Review: Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Title: Saga: Volume 1

Written by: Brian K. Vaughan

Art by: Fiona Staples

Lettering and Design by: Fonografiks

Coordinator: Eric Stephenson

Published by: Image Comics, Inc.

Released: 2013

Summary: The best way to go into this one is not knowing much about it. The general gist: A man and a woman from warring races fall in love and have a baby. The rest of the universe doesn't like that and our new family must run to survive.

My Thoughts: Definitely odd and definitely fun! I had heard so much hype about this series that I was a little nervous going in to it. I didn't want to be disappointed, and I wasn't! This was really weird, but really good. The start off to this story is really interesting and I can't wait to read more of it.

I really like the humor with which Brian K. Vaughan writes. His glorious credits include Y: The Last Man (which I've read the first volume of and really enjoyed) and the television show Lost (I love Lost so much!! I'm actually still in a saddened state that I have no new Lost to watch now. Sexy Sawyer, how I miss you)! And the art was stunning. I mean it was odd, but so wonderful. Just the imagination that went into these characters and worlds was really fun to experience.

But readers, be ye warned: graphic content lies ahead! This is definitely not a graphic novel for your younger cousin. My younger self's eyeballs probably would have popped out over some of the images. Actually, my present day self's eyeballs popped out over some of the images.

A great start to a series I'm excited to read more of. A lot of great humor and a lot of great art. So far, this is a series that is deserving of the hype.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5

Weird, but great!

Reading Right Now! (#34)

Title: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3)

Author: Veronica Rossi

I'm on page 165 of 389 pages which makes me 42% through with the book.

So what I'm Reading Right Now! is Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi. This is the third and final book in the Under the Never Sky trilogy. This is one of those strange series where the books get better as they go along. In all honesty, I wasn't blown away by the first book. I didn't love the first half of Under the Never Sky. I thought Aria's world, the world of the Dwellers, wasn't really explained all that much in the first book and it didn't have that vibrancy where you could picture it, but, as I continued reading the books in this series, they kept on getting better. I thought the second half of Under the Never Sky was fantastic, and I absolutely loved Through the Ever Night, the second book. Rossi really excels in describing the world of the "savages," the world of Perry and Roar. I also love the relationships and friendships once Aria becomes a part of the Outsiders. So this third book is so far all kinds of awesome. I'm really enjoying it. It has a lot of action and I just can't wait to see how it all ends. I would definitely recommend this series. I'm planning to read all the novellas too, just so I can devour everything this world and author has to offer. I'm a definite fan of Veronica Rossi's now and can't wait to read what she writes next. So, unless this book takes a turn for the absolute worst, I think I'm going to end up really liking this one and really liking this series as a whole.

So that's it for what I'm Reading Right Now! Tell me what you're reading in the comments below if you want. And tell me if you've read this series and love it like I do.

Review: Big Mouth & Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

Title: Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

Author: Joyce Carol Oates

Published by: Harper Tempest

Released: 2003

Summary: Matt Donaghy's life is forever altered after being accused of making a threat against his school. A threat he never made in seriousness and witnesses who are kept secret. Suddenly Matt is a social outcast, his old friends won't speak to him, and his community suspects him. Then Ursula Riggs comes to his defense, "Ugly Girl." Matt doesn't even really know Ursula, but because of her, he is put in the clear. What happens next is a friendship between two outcasts who don't care what the world thinks of them. They are together against the world, Big Mouth and Ugly Girl.

My Thoughts: I had to read this book for a class and wasn't really that excited about it. I'd never heard of the book before and the cover was a little unappetizing. Whenever I have to read a book for school, or am forced to read a book, it is extremely rare for me to enjoy said book. Something about being forced to read something just really hinders my enjoyment. This might be because the books I'm forced to read are usually not books I would ever pick out for myself to read in leisure.

Big Mouth & Ugly Girl was just an okay read for me. It was nothing spectacular or jaw dropping. I really felt that there just wasn't much of a story to it and it just meandered along. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, just having to know what was going to happen next. I think that was my main issue with the book, that it just didn't feel like it had the plot or idea for a full novel. The initial premise of the book was interesting, but I just felt that there had to be more there to really grab my interest and keep the story moving.

I thought it was strange that the scene that started the whole story, Matt joking about blowing up the school, wasn't included in the novel, it was just mentioned. I thought that part would have been important to include.

This novel focused more on characters. Two characters really, Ursula Riggs and Matt Donaghy. Matt Donaghy was okay. I felt bad for him, but Ursula Riggs was the really interesting character in the whole thing. "Ugly Girl" is complex and she was probably the most fun to learn about.

All in all, this story was just an okay read. It kind of meandered along and didn't really go anywhere special. Ursula Riggs was interesting and I guess the commentary on rumors and how schools respond to violence was interesting too. It's probably a book I never would have read and never missed if it hadn't been forced upon me.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

Ho-hum.

Top 5 Wednesday: Top 5 Anticipated Pre-Orders for the Rest of the Year

Cheating, always cheating.

This week's Top 5 Wednesday is the Top 5 Anticipated Pre-Orders for the Rest of the Year. I've cheated yet again, because some of these books have already come out and some don't come out until 2016. I don't make a habit of pre-ordering books, I don't know why, I just don't. But I'm excited to get my hands on all these books and will pick them up at some point. So here are my picks!

 

  

1. The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells: This one I'm super duper excited for. I believe I have mentioned many times on my blog, or at least once, how much I love Dan Wells I Am Not A Serial Killer/John Wayne Cleaver series. I thought that I had finished the series when I read the third book last year. Then I found out that there were going to be 3 more books coming out continuing John Wayne Cleaver's story!!! Oh the excitement that I felt. Now for those of you that don't know what John Wayne Cleaver's story is about, shame on you *kidding*, he is a sociopath who has fantasies about killing people. As his story goes on, he changes into a person who kills in order to protect those he loves, kinda. So anyway, the third book ended and it had a definite ending, but there was the promise for something more to happen. This new book is categorized as the 4th in the series, but it kind of continues John's story several years later. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. Can't wait to get my hands on this one. Such a good, sometimes disturbing, but mostly fun series.

2. Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner: I think this is the only one that really fits this week's topic parameters. It's the third book in the Starbound trilogy and it doesn't come out until December 2015. First off, such a pretty cover. All the book covers in this series are so pretty. I read the first book and loved it so much. I still need to read the 1.5 novella thing and the second book, but I'm excited to get my hands on the rest of this series and just devour it.

3. The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson: Cheating, cheating I know, this one is technically out already, but I don't have it in my hands and the want is real. I loved the first book, the mystery, the romance, the epic guessing game of who is who, and I can't wait to see where the sequel goes. I've been hearing really good reviews from those that have already read it. Although they say that the ending will just leave you tearing your hair out for the next book. So I'm excited to get my hands on this one, but maybe I should wait until the third book is closer to coming out. We'll see if I can hold out that long, I probably can't, but we'll see.

4. Riders by Veronica Rossi: This one deserves a little explanation. Right now, I am reading the last book in the Under the Never Sky trilogy and am very much enjoying it. I knew that this was her first trilogy of books, so I wanted to see what she was coming out with next. This gem doesn't come out until 2016, but the want is strong. This sounds like a historical novel where a boy dies and then becomes one of the four horseman of the apocalypse. It sounds so good and I'm really enjoying Veronica Rossi's writing style and story telling.

5. The Cage by Megan Shepherd: Cheating again. This one is already out, but it's not in my hands and I want it. I like to think I have some semblance of self control that stops me from buying all the books. I'll probably pick up this one up from my library and I'll feel no shame about it. But anyway, I finished her Madman's Daughter trilogy this year and absolutely loved it, so of course I will now read anything else she writes. I believe this series involves aliens and captive humans. There might be a love triangle and other fun stuff. Yeah, I'm excited for this one. It's a new series from an author I really enjoy.

So that's it. That's my Top 5 Anticipated Pre-Orders for the Rest of the Year. If I'm honest, I totally cheated on this week's Top 5 Wednesday, and it's really just books that sound good and I want. What are your picks? I would love to know. Maybe it will give me more books to pine over. If you want to join in the Top 5 Wednesday fun, you totally should. Every Wednesday, there's a new topic to ponder and enjoy. Check out all the other Top 5 Wednesday-ers here!

Review: All The Rage by Courtney Summers

Title: All The Rage

Author: Courtney Summers

Published by: St. Martin's Griffin

Released: 2015

Summary: What are the consequences when a girl tells the world she's raped and nobody believes her? For Romy Grey, it means everyone in the town of Grebe hates her, her friends abandon her, and she becomes the number one person for people to bully. Why? Because Romy accused the sheriff's son, the golden boy Kellan Turner. Romy's life has become a waking hell. She only feels normal when she's away from the town where everyone knows her story. She tries to be a different girl by working in a town outside of Grebe as a waitress. But her sanctuary gets interrupted when a former friend goes missing and both of her lives start to collide. Romy can't pretend when everyone knows her story.

My Thoughts: This was my first ever Courtney Summers' book and I found the writing to be really beautiful. I was drawn into the story from the first, witnessing this broken girl who wears lipstick and nail polish like body armor. I was heartbroken for Romy and what she was dealing with, but I was also frustrated with some of her decisions and her treatment to people that cared about her. This is definitely a good book, but it could have been stellar if Romy would have dealt seriously with her demons.

My feelings on this book are kind of torn. I loved the writing, how raw it was. I also really enjoyed the first 200+ pages of the book. The author does a great job of conveying what this crime and victim shaming has reduced Romy to. The chapters just really flew by and I enjoyed the majority of this book.

Now for my grievances. I know some of the things I'm going to mention, Romy felt like she couldn't/wouldn't do, but I wish she had. I wanted Romy to kind of grow, face her demons, maybe change a little, and she never did. It was hard for me to keep rooting for Romy and be in her corner, when she did so much self sabotage. And I really wish she could have confided in her family. It's obvious that they love her and want to help her, would have believed her, but Romy just pushed them all away. And aahh the feels for Leon. A great guy that Romy blew it with. He was kind, patient, and probably would have understood if she had just told him the truth. I think part of the punishment she inflicted on herself was feeling she wasn't worthy of love so she pushed away everyone who offered it.

Another grievance I put a little on the author and a little on Romy. In the Romy aspect, they were off-the-wall decisions that were stupid and reckless. These scenes involved leaving work in the middle of her shift to go to the Wake Lake party and meeting sleazeball guy on a dirt road and not telling anyone. As for the author, they were kind of a cheap way to get aspects of her plot moving. After each one of the scenes, something major happens. My problem was that these decisions were stupid, and for a girl that seals herself off from everybody, why would she make them. In my head, I was yelling at Romy to be less stupid.

Romy also annoyed me with her kind of insensitivity to Penny being missing. It was all about Romy, how would people feel if Romy were the one missing? What would people say about her? How no one would even care about her being gone. She played the constant victim, which got a little annoying. I wanted more growth from her character. And poor Penny. It was glaringly obvious that Penny felt bad about what she did, that Penny would take it back if she could, and that she wanted to protect Romy. Romy was too hurt and bull-headed to see any of this, and because of that, she lost time and a really good friend.

So this book is a mixed bag for me. I started off really loving this in the beginning and middle, but over it by the end. Romy is an interesting, broken character, but I feel some of her own decisions accounted for her continued misery. I wanted Romy to give people a shot, a chance to prove there was love out there for her, but she was too caught up in the past, being miserable, and guarding herself from everybody to notice. I'm definitely interested in reading more by Courtney Summers in the future.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

Strong beginning, but frustrating end.

Review: Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire Volume 2 by Naoki Serizawa and CAPCOM

Title: Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire Volume 2

Author: Naoki Serizawa

Concept by: Capcom

Published by: VIZ Media, LLC

Released: English Edition: 2015

Summary: The Marhawa Academy is under attack from zombies, and the headmistress doesn't want anyone to know. Ricky and his Uncle Doug are still roaming the school, looking for the cause of the outbreak. The B.S.A.A. is still trying to find Professor Wright and hasn't learned of the school yet. There is also a mysterious, hooded woman roaming the campus and devastation seems to follow her. The mysteries keep multiplying at Marhawa Academy.

My Thoughts: Another enjoyable read in this quick, brutal series. The zombies are still present, the headmistress nun is still crazy, and the mysteries keep on multiplying. Volume 2 starts right where Volume 1 ended and I was able to jump right back in to the story no problem. The story was interesting and I had fun while reading it. If you're looking for a fun, zombie series, give this one a chance.

My problems with this book were only minor. The first aggravation is that, just like the first book, this one doesn't really have an ending. My advice to reading these books would be to have all the volumes available in front of you, so you won't have to take a break from the story or suffer from that feeling of having to know what happens next.

My other gripe would be there was a lot of action in this book and it became kind of confusing following from panel to panel. Each panel illustration was full of detail and sometimes I got kind of confused trying to follow along. But those things were only minor and didn't make me not enjoy the story.

All in all, I thought this was another quick, fun read. The story is getting more and more interesting, so I'm excited to check out the next volume.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

A quick, fun zombie ride!

Review: Undertow by Michael Buckley

Title: Undertow (Undertow Book #1)

Author: Michael Buckley

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Released: 2015

Summary: Three years ago, a race of undersea people called the Alpha, marched out of the sea and set up camp on Coney Island. Chaos ensued. Coney Island has now become a refugee tent settlement, cut off from the rest of the world by fences and soldiers. The Alpha don't trust the humans and the humans don't trust the Alpha, it's an uneasy truce. Then the government decides to bring some of the Alpha kids into American schools. Lyric Walker goes to this school and becomes assigned to one of the Alpha teens. These two kids struggle to understand each other and see if they can bring peace between the two races.

My Thoughts: An interesting idea that just turned out as a meh story. The concept of this book sounds really cool, these weird undersea creatures camping out on Coney Island in our modern day society. Sadly, the concept is cooler than the actual story. There were many things that just fell flat for me or irked me. I would still urge people interested to give this one a shot. Reading is subjective, so while I didn't absolutely love it, you could.

One thing I did like about the story was the sense of family. Lyric had a good family and you could tell they all loved one another. That was just nice to see.

Now my biggest problem was that I never fully bought into this world. The undersea creatures were just too strange for me to ever connect with or pity. I didn't like how it opened up three years after the initial surge. Experiencing things from the first day they came out of the water would have been much more interesting. Also, I questioned why nobody had done anything  in three years. This is a strange, hostile species, that they are just letting hang out on the shores. And if nine marines had been killed by the Alpha, why would we have just done nothing about it? It also didn't make a lot of sense to me to integrate Alpha kids into high school, when they're a different species and can't read or write.

I thought this book tried to tackle too many issues. There was domestic violence, hate crimes, bullying, riots, school shooting, illegal immigration, and otherworldly creatures; just stick to one thing and go with that. I also got annoyed by all the swipes taken at Christians, Conservatives, gun control. I don't care what the author's personal opinions are and would rather they be kept out of the story. I just want a good story. And he could have tried harder on coming up with an evil politician name. The lady it was based upon isn't evil incarnate and it just felt like more opinions that I didn't care about.

Now for the romance, the romance was dumb. I didn't buy into it at all. There was no real chemistry or realistic build up. Fathom never felt like someone I could be attracted to. And when Lyric said she loved him, I just rolled my eyes.

My last reason for not loving this story was that I didn't really like Lyric as a main character. There were a lot of times when she annoyed me. I questioned her decision making and she'd get really mouthy and rude. I just didn't like her that much. Also wasn't a fan of the way Lyric's heritage was thrown in there. That would have been an interesting few scenes to see and it was just never addressed.

So while this book had a cool concept, it just disappointed me. I'm sorry to go on a bit of a rant fueled review, but there were just too many things that irked me. I really don't know if I'll read the sequel or not. The ending was interesting, but it took so long to get there. I was interested, but I just never really enjoyed it. Oh well, you can't love every book.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

Interesting concept, but meh book.