Up From The Deep (Fantomah, #1) by Ray Fawkes, Soo Lee

Up From The Deep by Ray Fawkes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The main issue I had with this comic was the format in which it was provided and the difficulties I had reading it; the pages would jump back and forth by up to 50 pages and it looked like various frames were cut off. Just prior to reading this comic I read another one and a collection of poetry in the same file type and with the same program and encountered no problems at all.
This plus the fact that the story is meant to begin by explaining very little and slowly unfolds towards the end (as I was able to discover from other reviews) made this reading experience very frustrating and lacked anything that could be considered flow of narration.
The graphics were good enough, but I was so preoccupied with trying to stay on the current page and figuring out if I had missed any frames that I could not fully appreciate the artistic talent on display.
Overall, it is a shame that the format did not work for the story, because I was really interested in reading it. I can’t honestly say if I would recommend it or give it a pass and my rating is reflecting the reading experience as a whole and obviously is not solely reflecting the author’s/artist’s work.

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The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One (Women are Some Kind of Magic, #2) by Amanda Lovelace

The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One by Amanda Lovelace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
As the introduction to this collection of poems states, it deals with abuse, assault, body issues, eating disorders and childhood trauma.
Having had personal experience with a few of these topics myself, reading these poems was truly a journey through a range of intense emotions.
I appreciated the poet taking her time and exploring the emotions before moving on and almost guiding the reader to begin the healing process. The anger and hurt and suppression felt leads the way to stand up, speak up and fight, which in turn leads to allowing the reader to heal.
Overall, I haven’t had a chance to read the first collection in this series, but will do so as soon as it is available at my local library. As the poet warns, her poems deal with a lot of sensitive topics and one should practice self-care at all times. Having said that, I appreciated the poet’s sincere and honest address of these issues and I would recommend this collection of poems.

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I'm Not Your Sweet Babboo! by Charles M. Schulz

I'm Not Your Sweet Babboo! by Charles M. Schulz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
How I love Peanuts comics! I grew up with them and I still enjoy curling up on the couch with the stories of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
This collection focused a bit more on Peppermint Patty and I found myself chuckling quite a bit.
Overall, this is a good collection of Peanuts stories and I would definitely recommend it.

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Ink & Fire: (A Havenwood Falls Novella) by R.K. Ryals

Ink & Fire: by R.K. Ryals
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I received this ARC from Red Coat Publishing and the author in exchange for an honest review.
I was looking forward to reading another novella in this series, but ended up being rather confused by the halfway point.
The characters came across as flat and uninteresting. A lot of time was spent on the description of the protagonist; how she felt, what she did, contemplating everything, which made her seem self-centred. The secondary characters, few as they were, added no depth to the story in general and only existed to move the plot/protagonist forward.
The writing was too elaborate in explaining everything the main character thought and felt, and the narration was tedious. Written from the protagonist’s point of view, most of the story was spent showing what a special snowflake she is.
The plot had me scratch my head in confusion, wondering if this really was the main point of the story. Also, it was sad that the story did not really have anything to do with Heavenwood Falls, even though it is part of the novella series.
Overall, this wasn’t for me. I have read another book by the same author over a year ago and enjoyed it, but this one didn’t do anything for me. I would give it a pass.

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Herding Cats (Sarah's Scribbles, #3) by Sarah Andersen

Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I love Sarah’s Scribbles. They show what I feel, think, waste my time fretting about and do all that with a sense of humour that has me laughing out loud every time I read her comics.
As soon as I finished her newest installment I wanted to go back and read the entire series from the beginning. It lightens one’s mood when they are feeling down (trust me on this one) and keep the reader feeling happy when they are already in a good place that day.
Overall, I would most definitely recommend this third installment.

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