Tag Archives: fantasy

Review- M.F.K.

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M.F.K. by Nilah Magruder

Hey, everyone! I’m so excited to post this review! I’m finally getting back into graphic novels after a few months of primarily reading novels. Insight Comics (whose booth I visited at Bookcon this June) was very generous to send me an advanced copy of M.F.K., which I ended up totally loving. The book was published at the end of September, so you can get your hands on it now!

51TiGCMgCVL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_Genre: Graphic novel/fantasy
Format: Hardcover
Publication date: September 26, 2017
Publisher: Insight Comics
Page count: 128
Star rating: 5/5

Abbie is alone, traveling through the lands, in hopes of reaching a mountain range to scatter her mother’s ashes. Abbie reaches the village of Little Marigold, where a boy named Jaime finds her in pretty poor condition, and his family takes her in to address her wounds. Abbie and Jaime are quick to become friends as they learn more about each other. Rogues, who bully the residents and demand gifts from them, frequently visit Little Marigold. Abbie must decide if she wants to release her hidden power to help the people who kindly healed her in a time of need, or sit back and watch them get hurt. If Abbie shows her true strength, she risks being ostracized by Jaime, his family, and their entire village. Abbie and Jaime, in their newly discovered friendship, aren’t ready to say goodbye to each other just yet.

I absolutely loved the idea behind this story. Abbie is deaf and requires a hearing aid to communicate with Jaime and the rest of Little Marigold. Before M.F.K., I hadn’t read a graphic novel that focused on a character with a hearing impairment. Abbie truly is someone very unique and I’m so glad I got to know her. Books featuring strong, deaf characters are so important for representation and education about deafness. The frustration that comes with realizing literature lacks characters like myself is something I know all too well, and I’m sure readers who have hearing impairments are familiar with this struggle, too. I’m so pumped about this graphic novel, which has an interesting story, amazing art, and an empowered female, deaf character. My hope is that books like M.F.K. inspire other authors to start writing about deaf characters, as the best seller list could certainly use more diversity.

Another thing I liked about M.F.K.’s story was that it’s very sweet. Putting down this book after turning the last page, I felt happy and excited for the next installment in the series. Sometimes, diverse books are very depressing and just…sad. M.F.K. is certainly not like that. It’s kind of like the joke that the entire lesbian section on Netflix either features a couple that ends up splitting up or a character that dies at the end. I’m not sure why this is the case, but often, diverse characters are given unhappy storylines. M.F.K.’s ending made me want to call Nilah Magruder and tell her to hurry up with the sequel because I NEED to know where Abbie’s journey takes her next. The book left me with such a positive feeling, for which I’m grateful.

I’m so honored that Insight Comics sent me this beautiful work. It was such a pleasure reading it and planning out this review. I would recommend M.F.K. to anyone in search of a graphic novel, whether they’re specifically looking for a diverse read or not. I truly think anyone will enjoy this book. Thank you so much to the publisher for this gorgeous title and I look forward to reading more Insight Comics works in the future!

Unboxing: Paper Street Books April/May 2017 Box

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Paper Street Books April/May 2017 Box

I’m so excited to feature my first review of Paper Street Books’ subscription box on my blog. They’re a bimonthly book and graphic novel subscription box with a focus on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I’ve been receiving their boxes for a while now, and this is my 4th box. There are 3 options: Book Addict (you receive a book and bookish goodies), Comic Addict (you receive a graphic novel and bookish goodies), and Book Warrior (you receive a science fiction book, graphic novel, and bookish goodies). I have the Book Warrior option selected and every box has had an amazing theme with books and graphic novels that are the perfect fit for me. This month’s theme was “Terra and Luna”. Here’s the unboxing:

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The books!

– Avengers of the Moon, by Allen Steele, was the book for this month! This book is homage to the Caption Future stories from the 40’s. One thing that I love about Paper Street Books is that they pick publications from lesser-known authors. This means that I receive books that I don’t already own and that indie authors are put into the spotlight. I can already tell that this is a retro science fiction novel that I’m going to LOVE. I’m so glad that something fresh and new was added to my shelves!

– Wires and Nerve, by Marissa Meyer, was the graphic novel for this month! This was the first YA graphic novel and the first work from a well-known author that I’ve received in their boxes. Marissa Meyer is the best selling author of the Lunar Chronicles, a YA fantasy series. I’ve never heard of Wires and Nerve and I’m so excited to read it! It’s about the android from the Lunar Chronicles, but knowledge about the series is not mandatory. I love robot adventures with a little bit of romance, so I know I’ll really like this.

The goodies!

– This box included a single issue of American Gods, which I have yet to read. Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite fantasy writers and I’ve been meaning to get my hands on some of his graphic novels. I know American Gods is a very popular book, so I’m sure the comics are just as great. Also, I love single issues because almost no one sells them anymore! Bookstores (mostly) only carry the large, paperback book editions of comics now. This was a really nice surprise.

– I also received a crystal growing cherry tree by Copernicus Toys. This is a paper tree cut out that grows crystals, which “bloom” to make it look like a cherry tree. This is a perfect little toy that fits the theme. I’m excited to try this out, but I’ll have to store it somewhere where my cat can’t knock it down, haha!

– A ‘Moon Prism Power!’ scented candle, from Paper Street themselves, was another one of the goodies in this box. This is the second candle I’ve received from them, and they both smell so good! This one is orange blossom, grapefruit, mangosteen, Egyptian amber, and peach. I thought the science fiction reference was really clever and I’m excited to get it burning soon!

– A Sailor Moon magnet was next in this box! Although I don’t know much about Sailor Moon, this magnet includes two things that I love: outer space and cats. It’s perfect for me! I have this stuck on my refrigerator right now and I’m so, so happy with it.

– A galaxy sucker (or lollipop, depending on where you’re from), from Sparko Sweets, was the candy portion of the box. I know they don’t technically have an edible part every month, but the last few boxes have included sweets. I have a lot of food allergies, so many candies are a no for me, but I can have this sucker! Sidenote: I always try to get my cat to pose with the box, but this month he wouldn’t stop chewing on the sucker. Photo for proof—

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– Lastly, the box contained a teaser for Beautiful Nightmare, by AM Nestler. This book has no reviews on Goodreads yet, so I’m intrigued to give it my opinion. It’s dystopian novel about a girl with narcolepsy. It sounds really interesting and I think I’m going to read more into it and maybe purchase it!

That’s all for the “Terra and Luna” box of April/May. This was one of my favorite boxes (behind the “Ladies of Sci-Fi” box). I want to thank Jennifer and Marty for working so hard and always putting together amazing boxes. Your subscribers really appreciate it and CONGRATULATIONS on selling out of this box. I can’t wait to see what the summer holds for Paper Street Books!

Review- Strange Medicine

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Strange Medicine by Mike Russell

strangemedicine-coverforwebsite4.5/5 stars

“Sometimes the suffering of one individual is so great that it renders unjustifiable any purpose that the universe could possibly have.”

A little boy who talks to a rock, a headless fish who grows from living skin, a bridge that randomly generates, and a man who cradles a large box nearly every minute of every day. These are some of the interesting things that happen within the 8 short stories of Strange Medicine. Some of the stories make you laugh, some make you think, some have good morals, and others just don’t make any sense. If you want to teleport into a few weird, fantastical stories, try Strange Medicine and see where it takes you.

Strange Books was extremely generous and sent me a copy of Strange Medicine in return for an honest book review. I’m very honored that they chose to contact me and I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to read this book because I ended up liking so much!

This is a short book—141 pages. But, these are 141 pages of fun, horror, humor, and thoughtfulness. I had no idea where this book would take me (and I’m still not quite sure where it took me) but I’m so happy with the journey I found myself on. Every story was witty, in its own unique way, and kept me racing through the pages to find the catch at the end of each chapter.

Mike Russell has an extensive imagination. I’ve never read a short story collection with such a wide variety of characters who, truly, were each their own concoction of weirdness. Most stories have one or two unique characters who are a little bit out there, but Strange Medicine was full of them. I applaud Mike Russell for having the dedication to fill all 8 stories with unforgettable characters who will remain in my forethoughts for a long time.

I also want to add that Mike Russell’s writing style is something that is not seen very often in short stories. I sometimes have a hard time with short stories because I can’t keep up with the rapid plot and character developments and get a bit confused halfway through a story. Strange Medicine was not like that for me, at all. The writing style was extremely easy to follow and understand, even with the short length of chapters. If you are convinced that short stories are not for you, I urge you to try this book; it’s very different from anything else I’ve read.

If you can’t tell, Strange Medicine blew me away. I wasn’t even really a short story person, that is, until I read this book. I loved so many things about this collection as a whole and as individual stories, but I don’t want to spoil any of the plot. Again, a huge thank you to Strange Books for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I hope to read more of their stuff in the future because I loved Strange Medicine!

Review- How to Talk to Girls at Parties

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How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman

26372 Rating: 5/5 stars

 Let me start off by saying this is the best book I’ve read in September 2016 and the best graphic novel I’ve ever gotten my hands on. I already knew that Gaiman was a genius, but this still blew me away. I am making this my October staff pick at the book store I work at, as I want to share it with everyone who will possibly listen.

Enn is a teenage boy still learning what life is like after puberty. His friend, Vic, is the same age as him, but does not struggle with this awkward stage nearly as badly as Enn. The duo decides to attend a party (that they weren’t really invited to) and Vic is immediately away from Enn’s side and talking to the prettiest girl in the room. Enn envies Vic, but doesn’t have the same courage to really say anything of substance to a girl—he can barely get a few words out. As Enn wanders from room to room in this giant house, he discovers that not everyone at the party is very…normal.

This graphic novel is very short, but in my opinion it was the perfect length to get the story across without over explaining anything. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the illustration is breathtaking. There are a lot of otherworldly girls in this novel, and the illustrators depicted them as true goddesses. I wish these feminine creatures were real solely so I could see actual photographs of them. I think that means this is truly well done artwork.

Neil Gaiman certainly has a creative mind. I have read 5 of his books and each one is brilliant in its own way. I don’t think I’ve heard of anything quite like How to Talk to Girl at Parties and I don’t think I want to read anything like it ever again; it wouldn’t measure up. I wish I could follow Enn on more adventures, but perhaps being left wanting more is better.

I would recommend this book to any adult looking for shorter read. You don’t need to be a graphic novel enthusiast to fall in love with this book. It definitely is a cover grab too, as the illustrations on the hard cover will make anyone want to get their hands on it. I can’t wait to read more Gaiman graphic novels (I’m looking at Sandman Vol. 1 next).

Review- The Glittering World

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The Glittering World by Robert Levy

22609606Rating: 3.5/5 stars

A group of 4 friends- Blue (Michael), Gabe, Elisa, and Jason- venture out to Canada to visit the home of Blue’s deceased grandma in hopes of selling it. They arrive at “The Cove”, a place with magical vibes that almost make you feel high 24/7. While checking on his grandmother’s house, Blue finds newspaper clippings about a boy named Michael who disappeared with a friend into the cove when he was 6, and emerged from the woods 2 weeks later with no recollection of what had happened. As the four try to sort out Blue’s past, Blue and Elisa go missing without a trace. History seems to be repeating itself and it looks like no one will be leaving the cove anytime soon.

This book was alright. I understand what Robert Levy was trying to do but the execution was a little off. A found myself confused a couple times and had to go back and re-read a few pages. Even after that, I still have major plot questions. This certainly was a very interesting book; Good paranormal adult novels are hard to come by. I think that Levy aimed to have this novel resemble a Neil Gaiman fantasy, but it fell a little short.

That being said, I did like the layout of the book. It’s divided into four sections- each of the four protagonists gets a turn to narrate what’s going on from their points of view. This gave it an interesting twist and was a lot more fun to read than a 3rd person omniscient book.

The Glittering World was a quick, but interesting read. I think it is a great debut novel with a good writing style and I will definitely read another Robert Levy book in the future.

Review- Trigger Warning

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Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

225228084/5 stars

This is a collection of Gaiman’s recent short stories, which he calls “short fictions and disturbances”. This epithet matches well with the content of some of these stories. Trigger Warning contains over 20 short pieces of writing, ranging from poems to short fairy tales.

There are simply too many pieces to write a synopsis of each one. In addition, the stories are not related in any way (character wise or even genre wise). Each of these stories is it’s own world, a unique way of putting together a collection of fictions. Before this, I had never read a book of short stories that didn’t have anything in common. That being said, most of the stories were a bit disturbing. I would even categorize a few of them as “horror”; but most of them fall into the category of “fantasy” or “science fiction”.  For Doctor Who fans– Gaiman even includes a short story about the Doctor with a bow tie and Amy Pond.

Neil Gaiman certainly has a way of imagining other worlds and dimensions filled with made-up creatures and complex characters. Admittedly, I did get bored with a few of his stories, but most of them kept my attention and were easy to follow. I’m very proud to be the owner of a signed first edition of this book. I went to my local bookstore on it’s release date last month and was one of the first to get a copy!

Review- The Book of Strange New Things

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The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber

Rating: 4.5/5

20697435“Never forget the Book. Never, never. The Book our rock, our hope, our redeemer.”

Peter, after intense examination and a series of personality tests, is selected to go on a mission in space. He is chosen to serve as a catholic priest for a colony of humans living on an extraterrestrial planet. He has no idea what, or who, to expect on this mission, but he knows that spreading the word of God is one of the most important jobs of every Christian. With that in mind, he is not afraid to preach the verses of the Bible to whoever is willing to listen on this new planet.

Yeah, that was a pretty broad synopsis…but I have to be really careful with my words or I might spoil something big. So, please, allow that fragment of a plot summary to suffice for this review.

This book started out extremely slowly. I almost put it down about 50 pages in. I’m glad I kept going because it starts to get interesting and creepy around page 100. The books starts flying after that and it’s really hard to put down. Peter is really annoying at first, which is why it’s hard to get past the first hundred pages, but I came to like him.

I was initially interested in this book because people seemed to have such a hard time placing it into one specific genre. I’d say that this is definitely science fiction, with a touch of horror and thriller. Those three make for a great and captivating read!

I was really, really disappointed with the ending. It felt extremely unsatisfying and a bit confusing, even after re-reading the last chapter a few times. There are so many things/lessons that Faber could have finished with, but he just hastily wrapped it up without giving the reader a good sense of conclusion.

Still, this was a great read and I’m happy it was at the top of my 2015 TBR. A good way to start off the year!

Review- Neverwhere

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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Pages: 370     Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Neverwhere(1)“What’s it like being dead? It’s very cold, my friend. Very dark, and very cold.”

Richard Mayhew lives a boring life in London, working at a job that doesn’t seem to interest him and engaged to a woman who isn’t right for him. He comes across a girl named Door, bleeding and helpless on the side of the road, and decides to bring her back to his apartment. Through meeting Door, Richard is thrown into London Below, another version of London full of people who “fell through the cracks”. He turns invisible to everyone from his old life, but he meets incredible people living below– Rat-speakers, beast hunters, and bird sellers. Richard and Door embark on a journey to avenge Door’s family and help Richard get back to London Above; a life far less interesting than the one he has below.

This is such a classic Gaiman novel. I’ve come to love Urban Fantasy through reading his novels. If someone were to ask me what urban fantasy is, I’d just hand them this novel in silence. There’s no way to put it in words. People who have read any of Gaiman’s novels will know what I’m talking about.

This book is great. Richard is the perfect protagonist who you kinda hate for being so annoying but end up rooting for him by the end of the novel. Door, too, is a protagonist and a strong female character. I often find books that are centered around a male character and consequently fail to represent any female power. Door is, in fact, very powerful and an important character not just for Richard, but for the novel in general. Yay for prominent female characters!

It was interesting reading the discussion questions at the end of the book/interview with Neil Gaiman. He says that that the novel can be read as a satire and commentary on the lower class and homeless populations living in London today. I definitely didn’t read the book that way, but it’s an interesting point of view. I might go back and skim this novel with this new lens on it!

Review- A Time to Reap

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A Time to Reap by Jonas Lee

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

22819890“There is going to come a day when the things you say are going to return to you faster than you send them. A wise person would make certain their words aren’t so sharp.”

At the age of 12, Carter found himself developing a strange power called “leaping”. He can essentially jump to different places along earth’s space-time continuum, mostly leaving him confused and lacking clothes. He attends a school for “special” kids like him, sharing a variety of powers, called Pemberton Academy. There, he befriends (and crushes on) a girl named Mo. Mo doesn’t share the exact same powers as Carter, but they are certainly strong. Together, this duo is called to action by some of the most powerful people to ever exist and change the world.

Wow, I’m really glad I read this book! I usually find myself bored halfway through most YA books, but this was an exception. I was drawn in by the 2nd chapter and found myself laughing out loud at the narration–the voice of Carter, a sarcastic, teenage boy. The POV was a very good choice on Jonas Lee’s part.

Carter’s character was extremely well-developed. I feel like I’ve known him for years! I wish that we got to see more of Mo’s personality shine through Carter’s narration. I still feel like I don’t fully understand her and what she was thinking throughout the novel. She was my favorite character and I’m dying to know more about her!

To me, the ending was a bit unsatisfying. But, then again, I think Mr. Lee is setting this up for a sequel? If that’s the case, then it’s the perfect ending and I really really look forward to reading the next book. I can’t wait to get my hands on a paperback copy of this book ASAP!

Review- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

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Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

MissPeregrineCover“When someone won’t let you in, eventually you stop knocking. Know what I mean?”

Following his grandfather’s strange and sudden death, Jacob goes on a quest to learn more about the old man’s mysterious childhood. He travels to a strange island off the coast of Wales and discovers an abandoned orphanage. As Jacob explores the place, it turns out that the not-so-abandoned orphanage was actually expecting his arrival.

The concept behind this novel was so A+. The first chapter immediately drew me in. The mixture of a creepy grandfather death and spooky old photos really did the trick. I don’t usually read fantasy or YA, so I was pleasantly surprised with how this novel took off.

Unfortunately, the execution of this A+ idea was not so great. I was bored half-way through the novel. I felt like there were so many plot additions piling up with no resolutions in sight. Despite this, I am glad that I finished the novel. The ending was definitely not a final one–a good set up for the sequel.

Idea: Great. Characters: Great. Plot: Meh.

I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel, but then again, fantasy YA is not usually my genre of choice.