Storybook Favorites (Feat. Apollo, Cupid, and Mermaids)

 

Valentine's Day by thelittleone417 via Flickr (Feb 14, 2016

After perusing some past storybook sites, I found three that I really enjoyed the aesthetics and contents of.

    The Lovers of Apollo was my favorite. The look of the site was clean, clear, easy to navigate, and possessed images and colors reminiscent of Apollo. I knew Apollo had wings and a bow, but otherwise knew nothing else of him. I certainly did not know of his lovers, and I am elated to know he's a bisexual icon like me. One other reason this page was my favorite was the style of writing. It was narrated from Apollo's point of view, and it felt just like a first-person perspective book to me. I liked imagining how he felt and perceived different situations. It gave character and depth to this "god of light."

    I also enjoyed Mermaid Maiden. Like the story of Apollo and his lovers, this page illustrated the beginning of a potential love story, while incorporating snippets of inspiration from various other stories. I was disappointed when I got to the last page and the mermaid and Peter hadn't met, but I liked the author's way of leaving the "ending" up to the reader's imagination. The visuals of the website were just okay to me. It felt very empty. I also did not like the font used for the text. I feel like the text also being bold made it harder to read. I appreciated that the images used for each page was in a spot where the story fit with the image so it could give the reader an idea of how to imagine the text.

    Lastly, I liked the court-hearing style of Cupid on Trial. It was clever and entertaining, and I really liked how the author made the reader feel like they were the viewer of "Judge Triton," a hilarious reference to Judge Judy. It was fun to see each mythological Greek character come to life as if they were on an actual show. I liked the TV show narration, the viewer's thoughts, and the reactions of the courtroom. I think the only thing I would have changed would have been to bolden the names of whoever is speaking so that the different opinions would be separated better.