Impatiently Waiting For: Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Dutton Books for Young Readers
TBP: March 6th 2018
304 Pages

A stunning debut novel based on the true story of the iconic painter, Artemisia Gentileschi.

Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father’s paint.

She chose paint.

By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome’s most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost.

He will not consume
my every thought.
I am a painter.
I will paint.

Joy McCullough’s bold novel in verse is a portrait of an artist as a young woman, filled with the soaring highs of creative inspiration and the devastating setbacks of a system built to break her. McCullough weaves Artemisia’s heartbreaking story with the stories of the ancient heroines, Susanna and Judith, who become not only the subjects of two of Artemisia’s most famous paintings but sources of strength as she battles to paint a woman’s timeless truth in the face of unspeakable and all-too-familiar violence.

I will show you
what a woman can do- Goodreads

Manga Review: 暗殺教室 [Ansatsu Kyoushitsu] 1 (Assassination Classroom #1) by Yusei Matsui

VIZ Media LLC
Published Dec. 2, 2014
192 Pages

This manga has been popping up on my feed for a while now, so out buying books I decided to read it and create is the first thing I can say that comes to mind.

The students of Class-E are on a secret mission . . . to kill their teacher. Their teacher is an alien octopus who already destroyed half the moon and plans on destroying the earth unless one of the students can kill him.

As easy as it sounds it isn’t because unheard of powers and super speed that make him untouchable. 

It was cute and creative. Who would think that a way to give students who are considered the bad bunch a chance would be through trying to kill their teacher? It truly is outside of the box thinking and for that I kept reading the story.

What I didn’t like almost immediately was how it is constantly said that the students have to kill the teacher and he is an alien. The same line is repeated over and over again from beginning to end of the book. It was annoying and amateur.

Beyond that I did like how the manga was able to make me curious. The alien isn’t all that he seems, obviously. He doesn’t seem evil. It is known that there is a hidden agenda, however you  don’t know where you stand with him and I liked the unpredictability of that.

I also like the complexity of the surrounding characters. Everyone has someone to learn from the guy they are trying to kill, which creates conflicting emotions within everyone. I love it.

Although I have only read the first volume, I have every intention of reading this through.

3 Pickles