Blog Tour Book Review: Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell

Author: Courtney Peppernell
Series: N/A
Audience: +16
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Release Date: 04 Oct 2016
My Rating: 5 Cups
Source: The Royal Polar Bear Reads
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Pillow Thoughts is a collection of poetry and prose about heartbreak, love and raw emotions.
It is divided into sections to read when you feel you need them most.
Make a cup of tea and let yourself feel.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from The Royal Polar Bear Reads in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or affect the content of my review in any way.

I've never had a great relationship with poetry. As I told Rafael when he first approached me for this blog tour, I like my prose as sappy, and as happy as it can get, and my poetry as dark as possible. I can't explain it, but I always found it difficult to interpret sweet, happy poetry. So I went into reading this book with apprehension. I was a tad scared, especially since I haven't read a poem since high school.

I am pretty sure I was scared for nothing. The best part is that this book doesn't have just straight-up poetry, there are some parts that read almost like a story, like a journal entry. That's probably one of the most fascinating thing about this book, is that I never stopped to think "Oh, I'm reading poetry", but it felt more like letters in some way. Also, some of the poems felt really personal, like the author was sharing a piece of herself that no one before has seen.

I like that the book was divided in sections, for the times you're sad, or in love, or lonely etc. I enjoyed reading the transition between tones in the poems, and I liked how, in some ways, you could kinda tell when a new chapter was getting near by the tone of the poems.

Some poems managed to move me quite a bit. I won't admit to crying, but I was moved. I also loved the fact that, reading this book, I never felt forced to think of a certain type of "loved one", which is another reason why I stayed away from poetry. The majority of the poems in Pillow Thoughts allow the reader to pick in a way how to interpret them, and you can think that the speaker is talking about a very good friend, or maybe even a sibling, not just a lover. Or at least that's how I felt, which made me love the book more.

I can't not talk about those illustrations! Those were the cutest jellyfish I've ever seen, and I love how they seemed to be a part of the whole book. This could also be due to the very first poem, that personifies this creature, giving it a name, You. So it's not that big of a stretch to think of those illustrations as regular characters, that seem to emphasize certain aspects of the poems.

The absolute best part of this book? The fact that, when you think about it, the message is so simple, and yet something we all need to hear from time to time. We all need to hear that we're beautiful, we all need to hear that someone out there loves us for who we are, we all need to hear that we can heal from past hurts. I feel like that is the beauty of this book, that it manages to make you hear that message. And it's in a very sneaky way, because by making sure the reader knows about You the jellyfish, it makes the message a bit easier to hear, than if the speaker hadn't done that.

I went into reading this book with skepticism and fear, being guided by my previous experience with poetry. I don't think I've ever been this wrong or this pleasantly surprised by a book. If you love poetry, or even if you want to try out something new, you should definitely read this book.

Purchase

Book Depository | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Chapters Indigo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Courtney Peppernell is a best-selling LGBTQ author from Sydney, Australia. Courtney has been writing her whole life and focuses on Young Adult novels and Poetry Collections. Keeping Long Island is her third title release, and the first under her new book brand, Pepper Books.

Comic Book Tuesday #19: Another Castle: Grimoire by Andrew Wheeler, Paulina Ganucheau

Author: Andrew Wheeler, Paulina Ganucheau
Series: Another Castle #1-#5
Audience: +15
Genre: Comic Book, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Oni Press
Release Date: February 28th 2017
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

We are thrilled to invite you on a journey of courage, friendship, and rebellion—Another Castle: Grimoire! This volume gathers all the issues from the hit comic book series centered on the adventures of Princess Misty of Beldora, whose courageous spirit leads to her capture, and ultimately, to a heroic adventure that spans two kingdoms.

Our tale begins when Princess Misty of Beldora, who longs for a more exciting life, gets more than she bargained for when she is captured by Lord Badlug, the ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Grimoire. He intends to marry her and conquer Beldora, leading the land into ruin and chaos. The people of Grimoire already suffer under his rule and desperately need a hero… luckily, Badlug has just kidnapped one! Together with the citizens of Grimoire and a certain bumbling prince, Misty must fight to protect her kingdom and free both realms from Badlug’s tyrannical rule. Misty is determined not to be another damsel in distress; and with her new friends to protect, she'll discover just what it takes to be the hero of the story.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Oni Press in excange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating of the book or the content of this review in any way.

This was a different comic book than what I've read so far, but it was a great change in reading and art style.

I absolutely adored the fact that the women in this story were all powerful, strong, independent, brave and truly capable of saving themselves. At times it felt like the girls got out of sticky situations too easily, but they managed it and I loved seeing that. Misty was a pretty cool heroine, even though I found that her beliefs at the very beginning of the story were too simplistic. I felt as if she thought that attacking the enemy was easy and that her father wasn't doing it because he wasn't brave enough. I liked that she got a wake-up call and that she saw exactly what would happen if she were reckless enough to go into this battle blindly. At the same time though, I liked that, when offered the chance to escape Badlug she didn't take it, because she had friends that needed saving and because she also made a promise. She was bravest than I would have imagined. The secondary characters are also very interesting. This book actually has a pretty diverse group of characters, and I liked that fact.

The story itself is a pretty classic one, with the pretty princess being kidnapped by the evil king, the only twist being that Misty is her own white knight. I thought the ending was a little bit too rushed. I would have wanted for the story to drag out a bit more. That being said, I keep my fingers crossed for some twist in the story, if there are going to be more installments in this story.

Another main difference between this comic book and what I've read so far was the art. The colors were much brighter, more vivid, and there weren't as many shadows as I have come to expect. But I really liked how each character had their own individuality. I never got confused or thought that they looked too similar, like they could all be related, which is a feeling that some comic books have given me in the past. I liked the fact that the panels weren't too crowded.

I also loved that at the end of the volume the authors show how their process in creating this story was, both from the narrative perspective, and from the illustration's perspective. I love it when comic books include such sections.

All in all, Another Castle: Grimoire was a pretty interesting, light read, and I am going to hope that we're going to get the next part of the story (and soon).