Book Review - 'Good Different' by Meg Eden Kuyatt

'Good Different' - one of the most darn beautiful and relatable things ever.

It is more than a book; it is an experience.

I rarely read novels in verse, and poetry, but 'Good Different' got me. It hooked me from the start. It can be read in a day, no matter what else you're doing.

It is a beautiful piece of modern literature for all ages, about kindness, understanding, empathy, boundaries, likes, dislikes, and realising that, yeah, everybody is different - every human being is different, it is impossible for us all to be a single homogenous hivemind built to serve within the confined structures of set rules made to keep us under control and "normal" - and that's okay. It's a great, marvellous thing.

There is no such thing as "normal". Any failure to conform to "normal" standards is the failure of the system and the people in charge, and not anyone else.

Adapting means adjusting to necessary changes, and seeking help, care, support and understanding along the way, in order to "fit in" and "be normal". It means feeling accepted as you are, and therefore free and happy. It is not about conforming to oppressive, restrictive, harmful and unhealthy social rules, cues, and systems.

Administering change in the system, and accommodating an individual's needs, is also a message; a reminder that:

No one is alone. No one is a freak. There are more people like you than you think. There is someone out there who feels the same way you do, who likes what you like, and shares your experiences. You will know if you give them a chance, and let them in.

Everyone is weird, and that's amazing. It's fantastic. It's human.

To deny this, and to hide, censor and block this universal truth, is a violence. It is an evil, unnatural wrong.

'Good Different' is about neurodivergence and autism. It is about childhood, and growing up and discovering you are on the spectrum, and that there is nothing "wrong" with you after all. It is about a thirteen-year-old girl, Selah (I love her name, and I will always think of her as "Selah Moon" in my mind), and her self-discovery, coming-of-age journey, as she navigates school, friendships, and her family, which also has a history of autism (there is generational trauma in here, too).

Selah Godfrey tries to be "normal" and put on a neurotypical mask, but of course it is not working. In public, she is suffocating and hurting, constantly playing by the rules of "normal" she made up in her head, trying to keep herself under control, quiet, small and unassuming. Hiding in bathrooms and toilet cubicles, and at home and in her bedroom, won't work as temporary places for release and recharge forever.

Poor young Selah is exhausted. Being social and keeping up with other people is draining her, and she is on the edge - the edge of releasing, no--exploding at a worst time and place, and having a breakdown or meltdown. She can't hold in her true thoughts, feelings, quirks, and sensory issues for much longer.

But maybe writing will help. When she can't express herself in speech, maybe writing down her thoughts and feelings as poems will help. Help her feel free, and listened to.

As herself.

I adore that 'Good Different' is generally a feel-good, uplifting book, and that Selah does have lovely, encouraging and supportive teachers, like her brilliant English teacher. Mrs. V. Her family is learning and growing for the better, too, thanks to her. No more masking! Any selfish, narrowminded, not-so understanding characters, such as certain other teachers, and "friends", and her school principal, they are not given much of the time of day - not so obsessed over in sensitive Selah's life. Outright bullies are deservedly one-dimensional and not given any description and page time beyond a blip in a day and poem of Selah Godfrey.

Selah's special interest in and hyperfixation on the 'How to Train Your Dragon' series - and how she feels like a dragon in a world built for humans - is especially adorable. I love and relate to anyone with geeky interests. Her going to a fantasy con with her friend, Noelle, is a magical highlight - and an enlightening experience, for both Selah and the reader - in so many ways.

Selah feels she is a dragon, or a dragon tamer and rider. She feels there is a dragon inside of her; she wants to be a dragon, and let all the boiling, building fire out. I personally feel I am, and want to be, a magical girl (from my "Selah Moon" comment, this is probably obvious even to people who don't know me). I think I've always felt that way, since my very lonely and struggling childhood.

This novel in verse really touched and spoke to be on a deep level.

Selah, go be a dragon, and I'll be a magical girl and witch.

Let us make magic and change together.



I'll reveal nothing further.

Just read 'Good Different'. It is good for the soul. It is one of the best books about autism ever written. Forget 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', read this instead. And 'A Kind of Spark', which in my opinion isn't perfect, but is still worth the read (it is especially relevant for its subject matter of witch trials and why they happened).

'Good Different' and 'A Kind of Spark' encourage empathy for difference (it is one of the things that is inherent and can't be taught; only hatred and bigotry are taught), and a strong sense of social justice, in people.

Autistic children, autistic adults, let it be known once and for all:

There is nothing wrong with you. You are not weird in a bad way. You are not a mistake. You are not broken. You are not damaged. You are not dangerous. You are not onerous; a burden or a nuisance.

You are you. You are an individual. You should stand out. You are the most beautiful creation the world should be grateful to know. You are important and needed in the world.

You are loved.

Screw normal. It's a manmade myth.

We are all different, and no one is alone. Let us embrace that.

Let us express it creatively and imaginatively, like the dragon girl Selah.

Like dragons, let's soar.

What a positive, uplifting, empowering, hopeful message.

Go check out 'Good Different' right now, if you haven't already. Trust me, you need it. Everybody needs it. You will not be the same afterwards.

And that will only be a good thing.

Adios, depression!

Final Score: 5/5

P.S. In terms of LBGTQ+ rep, there is an artist at a booth at the fantasy con that Selah and Noelle go to, who is referred to by they/them pronouns. That's about it, and regardless of whether it's intentional rep, I'm counting it as such anyway.

Book Review - 'A Library' by Nikki Giovanni (Writer), Erin K. Robinson (Illustrator)

A beautiful little picture book with gorgeous, experimental, patchy (in a good way!) illustrations, that is about, of course, a library.

'A Library' is about one little African American girl's love for her local library and the books she borrows and reads from there. For each book is a magical journey, where she can experience so many different emotions, and explore many different scenarios and adventures.

Indeed, books and libraries are magic.

They are a sanctuary. They are not merely an escape; they are places that provide hope, courage, support, learning, understanding, and kindness.

Children deserve magic, play and creativity in their lives.

'A Library' isn't perfect to me - I felt it could have contained more substance, especially concerning the nondescript books themselves that the girl devours, and it is so short and not that wordy that it can be finished in about half a minute - but it is good for emotional intelligence for children.

Protect libraries everywhere. Protect books. Protect learning and education. Always.



'A library is: a place to be free [...]'


'[...] to be wonderful
to be you

a place to be
yeah...to be [...]'


'[...] to be
another
me.'



Of course, you can read anywhere, not just libraries, at anytime. To find you, to be you - a better you - and another you.

Exploration, emotions, and empathy!

Beautiful, human explorations.

Final Score: 4/5

Manga Review - 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' by Chiho Saitō (Writer, Artist), Be-Papas (Original Creator), Fred Burke (English Adaptation), Lillian Olsen (Translator)

Funny, I bought this before I remembered that I already read it and owned it, as part of the 'Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set'. I had pretty much forgotten all about the manga version of the movie 'Adolescence of Utena'. Until now.

For what it's worth, 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' is an okay, if truncated, manga adaptation, with its own choices, traits, strengths and weaknesses. On its own, it is serviceable and enjoyable, with a great, classic shōjo art style that reminds me of Naoko Takeuchi's. It is nowhere close to the WTF factor as the movie, nor as subtle. What is going on and why is explained quite plainly to the reader. It certainly takes itself more seriously.

In addition, any character besides Utena, Anthy, Touga and Akio, such as the other duelists, they are completely forgotten about by the end. They end up serving no purpose. It is all about the foursome; they are the focus.

Speaking of focus, it is not much a deconstructed fairy tale, with a strong emphasis on subverting gender roles and identity (though it is present), like the original anime.

Still, it is a good, fantastical, brutal, grown-up little story and collectible for any 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' fan. It is especially refreshing to include it in the manga adaptation collection, which has been, sadly, a straightwashed, straightforward, watered down and less symbolic version of the anime. 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' isn't straightwashed, thankfully. Slightly less incest than in the anime, too.

It's also weird how Chu-chu, Anthy's little pet monkey, does end up making an appearance here, but not Nanami, Touga's younger sister. She doesn't exist in this alternate reality.

I know I've said this time and time again, but poor girl.

Nanami just can't catch a break.

For more context, and further thoughts on the manga series and the anime series, read my review of the 'Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set'.

Then there's my recent review of 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution'.

Farewell, 'RGU'. Farewell, Utena. Till we meet again. May you keep revolutionising the world. Alongside your true love, Anthy.

Sapphic love revolutionises the world. Subtly.

Farewell to all the roses and stars.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Botticelli's Apprentice' by Ursula Murray Husted

'Botticelli's Apprentice' - what a colourful, cute, poignant, meaningful, heartwarming feminist history lesson and art lesson this turned out to be.

I might not be that interested in Italian history, the Italian Renaissance arts, or how paints, powders, paintbrushes, panels, canvasses and portraits are made, but wow did 'Botticelli's Apprentice' manage to hold my attention and keep me invested for 257 pages in under two hours. In fact, I am now fascinated by how paints and brushes are made, at least originally. (All those eggs and crystals! And goose feathers!)

Humans are such fascinating, amazing, innovative, inventive, creative, and invigorative beings. Seeing how art is created - how classic works of art, like from the Renaissance period, were made - is an enlightening, soulful experience. I feel honoured and privileged.

And this is coming from a graphic novel that wouldn't look out of place in something like 'Hark! A Vagrant', or the works of Pénélope Bagieu. Don't let the cartoony and childlike art style fool you - it is a work of art in of itself. Beneath the surface, the cover, it's a smart, subtle, unpretentious, well-rounded, all-encompassing beauty.

'Botticelli's Apprentice' is a funny, touching and charming children's historical fiction graphic novel, full of heart, brains, and passion.

For all its educational content, at its heart it is about a chicken farm girl, Mella, who wants to be an artist - she is an artist - and her scraggly dog who chews and eats everything. A boy apprentice/reluctant partner is there too, I guess.

There are older female characters who inspire Mella; not solely and simply Sandro Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, the older women, including her mother and aunt, are Mella's muses, in more ways than one.

I love Mella. Such a strong, determined, intrepid, brave, wise, funny, temperamental, and sensitive young girl. And brown-haired girls FTW! I love too how loving and supportive her mother and her aunt are. I wish they could have received extra page time.

Oh, 'Botticelli's Apprentice', what a lovely masterpiece you are. It's funny how I read Ursula Murray Husted's previous comic, 'A Cat Story', first, and it wasn't until I got my hands on this that I realised it's by the same author. In my humble opinion, 'Botticelli's Apprentice' is a better work of all-ages art and fiction, and Italian art history lesson.

This year, I am going to Rome, and very soon, so it seems fitting that I read the 2025 graphic novel 'Botticelli's Apprentice' when I did, and really liked it.

It's brilliant, and a reminder of just how important art is.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Exquisite Corpse' by Pénélope Bagieu, Alexis Siegel (Translator)

I honestly don't know why I ended up liking this.

I am surprised, gobsmacked, flabbergasted by how much I like 'Exquisite Corpse', despite a lot of its content pissing me off.

I am absolutely not into meanspirited "comedies" where "everyone is an arsehole" is the crutch of their "humour" - and that goes for irreverent, "edgy", "shocking" "adult" "comedies" that are in reality just lazy, childish, regressive, hateful, toxic, and too easy to write. Yet, miracle of miracles, 'Exquisite Corpse' managed to charm me, and I find it strangely endearing and adorable.

It isn't lazy and cheap, either. There is cleverness to be found in it.

It is an adult French comedy graphic novel about writing, books, and people. It is simultaneously well written and yet not so - it can be contrived, trite, silly and inexplicable. It is funny, yet its "jokes" are often rote and predictable. None of its characters are particularly likeable, yet they are kind of relatable and realistic, with realistic, stupid flaws, and possible mental maladies. You can definitely tell that it is something that came out in 2010.

I dunno, maybe I'm won over by the cartoony, cute art and character designs, complete with the clever use of colours. In fact, it reminds me of what the first draft storyboard drawings at Pixar would look like. I know, 'Exquisite Corpse' is all kinds of weird and postmortem postmodern!

And maybe I find the twist at the end worth celebrating. It lives up to the comic's cartoony style, and comes right out of nowhere and is highly implausible. There are many holes and acrobatic swings and leaps in logic to it. However, after a breather from turning the last page, it is oddly satisfying and wonderful. A remarkable feminist twist (on a love triangle, which is itself a trite trope and cursed writing device) for its time.

The book's whole synopsis - its abstract form in every sense of the word - is like the term "Death of the author", told in many ironic, wiggly, squiggly twists.

And it's like a dark, twisted, less-academic, less-BDSM version of the film 'Professor Marston and the Wonder Women'. Conjointly, I'm sure it's like a lot of artsy French films, only fresher and funnier.

I won't dare spoil anything further.

Except: Despite the title, there is no corpse in this comic, nothing so gruesome and macabre, nothing resembling a black comedy, per say. Nothing so literary literal. It's metaphorical. Sort of...

It contains books, a bookshop, and a cat, too. Sign me the F up for those!

'Exquisite Corpse' - like a sitcom from the 2000s, it is... an acquired taste. It's a time capsule, that would, in spite of its flaws, stand the test of time. For me, it's like an adult, no-ghosts version of another late 2000s-early 2010s comic, 'Anya's Ghost'. Even the art style is similar. Then there's 'Page by Paige'.

I'd wanted to finally check out 'Exquisite Corpse' because I loved Pénélope Bagieu's 'Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked The World'. That is a masterpiece, and it certainly was an experience seeing how far she's come from one of her earlier works.

Well, regardless, 'EC' is unique, enjoyable, fascinating and charming to me. This corpse is far from dead, and also far from exquisite - but it is its own thing; it is its own well rounded, brilliant, satirical genius. A deeply cynical yet oddball, charismatic, delightful, poignant look at the human condition.

Here's a glass, a toast, to another guilty pleasure - the guiltiest of pleasures - graphic novel I read in 2025 (fifteen years after it came out, blimey).

Final Score: 3.5/5

Book Review - 'Watercress' by Andrea Wang (Writer), Jason Chin (Illustrator)

It's my 1100th review.

(And it's only been four months since my 1000th review.)

On this momentous, tremendous occasion, I'll look at a little book that's a little different.

'Watercress' is something not quite typical for me to read, but it's still vital in its themes and message:

It's a realistic, semiautobiographical picture book about China, Chinese immigration, Chinese Americans, poverty and famine. It's about family, and appreciating the nature around you, and what you have in the world, for free. It's about understanding what your parents (and grandparents, and previous generations) went through, when they did not have the luxuries and freedom that you take for granted now, and saving what you can now, regardless of whether they cost money, so that no one will go hungry again.

It's a timeless, universal message.

'Watercress' is a quick, but important read for everyone.

It ends up being heartbreaking, yet hopeful and loving, not bittersweet - thanks to the power of memory, communicating said memories and sharing them, listening to others, learning from history, never repeating the human errors and devastating tragedies of the past, and empathy.

True value and worth comes from human beings and what keeps them alive, not from things. Not from materialism.

Nobody should be made to think "Free is bad" in any context. Ever.

Anticapitalism is definitely a theme here. It is impossible to separate it from poverty, famine, and racism, and how those exist.

The art is magnificent - a triumph. It reminds me of the classic Shirley Hughes children's books I read as a child, only with Asian characters.

Thus ends my non-spoiler review of 'Watercress'. A quick overview of a quick, harrowing and beautiful children's picture book. It deserved every award it received. Highly recommended.

Now I want to eat some watercress.

Happy 1100th milestone for me, and a happy, safe, satisfying, sustainable day for everyone else and their families, on earth.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' by Mariko Tamaki (Writer), Javier Rodríguez (Artist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer)

'Zatanna: Bring Down the House', by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez, is a flawed, but magical and enjoyable new, Black Label retelling of the origin of DC's showstopping magician and superheroine, Zatanna.

The art is great, colourful, expressive, appropriately dark and shadowy when it needs to be, and just overall nice-looking.

The storytelling structure, pacing, aesthetic, aura, vibe and feel is fast, flashy, sporadic, spooky, action-packed, funny, and sexy. The comic is, in essence, all-go, and there is all manner of zaniness, wackiness, supernatural otherworldliness, shadiness, shiftiness, and rift-iness going on in the plot.

And rabbits. Lots and lots of rabbits.

Mariko Tamaki's Zatanna is confident, sassy, funny, and self-aware. But deep down, she is a troubled woman with a traumatic past - and power, her very magic - that she is trying to hide ("I do tricks, not magic."). She is a very human lady magician - she is no one's assistant, patsy or victim - who will learn of and accept her potential and worth, and thus come into her own amazing power, over the course of her story. She will learn to not fear herself and what she might do to others (she has anxiety as well as PTSD), and will never give up and hold back again.

No supressing. No repressing.

Like all women, Zatanna is so much stronger than she thinks; than she gives herself credit for.

Speaking of credit, I have to give it also to the creative team of 'Bring Down the House' for depicting Zatanna's father, Zatara, as the creepy, manipulative, villainous bastard he's in fact always been. Plus he's power-hungry and egotistical; rotten to the core. I don't care if that's a spoiler - it needs to be said, and it wouldn't be a review of mine if I didn't hold toxic, abusive men, fictional or not, accountable for their actions.

Men like John Constantine. Oh yeah, he's in this comic. Of course he is.

He's yet another creepy, secretive, diabolical, arsehole alpha male out to control Zatanna's life, and potentially ruin it carelessly. He doesn't deserve half the page time he gets here. Zatanna should just stop trusting him, and ditch him already. He's not worth it. What a pain.

The (other) major flaws I perceive in 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' are its too-fast pace, it being too short and in need of proper development in some areas, side characters who are given ridiculously brief appearances and then never show up again (in a few cases this happens suddenly, like in a few pages, or even a single page, and the characters get completely forgotten about, and you're left wondering what their point was and why they weren't cut during the editing process), and its rushed ending, that isn't nearly as flashy and cool as it should have been. Though the final page is an awesome sight.

Really, 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' is a fun ride. It's like a Vegas stage show in comic form, with plenty of tricks, twists, turns, and easter eggs up its sleeve. It could have turned out far more chaotic as a result, but it managed well. And did I mention the rabbits? (Hey, Easter is coming up, isn't it? What a coincidink.) There are as many white bunnies as there are playing cards in this story. They are as important as Zatanna's top hat.

I would be remiss to not mention: 'Bring Down the House' is full of strong, complex female characters, who form complicated bonds with our own complex, three-dimensional, personality-filled main heroine. It's mostly female friendships and support all around.

Bring down the house - meaning, bring down the patriarchy!

Bring down the house of cards - bring down the house of cads!

In conclusion: Not as feminist or cohesive as it could have been, but as it is, I enjoyed the girl power trip. And show. And human display that is clearly affectionate and respectful towards Zatanna.

Zatanna - superheroine and witch/magician. She should be an absolute favourite character of mine. Sadly, due to her not being used much in any media, and me being unimpressed with how she's been written in the past - far too often as a victim and pawn of men's schemes and megalomania - she is not. But now, she might be getting there. She looks like Wonder Woman, but she acts like a magical version of Carmen Sandiego. She is like DC's version of Marvel's Nico Minoru, aka Sister Grimm, except she's an adult, and white, hetero, and a stage magician.


For more, in-depth thoughts on Zatanna, I'll link my two previous comic book reviews about her:


The good: 'Zatanna and the House of Secrets'

The bad: 'Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend'


Final Score: 3.5/5