horror

Squad – Graphic Novel Review

| Ardin Patterson

About

When Becca transfers to a high school in an elite San Francisco suburb, she’s worried she’s not going to fit in. To her surprise, she’s immediately adopted by the most popular girls in school. At first glance, Marley, Arianna, and Mandy are perfect. But at a party under a full moon, Becca learns that they also have a big secret. — Goodreads.

Thoughts

This book made me think of Mean Girls but with a hairy twist. The artwork was absolutely gorgeous, but the overall story didn’t exactly meet my expectations. Of course, it was a fun concept, but Arianna, Becca and the other girls constantly obsessing over being skinny and Amanda being stereotyped as the mean black girl didn’t sit well with me.

I also felt Becca could’ve been developed more? She was the leading character but it was almost like she fell into the background. The focused seemed to be on Arianna and Marley despite being from Becca’s perspective.

I’d also like to point out that Arianna looks like Arianna Grande. Not sure if that was done on purpose but it did get a little chuckle out of me.

The friendship and then relationship that bloomed between Becca and Marley was sweet, but overall Marley seemed to be the stronger character. Off the bat, the reader can see her personality, how she fits in with the rest of the group and how she feels about them going around feeding off predatory boys whenever they turn.

Unfortunately Amanda’s disapproval of Arianna’s leadership, comes off as both anger and jealousy, when she states several times in the story that she prefers to be called Amanda, not Mandy–which is why I’ll be respectfully addressing her as Amanda during my review. She mentions this several times throughout the story and the other girls completely ignore her. Often Amanda sits quietly observing the others. Becca even seems to think Amanda dislikes her, as Amanda is often glaring at her and the rest of the group. When Amanda becomes more vocal about her opinions, she’s completely ignored by Arianna and the others…but I’ll try not to spoil anything. I just wish this character had been written with a little more care.

With that note, there were also several times where other characters made icky comments toward Becca about her race, and it wasn’t ever condemned or even questioned. It was clear that both Becca and Amanda were being mistreated but they just made up their faces at these comments being thrown at them. I don’t even recall Becca once thinking about how the other students talk to her. Even the comments about her clothes and her weight are unsettling.

I’m not saying that keeping quiet isn’t a realistic reaction, especially with people trying to fit and giving in to peer pressure. When I was in high school and I had classmates say some pretty icky stuff that I didn’t always know how to handle. Sometimes you’re so shocked by what is being said to you, that you have to sit there and process it. Sometimes you wonder if your feelings are even valid, or if you’re just overreacting…and I totally get that, but if that is what Becca and Amanda were grappling with, then it should’ve been shown more clearly. I get that this wasn’t exactly the main focus of the graphic novel, but regardless of that fact this book is a recent release from October 2021 it should at least acknowledge that racism is never okay, especially if those types of remarks are coming from so-called friends. I wish that there had been a moment where Becca has a moment of reflection or clarity upon hearing one of these gross comments. Even if it’s just a brief, “That hurt my feelings, but I wanted so badly to be apart of the Squad that I kept my mouth shut.” I felt this way about the unhealthy fixations with being thin. It was a lot…and I already know there are friends of mine who will require a trigger warning just for that. It didn’t sit well with me at all, and honestly at some point it should’ve been condemned, or at the very least contrasted with something else. Like Becca’s mom is obsessed with it, and all the girls are obsessed with it, and Becca is obsessed with it…at a certain point one of these characters could’ve said something. Even Becca could’ve questioned her mother’s obsession with her weight. Something as small as that, would’ve at least been better than nothing at all.

It was because of those elements I actually found it hard to enjoy the rest of the story. I mean, who doesn’t love reading a monster-girl revenge story? It had such a good premise, but it definitely didn’t hit the mark for me. Lovely artwork though.

And as always, just because this book wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean that it’s horrible and I wouldn’t recommend it to others. It’s still a cool concept, I just felt a few things took away from my reading experience.

Rating

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Manga I’m Looking Forward to in 2021

| Ardin Patterson

Back in December I was tasked to decide which manga series my work would be ordering for the store. We’re currently closed right now, but regardless I was extremely thrilled about the opportunity and went through upcoming releases/series I’d been recommended.

Here are the series that I’m personally looking forward to continuing or starting this year!

I’ve reviewed Daytime Shooting Star twice on this blog before, however I don’t believe I’ve reviewed Love Me, Love Me Not by Io Sakisaka yet. I’ve read so much of her work over the years, that I know for a fact I’ve referenced it more than once, especially when I talk about my own writing goals.

I’m looking forward to catching up on the new releases for both Daytime Shooting Star and Love Me, Love Me Not! Both series have been enjoyable reads and have had really great character development thus far.

Next is Yona of the Dawn. I’ve been praying that this series would get a second season for the anime but sadly shows classified as shojo don’t typically run for more than a single season. It would be nice though. This was one of those rare cases where I was introduced to the anime before the manga. I’m thankful that the series is now on Volume 28! I’ve grown accustom to shojo manga’s being somewhere between 10 and 12 volumes. The last series I had that was longer was around 24 books. Shonen tends to have a longer run. I assume due to funding or the amount of attention the genre gets in comparison?

Now this next one isn’t going to come out until April. It’s called A School Frozen in Time, and it sounds really interesting. It’s a horror although the current teaser cover doesn’t seem to indicate that. Sometimes that’s a good thing though. It can allow people to open up to a genre they would normally shy away from. I know misleading covers can be upsetting to people though! I’ve had it happen. I’m a lot more thorough when choosing books now.

Jujutsu Kaisen has been recommended to me at least a dozen times in the last two months. I haven’t fully figured out what the plot is about but I’m definitely going to check it out because I’ve only heard good things about this series!

I’m not sure if I’ll ever check out Our Fake Marriage, but I came across it on my book hunt for work. It does have really nice illustrations, I just don’t know if the plot is something I’d enjoy. I also haven’t seen any reviews for it yet.

I got the first 3 volumes of Perfect World for Christmas and I cannot wait to read them. I’m catching up on some other books first, mainly because I won’t be able to buy anything new for a while and when I start a series I tend to binge them all in one go! This series looks like it’s going to be fantastic.

My sister pointed out how the two lead character’s remind her of the Luka and her love interest in the Vocaloid song Just Be Friends.

This next series is one that I always saw at work. The cover and title caught my eye and I thought the synopsis sounded good. It’s currently on my TBR. I’ve hoping I can get a chance to read it this year!

I read a really good review about Boarding School Juliet on The KS Blogs and added it to my TBR immediately after. The do monthly manga discovery posts that I like checking. Another blog worth checking out if you’re into anime is Anime and Me.

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight is another manga that I found during my search for work. It seems cute. I might give it a shot. If you’ve heard of it, let me know!

This next series is one that I’ve been debating on buying for months. Sadly when I finally made my decision about it we went back into lock down…and now the lock down has been extended haha. Something’s Wrong With Us honestly caught my attention with the title alone. I kept coming back to it on the shelf. I wish I’d gotten it when I had the chance! If all works out I’ll be able to get it sometime this year!

Have you read any of these series? If not, are any of them on your TBR?

Check out my other manga reviews and recs!

Congrats Mexican Gothic!

| Ardin Patterson

I am so glad that Mexican Gothic won the Goodreads Choice Award. I really wanted this novel to win! I’ve recommended it to so many people since its release.

This novel had the same effect Painted Girls did on me, where I was instantly drawn in by the plot and the characters. I couldn’t wait to read the next chapter.

Congratulations to Silvia Moreno-Garcia and thank you for writing such a thriller!

Book Talk Episode 17: Illustrated Covers

| Ardin Patterson

The other day at work, a co-worker of mine was admiring this beautifully illustrated book cover. I wish I could recall the name of the book so I could show an example, but her comment really made me think. She said, “I’m so glad that they’re going back to the illustrated version of this cover. I hate how boring a lot of covers have been these past few years.”

The two of us then went on to discuss how, since the first Twilight book came out a lot of book covers began to mimic the style and then ultimately readers were bombarded with stock images and lifeless photographs. Now, not to bash the creators of those types of covers…I believe that the covers for Twilight and their simplicity was actually well thought out. The issue that we discussed was that it seemed as though the plan was to get readers to buy a book because it had a similar cover to that of the Twilight series, versus coming up with something significant to the actual story.

I can clearly remember being a 13-15 year old wandering around my favourite bookstores and sighing at the cover art. I know that they say not to judge a book but it’s cover, but it’s the first thing a reader sees, not the review. Not the synopsis. Not the first page. The cover is what’s put on display for us.

Illustrated covers have always captured my attention. For example, the cover of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s absolutely beautiful. When I saw it, I immediately was drawn to the book! That is what a cover is supposed to do. It’s supposed to capture your attention.

The design itself isn’t too complicated, and yet it captures the eye. It stirs curiosity. It makes you wonder what’s inside.

Illustrated covers, in my personal opinion, do a better job of conveying certain types of stories. Especially within much of fiction. It makes them stand out more.

If you compare the classic horror book covers to current ones, you’ll find yourself greatly disappointed. A few of my friends who are avid horror readers lament over the lack of character given to horror books today in comparison to the ones printed in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Look at this cover of Misery by Stephen King.

The illustrated version of this cover is eye catching, whereas the version with the snow covered cabin doesn’t peak my curiosity as much. It doesn’t pull me in as much. This however, is my personal opinion. I have however, seen some horror book reviewers (along with friends of mine who adore the genre) discuss this in more detail.

I recommend checking out the video, Horror Books Have Lost Their Identity. I’ve linked it below because I think it really summarizes what I’m discussing in this post.

As YouTuber In Praise of Shadows states in the video, book covers are supposed to give the reader some indication of the genre as well as what the story is about. However in recent years they have had to scan the covers for small clues…such as a single word in a review in fine print on the cover like, “haunting,” “shocking” or “disturbing.”

The older covers made it very clear what the books were about. Right now all of the covers, across these vast genres are blending together in a mess of bright colours and large font.

This video really grasps what my co-worker and I were discussing the other day. At some point all the books blend together.

I know many people who believe that The Hunger Games and the Divergent series are the same, simply because of how the covers were designed. People who know nothing about the plots for either series. This assumption came with how the books were marketed. I know that when I first saw the Divergent cover, I thought it was a Hunger Games spin off series. That was until I read the synopsis. I remember being almost…frustrated by how so many of the covers that came out that year, resembled The Hunger Games (and Twilight). I was so frustrated by it I missed out on reading a lot of potentially good books, and lost interest in much of what was published that year.

Now, as someone who also reads comic books and manga, I know how much work has to go into the covers for those. I’ve seen examples of some of the covers done for the more recent releases of the Jughead comics. There were several options done for the front cover, before one was selected by the team as the perfect cover. Guess what? I bought that comic solely based on the cover art.

Based on the cover you already know that Jughead and Sabrina are going to get themselves into some kind of mess (or fun!). Your eyes are draw to the different parts of it. The colours are eye catching. It makes you interested in the story.

When I look at some of the books being printed over the last few years, my curiosity isn’t peaked. A catchy title may draw me in but it’s the cover that makes me flip to the synopsis to learn more. It’s the cover that captivates me visually and draws me into this world created by the author. It’s the cover fills me with excitement.

I’m not saying that today’s covers are boring or lacking creativity. I know that design takes a long time. I just think that the genres are all blending together…to the point where each cover is more or less the same.

Even earlier this morning while I was looking at books. I was trying to guess where they went in the store, solely based on the covers. The adult romance books and the teen romance books were all clearly romance however the contrast between them was almost non-existent. I wasn’t able to tell which was YA and which wasn’t. Normally the shirtless cowboys are a dead giveaway. Not anymore. The majority of the books that I assumed were adult romances were actually YA. Some weren’t even romance books at all. They were coming of age novels. I must’ve blinked the confusion from my face at least 30 times while going through these books.

The fact that myself and many other readers are excited to see these unique, illustrated book covers just shows how much is lacking on the shelves. We want books that upon first glance make us excited, curious and capture our attention. We want to run our hands along the covers as we examine every detail, before continuing our individual book choosing rituals. Reading is an experience and for those like myself who read a lot and collect books it is extremely sad when books lack character in their design.

Sure, we shouldn’t judge books by their cover but covers convey so much. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.