting and fun in their own ways, but they come across as a little flat at this early stage of the series.

Austen, however, is the main focus of the story. It's wild to see a character we would consider able-bodied get labeled disabled because her immune system is too strong for her to use technological enhancements to download information directly into her brain or change her physical appearance whenever it suits her. She gets sick, has to study, and would need to use hair dye and makeup and colored contacts like the rest of us. Much like how people in our world treat people with disabilities, Austen is either turned into inspiration porn by the modded characters in the story or they think of her as someone who can do no wrong because "she can't help it" and "life is so hard for her."

To directly counter this, Ari North attempts to show us that Austen is a flawed character by having her repeatedly take out her emotions on the people around her by yelling and sometimes physically assaulting them. In a romance story, this is more than a little concerning. Flawed characters are great and flawed characters in flawed relationships are even better as long as there is an effort to show conscious character growth as the story continues, but the way it stands now Austen's abusive behavior is excused by everyone close to her as something "normal" that she always does. This is most likely an attempt to hammer home the point that even the people who have known her for longer than a month (including her own family) still refuse to acknowledge her flaws because of her perceived disability, but it's unsettling that she can go so far as to attack her sibling while they're sleeping and everyone brushes it off as just a quirky thing she did to get her way. It's hard to find her character charming, but I do sincerely hope she gets the chance to properly reflect and make an effort to put her best foot forward as the series develops.