not ya – UnapologeticallYA Book Reviews!

I recently finished this duology and was honestly so surprised by how much I LOVED it!

I’m a big sci-fi/fantasy nerd and I’ve found I really like books that are surrounded by video games and/or aliens so An Absolutely Remarkable Thing had kind of the perfect set-up for me. I loved April’s super frank voice. I felt like she had become my friend by the end of the book and I really knew her as a person. I also really recommend listening to this book as an audiobook because it really put me in the story in a transformative way by reading it in that medium!

I’ll be honest—I didn’t know this was going to be a duology when I read the first book. I finished it and was like OKAY, that’s a bit of a rude cliffhanger, gave if 5/5 stars, then walked away and sort of forgot about the series… but then when the sequel, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, came out this summer, I dusted up on my knowledge of the world with a quick reread and dove right back in.

With the sequel, I really enjoyed how Green expanded on the side characters from the first book. This really felt like an ensemble cast and I grew attached to each perfectly flawed and lovable character. The main plot was so urgent and like kinda existentially scary to think about in the context of a global pandemic right now… Anyway, such an engaging read! Kind of hard not to include spoilers, but I would definitely recommend walking into this series with an open mind and letting it drift you away with fun, quirky details, lots of humor and heart, and characters that you will want to call your new best friends!

Comparable titles:
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

I’m so happy to see that this webcomic has been turned into a book! I randomly stumbled across it online a few weeks ago and absolutely loved the concept and characters. Then when I realized that the author was Sarah Andersen, whose Sarah’s Scribbles books I love, I was even more excited. This comic is certainly a departure from her previous books, but it still has the same heart and humor running through it despite its differences!

Fangs really plays on the cliche of vampires and werewolves by depicting an unlikely romantic pairing between the two in a modern day AU setting. Each page of the book is one simple scene where the two main characters interact. Reading it in the book bind-up setting, I felt like the storyline was nicely continuous and showed great development as the pair explores their relationship. Initially, reading it as disparate comic strips every few days, I hadn’t noticed the flow between the scenes as much, but this way it all really hit me in a super effective way. By the end of the book, I was extremely attached and didn’t want it to end!

This brings me to my main critique: I felt like the ending fell flat. Not that there was anything wrong with it but it didn’t seem like a needed conclusion. I wish there had been a bit more of a resolution or glimpse into their future. Instead, it just sort of ended abruptly to me. Like it was just for the sake of finishing the book, but I could foresee there being so much more interesting content in their relationship moving forward that *the world* is denying me!

Overall, Fangs was so fun and quirky. Although the panels are short, it becomes really easy to get attached to the characters. Whether or not you’re a big comic/graphic novel reader, I would definitely recommend it for a quick read or even something to get you out of a reading slump since it’s mostly visual and fast moving. I honestly haven’t read so many comics before, but it’s something I’ve been getting into a lot lately. I can’t think of any direct comp titles in this genre, but I would say that it has the spirit of Carry On mixed with Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (and yes, I know those are sort of wild comparisons, but think of it in *spirit* and *humor* and *satire*… and just go with it!).

***I received an e-ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tag: not ya

Series Review: THE CARLS by Hank Green

FANGS by Sarah Andersen