[ARC] Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross

La storia di Henni è ambientata in un mondo fantastico popolato da uomini gatto; durante l’infanzia della ragazza il padre è stato arrestato a causa delle sue idee, Henni è cresciuta così con la madre – molto integralista dal punto di vista sociale e religioso – e con la sorella minore.

Raggiunta la maturità per Henni viene il momento di essere data in moglie a un uomo scelto tramite riti religiosi; la società infatti è molto legata a miti e imposizioni, e il potere è accentrato in mani maschili.

Scoprendo che in realtà il rito è manovrato dai sacerdoti Henni sfida le regole imposte e fugge, venendo in contatto così con civiltà differenti, ma accumunate da una rigidità dei costumi.

Henni è una graphic novel interessante che tratta il tema della crescita, della religione e delle imposizioni sociali in modo arguto. La pecca per me sta nel disegno, i personaggi sono molto simili tra loro e lo stile non mi ha fatto impazzire.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per stendere questa recensione.

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Henni’s story is set in a fantastic world where people are cat-men; during her childhood her father was arrested for his ideals, Henni then grew up with her mother – a religious and social foundamentalist – and with her smaller sister.

Once grown up Henni has to marry one of the man of the village, the husband is chosen by a religious rythe; the society Henni lives in believes in myths and religious impositions, and the power is in the hand of males and priests.

Henni discovers how the rythe is manipulated by the priests and decides to walk a forbidden path and then to run away; she then discovers other societies, different from her one but similar for impositions and rules.

Henni is an interesting graphic novel that deals about the coming of age, religion and society with a clever plot. The thing I did not like much is the drawing: the characters are quite alike and I did not particularly like the image style.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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Henni by Miss Lasko-Gross ★★★☆☆

[ARC] Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Dusty Higgins

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This graphic novel takes inspiration from the Collodi novel (and not by the Disney version); at the beginning there is a summary of the original story – comprehending the most dramatic parts – and then the story begins.

After the reunion with Geppetto the city they live in faces the attack of evil vampires that kill Geppetto leaving Pinocchio to Master Cherry and the fairy. Soon they discover the wood Pinocchio is made from is the only weapon useful in killing vampires, hence epic episodes where Pinocchio tells random lies in order to use his nose as a weapon.

The narration is fast paced, taking elements from the original novel and new ones, the only drawback is the fact this one is only a preview and not the whole book.

Graphically the story is well done and detailed with b/w and grey images and tricks (images like wood carving) for telling past events.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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* Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Dusty Higgins ★★★★☆½

*I read this book in English

[ARC] There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Rashin

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I found out that There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is a children song that is drawn by different illustrators – this is in fact one of the multiple existing versions.

The old lady swallows a fly, and then a spider to catch it and so on, like a black hole.

The rhyme is very nice and I think the images are colorful and fun: the madness of the old lady is opposed to the horror of the animals that show their disagreement in being swallowed by some comic’s balloons.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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* There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Rashin ★★★★☆

*I read this book in english

[ARC] Birdcatdog by Lee Nordling

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In this comic the top strip is about the story of a bird, the middle one of a cat and the bottom strip is about the story of a dog.

The reader may choose to read each single story, or to read the comic as any other book (looking at the whole page), this way it will be clear how each single story influences the others: everyone is the main character of his own story, but his presence influences other lives, too.

The comic is nice, each single image is like a frame of a movie, an interesting experiment.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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Birdcatdog by Lee Nordling ★★★★☆

[ARC] Birdcatdog by Lee Nordling

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Un fumetto in cui le strisce in alto ci raccontano la storia di un uccellino, quelle in mezzo di un gatto e quelle più in basso di un cane.

Le storie possono essere seguite singolarmente, oppure si può scegliere di leggere il fumetto come un libro normale (guardando tutta la pagina), in questo modo si vedrà come i tre singoli protagonisti interagiscano e abbiano una rilevanza anche nelle storie altrui: ognuno è protagonista della propria storia, ma la sua presenza influenza anche quelle degli altri.

Il fumetto è molto gradevole, le singole vignette sono quasi fotogrammi che compongono le singole vicende, un esperimento interessante.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per scrivere questa recensione.

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Birdcatdog by Lee Nordling ★★★★☆

[ARC] The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy

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A cat, a mice and an inn where the best cheese in London is served and where spend their time various well-known writers, among them Charles Dickens.

The author builds a story about a particular friendship between different animals who have the same purpose: put their paws on the cheese and help a raven from the tower to go back there.
A nice idea is the hint that Dickens could have taken some inspiration from these animals to write his stories.

It’s a nice book that contains also some nice and detailed illustrations about characters and events.

Some times words and phrases are structured in particular ways into the page, this makes the reading of the ebook version quite hard.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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* The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy ★★★☆☆

*I read this book in English

[ARC] The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy

Read this post in English

Un gatto, un topo e la taverna col miglior formaggio di Londra e tra gli avventori alcuni scrittori ben noti, tra questi Charles Dickens.

L’autrice costruisce una storia su un’amicizia particolare tra alcuni animali molto diversi tra loro ma motivati da uno scopo comune: mettere le zampe sul formaggio e riportare alla torre uno dei corvi reali che se ne è allontanato.
Un’idea divertente è che Dickens possa aver tratto ispirazione per i suoi romanzi dagli animali protagonisti.

E’ un libro grazioso e presenta diverse illustrazioni dettagliate di personaggi ed avvenimenti.

In alcuni casi le frasi sono strutturate in ghirigori all’interno della pagina, fatto che rende la lettura su ebook particolarmente ardua.

Ringrazio l’editore per avermi fornito la copia necessaria per stendere questa recensione.

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* The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy ★★★☆☆

*Ho letto questo libro in Inglese

[ARC] I am Pusheen the cat by Claire Belton

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Pusheen is a cat, but firstly an Internet phenomenon, it needs only an online search to understand its dimensions.

After conquering the web this kitten deserved a book for herself: “I am Pusheen the cat” by Claire Belton.

The book is divided in five section and made by comics and memes about Pusheen and her daily activities: mainly sleeping, eating and hiding in in unlikely locations.

It a nice and cheerful reading, undemanding and suited particularly to Pusheen and cats fans.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

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* I am Pusheen the cat by Claire Belton ★★★★☆

*I read this book in English