Warbreaker

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson   592 pages

"Warbreaker is the story of two sisters who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery; and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker."  (summary courtesy of Goodreads)

I have had this book on my shelf for years and kept putting off reading it (because library books always have a strong call . . .). Once I started reading and got into the story, I was kicking myself for not picking it up sooner because I really enjoyed it!  I have read other books by Brandon Sanderson and felt he was great at not only storytelling, but also worldbuilding. This book is no exception, where your knowledge of the world in the story grows with each chapter. You also learn things at the same time as a few of the characters, so the story is unfolding and you feel a connection to the characters. 

Scary Book

Scary Book by Kazuo Umezu, 231 pages

This is a manga book recommended by the same person who gave me Stargazing Dog, so I was hoping for something that would awesomely follow in its footsteps. Sadly it did not live up to my hype.

Scary Book is comprised of two stories. The first is Reflections and comprises most of the book. The second is Vengeance Demon. In Reflections a girl falls in love with her reflection and does everything she can to make herself look beautiful. What she doesn't know is that the reflection she sees is really an evil spirit that is waiting to escape and take over her life. Vengeance Demon was a little more convoluted. There a prince is living with the kings master swordsman while his castle is under siege. The swordsman also has a son that he hopes will befriend the prince. Except the prince is cruel and abusive to the point where his son almost dies. But by saving his son the prince gets injured and the kings wrath is great.

These were not bad stories per se but they were not what I was expecting. For starters I could not find anything that was particularly scary about Vengeance Demon and Reflections is more of a psychological horror that either effects you or doesn't. While I found the stories to be lacking, I really enjoyed the art, especially in Vengeance Demon and some of the landscapes and panoramas he creates.

Spera and Tomboy: See You Later, Gender Norms!

Spera Vol 1 by Josh Tierney - 175 pages 
Tomboy by Liz Prince - 251 pages

This week I read two AMAZING books. Spera and Tomboy. I'm reviewing them together because they both cover the ideology of gender norms! Spera in a fantasy realm, and Tomboy as an autobiographical memoir.

Tomboy is by Liz Prince. She writes about growing up and not feeling like she's a girl and not really wanting to feel like a girl. As a child, she felt more comfortable in typical boy clothes. She was interested in things other than princesses, pink, and frills. And as she grew up she realized that the way she felt made people label her a tomboy.

What was amazing about this memoir is that it covers how she felt about the way girls "should behave" and it had nothing to do with romance. She was not dressing like a boy and "acting" like a boy in order to be more pleasing to girls. She did it because it was a natural progression for her. She behave in a way that felt right, and because of that she felt like a weirdo outsider. A lot of the reason why she felt so separated was because she didn't see girls like her anywhere. Not in school and certainly not in the media. I felt the same way growing up and I feel like Spera would have been the perfect book for Liz Prince to read.

Spera by Josh Tierney (illustrated by a variety of artists including AfuChan) follows two princesses (Pira and Lono) from two warring lands. They decide to get the heck outta there, and have adventures on their own! Their destination: Spera. They travel with a fire spirit (Yonder) who is not only their transportation, but also a friend.
In Spera, I actually didn't realize until the 2nd chapter that Lono was a girl! She dresses is typical men's fashion, and has a short haircut. Also, I don't think it was ever explicitly said in the first chapter that Lono's gender was female. (to be fair, I really could have just missed it.) BUT, it was a happy surprise, nonetheless. I have become too accustomed to the stories of princes saving a princesses from her unfortunate life. While in Spera, these two ladies decide their fate together!

In Tomboy, Liz Prince says it's not that she hates girls. She hates the fact that women seem to only have the option of being pretty, thin, vapid creatures. While boys can either be dweebs, jocks, hippies...   

"A boy can be celebrated because of his personality ad talents, regardless of how he looks. In fact, talent can make a guy attractive who may not be by traditional standards. But a girl is usually only popular if she looks good." - Liz Prince

Josh Tierney gives readers the typical timid princess in Pira, but you also have the confident warrior in Lono. Variety! And again, this is not tied to romance. Lono decided to act the way she does because that's just how she is. The same goes for Pira. They make the choice to travel together because that's what friends do!

Spera is great for young and old readers, and it excites me that young girls who read this will have someone outside of the typical female gender norm to look up to. And if you want a glimpse at the childhood of a tomboy, definitely give Tomboy a read.

I'm glad I read these two books one after the other. They're the perfect companion pieces and it made me appreciate my own brand of femininity!

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If you're interested in reading other feminist comics like these, I'd recommend:
Princess Princess by Katie O
Princeless by Jeremy Whitley
Princess Ugg by Ted Naifeh