smokedshelves's reviews
483 reviews

spent the whole book highlight every double entendre about sword fights and i’m not ashamed about it. 

was honestly between a 3 or a 4 for a while while reading BUT the author’s note at the end really got me teary eyed.

i’m not crying, you are!!!

tbh, still between if i’m gonna rate this a 3 or a 4 in the end.

duology pacing is SO hard to get right and this one… kinda got a little rough in the last 1/3. or maybe it was the sheer number of characters that i literally couldn’t keep straight (beside the like main 3 people). yeah… idk about this one yet. i do still want to read the sequel though to see the ending!

thank you to penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i'm always down to pick up a graphic novel when it's the last few days of the month and i want something that's quick to get through, when a written novel will take me too long. punk rock karaoke was no exception!

i definitely breezed through this story, even though i found it a bit difficult to get into at first. while i love the colors and vibrancy of the art style, i also found it personally a bit difficult to actually read, being dyslexic. so a bit of a fair warning to my fellow readers who have trouble when the art is busy! you might struggle a tad to follow through the panes.

but, once i got a handle of the layout, i did find the story mostly interesting. it's a slice of life story about these young adults, in the summer before they are hoping to start college. they're figuring out friendships, relationships, and trying to be in a band together. i think some of the topics definitely maybe could've been discussed in more detail. but i would totally love to see a follow up story of them a few years down the line.

 

if there’s one thing that i know that f.t lukens’ books will do is make my heart flutter while i kick my feet and giggle like a tween girl in love. their stories, their characters, always just pierce straight through to my soul. and ellery and knox in otherworldly are no exception. 

 

i love love. and i love how ellery and knox love. and i love that i keep getting the opportunity to read these stories early. because my soul honestly couldn’t handle waiting until it publishes… even if it’s only a week out at this point. otherworldly, as with lukens’ other books, are so quick and easy to read. but i loved taking my time with it. savoring these character stories. immersing myself in this frosty world. 

 

el’s story actually starts five years prior to when the book takes place, when his life is thrown into a, as they would probably say, tundra. their family’s farm begins failing with a never-ending winter. and they loses their faith as their parents become more and more difficult to be around. when this book starts ellery and the “weird hot guy” — knox — have a literal run in. together they spark a deal (and a friendship — and maybe more) to end the winter. 

 

ellery, at the beginning of this book is a broken, mainly in their faith. in others. in their religion. but through meeting knox, who ultimately forces them to open up more to charley (their cousin) and zada (said cousin’s girlfriend). they accept their little family unit. they face dangers and scenarios they never thought possible. and through the power of found family and love. they try to defeat it all! 

 

knox, at the beginning of the book is grieving a loss. he’s also just confused and wants to answers for feeling neglected by his queen, who he was always a loyal servant of. through meeting ellery, and charley, and zada, and all the others along the way, he’s given a chance to be a human, even if for temporary. knox, while not a complete himbo, is definitely the golden retriever to ellery’s black cat grump. 

 

knox is just so soft, so caring of ellery. an ellery is honestly, truly the same in return. even if they can’t share everything with each other all the time, they both have the same goals and intentions. they do their best to work together to solve their problems. to fight for one another. and fight is what they do. 

 

this story is just so perfectly me. it’s fun and quirky and is just so damn beautiful. the way they love and grow and experience. their story pulled so perfectly at my heartstrings. and i loved every second of it. and i wish i had another 100 pages just to see them young and in love at the end of the book.