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Okay. Confession: With comics, I don't always read what they're about, sometimes I just look at the art + title and go "I'm reading that"

That's what I did here.

I had learned about "Hungry Ghosts" / 餓鬼 èguǐ from a Cast of Wonders Story ( Episode 451: Unnamed; linked here: www.castofwonders.org/2021/04/cast-of-wonders-451-unnamed/ ) and thought maybe it would be about that concept.

Yes and no.

Basically, while Unnamed is a story about losing your name / identity and becoming something that may be a Hungry Ghost, this is about an Asian American (I assumed Chinese based on the author's surname, but the Hungry Ghost concept is part of Buddhism as well as Chinese traditional religion so that is why I am being non-specific here) girl, Val, getting ready to go to college, has always struggled regarding food. Her mother stressed about her weight (and other relatives will make comments) and she was given special portion sizes and had comments like to cut the fatty part off her servings.

To be clear, not that it should matter either way, Val is not fat. She doesn't eat a lot, and then she quietly sneaks away to purge it (if you have issues regarding vomit, I didn't really notice any in the book). Her best friend Jordan IS fat, and Val's mother will make comments about her to Val, like fatness is contagious.

After having to leave a language trip to Paris early because her father dies unexpectedly, things get worse. She blows up at her friend Jordan, and it becomes clear that Val believes being fat makes you inherently unloveable.

This book is about Val getting help and taking the first STEPS towards recovery.

It's ultimately hopeful, and admittedly while I have struggled more with binge / emotional eating than anorexia or bulimia, I felt it was pretty realistic about it. Like "your mom is probably always going to make these comments, she loves you she just doesn't know how to help" that sort of thing. It didn't feel like, optimistic because it was TOLD to end optimistically or something like I have suspected is the case with some books.

The author, Victoria Ying, says she didn't feel feel "fully recovered from (her) eating disorder until (her) early-thirties".

The book includes further reading at the end, and also included Content Warnings in the front. I appreciated that.

the book is a tough, but fairly quick read

This is based on the author's experiences as a child (the author uses they/them, but the protagonist is she/her in the book), though everyone but the protagonist has a changed name. Basically, Hazel and her homeschooled boyfriend and best friends are trying to save up for a concert. Part of it is by doing these pro-homeschool ads for a contest. Hazel also takes a job working on removing Ivy from the park. Most of the park staff is made up of PoC (it gets into why). But during the graphic novel, she thirsts after an older man (don't worry she is rejected), and experiences a fair amount of bullying and harassment.

About halfway through the book, it becomes explicit that Hazel is waking up to her white privilege (like, there are next to no homeschooled children of color, it's a mostly white thing, and mostly affulent white thing as you need at least one parent to stay home). When a black boy sexually harasses her, she reports him and he gets fired (which she feels guilty about, plus she's getting shit about it from her peers especially since a black girl was sexually harassed earlier, and while I suspect she did not go to her boss about it, everyone knew about it, and NOTHING happened in that case). She learns the park job is mostly for "At-risk" youth and she was hired to be an "inspiration". She also finds out that part of why she was homeschooled was a reaction to Integrated Schooling. Early in the book, she stresses that her parents are "Hippies" / "Vegan" and NOT religious. So this is a good reminder that you are not required to be a right-wing zealot to be racist.

She researches Oregon's state history and finds out it was founded as a white-only state, that sort of thing.

But basically, she wins the Homeschool ad contest (and now feels weird about promoting the judges' unknown views) and she patches things up with other park employees. Basically Hazel does NOT solve racism, but comes away understanding her role in white supremacy a lot more. (it may also help that several books like "Why Are the Black Kids All Sitting Together in the Cafeteria" are cited in the graphic novel).

I think this book would be a good introductory step for white kids. Sort of like if a white person starts with a Robin DiAngelo book, where there are certainly better books written by people of color, but one thing I've become aware of on my journey to combat racism in my life, is that sometimes a white person DOES need another white person to explain it to them.

Like I don't want to make a sweeping generalization that this is true for every white person, but there's certainly a significant amount of white people this IS true for. I think the key is that the journey may Start with one book, but it does not END with one book.

You get the idea. I was gonna say "This would be good in a library" and that is accurate--as I borrowed my copy from the library

I was given a free copy of this book with the request to write an honest review.

This is a paranormal sort-of romance with a Happily For Now Ending. It has what I assume are bondage / kink elements, but nothing explicit happens in this book.

Anyway, Lilah (Ey/em + He/Him) has been attacked and become a wereperson (I assume wolf, due to mentions of a snout and "pack" and "cub", but if the word "Wolf" was ever used, I missed it) and ey and eir family live in a country unkind to werepeoples. So when the guards of the country find out Lilah is a wereperson, they capture em and eir family and tie them up to die of exposure / the sun.

They are rescued in time, from nobility from a country much kinder to were people, and Lilah takes an oath to serve. And then the rest of the book is about building the bond of trust (Though ironically not with the siblings) and traveling to where they can be safe.

I left some stuff out, as I'd like y'all to read it.

I think I've said this before, but I really liked the worldbuilding. Basically, Pronouns are Elverson-variants of the Spivak Pronouns (so Ey/Em/Eir) unless you get to know someone. Then you can use their informal, gendered (?) pronoun. So "He" for Lilah, that sort of thing. It's a really cool setup.

I want to say despite the darker subject matter (like suicidal ideation, your very existence being considered at threat) the book gave me warm fuzzies.

I know there will be future books in this series, and I just wish I had ALL of it, Right this second.

One: I'm really grateful to Seanan McGuire for the included Content Warning at the beginning, that let me know while there WAS abusive elements in the early parts of the story, I would not see / be subjected to the worst of it. Gonna send her a message about that as soon as I can get it concise.

Two: While this DOES include gaslighting (and implications of coming sexual abuse) the book is about Abuse as a whole (just in another Portal Fantasy Setting). So Keep that in mind while reading.

Antsy (full name: Antoinette) loses her father early in the story. And gets a step father she has never liked or trusted. When her mother asks for permission to marry him, Antsy refuses, but it becomes clear her Mother just believes it's childish complaints.

And then, the reasons to feel icky around the man continue, starting with Gaslighting to make Antsy look like an untrustworthy liar: after all, why would an adult lie about a conversation or two with children?

He always calls her Antoinette, never Antsy. And of course, the night Antsy Runs (thank god) he starts making more... overt moves on her, and while she does not have the vocabulary for what's happening (and is pretty sure her mother won't believe her even if she found it) she knows (correctly) that she's in danger and runs away.

Anyway, she gets to a thrift store door as nexus. Basically, the premise is: it's where lost things end up (including a lot of money) and when you open a door, you can end up in all sorts of worlds, and do trade.

Here's the catch: Antsy ages (at least) 2 days for every door she opens, and none of the others at the thrift shop TELL her this. They Encourage her to open doors.

So in the span of two years, Antsy (actually 7, pretending to be 9) goes through puberty, and is at a minimum in her late teens by the end of the book. In. Two. Years. So she CANNOT return to her home anymore, realizing the problem.

She leaves the thrift shop (and goes to her home world, where she finds out (I think as a result of her running away) that her abuser is in prison for the Child Pornography the police found on his computer) but wants to eventually return to the thrift shop nexus, because she wants other children who end up at the nexus to make informed decisions about their time, even if they choose to go hog wild with doors.

Basically, the way I interpret it, along with the way her Abuser calls her Antoinette in an attempt to age her into a name that doesn't fit you, is that the book (while being a portal fantasy) is an allegory for the way Child Abuse forces children to grow up too fast. She effectively would have had her childhood taken from the Abuser if she HADN'T gone to the door, and because the runners of the thrift shop were exploiting her, she STILL lost her childhood.

I nearly wanted to cry when I finished the book. It's definitely dark, but it's beautiful. A+ good book would read again

This was recommended to me last year during the Smashwords Sale (it may have even been free at the time). It took me longer than expected, but I read it, and I love it.

I don't like reading books taking place during or after the Apocalypse for a variety of reasons, but the simplest one is "it stresses me out and makes me despair over the state of the world". This is not stressful. This is a downright soothing book.

The book has its own unique take on vampires.

One of the main characters is trans, and it is only mentioned in passing, and has no impact on the plot.

I think if you're a library nerd you'll really like this book.