niseag's reviews
290 reviews

the inspiration for this book is very clear, in that it's trying to sound like a victorian novel. And in a way, it does accomplish that, somewhat, but it takes a lot of the enjoyment out of reading, as sentences don't flow naturally. It is clear that this isn't the authors natural way of writing, which is a strain passed on onto the reader quite unfortunately. 
It is only for the characters that I did not put this book aside, and by characters I mean mainly Tom. It is hard to describe how delighted I was to find someone who is kind of like me as an intregal part of this fantastical world, and he was a great character that I wish I could be like. That is not to say he was the only character I felt for, Abel was an interesting one as well. And I really enjoyed murray until... I feel like his betrayal falls into a category of trope that I am not entirely comfortable with, in the casting of an (at this time in history) rather opressed and disadvantaged group of people, and depicting the one member of said people as a rogue. I was so disappointed, because the believe in the second sight is such an intergral part of scottish culture it could have led to so much more. I was hoping the author would go into this at all, and felt robbed when it wasn't.
As to Zachary himself.... my opinions are varied expecially in the early book, I was really annoyed with him, with this perfect little student that had powers and knew about everything. then i realised some parts of his character reminded me of a person with autism, and I really appreciate that bit of representation. as he grew up he became less annoying to read about, as he was seemingly depicted as less perfect, which saved the book for me.
you might notice I am mostly reviewing character writing, this is because the story did not stand out to me as anything special. it was not bad, but not particularly new or refreshing either. Zachary's future sight also took some of the stakes away, as we knew going in that he and his father would survive. The ending being somewhat spoiled is something often seen in victorian novels, so I understand the inspiration, but I am not sure it works particularly well here.

All in all, enjoyable enough read, would recommend, but understanding the caviat that the writing style is rather dry.

let's get something out of the way. Would this book have helped me when I was younger and struggling with who I were? Yes. I would have been able to pull hope and reassurance from this, an explanation of why everything seemed wrong in a time i could not accept myself. However, it would also have confused me. Remembering myself as the confused child I was, a lot of the terms here would have left me only more confused. I would have needed more explanation, apart from just statements, and I feel like that may be this books downfall. 
It does not seem to know what it wants to be, a beacon of explanation and information? If that is the case, I would have loved to see the authors dive into that more, truly explain what is going on, but that leaves wanting. Does it want to be a self help book? it gives exercises and thoughts that could indicate this, but it never commits to this either. it is possible to combine these two concepts, but not in a book as short as this. 

I don't want to rag on this book too much because it clearly tries hard to cover its grounds, and it does a decent job, but something else I want to bring up is that it falls into some traps that books written by adults for bullied/critisised youths tend to fall in. The examples it gives are fine, but if this was me, an autistic person to booth, would try to follow the advice on what to say when someone is disrespectful, the examples given would leave me with a massive "now what" situation, that I would not have been equipped to deal with at the time (and would still struggle to, to be honest!). 

Regardless of this, I think this is the kind of book any library ought to have. A resource for those struggling to find their footing in the world. It plays that job well, and this is something we desperately need more off. I commend this book for that, and will recommend it too.

I appologise, I am going to be very harsh on this book. Due to no real issue of the book itself, it was near unreadable to me. I trust this book can help a lot of people, but I feel like I am beyond it's scope, and the author is speaking from a position of privilege far beyond the experiences I had hoped to find advice for. It's hard to hear someone tell you they struggled having to wear a size 12, when you yourself wear a 19 and can only shop in specialty stores. In the same vein, is it hard to read about someone's experience being sexualised when you live in a body that is considered beyond sexual appeal. I am unsure if the author realises that the body described as the one they had to learn to live with is the body others envy. I think this sense of awareness was lacking in the writing, if I am honest. This, is what made reading this book very hard on me, as it just caused so much mental distortion that i put it away on the verge of crying various times. 
On a related note, I was happy to see the book mention gender dysphoria, but it did nothing to give any advice on dealing with it other than "learn to accept yourself"... this may be helpful for some, but it doesnt reflect the experiences of many. Sometimes, bodies need to be changed to be a home for those living in them, with hormones or surgery, and I feel this aspect of the queer community is very overshadowed here. 

Ultimately, I think the match between me and the book may not have been ideal, and I would prefer not to give it a star rating at all. But I think my view needs to be out here as well, for people to be able to make an educated decision on wether or not this book is for them.

an endearing visual novel that, while I was sceptical about it at first, managed to pull a few heartstrings. It has a fun cast of characters with varying designs and personalities. while most of the side characters don't get a lot of "screen" time, the reader still gets a sense of what kind of people they are and what their relation to the others is. I liked that a lot about it.
I do feel like the story was slightly choppy at times, pun not intended, where story elements were just sprang onto me. It reminded me a bit of the way some people tell stories. "so he was cooking, and then his parents came in, and they got angry" kind of storytelling. I understand this might be a stylistic choice in order to deal with the visual format, but I would be amiss not to point out that it bothered me occasionally. I would have liked a wee bit more dept, and smoother transitions.
But in the end, the author managed to create a story i found myself caring about, with characters I wanted to see succeed, and I think that is the most important part of a novel like this.

PS, not a remark on writing, but some of the panels appear to have been scaled a bit weirdly, and get a bit pixelated on my screen

 lovely book, showing us that history was more diverse than we tend to give it credit for. I loved learning about all these people, and the variable people showcased. I also loved the fact that they came with pictures, really allowing to imagine what their lives might have been like (and providing some goals to look like..). I was pleasantly surprised said pictures showed up quite well on my black and white ereader, too.
For me, it felt weirdly liberating and encouraging to look at those who came before, and I think that is important.
The only qualm I have, is that the text sometimes was a bit crude in its wording. I understand that this was to keep it short, when entire novels could be written about these people, but it still irked me from time to time.

a delight to read, told me some things I really needed to hear, too.
I am nonbinary. I have been pretty secure in that fact for about 5 years now. but sometimes the inner critic is really mean. but Ben is really kind. and it really helped.
At the start, I feel like the book was still trying to find it's footing, to get everything together, and nail the audience it is aiming for, but it blossoms eventually. I would predominently recommend it for trans people (both enby and binary) people who are still new to this world of self discovery. 
There is a lot of information here, and not everything is relevant for everyone. (being on the masculine side of things, I have kindly skipped the advice on makeup, for example), but the well meaning outstretched hand of "let me show you what helped for me" is a very powerful tool.
Thank you, Ben, for writing this one. 


just...please stop calling me darling?

Giving a rating for this book is really hard. The story felt fresh, expecially in the beginning. Werewolves are an overdone trope and can be overdone, but I think the angle this book took was very clever. however, expecially in the beginning there were some writing issues that made me feel like I was reading someones first novel. Primarily: I do not need to be reminded of the colour and make of the main characters shoes every 3 pages. I felt like the book could do with more show, and less telling us. It wasn't annoying enough to put the book away, though, as I was actually invested in Britta's peculiar situation. This was dampened a little when it seemed it was heading towards a love triangle, on which the bullet was luckily dodged.
furthermore, I feel some scenes did add very little to the story, including some of the flashbacks. those, while interesting, seemed to hold very little weight. similarly, the whole lust aspect seemed to not really mean anything in the long run.
But, this story... it had me captured until the book was done, the twist at the end was nice and juicy...even if the actual end felt a tad rushed...and for that I want to give this a high rating, yet that would negate my other points. I will give it a solid three stars.

Giving a rating for this book is really hard. The story felt fresh, expecially in the beginning. Werewolves are an overdone trope and can be overdone, but I think the angle this book took was very clever. however, expecially in the beginning there were some writing issues that made me feel like I was reading someones first novel. Primarily: I do not need to be reminded of the colour and make of the main characters shoes every 3 pages. I felt like the book could do with more show, and less telling us. It wasn't annoying enough to put the book away, though, as I was actually invested in Britta's peculiar situation. This was dampened a little when it seemed it was heading towards a love triangle, on which the bullet was luckily dodged.
furthermore, I feel some scenes did add very little to the story, including some of the flashbacks. those, while interesting, seemed to hold very little weight. similarly, the whole lust aspect seemed to not really mean anything in the long run.
But, this story... it had me captured until the book was done, the twist at the end was nice and juicy...even if the actual end felt a tad rushed...and for that I want to give this a high rating, yet that would negate my other points. I will give it a solid three stars.

I really wanted to like this one, but it was my first ork centric read and I might not have realised what I got myself into. The ork way of speaking, while amusing in short bouts, turned out to be really draining to read longer conversations in, possibly not aided by the fact English is not my native language. This really took away from my enjoyment of this read, and I really struggled to get through the first half of it.
Credit where credit is due, though, when the story picked up in the second half there was some amazing character development and an amazingly narrative that somehow gives a glimmer of light to the grimdarkness. It was fun following the little guys, too, where a lot of warhammer books focusses on the big hitters. 
all in all, not a bad book, perhaps just not for me.

cute wee book, that is very much suitable for a younger audience. it's colourful and appealing, with a use of language that is accessible without being condescending.

It covers the most common pride flags, which I think makes it slightly redundant for those that have been involved in the lgbtqia+ community for a while, but a great introduction for the young or those who've only recently found an interest in learning more.

the art is also very nice and inclusive of a variety of peoples. the person on the nonbinary flag page is definitely goals.

if I had to be specifically critical I would mention that the layout is a tad odd on an ereader, expecially on the "history of the pride flag" spread page, and this part of the book is repeating what was already said on the first few pages