adventure
Comic Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender 1
Avatar: The Last Airbender 1 by Michael Dante DiMartino
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love and adore everything to do with Avatar, but this little book was really just a cut and paste of screenshots from the TV show, and that doesn’t exactly work well for a book.
If there had been new art that was created for a book format, it would have looked better and flowed better for a written story. A lot of the time the action wasn’t clear, because the panels weren’t created to make that action clear on paper.
Other Avatar comics that I’ve seen (like The Search or The Rift) were actually created to be comics, and those are wonderful and work perfectly and the artwork is fantastic! So I was disappointed to see that this is so poorly organized.
As far as the story goes, of course I adore Aang and Katara and Sokka! The plot is perfection, the characters are marvelous, and the world building is phenomenal! I just wish this little comic did them justice.
BookTubeAthon: Day 1-2
Book Review: The Friday Society
The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked the premise of this book: three young ladies who work as assistants to a scientist/inventor, a magician, and a fencing teacher. The girls team up to solve murders and save all of steampunk Victorian London, proving that they are just as capable and intelligent as their bosses. It’s just good fun!
The plot moved a little too slowly for me. This 440 page book could have been told in 200 pages. It dragged on a bit in places, setting up relationships, setting up dialogue, explaining this and that.
I liked the characters of the girls, but I didn’t love them. They are spunky and sweet and sassy and intelligent and independent, but somehow…. I wasn’t particularly impressed.
Of course, the author killed off the ONE supporting character that I actually loved! Continue reading
Grandma’s House Recent Reads
Comic Review: Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This plot makes no sense. I have no idea who anyone is or what happened. The story is told by jumping between two (or three?) timelines, so there are all these different sets of characters, most of whom look alike, and it’s impossible to keep track of them all. There’s also a prophecy and a magic peacock dude that confused me even more. Then there came the giant sand babies; I’m not sure if they were real or imagined. Was that part of a giant sand baby nightmare? Did someone dream that whole thing, or were the babies really there? IDK.
I’m confused if the Prince was reincarnated as the other crazy dude in the ruins, or was that his long-lost son or something? And why did the girl have one blue eye and one brown eye exactly like the lion cub? Is she a mystical lion baby? How is that connected? What is happening here? This makes NO sense at all! Continue reading
Book Review: The Guide to the Territories of Halla
The Guide to the Territories of Halla by D.J. MacHale
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I expected more from this book. It’s basically an intro summary of each of the first 5 books in the series, with some illustrations of various characters and settings. But it’s nothing I didn’t already know from reading the books. There’s not any new or interesting information about the series, and I was hoping for more details on the various territories, or even short stories of the characters’ backstory/past.
Disappointing and very short. I LOVE the Pendragon series, so I was really hoping for more.
Graphic Novel Review: The Merchant of Death
The Merchant of Death Graphic Novel by D.J. MacHale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I loved this graphic novel of one of my favorite books! Revisiting the first book in the series in a different format was wonderful! Bobby is still as hilarious and goofy as ever, Press is mysterious and wise, and Loor is all anger and sass.
Bobby Pendragon gets whisked away to another universe by his mysterious Uncle Press, and with the help of other Travelers, tries to help a tribe of poor miners start a revolution or find justice through peace. But the evil Saint Dane is determined to push the war in his own favor, and destroy the world of Denduron. Continue reading
Book Review: Thursdays with the Crown
Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In this third book of the series, Celie and her siblings and friends are whisked away to the mysterious land where the Castle came from. Evil wizards, poisoned lakes, and griffins abound, and Celie has to figure out what the truth is about the Castle’s history to find a way to get back home, save the griffins, and heal the Castle.
I didn’t like this book quite as much as the others, since there was a lot of confusion about who was lying and who was telling half-truths about the past. It made for a confusing plot, and I couldn’t tell who was Arkish and who was Hathelocke, who had control of the Castle first or who first trained griffins.
Also instead of sneaking through secret passageways in the Castle for some whimsical fun, the characters are mostly trekking through forest, starving, and hiding inside a massive crypt/tomb. This book is a little darker than the others. Continue reading
Book Review: Wednesdays in the Tower
Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another wonderful book in this series! I loved the first book so much, and wondered what direction the author would take next, and I was astounded with the magical scope of the story! Castle Glower holds so many secrets and magical enigmas, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books.
In this book, Celie finds a mysterious orange egg that the Castle will let only her see. She hatches the egg, and cares for the newborn creature without letting anyone in the castle know about it. But her brother Bran, the Royal Wizard, finds Celie with her quickly-growing and mischievous pet, and the two have to find a way to protect the magical baby, and somehow protect the Castle from threats as well. Continue reading
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