It's unlikely I ever would have picked up a graphic novel, particularly a young adult one, had it not appeared on my "CBC 100 novels that make you proud to be Canadian" list. The experience of reading this was not unpleasurable, but it was enough to confirm for me that I don't really like this form of storytelling very much, mainly because I am decidedly more of a verbal than a graphic learner, and I find the process of hunting through a picture for clues about context to the spoken words considerably more laborious than my well-established abilities to interpret verbal clues.

So, all that said, I found Skim an interesting enough character to keep me with her to the end of her teenage angst story, and there was (if I recall my now very distant adolescence) a fairly raw and realistic portrayal of the hyperdramatic emotional state in which a very young woman spends her schooldays. I am not sure that my generation generally experienced the heavy level of depression and confusion (including exposure to peer suicide) depicted here; maybe I was just in a lucky place and time. And I know for a fact that I was oblivious to any same-sex sexual experimentation that may have been going on around me, in a way that clearly is not possible now - and I'm presuming that's a good thing in general. Skim's sources of confusion are manifold - she's a Goth who tries to use supernatural ritual to find answers; she's racialized (Asian), although that doesn't seem to have a front row impact in this particular story; she's attracted to a female teacher; she's finding her way through the minefield of different friendships as she finds herself in or out of sympathy with the way those friends think. It's not a phase of life I willingly revisit, but I'll admit the pictures - once I had made myself put the effort in to interpret them - did an effective job of portraying it, and the progress of the story generally made sense.

I don't think I'm a snob about graphic novels; I think reading them effectively is a skill I exercise only tolerably well, and that's probably why (along with the teen subject matter), even though I read and enjoyed this, I'm unlikely to seek out more of the same.

Dakota, the daughter of the cook at the Seaforth mansion has set her sights too high in falling in love with the Seaforth's only son, Samuel. This is something Sam's parents won't stand for as Sam will inherit their vast empire and it's bad for appearances if he's married to the cook's daughter. 

But Sam disavows his family's fortune and when turns 18 and is out of high school, he marries Dakota and everything seems to be a happily ever after. Except Dakota's life is super complicated as she's tackling a sick mother and a deadbeat brother who's always on the wrong side of the law. 

Before she can embark on her HEA, Sam's father pays her off to leave his son alone by giving her money and not throwing her worthless brother in jail after he blackmails her with incriminating information. Dakota agrees to abide by the agreement and never see Sam again. She leaves Sam without saying a word, and ten years pass by full of hurt and revenge for both of them. 

Now Sam has bought her company and is her new boss. It will take everything in her power to resist not only Sam's allure, but find a way out of the problems in her life that never stopped plaguing her. Will Dakota turn to Sam this time or will she run away again? 

This read started out all right, but it got tedious fast with the should we - shouldn't we - I love you - I hate you. Ugh! I really wanted to like this book, but it was just too much back and forth at something that should have been so easy to talk through.  Plus, the title is really misleading. Dakota is nowhere near broken to me. I truly expected a BDSM read and this was nothing of the sort. 

Pretty Broken Girl features: 

romance

sexual content

suspense

intrigue 

The cover for this book is utterly stunning and it's the only thing that kept me reading.

In the third installment of the Wicked Worthingtons, we see Elektra's story. From afar, the story is whimsical sounding - Elektra probably the only Worthington who cares about the state of the family - I mean what about  Calliope? She married well in the first book, but doesn't even send over not even an apple to help our her family SMH - and Elektra feels she must marry well to reinstate her family to their former glory.

To ensure this, she plans to kidnap the most eligible bachelor, put him in a compromising position and make him marry her. But her plans goes awry and it doesn't help matters that the Lord she kidnaps has been involved in a scandal that drove him from London and 10 years later he's finally back hoping to win his father's forgiveness and favor in his deathbed. 

So, the story  was so-so, but  I found there was just too much concentrating on the  Worthingtons and not too much on Elektra and her story. The 3 stars are merely for the cover and 1.5 for the story. So ends my travels with the Wicked Worthingtons. The next book cover is super dull and I find the Worthington family just gets on my nerves. 

story features:

sexual content

historical romance

suspense

intrigue

kidnapping

The second o installment f the Wicked Worthington series really missed the mark for me. I truly enjoyed the first part, but everything unraveled in the second  book. 

Cas and Pol are twins - though they are grown men they are irresponsible and only think about inventing well absolutely nothing worthwhile. They run around the brothels and spend money like there's no tomorrow, never caring after the wellbeing of their family. I'm not sure if the author meant this in an endearing way, but I found nothing endearing about this behavior whatsoever.

The twins are making their usual mayhem when a widow is struck by Pol's handsomeness. She cant get Mr. Worthington off her mind, not knowing he's a twin. 

A complex but rather dull story ensues of a back and forth of should they - shouldn't they as it seems both men fall for her. But just when I thought it was going to be a menage book, everything falls apart as they all can't figure out who should be with who. Add in a pesky clause that the widow shouldn't do anything scandalous or she'll lose her fortune and it's all one big mess I couldn't be bothered with.

I really didnt care who stayed with who as I couldn't believe how irresponsible these idiots were. I was floored they got the widow to lose her fortune and then made her live with their parents because they are such losers they didn't have a home of their own. What a waste.