Above & Byonkers — a splendid name — is a stylish blog. As promised in her branding canvas, thus far, Bianca has promoted local resources in the Vancouver area that are book-related. Upon first impression, I was excited about the different reads that Bianca had posted about on her page. Bianca seems to make a concerted effort to feature diverse authors and bookstores, as in the case with her post about Moon of the Crusted Snow and the newly opened Vancouver Black Library in February. She states in her branding canvas that she is interested in her page’s capacity to educate and provide free resources, targeting “bookworms that are looking for resources.”

 In that sense, I think Bianca has done well by highlighting, for example, the free workshops that people can attend in the Vancouver Public Library. When she reviews books, she is emphatic and intriguing. Reading her Moon of the Crusted Snow post, for example, Bianca writes, “Rice forces the reader to confront the dark truths of starvation and lack of resources. Moon of the Crusted Snow is a dark but eloquent and necessary read.” Bianca uses evocative language that teases at the major themes of the books that she reads. Her reviews seem largely spoiler-free, which could be a plus for people just looking for books to check out. However, I would personally like to see her review some of the books’ powerful moments, or even some of their weaker moments. I think this would make her reviews more personable. I really liked when Bianca related reading Moon of the Crusted Snow to meeting the author, for example. It makes the review feel more unique to her experiences, and since this is from her perspective, that’s really good to see. One way to add some depth is adding particularly interesting quotes or chapters. It could be added as a pullquote, which would draw readers’ eyes in, and then Bianca would have the opportunity to discuss the quote’s significance if she wishes!

Designwise, Above & Byonkers is intended to attract a community. I think Bianca has done great in engaging with the writer/reader community. Her latest blog post, an interview with the owner of Iron Dog Books, is a great example of this. Hilary is a big name in Vancouver’s reading community in particular, and I loved hearing about her experiences. Bianca asked great questions for people like her audience, targeting people who are interested in entering the publishing industry. I also enjoyed that the bright white font is large and easy to read against the dark background.

I think the black and hot pink theme is really attractive and fun, but doesn’t necessarily communicate what the blog is. Although the latest posts are prominently displayed on the top, the reader only has the small icon in the browser to visually indicate what kind of blog they are on. I believe some warmer colours (like maybe if the pink were a burgundy, or if the pink were paired with a less contrasting shade of colour) or some icons of books on the homepage would help better convey that this is a reading/writing blog. I do like that this theme includes a reading length, though, it reminds me of the writing website Medium. 

Overall, I adore Bianca’s content so far. I think it’s really good to have a reading/writing website that uniquely focuses on resources people can find in Vancouver. I think that the website has potential to attract reading groups and communities, and as seen with Bianca’s interview with Hilary, opportunities to speak with authors and other writing professionals. Bianca could definitely receive sponsors one day to review books, or even book subscription packages. I am excited to see where her blog goes.

Thanks Bianca!

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