Welcome to Litsy!

My final book for #12booksof2023 is the incredible The Many Deaths Of Laila Starr. A book that has as much to say about the meaning of life & mortality as a great work of literary fiction, with incredible art work. I LOVED this book & I LOVED these characters.
(Honorable mentions: Jeff Lemire's Primordial, Cullen Bunn's Bone Parish, Rio Youers' Refrigerator Full of Heads, Skottie Young's I Hate Fairyland Vol. 5, Hayashida's Dorohedoro)
@andrew65

Wow, I LOVED this! Death is fired when it appears that humanity will soon discover immortality. Incarnated in Laila Starr who has either just jumped off of a balcony, or fallen off of a balcony; Death shortly wakes up in the morgue. Rather than being a story of hunting someone down, there are multiple layers to this tale & some great meditations on life, loss & grief. And the artwork is fantastic, A definite favorite of the month.

Oooooh thank you @Readergrrl for this perfect #jolabokaflodswap pick!! I‘m so excited!! And thank you for the perfect picks of chocolate too!!
♥️??♥️??♥️??♥️??♥️??♥️

Happy Jólabókaflód all!!

Also thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting my favorite book swap!! ??

A beautifully written dark fable. The prose is luxuriant but retains a cutting edge that makes the suspenseful and mysterious scenes all the more effective.

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/lV5vcEX1vbo

Enjoy!

I hung on until halfway through. The story premise is good, and I liked the unique take on vampirism, but between the slow pace and trite modern day setting, I couldn't continue.

I liked this, but think I might have loved it if I had read it as a kid. I‘m not sure as an adult that the Jessie/Winnie portion of the story hit correctly. However, I really liked the father, Angus Tuck. The question of living forever hits harder in my mid-40s and I liked how the book ended. This was my #Doublespin for November.

Read in November.

I never get tired of stories considering the place of death in life, stories with a personification of Death. Stunning. Impressively imaginative (never read POV of a cigarette before, or seen a temple speak), gorgeously illustrated (the colours chosen as much as the art itself 👨🏼‍🍳💋), wistful bordering on melancholic, and yet so vibrant and hopeful. I will be seeking out other works by both the author and artist. 👌🏻

Why does it make me happy? Is it the pink background? Statement of the obvious, seemingly confirmed by feathered friend?
To be fair, crows in art usually bring me joy. 🤷🏼‍♂️☺️

Excellent narration by Saskia Maarleveld really brought this one to life. Collette is a longtime vampire who develops a special bond with an artistically gifted preschool student.