Girl Haven: a trans coming out story as a "we found ourselves in a magical realm that we have to save now" narrative. It's not exactly subtle and I think it could have been twice the length (a common theme with my recent reads) but for the younger target audience it probably will deliver more than it did for me. Art was god but it felt rushed at the start, but I think it really found itself by the end (which is only natural after drawing a 100+ pages).
All in all decent, I'd recommend it for younger kids who are just figuring themselves out.
Bingo love: I've heard so much hype for this book and I can see the appeal, but once again, I feel like it was a bit rushed.
It's about two women in love who get separated as teenagers (due to their family's disapproval) and find each other again 50 years later.
The original story is about 90 pages but the deluxe has shorter stories in the back which flash out their lives more and I really think those short stories should have been part of the original graphic novel.
Good concept tho, good art, likeable characters.
Tell no tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas: Story of an all female pirate crew with characters based on some actual historical accounts.
Lots of fun, good narrative, really liked the art, it was very expressive and clear. I'd definitely read a second volume and/or watch an animated movie.
Taproot: Story of a gardener who can see ghosts and one of the ghosts has a crush on him. Also there is some magical menace looming.
This needed another hundred pages and some rearranging with the structure because the pacing felt really off. Maybe I was just tired when reading it but it really seemed like the plot only kicked in about half way through but when it did I realized I barely knew the characters, so the climax felt unearned, and then we get a whole new separate adventure after, which just felt slapped on.
A lot of good ideas but they are either not well developed, not well placed or just felt like a set up for another story.
Despite me being critical of 3 out of 4 books, I'm still a hundred times more excited reading these than picking up any mainstream books.