REVIEW: The Great British Bump-Off (graphic novel, vol. 1) written by John Allison, art by Max Sarin

The Great British Bump-Off is a blend of comedy and mystery. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

It's the start of a new season of UK Bakery Tent, and Shauna, a student and one of the new contestants, is delighted to spend time with all these fellow bakers. She's sure it will be an experience filled with good vibes and baking togetherness...until she finds one of the other contestants face down in a bowl of batter, apparently poisoned (but not dead, FYI).

In order to save the show, Shauna promises to find the poisoner before the end of the first episode, while simultaneously completing the baking challenges along with the rest of the contestants. The only two contestants she's sure she can trust are Jill (a retired midwife) and Sunil (a yoga instructor).

REVIEW: Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators (nonfiction book) by Matt Sainsbury

Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators is nonfiction. I bought my copy used.

Review:

This was published back in 2015, so it's a bit old in game years. Of the 40 games featured, I've played or had some familiarity with only 10 or so, tops. A few of the ones I recognized: Dragon Age: Inquisition, American McGee's Alice, several of the Atelier games, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Contrast, and Never Alone.

This was 261 pages, which doesn't provide a lot of room to cover 40 games and interviews with 26 or so creators. Some games featured a better selection of artwork than others - both in-game and promotional art. Others had a more meager selection, focused more on promotional stuff than in-game artwork.

I had thought that the interviews might focus on the artwork as well, but that wasn't always the case. For example, Alex Norton's interview about Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox focused almost entirely on the game's origins and how its players/fanbase enhanced it. There were a few really good interviews that touched on game art in significant ways, though - I particularly liked the interviews with Jennifer Schneidereit (Tengami), Guillaume Provost (Contrast), Yoshita Okamura (Arland and Dusk trilogies from the Atelier series), Amy Fredeen and Alan Gershenfeld (Never Alone), and Akihiro Suzuki and Hisashi Koinuma (Bladestorm:Nightmare, Dynasty Warriors, and Samurai Warriors).

It wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it wasn't bad.

REVIEW: This House Is Haunted (book) by John Boyne

This House Is Haunted is gothic horror. I bought my copy used.

Review:

In 1867, 21-year-old Eliza Caine's father dies. When she learns that they were only renting their home, and that her teacher's salary isn't enough for her to continue living there, she impulsively accepts a position as a governess in the country. When she arrives at Gaudlin Hall, she discovers that several important details were omitted from the job ad - there are indeed two children (Isabella, 12, and Eustace, 8), but other than the two of them there are no adults around. Eliza will not only be a governess, but also a cook and whatever else the children need. 

Something strange is going on at Gaudlin Hall, and everyone who could give Eliza answers seems determined to avoid her. As she grows to care for the children, however, she begins to worry that both her life and theirs might be at risk if she doesn't learn Gaudlin Hall's secrets.

REVIEW: This Is How You Lose the Time War (novella) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War is a blend of science fiction and f/f romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Red and Blue are agents from opposing forces in a war that spans multiple timelines and locations. They become intrigued by each other, seeing each other as worthy adversaries. Although they never directly interact, they communicate through letters cleverly woven into the fabric of worlds where they know or suspect their paths will cross. Initially, the letters have a taunting tone. Eventually, however, their relationship warms, becoming something more like love.

But that doesn't change the fact that they're on opposite sides of a war. One side or the other will win, right?

REVIEW: If Found Return to Hell (novella) by Em X. Liu

If Found Return to Hell is fantasy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Journeyman Wen is an intern at One Wizard, a wizarding firm that helps callers with any number of magical problems, as long as their problems are covered by insurance and the customers can afford to pay. Once upon a time, Wen dreamed of actually helping people. Now, however, daily life involves nothing more than passing customers off to more qualified but overworked wizards.

One of Wen's latest calls seems like something that might warrant a house call. Surprisingly, Wen's supervisor doesn't assign someone else to the job, but rather sends Wen, who brings along Nathaniel, a friend and coworker at the call center. Unfortunately, Wen ends up promising a little more than they should and soon ends up with a problem in the form of a new roommate who's possessed by a demon prince from Hell. 

REVIEW: The Girl Who Became a Fish (short story) by Osamu Dazai, art by Nekosuke, translated by David Boyd

The Girl Who Became a Fish is, maybe, magical realism. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the story of Suwa, the young daughter of a charcoal maker. During the summer months, when visitors come to the area to see the local waterfall, Suwa's father has her run a small tea stand. Although she obediently does as she's told, her voice is drowned out by the sound of the falls and she rarely sells anything. One day, while staffing the tea stand, she witnesses a student accidentally fall and drown.

This gets tied in with a story Suwa's father once told her, about two brothers, one of whom was transformed into a serpent, as well as Suwa's eventual fate.

REVIEW: Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl: The Complete Manga Collection (manga) story by Mocchi-au-lait, art by majoccoid, translated by Cerridwyn Graffham

Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl is f/f romantic comedy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When Okuma Satomi's friend needs her help getting volunteers for a cross-dressing cafe, Satomi uses this as an opportunity to finally talk to her handsome crush, Kanda Mizuki. Satomi has no idea that Mizuki is actually a girl, and when Mizuki jokingly asks Satomi out, the misunderstanding spirals completely out of control. Mizuki knows she has to tell Satomi the truth soon, but Satomi is clearly over the moon about dating her. Mizuki doesn't want to upset or hurt her...and, she realizes, she also doesn't really want Satomi to break up with her, which she's convinced is what will happen once the truth comes out.

REVIEW: The Return (book) by Rachel Harrison

The Return is horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When Elise is first told that her old college friend Julie has gone missing, she doesn't believe it. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and she's convinced that she has just temporarily gone off somewhere on her own and will turn up again soon, laughing at everyone's reaction to her supposed disappearance. Except a year goes by, and Julie's friends have a sort of funeral for her. Even to Elise, this seems a bit too long for some kind of game. Then, exactly two years after Julie went missing, she turns up again. She swears she's fine, but she has no memory of where she was.

In order to reconnect, Julie and her three closest friends, Elise, Mae, and Molly, decide to spend a weekend at a remote hotel in which each of the rooms is elaborately decorated according to some bizarre theme. Elise and the others are shocked at how emaciated and sick Julie looks, but their friendship has been built around knowing about but avoiding talking about terrible things, and so they privately worry about Julie but pretend like nothing's wrong when they're with her. 

However, as hard as they try to pretend that everything's normal, it definitely isn't, and tensions are on the rise. It doesn't help that there seems to be something wrong with the hotel - Elise wonders whether her room is haunted, as she keeps imagining a presence there, just out of her line of sight, and she struggles to get the thermostat to stay above sixty. There's also something going on with the hotel staff, and the supposedly fully booked hotel is weirdly empty.

REVIEW: A Court of Mist and Fury (book) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury is the second book in Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This takes place shortly after the events of the previous book. Feyre is a mess, her sleep interrupted by nightmares of Amarantha and her time Under the Mountain. She desperately wants to do something useful. Unfortunately, Tamlin's time Under the Mountain has left him with a bone-deep terror of anything happening to Feyre. It doesn't matter that she now has the lifespan and powers of the High Fae - he's convinced that if he gives her the freedom she craves, she'll come to harm.

However, even Tamlin can't do anything about the agreement between Feyre and Rhysand. When he comes to claim his first week with her, there's no choice, she has to go. Her time with him doesn't go at all the way she expects, and it isn't long before she wonders if she wouldn't be better off with Rhysand than Tamlin, the man she loves and who she died to save.