ARC Review: Fangs by Sarah Andersen

Title: Fangs
Series: n/a
Author: Sarah Andersen
Source/Format: Publisher; eARC
More Details: Fantasy; Comic
Publisher/Publication Date: Andrews McMeel Publishing; September 1, 2020

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

A new gothic romance story from the creator of the enormously popular Sarah's Scribbles comics. 

Vamp is three hundred years old but in all that time, she has never met her match. This all changes one night in a bar when she meets a charming werewolf. FANGS chronicles the humor, sweetness, and awkwardness of meeting someone perfectly suited to you but also vastly different.

Fangs is short collection of slice-of-life style comics by Sarah Andersen. I know Andersen through her other series, Sarah’s Scribbles. I was particularly excited to give this one a read because of the paranormal elements—like vampires and werewolves—which are some of my favorite types of characters to read about. I have to say that I enjoyed reading Fangs. I had a lot of fun with this one, and it had a lot of the hallmarks of a good paranormal romance. By that I mean it was quite literally a romance between a vampire and a werewolf. The kind of jokes that came from that set up sometimes had me laughing out loud. So really, what’s not to like?

Fangs was a quick read. Each page was set up in an episodic format, where it had individual stories connected by a common subject to the rest of the collection. The relationship was the focus here. So it was good that I liked the main characters too. Jimmy and Elsie were both fun to read about, and I liked the design of their characters.

What was so great about Fangs was its delivery on characters and themes. It was done with the kind of wit, charm, and humor common to Andersen’s comics. And if you’ve read any of them before—like Sarah’s Scribbles—then you’ll likely like Fangs too.

About the author...

Hello! I’m Sarah and I’m a cartoonist and illustrator. I graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2014 and currently live in Brooklyn. My comics are semi-autobiographical and follow the adventures of myself, my friends, and my beloved pets.

Goodreads     Website     Twitter

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Andrews McMeel Publishing) via netgalley for this review, thank you!

Music Monday (129):Zella Day, Disclosure, Fatoumata Diawara, Jack Harlow

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: There has been so much good music released in the past week, so it's hard to pick one song. That being said, I'm going to go with one of my favorite songs from Zella Day's new EP (Where Does The Devil Hide), My Game. 

Adri: This week I'm listening to Disclosure. I forgot they were having a new album, but I did get around to listening to it. I love all the songs and it felt very energetic. I mean it is called Energy after all. Anyway, I'm only choosing two songs. The first one is Douha (Mali Mali) featuring Fatoumata Diawara. I thought it sounded familiar to Ultimatum before I realized it was the same artist.

And my second pick is Thinking 'Bout You (Interlude), which reminds me so much of Lo-fi.

Andrea: I hadn't heard of Whats Poppin until I saw the teacher's remake of this song. I love the original and the remake. You can listen to the original song below. You can check out the teacher's remake HERE. 

Is there any new music you're listening to? If so, leave your recommendations in the comments. 

Short Stories I Read in July

Today is the 29th of August, so it’s time for me to discuss the short stories, miscellaneous posts, and podcast episodes I read and listened to in July.

The Husker by Jessica P. Wick (Strange Horizons; Issue: 1 June 2020) 

The first short story I read in July was The Husker by Jessica P. Wick. It was very short, but it was still a great read. And I enjoyed it. The writing was straight to the point, and it was the kind of haunting story that read like it belonged as a story told over a campfire or as some local legend.

Once More Unto the Breach (But Don’t Worry, the Inflatable Swords are Latex-Free) by Tina Connolly (Uncanny Magazine; Issue Thirty Five, July 7, 2020)

By the title, I didn’t know what to expect from Once More Unto the Breach (But Don’t Worry, the Inflatable Swords are Latex-Free). I had some idea, but it wasn’t what I got. I’m happy about that too, because this was a fun read. The story was kind of dramatic and unpredictable—I mean it was set at a birthday party. There also happened to be monsters, inflatable swords, axes, and hammers. Overall, Connolly did an excellent job, and I’m looking forward to reading more work by this author.

The Parts That Make Us Monsters by Sheree Renee Thomas (Strange Horizons, Issue: Fund Drive 2020)

The Parts That Make Us Monsters was another story I read in July that was more on the short side. I had to think about what I read, and I also had to let the story digest before I could think of what I wanted to say about it. Some stories are just like that, and this was one of them. I enjoyed The Parts That Make us Monsters. It was written well, and it was a very immersive story. Parts of it could be vague, but the overall intent of the story was clear. I honestly enjoyed Thomas’s approach to the themes and characters.

From Around the Web…

• Print Run Podcast episode #133
• “We Are Each Other’s Harvest”: Akwaeke Emezi’s Pet (Alex Brown; Tor.com, July 7, 2020)
• Hands On (Caitlin Starling; Uncanny Magazine, Issue Thirty-Five, July 7, 2020)
• Francesca Momplaisir’s My Mother’s House Confronts Generation Trauma Head-On (Mary Retta; Tor.com, July 7, 2020)
• The Soul of a City: The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (Tochi Onyebuchi; Tor.com, July, 7, 2020)
• Print Run Podcast Episode #134
• “Evil Earth”: Linguistic Worldbuilding in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy (CD Covington; Tor.com, July 27, 2020)

The Friday 56 (184) & Book Beginnings: The Case Study of Vanitas volume 2 by Jun Mochizuki

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Now installed at a hotel in Paris with the help of Count Orlok, Noé and Vanitas take their awkward partnership on the road...to a vampire masquerade ball! The order of the evening may be small talk and hobnobbing with fellow guests, but the mystery of the curse-bearers is never too far behind. The intrigue swirls as quickly as the dancers twirl, a blue moon ascends upon the guests...and all hell breaks loose!

Beginning: "After Noe left him behind in chapter 3......Murr went back to Orlok."

56: "Borders are believed to have been generated all over the world by the experimental accident known as "Babel." Only vampires, who were created by Babel, are able to cross them."

Comments: I read volume 2 of The Case Study of Vanitas a while ago, but I forgot to do a Friday 56 for it. Volume 2 is one of my favorites so far, because it covers the vampire masquerade ball. The art is totally gorgeous, it kept the story moving, and it revealed more of the vampires side of the story. What are you reading this week? 

Music Monday (128): The Spiritual Machines, Oceans of Slumber, Nao, Mariah Carey

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Recently, I returned to one of my all-time favorite albums: Saturn by Nao. I've mentioned this one before, but I was listening to it again and marveling at how fantastic it is. Saturn is such an excellent album, and it's some of the best music Nao has released so far. It's hard to narrow it down to one song, so for my picks this week I'm going to choose two. The first one is Orbit. I can't describe how much I enjoy listening to this song.

My second pick is Drive and Disconnect. It's another one of my top-favorite songs from Saturn.

Adri: Rock incoming! My first pick is a little darker, it's A Return to the Earth Below by a band I stumbled onto called Oceans of Slumber.

My second pick is Spiritual Machines' newer song Flood it All. I've had both on repeat these past few weeks.

Andrea: This week, I'm sharing new music by Mariah Carey. She released a single called Save The Day, and her new album, The Rarities, will be released soon. 

Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?