Io, i miei mostri e me di Caterina Costa- Cheit.Jpg Review Party

Salve e benvenut* alla mia tappa del review party di Io, I miei mostri e me di Caterina Costa, in arte Cheit.Jpg. Un grazie enorme alla casa editrice Beccogiallo per questa magnifica occasione e per la copia in anteprima e a Valeria per aver organizzato l’evento! Le mie opinioni non sono state influenzate in alcun modo.

di Caterina Costa (Autore)
Becco Giallo, 2021
Caratteristiche: 112 pp. col., brossura
ISBN: 9788833141831

Il primo libro della giovanissima Caterina Costa, instagrammer, autrice di webcomics, conosciuta tra i suoi tanti fans con lo pseudonimo di CHEIT. Un webcomics che racconta senza filtri le ansie, le paure, le inquietudini, le sofferenze dei ventenni di oggi. Un’autrice dall’enorme seguito sui social media.

“Io, i miei mostri e me” è una raccolta di fumetti dalle svariate tematiche e trattano dell’amore, dell’amicizia, famiglia, depressione, dolore, solitudine. Con delicatezza e intensità l’autrice e artista riesce a rappresentare alla perfezione emozioni che, chi più chi meno, provano tutt*, facendoci sentire meno sol*, più compres* e consentendo, a chi non ha provato quelle stesse emozioni, di comprenderle almeno in parte. Un lavoro profondo e vulnerabile, dato che l’autrice si espone, si mette a nudo, esprimendo le sue paure e titubanze, le delusioni e sofferenze, la solitudine e i pensieri negativi, oltre a raccontare momenti di gioia e complicità, di soddisfazione e riscatto.

Come si nota leggendo questo delizioso libro, alcune opere hanno un titolo, dato che l’autrice ha partecipato alla sfida dell’inktober, che consiste nel creare un’opera al giorno partendo da una parola proposta. Le tavole che compongono questo libro presentano e alternano colori caldi e freddi, come l’arancione, il giallo, il rosso che contrastano nettamente con il blu, il nero, il grigio. I colori sono importanti perché oltre a rappresentare quel momento o l’altro aiutano anche a comprendere il cambiamento all’interno dei personaggi. Lo si può notare dalla prima vignetta quando il personaggio presenta il colore blu della malinconia che, nel corso dell’opera, sfuma fino a diventare rosa, ad assumere un colore più caldo appena il personaggio si sente a suo agio in compagnia di altre persone. O, nel caso contrario, in una vignetta quasi a metà del libro che raffigura un personaggio sorridente, i cui colori caldi e avvolgenti che, una volta in balia dei brutti pensieri (rappresentati fisicamente da una figura scura e minacciosa) iniziano a sfumare e a diventare sempre più freddi e bianchi.

Ogni opera, tavola è composta da quattro parti e in queste quattro vignette, l’artista racconta una storia, che può essere una delusione amorosa, un ricordo doloroso, un incontro spiacevole, un momento di debolezza, le difficoltà della vita di tutti giorni, ma anche momenti di serenità e allegria in compagnia degli amici, della famiglia, dell’amore. Riesce, a mio parere, ogni volta a colpire nel segno, esprimendo alla perfezione, senza giri di parole o altro, l’emozione di quella vicenda, trasmettendo sofferenza, sollievo, rabbia, delusione, felicità, ottimismo e ogni possibile sfumatura dell’essere umano.

Spiccano, o almeno hanno colpito me in particolar modo, le vignette che trattano della solitudine e della depressione e l’artista ha rappresentato in maniera estremamente realistica la difficoltà di essere in pubblico, il bisogno di prendersi una pausa, la pressione dovuta all’ansia, la presenza fastidiosa e insidiosa della depressione e dei pensieri negativi, rappresentati da figure nere o da un groviglio scuro che avvolge i personaggi.

Con delicatezza e sensibilità l’artista rappresenta l’immensa gamma delle emozioni che riguardano tutt* noi, le difficoltà nell’amicizia, le delusioni amorose, i momenti di solitudine e depressione, i pensieri negativi, ma anche i momenti di felicità, l’affetto degli amici, il sostegno della famiglia. Opera dopo opera rappresenta l’essere umano nella sua complessità, con i suoi alti e bassi. Si tratta di una raccolta imperdibile, dai disegni intensi e ben definiti e dalle parole, pur essendocene poche, che colpiscono nel segno ogni volta. Assolutamente da divorare tutto di un fiato, soprattutto perché è una raccolta che spinge chi la legge a sentirsi meno sol*, più compres* e quasi avvolt* in un abbraccio. Meravigliosa.

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Date inoltre un’occhiata alle altre recensioni!

Le vite dei santi. Grishaverse di Leigh Bardugo- Review party

Salve e benvenut* alla mia tappa de Le vite dei santi di Leigh Bardugo, evento organizzato da Ambra che ringrazio moltissimo e che ha anche creato le stupende grafiche. Un grazie alla casa editrice per la copia in anteprima. Le mie opinioni non sono state in alcun modo influenzate.

Leigh Bardugo
pubblicato da Mondadori
Traduttore R. Verde

Direttamente dalle mani di Alina Starkov alle vostre, la riproduzione fedele della Istorii Sankt’ya , per permettervi di entrare nelle pieghe più profonde dell’amatissimo universo creato da Leigh Bardugo. Una raccolta di storie che raccontano le vite, i martirii e i miracoli dei Santi a voi più familiari, come Sankta Lizabeta delle Rose o Sankt Ilya in Catene, ma anche le vicende più strane e meno conosciute, come quelle di Sankta Ursula, Sankta Maradi e del Santo senza Stelle. Una collezione resa ancora più preziosa dalle tavole a colori che accompagnano ogni storia.

Se conoscete anche solo un po’ il Grishaverse, saprete sicuramente l’importanza che ha questo favoloso libriccino all’interno della storia, che non solo ha aiutato Alina nella sua ricerca, ma che ha arricchito e fatto da sfondo alle sue avventure. Poterlo finalmente leggere e ammirare è magnifico.

Si tratta di una raccolta di miracoli e martirii, illustrata da Daniel J. Zollingere, i cui disegni sono stupendi e molto realistici, dai colori sgargianti e intensi. Un libriccino che racchiude miti e leggende, sui santi e le loro vicende, che riguardano geograficamente non solo il territorio di Ravka, ma anche Fjerda, Kerch, Shu Han e Novji Zem. Il lettore è a conoscenza di alcuni racconti, o meglio, di alcune parti di essi, come quello di Alina, o del Santo Senza Stelle, di Grigori e Lizabeta, ma questo libriccino approfondisce i miti e le leggende accennate, fornendo ulteriori storie, impossibili da dimenticare.

Ho amato potermi immergere nella lettura e farmi trasportare dai racconti da un paese all’altro, ammirando e venendo a conoscenza di miracoli, guerre, magie e sacrifici, demoni e patroni vari. L’atmosfera è fiabesca, evocativa e intrigante. La raccolta tratta storie di donne e uomini comuni, tutti contraddistinti dalla fede, ingegno e coraggio, le cui gesta hanno portato poi, in parecchi casi, alla santificazione. Personaggi che hanno lottato per proteggere il proprio popolo e famiglia, per consigliare re, per salvare se stessi, per sconfiggere il nemico e via discorrendo.

All’interno della raccolta, spiccano storie di donne che rifiutando di sottostare alle convenzioni, come l’ingegnosa Vasilka, donne coraggiose come Lizabeta e la brillante Margaretha, come Maradi, che protegge amori impossibili, o Marya che salva la propria famiglia e il proprio popolo. Incontriamo leggende che rimandano a Babbo Natale, come Sankt Nikolai, storie di uomini che amano e proteggono gli animali, o che preferiscono lo studio a ciò che la famiglia o il mondo si aspetta da loro.

Si tratta di racconti che mi hanno molto affascinata, non solo perché spaziano geograficamente dappertutto, ma anche per la loro diversità, anche se tutti sono accomunati dalla fine terribile dell’eroe o dell’eroina, chi accusato di stregoneria, chi non creduto, chi sacrificato per salvare gli altri. Sono storie d’insegnamento, di fede e coraggio. Le illustrazioni accompagnano sapientemente le brevi storie che compongono questa meravigliosa raccolta e non posso che consigliarvela, perché è stata davvero un’avventura emozionante potersi immergere in questo mondo. Un mondo ricco di magia, tradimenti, lealtà, mostri e personaggi indimenticabili.

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The ghosts we keep by Mason Deaver-Hear our voices book tours

Hello and welcome to my stop for “The Ghosts we keep” by Mason Deaver! A huge thanks to Hear our voices book tours for the chance to be part of it!

Hardcover, 336 pages

Expected publication: June 1st 2021 by PUSH Scholastic

Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli, this book will rip your heart out before showing you how to heal from tragedy and celebrate life in the process.

When Liam Cooper’s older brother Ethan is killed in a hit-and-run, Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people he loved the most, but also face the fading relationship with his two best friends.

Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, Liam finds themself sharing time with Marcus, Ethan’s best friend, and through Marcus, Liam finds the one person that seems to know exactly what they’re going through, for the better, and the worse.

This book is about grief. But it’s also about why we live. Why we have to keep moving on, and why we should. 

Thank you so much, PUSH Scholastic, for the chance to read and review this book!

TW: death, grief, depression, self-harm, anxiety, panic attacks, misgendering

When their older brother Ethan is killed in a hit-and-run, Liam is forced to face the world without one of the people he loved the most and seeing their relationship with their two best friends slowly fading. Feeling lonely and devastated, Liam finds a friend and a support in Marcus, Ethan’s best friend and have to learn to go through the pain and grief and to move on.

I was DEVASTATED while reading this book. I devoured it and I couldn’t stop reading it, while, at the same time, crying my eyes out and thinking how life was so unfair and cruel.
The ghosts we keep is wonderful, moving and heartwrenching. Told by Liam’s POV, it swings from before Ethan’s death and after it, showing Liam’s and their parents’ struggling to move on and facing their grief and loss, the moments with Ethan and Marcus, with Joel and Vanessa, Liam’s best friends, the fights, the sweet moments and the sad ones.
I loved the way it swings from past to present, letting the reader know Ethan and his relationship with Marcus and Liam and Liam’s bond with their friends and parents.

This is a book about grief, moving on, struggling, lost chances, lost loves, growing up and life in its complexity and unfairness. It’s harrowing, sad and so important. Liam is a wonderful main character and I love their energy and passion about music and their struggle is really relatable in their lashing out, being upset, trying to move on, feeling lonely and lost. I love his relationship with Ethan and how much they loved one other, fighting as all siblings do, supporting and loving each other. I was devasted while learning about Marcus’ pain and loss and it was so hard to read.
Mason Deaver wrote a book that will torn your heart out of the chest and leave you bleeding. A book about life and love, family and bonds, grief and pain and moving on.

I loved everything about it.

“I was foolish in my belief that grief was a straightforward thing. I thought the first wave would it, and gradually the feelings of sadness and desperation would slip away until I found myself normal again. But I was so very wrong. Because grief is a complicated, ugly, messy thing. And it makes you do complicated, ugly and messy things.”


“Fingers finding lost bodies-
floating along the surface, despaired, drowned, dead.
Keeping secrets lost on pale blue lips-
For this is the place the dead things go-
This is the home of the ghosts we keep.


“And I wish you were here,
but you’ve left me alone.
Gone off on a journey,
that’ll never bring you home.”


“Things grow old-
everything does.
But I promise you-
No matter the distance-
My hearts beats the same as yours
and you make it full.”


“But I have to learn to live alongside the pain, alongside this missing part of my life that I’d never get back.”

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora- Book Tour

Hello and welcome to my stop for the Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora book tour, organized by Tbr and Beyond tours! Thank you so much for this chance! I’m so in love with this book and I can’t wait to freak out with you all about it!

Please, check the tour schedule here!

TOUR SCHEDULE: Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Publishing date: March 9th, 2021
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound | Indigo

Content warning: addiction, violence, characters being held against their will, human trafficking and infertility, For full content warning please see the author’s website: https://www.mariamora.net/books

Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM—Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue created by the scientists of Gathos City as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, he was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and into the Withers—a quarantined, lawless region. Nate manages to survive by using his engineering skills to become a Tinker, fixing broken tech in exchange for food or a safe place to sleep. When he meets Reed, a kind and fiercely protective boy that makes his heart race, and his misfit gang of scavengers, Nate finds the family he’s always longed for—even if he can’t risk telling them what he is.

But Gathos created a genetic failsafe in their GEMs—a flaw that causes their health to rapidly deteriorate as they age unless they are regularly dosed with medication controlled by Gathos City. As Nate’s health declines, his hard-won freedom is put in jeopardy. Violence erupts across the Withers, his illegal supply of medicine is cut off, and a vicious attack on Reed threatens to expose his secret. With time running out, Nate is left with only two options: work for a shadowy terrorist organization that has the means to keep him alive, or stay — and die — with the boy he loves.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review and I thank them and the publisher so much, because this book is really amazing!

This book talks about the social difference between riches and poors (highlighted by physical separations), addiction, murder, death, torture, the importance and meaning of family, above all the one you can create, love and relationships.

Nate is a GEM (Genetically Engineered Medical Surrogate) and he was created by Gathos City. To save and give him a chance to live and not to be abused all the time, his parents smuggled him out into the Withers, a place separated from the elite city, a lawless place where he learned to survive as a Tinker, finding his own family with a scavenging gang. But Nate's days are threatened and counted, since the scientists of Gathos City built a failsafe, making the GEMs' bodies deteriorate with age, if they don't take regularly their medicine. When his saving medicine's supply is threatened, violence erupts in the Withers and Reed, the boy he loves, is badly hurt, Nate finds himself into a difficult position.


I LOVE Fragile Remedy. It's an AMAZING dystopian fantasy, full of incredibly relatable characters. The plot is intriguing and skillfully written, the worldbuilding is brilliant and complex, the themes and the way the author dealt with them superb, pushing the reader to think about relationships, love, science and life. The bonds between characters are intense and strong and I loved the trope of queer found family.
Reading through Nate's POV was an intense experience; he's an amazing main character, weighed down by his past. He was abused by cruel scientists and he's burdened by own lies, since he's scared to tell the gang what he is and he doesn't know who to trust. It was such a pleasure reading his POV. He's brilliant, stubborn and smart and one of my favourite character! I was really involved in this story!

I loved the characters' complex relationships. They would do anything to protect each other and to survive and when one of them is in danger they are ready to do the impossibile, against the cruelty of greed and people. Their creating a family with each other was a wonderful thing and their loyalty, their love was inspiring and absolute. It was comforting and sweet reading how they have each other's backs, how they support and love one other. 

This book wrecked me, emotionally, because it was impossible not to love its characters. I loved the family they created, their fierce loyalty to each other. How their bonds are intense and complicated, beautifully written and it was a pleasure to discover their intricacies. 
The writing style is superb and I felt so involved I cried and laughed with the characters, feeling sad, cheering for them, squealing in delight. The author got me hooked since the very beginning, pushing me to read more and more, because I needed to see them safe and sound, to see how the story would pan out.

I liked how, through a story about love, survival, family and relationships, the author talked about the abuse the riches inflict on poor people. The gap was clear through physical separation (the gates) and because the Withers were depending on the City's supplies (food, remedy and so on). It was interesting reading the way its inhabitants struggled to survive, how they choose to escape their reality and life and how Nate and his family fight to survive and be together. How the author dealt with sensitivity and care important themes like addiction, death, torture, pain and grief.

Fragile Remedy lays important questions about morality and science, pushing the reader to think the lenght the science should go. 
If a clone was created to save people's lives, what should his/her/their rights be? He/she/they should be considered a human being? What exactly being humans mean? Should science appeal to humanity and decency or shouldn't? The end justify the means and so on.
I found the social message really important and on point. It was intense thinking about that, above all because the reader sees through Nate's eyes, his feeling trapped, used and hurt, his life created to be in other's service,  his own life depending on medicine his captors created. Nate's reality was awful and incredibly complex and he wanted to survive and, at the same time, he was ready to do anything for the people he loved the most.
It was hard to read about Nate's story, because I felt acutely his feeling trapped, his hopelessness and also his love for his family, his fierceness and stubborness.


Fragile Remedy was one of my favourite book I've ever read and I'm so in love with everything. The characters are impossible not to love, the story important and I totally recommend this book to those who love a wonderful queer found family, the profound bonds of love and friendships, fights for freedom and love, against injustice and social differences and the strenght of love and protect one other.
 
I LOVED AND LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!

Maria Ingrande Mora is a marketing executive and a brunch enthusiast. Her love languages are snacks, queer joy, and live music. A graduate of the University of Florida, Maria lives near a wetlands preserve with two dogs, two cats, two children, and two billion mosquitoes. She can often be found writing at her stand-up desk, surrounded by house plants. Unless the cats have already destroyed them.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

I’ve also had the pleasure to interview the AWESOME Maria Ingrande Mora! Here’s my interview:

1. Where did you get the idea for Fragile Remedy?

I was driving and listening to music and had a vivid image of Reed and his gang sorting through tech. Nate slowly formed from my daydreaming about that scene, and I started playing with it.

2. How many things changed from the original draft? And which ones?

Quite a bit changed! I fully rewrote the book twice. In the original draft, Nate was actually a fairy. Hard to believe now, right? The final 30% or so of the book was rewritten entirely twice.

3. What is the easiest character to write and the most difficult one?

Alden was the easiest to write. He was the “loudest” in my head, and the most fun to write. I had the most difficult time with Nate, who didn’t want to be particularly forthcoming about his emotional state.

4. In Fragile Remedy Nate is a GEM, he was created by scientists. Where did you get the inspiration for that?

I wish I could draw a line to one single point of inspiration, but I think this was the result of growing up watching Star Trek movies, Star Wars movies, and loving Anne McCaffrey’s books as a kid.

5. Fragile Remedy makes the readers think about the length the science should go and lays important questions about morality, abuse and power. What do you think would happen if, in an hypotethical future, people like Nate existed?

I think that we’re already in dangerous territory when it comes to dehumanizing entire populations. It doesn’t feel particularly far-fetched to me that people like Nate would be mistreated and that complacency would win out over pushing back against this kind of unethical medical practice.

6. How much of you is in your characters?

I relate to Nate’s issues with self-worth, and I relate to Alden’s tendency to deflect and attack before he allows anyone to talk about his feelings. I relate to Reed’s protective vibes. I relate to Brick’s exasperation and Sparks’s tenacity.

7. Could you describe Fragile Remedy in three words?

Queer found family

8. Do you have any headcanons post Fragile Remedy? Maybe about Reed and Nate? I love them so much.

I believe that Pixel grows up and becomes part of a group that upends Gathos City’s unjust government. Nate and Reed stay fairly under the radar in a support role and help young people develop engineering skills and safety nets.

9. Could you tell me about your future projects? Do you think you will get back to Fragile Remedy’s world?

I am currently working on a fantasy set during an alternative industrial revolution. Surprising no one, all of the main characters are bisexual. It also features an m/m/f throuple. I am pumped.

10. What are your favourite books?

Swordspoint is a comfort read. I read it every few years and it always devastates me. I loved Weetzie Bat as an older teen and it has a special place in my heart. More recently, I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, Ember in the Ashes, We Set the Dark on Fire, and Sorcery of Thorns.

11. Could you tell me five random things about you?

I love paddle boarding, I collect enamel pens, I’m 5’9″, I’m super scared of snakes, and I love anchovies.

Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik di Guido Sgardoli- Review Party

Buongiorno a tutti e benvenuti alla mia tappa per il Review Party di “Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik” di Guido Sgardoli, organizzato dalla straordinaria Chiaramente Lettrice, che ringrazio di cuore!

Senza ulteriori indugi, vi presento questo libro, che mi è piaciuto davvero moltissimo! Prima alcune informazioni e link dove potrete acquistarlo.

Autore: Guido Sgardoli

Illustratore:Andrea Artusi

Editore:De Agostini

Collana: Le gemme

https://www.amazon.it/Kid-ragazzo-voleva-essere-Diabolik/dp/8851181365/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_it_IT=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&dchild=1&keywords=kid+il+ragazzo+che+voleva+essere+diabolik&qid=1605656083&sr=8-1

Nessuno ad Angel-Mer ama il pericolo più di Kid Clermont. La velocità delle minicross, il rombo dei motori prima di una gara, le acrobazie del parkour. E questo che ha sempre fatto frizzare l’adrenalina nelle vene di Kid. Eppure, negli ultimi tempi, qualcosa è cambiato… è come se Kid vivesse tutto con un filtro, con distacco. C’è un’unica passione che accende ancora il suo interesse: Diabolik, il genio del crimine di cui Kid ha letto ogni fumetto, di cui conosce ogni segreto. Ed è proprio durante l’anteprima del film “Diabolik” che nella testa del ragazzo scatta qualcosa. Un clic. Kid all’improvviso decide che la sua vera ambizione non è dare fango all’affascinante Vicky Lambert nelle gare di cross, ma fare la differenza nel mondo, come Diabolik. Va bene, forse mamma e papà non sarebbero così fieri di avere un ladro per figlio, ma Diabolik non è solo questo. Diabolik è un fuorilegge, ma è leale, ha un codice d’onore. E non fa sconti ai cattivi. Kid vorrebbe davvero essere come lui…

Peccato che nella cittadina di Angel-Mer non succeda mai niente di niente. Almeno fino al giorno in cui il padre di Kid, il procuratore Mario Clermont, non decide di accogliere in casa una ragazza coinvolta in una delle sue indagini. Una ragazza dai capelli biondi, che non conserva alcun ricordo dell’incidente che l’ha resa orfana. E che assomiglia straordinariamente alla Eva Kant protagonista dei fumetti di Diabolik. Se questo è un segno… può voler dire soltanto che Kid sta per vivere l’avventura più spericolata della sua vita.

Ho amato leggere “Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik”. La storia è avvincente, ricca di colpi di scena e, nonostante l’età indicata sia dai 12 anni in su, ho potuto apprezzare e godere di questo libro anche avendone più del doppio!

Ambientato in una cittadina tranquilla dove non accade mai nulla, il protagonista è Kid Clermont, figlio del procuratore della città e di una brillante ingegnere informatico e che vive in Villa Legrand, dall’apparenza inquietante e infestata, ma dotata di tecnologia all’avanguardia e prototipi da provare. Kid trascorre le sue giornate tra minicross, parkour, ma soprattutto con Diabolik, all’interno delle cui avventure si immerge e sogna di vivere in un mondo dove poter fare la differenza, dove poter essere come il suo eroe. Quando nella sua vita entra Evelyn, una giovane coinvolta nelle indagini di suo padre, ben presto il sogno di Kid diventa realtà e con esso l’occasione di poter aiutare qualcuno. Anche se la realtà si rivela ben più pericolosa e rischiosa dei fumetti.

“Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik” è scritto in modo coinvolgente e brillante e l’autore è capace di attirare l’attenzione del lettore sin dall’inizio, introducendo un protagonista intelligente e brillante, descrivendo luoghi e paesaggi in maniera così intensa che è come se il lettore fosse lì.

Se la storia inizia con Kid e il lettore impara a conoscere questo straordinario protagonista, le sue passioni, le curiosità e gli interessi di un giovane ragazzo, il libro è costellato da altri punti di vista, da ulteriori narratori, pur essendo brevi rispetto a quelli di Kid. “Kid.”, quindi, si svolge su più piani, spesso contemporaneamente, seguendo le avventure di Kid e dei suoi amici e, in seguito, di Kid e Evelyn, leggendo delle indagini della polizia e del procuratore, dei loro sospetti, allargando, pagina dopo pagina l’universo introdotto all’inizio. Non si ha a che fare con Kid e le sue passioni, la scuola, le prime cotte, le uscite con gli amici, o almeno non solo. Con la presenza di Evelyn, l’autore introduce indagini, complotti, misteri e il desiderio di trovare giustizia. La storia si sposta su un piano più complesso e pericoloso.

Con delicatezza l’autore affronta temi come la perdita dei genitori, il PTSD, omicidi, battaglie ecologiche, la salvaguardia della natura, l’importanza di proteggere l’ambiente anche e soprattutto partendo dal proprio piccolo. Temi come l’amicizia, le relazioni tra figli e genitori, l’importanza della terapia e del sostegno di una famiglia, la forza di rialzarsi dopo un lutto, nonostante la difficile salita.

“Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik” mi ha davvero colpito. La storia è accattivante e cattura l’attenzione del lettore sin dalla prima pagina, ingrandendo e complicando l’universo dove si muovono i personaggi, aggiungendo ai bisticci o incomprensioni tra amici, scuola e rapporti con genitori tematiche complesse, come omicidi, indagini e che vengono trattate in modo davvero brillante.

Volendo si potrebbe dire che la storia si muove tra due piani, quello degli adulti e quello dei ragazzi che, durante il corso della narrazione, s’intersecano e si completano a vicenda. Interessante il modo in cui i pezzi vengono inseriti man mano, quasi fossero pezzi di un puzzle fino ad arrivare al quadro completo della vicenda. I personaggi sono ben scritti e sviluppati e abbastanza realistici, soprattutto Kid e Evelyn e, attraverso i loro atteggiamenti e pensieri, ci vengono presentati due ragazzi testardi, coraggiosi e complessi, che si ritrovano ad affrontare qualcosa di molto più grande di loro e che sono determinati a fare la differenza. La storia è meravigliosamente illustrata da Andrea Artusi, le cui illustrazioni completano l’opera e rendono tutto ancora più realistico ed emozionante da leggere.

In conclusione, “Kid. Il ragazzo che voleva essere Diabolik” è davvero un ottimo libro che consiglio sia ai fan di Diabolik, così da conoscere un fan sfegatato e determinato, sia a chi non ha letto i fumetti o conosce superficialmente la storia. Si tratta di un libro che affronta tematiche importanti, con estrema delicatezza, con personaggi ben scritti e una storia ben sviluppata, che farebbe sorridere anche il più cinico e pessimista di noi, poiché trasmette tanta speranza, parlando di giustizia, amicizia e famiglia.

REVIEW PARTY “THUNDERHEAD” – NEAL SHUSTERMAN

Titolo: Thunderhead (Arc of Scythe , #2
Autore: Neal Shusterman
Editore: Mondadori (Oscar Vault)
Genere: Fantasy/ Distopico/ YA
Pagine: 396
Data di pubblicazione: 13 ottobre 2020
Prezzo: € 20,00

Ciao a tutti e benvenuti alla mia tappa per il review party dedicato al secondo volume di Falce, Thunderhead. Un enorme grazie alla Oscar Vault e ad Ambra, di Paranormal booklovers, per averlo organizzato ed avermi dato l’opportunità di farvi parte.

In un mondo che ha sconfitto fame, guerre e malattie, le falci decidono chi deve morire. Tutto il resto è gestito dal Thunderhead, una potentissima intelligenza artificiale che controlla ogni aspetto della vita e della società. Tranne, appunto, la Compagnia delle falci.

Dopo il loro comune apprendistato, Citra Terranova e Rowan Damisch si sono fatti idee opposte sulla Compagnia e hanno intrapreso strade divergenti.

Da ormai un anno Rowan si è ribellato ed è fuggito, diventando una vera leggenda: Maestro Lucifero, un vigilante che mette fine alle esistenze delle falci corrotte, indegne di occupare la loro posizione di privilegio. Di lui si sussurra in tutto il continente.

Ormai divenuta Madame Anastasia, Citra è una falce anomala, le sue spigolature sono sempre guidate dalla compassione e il suo operato sfida apertamente il nuovo ordine. Ma quando i suoi metodi vengono messi in discussione e la sua stessa vita minacciata, appare evidente che non tutti sono pronti al cambiamento.

Il Thunderhead osserva tutto, e non gli piace ciò che vede. Cosa farà? Interverrà? O starà semplicemente a guardare mentre il suo mondo perfetto si disgrega?

Sono innamorata da anni dello stile di Neal Shusterman e, in particolare, di questa trilogia e non ringrazierò mai abbastanza l’Oscar Vault per aver portato in Italia i primi due libri. Attenderò con ansia l’uscita del terzo!

Ambientato in un mondo dove l’umanità ha sconfitto fame, le guerre e, soprattutto, la morte non esiste, le Falci sono le uniche in grado di tenere la popolazione sotto controllo, spigolando con compassione e umiltà. O, almeno, così i fondatori della Compagnia avevano scelto di fare.

Nel corso del tempo un’estrema corruzione è iniziata a dilagare tra di loro, dividendo le Falci in nuovo e vecchio ordine, creando disarmonia e incertezze.

È in questo clima di pericolo, scontri e dubbi che continua la trilogia, con il secondo volume,Thunderhead, riprendendo mesi dopo la fine di Falce, che si era conclusa con la fuga di Rowan e Citra che veniva ordinata Falce sotto il nome di Madame Anastasia.

Ritroviamo Citra/Madame Anastasia, che si sta lentamente abituando al suo nuovo ruolo e compito, spigolando con compassione e utilizzando una metodologia che ha subito attirato le critiche della Compagnia. Infatti Madame Anastasia concede un mese di tempo alle persone che sono state scelte per la spigolatura, per sistemare i loro affari e salutare i loro cari e anche la possibilità di scegliere come morire.

Citra si ritrova, con la sua metologia, compassione e testardaggine, a rappresentare sia un esempio da seguire, le sue idee vicine a quelle del vecchio ordine, sia un pericolo e una minaccia per chi, come i seguaci di Goddard, appartengono al nuovo.

Il lettore ritrova una Citra cresciuta e più matura, che, nel corso del libro, lotta tra le sue identità, fino a comprendere appieno il suo ruolo e il suo nuovo nome.

Rowan, dopo la fine del suo apprendistato, ha deciso di assumersi la responsabilità di ripulire la Compagnia da Falci corrotte, sotto il nome di Maestro Lucifero, uccidendole e bruciando i loro corpi in modo che non possano essere rianimate. I suoi metodi sconvolgono e preoccupano la Compagnia delle Falci che pone un investigatore sulle sue tracce.

Mentre si legge Thunderhead è ben presto chiaro che l’universo di Falce che, nel primo libro, era, per lo più ristretto a Citra, Rowan, al loro apprendistato e al mondo delle Falci, si è espanso e allargato, includendo nuove e interessanti voci.

Come accadeva all’interno del primo libro, Thunderhead presenta molteplici punti di vista e, se in Falce, ad alternarsi con i capitoli dedicati a Citra e Rowan, c’erano gli estratti delle Falci, in Thunderhead venivamo direttamente a conoscenza con il Thunderhead, l’intelligenza artificiale che controlla, protegge e osserva l’intera umanità.

Ho trovato estremamente interessante leggere le sue osservazioni sul proprio potere, sull’umanità, sui pericoli che potrebbe correre, sulla potenziale importanza di alcune figure e sull’impossibilità di intervenire. Come un genitore benevolo, il Thunderhead guida, protegge ed è costretto a osservare gli avvenimenti che non può cambiare.

Viene introdotto il personaggio di Greyson Tolliver, un giovane che, a causa dei suoi genitori disattenti e poco presenti, è stato cresciuto dal Thunderhead, trovando in lui una figura guida, un amico e qualcuno cui affidarsi. Quando la sua vita viene stravolta da una serie di indizi e scelte, Greyson si ritrova a contatto con un mondo che non conosceva e in situazioni molto più complesse di cui poteva immaginare.

Come è accaduto nel primo libro, ma, siamo onesti, come accade con tutti i libri che scrive Neal Shusterman, il lettore è scosso e costretto a farsi domande sulla morale, su ciò che è giusto e ciò che è sbagliato, sull’umanità stessa, su cosa ci rende umani ed è il punto di vista del Thunderhead, ironicamente dato che si tratta di un’intelligenza artificiale, a suscitare domande simili. Fino a che punto la Terra sarà in grado di supportare l’uomo? Cosa si può cambiare?

Se la corruzione all’interno del mondo delle Falci era qualcosa di evidente già nel primo volume, Thunderhead non fa che confermarlo, mostrando, tramite diversi punti di vista, come l’arroganza, la crudeltà e la presunzione ha eroso la Compagnia e chi potrebbe, invece, rappresentarne la salvezza.

È interessante continuare a rendersi conto, perché le basi erano già state poste precedentemente, come il mondo “perfetto” non fosse mai stato del tutto perfetto e come, nonostante la presunta fine di disarmonie e disuguaglianze, alcuni esseri umani, probabilmente a causa della loro stessa natura, finiscano per diventare le versioni peggiori di se stessi.

Thunderhead è un perfetto continuo di questa straordinaria trilogia ed è ben presto chiaro, man mano che si prosegue nella lettura, che, come secondo libro, Thunderhead allarga la prospettiva del lettore, mostrando luoghi sconosciuti e con regole particolari, inserendo vecchi e nuovi personaggi e ponendo, come in un puzzle, le basi per ciò che accadrà nel libro successivo, facendo capire ai personaggi e al lettore che lo schema finale deve ancora essere rivelato.

Non vedo l’ora di poter leggere il terzo volume di questa saga!

Se vi va fatemi sapere cosa ne pensate!

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. An huge thanks to DC Comics for this free copy for review.

TW: children exploitation, harassment, kidnapping, mention of rape and sexual abuse, human trafficking.

Princess Diana of Themyscira always felt different and alienated from the Amazons in her island home and she hopes her sixteen birthday will change everything and she will finally feel part of the warrior tribe. But when rafts with refugees break the barrier around her Themyscira, Diana defies her tribe to save and bring them to safety. But she’s carried away by the sea, finding herself in the modern world.
Stranded in a unfamiliar and dangerous world, away for the first time from her family, traditions and Goddesses, Diana is forced to adapt and learn her place, finding new friends, a found family and discovering the dangers of the modern world. Dangers she’s more than ready to fight against.

I fell in love with the artwork of Leila del Duca and the beautiful and current plot of Laurie Helse Anderson that reivent Wonder Woman’s origin, putting Diana Prince first in a refugee camp and then in the frontline against abuse, sexual violence, children exploitation and refugees’ experiences and rights.

The characterization is brilliant. Diana is the only person who was born on Themyscira, the only one with a birthday and that and other changes (we could call them puberty) separate her from the Amazons. She feels like an outsider and she’s eager to belong and to prove the Amazons she’s like them.
The reader can feel her desire, her wanting to be really part of the Amazons tribe in her own island, to find her place and when she’s, literally, swept away from everything that was familiar to her, Diana is a character able to find her own way, place and strength, to adapt and overcome the difficulties.
She’s surrounded by strong characters, like Steven and Trevor and Henke and Raissa and her friendship with them helps Diana feel with a purpose and a place, above all when she’s involved in the activism. Even if she will never stop looking a way for getting back home, Diana is ready to fight against injustices.

Diana’s journey is intertwined with important social and political issues. Swept away by the sea and living in a refugees camp, Diana is able to see the disastrous conditions people are forced to live in, the injustices against them, the awful sanitary conditions.
When her ability of talk, understand and translate multiple language (thanks to her upbringing in Themyscira) catches the attention of Trevor and Steve (a cute gay couple, both involved in the refugees situation, working at the United Nations), they decide to help her get a Visa and a place to stay in New York with their friend, a Polish immigrant names Henke and her granddaughter Raissa.
Involved in their activism, helping families and children, in New York Diana has to face the reality of homelessness, street harassments and the refugees’ situations and the danger of human greed and evil.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is a wonderful and intense graphic novel about finding one’s strength and place in the world, a found family, love and friendship.

About Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson is a New York Times bestselling author known for tackling tough subjects with humor and sensitivity. Two of her books, Speak and Chains, were National Book Award finalists, and Chains was also short-listed for the United Kingdom’s Carnegie Medal. She was selected by the American Library Association for the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her significant contribution to young adult literature. Laurie has also been honored for her battles for intellectual freedom by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English. She is a member of RAINN’s National Leadership Council and frequently speaks about sexual violence.

About Leila Del Duca

Leila del Duca is a comic book creator based in Portland, Oregon. Besides drawing Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, she has drawn Sleepless and Shutter and wrote Afar at Image Comics. Leila has also worked on titles such as The Wicked + The Divine, Scarlet Witch, American Vampire, and The Pantheon Project. During her spare time, she loves to make food, read, dabble in music, and do craft projects, especially during the Portland rainy months. She also loves staring off into space and considers it her favorite pastime.

About DC’s YA Graphic Novels

DC’s young adult graphic novels introduce DC’s most iconic Super Heroes to a new generation of fans with stories told by some of the most successful authors from the young adult publishing space. The YA titles are standalone stories, not part of DC’s ongoing continuity, and completely accessible to new readers who have no previous knowledge of DC characters.

https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/wonder-woman-tempest-tossed

https://www.bookdepository.com/Wonder-Woman-Tempest-Tossed-Laurie-Halse-Anderson/9781401286453

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wonder-woman-laurie-halse-anderson/1134984927

SOME IMAGERY! LOOK HOW WONDERFUL IS THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL!

The God game by Danny Tobey

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Publication: today! January 7 2020

CW: attempted suicide, violence, self harm, depression, blackmail

The God Game is the most peculiar, exciting and brilliant book I’ve read in a long time.
The writing is perfect, the characters well rounded and so real, so relatable (Alex and Charlie were really perfect) it hurts, the plot captivating and chilling.
Everything starts with a chatbot, the God game, that answer any kind of question, an AI that claims to be God and starts sending messages on Charlie’s and his friends’ phones, asking them to do something. It’s a game, a wild one where it controls everything, can access everything, from phones, to pc, to cameras and so on. It’s God, He sees and knows everything.
Intrigued by the ad, Charlie, Peter, Vanhi, Alex and Kenny decided to play this peculiar game, using their phone, accessing, in this way, a cool and peculiar virtual reality. The Game is simple. If you do well, you get Goldz and something good will happen in your life. If you do bad, you get Blaxx and more Blaxx you got more likely the player will be killed. And if someone dies in the game, dies in the real life. Skeptic and curious, Charlie and his friends decided to try the Game and they started doing quests, following instructions, running around the school at night, discovering it, through the virtual reality, full of mysteries, gods and quests to accept or to buy.
The game inspired by the religion is a wild one and day after day they each found caught up with missions and with the Game. From simple request to dangerous one, to lies and cover ups.

I loved many things about this book. The game itself is creepy, brilliant, controlling, managing to use its players like pawns, using them and turning them against one other. In a game where the difference between reality and virtual one is really slim, where they can’t trust anything electronic, the characters move and act, in a giant chessboard, without knowing exactly what’s the Game real goal, where are the others players, what will they do, what are the purposes of their missions. It rewards them if the player do what the Game asks and punish them otherwise. It’s a crescendo of missions, lies, revenge and so on, pushing and threatening them into doing things they wouldn’t have done, otherwise.

What I loved more about this book are its characters. I rarely read characters so real, authentic and raw. So multidimensional. So relatable and well constructed.
Charlie is a young man, who lost his mother to cancer and since her disease and death his life, his grades and relationship with his father is spiralling out of control. He feels resentment for his father, who fell apart when his wife got sick, basically leaving Charlie to do the caretaker and bearing his suffering alone.
Vanhi is a brilliant woman, a bass player, an Hindu girl who’s struggling against her parents’ expectations and their desire she will go to Harvard, hiding a bad grade and a paper forged from them.
Kenny is a cellist, the philosopher, from a very religious family and he too, like Vanhi, has to suffer his parents’ pressures to do better, to do perfectly.
Alex is a nihilist, a young man who is abused at home, depressed and lonely, bullied and feeling himself suicidal.
Peter is the golden boy of the situation, the rich one, the carefully hidden deranged one, doing drugs and dealing, with his absentee father and a mother who left him when he was young.
They found solace in their group, called the Vindicators, doing pranks, supporting each other and doing the Game, that tested their friendships, morals and lives.

Each one of this characters, the main ones, are beautifully written and I was able to feel their rage, pain and frustrations. What it impressed me was that the side characters were amazingly well rounded too. There aren’t sterotypes, like the girl to win over or the bad guy. We read about Mary, the perfect and beautiful girl, controlled and with a big secret to mantain. Kurt, violent henchman, with an homophobic father. Tim, violent and controlling, with his stealing father. There are no absolutely good or bad people in this book, but incredibly complex ones. Even Charlie and his friends nurture feelings that could hurt one other, like envy or bitterness or rage, raging against each other, hurting each other.
The Game, knowing everything about them and their dreams, manipulated them and everyone else in a big chessboard, moving pieces like it wants. Or He wants, according to the Game.

It was amazing reading about the augumented reality, seen through phones or glasses, reading about missions, packages, quests and it was disturbing and creepy see the characters being controlled more and more, until they try to quit the Game and be free. Reading they being so controlled and observed was suffocating and I felt their emotions, their warring thoughts.
I loved the characters in The God Game, because they were flawed and human. Charlie with his rage, Alex with his depression, Peter with his need to control everything, Kenny and Vanhi with their desires and family’s pressures. It was moving reading how Charlie was so lost after his mother’s death and how Peter, in his own, maybe debatable ways, was with him or how Charlie was so caught up in his own grief to not want to reach for Alex’s pain, favouring the carefree and unconcerned Peter. Or how Alex was so in pain to get involved so much in the Game, that used his suffering to manipulated him. Or Vanhi’s and Kenny’s ambitions, their fear of disappointing their parents, their need to do the right thing, to be honest.

This book put forward interesting and moral questions. If it someone or something offered me what I want, would I accepted it? Even if it hurt someone? Could I hurt someone to save someone else, maybe a loved one? Someone else’s pain is worth my friends’ or family’s lives or could I sacrife someone to save myself or my loved ones?
During all the book, from small and innocent missions, the characters found themselves debating moral choices, which path take. If someone is a bully he deserved to be hurt and humiliated? Can I ruin someone’s life to life mine better?
What will you do if your life isn’t yours to control anymore? If you didn’t ever have any control on it? What will you do when you’re so caught up in the Game and you can’t see any way out other than the worst one? And the Game, in his infinite power, manipulated, fooled and tricked all his gamers, until the ending, showing them the free will was a difficult thing to achieve, in The God Game, to be free from the Game itself.

Charlie and his friends grew in the book, I loved reading about their development, their choices, their desires, their healing each other. I loved their relationship, how they all are so fallible, human, torn between doing the right thing and follow their desires, their selfishness.

Besides pushing the reader to think about moral choices, grey areas and religion, it’s a book about friendship and relationship, mostly between fathers and sons, from the complex and incredibly frustrating one with Alex and his father to Charlie and his dad.
About friendship, because it was absolutely moving reading they going to the great lenght to save and protect each other, notwithstanding their small fights and misunderstanding.
It was a book that gave me hope, because its characters, even though they are hurt and flawed and will do mistakes in the future, go towards a path of growth, forgiveness, another chance to liberation, like one of the character say.
That things may seems bleak and awful, but you could go on, pick yourself up, glue the pieces together again and try to be better, to try again and harder. Not alone, of course. With friends, family and help.

This book is absolutely brilliant, pushing the reader to ask questions, to seek answers, to be moved by friendship and love
And, to be honest, to fear how far the technology, any AI, could go and do.
An excellent read. A 5 solid star. Danny Tobey’s writing style is enthralling and his characters are alive and pulsing with life and choices.

“I’m a guinea pig in a fucking morality play that stops when I’m dead?”

His mind was a house of pain, all exits locked.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Welcome, travellers.

I decided to wrote my review in English, so here’s the translation.

For my first post in my blog I decided to talk about the new adult book written by Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House.

If you don’t know her, here’s a small introduction.

Leigh Bardugo (@Lbardugo on Twitter and Lbardugo on Instagram) was born in Jerusalem, grew up in California and graduated in Yale in 1997 with a degree in English. She lives and writes in Los Angeles and she’s a young adult and fantasy bestseller author, most know for the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. She also wrote short stories. The Grishaverse saga (Shadow and Bone and Six of crows) will be adapted by Neflix and will be called Shadow and Bone. Leigh Bardugo revealed the main cast on 2^nd October on her Twitter page.

After this small introduction I wanted to talk about the book of the moment, at least in my opinion. Ninth House was published on 8^th October by Flatiron Books (ISBN1250313074, ISBN13:9781250313072) and after only two days Amazon Studios won the right to Leigh Bardugo to developed a TV Series and the author will write the adaption and be the executive producer. https://deadline.com/2019/10/grishaverse-authorleigh-bardugo-ninth-house-amazon-studios-tv-series-development-1202756743/

THE PLOT

Ninth House is set in Yale, Bardugo’s alma mater and the main character is Galaxy “Alex” Stern, with a misterious and complex past and an unlikely member of the Yale freshman class. Raised by an hippie mother, Alex droppped out the school and got involved in the shady world of her drug dealer boyfriend and a twenty years old she finds herself the sole survivor of an horrific and unsolved multiple murder. She offered a second chance by the Yale dean Sandow, the opportunity to attend the university. But why her? Where’s the catch? Sandow asked her to be part of the misterious Lethe, a secret society that supervise the magical activities of the other Ancient Eight. The murder of a young town girl ruined what should have been a new beginning for Alex and she feels the need to investigate, ignoring the half truths and explanations of the police and the campus’ administration. Looking for answer, Alex discovers a big and complex plot, much dangerous she could ever have thought.

I found Ninth House one of the best book I’ve ever have read in a long time. Defined by Stephen King as “impossible to put down”, Ninth House is a wonderful book and the reader is pushed to devour it, because there’s the need to know what will happen, what’s going on, to read chapter after chapter. At the same time, though, it’s a book that should be tasted slowly, like a fine wine or a delicious dinner. Leigh Bardugo’s writing style, appreciated in all her books, is engaging and pushes the reader in a new and different world, that he/she will miss after reading the last page. Alex Stern, the main character, has a peculiar power (or curse) and because of that power Lethe, the mysterious Ninth House, become interested in her. She can see ghosts, called Grays, and her ability makes her perfect to supervise the occult activities of the other eight societies. Leigh Bardugo imagined how each of the eight societies, that have yielded some of the most important people in the world, actors, politicitians and so on, practices a different kind of magic. I don’t wanna reveal too much (discovering and reading the different rituals was absolutely interesting and brilliant), I’ll say that Skull and Bones practises divination using human and animal entrails. The Ninth House has to supervise their rituals and so Alex gets involved in a world full of magic, Latins, magic objects and mysteries. Ninth House is constructed in a peculiar way, almost like a puzzle. Almost each chapter (that takes its name from the season when the plot unfolds, like Early Spring, Winter and Last Fall) swings from past and present, building the whole plot, bit by bit. Since the prologue the reader is pushed in a world when he/she doesn’t know and understand anything, who’s the main character, why is she’s hurt and so on. Chapter after chapter, discovery after discovery, the reader gets to know Alex’s past and the mystery surrounding the young woman killed in the campus, mystery intertwined with the disappeareance of Alex’s mentor, Darlington, missing since a failed inspection. Piece by piece we get to know Alex and Darlington, Alex’s roomates, rituals, Lethe’s story and we follow the main character in her investigation, since she thinks Tara Hutchins’ murder isn’t simple as appears.I won’t write anything more about the plot, because Ninth House is a book that deserved to be experienced. The plot is full of twists and discoveries and it has captivating and interesting characters. It’s an adult fantasy book, a journey in a world where magic is connected to the college and the reality. It was really interesting reading about the different rituals and to know the character’s past. I felt so connected to Darlington, in his curiosity and magic’s attraction. I really can’t wait to dive again in Alex and Darlington’s world.

I want to end my review highlighting that Ninth House is not a book for young people, or at least, they should read its trigger warnings, because there could be something that could upset them:

• rape
• sexual assault under the influence of a magical drug
• drugs
• child rape
• overdose
• death
• gore
• blackmail
• self-harm
• forced consuption of human waste

In my personal opinion I found the trigger warnings counter-productive (after reading them on Twitter), because I felt more anxious knowing there would have been a determined situation and it would have been better not knowing anything. But this is only my personal opinion.

Ninth House, in any case, surprised me, more than I could even imagine it would. It kept me on edge, it made me jump, laugh and cry and it involved me a lot. I can’t wait to read the sequel.