Nov/Dec 2025 Update

I've decided I don't like novels anymore.

Except for some of the classics, and the very rare, genuinely good contemporary ones I've already read. Novels nowadays have been so disappointing - and often so artificial, badly written and edited (and f*ck trends, fads and TikTok, and especially f*ck AI) - that I feel like I'm done with them. It's graphic novels and short stories for me from now on.

I don't trust Goodreads anymore, either. I don't trust anything that is owned and controlled by billionaires (and like those wilfully ignorant, anti-education monsters care about books, anyway, unless it's to ban and censor some and propagandise others). The Goodreads Choice Awards this year - and the year before - are terrible, and are the last straw. And how dare they remove their graphic novel, middle grade, and picture book categories - that is shameful and disgusting.

It's in December that I've resolved to read less and finally resubscribe to Netflix and Disney+, so stay tuned for news there.

(I've quit Amazon Prime, too.)

In 2025, I got a driver's licence and a car, and for the first time in my life, I went to a concert (in November, in Brighton) (Gary Numan, and Raven Numan - I got her T-shirt!). In 2026, I'm going to get a new, much more favourable job and possibly a new house. Hopefully I'll be more social and start dating again after too long, as well. Some things to look forward to.

I will definitely be reading far less next year. And I mean it this time.

Here are the books I reread this year, and therefore rereviewed:

Hyperbole and a Half

Nimona

Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein

The Big Day

The Fairiest Fairy

The Adventures of Superhero Girl

Friends with Boys

All the Jem and the Holograms comics

All the Adventure Time comics

Bitter Greens

Heidi

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Not rereads, but important rereviews:

Red, White & Royal Blue

Not My Problem

One Last Stop

Imogen, Obviously

Lucy Undying

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

Marnie Midnight

I still encourage other people to read as much and as often as possible. Keep reading. Keep hoping.

Keep fighting fascism.

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'What's Up, Beanie?: Acutely Relatable Comics' by Alina Tysoe

I ordered this immediately after reading Alina Tysoe's fantasy graphic novel, 'My Sister the Werebeast'

(which I'm now starting to see is slightly semiautobiographical, LOL).

Wow, what cute autobiographical, anecdotal comic strips!

What started off as a webcomic, and is now available in a hardback collection, 'What's Up, Beanie?: Acutely Relatable Comics' basically tells of artist Alina "Beanie" Tysoe's childhood, teenage years, college years, and adulthood (up to her late twenties) - with occasional commentary from her time-travelling four-year-old self.

How cute she was as a baby and toddler! What a sweet, funny little bean - a hyper bean! A bundle of joy, play, imagination, curiosity and mischief. She's what children should be like, and often are!

Beanie's family and pets are also too lovely and adorable!

'What's Up, Beanie?: Acutely Relatable Comics' - 'aCUTEly relatable' is right. It is comedic, comical, upbeat slice-of-life. And there are A LOT of dogs and cats. And one of the best parts for me - it references video games, manga and anime - including 'Sailor Moon'!!!!!!!!!!!

'What's Up, Beanie?' is like 'Adulthood Is a Myth', 'Hyperbole and a Half', 'I Left The House Today!', 'Book Love', 'Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story', and 'Lavender Clouds' - though it it much happier and peppier than the latter two!

Beanie's comic strips don't delve into any serious issues. They don't explore any aspects of modern womanhood, either. There are subtly deep, introspective anecdotes, but those are very few and far between. They exist to be cute and funny, really. And there is nothing wrong with that, especially when "cute and funny" is coming from an artist's personal, heartfelt passion.

'What's Up, Beanie?: Acutely Relatable Comics' is soft, bouncy, bubbly, cartoony, laugh-out-loud hilarious, geeky, and positive. Just what the world needs.

I consider it to be an all-ages comic collection. There is nothing objectionable in it, apart from one censored swear word.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'My Sister the Werebeast' by Alina Tysoe

Gosh, gossamer and goddesses, what a cute all-ages fantasy graphic novel!

'My Sister the Werebeast' is one of those things where any of its flaws can be forgiven because of its cuteness.

Or, one specific cute character.

The graphic novel starts out pretty much perfectly, but then it is let down somewhat by the end, with a few plot points, details, character presences and character motivations that are left unexplained, or they just disappear, and despite how it is advertised and that 'The end.' on the final page, it is not a standalone. Things are being set up for a sequel, and it is clear it is big fantasy world, with plenty of history, mystery, build up, plots, and other aspects to explore yet.

But I can't be disappointed, because 'My Sister the Werebeast' does everything else so well. It is just my type of graphic novel.

Oh, and Peanut is the cutest cartoon character to ever exist.

Seriously, that blue-haired magical toddler is a star and a sweetie. Her two older sisters - the stressed-out, tired academic students Mira and Rosie - are great and complex, too, but Peanut...Peanut is an irresistibly adorable, fluffy, cuddly, squishy, funny, and precious little, well, peanut! She's a precious little beanbag!

She can transform into a blue soft, furry werebeast, and perform spontaneous magic - playtime, playing pretend and imagination literally come to life for this preschooler.

How will Mira and Rosie cope?! When their parents are away exploring ruins, treasure hunting...and monster hunting?!

There is dark mage magic afoot, as well. An ancient evil - a dangerous magician, long ago buried - will be after Peanut for her power...

I won't reveal anymore, but great giddy gillyflowers, what heartwarming, huggable adorableness!

'My Sister the Werebeast' is like a pilot pitched to Cartoon Network, and like 'Mooncakes', 'Story Spinners',

'Misfit Mansion', 'Nimona', 'Beetle & the Hollowbones', 'Meesh the Bad Demon', 'Unfamiliar', 'Phoebe and Her Unicorn', 'Swan Lake: Quest for the Kingdoms', 'Star Knights', 'Adorable Empire', 'Mega Princess', 

'Juniper Mae', 'Nell of Gumbling', 'Snapdragon', 'Pizza Witch', 'My Aunt Is a Monster', 'Lily Halfmoon', 

'Jupiter Nettle', 'Evil-ish', 'Jazzy the Witch', 'Magic Girls: Kira and the (Maybe) Space Princess', 'Mimi and the Cutie Catastrophe', 'The Owl House', 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power', 'Hilda' (the books and the animated series), 'Steven Universe', 'My Neighbour Totoro' and other Studio Ghibli films, Pixar's 'Onward', and the world of Pixar's 'The Incredibles' with its baby shenanigans. The colourful and cartoony art also reminds me of Kate Beaton's work.

There is POC and LBGTQ+ rep (Rosie has a crush on Yana, a battle rival schoolmate), as well as unicorns, dragons, vampires, mermaids, werewolves (of course), fairies, and the sisters' pet llama, Rhino, who disappears halfway through the book. There is an anti-prejudice theme throughout, with monsters and magical/supernatural beings forced into hiding from monster hunters, in a world where magic has been forbidden. Always appreciated in a children's story, and relevant.

A sisterhood and close-knit family theme, family love, and a community theme, are present, and a huge plus.

I had never heard of Alina Tysoe's work before 'My Sister the Werebeast', much less her webcomic series, 'What's Up, Beanie?'. However, I will definitely be picking up 'What's Up, Beanie?: Acutely Relatable Comics' now. I can't wait to see what I've been missing out on!

Sometimes, cuteness, and adorable, likeable and relatable characters, are enough.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peanut the precious ickle beanbag!

(Really, I'm asking: Where did Rhino the llama go?)

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Mismatched' by Anne Camlin (Writer), Isadora Zeferino (Artist), Jess Lome (Colourist)

For once I regret borrowing a library book, because I want my own copy of 'Mismatched' right now!

I am very surprised by how much I ended up liking 'Mismatched'. I've read it described widely as "chaotic", and the reviewers are not wrong. It is a messy and chaotic teen romance comedy drama, with too many players - there are so many characters that I had to keep track of some names, especially of those who are more minor than others, and sometimes I got confused by similar character designs and could not tell who was who - and too much relationship drama to keep up with, and not everyone is always likeable, most notably the protag, Evan Horowitz.

All of this should have been my kryptonite, and at the beginning, it almost was.

BUT...

Somehow, 'Mismatched' grew on me the more I read. It grew and grew, and developed into one of the most charming, endearing, adorable, precious, colourful, and positive queer YA graphic novels I have ever happily devoured in one sitting.

Its chaos and its flaws - its characters' flaws - end up becoming it - becoming part of its charms. One of its biggest positives and triumphs is that it IS queer AF. It is massively, unapologetically, wholeheartedly queer. Practically every character is queer. There is a Pride Parade scene, and it is beautiful.

I think it works well as a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's 'Emma', and I could tell Anne Camlin must be a fan of another loose 'Emma' adaptation, 'Clueless'; among other inspired similarities, 'Mismatched''s Emma character even shares Cher Horowitz's last name.

Which brings me to Evan, our modern day Emma Woodhouse. Evan is a gay teen boy, a popular Instagram makeup model, a ballet dancer, the president of his high school's Gender & Sexualities Alliance club, and a self-styled-and-professed queen in every respect. Sure, he is not particularly likeable - he is an arrogant, selfish, judgemental snob who tends to look down on or ignore anyone who doesn't match his tastes and perceived values, he is a hypocrite, and a very poor judge of character - at first. He learns and grows into a better person as the graphic novel progresses. He sees the error of his ways. He goes through something called character development, like Emma Woodhouse herself and her consecutive incarnations.

It turns out Evan Horowitz is not a narcissist, but a young person just learning more about the world and the people around him, and who is accepting and liking those whose personalities are different to his. He does genuinely care for his friends and family, and has a good, supportive heart.

And heaven forbid a queer person be unlikeable and flawed and human.

To paraphrase a famous Jane Austen quote from another and more, *ahem*, obscure novel of hers: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that "minorities" deviating from the cishet white male default and demographic, must be in want of "likeability", never straying, never allowing to be flawed and messy members of the human species.'

Well, fuck that.

Let's move on.

Other notes:



• Sadie, the only Black person in an otherwise good diversity pool of characters, is unfortunately given the least page time and least to do in the teen cast. She is a Black "butch-ish" lesbian, and Evan doesn't like her for stupid reasons. It's a shame to see a gay white male character dislike and ignore his only POC lesbian "friend", just saying.

• The only trans rep in the cast is Aryan, who is nonbinary. They're cool, sensitive, complicated and secretly depressed, and they're said to go to counselling.

• Through all the LBGTQ+ rep, there is no asexual or aroace portrayal in this teen romcom cacophony comic. Typical.

• I think Anika, Natalia and Davi are my favourite characters. They are adorable sweethearts, and deserve better than being associated with immature, judgey and crap starter Evan.

• 'Mismatched' makes it clear that kissing someone without their consent is never okay. For a "silly" and "fluffy" graphic novel, it knows when it should take certain, heavy topics seriously.

• It was hard to keep track of Evan's family at first. I kept forgetting he has two older sisters - one, Leah, is married to Davi's brother, Cadu, and has a cute daughter, Lily, and the other, Tamar, who actually has a presence and adequate page time, is dating Ben, the brother of Evan's first crush, Luca. The family members are very minor, and they look too similar to each other and other characters, and their names escaped me regularly as I read.

• Spoiler - though it shouldn't be if you know anything about 'Emma' - I came to like neighbours and "best friends" Evan and Davi as a couple. Opposites attract, and they're sweet.



Yeah, 'Mismatched' is far from perfect, but who cares? I like it. It's like a new guilty pleasure comic. A really sweet, cute, heartwarming and funny guilty pleasure.

It's like if 'Heartstopper' was American, and 'Clueless' was 70% more gay and diverse.

Between this, 'Clueless', and the 2020 film adaptation, I've come to realise I like 'Emma' adaptations more than the 'Emma' novel.

'Mismatched' - sometimes imperfection is the point, ya know? Especially when it's queer.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein' by Lynn Fulton (Writer), Felicita Sala (Illustrator)

I finally got around to reading this.

I reread another Mary Shelley biographical picture book, 'Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein', in preparation for reviewing 'She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein'. Incidentally, both were published in 2018, in celebration of the original 'Frankenstein' novel's 200th anniversary.

All I have to say is that they are very similar conceptually, and have differing art styles, but I think both of them are good, and effective in achieving their goals of telling Mary's story, showcasing her personality as an aspiring writer and dreamer - and a feminist, her mother's daughter - and using art to create a gothic and grotesque atmosphere; linking her to her inspiration and creation of her monster novel, 'Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'.

'She Made a Monster' is more ghostly, gloomy, and crafted like a haunted house story than 'Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein'. There are actual pages that are like jump scares - and they work, especially if you happen to be reading at night!

'She Made a Monster' is Mary's horror night at the big house on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland - the darkness, the thunder and lightning, the candles, the ghosts, the ravens, the monster in her dreams - and you are living it with her.

Ghoulish, ethereal, entertaining, and as informative as can be, 'She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein' retells a frightening yet inspiring and life-changing night in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's life. Read it and 'Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein' if you are a fan of 'Frankenstein', gothic horror, and women writers in history.

Keep writing stories, everyone. You never know if they will change the world.

Favourite quotes:



'When she was older, she read everything her mother had written: stirring words of democracy and the rights of women, words that sparked courage and inspiration in many, but anger and outrage in many others.'


'She wanted to prove that her mother was right! A woman's writing could be just as important as a man's.'


'"[...] what would happen to that 'lifeless matter' once someone had given it life?" The men did not seem to care. They only asked if something could be done--never if it should.'


'There was no monster.
There was only her imagination.
Her heart pounded, but she was happy.

She had found her story.'



Happy Late Halloween.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'My Shadow is Pink' by Scott Stuart

A triumphant, brilliant children's picture book about being yourself, defying outdated, antiquated and harmful gender roles, unconditional family love, and acceptance. There are parts that especially remind me of the graphic novel, 'The Prince and the Dressmaker'.

It's not quite perfect, but then, nothing is; no one is, and no family is. But as long as they love and accept their own children for who they are, and not by the masks they wear out of fear and for "safety", then society can be better yet.

Love is bravery. To love openly is to be brave, but it shouldn't have to be. And gender should not be a prison.

No one should be afraid of queer people existing anymore. No one should be afraid of boys and men wearing dresses and skirts. How childish--no, that's not the right word: children have more sense than fearmongers, censors and book banners. They're ignorant and idiotic, that's what they are.

Cishets need to get over themselves already, and realise and accept that not everything is about them, and that's speaking as a cishet woman, who loves pink, dresses and skirts, and loves to see other people wear those garbs, frills, petticoats, tutus, the lot.

I just don't believe it's right for a family to stop loving their own children for who they are. Family and home are where you are loved, for being you. I don't think this is a controversial statement.

There is no "normal", and there never has been. What is socially considered "normal" is subjective and relative, and changes all the time, and that's a good thing.

'My Shadow is Pink' - recommended to all the children (and adults) of the world.

The illustrations are darling and charming and adorable, too(tu).

Beautiful.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'I Love You Just the Same' by Keira Knightley

Normally I wouldn't be curious, much less buy anything by a celebrity's name alone, especially of a children's book around Christmas time. But this intrigued me enough on a book shopping trip, and as it turns out, it is quite charming, creative, and touching.

'I Love You Just the Same', written and illustrated by Keira Knightley, based around her own daughters, is a bedtime fable for siblings that is like 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Labyrinth', with amazing experimental and avant-garde drawings. These don't always match what is written - when they are supposedly done by the same person - but the picture and poetry book is nevertheless a sweet children's tale of little sisters and family. And cats. And pigeons. And a mysterious, symbolic red ball.

'I Love You Just the Same' - a loving, creative effort and effect. A mother's love shines all through it. I will be giving it to my nieces as a Christmas gift.

Final Score: 4/5