Graphic Novel Review - Legends: The Enchanted by Nick Percival (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Steampunk
Size: 120 pages
Publisher: Radical Publishing
Release Date: August 3, 2010
ISBN-13:  978-1935417071
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought
Rating: 5/5 stars

 
I picked this up on a whim in the used book portion of the Barnes and Noble near us.  The artwork in here took my breath away and I decided I had to buy it.  I am so happy I did, I really really enjoyed this graphic novel.  The artwork is wonderful, the story is dark and clever.

This book details the story of the Enchanted.  The Enchanted are fairy tale characters we know and love that have been pitted into a dark and dangerous battle with an evil Hag and her abomination of a son, a gigantic troll from under the Bridge.  The Enchanted include: Jack the Giant Killer, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks and the Bear...among others.

I cannot gush enough about the artwork in this book. It is just absolutely fantastic, when I first saw it it stunned me with its darkness and its beauty.  The artwork is dark, more in the vein of horror than fantasy.  The monsters are built from a montage of flesh and clockwork and gears.  The heroes are darkly beautiful and definitely deadly.  It was just wonderful.

Then imagine my surprise when the story was just as fantastic.  The characters are from fairy tales, but they are from an alternate version where things are much more brutal and much darker.  Red riding hood kicks butt with two deadly sickles and a blood red cloak enfolding her armor; Gretel uses her mental powers to walk the nightmarish landscapes of monsters' minds, Jack has a bean for every power and purpose.  The way the fairy tale characters are thrown together is clever and wonderful.  I loved how Percival worked so many fairy tale references into this story.

It is a complete story in this one graphic novel; although it would be fabulous to see more stories set in this world in the future.  This is definitely an adult book; the imagery is just too disturbing and scary for kids.  It is gory, there is torture, killing, and sexual inneundo...so definitely for adults only.

I did have one problem with this book; it was just too short.  Realistically Percival could have made a graphic novel featuring each of these fantastic characters and drawn the story out to many more novels.  It would have been wonderful to have room for more details and more character development.  That being said he did a great job with filling out the characters with the space he had; I just wanted more and saw a lot bigger potential for story here.

Overall a fantastically dark graphic novel that plunges the reader into a steampunk inspired world of horror where familiar fairy tale heroes feature.  I loved this book, it is a keeper and will remain a cherished part of my graphic novel collection.  I am really looking forward to any other future works that Percival does and would absolutely love to see more stories set in the Legends world.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges::
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- Get Steampunked!
- Graphic Novels Challenge List

 

Early Review - Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Adventure/Humor
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: May 24, 2011
ISBN-13:  978-0439895972
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Book It Forward ARC Tours
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
 

I loved Bray's Gemma Doyle series and enjoyed Going Bovine too.  So I was super excited when I saw Bray was coming out with another bizarre book.  I got an advanced reading copy of this book through Book It Forward ARC Tours.  All in all this was a very fun read.  It went a little over the top at points but for the most part was laugh out loud funny while touching on some serious issues that teen girls (and boys) face.

The story starts during the plane crash as the plane is plummeting towards a deserted island.  The girls are forced to find a way to survive, and they will do it, but in their own way.  One of the girls sees strange lights on the volcano on the island and then other strange things start happening.  The girls find out that there may be more to this island than they originally thought; in fact maybe it is part of some super secret scheme of somebody to take over the world...or maybe not.  They will brave snakes, broken nails, eat bugs, and build weapons out of beauty supplies...but the big question is will they survive?

When I started this book I wasn't sure what to make of it.  Some of it is hilarious and some of it is way over-the-top (an example is the airplane tray stuck in one of the girl's heads).  The text has footnotes scattered throughout the refer to various products/TV shows/etc. that are being promoted by the Corporation.  The girls themselves are varied and, naturally, a bit stereotypical in cases.  Bray did a very good job of giving most of the girls a good background and in-depth personalities, making them into more intricate characters than I originally thought possible.  I was a bit worried that there were too many characters in this book to keep track of, but Bray did an excellent job of dealing with that.

The story was easy to follow and the plot ended up more complex than you originally think it is going to be.  While the story is a bit over-the-top slap-stick in the beginning it does evolve into something more serious as the book goes on.  Many of these girls have some issues (who wouldn't after being in the pageant circuit for years).  All of the girls learn about themselves, grow as people, and are forced to face some of their fears as they eke out a survival on this island.  Surprisingly, or maybe not, there ends up being a strong theme of girl-power.  The girls learn to stand up for themselves, make out of life what they want to make out of it, and value each other for their different aspects of their personalities.  There are a number of social issue touched on as well including gay rights, corporate responsibility, and ecological responsibility.

Of course that's not to say it ever gets too serious, there is humor throughout...much of it focused on mocking corporations and the gullibility of society.  I laughed out loud numerous times, rolled my eyes a couple times, and actually found myself almost in tears as I approached the end of the book and released I wasn't going to get to read more about these interesting girls.  So, although the book really started out crazy...in the end I was actually really attached to the characters and sad to see them go.  The book itself wraps up nicely and hopefully; and was an all around good read.

There were a couple of small problems.  In the beginning there are a lot of characters to keep track of, Bray did a good job dealing with this, but it was still a little confusing at points.  As you got further into the book this wasn't a problem.  The scenarios get a bit over the top at points and, as I said, there was some eye-rolling going on.  Some of that could have been cut out and the book would have been even better.  Most of the foot-notes are superfluous and were part of what made the book a bit too over-the top.  This is definitely a book for older young adults; there is sex in here and it is vaguely explicit.

Overall an excellent read.  Wonderful characters, a more intricate plot then you would expect, and lots of laughs.  I became surprisingly attached to these characters and was sad to have the book end.  There are some serious social issues addressed in this book and these are skillfully woven amongst all of the humor.  This book was definitely more cohesive than Going Bovine and I liked it much better.  I will definitely keep reading Bray.  This book is recommended for older young adults who love humor, quirkiness, adventure, and survival stories.

This book goes towards the following reading challenge:
- 100+ Reading Challenge

DNF Review - The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (2/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Size: 300 pages
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: April 20, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1597801584
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio book from Audible.com
Rating: 2/5 stars

I was very excited to read this book and had heard wonderful things about it.  It was a creative book but hard to get through.  I listened to this on audio book which probably didn't help any; the audio book was very deliberately read making the story move even slower.  I ended up stopping listening to this book about 2/3rds of the way through; it was just too tedious.

The story goes between four main characters.  The first is a genetic scientist, a calorie man, named Anderson who is scouring the city to find its mysterious Seed Bank; he is masquerading as a plant owner.  The second is Tan Hock Seng an aging Chinese Yellow Card who is trying to make a life for himself and gain back his former glory.  The third is a wind up girl named Emiko who has been forced to work in a brothel after being sold to it by her Japanese master.  The fourth is Jaidee, an officer of the Environmental Ministry and a revolutionist, who is determined to take back Thailand from the foreigners.  In this depressing version of Thailand, a land where calories are the greatest commodity, these four characters will eventually influence not only each other but the fate of the whole country.

First I will say there are some good things about this book.  The ideas present in the book are fabulous.  The idea of calories being more important than anything after viruses have wiped out most vegetation is unique and compelling.  The story is told with wonderful description; such that, as a reader, you can almost feel the heat and smell the smells of the city.  Those were the things that kept me reading this book as long as I did.

Now for the rest of the things.  The characters (if you can even say they have enough humanity to call them characters) are very dry, they apparently don't have many feelings and kind of just stumble through the story.  There are no good characters in this book, they are despicable for different reasons.  I did not enjoy a single one of them.  Emiko was my favorite, but the passivity she showed at letting herself being constantly raped and tortured was a real turn off.  Which I should mention there are multiple scenes where Emiko is explicitly raped and humiliated; again not my favorite thing to read about.

The pace is horribly slow.  For example let's say Anderson is going to walk from point A to point B, can he do that?  No, he must go on a 30 minute (remember I was listening to this) dissertation on his history, the history of other things possibly irrelevant to the story, etc etc.  Then finally many mind-boggling minutes later, when you have finally forgotten what the heck was even going on, he will make it to his destination.

I also have a quibble about the writing style; it is very dry.  At times this came across more as a biography of the characters than a story.  It was tough to stay engaged with either the story or the characters.  I am aware that all of these little random events were probably leading up to something fantastic or mind-boggling...unfortunately I ceased to care about any of it.  This audio book seriously put me to sleep while I was driving, it was becoming a hazard to my health (and other drivers) so I had to stop listening to it.

Something written in this type of analytical style would have made an intriguing short story, but as a full-length book it was just too tedious to get through. 

Overall I did not enjoy this.  The characters were depressing, the pace excruciating, and the world demoralizing.  I may read future short stories by Bacigalupi since I find his ideas intriguing, but I will not be picking up any more full-length books by him.

 

Review - Moonstone by Marilee Brothers (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult

Genre: Paranormal
Size: 236 pages
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Release Date: August 1, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0980245349
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in Unbidden Magic series
Source: From NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

I got a copy of this book through NetGalley(dot)com.  This was a book I had had on my "to read" list for a while.  It was an okay book, a quick read and the characters were likable but not incredibly original.  There are two more books in this series so far Moon Rise and Moon Spun

Allie lives with her chronically sick mother in a trailer on her uncle's property.  Her life isn't great, but it could be worse.  Then she gets zapped by a power-line and starts being able to move things with her mind.  When an old friend of hers gives her a Moonstone that she says is prophesied to be Allie's, things start getting even stranger.  Allie finds out that she may be part of a prophecy involving two ancient races that have been fighting each other for centuries.

This book was okay.  Allie is a likable enough character and even Allie's mom (who is definitely not mother-of-the-year) is somewhat likable at times.  The boy who ends up helping Allie out is also easy to relate to.  That being said none of the characters are very deep and they are all pretty 2D.

The story is pretty simple, it basically involves Allie discovering her powers and trying to keep the Moonstone away from bad people.  Nothing that happened in the story was very surprising or original.  It was all just okay.

Brothers writing style is readable and the dialogue natural sounding; the story was a quick read.  Things were wrapped up nicely but a storyline was definitely left open for future books.  The purpose of this book seemed to be mainly to set things up for future books, so I am hoping the future books in this series have more complex and deeper stories to them.

Overall this was an okay book.  It wasn't an exciting read, but it wasn't horrible either.  When I finished it I mainly thought, "Huh, well okay guess I am done with that."  I wasn't eager to read more about these characters or learn more about the world.  If you are interested in a young adult book featuring a girl with telekinesis this may be the book for you.  Personally though I would skip it or get it from the library.  I don't plan on reading future books in this series.

This book goes to the following reading challenges:

- 100+ Reading Challenge
- E-book Reading Challenge 

Waiting on Wednesday - 3/2

Okay "Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week my Waiting on Wednesday book is Eye of the Tempest (Jane True, Book 4) by Nicole Peeler.  I have been absolutely loving this series and cannot wait to read the next book in it.  Another beautiful cover too!  You can see the cover and snynopsis below.

Eye of the Tempest (Jane True, Book 4) by Nicole Peeler

Length: 320 pages

Publisher: Orbit

Release Date: July 26th 2011

ISBN: 978-0316128087

Synopsis from Amazon.com: "Nothing says "home" like being attacked by humans with very large guns, as Jane and Anyan discover when they arrive in Rockabill. These are professionals, brought into kill, and they bring Anyan down before either Jane or the barghest can react. Seeing Anyan fall awakens a terrible power within Jane, and she nearly destroys herself taking out their attackers.

Jane wakes, weeks later, to discover that she's not the only thing that's been stirring. Something underneath Rockabill is coming to life: something ancient, something powerful, and something that just might destroy the world.

Jane and her friends must act, striking out on a quest that only Jane can finish. For whatever lurks beneath the Old Sow must be stopped...and Jane's just the halfling for the job."

Review - Nightshade (Jillian Conrad, Book 1) by Michelle Rowen (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: February 1, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0425239827
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in Jillian Conrad series
Source: Borrowed from library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the first book in Rowen's Jillian Conrad series. There are going to be at least two books in this series; the 2nd will be titled Bloodlust and is scheduled for a July 2011 release date.  I have read some of Michelle Rowen's series previously and enjoyed them.  I really loved her Demon Princess series and was excited to read a new series by her that was aimed more at urban fantasy than romance.  This was a very entertaining read, it was quick and fun.

Jillian (Jill to her friends) is just trying to get some coffee and get back to work.  She is grabbed by a man in an elevator and injected with something; next thing she knows she is being kidnapped by a large scarred man who is telling her she's been injected with a poison that normal hospitals won't be able to do anything about.  Jill agrees (kind of) to go with him and ends up having her eyes opened to a world where vampires are real and are definitely not the nice guys.

This book was a fast and fun read.  Jillian is a wonderful character: she is practical, sarcastic, noisy, and surprisingly resilient given that she is an unsuspecting victim to all that is going on.  The plot is solid and engaging if not completely original.  The beginning of this book especially reminded me of Gena Showalter's Playing With Fire.

Declan is an interesting character who is forced to take a serum to subdue his vampiric nature.  As the male lead he is a bit on and off; at points he is endearing and at others not.  Him and Jill have okay chemistry together, but it was never really something that blew me off my feet.  I have definitely read about better female/male match-ups.  That being said their relationship was okay, and they were fun to read about.

There is quite a bit of action in this book, making it more of an urban fantasy/paranormal romance blend than straight up romance.  Rowen's writing style is easy to read and the dialogue between characters is snappy and fun.  The book wraps things up nicely while still leaving some things un-resolved for the next book.

Overall a solid and fun read; equal parts urban fantasy and paranormal romance.  Jillian is a wonderful character, as is Declan.  The chemistry between the two could have been better but they were still a lot of fun to read about.  I love Rowen's writing style it is so easy and fun to read.  I will definitely be picking up Bloodlust when it comes out.  Recommended for readers who like books about dhampirs, strong women caught in unsuspecting situations, and paranormal romance that tends toward urban fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

 

February 2011 - In Review

This month I read 21 books.  There were a lot of really excellent books included in that bunch.  You can check out the full list below.

Anyway check out my monthly stats below.  Hope you all had a great month reading too!

I caught up on the following series:
Bone: Book 7, Ghost Circles and Book 8, Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith Jeff Smith
The Hollows: Book 9, Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
The  Nightside: Book 11, A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R. Green
Black Dagger Brotherhood: Book 3, Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward (5/5 stars)
The Last Survivors: Book 2, The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I started the following series:
Unearthly Trilogy: Book 1, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (5/5 stars)
Newsflesh Trilogy: Book 1, Feed by Mira Grant (5/5 stars)
Night Angel Trilogy: Book 1, The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (4/5 stars)
Chemical Garden Trilogy: Book 1, Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Monster Hunter International: Book 1, Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia (5/5 stars)

I finished the following series:
Wondrous Strange: Book 3, Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston (3/5 stars)
Bone: Book 9, Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)

My Favorite Books of the Month Were:
Ghost Circles (Bone, Book 7) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
Unearthly (Unearthly Trilogy, Book 1) by Cynthia Hand (5/5 stars)
Pale Demon (The Hollows, Book 9) by Kim Harrison (5/5 stars)
A Hard Day's Knight (The Nightside, Book 11) by Simon R. Green (4.5/5 stars)
Wither (Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book 1) by Lauren DeStefano (5/5 stars)
Treasure Hunters (Bone, Book 8) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
Crown of Horns (Bone, Book 9) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3) by J.R. Ward (5/5 stars)
Monster Hunter International (MHI, Book 1) by Larry Correia (5/5 stars)

Here are the stats on the reading challenges I am participating in:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge: 15/24 books
- 100+ Reading Challenge: 25/100 books
- The Debut Author Challenge: 5/12 books
- Get Steampunked!: 1/15 books
- E-book Reading Challenge: 7/20 books
- Zombies! Reading Challenge: 3/10 books
- Fantasy Reading Challenge: 11/20 books
- Show Me the Free Challenge: 1/12 books
- Audio Book Challenge List: 5/12 books
- Graphic Novels Challenge List: 6/10 books

The full list of books that I read this month are shown below. 
1.   Ghost Circles (Bone, Book 7) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
2.   Unearthly (Unearthly Trilogy, Book 1) by Cynthia Hand (5/5 stars)
3.   Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner (3/5 stars)
4.   Pale Demon (The Hollows, Book 9) by Kim Harrison (5/5 stars)
5.   Nocturne by Syrie James (3/5 stars)
6.   Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy, Book 1) by Mira Grant (5/5 stars)
7.   Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison (2.5/5 stars)
8.   The Way of Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy, Book 1) by Brent Weeks (4/5 stars)
9.   A Hard Day's Knight (The Nightside, Book 11) by Simon R. Green (4.5/5 stars)
10. Bloody Valentine (A Blue Bloods Novella) by Melissa De La Cruz (3/5 stars)
11. A Glimpse of Darkness by Lara Adrian, Harry Connolly, Stacia Kane, Kelly Meding, and Lucy A. Snyder (3/5 stars)
12. Wither (Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book 1) by Lauren DeStefano (5/5 stars)
13. Treasure Hunters (Bone, Book 8) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
14. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (4/5 stars)
15. Tempestuous (Wondrous Strange, Book 3) by Lesley Livingston (3/5 stars)
16. After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn (4/5 stars)
17. Crown of Horns (Bone, Book 9) by Jeff Smith (5/5 stars)
18. The Dead and the Gone (Last Survivors, Book 2) by Susan Beth Pfeffer (4/5 stars)
19. The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul (4/5 stars)
20. Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3) by J.R. Ward (5/5 stars)
21. Monster Hunter International (MHI, Book 1) by Larry Correia (5/5 stars)