Month: January 2023

DPS Only! by Xiao Tong Kong

DPS Only! by Xiao Tong Kong

Vicky lives with her brother, Vergil, who is a renowned e-sports player of the game “Xenith Orion.” Though Vicky loves to play video games too, she is too shy and self deprecating to tell him.

When an opportunity arises for Vicky to join an e-sports team of her own, she takes it, and uses a mask to conceal her identity. But she knows, it is only a matter of time until her secret comes out.

What will she do then?

I very much enjoyed this coming-of-age graphic novel. Readers get to see Vicky really coming into her own in the video game scene, while handling her personal relationships, particularly the one with her brother.

Photo by Florenz Mendoza on Pexels.com

This story touched on the potential sexism of e-sports. So few young women play, and when they do, they can draw all sorts of negative or toxic attention. Vicky avoids some of this with her costume, but other parts of it she can’t escape- like when one of the members of her brother’s team presses her for her phone number, though she doesn’t want to give it.

Or the negative comments arising from spectators to the tournament which are specifically directed to a female member of another team who isn’t hiding her gender behind a mask.

I experienced this type of thing first-hand in some of my gaming days. I was big into EverQuest in the early 2000’s. Luckily for me, that was before head-set communication during gaming was a thing, so, even though I played female avatars, most of the people I gamed with just assumed I was a guy.

Photo by Matilda Wormwood on Pexels.com

It was easy for me to hide. I never felt like I had to, like Vicky, but looking back on it all now, it saved me from negative attention for years.

News articles about e-sports have reported women comprise about half of casual gamers but only a handful of professional gamers. Here’s hoping more young women find the courage to follow their dreams!

The video game portions of this book were the most difficult to follow. It cut quickly from one character to the next with little explanation of what is going on except the kill.

Other than that, I thought this book was well done.

Highly recommended for reluctant readers, fans of video games, and readers who enjoy graphic novels.

Thanks for reading!

witchbody by Sabrina Scott

witchbody by Sabrina Scott

What is a “witchbody”?

Sabrina Scott defines this nebulous concept in graphic novel format.

Basically, to have a witchbody, the spiritual practitioner uses his or her senses and whole body to connect with everything in the world around her- be that a polluted parking lot or a clear mountain lake.

Scott touches on this idea that sometimes in our spiritual practices we only consider “pure” and “unpolluted” things as holy. They put forward the theory that, if we continue down this path, there may be nothing left to connect with as everything in existence mixes and mingles with everything else.

The spiritual is in the here and now, in the interaction of all things. I heartily agreed.

They wander through philosophy and other theories in the delivery of this message, which some readers may enjoy. I found myself wishing the text had a little more organization to it.

The art in this black and white graphic novel is beautiful. There is some non-graphic nudity- for librarians looking to categorize this book, I’d suggest in the adult graphic novel section.

As lovely as the art is, the lettering is close together and difficult to read in places. I think the author was going for the obviously hand drawn look, but I think they went one step too far. Otherwise, this book was enjoyable.

Highly recommended for spiritual seekers.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Jennifer Saint writes the mythological story of Ariadne from her and her sister Phaedra’s points-of-view.

“I took that story with me in the coming days and turned it over, like the stone in a ripe peach: the sudden, unexpected hard shock in the center of everything.” pg 14

Like Circe, Ariadne gives the female figures in the classic tale a voice, something they have never had in the original telling.

“The cold green of his eyes. Like the shock of the chill waters when the seafloor drops away unexpectedly beneath your feet and you realize that you have swum out far beyond your depth.” pg 34

For those not familiar with the myths, Ariadne was in charge of the Minotaur’s labyrinth on Crete. Theseus relied on her for help when he confronted the monster, who was also Ariadne’s half-brother.

Photo by Tiff Ng on Pexels.com

What happens next is the main part of this story. The labyrinth encounter is finished in the first 100 pages, which surprised me. I expected it to be longer.

Saint touches on the unfair nature of many of the classic myths towards women, which includes the story of Medusa and any number of Zeus’s mortal lovers. Zeus took lovers again and again, and his wife visited all sorts of nasty revenges upon them. But that didn’t stop Zeus’s prowling.

Ariadne is somewhat empowered in this story- she realizes the unfair treatment- but at the same time she isn’t able to do much to change her own fate, or the fate of her beloved sister Phaedra.

The gods and goddesses are bound by fate as well. This is most easily seen in some of the stories Dionysus tells about his time among mortals. I could see book clubs having a great time discussing the roles of fate and free will in this story.

I think Saint could have gone a little further in her interpretation of the myths, she stays pretty close to the original telling. It still makes for a beautiful story, but it could have been even better.

Recommended for readers interested in Greek and Roman mythology.

Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

Three friends from the sea go on a magical adventure on the land- and can’t recall the magic to return to the sea.

Thirsty Mermaids is a fun tale for teens or the young at heart that explores the themes of friendship, self sufficiency and belonging.

At first, the merfolk and sea witch believe they don’t have any skills that could translate to jobs on land. But after exploring what they are already inclined to do, they find their way into situations that fit them quite well.

The sea witch’s task, to find a way to break the spell, is more difficult. She has to go on a soul-searching mission which, as we all know, is one of the hardest tasks of all.

The artwork of Thirsty Mermaids is quite similar to Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy, another graphic novel which I love. The reason for this is because Kat Leyh is a co-author of Lumberjanes.

Both works share messages of acceptance and body positivity, the kind of messages which always deserve reminders.

I enjoyed this graphic novel very much. Highly recommended.