Review: Djeliya

Djeliya: A West African Fantasy Epic by Juni Ba
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

A graphically striking and thoughtful reworking of West African myths and stories to tell a story of power and community responsibility, innovation and tradition, greed and humility, all circling around the importance of storytelling itself. Awa might be the advisor to the prince, but sure OSS the heart of this story, and the one who connects everyone and everything, for better or worse. I especially loved seeing the stories from her childhood with the djinnie, before things got bad.

The powerful the art style and coloring m in this book is especially appealing - the dynamism really helps draw you into the story. I can definitely see many of these pages as frame-able art. I also really appreciated how layered things were, like the different symbols that you could track throughout the story. Speaking of those, I really appreciated the index of symbols and stories the author included in the back. It gave me a lot more context to the story and also more things to look for on a reread.

The one issue I had is that the art was so chaotic at times that I had a hard time following what was going on. Sometimes I couldn’t tell the characters apart, and the action was so frequent I couldn’t always keep track of who was doing what. I actually read through a few sections twice because I was getting lost. I don’t think that’s a sufficient reason not to read this one, but figured I’d mention it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review purposes.

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Review: Chef's Kiss

Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So cute and sweet and swoon-worthy. I’m sure many of us can relate to Ben’s predicament - you’ve just graduated from college and you’re looking for a job, and NO one is hiring. And on top of that, you’re not even sure what you want to do in life. Ben found Le Cochon Doré at the perfect time - not only did he meet some fantastic people who encouraged him and built up his confidence, but he found something he was already pretty talented at and also working hard to learn and perfect.

I don’t blame Ben for hiding his new job from his parents, based on the way they react when they find him at the restaurant. That kind of familial pressure is hard to live up to, especially if you’ve been dealing with it your own life. Ben might love writing, but he’s also been forced to focus on it by his driven parents. Learning that he’s actually talented enough to be a real chef instead of just cooking at home, and making friends with Liam and the others, is exactly what he needed. Also, I’m so glad Ben took the time to self-reflect, without the influence of others, on what might make him the most happy. And super glad that he was honest with Liam about his feelings (even if it took a drunken confession he forgot to clue Liam in at first).

In addition to the great story and delicious-looking food, I loved the style and colors of this art! Everyone had so much personality, especially Watson the pig, haha. I hope we get to see more of Ben, Liam, Watson, and the others in the future!

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