Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Rebel Witch: Carve the Craft that's Yours Alone' by Kelly-Ann Maddox

'Rebel Witch' - a newish nonfiction how-to-witch book, that doesn't really contain much about witchcraft, or at least any set rules in any areas of witchcraft developed over time. It doesn't give specific info or instructions on any spells, though it mentions rituals, props, sacred spaces, cleansing, consecrating, seasons, the Wheel of the Year, traditions, occasions, lunar moon cycles, etc. Basically, there are no rules - you make your own. Be creative in your witchcraft! Be experimental! Be flexible! You do you, that's the only rule of being a rebel witch. Nothing stifling and rigid, and no limitations and binaries. Let no one tell you no, that's not right.

It is more a spirituality, self-taught, get-creative, do-what-feels-like-you, be-the-witch-you-wanna-be modern witchy book. At times it gets rather childlike, wishy-washy, airy-fairy, and vague, with the naïve and somewhat dubious mindset of do-whatever, make-believe, make-it-up, pretend-rituals-to-try-to-feel-good-about-yourself.

However, it does not read like a chaotic, lazy, anti-intellect and anti-research scam. The writing and tone are very comforting, supportive, encouraging, reassuring, nurturing, and sincere and earnest. 'Rebel Witch' is an inspirited breeze to read. It's like Kelly-Ann Maddox is a friend who is guiding you by hand through your individual, try-it-and-see-the-results witchy path, which makes sense since she is a spiritual guidance counsellor as well as a long-practicing witch.

'Rebel Witch: Carve the Craft that's Yours Alone' is charming, funny, inspiring, and enlightening towards finding your inner witch/child and sense of wonder and magic. It is likewise down-to-earth, constructive and practical when it needs to be, at its most sensible, serious parts. It gives sensible advice. It offers alternate solutions to various problems in life that aren't "witchy", like seeking professional therapy and counselling. And it is therapeutic, committing, convincing, dedicated, compassionate, and passionate.

It is a real, authentic, expressive, and personal passion project and self-help book by Kelly-Ann Maddox; that's a witch's truth.

The author certainly makes sure you know that being a witch, or other similar word for a similar identifier and purpose, is a lifelong path and commitment. It's to be taken seriously, not lightly and half-heartedly, and you should approach the spiritual, wicked trail with enthusiastic dedication. You do have to do things, and make plans and goals, that suit you and your tastes - whatever they may be, and however you may want to go about them - as a badass witchy-witch. Being a rebel witch doesn't mean being lazy and indecisive. It is about making your own choices, which are subject to change, due to life experiences. Write down your thoughts, feelings, activities, and experiences, and perform some rituals, if not outright spells, that feel good and right for you, etc.

Above all, don't forget to have fun being a witch! If you feel that's your calling - calling to you! It's a positive you identity and power, and a way to help regain control over your life.

It's a way to believe in yourself, to build yourself up, and be kind to yourself.

Female power and support forever.

'Rebel Witch: Carve the Craft that's Yours Alone' - recommended for practicing witches, and for a different kind of, and approach to, spirituality and feel-good, inspiring, life-changing-and-affirming vibes. The author seems so nice, genuine and human - a friend. Plus I am always openminded about new, modern ways of spiritual practices and enlightenment, and never limiting your creativity and inventory.

One last mark against the book, a caveat I must give, however, is:

 I wish Maddox, when she talks about recreational drugs, could have gone more into the negative ramifications of using them, and performing witchcraft while under the influence. Such as anything about addiction, on top of its other dangers. Like when she made a full comprehensive list of the consequences of doing spells to harm people for whatever reason, however you feel towards the dark, toxic issue and whatever your ethics, Maddox needed to take further serious responsibility when writing about drugs in her book - potentially dangerous, easily misused drugs - and implement more facts about them.

Practice selfcare as well as witchcraft, everyone.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'The Legend of Auntie Po' by Shing Yin Khor

'The Legend of Auntie Po' - a surprising, colourful, sweet, and bittersweet all-ages graphic novel.

It is part history, part historical fiction, part folklore, part made-up stories, part magical realism, and all human heart. And learning from our past - our history, our stories, and the truths they reveal about ourselves.

I'll let the first half of the blurb sum up what 'The Legend of Auntie Po' is about:


'In a Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885, thirteen-year-old Mei bakes the most delicious pies and tells the best stories about Auntie Po, a gigantic elderly Chinese matriarch who could probably cut even more trees than Paul Bunyan.

In the midst of racial tumult following the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with Bee, the camp foreman's daughter, and her stories.'


Basically, Mei and her father, Hao, are Chinese immigrants, and they are the best chefs and piemakers at a nineteenth century American logging camp - all the white male loggers and their families, and one Black family, would starve without them. Mei tells stories about Po Pan Yin, or Auntie Po, her version of Paul Bunyan, to the loggers' kids at campfires. Amid racial tension and violence, Auntie Po, and her blue buffalo Pei Pei, suddenly seem to come to life to Mei, in times of need at the camp.

Times for stories, making your own myths when the land you live on and serve doesn't respect you or your culture, and for needing to believe in a saviour, a protector, a god, who will watch over you, when faced with crises and tragedy.

Mei is also falling in love with her best friend, Bee.

'The Legend of Auntie Po' is about making your own faith, in order to live, and thrive, and hope for things to get better in the future. Sometimes your imagination is your greatest asset when one crisis after another stumps you, devastates you, keeps you as unchanging and unmoving as stone. Immigrants imagine, and invent stories, while retaining and respecting their traditions and roots.

Don't let your own culture, history, and faith fade, even when in a foreign country.

Let's talk about the artwork: I didn't like it at first. I didn't like the dead-eyed, beady-eyed humans. And why do some eyes look demonically red? Was that a stylistic choice, or an artistic and/or printing mistake? But I got used to it the further I read, and I got more immersed in, and engaged with, the story and characters. The art reminds me of Melanie Gillman's work, actually. I like the colours, and Pei Pei is so cute!

Most of the characters are likeable. It is easy to follow, support and root for the hardworking, feisty, and imaginative young Mei. She likes to read books, and dreams of a life and adventure outside of the logging camp. She is definitely fit for higher education.

When I first bothered to properly read the blurb (not doing so before buying graphic novels is a bad habit of mine), I was shocked to find out that Mei, and her bubbly, sweet, fat, blonde and white friend Bee, are supposed to be thirteen-years-sold. They are almost the same height as the adults. They are smarter than a lot of them, too (not that age denotes intelligence, of course). I knew they must have been teenagers, but I didn't think they were that young!

Mei's father Hao is a sweet, kind, gentle, protective, and good soul, equally as hardworking and talented as his daughter. He is candid and blunt when talking about racial injustice. Bee's foreman father, Hels Andersen, is surprisingly a good, thoughtful man, who knows what's what and what's right, and at least tries not to be racist. However, he is a pushover and enabler, prone to caving in under unfair and unjust laws, and fearmongering. But he learns and develops into a better person.

Hels will go above and beyond for Hao. He respects and listens to Hao - their families are like one family - and it is laudable, heartwarming and wonderful to see.

Mei's romantic feelings for Bee are obvious from the start, and her struggles with them, and what to do about them, are gradually, organically shown to the reader in pieces, at appropriate times. Her and Bee's friendship is very close-knit, regardless of any deeper, more intimate emotions, and theirs is a supportive, playful, adorable, and complex bond. Female interracial friendships through political tensions and tragedy and suppressed nonplatonic love FTW!

Heck, the relationship between their fathers could also, almost be read as something verging on the romantic! They have many private conversations, albeit work related, and they touch each other's shoulders, they tease each other and tell jokes, they give each other gifts, and they go out to eat meals together. Their relationship development grows into a warm and understanding connection. The white-boss-and-immigrant-employee, power imbalance between them will not matter.

But simply being nice, kind, decent human beings to other human beings is enough. Platonic love should be showcased, too.

Seeing people of different ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds effortlessly getting along and completing one another, and forming their own established community, especially in America at this time period, is another beautiful element in the comic, realistically or not, fairy tales or not.

By the end of this wonderous, tasty (those pies, and other foods!), historical, political drama graphic novel for children, full of trees, logging, girl power, real nontoxic man power, dreams, the magic of having a voice and the written word, and loving your own non-whitewashed, non-appropriated culture and history, I was left with one burning question:

What happened to Mei's mother? Bee's mother is mentioned once, but not Mei's.

But seriously, I do recommend 'The Legend of Auntie Po', for a fun, sweet read, and an American history lesson, of a part that is widely overlooked and swept under the rug (typically, yet again).

On that note, another thing I will bring up is I wish the book could have highlighted the racism and racist laws against Black people, as well as Chinese people. Slavery would have been abolished (mostly) for around twenty years in 1885 in the California state, and racial tensions were still strained, to say the least. And I know that the author, Shing Yin Khor, says in their Author's Note at the end that they didn't include any Indigenous and Native American characters in their story because they felt that part of American history wasn't theirs to tell, but it still feels a bit dodgy and disingenuous to not mention something about it within the story itself. Native American communities had their own logging camps in the Sierra Nevadas, and there is a whole complicated history there. It feels like further erasure of marginalised and colonised people.

But Shing Yin Khor is aware of what they are doing - they are smart and thoughtful, they did their research, and they know their storytelling capabilities and limitations, for a 283-page graphic novel. I like that they state the following important fact, also relating to 'The Legend of Auntie Po':


'But they were there. We were all there. This history, like all American history, is not a white story.'


Race representation and LBGTQ+ representation in an overlooked aspect of American history, told in a graphic novel for all ages. Add in the storytelling and magical realism and faith-based realism elements, plus the themes of intimate friendships and comradery, and you have a gleaming gem in your hands, a mined diamond in the rough (in every sense of the word).

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons' by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Writer), Phil Jimenez (Illustrator), Gene Ha (Illustrator), Nicola Scott (Illustrator), Hi-Fi (Colourist), Arif Prianto (Colourist), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colourist), Wesley Wong (Colourist), Annette Kwok (Colourist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

My first five-star review of 2025.

How do you make one of the best 'Wonder Woman' comics ever, without Wonder Woman herself?

Well, you hire Kelly Sue DeConnick, one of the best modern female writers in the business, for a start.

Then gather the best artists working in the comics industry, to create one of the most visually stunning, awe-inspiring, magnificent, diverse, intricately detailed comic books ever blessed to be printed and sold.

'Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons' is akin to a sacred, holy text; a rich, raw tapestry, about Greek mythology, and women. It is that good.

It is like a gift from the goddesses.

It is a fresh, epic take on the origin of the Amazons. A whole story, a tragedy, set before Wonder Woman's birth. I won't dare spoil any specific details for the uninitiated, but know that 'Historia' is as grand, empowering, and human as they come, for a Greek tragedy. That somehow manages to remain hopeful by the brutal end.

I will add that I love this version of Artemis, introduced thusly, "The huntress. She is the moon, and the wilderness, and the restless heart. Artemis knows you for the wild creature you truly are." It is one of the best interpretations of her that I have ever seen. She quite literally is a wild child, full of spark and confidence, and is fearless, feisty, and passionate to the core (and care); never faltering in her help and support of the Amazons. Now this is the Artemis I idolise. She is cool, badass, and complex, like all the women here.

In fact, all the goddesses of the Olympian pantheon who created the Amazons - such as Hecate, Hestia, Demeter, Aphrodite, and even the understandably absent outlier Hera, the goddess of women - are great. Including Athena, who I never really cared about in any other version of her I've seen. Standing equal with the other goddesses, Athena manages to be a likeable, sensible (she is supposed to be the goddess of wisdom and cunning), and worshipful character worth rooting for, and I didn't think that was possible before. Her design is very unique, too. Every design for each of the goddesses is diverse AF.

Their pantheon is a supportive, fierce sisterhood. A triumph of the power of women working together to counteract patriarchal BS, that relies on the suffering and subjugation of women in order to function and thrive. It is a stubborn, hubristic, poisonous system of death and destruction that keeps on turning, refusing to cease, refusing to give up or share control...

Another significant element: I love the origin of the name of the Amazonian princess - Diana. How she received it will forever warm my heart.

'Historia' is justified in its label of epic. It is a beautiful, poignant, introspective, heartbreaking treasure, a master--no, mistresspiece. I only wish it could have been a bit longer, and brought more focus back to women's issues - women's damn rights - and the dangers that women all over the world continue to face, even today, which is the biggest tragedy of them all. I wish we could have had closure on that hope.

In terms of LBGTQ+ rep, it is extremely slight and in the background. Disappointing for a current times DC Amazons comic.

But with literally everything else it has going for it - and wow, look at its art, it is art, comics are art - I would be remiss to give it less than all the brightest stars in the cosmos. It has earned the stars, and the moon in the lunar eclipse, and the praise of every Greek goddess, and every other goddess there is.

'Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons' deserves to be ranked alongside other graphic novels of critical acclaim, and historical and cultural significance - the classics, starring, and made by and for, men, such as 'Watchmen', 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns', Batman: The Killing Joke', 'V for Vendetta', 'Sin City', 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', and 'Maus'. I'm serious. It can even be compared to 'Persepolis', as well.

Stories and legends are powerful. They are powerful tools for humanity to use to enact real change in the world when it is most needed. They exist to teach us. To inspire us. To lift us up. To give us hope.

Never give up the fire, the flames, of hope. For humans - for women - keep cycling, repeating, but always try to do and be better, one way or another. They persist, for the nigh-impossible and unreachable goal of peace, harmony and equality for everyone on earth.

Like Wonder Woman.

She would never give up, and neither would the goddesses who made her. And the Amazons before her, who raised her, who taught her.

'Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons', scripted by Kelly Sue DeConnick and worked on by a team of artists and colourists, and published under the DC Black Label, is one of the greatest DC Amazons stories in history.

Read also my review of a separate, recent DC Amazons book, 'Amazons Attack', to see the fight for women's right to simply exist and be heard and be free in the patriarchy's stranglehold struggle on.

While I'm at it, here are these: 'The Legend of Wonder Woman', 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon', 'Wonder Woman, Vol. 2: Year One', 'Wonder Woman by Greg Rucka, Vol. 1', 'Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: The Circle', 'Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals', 'Wonder Woman Tempest Tossed', 'Diana and the Hero's Journey', and 'Wonderful Women of the World'.

I remain proud to call myself an Amazon. And possibly a geek goddess. No, actually, I don't want that kind of unfathomable power and responsibility. Maybe a sorceress will do.

Artemis Crescent, of the wild and the moon. And of women and magic.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Monster Crush' by Erin Ellie Franey

'Monster Crush' is a very flawed graphic novel.

It has pacing issues, and ideas that needed to be fleshed out further. Despite its title, the "monsters" themselves don't factor into the story much, nor are they shown much, as "monsters". Mostly it is a slice-of-life YA book, with science fiction elements added in here and there.

The monsters, how they exist in the modern world, and how they appear to have different, individual powers besides shifting into beast mode - none of this is ever properly explained. Healing? Phasing through solid objects? Each power is introduced once and then never again. These "monsters" might as well be the X-Men. Or the X-Men as werewolves.

Then there's a bullying aspect at the beginning, that goes nowhere once the first monster we meet is revealed, and it amounts to nothing. It's bizarre. What is the point of the bully character, Penny, if you're going to drop her once the supernatural comes along, and then have her appear in one more scene, and she does nothing? Nothing when faced with the supernatural? Really? Especially a vindictive, petty, bruised and beaten teenage bully? What is Penny's problem with Ruby, the protagonist, anyway? Ruby mentions they used to be friends. What happened? We never find out.

Every character is white, save a single minor player, Bree, the girlfriend of Ruby's mother, Jane.

If not for a few sudden swear words, 'Monster Crush' would easily have been suitable for children to read.

Its white, black and light purple abstract artwork isn't very good or special, either, and five panels out of the whole thing are in colour, for reasons that I think are meant to be meaningful and significant, but in actuality it comes across as random more than anything else.

'Monster Crush' is a messy comic.

And yet... I like it.

It's just so cute!

Its characters are very likeable and human, including the "monster" family, the Mooneys, who I adore. The monster teen girl of the family, Ella, a new girl in high school, is naïve and a sweetie. She is the love interest of Ruby Reid, a skater girl and tomboy, who, on top of finding out that monsters do indeed exist (not what she'd feared in childhood), is finding out she likes girls; like her mother before her.

It's sweet to witness - Ruby and Ella go to a fair together and everything - if rushed towards the end, where they declare their love after knowing each other for, what, a week? (This relates to the pacing issues I mentioned, and there are no indications of how much time takes place in the comic's story.)

I also adore the positive parent-and-teenage-child relationships, as well as showcasing one toxic parent - the main villain scientist, Dr. Delarosa, with her poor, guinea pig daughter Maria - to contrast them.

Ruby is on good, if still shaky and uneasy, terms with both her separated parents, and her busy but exuberant mother Jane, who lives away from her, tries to make time for her daughter, and make things up to her.

Ella's parents are similarly great, funny, and supportive, if overprotective, since they are shapeshifting beast creatures hiding amongst humans. However, they are not nearly observant, cautious and vigilant enough, when it comes to protecting their kids from scientists wanting to do experiments on them, and they are kind of stupid. It's not always charming; it's weird and inconsistent characterisation. What about their backstory with dangerous humans, and doing anything to keep their children safe?

But the Mooneys are still a laudable, loving bunch.

It's just such a relief, a breath of fresh air, to see good parents represented - in comics and everywhere else. Lovely, breezy, accepting, yet human parents who love their children as their own individual selves, and who are clearly trying their best in any situation, are unfortunately, extraordinarily rare in, well, anything. In our cynical, jaded times - and due to burnout culture - genuinely good parents are often seen as an outlier, an exception to the "norm" of shitty, toxic, narcissistic parents who exist for the sake of "conflict" (we already have this with Dr. Delarosa, and her toxic parenting of Maria is highlighted for how wrong and harmful it is). I welcome the vital change of pace, and praise 'Monster Crush' for it...

... and for its effortless LBGTQ+ representation. As well as the romance between Ruby Reid and Ella Mooney, and Ruby's mum being gay and in a relationship with Bree, there is trans representation - all of which is accepted and treated as normal and a normal part of life by each party's family, even if the rest of the world isn't fully accepting. Heck, even Dr. Delarosa, the villain, is openminded and respectful of trans people, no big deal. She certainly doesn't see them as "monsters".

Sapphic love and exploring gender identity are the graphic novel's quilt and stitching, and soul.

I cannot overstate enough how positive and loving 'Monster Crush' is when it comes to representing families. It's needed, it's important, and it's life-affirming for a YA book. Cut out the supernatural and science fiction stuff and you have a heartwarming, progressive, LBGTQ+, coming-of-age, slice-of-life comic that's full of love and accepting, supportive families.

Not that it isn't heartwarming as it is. Its "monster" and mad scientist elements could have been developed better, definitely. But with its human components, and normal everyday charm, the underdevelopment of the supernatural isn't a dealbreaker. At best, it demonstrates how brave and capable the characters are when faced with high stakes. Like the risk of exposure of monster teens and their parents. There isn't even anything metaphorical in use for what constitutes as "monsters" in society - no "fantastical" racism or queerphobia - that I could see. It simply is what it is.

It is a fun, funny, heartfelt, caring, female-empowering, messy read overall. Not a dull moment to be found. It's a darling poppet of a comic.

There you have it: my somewhat vague, hopefully spoiler-free review of 'Monster Crush'. Redheaded Ruby has a crush on the blonde, pretty, new "monster" girl Ella, who will do some crushing of her own to protect her loved ones.

Okay, that's it, I'll shut up now.

How did my review end up longer and more disorderly than I'd planned?

'Monster Crush' - my second guilty pleasure graphic novel of 2025 (my first is 'Mimi and the Cutie Catastrophe'). Recommended for fans of both LBGTQ+ rep and supernatural/paranormal LBGTQ+ rep.

Final Score: 3.5/5

P.S. Final, last second highlight: Jenny. The owner of Jenny's Diner (not Denny's), where Ruby and Jane have their scrumptious meal together. She is a hoot, the best one-scene character in 'Monster Crush'.

Manga Review - 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1' by Kanehito Yamada (Writer), Tsukasa Abe (Artist)

'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End' - a series set after an epic journey and battle.

What comes after the adventure? What becomes of the heroes then?

The unlikely protagonist of this after-happily-ever-after fantasy series is Frieren, the elf mage. Frieren is--was, part of a ragtag team of adventurers with their own skillsets and personalities and quirks. In any other story, she would be a side character, a sidekick; the healer, the magic-user, the stoic, relatively-emotionless elf girl who would become a fan favourite, and a potential love interest to the main male hero, as the only female member of the hero group.

But 'Beyond Journey's End' is her story, set after the main male hero's story.

The epic, ten-year quest of the famous, heroic band of adventurers is just one part of Frieren's story - her near-immortal life - that is now past.

Frieren is over a thousand-years-old, and ten years spent with the same people doing one important task - that would be remembered for generations to come - would barely be anything to her; a blip in her ongoing existence.

Until decades pass, and she realises she never really bothered to get to know her mortal companions - her friends - as they age and die. Heck, after their big adventure is complete, she merely leaves them to go her own way without a second thought or a backwards glance, thinking that, for the next hundred years or so, she'll have plenty of time to meet up with them again when the fancy takes her.

By the time she regrets it - regrets taking mortals' time and lives, and her time, for granted - and she cries over it, it's over their graves.

'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End' is about Frieren and her journey without a destination. It is her own self-imposed quest, to learn more about humans. To keep old memories, and make new ones, never taking anything for granted again. She will meet people, and take requests and help them, and make connections with them, fleeting and inconsequential as they may be. After decades of being alone, and then finally reconnecting with her dying or otherwise retired friends, she ends up taking on a new companion, a very young, fellow mage girl named Fern, who will be her apprentice.

This fantasy manga is about Frieren's memories, and the mortal people she learns from and allows into her immortal life, no matter how painful and seemingly pointless.

It's genius, really, this premise.

A sort-of slice-of-life (the high stakes have been and gone... for now) fantasy fable told from the point of view of an immortal elf girl - I wish I could have written something like it.

Another ingenious inclusion to the story is the heroine Frieren receiving a sole female companion on her self-discovery journey/path/pilgrimage, after being known to tag along with dudes. Even though Fern, a war orphan, was "given" to her by an old man...

I like that 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1' takes its sweet time, gradually, throughout its chapters, to show that Frieren is not as emotionless and heartless as she may first appear. She is not such a cold beauty - she has warmth and heart, that she doesn't always reveal beyond the surface. She has surprising humanity in her, which includes a goofy side, made more apparent as the volume progresses.

Frieren is, in fact, not primarily serious or strict - she can be lazy, apathetic, indecisive, clumsy, shortsighted, and a bad, awkward liar. She hates getting up early - mornings are her weakness (I can relate!) - and she mostly likes to lounge around. People - friends - are not the only things she takes for granted: there's the stubborn, set-in-stone ways that she uses magic (which we don't see often here, not in mighty, powerful, saving-the-world manifestations, anyway). As Fern states, Frieren loves magic, but she says it's a "hobby" of hers, and currently she can't be bothered to learn new forms of using it, not to mention new perspectives and angles of it. Nowadays she can't be arsed to hone her craft properly, and keep in shape, keep her magic from going rusty.

In spite of this Achilles' heel when it comes to practicality, Frieren is smart, knowledgeable, and reads books. She is prone to rudeness and social awkwardness when interacting with mortals, but she doesn't mean to be like that; she has trouble understanding them and their personal insights sometimes.

At its most basic level and core, 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End' is about Frieren learning to be more thoughtful. To be efficient, get close to people in their remaining time, get to know them, stop to smell the roses (quite literally, and with any flower), and wonder at the world.

The ramblings above should demonstrate my scatterbrained ineptness--er, I mean my expression of just how complex a character our main mage Frieren is. She's a reverent goddess of small stature, and a joy to follow, on her "non-adventures". By the end of the first volume, you are sure to want to find out further things about her and her backstory.

Like how she was the "best apprentice" to a mortal mage woman a thousand years ago...

'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End' is certainly something special. Although I wish it could have spent a bit more time with Frieren's adventurer group, before the time skip to decades later ten pages into the first chapter. The characters' designs aren't very original. They would blend in and be forgettable in any other fantasy manga.

The only characters I really care about are Frieren, Fern, and maybe Heiter, the sneaky, alcoholic, "corrupt priest", as he's always called. And I have a hard time believing that the cocky, arrogant, vain, womanizing hero Himmel (who looks exactly like a 'Fire Emblem' hero) would never marry and have children in the decades between Frieren seeing him, and up to his death of old age. What did he do in all that time? It's never explained.

At least we get nice, meaningful flashbacks of Frieren with her old hero friends throughout, tiny and infrequent though they are.

Also, for a newer manga, 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1' unfortunately contains two instances of perving on female characters because they are female: one is when Frieren compares her breast size to sixteen-year-old Fern's at the end of chapter 4, which is utterly bizarre, out-of-character and out-of-place; and the other is when, in chapter 5, the elf remembers an old man who used to be a little boy who flipped her skirt once, and Himmel was mad at him - because he wanted to look up her skirt. I don't care if it isn't technically fanservice since nothing is actually shown, it's still annoying, cringeworthy, groanworthy, and unnecessary. It has no place in an otherwise beautiful, tranquil, enlightening, and life-affirming-and-reviving manga like this.

That's all I'll say about 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Vol. 1', other than it is mostly set in forests, plus a town or two, and a harbour. And it's in the fantasy genre, yet contains no animal comrades whatsoever.

If you like 'Delicious in Dungeon', 'A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch', and other, similar manga currently fresh and selling widely and wildly on the market, then definitely check it out.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Book Review - 'Dreams for our Daughters' by Ruth Doyle (Writer), Ashling Lindsay (Illustrator)

A celebration of females, and women's and girls' power to change the world for the better, the brighter. And why we should let them do whatever they want with their lives.

Absolutely beautiful, enchanting, inspiring, and empowering.

What a picture-and-poetry book.

A mixture of whimsy, wildness, freedom, fantasy, magic, empowerment, diversity, and a call for kindness, joy, thought, bravery, rebellion, change, revolution, and community and coming together, for saving the world - just my kind of book. Everybody needs to read this.

We need to live in a free, equal, loving, kind, compassionate, peaceful world, for any of us to survive, thrive, and be happy. For us to be human.

Best quotes:



'We've been waiting for you
For the joy-making, ground-
breaking magic you'll do.

So never be labelled as
less than you are.
Be brave and believe in
your own guiding star.'


'Oyster-child, your
true beauty shines
inside as it grows -
You're the hidden
pearl, not the shell
that the mirror shows.'


'Be a fearless defender,
a honey bee with armour -
Guarding against the false=charmers
and harmers.'


'Be a wise warrior, a speaker of truth,
A fierce freedom-leader, a bold self-believer.'


'Listen in stillness to the unseen worlds,

Hear the cry of felled forests,
the sea's sad song,
The sighs of the homeless
who long to belong.'


'Be a barrier-breaker,
lead your rainbow-nation
In a sky-diving, multicoloured
murmuration.'


'So get ready for life,
planet earth has been waiting
For the gift that is you and the
hope you're creating.

Stay true to your dreams,
knowing you hold the key
To ignite the bright changes
that you'll long to see.'



This is why I read, people.

I shall keep coming back to 'Dreams for our Daughters' as a pick-me-up, to feel hope and love (and sanity amidst the chaos and madness) again.

Let us always do better, for our daughters. For future generations.

Final Score: 4/5