Freaking hilarious. Feels like I'm hanging out with friends.

It's obnoxiously thick for a graphic novel and the ink is different for each quarter of the book: pink to blue to orange to purple. Why? What did nice old-fashioned black ink do wrong? Didn't the publisher realize it'd be difficult to make out pink and orange images under my orange reading lamp? The cats are in 5% of the content - why is the title about cats? Lies.

Petty formatting grievances aside - I love it.

FEB 12 2018: Finished
Prediction incorrect. As much as I love the characters and the writing style - the plot and the friendship between the main characters didn't engage me. Plus the revelation of ... how to not spoil this ... the mechanics of what the villains want to do ... felt slapped together. As though the author was dared to pull two concepts out of a hat as the basis for a villain group - which Pseudonymous did quiet well. While I especially enjoyed the beginning, I will not be reading book 2.

FEB 10 2018: 28%
I predict I'll be giving this book 5 stars. I especially loved the introduction. If someone were to complain the introduction carries on. I would wholeheartedly agree and counter that I loved every word. Now that I'm a few chapters in, there are patches where I feel like "oh, this is clearly a kid's book. I'm not sure I'm engaged enough in the plot. That joke was meant for younger readers." But then a turn of phrase or character trait will tug a smile onto my lips and I'll remember this is a fantastic book.

Familiar themes with an original plot. I could have done with not as many similes, but perhaps middle graders appreciate them.

While the plot originality was refreshing, the writing style was ... how to explain ... intentionally meh? Like the author didn't want the words distracting from the plot. Which can be the foundation for a great book. In my own reading, I like writing with the occasional alliteration or fourth-wall-breaking.

I won't be reading book two.

At first I read just the bottom right story, which was alright. Then I read all four stories at once and it was fantastic.

Read in one sitting. Fantastic, invigorating, lovable, skillfully written.

Under the Floorboards - Creepy. Glad this wasn't the last story.
Spring Cleaning - Energetic, Lighthearted, Fun.
The Keeper's Treasure - Hilarious, want-to-hug-the-keeper
The Butter Thief - Heartwarmingly moral
The Soldier's Daughter - eh
Whatzit - Adorable, Mischievous
The Escape Option - okay

I'll absolutely read the next Explorer anthology.

Hilarious and endearing.

Loved this book. The main character is refreshing. The plot is engaging. The twists are witty.

I love books that think past the edge of the page. Adorable, funny, clever.

Heart-warming, bold, endearing.

Beautifully detailed pages. An imaginative story and a great ending.

Equally entertaining as Lobster is the Best Medicine.

It's a little hard to get into because the main plot doesn't become apparent until about 60% of the way through. On the whole I loved it. Sadly this is the last Vehlmann graphic novel I have library access to.

Beautiful, dark, imaginative. I'd have liked more closure and clarity at the end, but either way it's an amazing graphic novel.

Fantastic art, rhythm, and humor. It's great when a relatively simple idea (a triangle plays a trick on a square) is so well crafted.

My first graphic novel choose your own adventure. Instead of "go to page" there's a tube/tab system that allows this time-loopable story to fully takes advantage of the format.

Fantastic!

Meta-joy :D

I don't get the ending.

I was going to give this five stars even though there were plot holes such as "What happened to Saturday? Why'd finding the 4th and 5th cubs happen behind the scenes? Zoe was never in Logan's house." but then I thought - this was so well written its weird there are such lazy plot holes - at which point I discovered I somehow skipped chapters 23-27.

Without the presumed plot holes it still gets five stars :P

Sutherland paces character introductions well. She weaves in hints about a threat to the Menagerie and hints about Logan's mother while the characters deal with the immediate plot of tracking griffin cubs.

Well structured and well written. Absolutely going to read book 2

This volume landed on my "half read" shelf for a while because I was so grossed out by the stretchy and exploding organs. The art style certainly was appropriate for the story, and I loved the story, but that doesn't mean I have to love the art style.

I will be reading volume 2.

Slightly better than "Return of the Bunny Suicides". Of course both were fantastic, and once at the "fantastic" level its difficult to suss out why one likes one book about bunny suicides more than another book about bunny suicides.

Warning: not about otters.
Okay fine there are ten pages at the end about the oddity that is celebrity otters.
Then again, I loved the book but it wouldn't have caught my eye if not for the otters.

The "Emotional Outlets" section was a fantastic read. Scintillating catharsis.
The "Creature Comforts" section was moderately humorous but on the whole 'meh'. Felt tacked on.

There aren't any Del Bucchia books at my public library. I may be compelled to buy them. Seeing as how my copy of "Coping with Emotions and Otters" was a free-be at a library conference, it seems the free-be marketing scheme works when the book is this good.

I read this when I was about 12 years old. It was my first introduction to the paranormal genre and I loved it. I really thought Bella was going to discover she was a witch by the end of the first book. When that didn't happen, I read the second book hoping she'd take a more active role there...

I liked the first half. The part where the pages were literally blank was the straw that broke any chance I would continue the series. I remember being about 13, sprawled out in bed, looking at the blank pages, and thinking "she killed a tree for this".

Also I was convinced in book one that Bella was going to discover magic powers and have more agency, when this still didn't happen in book 2 I bowed out of the series.

I'm thrilled there's Esperanto dialogue. I've got volume 3 on hold.

A childhood favorite of mine. The positivity of the main character is infectious. The plot is well paced. The characters are memorable.

First I read the graphic novel, then I listened to the audio book. I didn't know you could turn a graphic novel into an audio book. Both are fantastic.

I enjoyed the concept, but would recommend "Ladycastle" above this.

Adorable, mischievous, meaningful.