What I finished today: reviews

Witchycakes volume 3

5 stars chapter book

The perfect potion for the perfect story. Wishing all goes perfectly but with a sweet twist at the end. Loved this rainy spring festival story. The illustrations are amazing and I can't wait to try the cupcake recipe at the end.

Magic Tree House The Graphic Novel: midnight on the moon

3.5 stars graphic novel

Love this manga edition. Such a cool closure for this 8 book series to have ended on the moon. Annie is still quite naughty and impulsive not thinking twice before acting so Jack takes good care of her always. Loved the art and to visit the moon. Plus has a history lesson at the end.

Maxwell Dark Bad Blood

5 stars nightmarish graphic novel

So Cool! I mean, book one was awesome, but this one deals with his very complicated family. He didn't expect any of these plot twists. What? Can he transform himself? We all can do good or bad things, it's our choices that matter most. Thinking for ourselves and doing the right thing. Super cool illustrations of monsters. I now want to draw myself if I were a nightmare. Would I have worms coming out of my nose muahahah.

The book itself is high-quality printed on paper. Very sturdy with great colors.

The Doll House

4.5 Stars Middle grade horror I loved Grin so jumping into this one with my favorite theme (spending a night in a creepy house because of an agreement or a net) was only logical. So creepy. A mother and a son inherit a house, the kid didn't know a thing about his mom's family and he convinces his mom to accept the deal. Spend a week there and you'll get it all. But what he gets is learning all about the dark past and having terrible things chase him. I couldn't put it down. The author describes the scenes so well that I could hear the footsteps and see the head looking. Super cool.

P.s- It's the third book this week I read that has a wolf spider, one more and I'll have lots of nightmares. Eheh

Guardians

I ended this one last week but forgot to post:

5+ Stars Epic fantasy

I'm so glad this is not a portal fantasy. The book is well-divided into parts, from innocence to active involvement in war and society. We have Arden and Mako. They start in their own society, locations, and lives, making choices that already define their character. One has a knack, while the other will be bound with a guardian, perhaps not the one people wished for, but he is definitely going to stand out. Great world building, character development, rhythm, and pacing for a first in a series a lot happens. Although this is a young reader's fantasy, it will please a lot of coming-of-age adult fantasy readers as well. Looking forward to the next volume. The characters are not yet certain whom to trust and the great evil they thought was gone is still around.

Whetherwhy Series Vol 1, 2

Review of Book 2:

I liked this second volume more, because I like action-adventure more than politics and social intrigue. I wasn't expecting that the main character switched to 13 later, and the kids from book one have other parts. Juniper is still a main core one because she is Elio's mentor. This second is more about magic and tangles, which was my favorite thing in book one, creatures made of elemental magic, and more. The grandfather telling this story gives awesome Princess Bride vibes.

P.S. The inside illustrations are 5+ stars. So so so beautiful.