Literary Stress

The majority of the next few books were for a conference I attended in October. I was a procrastinator and read them all in a mad rush. But since I'm also crazy, I decided to read other books for my own pleasure which only added to the stress I was feeling.

New Suicide Squad Vol 3: Freedom by Sean Ryan
4 STARS

I still don't care for Amanda Waller and her motives on anything but she was very entertaining in taking down Vic. She works well with Task Force X because she's like them, doing what she's good at and feeling stuck where she is. They can't go anywhere and neither can she. She's just not behind a prison cell. Harley Quinn continues to have her identity crisis. After the last volume, she doesn't know who she should be and want she wants out of life. It's starting to affect her job performance. I'ma bit sad this series only have four volumes but I'm eager to see how this story arc wraps up.






It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
4 STAR RATING

• Zomorod feels like she doesn’t fit in with regular American girls, feels ashamed of her parents (mostly her mother)
• Changed name to Cindy so she wouldn’t stick out as much
• Diverse protagonist
• Cindy never gives up on making friends, eventually succeeds at her new school
• Cindy’s family doesn’t give up on wanting a better life for their daughter

FINALLY I'VE FINISHED THIS DAMN BOOK. I really liked Cindy as a character but I had a hard time completely losing myself in the novel. The short chapters helped keep in intrigued but failed to hold onto my interest. Towards the end of the story, the timeline gets condensed and loses the impact of the family being able to stay in America. I enjoyed the aspect that this was semi autobiographical. It helped make the story all the more real to me.





Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
5 STAR RATING


• Nimona and Blackheart are at odds with the Institute and how society views
• Blackheart is at odds with the role of villain since he was originally supposed to be a hero
• Goldenloin is at odds with staying away from Blackheart and not viewing him as a friend
• Great artwork, translates well from the web series
• For an older teen audience

Just a great graphic novel for anyone 14 an up. I can see being totally addicted to this as a web series and I'm glad it was turned into a novel. Stevenson left a few questions unanswered but it didn't take away from the reading experience at all. Plus, I listened to some of the audio book and it was freaking epic. It had a full on production so the amazing art wouldn't get lost in the adaptation.






Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune
2 STAR RATING


I read this all in one day and I think that detracted from my full enjoyment of the experience. Turner tries her hardest to make a historic biography not come across as boring and she succeeded up to a point. The story itself is very dense and doesn't give itself room to breath. I was also hoping for more art to go along with the story. The small amount I did see left me wanting more.









The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

3 STAR RATING


My original rating was 4 stars but I took one away with my rereading. I didn't find the book as charming as I once did. The characters were still relatable up to a point. I liked the romance between Alona and Will. They played well off of each other. I have no idea where the trilogy could go from here. The relationship has to end when one of them is a ghost. I'm afraid the second book will lose momentum.