REVIEW: CDQ: Character Design Quarterly, 29 (magazine issue)

Character Design Quarterly is a magazine, although each issue has its own ISBN and it's possible to purchase individual issues, which is how I ended up with this one.

Review:

It doesn't matter which issue of Character Design Quarterly you pick up, you're always going to end up with quality artwork and character design advice and tutorials. This issue features:

- An interview with Ben Eblen, the cover artist, about his art and career
- A step-by-step look at Eblen's process for creating the cover art
- A step-by-step look at Sarah-Lisa Hleb's process for creating a "shy sheep" character
- A step-by-step look at Corah Louise's process for creating four members of a Victorian family
- An interview with John Loren
- Paul Joseph Nicholson's tutorial for expressing personality in your character designs, using a hare and tortoise as examples
- A step-by-step look at Iz Ptica's process for creating a character using the prompts nature, party, and tiny
- Andy Na's tutorial for using color to amplify emotions and draw the eye
- An interview with Poopikat (Kate Pellerin) about her art and career
- A gallery of artwork by artists Dan Sprogis, Kenny Leoncito, and Haiyang Sun
- Laura Dumitriu's tutorial for creating different looks (sporty, casual, elegant) for characters, using a couple different characters as examples
- Erica Hodne's step-by-step process for designing a Robin Hood character
- (Inside the cover flaps) Lorenzo Etherington's tips for drawing rabbits and hares (which, thinking back to a needle felted rabbit I created, also contains helpful information for 3D work)

As always, a really nice publication with lots of tutorials and tips and fantastic artwork.  

REVIEW: Thermae Romae: The Complete Omnibus (manga) by Mari Yamazaki, translated by Stephen Paul

Thermae Romae is historical comedy with fantasy/time travel elements. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When Roman architect Lucius is criticized for his thermae (ancient Roman public bath) designs, he goes to a local public bath himself to collect his thoughts...and ends up in an onsen (Japanese public bath) in modern Japan. He doesn't immediately realize that's what happened, however, and thinks he's surrounded by slaves or foreigners. He's absolutely awestruck by what he sees at the onsen. When he is somehow transported back to ancient Rome, he tries to make some of the features of the onsen a reality in his own thermae designs. It's all an instant hit, catapulting Lucius into thermae architectural fame. 

As the series progresses, Lucius is repeatedly transported back and forth between modern Japan and ancient Rome. Each instance gives him more ideas, but also leaves him feeling conflicted about his pride as a Roman. 

REVIEW: Herding Cats: A "Sarah's Scribbles" Collection (graphic novel) by Sarah Andersen

Herding Cats is technically a collection of comics rather than a graphic novel, but eh. I bought my copy new.

Review:

My only complaint is that the volume was very short. The humor (awkwardness, anxiety, stress, cats, general nerdiness, etc.) was super relatable and funny. I particularly love the facial expressions and Andersen's use of blur effects.

The last 20 or so pages of the volume is devoted to Andersen's advice for young creatives, illustrated with some of her comics and art. There's stuff about dealing with harassment, being kind to yourself, etc. 

REVIEW: Cinder-Nanny (book) by Sariah Wilson

Cinder-Nanny is contemporary romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Diana Parker puts every spare penny she has into trying to help her sister with her medical bills. Her sister, Alice, is on dialysis and needs a kidney transplant. Diana is willing and able to be her donor, but issues with Alice's soon-to-be-ex-husband have resulted in her currently having no health insurance coverage for herself and her kids. Diana needs $40,000 ASAP.

She has a plan, albeit not one that makes her or Alice very comfortable. Diana and Alice's mother was a notorious conwoman, and Diana learned a lot of her mother's tricks before she was eventually caught and sent to prison. Diana doesn't want to be like her mother - in fact, she has spent her adult life trying to be as honest as possible. But she's just come across an incredible job ad posted by a wealthy couple looking for a live-in nanny to accompany them to Aspen for three months, for which they'll pay $40,000. They want someone who can teach their five-year-old son math, French, and how to ski. The sum total of Diana's matching qualifications? She has babysat before. 

When she's somehow hired for the job, Diana is both thrilled and overwhelmed with guilt. She decides to do her absolute best and hopes that her lies about her qualifications aren't immediately uncovered. Putting her all into this job doesn't exactly leave much room anything else, and yet Diana somehow repeatedly finds herself in the orbit of Griffin Windsor, a charming and handsome earl.

REVIEW: The Hole (book) by Hye-young Pyun, translated by Sora Kim-Russell

The Hole is a Korean psychological horror/thriller novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Oghi wakes up from a coma after a car accident that took his wife's life and left him paralyzed and disfigured. The only person left in his life to care for him, since he has no other family, is his mother-in-law. She hires an additional caretaker for him, and he also has a physical therapist, although he doesn't see them as often as he maybe should. 

All Oghi can do is lay there, try to communicate his needs (he can't speak intelligibly, although he's eventually able to write a bit), and think about the past. Initially, his mother-in-law cares for him reasonably well, but as time goes on, something changes. Oghi notices that she's digging holes in the backyard, uprooting his wife's beloved garden. He also finds himself more and more neglected.

REVIEW: An Heir to Thorns and Steel (book) by M.C.A. Hogarth

An Heir to Thorns and Steel is the first book in Hogarth's Blood Ladders trilogy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Morgan Locke, a university student studying folklore, has been hiding a mysterious, debilitating illness from everyone but his family his whole life. He's been reasonably successful about it thus far, but his seizures and nausea are becoming more frequent and ill-timed. It isn't contagious, but he's still worried it will cost him his friends, including Ivy, a fellow student on whom he has a bit of a crush.

Then two little creatures called genets, Kelu and Almond, show up at his home and tell him that he's a long-lost elven prince. To Morgan, elves are beings of folklore, but then again the genets shouldn't be real either, and there they are. In the hope of finding a cure for his illness, Morgan goes with Kelu and Almond and finds himself in a dangerous world of elves who see everyone else as beneath them and little more than slaves.

REVIEW: Doggie Language: A Dog Lover's Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend (nonfiction book) by Lili Chin

Doggie Language is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book is primarily illustrations of dog body language, accompanied by short paragraphs or bulleted lists highlighting the important aspects of what you'll see a dog doing and what their body language likely indicates, along with additional details to note (context, what's going on with the rest of their body, etc.).

I'm pretty sure my first exposure to Chin's work was her dog and cat body language posters, both of which are freely available to download and print on her website (along with lots of other really helpful graphics, many but not all of which animal-related). You can probably get a lot of the same information found in this book via Chin's free downloads, but this book has it all in one place, in a format small enough to be tucked away in a bag. I'd have appreciated something like this back when my parents got their first dog. I'd grown up around cats but not dogs - dogs seemed loud and aggressive in comparison, and while I ended up loving my parents' dog, I'm still not always comfortable around dogs in general.

As Chin notes, dogs can have very different body types (curly tails, stubby tails, floppy ears, etc.), which can affect what certain body language details look like. Where possible, she illustrates what certain behaviors might look like in different dogs - for example, relaxed vs. alert ears in a Boston Terrier (upright ears) vs. a Dachshund (floppy ears).

All in all, this is a nice little book, and the illustrations are, as expected, great. 

REVIEW: Dear Edward (book) by Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward is contemporary fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This alternates between the past and present. In the present, 12-year-old Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills 183 other passengers, including his mother, father, and older brother. He's sent to live with his aunt (his mother's sister) and her husband, who'd been unsuccessfully trying to have a child of their own. In the past, we get glimpses of the POVs of several passengers of the doomed flight, right up to the moment it crashes.

The book covers several years of Edward's life with his aunt and uncle, as he tries to process what he went through and the grief over the deaths of his family members. 

REVIEW: Local Woman Missing (book) by Mary Kubica

Local Woman Missing is a thriller. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Shelby Tebow is the first person to go missing. Then Meredith Dickey and her young daughter, Delilah, also disappear not far from where Shelby was last seen. The case goes cold, until, 11 years later, Delilah is found. She was apparently kept in someone's basement all that time. 

This follows several POVs. In the past, there's Meredith, who it turns out was Shelby's doula, and Kate, a neighbor of Meredith's. In the present, there's Delilah (her escape) and Leo, Meredith's son. We learned that someone was following Meredith and sending her threatening texts. She was also increasingly involved with one of her clients, Shelby, and her less-than-rosy situation.

This was twisty in a way that wasn't too over-the-top. That said, the situation and characters weren't really that memorable to me and didn't grab me as much as they could have. I'm still looking forward to trying Kubica's other books, though. 

REVIEW: Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive (nonfiction book) by Philipp Dettmer

Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System That Keeps You Alive is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I got this book a while ago, while looking for well-reviewed illustrated nonfiction. I remembered I had it after finishing John Rhodes' How to Make a Vaccine - it would have been really helpful to have read this book before that one. I know I learned a bit about the immune system in school, but Dettmer's book was the most thorough education in the immune system I've ever had. It covered things I vaguely remembered from school, added new information that's been discovered since then, and also covered some of the things that can go wrong (allergies, cancer, parasites, autoimmune disease, HIV and AIDS, COVID-19) while at the same time noting areas where we still don't fully understand why things happen the way they do.

REVIEW: Black Blood (manga) by Hayate Kuku, translated by Kat Skarbinec

Black Blood is a BL sci-fi one-shot manga. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The year is 3020 C.E. Ethan is a cyborg soldier who has traveled to the planet Peridot in order to take a break from the battlefield. He'll be working security - on Peridot, whose only inhabitants are a few human scientists, their family members, and some weird native plant-like things, that should be a piece of cake.

Since Ethan can handle the high oxygen content of the planet a bit better than most of the other members of Peridot's security, he's assigned to help Mihail, an enthusiastic botanist who's finally been given permission to go out and do some fieldwork. As Ethan gets to know Mihail, he starts feeling things he hasn't felt since before he became a cyborg. His emotions were dialed down so that he could handle battle better, and there's very little of him left that's still organic tissue...but maybe even he can still feel love?

REVIEW: Strange Pictures (book) by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion

Strange Pictures is more mystery than horror, although I've seen it tagged as both. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book features three different stories centered around eerie drawings. The stories initially appear unconnected, although the aspects tying them together are revealed by the end.

In the first story, a student who's a member of his college Paranormal Club is introduced to a strange blog featuring a series of drawings. The blog appears ordinary enough, initially, focused on the daily life of a guy whose artist wife ends up pregnant. However, it ends with a chilling final post that hints at a message hidden in his wife's various drawings.

In the second story, a child draws a picture of his home and family that is uncharacteristically eerie. His mother worries that she and her son are being watched and followed. Then her son disappears, leaving her frantic. And yet for some reason she's reluctant to contact the police. Was her son's drawing a hint of some sort of dark family secret?

In the third and final story, a young man who wants to become a freelance reporter decides to investigate his former art teacher's murder during a hike three years prior. His current boss still has the investigation materials from that case, so he decides to talk to any people related to the case that he can still find and recreate his former teacher's final hike as best he can. He also has one additional clue, the drawing found on his teacher's body.

REVIEW: Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World (nonfiction book) by Michael J. Benton, with illustrations by Bob Nicholls

Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Technically, a few of the 15 animals covered in this book aren't dinosaurs. However, all of them are creatures we only know about through the fossil remains they left behind. Each of them gets one entire chapter devoted to them, which starts with a description of what a moment in their lives might have looked like and then moves on to the science behind how the details of that scene, and Bob Nicholls' fabulous illustrations, were reconstructed.

I got this primarily for the illustrations (I think maybe this book was mentioned in Thor Hanson's Feathers?), and I was not disappointed. The illustrations were gorgeous, and I ended up with several favorites. It was easy to imagine all of them as living, breathing beings.

I was a little worried about the text itself, but it was thankfully both readable and informative.  

All in all, this was a delightful read that made my dinosaur-loving heart happy. I only wish it had ended a little less abruptly. Instead of finishing with a concluding chapter that tied everything together, it just stopped. I knew I was getting close to the end of the book, but it was still a shock when I turned the page only to find nothing more than a "further reading" section. 

REVIEW: A Man & His Cat Picture Book: Fukumaru and the Spaceship of Happiness (book) by Umi Sakurai, translation by Taylor Engel

Fukumaru and the Spaceship of Happiness is a picture book spinoff of the A Man & His Cat manga series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Fukumaru, a cat who is much loved by "Daddy," the man who adopted him, learns about wishing on a shooting star and wants to wish on one of his own. However, the star he wishes upon crashes and turns out to be a spaceship crewed by alien cats. They need Fukumaru to provide them with Happy, the thing that powers their ship.

Oh, the sound I made when I learned that the adorable A Man & His Cat series had a related picture book, and that it was available in English. Anyway, this was just as cute and sweet as I expected it to be. Fukumaru and Mr. Kanda's love for each other gives me all kind of warm fuzzy feelings.

Although there's a flashback to the time when Mr. Kanda adopted Fukumaru, this book will probably work best for fans of the manga series. 

REVIEW: A Soul to Keep (book) by Opal Reyne

A Soul to Keep fantasy romance (ok, specifically monster romance). I bought my copy new.

Review:

Since the day her family members were slaughtered by demons when she was a child, Reia has been viewed as unlucky and shunned by others in her village. Years later, Reia reluctantly allows herself to be prepared as an offering to the Duskwalker that will be arriving soon. Duskwalkers have the power to cast a spell that can protect a village for a whole ten years. This particular Duskwalker always asks for a pure and willing human companion in exchange for the spell. No one knows what happens to all its previous companions, but it probably isn't anything good. Duskwalkers may not be demons, but they aren't human either.

Reia is initially more angry than afraid, feeling like she has no choice but to act as one of her village's offerings. She hopes for an opportunity to escape and live her own life somewhere else, but as the Duskwalker, whose name turns out to be Orpheus, takes her to his home, it becomes clear that escaping will be difficult. Orpheus doesn't want to kill Reia - didn't want to kill any of his prior companions - but he can't stop the instinctual bloodlust that overwhelms him if his companions run from him or fear him like prey.

Thankfully, Reia continues to be less fearful than most. As the two of them come up with a daily routine and get to know each other, they both struggle with their emotions - Orpheus, with his hope that he might finally have found a truly willing companion, if not the bride he has always wanted, and Reia, with her warring desires to either run away or stay with this surprisingly caring and lonely being.

REVIEW: Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story (graphic novel) by Patrick McDonnell

Breaking the Chain is a collection of Mutts comics with some commentary relating to McDonnell's Guard Dog character. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is a collection of Mutts comic strips focused on Guard Dog's storyline. Initially, one or two strips are presented per page. During the finale, the format switches to one panel per page.

Initially, Guard Dog was meant to be a "bully" character. Instead, he ended up shining a light on the plight of chained dogs like him. 

In a text section about Guard Dog, McDonnell mentions that some organizations objected to Guard Dog being freed, feeling that he was a more impactful character when chained. I couldn't help but wonder if PETA and PETA reps accounted for most (all?) of those comments.

I wouldn't call myself a huge Mutts fan, although I enjoyed occasionally reading it in the newspaper, and I don't recall being particularly invested in any of the characters' stories. Still, after reading this, personally, I'm glad that McDonnell allowed Guard Dog to go free, even if it took 30 years to get to that point.  

REVIEW: A Guide to Film and TV Cosplay (nonfiction book) by Holly Swinyard

A Guide to Film and TV Cosplay is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This fairly short work starts by looking at what cosplay is, and its history. Then there's a section on how to choose a character to cosplay (which basically boils down to a lot of reassurance), and finally a section on the more practical aspects of creating cosplay outfits (different materials and their benefits and drawbacks, buying and modifying clothing, self-care in cosplay, etc.).

I doubt there's much here that would be of interest to veteran cosplayers. Maybe the history section? Although it sounded like, even for that section, there were probably more thorough resources out there - there's a nice "references and further reading" section that can point folks to other works. The second section, in particular, felt like it was aimed at people who were new to cosplay and extremely nervous and overwhelmed about it all. All that reassurance was nice, but I couldn't help but notice the way it neatly sidestepped even mentioning the kind of negative comments that cosplayers who make their photos public can experience. Although I suppose that's obvious enough if you've ever looked at the comment section of a set of cosplay photos. The third and final section doesn't have much in the way of specific practical tips, just some general information abut the usefulness and behavior of certain materials.  

The best thing about this book is all the photographs (I'm assuming that all the proper permissions were obtained, but I did note that none of the photos mentioned the names or handles of the cosplayers depicted). There were lots of photographs, with a huge variety of fandoms on display. 

REVIEW: Guardian: Zhen Hun, Book 1 (book) by Priest, illustrated by Marmaladica, translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy.

Guardian is urban fantasy danmei (Chinese m/m). I bought my copy new.

Review:

This starts with Guo Changcheng reluctantly going to his first day of work at a job his second uncle, a higher ranking official at the Ministry of Public Security, arranges for him. Guo Changcheng is too timid to call and ask if the time he's supposed to show up for work, 2:30 am, is a typo, so he shows up at 2:30 am deciding that, if it's a mistake, he'll come back at 2:30 pm as well.

The time is not a typo, and the job isn't at all what Guo Changcheng expects. The Special Investigations Department of the Ministry of Public Security deals with strange and unusual cases. Zhao Yunlan, Guo Changcheng's new boss, is a bit of a mess in his personal life but highly skilled at his work. He's also one of the department's few living, human employees.

In the first half of this volume, Zhao Yunlan drags Guo Changcheng along to an investigation of the murder of a Dragon City University student. The investigation brings Zhao Yunlan into contact with Shen Wei, an attractive instructor at the university (Zhao Yunlan is canonically bisexual).

In the second half of this volume, Zhao Yunlan accompanies one of his employees, a spirit named Wang Zheng, to Qingxi Village, the place where her bones are buried, along with several other SID employees. Zhao Yunlan is happy to come across Shen Wei, who's on a trip to the area with several of his students.

REVIEW: The Only One Left (book) by Riley Sager

The Only One Left is a thriller. I bought my copy new.

Review:

It's 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere wishes she hadn't been assigned to take care of Lenora Hope. The woman is infamous. Although it was never proven that she killed her whole family back in 1929, nearly everyone is convinced she did it, to the point that there's even a schoolyard chant about that night. But it's not like Kit has much of a choice, considering how things went with her last assignment. 

Lenora isn't at all what Kit expects. A series of strokes has left her mute and unable to move anything but her left hand. She never leaves her room, and her only form of entertainment seems to be the tapes that Jessie, one of the household staff members, records of herself reading various novels. Hope House, too, isn't what Kit expects. It's enormous and was likely grand in its prime, but now it's a crumbling mess.

Gradually, Kit adjusts to her work and figures out how to communicate with Lenora. There's a typewriter in Lenora's room that she's able to use, with help, and, little by little, Lenora starts telling her the story of what happened the night her family was killed. Kit has no idea whether it will be a confession or a revelation about the true murderer. It chills her, as does the evidence that something strange is going on at Hope House.

REVIEW: Bean the Stretchy Dragon (book) by Ari Stocrate

Bean the Stretchy Dragon is a humorous fantasy children's picture book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book depicts a day in the life of Bean the stretchy dragon (who seems sort of like a cross between a cat, a dog, and a ferret). Bean lives with Sally the witch a meets various cryptids in the forest, including a Jackalope, a Swamp Monster, and more.

The artwork was super cute, but the text needed a bit more editing for clarity - when a book is intended for children, I expect word usage to be perfect. Here, we have a few odd word choices like "Sadly, they are hunted down for their antlers, which behold powerful magic" (that's not how you use the word "behold," if that sentence is saying what I think it is) and a monster described as having "palmed feet" (I think the author meant "palm-shaped"?). 

I got this for the artwork, and Bean was exactly as cute, chaotic, and stretchy as I'd hoped. Even here, though, I think the author and publisher could have done a better job - the colors seemed a bit muddy, and the linework would have benefited from more variation. 

REVIEW: Parenting Is Weird: Tails from the Litterbox (graphic novel) by Chesca Hause

Parenting Is Weird is a Litterbox Comics collection. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In the introduction, Hause writes that this series was originally supposed to be a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood parody. It ended up morphing more into its own thing, a comedic take on parenting and family life set in a world of anthropomorphized animals. 

I'd seen Hause's Litterbox Comics online before, and I'm happy to report that it's all just as much fun to read in print. There's nerd humor, parenting humor (which even I enjoy, despite not being a parent myself), and even animal-related humor, as characters occasionally surprise readers with details about their behavior that match their animal side. Imagining Fran engaging in 3am zoomies with her kids had me laughing.

Extras: 

This collection includes character bios for all four members of the family, full-page flip art (two pages that animate when you flip them) at the start of every chapter, and a couple pages of stickers. 

REVIEW: The Woman in White (book) by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White is a mystery/thriller originally published in 1860. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Walter Hartright, a young drawing teacher, first encounters Anne Catherick, the woman in white, at the start of this story. She's lost and obviously distressed. He helps her, and later learns that she has escaped from an asylum. 

Later on, Walter is employed at Limmeridge House as a drawing instructor to Laura Fairlie, a beautiful young woman, and Marian Halcombe, Laura's less attractive but highly intelligent half-sister. Walter and Laura fall in love with each other, but Laura is unfortunately already engaged to someone else, Sir Percival Glyde. Anne Catherick suddenly rejoins the story, with vague warnings about Laura's fiance, but nothing concrete enough to call off the wedding. 

There is, however, definitely more going on with Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco, Sir Percival's closest friend, than is immediately apparent. What does Anne Catherick have to do with it all, and can the mysteries be untangled in time to save Laura from Sir Percival and Count Fosco's nefarious plans? 

REVIEW: Three Assassins (book) by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa

Three Assassins is a Japanese thriller. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Suzuki is an ordinary man seeking vengeance for his wife, who was murdered by a drunk driver. The driver was the son of Mr. Terahara, the man in charge of a criminal gang called Fräulein. The best Suzuki could come up with was to infiltrate Fräulein and somehow get close enough to Mr. Terahara's son in order to kill him. Unfortunately, getting into Fräulein has involved helping the gang sell drugs to young women. If that wasn't bad enough, now he's being asked to kill someone in order to prove his loyalty to the gang. He's not sure he can bring himself to go that far.

When an assassin known as the Pusher kills Mr. Terahara's son right in front of Suzuki's eyes, he's suddenly drawn even further into a world of almost supernaturally talented assassins. The Pusher kills his victims by pushing them into oncoming traffic and then slipping away unnoticed. The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives, using only his words and unnerving gaze. The Cicada is a knife expert capable of ruthlessly killing whole families. 

Can a man like Suzuki, a former teacher, somehow navigate this world and find a way out, or will he end up as dead as any of the assassins' other victims?

REVIEW: SOS Hotel: Guaranteed a Supernaturally Safe Stay!, Book 1 (book) by Ariana Nash

This is the first volume in Nash's SOS Hotel series, which is urban fantasy that will eventually include a gay throuple. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In the world of this story, at some point in the past, supernatural beings of all sorts suddenly found themselves trapped in our world. In general, humans were not happy about this, because a lot of those supernatural beings were higher up on the food chain.

Adam Vex is a 100% normal human guy opening his new SOS Hotel, which is intended to be a sanctuary for supernatural beings. Opening day is having...issues. Tom Collins, the magical AI bartender Adam purchased from a fairy, swears more than Adam would like and won't listen to orders. Zodiac, aka Zee, Adam's ex-porn-star demon business partner, keeps trying to work sex into the hotel's marketing plan, despite Adam's insistence that they're not that kind of business. There are a bunch of human protesters stationed outside the hotel...and one dead protester inside the hotel. Which shouldn't be possible, considering that wards that are supposed to prevent violence anywhere on the grounds. Add in Adam's business nemesis, Gideon Cain, and a sexy billionaire vampire who, for some reason, wants to be the hotel's first customer, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

REVIEW: Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism: A Memoir (nonfiction book) by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Careless People is the author's memoir of her time working at Facebook. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Back in 2009, Sarah Wynn-Williams was convinced that Facebook could play a powerful and important part in world politics. The problem was that, at the time, no one at Facebook seemed to realize it. She ended up having to pitch her own job (she was initially hired as Manager of Global Public Policy), and it wasn't until about 2011 that she convinced anyone to give her and her ideas a shot. 

Even then, there were communication hurdles. While Wynn-Williams (who'd previously worked in New Zealand's embassy in Washington, D.C.) was used to focusing on government policies and talking to people who represented whole countries, none of that was clicking with the folks at Facebook, who were primarily concerned with whatever might help Facebook expand its user base. Many times, it felt like Wynn-Williams was still thinking of herself as working for a government when, in fact, she was working for a business.

REVIEW: Parable of the Sower (book) by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Sower is science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This was written as near-future science fiction. Readers follow Lauren Olamina from the age of 15 to 18. At the beginning of this period, she lives in a gated community with her family, painfully aware of the violence just outside the community's walls. As things become more unsettled, Lauren's driving force becomes a religion she calls Earthseed.

I read this for my local book club. I knew, going in, that it was going to be pretty dark. It was more readable than I expected, but the almost unrelenting grimness was more than I was in the mood to handle, most days, and I didn't actually finish the book until shortly after my book club meeting. 

There were technically hopeful aspects to Lauren's Earthseed ideas, but, in a world with rape, murder, and occasional cannibalism everywhere, it seemed utterly impossible that the eventual escape into space that she envisioned would ever happen. 

Extras:

Includes an essay by N.K. Jemesin, an interview with Octavia E. Butler, and reading group discussion questions.

REVIEW: Fake Dates and Mooncakes (book) by Sher Lee

Fake Dates and Mooncakes is a YA m/m romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A year ago, Dylan had hoped to enter a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making contest with his mother. Then she got sick. Now that she's gone, Dylan lives with his aunt and cousin and helps out at his aunt's Chinese takeout place, Wok Warriors. He still wants to enter the mooncake-making contest in his mother's memory, but another benefit of the contest would be the possibility of getting Wok Warriors some desperately needed publicity. His aunt does her best to hide it, but Dylan's painfully aware she can barely make ends meet.

One evening, Dylan fills in for their delivery guy and gets yelled at by a customer for bringing an incorrect order. The one bright spot was that he got an eyeful of the guy's rich and hot boyfriend, Theo. It surprises Dylan when Theo stops by to apologize for his friend Adrian's behavior. The two of them get to talking, and Dylan happens to mention Wok Warriors' money issues...only for Dylan's aunt to later get a surprise "small business grant" for exactly the amount Dylan mentioned. Dylan doesn't feel comfortable accepting the money, so Theo tells him he can be his fake date to an upcoming family wedding if that will make him feel better about it.

REVIEW: Scythe & Sparrow (book) by Brynne Weaver

Scythe & Sparrow is a dark romantic comedy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In this final book of the Ruinous Love Trilogy, Doctor Fionn Kane and circus performer Rose Evans, who had previously seemed like the least murdery characters in the trilogy, reveal themselves to have murdery tendencies. Because of course.

When she isn't doing death-defying stunts with her motorcycle, Rose does tarot readings. More specifically, she is a mysterious woman known as the Sparrow who will, after doing readings for abused women who want to escape their abusers, provide those women with the means to kill their abusers. However, after one of her attempts to help has unintended consequences, Rose decides that it's time for her to take more direct action. This, unfortunately, also does not go as planned, leaving Rose with a broken leg and a very angry pursuer who is now minus one eye.

Fionn is no stranger to violence. He helps Rose get her leg taken care of and, skeptical of her "I was in a motorcycle accident" explanation, offers her a place to stay while she heals up. He's more than a little stunned when Rose immediately starts befriending neighbors he has barely spoken to since he moved to the area to get away from his almost-fiancee. He can't help but find himself charmed by and attracted to her. At the same time, he's worried about what might happen if the monster inside him, the one even his brothers don't know about, finally gets free.

REVIEW: Pikachu's First Friends (picture book) by Rikako Matsuo

Pikachu's First Friends is a fantasy picture book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Pikachu sets off on a journey to find the perfect place to live. Along the way, it meets several new friends and gets to know a little more about the island on which it has found itself.

The illustrations were, as expected, super-cute. Readers get scenes with Pikachu, Dedenne, Evee, Mime Jr., Smeargle, and Ludicolo, and cameo appearances from Wingull, Gyarados, Krabby, and possibly a few other Pokemon I don't know well enough to name. (Forgive me, I've only played a couple Pokemon games.)

In most cases, the various Pokemon could have been swapped out with just about anything else that might live in a similar environment and it wouldn't have made a difference. I was a little disappointed that the Pokemon didn't get more (or, in most cases, any) opportunities to show off their abilities. 

That said, I'll probably still read Pikachu's Nighttime Adventure at some point.

REVIEW: I'm Sorry for My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America (nonfiction) by Rebecca Little and Colleen Long

I'm Sorry for My Loss is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I knew, going into this, that Little and Long had both experienced late-term pregnancy loss, so I was expecting this to be an exhausting, grief-filled read. Although there were definitely some horrible/sad stories here, this wasn't nearly as exhausting of a read as I expected, in part due to the authors' flashes of dark humor. 

The book started with a look at how pregnancy loss would have been viewed by earlier generations, particular prior to the existence of easily obtainable pregnancy tests and prenatal ultrasounds. Then the authors looked at the many circumstances that could lead to pregnancy loss, the legal complications surrounding pregnancy loss, and the ways in which people who have been through pregnancy loss have processed their experiences.

I don't really feel qualified to write a lengthier review for this, so I'll just say that, for all the humor in this, the anger and frustration was still palpable.

REVIEW: How to Make a Vaccine: An Essential Guide for COVID-19 & Beyond (nonfiction book) by John Rhodes

How to Make a Vaccine: An Essential Guide for COVID-19 & Beyond is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I was helping a student at the library I work at find immunology books and realized that we don't have paper copies of anything published after 2019. Not super great. We also don't have much of a budget, and what we do spend goes almost entirely into databases and e-books, so I figured I'd read this and donate it.

This was published in 2021. Rhodes goes over the history of immunology and what we currently know about the immune system and how it works. He also discusses the history of vaccines, various types of vaccines, and the various stages of vaccine development. Then he looks at the various COVID-19 vaccine contenders, arranged by class: inactivated whole-virus vaccines, protein subunit vaccines, live attenuated vaccines, nonreplicating viral vector vaccines, replicating viral vector vaccines, virus-like particle vaccines, DNA vaccines, and RNA vaccines. There's a chart of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine candidates at the end of the book. Rhodes also goes over some vaccination hurdles and how they might be overcome.

This book was maybe not the best place for me to start. Rhodes is an immunologist who definitely seemed to know what he was talking about. Unfortunately, I wasn't always able to follow along with his explanations very well. I really could have used some visual aids.

Still, I appreciated learning a little more about vaccine development in general and the development of COVID-19 vaccines in particular.

REVIEW: The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters (nonfiction book) by J.W. Ocker

The United States of Cryptids is a guide to various cryptids found throughout the United States. It's organized into four sections: the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the West. Each cryptid has at least a couple pages devoted to it, including an illustration, information about its type (Mammalian, Humanoid, Aquatic, etc.), its earliest sighting, its size, its location, and any notable features. 

For Ocker, the absolute most important thing is whether there is some form of local celebration or festival devoted to the cryptid, or some form of visible recognition or claiming of it. Cryptids are great tourist attractions, and if a town has a meal or bar named after its local cryptid, Ocker more than likely notes it. In at least a couple instances, Ocker lists cryptids that were invented entirely to attract tourists.

All in all, this was a fun little read. I admit to being a little disappointed that none of the cryptids and their associated museums, festivals, or other attractions were within easy driving distance of me. You'd think at least one of the small towns in my area would have some great cryptid lore, but, as far as I know, all we have are some UFO sightings from a few years back. 

REVIEW: Twisted Visions: The Art of Junji Ito (nonfiction book) art by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen

Twisted Visions: The Art of Junji Ito is an art book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The best thing about Junji Ito's manga is, hands down, his artwork. It's detailed and unsettling. This art book does it justice - most of the artwork is given an entire page to itself, and the page size is nice and large. 

The book starts with a section focused on Tomie, then a section focused on Uzumaki, and finally a more general "other works" section. The back of the book includes a 3-page interview with Ito about his influences and artistic process. Then there's an "index" that includes publication and medium information for each of the book's artworks, as well as short comments from Ito (acrylics are frequently mentioned as a source of frustration and pain).

The color artworks look amazing here. My absolute favorite is probably page 85, the frontispiece for Kyoshitsu Igyo Collection (Fantastical Classroom Collection). A decision was made to print the black-and-white artworks similar to the way the cover art was done - silver on black. I didn't exactly dislike it, but I kind of wished that it had just been printed black on white.

REVIEW: Mal Goes to War (book) by Edward Ashton

Mal Goes to War is science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In the future depicted in this book, humans are at war - it's the Federals (modded and augmented humans) vs. the Humanists (those against modding and augmentation). Mal (short for Malware) couldn't care less about their battles. He's a free AI who's only interested in the tech that he might be able to salvage from whatever the humans leave behind. He's also kind of interested in the novelty of having a body. Which is why he transfers himself into the body of a recently deceased cyborg mercenary. Unfortunately, he didn't count on the Humanists cutting off access to infospace, so now he's stuck inside a rotting body with only a modded girl named Kayleigh (a teen altered to age slowly, so she appears to be a toddler) for company.

Mal and Kayleigh travel together, trying to stay safe from the Humanists. Mal intends to leave the instant he can find a way back into infospace, but that turns out to take longer than he expects. As their journey continues, there are signs that the Humanists might have teamed up with an unexpected ally.

REVIEW: Good Girl, Bad Blood (book) by Holly Jackson

Good Girl, Bad Blood is a YA mystery/thriller, the second in a series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

After the events of the first book, Pip is determined to no longer do detective work. She's still working on her true-crime podcast, but now it's focused on the murder trial related to the case she'd previously investigated. There won't be any new investigations.

That lasts until Connor, a friend of hers, asks for her help after his older brother Jamie goes missing. The cops aren't taking his disappearance seriously because he's disappeared a couple times before and come back, but Connor and his mother are convinced that this time is different.

Pip agrees to look into his disappearance and ask for leads from her podcast listeners. But as she starts to get as obsessed with this case as her previous one, she and those around her wonder whether she can handle this kind of strain again. Surely it's worth it if she can find Jamie, right?

REVIEW: Leather & Lark (book) by Brynne Weaver

Leather & Lark is a dark romance with an edge of suspense and black comedy. It's the second in a trilogy. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This second book in the trilogy stars Lark (indie singer-songwriter, beloved and pampered daughter of the wealthy Covaci family, and serial killer Sloane's best friend) and Lachlan (Rowan's older brother, and a contract killer who'd like to retire and focus on his leatherworking). The first time they meet, Lachlan is wearing a mask and a wetsuit and has been hired to clean up after Lark's latest "accident." What Lark can't bring herself to tell anyone, not even Sloane, is that she's a serial killer who's deliberately targeting men like the teacher who abused her when she was younger. Lachlan, however, assumes she's a spoiled, rich, walking disaster and treats her as such...which gets him in trouble with his boss when it affects his boss's contract with Lark's wealthy father.

A year or so later, Lark learns that someone has been killing members of her family, and that her parents suspect Lachlan might be responsible. Unfortunately, by taking care of this "problem," they'd be hurting Rowan and, by extension, Sloane. Lark can't let that happen, so she latches on to the best solution she can think of - pretend that she and Lachlan have suddenly fallen in love and decided to get married, and then work with Lachlan to find the actual culprit. Lachlan agrees to the plan because mending things with the Covaci family might make his boss more willing to let him retire, and because he genuinely wants to help Lark figure out the truth, but he and Lark haven't exactly gotten along since that time he locked her in the truck of a car. Still, there's an attraction between them, and as they spend more time together they start to realize that they might have misjudged each other.

REVIEW: Perfectly Imperfect Pixie (book) by MJ May

Perfectly Imperfect Pixie is a m/m fantasy romance, the first in a series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Phil (short for Philodendron) is just like any other home-and-hearth pixie - pink wings, long ombre pink hair, and desperate to find a home and family that he can bond with, care for, and protect - except for one thing: he's six feet tall. Unfortunately, the only jobs he seems to be able to find are ones entirely unsuited to his pixie nature. His newest job, as a bouncer, is a disaster.

It's a dream come true when werewolf Sedrick Voss shows up looking for a home-and-hearth pixie who's a bit sturdier than usual. Sedrick has recently become the guardian of his brother's two young children, Ruthie and Dillon, after their parents' untimely death, and he desperately needs help, but young werewolves can be a bit of a handful. Phil seems like a perfect fit.

It starts to look like Phil has finally found the place he belongs. Unfortunately, as Sedrick's custody battle for Ruthie and Dillon heats up, there's an increased risk that Phil will lose his newfound sense of security and happiness.

REVIEW: Fright Night (book) by Maren Stoffels, translated by Laura Watkinson

Fright Night is YA horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This follows two groups of characters: Sofia, Dylan, and Quin, a group of friends who've decided to take part in Fright Night, a super-scary event in the woods that tailors its scares to the real-life fears of its participants; and Kelly and Sandy, a pair of troubled teens who've just gotten a part-time job as scarers at Fright Night.

This was marginally better than the other book I read by this author, Escape Room, but still not very good. The translation/writing is stiff and clunky, and the story itself doesn't have anything I'd call scary moments. One of the characters does eat a cockroach on-page, though, so...ew. There's that.

The details of Dylan and Kelly's pasts were relatively interesting, and I felt a bit sorry for them when everything was revealed. Overall, though, this was at best a lukewarm reading experience.

REVIEW: The Neighbor Wager (book) by Crystal Kaswell

The Neighbor Wager is a contemporary romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

When they were kids, River lived next door to Lexi, the beautiful girl of his dreams, and her sister Deanna. He never really felt like he fit in. Lexi and Deanna basically lived in a mansion, and the only reason River's grandmother could afford to live in the same area was because she'd bought her house ages ago. Meanwhile, his mother was an addict who'd basically left him with his grandmother. Still, that didn't stop him from fantasizing that, one day, Lexi would realize that the two of them were meant to be.

Years later, Deanna and Lexi are in business together, trying to find investors for their dating app, Meetcute. Lexi is in her longest lasting relationship ever, 6 months with a guy she met through the app. Although she's happy, she isn't ready for a commitment, so she's horrified when one of their potential investors wants to make her, her boyfriend, and their future wedding (he hasn't proposed, and she doesn't want him to) the face of the app and the things it can accomplish for users. 

Still, Deanna figures they can work with it somehow. Until River turns up again, and Lexi, who'd previously never paid much attention to him, is suddenly intrigued by his attractive looks and tattoos. Knowing that the future of Meetcute depends upon it, Deanna becomes determined to keep Lexi and River from spending much time with each other. As sparks start to fly between Deanna and River, everyone finds themselves having to figure out how they really feel.

There's also a drunken bet, Lexi taking a brief "break" from her boyfriend, River worrying over his grandmother's health issues, and everyone talking about romance and sex at some point or another, but you get the idea.

REVIEW: The History of the Adventure Video Game (nonfiction book) by Christopher Carton

The History of Adventure Video Games is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This calls itself a history of adventure video games, but in reality it's more like a collection of adventure game descriptions, plus a little more in-depth info about three specific game developers/publishers (Sierra On-Line, LucasArts, and Telltale Games) and their adventure games. If you really want to know more about those companies, however, Wikipedia has more detailed info than this book does.

This is best read as an adventure gaming nostalgia-fest. Almost every adventure game I ever played that I in any way found memorable had an entry here - the only gaps I can think of are the Blackwell series from developer Wadjet Eye Games, Lost in Time (I can't remember whether this or Myst was my first adventure game), and few more recent titles like Fran Bow.

Almost every game mentioned included a screenshot, even the text-based adventures. In the chapters about specific developers, series were discussed in chronological order, so you could see, for example, how the graphics changed throughout the course of the King's Quest series. Each game entry gave an overview of the story and basic gameplay, what made it stand out, how it was received, etc.

As a long-time adventure game fan, I found this to be a fun read, even though it wasn't what I'd expected it to be.

REVIEW: Repatriate (book) by Jaime Maddox

Repatriate is a mystery/thriller with lesbian romance elements. I bought my copy new.

This review includes spoilers.

Review:

At the beginning of this, Ally Hamilton is an ER physician assistant who is confronted by her ER director about her opioid use. She voluntarily gives up her license and goes into rehab. Six months later, she's out of rehab and starting her new job at Hart Home Health & Hospice as a home health aide. While visiting one of her patients, Brodrik Rogan, the "Cadillac King," she admires the artwork around his house and realizes that he has copies of every piece of art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum over 30 years ago. But what if they aren't copies? 

REVIEW: Rats to the Rescue: The Unlikely Heroes Making Cambodia Safe (nonfiction picture book) written by Scott Riley with Sambat Meas, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee

Rats to the Rescue: The Unlikely Heroes Making Cambodia Safe is a nonfiction picture book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I don't normally read and review picture books, but I couldn't resist this one, which focuses on demining efforts in Cambodia, a Cambodian deminer named Malen, and the beginnings of efforts to use African giant pouched rats to more quickly and safely find explosives in Cambodia. The specific rat mentioned in this book was Magawa, an African giant pouched rat trained in Tanzania - Magawa spent five years sniffing out mines in Cambodia and located over 100 mines.

I couldn't say what children might think of this picture book, but I, personally, enjoyed it. I've loved the HeroRATs since I first heard about them, and I liked learning a little more about how Magawa helped Malen do her work more quickly and efficiently.

Extras:

A couple pages on the perspectives of the writers and illustrator of this picture book, a page about Magawa and the other rats trained by APOPO, a page outlining the steps involved in training one of the HeroRATs, a pronunciation guide, and a timeline. There are also photos of Malen, Magawa, a rat being trained, and demining work being done with a HeroRAT.

REVIEW: Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison and How We Stayed Connected (nonfiction graphic novel) by Jay Jay Patton, with Kiara Valdez & Markia Jenai

Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison and How We Stayed Connected is a graphic novel memoir. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In this graphic memoir, Jay Jay Patton talks about what it was like growing up with a father in prison, how the two of them stayed connected during that time, and the work the two of them did on the Photo Patch Foundation, an app designed to help children more easily stay connected with an incarcerated parent.

Patton's father was incarcerated from when she was age 3 to about age 10. She was only able to see him a couple times during that period, and calls to her dad's prison were expensive. They wrote each other as often as they could and Patton's father, who learned coding while in prison, would send her math puzzles to solve.

REVIEW: I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation (nonfiction graphic novel) by Natalie Nourigat

I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation is a nonfiction graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Natalie Nourigat has worked on Bee and Puppycat, Encanto, Raya and the Last Dragon, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and more. In this short but text-heavy graphic novel, she talks about moving from Portland to Los Angeles to pursue a career in animation. There's lots of advice, notes of caution, and more here for those interested in working in animation and considering following a similar path. Nourigat talks about finding a place to live and what she wished she'd done differently, the perks of working in animation studios in L.A. versus her time in Portland working as a freelance commercial storyboard artist, what a typical day is like for her, the pros and cons of living in L.A., advice for getting a job with an animation studio, networking advice, and lots more.

In addition, Nourigat also includes the perspectives of several others working in animation in L.A.: Angie Wang, Antoine Ettori, Dave Pimentel, Diana Huh, Drew Green, Kellye Perdue, Megan Nairn, and Sam Spina.

REVIEW: If Anything Happens I Love You: A Graphic Novel Based on Academy Award-Winning Film (graphic novel) written and created by Will McCormack and Michael Govier, illustrated by Youngran Nho

If Anything Happens I Love You is a graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is the story of Rose and the people she left behind when she was killed in a school shooting. The focus is primarily on Rose's parents' feelings of grief in the aftermath, and how they, together with Rose's spirit and their memories of her, gradually start to heal.

Although this is marketed as a graphic novel, it reads more like a picture book to me.

I read this before watching the short film it was based on, expecting the two works to basically be the same. Although that was sort of true, and both works involved the same artist, the film centered the parents and their grief and kept Rose more in the background, while the graphic novel highlighted Rose's emotions and concern for her parents more. Also, the film was wordless while this book was not.

Both versions of the story are tearjerkers, and I couldn't tell you which one I prefer more.

REVIEW: The Art of Princess Mononoke: A Film by Hayao Miyazaki (nonfiction book) English adaptation by Takami Nieda

The Art of Princess Mononoke is a nonfiction book about the art and making of the movie Princess Mononoke. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This starts off with several poems written by Hayao Miyazaki to present his vision for several of the characters and beings in the movie. The book is filled with concept art, background art, storyboards, cel art, and CG images, arranged pretty much in the same order as the movie's scenes. The book wraps up with a few text-heavy chapters covering the movie's use of CG, digital compositing, and digital ink and paint. There's also a collection of layouts created by Miyazaki himself, and an English translation of the movie's production diary.

The style of this book was very different from the Disney movie art books I've seen, which took some getting used to. The bulk of it feels a little like rewatching the entire movie via sketches and cel and CG art. It's good-looking stuff, but I appreciated this book most during the more text-heavy portions near the end. I enjoyed learning more about how the CG aspects were integrated. Also, while the production diary was a lot, it still made for interesting reading.

REVIEW: A Court of Silver Flames (book) by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Silver Flames is the fifth book in Sarah J. Maas' fantasy romance series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The King of Hybern has been defeated, although there are still ongoing problems with the mortal queens, particularly Briallyn, and other machinations among some of the faerie courts. Rhysand has both Azriel and Cassian working to address these issues. However, Cassian's time and attention is devoted to an issue of personal concern to Feyre: Nesta and her self-destructive behavior.

Nesta is given an ultimatum: either she moves into the House of Wind and divides her time between training with Cassian and working with the priestesses in the library, or she'll be banished to the human lands. She reluctantly agrees to go to the House of Wind, but Cassian soon learns that every inch of ground he hopes to gain with her will be a battle.

REVIEW: Putin's Russia: The Rise of a Dictator (nonfiction graphic novel) by Darryl Cunningham

Putin's Russia: The Rise of a Dictator is a nonfiction graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This biography follows Vladimir Putin from his birth to sometime in 2021 (near the end, it's mentioned that this was being written while Alexei Navalny was still recovering from his 24-day hunger strike in prison). 

As a graphic novel, this isn't particularly good. It's extremely text-heavy, with much of the artwork based on photographs from news articles and videos. Could this have been a short, text-only book? Probably. Still, the format makes it somewhat easier for folks (like me) who prefer to tackle their nonfiction in audio or graphic novel form to trick themselves into being less daunted by the content, so there's that.

This was not an easy read, and I could feel my hands shaking in anger during parts of it, particularly when I recalled the many instances of Trump praising Putin. This isn't something I'd recommend if you want to feel particularly positive about the next few years.

REVIEW: The Awakening (book) by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

The Awakening is the first book in the Zodiac Academy series. It's marketed as fantasy romance, part of the "bully romance" subgenre. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Darcy and Tory are twin orphans who were raised in various awful foster homes. They were promptly kicked out of their final foster home when they turned 18. The only problem? Their secret savings stash is still in the house. They're able to get their hands on it, but their lives are almost immediately upended by the arrival of Professor Orion, a hot-looking guy who claims they're both Fae, Changelings who were swapped with human twins when they were babies. They have powers linked to the elements and their Zodiac sign, Gemini.

It's a lot to take in, but there's some appeal to going with Professor Orion (plus, he doesn't really give them much of a choice) - if they can graduate from Zodiac Academy, they'll inherit a sizeable inheritance and finally have the freedom and security they've always wanted. They'll also have the chance to reclaim their parents' throne - this, unfortunately, makes them a target of the Celestial Heirs, the young Fae men who've been raised on the understanding that they'll share the task of ruling over Solaria, the land of the Fae, together.

Right from the start, the twins are separated, required to be in different Houses. Although they still share a lot of classes, they're generally surrounded by potential enemies. It's tough to tell who they can trust, and it doesn't help that at least one of the Heirs may be keeping secrets from the others.