2018 Reviews Week 2:
January 8th- 14th
Book 4: American Gods Volume 1: Shadows (Graphic Novel)
by Neil Gaiman
Scott Hampton (Illustrator), P. Craig Russell (Illustrator), and Walt Simonson (Illustrator)
Read January 6th-8th
📚📚📚📚
~ A Short Synopsis ~
The first in a three-volume adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods. The story follows Shadow Moon who has spent the last three years in prison, only to get out and find out that his wife has died. Uncertain of what to do now, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him as his bodyguard. Wednesday is a trickster and rouge, who seems to know much more about Shadow than Shadow even knows. Unknown to Shadow, Mr. Wednesday is an ancient god and he is now part of a war that is starting between the ancient and modern gods. Being Wednesday's bodyguard, driver, and errand boy becomes far more dangerous and interesting than Shadow would have ever imagined. This volume collects the first nine issues of the American Gods comic series.
I have been reading Neil Gaiman's works for some time but I have never picked up American Gods. Over the years, I have heard nothing but incredible things about the novel and from what I can see from this collection they were all correct. He is one of my favorite authors and this is another great example of why.
~ Writing Style ~
The narrative of these issues of the comic was quite interesting. We follow along with Shadow as he finds out about his wife and then as he meets Mr. Wednesday. Most of the plot focuses on Shadow's storyline as he learns more and more about what is actually going on around him. Also, there are parts where the narrative will switch. There are many flashbacks to the gods coming to America. Then there would be scenes that are happening in other parts of America at the time period of Shadow's plot, at least that is what I assume. There were times though that instead of a switch to someone else I would have liked to stay with Shadow and what was going on with him. His part of the story, especially with his new, found role was one of my favorite aspects.
~ The Art, Lettering, and Coloring ~
From what I can see from this graphic novel, the story works so well in the visual medium. Shadow imagines and sees many incredible things throughout the course of the story. He sees ghosts that not only haunt him but also help him along the way and he also is meeting a lot of distinct gods. There was never a moment that I did not enjoy the illustrations in this piece. Every panel stood out from the one before it and went along perfectly with the supernatural fantasy tale that was being told. Some of my favorites were when the gods would take up the whole page literally breaking out of the panels that they were in. It was a stunning experience reading the entire time and I cannot wait for more.
~ Final Thoughts ~
Overall, this was an enjoyable experience for me that had me thinking a lot about this crazy world that Neil Gaiman has created, yet again. It never ceases to amaze me when I jump into another story and see how incredibly detailed and inventive the worlds he creates are. This world that Neil has created in this story is developed in such a way that really intrigues and creeps me out. I have always loved the way he will combine classic stories, characters, or other aspects of literature and create his own highly detailed world around it. This was a wonderful graphic novel. I can't say if it's a great adaptation because I have never read the novel. All I know is that I fully enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of Neil Gaiman's adult novels. This was one of a kind.
*I received this for free for an honest review*
Book 5: A Tale Dark & Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz
Read January 10th-12th
📚📚📚📚
Hansel and Gretel are a prince and princess, from a kingdom, that realize their parents are not the best of people. They decide to walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm Brother-inspired tales. Through each tale, they try to find the best new home and learn to take a charge of their own destinies.
This was so much more than I expected it to be. I really loved how Adam Gidwitz used his own style of writing and also mixed it with the Grimm Brother's style. There were times that each was so distinct but then as the story continued on they meddled together so well. Also, I really enjoyed that he used mostly fairy tales that are not well known. For instance, "Faithful Johannes", "Brother and Sister", and so many others. There were even a few that I had never even heard of before which was quite refreshing. He not only made these tales entertaining to read but also made them his own while doing it. This is, at least I believe, a perfect way to get children to want to read these original tales and see what happened in them.
The fairy tales in this novel were weaved so well together. I really loved how each one felt like a piece of the whole, but also their own separate entity. This was a great take on these tales that I feel that should be read by all. The narration was very entertaining. I really enjoyed the warnings throughout and also how dark this got at times. It was dark but never too much. There was a great balance between the dark and grim and also the humor. I cannot wait to pick up the companion novels to this.
Books 6-9: The Lost Slayer Series
Prophecies, Dark Times,
King of the Dead, and Original Sin
by Christopher Golden
Prophecies: Read January 12th- 📚📚📚📚
Dark Times: Read January 12th- 📚📚📚
King of the Dead: Read January 13th- 📚📚📚📚
Original Sin: Read January 13th- 📚📚📚📚
Set around the time of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is trying to balance being a Slayer and also her life as a college student and friend. She has put it on herself to not only do really great in school but also to do all of her slaying duties by herself. When she finds a new group of cult-like vampires, she asks for the help of Willow, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Oz, but she doesn't really take their advice well. Giles gets captured by a bat god demon creature and she makes a serious mistake that messes up the future. This series follows Buffy as she gets captured herself and this alternate future. Will she be able to save the world and also change the reality back to the way it should have been?
I have been collecting Buffy books at book sales for the past two years, ever since I watched and fell in love with the show. This series is one of the many I have found. This felt very much like an episode of Buffy, especially a season finale. They were always so big and epic and this could have been a good idea. I won't spoil what happens here but I did enjoy some of the many paths this took. The overall story was what really kept me interested and I just wanted to see what would happen next to "the Scooby Gang."
One of the parts of this that did not really feel right were some of the characters. There were many times that the dialogue or just how the characters would act in general that just didn't feel right to their characters from the show. The biggest example of this was Spike. When a new vampire leader takes over in the second book we see Spike as a henchman. Spike would have never acted the way he did. There were other instances of characters acting out of character but he was the one that stood out the most. Buffy was the character that felt the most right, which was good because the narration followed her for the most part.
Also, the idea of the alternate future was something that I would like to talk about. There is an episode of Buffy from Season Three, where we see an alternate future that Cordelia wishes up. I felt like the overall idea of this book may have come from that. At least somewhat anyway. The problem with this though is that the stakes are not always there in this series of books. Every time Buffy tried to fix everything or a plan would fail, it didn't feel real. The problem might be that I already know that everyone is going to be okay but it still didn't feel like there was any suspense. I just felt like the actual show did many plots similar to this but better. The overall concept was great especially with Giles but it was not executed as well as I would have liked.
I really did enjoy this serialized story and felt that it was another great adventure with the Gang that I have really been missing. The plot and concept interested me and had me wanting to know what would happen next once I finished a volume. There were just times that I wished that the characters would better reflect their character in the tv series. Also, I felt like it fell flat with some of the suspense.
The story idea for this was a great one that I do recommend for Buffy fans. Someday I hope to find a book based off of the series that reflects, the humor, characters, and plot lines just as well as the show.
Book 5: A Tale Dark & Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz
Read January 10th-12th
📚📚📚📚
Hansel and Gretel are a prince and princess, from a kingdom, that realize their parents are not the best of people. They decide to walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm Brother-inspired tales. Through each tale, they try to find the best new home and learn to take a charge of their own destinies.
This was so much more than I expected it to be. I really loved how Adam Gidwitz used his own style of writing and also mixed it with the Grimm Brother's style. There were times that each was so distinct but then as the story continued on they meddled together so well. Also, I really enjoyed that he used mostly fairy tales that are not well known. For instance, "Faithful Johannes", "Brother and Sister", and so many others. There were even a few that I had never even heard of before which was quite refreshing. He not only made these tales entertaining to read but also made them his own while doing it. This is, at least I believe, a perfect way to get children to want to read these original tales and see what happened in them.
The fairy tales in this novel were weaved so well together. I really loved how each one felt like a piece of the whole, but also their own separate entity. This was a great take on these tales that I feel that should be read by all. The narration was very entertaining. I really enjoyed the warnings throughout and also how dark this got at times. It was dark but never too much. There was a great balance between the dark and grim and also the humor. I cannot wait to pick up the companion novels to this.
Books 6-9: The Lost Slayer Series
Prophecies, Dark Times,
King of the Dead, and Original Sin
by Christopher Golden
Prophecies: Read January 12th- 📚📚📚📚
Dark Times: Read January 12th- 📚📚📚
King of the Dead: Read January 13th- 📚📚📚📚
Original Sin: Read January 13th- 📚📚📚📚
Set around the time of the fourth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is trying to balance being a Slayer and also her life as a college student and friend. She has put it on herself to not only do really great in school but also to do all of her slaying duties by herself. When she finds a new group of cult-like vampires, she asks for the help of Willow, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Oz, but she doesn't really take their advice well. Giles gets captured by a bat god demon creature and she makes a serious mistake that messes up the future. This series follows Buffy as she gets captured herself and this alternate future. Will she be able to save the world and also change the reality back to the way it should have been?
I have been collecting Buffy books at book sales for the past two years, ever since I watched and fell in love with the show. This series is one of the many I have found. This felt very much like an episode of Buffy, especially a season finale. They were always so big and epic and this could have been a good idea. I won't spoil what happens here but I did enjoy some of the many paths this took. The overall story was what really kept me interested and I just wanted to see what would happen next to "the Scooby Gang."
One of the parts of this that did not really feel right were some of the characters. There were many times that the dialogue or just how the characters would act in general that just didn't feel right to their characters from the show. The biggest example of this was Spike. When a new vampire leader takes over in the second book we see Spike as a henchman. Spike would have never acted the way he did. There were other instances of characters acting out of character but he was the one that stood out the most. Buffy was the character that felt the most right, which was good because the narration followed her for the most part.
Also, the idea of the alternate future was something that I would like to talk about. There is an episode of Buffy from Season Three, where we see an alternate future that Cordelia wishes up. I felt like the overall idea of this book may have come from that. At least somewhat anyway. The problem with this though is that the stakes are not always there in this series of books. Every time Buffy tried to fix everything or a plan would fail, it didn't feel real. The problem might be that I already know that everyone is going to be okay but it still didn't feel like there was any suspense. I just felt like the actual show did many plots similar to this but better. The overall concept was great especially with Giles but it was not executed as well as I would have liked.
I really did enjoy this serialized story and felt that it was another great adventure with the Gang that I have really been missing. The plot and concept interested me and had me wanting to know what would happen next once I finished a volume. There were just times that I wished that the characters would better reflect their character in the tv series. Also, I felt like it fell flat with some of the suspense.
The story idea for this was a great one that I do recommend for Buffy fans. Someday I hope to find a book based off of the series that reflects, the humor, characters, and plot lines just as well as the show.
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