Here we go the first wrap up of the new year!! One of my challenges this year is to read more graphic novels and manga etc. Well, I decided to sign up to WebToon and read some of their webcomics and it was such a great decision! I had 2 5 star books this month, 1 for a webcomic and 1 for a manga.

• I read 8 books this month.
• I started both my 2021 Goodreads, Sequel, Physical and ONTD challenge.
• Genre: I read 1 historical fiction, 1 thriller, 5 fantasy and 1 supernatural!
• Age range: I read 6 adult and 2 YA.
• Format: I read 3 paperbacks, 2 ebooks and 3 webcomics.

The Art of Dying – Ambrose Parry (3 stars)

Ok, so not a bad start to the new year. This was an ARC from Netgalley and it was just a solid 3 stars. I enjoyed the characters and I enjoyed the change in POV but it didn’t wow me. I probably won’t continue the series unless the next book looks really really good.

The Plotters – Un-Su Kim (2.5 stars)

So, this was for my ONTD challenge and I had never read a book by a Korean author before so I was quite excited to jump in. This book hit the middle of the road for me. I really enjoyed the dialogue and the Seoul Underworld described in this book but there was a lot of philosophical stream of consciousness esc passages in this book that bored me and ruined the pacing of the novel.

Lore Olympus: Season 1 – Rachel Smythe (5 stars)

So, here is my first 5 star of the year. Starting off well, one of the first web comics I picked up was this one. I had heard so many great things and it ended up matching the hype and exceeding my expectations. It is a re-telling of the “Taking of Persephone” myth from Greek Mythology, where Hades, King of the Underworld, kidnaps Goddess of Spring Persephone and makes her his wife. This is such a refreshing take on this myth, don’t worry everything is consensual between the two! The art-style is amazing, the romance between Hades and Persephone is just incredible and the characters in general are so varied and so well written.

The Steam Dragon Express – R. Merryweather & Porforever (2.5 stars)

This was another middle of the road comic for me. It follows a young girl who joins the Steam Dragon Express Academy to learn how to be an adventurer. The art style was super cute and colourful, I was super interested in the story but I found the episodes to be too short. Also, sadly the artist and the writer decided to go separate ways just as the comic started to really amp up so the ending felt kind of rushed.

The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin (4 stars)

I picked this up after hearing so many great things about it. I do think that after reading so much hype it meant that I went in with maybe too high of expectations than I would have gone in with if I didn’t know much about it. That being said it was still really good. I really enjoyed learning about the world and meeting all these new and exciting characters and I love a story with multiple POVs and every single POV was amazing!

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 4. (10-12) – Hiromu Arakawa (5 stars)

Another, 5 star but this is not surprising! I love this series so much! This is by far my favourite of the series so far. We finally get a greater understanding of the world and the plot seems more important and exhilarating. The art as always is great and I just love how Arakawa can write both really deep and emotional scenes and then also write some incredibly funny scenes.

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn – Tri Vuong (4 stars)

Another webcomic to the list. This follows Supernatural Investigator Oscar Zahn through some of his adventures into the paranormal. This was just so good. The art work was amazing, the plot was superb but this comic just had a lot of heart and soul (no pun intended) embedded in these stories. Oscar is a great character and I need more!

Descendant of the Crane – Joan He (3 stars)

This was another book I picked up due to the hype. There were loads of elements of it that I liked; the plot, the sibling relationship, the mystery but sadly I couldn’t connect to the story at the beginning. The pacing at times was quite slow that my attention span faltered and I couldn’t engage with book as much as I wanted to!

Welp, there’s January 2021 all done and dusted. That’s so weird that it’s over already!!!