WWW Wednesday (July 13, 2022)

It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What if you believed in magic, even if you knew you shouldn’t?
Would you be brave enough to try to find it?
Would you become the superhero you’ve always dreamed of being?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

Can you believe that it’s been over a year since I last participated in a WWW?! When I first started grad school, I realized that I couldn’t keep posting on the same schedule I had previously been posting and something, naturally, had to go. Since I wasn’t reading nearly as much as I had been (sometimes not even a book a week), it seemed logical that WWW be the one to get left on the cutting room floor. But boy have I missed you guys! And actually being able to read at least a book a week, too!

I actually meant to do this last week and just didn’t find time, so I’m going to combine all of July’s read books in this one so I can start with a cleanish slate.

Locke & Key Volumes 1- 6 by Joe Hill
★★★★★ || Goodreads
Minion and I started this series on Netflix, looking for something a little spooky (since that’s her new thing). Minion absolutely loves the Netflix series. I, on the other hand, was extremely frustrated by how much of the plot relied on the kids being utterly stupid. Okay, sure, kids don’t always make smart choices, but seriously, these aren’t young kids. They’re perfectly capable of some amount of rational thought. So I read some reviews online and found out that the graphic novels were actually entirely different from the Netflix show, and thank goodness for that. I sat down in one night and read all six of them, and they were glorious.

If you haven’t read the Locke & Key graphic novels, I’ll warn that they’re extremely graphic. I can see why the show toned down some things, because there’s no way it’d get a TV-14 rating otherwise. If you can handle the gore, though, the graphic novels are truly a masterpiece. The things that frustrated me so much in the TV show didn’t exist in the books. Instead, it’s a very gritty, dark look at a family coming together under impossible circumstances and learning how to be there for each other. Plus, you know, the really intriguing supernatural mystery and freaking magical keys which are simultaneously amazing and terrifying. Anyway, highly recommend this series! If you tried the show and didn’t love it, pick up the books instead.

Next Door to Happy by Allison Weiser Strout (Full review coming 7/14)
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
This isn’t a bad book, but it is what I would call a niche book. It’ll absolutely hit right for a select audience, for which this book will likely be super important, but I don’t see it having wide appeal. The story is pretty much a straightforward contemporary, slice-of-life sort of story about an only child named Violet whose mother has severe anxiety. Violet’s convinced herself that she’d be much happier if only she belonged to another family . . . like the one next door, of course, who are absolutely perfect. This book is heartwarming and uplifting and a cautionary tale that not only is the grass not always greener on the other side, but things aren’t always the way they first appear. There’s some mental health rep and neurodiversity here, between the mother having anxiety and likely depression and Violet’s new friend, Reggie, likely being on the autism spectrum, but neither of these is particularly explored, which felt a bit like a lost opportunity.

Egypt’s Fire by Tom Phillips
★★★★★ || Goodreads
This book was so much freaking fun. It’s one of those books that doesn’t take itself too seriously and it knows it, which means the reader can just sit back and enjoy the larger-than-life antics by this zany cast of characters. There’s a little bit of everyone, from villains to detectives to even animals. Older readers will easily spot the Sherlock Holmes influence (and even likely guess all the big twists in the mystery because of it), but that’s unlikely to bother middle grade readers. Even knowing the big twist ahead of time didn’t ruin the fun in getting there, because the plot is so over-the-top (in a good way, of course) that you never know where each page will take you. If you want to know more, you’ll just have to click those five stars and read my full review.

The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
The final book in the Chorus of Dragons series! Honestly, I’m a little sad that it’s over. I mean, it’s time. This is book five, each with around 700 pages. I’ve had a sufficient chance to live in this world. But still. It’s always sad to see a good thing end. I think I was in the minority of readers who absolutely loved the nonlinear structure of the fourth book and all the different ways Lyons has played with the structure of a story throughout this series, so it was a bit of a bummer to go back to a completely linear story. There are also a freaking lot of characters in this book. It’s the culmination of the series, so of course everyone makes an appearance (dragons included), and some of them are in bodies that weren’t their original bodies, and some have taken on other characters’ roles (technically), and some have three different past lives that they also refer back to, including their former names and relations to other characters. It was extremely confusing at times and hard to keep straight. Of course, all that being said, the culmination of this book is just *chef’s kiss*. It’s filled with action and plot twists galore. All the plot twists! I knew things wouldn’t go quite as the heroes planned (when does it ever), but I was perpetually caught off-guard by things that happened. I also freaking love this squad. That hasn’t changed. The build up to the final climax was so good and so perfect, and my only real complaint is that the book sort of just ends after that, without much of a denouement, and it didn’t really feel all that wrapped up. I mean, yes, it ended sufficiently to wrap up the entire series, but considering that we’ve spent five books with these characters and we get one (technically two) chapters with these characters post-war, it was kind of a bummer. Still one of my favorite series, though!

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson
★★★★★ || Goodreads
This read and review was extremely overdue, but more than worth the wait! Obviously, I’m a sucker for anything to do with dragons, but this title was just calling me. This book was filled with action and adventure and was super funny. The sarcastic narrator (in the form of a bard) was *chef’s kiss*. If you’ve ever watched Critical Role, the story has that sort of feel, of a roleplaying game full of adventurers who aren’t quite as on their game as they make it seem. Oh sure, they manage to work things out . . . somehow . . . eventually. But they’re not quite professionals. I had a ton of fun with this book and would highly recommend it to video game or roleplaying nerds who would be likely to enjoy the humor in that sort of thing.

Even and Odd by Sarah Beth Durst
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
If you’re looking for a book that’s whimsical and magical and involves super cute sibling bonds, I highly recommend this one! It’s a portal fantasy where there’s a whole magical world lurking just through portals interspersed throughout the world . . . or there was, until the portals started acting wonky. Something’s obviously up with the magic. Siblings Even and Odd, who share their magical abilities and who each have magic only every other day, are determined to fix the magic, with help from their unicorn sidekick. This book was not only magical but adorable and funny. I can see middle grade readers absolutely loving this quest (especially with all the really neat magical creatures they get to meet!).

A Sh*tload of Crazy Powers by Jackson Ford
★★★★★ || Goodreads
Book four of the Frost Files is every bit the roller coaster ride that the other books were. Holy sh*t. (See what I did there?! Sorry, I’ll just see myself out now . . .) My hold finally came through on this book, and I couldn’t wait to read it any longer. In fact, I sat down and read this in a day. If you thought it would be hard to top all the action-packed, sarcasm-filled goodness of the first three books, Ford sees your challenge and asks you to hold his beer. This book was freaking wild. Also? I’m just a teensy bit offended that I was forced to like characters that I’m pretty sure I’m meant to be hating, and how dare they have actual personalities that make me not able to completely hate them? Ugh. Best of all, sexy German billionaire Jonas Schmidt is back, and so is Nic, which complicates, things, right? (Though, if Teagan doesn’t want Jonas, I call dibs. Intelligent assholes is definitely my type. *motions to hubby*). As soon as I’m able to wrap my mind around what this book actually was enough to write a review, I will do so. But who the heck knows when that’ll be. Until then, suffice it to say that if you haven’t read this book, or this, yet, you need to.

Etta Invincible by Reese Eschmann
Status: 80%

A girl with hearing loss and a boy adjusting to life in a new country connect through their love of comics and get entangled in their own fantastical adventure.

Twelve-year-old Etta Johnson has Loud Days where she can hear just fine and Quiet Days where sounds come from far away and she gets to retreat into her thoughts. Etta spends most of her time alone, working on her comic book about Invisible Girl, the superhero who takes down super villain Petra Fide and does all the things Etta thinks she can’t.

But when Louisa May Alcott, a friendly Goldendoodle from across the street, disappears, Etta and the dog’s boy, Eleazar, must find their inner heroes to save her. The catch? LMA has run onto a magical train that mysteriously arrived at the station near Etta and Eleazar’s houses. On-board, they discover each train car is its own magical world with individual riddles and challenges that must be solved before they can reach the engine room and rescue LMA.

Only, the stakes are even higher than they thought. The train’s magic is malfunctioning and spreading a purple smoke called The Fear through the streets of Chicago. Etta and Eleazar are the only ones who can save the city, save Louisa May Alcott—and save each other.

I have such mixed feelings about this book so far. The rep in it is on point. Etta is a little Black girl who suffers from a chronic illness that sometimes makes it so she can’t hear, so she has to find mechanisms to cope, including assistive technology, lip reading, and what little sign language she knows. It’s an incredible point of view, and I absolutely love it. Etta also loves art and superheroes, and she’s invented her own superhero, Invincible Girl, who she wants to be every bit as brave as (even though she isn’t).

However, this is also a story about magic. It starts off very subtle, and I wasn’t sure if the magic was just a metaphor for something else or just imagination, but around 30%, it becomes clear that the magic is actually a thing. Which is cool, but also confusing, because the way it’s written makes it seem like Etta is just imagining it. By about midway, it’s obvious that the magic is real, which felt like a weird shift in the tone, like it should have been obvious that this magic existed all along.

My biggest qualm so far is that by 35% of the way in, nothing really had happened. There was some very gorgeous writing (the author is obviously talented on that front), but plotwise? Meh. Girl meets dog. Girl meets boy. Dog disappears. Everyone’s sad, as they should be. That’s pretty much it. It takes a long freaking time to build up to anything in this book. Once it hits the point of the adventure, I was really into the book, so it does pick up! But there were so many times when I wanted to set it aside before it hit that point, because it felt like it wasn’t going anywhere.

The focus on Etta’s illness is also extremely repetitive. The story is from her point of view, so it makes sense that this is a big part of her narrative, since it’s something she constantly needs to struggle with. However, at some point, I feel like I keep reading the same things over and over again. My least favorite is this weird way the author describes anytime Etta is scared or stressed. She says that her heart THWACKS (or she’ll describe the THWACK-THWACK of her heart). It’s just feels so awkward every time I stumble across it (which is a lot, probably every third or fourth page). I get it . . . her heart’s beating hard, she’s stressed, etc. I’d be happier with the author just saying her heart was beating hard or fast. This is obviously just a me thing, but it irks me every time I read it!

   

Even though this is supposed to be NetGalley July for me, I need to focus on some upcoming blog tour reads first before getting back to my overdue reads.

So I plan on picking up Last Gate of the Emperor, which is by Kwame Mbalia, and y’all know how much I loved his Tristan Strong series by now. I actually started this book previously during grad school, but my hold came through at the wrong time and I just didn’t actually have time to sit down and read it. So this is round two. It’s very different from Tristan, more on the sci-fi side, but I liked what I’d read of it so far.

Then, of course, I need to follow up book one with book two, The Royal Trials. Because that’s generally how series work!

What are you reading this week? Share in the comments below!

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