crying in the club (my room) over this book. as someone who spent the early years of my childhood moving around before finally settling in one place, so many parts of this graphic novel really hit home for me. i LOVE the art style of this one; it caught my eye immediately on Netgalley when i saw the cover. i thought the author did a great job humanizing all the people in her life. no one was perfect, and i really felt for all of them.

i made the mistake of reading this in an empty house in my room and now the bugs are haunting me. luckily it’s winter here, so it’s not nearly as bad as it would feel in the summer, but it’s still horrific. i’m honestly surprised i made it through the whole book considering how much i HATE bugs, but i think t kingfisher’s tone and sense of humor made it bearable.. i really enjoyed and was sickened by this. the metaphor for anxiety is super interesting and it absolutely got me. there were some moments where the writing felt a little trite, but there were also some moments with incredible imagery. the pacing was also a little strange. the first half of the book is still fascinating but compared to the second half is almost unbearably slow. still, this is a great book

this is the book that inspired one of my favorite movies of all time. i’m glad i knew before going into it that they differed greatly, so i had no expectations when i started, and i ended up thoroughly enjoying it. sophie was perfectly petty and a force of nature, which is the only way to be when dealing with howl. calcifer was so fun, and honestly this was exactly the fun and whimsical time i needed right now.

this is SO cutie. i love cats and i love music, so this was practically made for me. i was so charmed by the main characters. i love a sweet and caring guy, and all the bandmates were adorable (spinoffs please? can some of them be gay?). the b plot about going off to college and learning how to love and be there for people from afar was SO good and did make me emotional. there were so many cute and cheesy moments that worked for me. on the other hand, there were some lines and words where it felt like the wrong word was used (e.g. schematics used instead of semantics), which i’m hoping will get cleared up with some editing before the final edition comes out. it was also at times overly cheesy and a tad overwrought. but i was also expecting that, and overall i thought this was so adorable and sweet i could die

this is an absolutely beautiful graphic novel. the art reminds me of a 90s or early 2000s dreamworks movie. the story was really sweet, and it was a very quick read. there were some slightly choppy transitions between some scenes and thoughts, and i wish more of the story had been fleshed out. there were a few moments that could have used a little more explanation or more illustration to clear up some confusion i had. but overall, i enjoyed this and i loved the sweet little romance.