UEL English PEN Society Book Reviews

THIS IS THE LAST ONE THAT'S OUT SO FAR. PLEASE WRITE MORE BOOKS ROSS CAMPBELL.
This is Trilby, she's definitely one of my favourites.

If I didn't already love these books enough, Ross Campbell helpfully put a map of Wet Moon (the town) in the front of this book. I love being able to orientate myself within a novel.
This book starts off with Fern's birthday sleepover, she's turning 21 and never had a beer before. Penny decides she's going to keep the baby, and nobody knows where Trilby is.
When she's eventually found by a passerby, the doctors have to perform immediate surgery, and then she slips into a coma. OH GOD I HATE MYRTLE SO MUCH URGH.
Audrey decides to tell her parents that she's gay after Slicer threatens to out her to them. They react exactly as she thought they would.
The doctors decide to bring Trilby out of her coma, she's okay but weak.
ROSS CAMPBELL, WRITE MORE PLEASE.

Trigger warnings; coma, homophobia, violence

Until next time,
Emerald Elizabeth.

This is Natalie, still totally a babe even with a huge scar.

Natalie's not exactly in a great position, but she is lucky that Unknown showed up before Myrtle could actually kill her (I'm assuming this was her intention, she's pretty violent). The others are all watching the softball game so have no idea what's going on.
Fern is planning a sleepover for her birthday as she's never had one before, and everyone keeps seeing weird things in the swamp (Malady sees a giant alligator, Glen a giant boar).
Turns out Beth isn't as nice to Audrey as she seems, they argue and she pushes her to the floor. Fortunately Audrey tells her to leave straight after and she does, leaving Audrey confused as to whether she still like her, or whether she should pursue Kinzoku. Natalie works with Mara for her project, photographing her. The two talk as they work on the shoot, making small talk, which is actually kind of nice.
AND THEN, OH GOD I HATED READING THIS BIT URGHHHHH, Trilby gets attacked. Like. Really serious. Myrtle is now on my black-list.

Trigger warnings; violence, domestic abuse

Until next time,
Emerald Elizabeth.

Kinzoku is rad, okay?

Cleo and Trilby head to the tattoo parlour together (Cleo gets a design that Myrtle drew, whilst Trilby gets something subtly Star Trek) and Trilby tries to persuade Cleo to hook up with Myrtle.
Proof that Martin and Trilby are adorable; he totally knows what her tattoo is, but promises not to tell anyone. He also lets her put eyeliner on him when they go out to a club (squeeee), unfortunately the night is somewhat clouded by Cleo pretty much knocking a guy out for bumping into her whilst moshing.
Poor Audrey doesn't seem to know what to do, when Kinzoku sees her with Beth, she punches Beth straight in the face (while she's eating a sandwich and everything, I mean, come on, there are limits). Audrey tries to break it up, and ends up going home with Beth and sleeping over at hers.
Cleo and Myrtle later get officially "together" and Myrtle meets Cleo's family.
Cleo's sister Penny is pregnant and not so sure on who the father is, but it transpires she's (unknowingly) sleeping with Cleo's ex-boyfriend.

Trigger warnings; self-harm, violence, cats going missing.

Until next time,
Emerald Elizabeth.

I'ma just give you some art with each review. YOU'RE WELCOME, YOU UNCULTURED SWINE. This is Malady, one of Cleo's flat-mates.

The book begins with a flashback to highschool, showing us how eager Mara was to please, and how abrasive Cleo was. Rather a role-reversal given that now Mara is violent and unrelenting, whereas Cleo is far more meek.
Audrey has a new neighbour, Kinzoku, would she instantly hits it off with, despite the fact she's been pining after Beth, a girl who took weeks to call her back. Cleo has a black eye from running into another girl (Myrtle) outside of class, and decides to bleach her hair blonde, a decision she toys with regretting for the rest of the novel. Trilby's getting closer and closer to Martin (one of Audrey's friends she insisted she wouldn't like), and Mara narrowly escapes beating the shit out of her ex-love's new lady by being distracted by a "Cleo eats it" sign. Keeping up?
Cleo and Myrtle get progressively closer as the novel goes on, so much so that Cleo tells Myrtle the tragic tale of how her and mystery vomit-causing boy parted ways (man, it was brutal).
Cleo and Trilby go round to the house (more like a mansion, damn) of Fern, Penny's employer, by her invitation, in order to sniff out anything dodgy. They find nothing, but actually get on pretty well with Fern.

AND RIGHT AT THE END, MYRTLE KISSES CLEO. DAAAAAAMN. Cleo isn't 100% sure who/what she likes.

Trigger warnings; self-harm, being dumped

Until next time,
Emerald Elizabeth.

Before I start, let me just say how highly I recommend you go and check out Ross Campbell's artwork right now. No? I'll post a little sample here then so you're not missing out. This is the main character.

Wet Moon follows Cleo Lovedrop, an American teenager who's not really sure of anything except that she really wishes she wouldn't vomit whenever she sees a certain young man. Feeble Wanderings starts off with Cleo moving into a new house in order to start at a college (she studies English and Literature). She moves in with the mysterious Natalie and the semi-friendly Malady, both of whom have already been living at the house for some time.
We meet Cleo's close friends; Trilby (secret Star Trek fan, shh, don't tell anyone), Audrey (adorable and either vegan or vegetarian) and Mara (kinda super abrasive and angry a lot after discovering the boy she was dating is now with a girl she has pretty low opinions of). Cleo keeps a diary, and this is shown in the book in handwriting passages, a clever way of tying it in. The gang also keep discovering little signs around the town reading "Cleo eats it", which nobody seems to be able to explain. Cleo and her half-sister Penny get on about as well as you'd expect, but Penny's employer Fern has taken an almost unhealthy interest in Cleo, which worries Penny a little.

Trigger warnings; feelings of isolation, medication, self-harm

Until next time,
Emerald Elizabeth.

This inspirational, easy-to-read masterpiece is a collection of traditional Chinese sayings, lessons and stories, all with a moral meaning and all from the rich cultural history of Chinese existence.

It explores such subjects as kindness, wisdom, logic, intelligence, humility, principles and growth – and due to its immersive graphic style, which throughout the text is all at once simple but hilariously funny, it shows us how the most important lessons in life are the simplest using metaphors and employing the use of a wise-man narrator at the end of each panel to summarise the moral of the story.

Each story – all one to two pages long only – has a title; more often than not an amusing one such as; ‘Selling One’s Mother Humanely,’ ‘Blind Men Trying to Size Up an Elephant,’ ‘The Proverbial Donkey,’ or ‘’Plug Ones Ears while Stealing a Bell.’ All at once they manage to teach the reader important values whilst simultaneously exposing the idiocy of the world around us, encouraging us by default to change what is within, in order to change what is without. It achieves this by careful selection of the most historically impactive and meaningful tales, coupled with Hengyu’s hilariously and vibrantly detailed illustrations.

It is split up into nine main chapters, with a part for reflection and exercises at the end of each one. These encourage the reader to fill out lists of aims, objectives, and beliefs about the self – based on the section they’ve just read – and then pursue these things.

“Look at yourself before attempting to emulate others.”
“Those who learn from mistakes can be trusted.”
“Greed blinds logic.”
“When misunderstood by others, be aware that you could be the reason.”

A must-read for anyone seeking a refreshing and inspiring change from the standard novel, and a clarity on life that is at once informative and humorous.

Peace and love (and keep those pledges coming in – only six more days left on our Crowdfunder page!)

Sam