haven

havenbefore reading this i had seen the movie Akira 2-3 times and i can confidently say i like the manga version better. it's better paced and there are better explanations for groups and events. also, the amount of detail that otomo packs into the panels is immensely impressive! i also really like the art style in general.

havenA sweet story about two high-schoolers. The art was cute and the story was funny and very endearing. Great characters, with witty lines, and believable motives. * Thanks to the publisher Mad Cave Studios via Netgalley for the e-arc!

havenokay comic. art was good. plot was decent, though got tiring after a bit. im not sure how much a domino mask obscures someone's face tho...

havensuch a dynamic volume. the first story felt very self-indulgent and i got sick of it fast. the second story and onwards was genuinely jaw dropping and was the reason why it's shelved in the adult's comic section. the story itself was horrifying, gross, and awful but it was so cleverly written and paired with great art.

havenentertaining. the hosts cover a broad selection of topics, anywhere from conspiracy theories to current pop culture news

havenvery enjoyable. a lot of the creepypastas they mention i haven't heard of before. when the hosts get off-topic it's so entertaining

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havenVery relatable. Eir art style is very pretty and MANY of eir life events i also went through or experienced something similar (as a nonbinary person). To be honest I read it because it's on the banned book list in some states but I'm so glad I took the time to find it!

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havenVery informative and so fun to learn about! Now I need a video essay about this topic lol As consumers we don't realize how much goes behind the scenes and often take products at face value. I was the same way when thinking about Barbie, even after watching the recent movie. This book goes into the different elements of history of the Barbie doll, like the design, the creator's motive, difficulties in production, along with a bunch of other fun facts! There's lots of photos accompanying easy to read information, so the book flew by without me noticing. Very well structured and it feels well researched. The information within does feel curated, since there's no explanation of common criticisms, but that could easily be another book. * Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for a copy!

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haveni'm such a sucker for manga like this; gorgeous art, extremely well structured and interesting plot, and a cast of dynamic characters. honestly this was such a good set up and I'm definitely going to look for the second volume once that releases. i love the plot style - a cast of characters trying to be the best in a specific field. plus i love art and makeup definitely counts as art! this series might fall into potential tropes in later volumes, but i hope these situations get managed in a good way. currently it's a tiny bit tropey which can be annoying for other readers. for me, though, i found it fun and managable. * thanks to the publisher via netgalley for an arc!

havenA mix of art history and analyzing pieces. I found it very interesting and fun to read. This book mainly focuses on Western art but touches on Eastern artists occasionally. Popular male artists taught in most art history classes are brought up and compared to women artists who worked in the same periods. I found it analyzes art professionally and in a detailed way. It introduces symbols found in a variety of women’s art and analyzes them in the context of the artist’s intentions and the context within history. Notably, this book compares artistic symbols in works made by men to art done by women and says why something works or doesn’t work. This feels like a college course textbook rather than an in-depth analysis, due to the author covering so much time and so many artists. The author mentions various power dynamics between artists and their models, especially male artists. It also touches on the difference in how men paint women (objectifying) while women artists understand the model’s perspective and can represent a natural and intimate scene. Another thing that was mentioned was the erasure of women artists, especially if their husbands/siblings/etc are well known (ex. Lee Krasner and her husband Jackson Pollock). My biggest complaint is the cover. It works with the title but is fairly boring, and I wish they picked something else. If they picked a painting that better represented the title in a better way or if they commissioned an art piece for the cover, it might look better. Personally the artist interviews were not interesting to me at this time, so I skipped them. On a later reading I might look into them more. * Thanks to the publisher Aurora Metro via Netgalley for an ebook!