Nimona by Noelle Stevenson ~ Impeccable Reviews

Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Hardcover (from Library)
Page Count: 266

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.

 Now this is the graphic novel I have been waiting for! If you have read any of my previous graphic novel reviews on this blog, you might know that I usually don't enjoy them as much as I would like or as much as a normal novel, and I have been on the hunt for a graphic novel that just surprises me. One that would fill up my fanatic fiction reader glass and Nimona was finally the one. It did not only fill my fanatic fiction reader glass to the brim, but that stuff overflowed onto the table! I honestly didn't know I could enjoy graphic novels like this, but Nimona has shown me I can and I will not be giving up on graphic novels anytime soon.

White Sand by Brandon Sanderson ~ Impeccable Reviews

Series: White Sand #1
Publication Date: July 5, 2015
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Format: eARC (from Netgalley)
Page Count: 160

A brand new saga of magic and adventure by #1 New York Times best-selling author Brandon Sanderson. On the planet of Taldain, the legendary Sand Masters harness arcane powers to manipulate sand in spectacular ways. But when they are slaughtered in a sinister conspiracy, the weakest of their number, Kenton, believes himself to be the only survivor. With enemies closing in on all sides, Kenton forges an unlikely partnership with Khriss -- a mysterious Darksider who hides secrets of her own. White Sand brings to life a crucial, unpublished part of Brandon Sanderson's sprawling Cosmere universe. The story has been adapted by Rik Hoskin (Mercy Thompson), with art by Julius Gopez and colors by Ross Campbell. Employing powerful imagery and Sanderson's celebrated approach to magical systems, White Sand is a spectacular new saga for lovers of fantasy and adventure.

 I was super excited to see this Graphic Novel on Netgalley after reading Brandon Sanderson's book, The Rithmatist, a while back and it being one of my new favorite fantasy novels. This world of different groups or people with powerful magic systems drew me into reading the book, but I have to say that unfortunately, White Sand didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Maus Volumes 1 & 2 by Art Spielgelman

Series: Maus #1
Publication Date: November 1, 1991
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Genre: Adult Graphic Novel, Biography
Format: Paperback (from local library)
Page Count: 159

A story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself.

Series: Maus #2

Publication Date: September 1, 1992

Publisher: Pantheon Books

Genre: Adult Graphic Novel, Biography

Format: Paperback (from local library)

Page Count: 136

Acclaimed as a quiet triumph and a brutally moving work of art, the first volume of Art Spieglman's Maus introduced readers to Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist trying to come to terms with his father, his father's terrifying story, and History itself. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), succeeds perfectly in shocking us out of any lingering sense of familiararity with the events described, approaching, as it does, the unspeakable through the diminutive. This second volume, subtitled And Here My Troubles Began, moves us from the barracks of Auschwitz to the bungalows of the Catskills. Genuinely tragic and comic by turns, it attains a complexity of theme and a precision of thought new to comics and rare in any medium. Maus ties together two powerful stories: Vladek's harrowing tale of survival against all odds, delineating the paradox of daily life in the death camps, and the author's account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. At every level this is the ultimate survivor's tale - and that too of the children who somehow survive even the survivors.

The Maus Volumes are graphic novels written and drawn by Art Spielgelman to share his parents' holocaust survival story with the world. Now let me just start out by saying these have to be the best graphic novels I have read in my life so far. All I knew going into these novels was that they had to do with the Holocaust and the Jews were depicted as mice and the Nazis as cats. As soon as I heard this, it went straight to my priority to-read list.

I loved how Art Spielgelman chose to tell his parents' story. These graphic novels play out in that you start out by viewing Artie as he is talking to his father and asking him to narrate his holocaust stories, and as his father narrates, we then get to see everything that happened to him in his horrifying holocaust journey. I really enjoyed this because we got to see both the present situation in the lives of both Artie and his father as well as the past holocaust experiences from his father's POV.

The events Artie's parents had to endure during the Holocaust are sickening and absolutely horrible. Just knowing all of it is true is what makes it even more awful. Through out the novels we even get insight into Artie's struggles of growing up as a child of Holocaust survivors. I was surprised at first to see in between there were a few parts that made me laugh and served as a bit of comic relief after page after page of violence and grief, but it was greatly appreciated. I was not sure how I would enjoy different groups of people being represented as animals, but it all was executed beautifully. While the black and white artwork style might not seem stunning, it worked very well with the the story's plot and tone.

I think what I respected most about these graphic novels is how elaborate and brutally honest they were. By the end of the story, I felt as if I could really see all the main characters for who they really were. Yes these books are very depressing at times and I cried more than once, but the story was also funny and enlightening as well. I am usually not a fan of graphic novels or comics because I always feel a bit empty...as if it is missing some depth and detail to it, but I definitely did not feel this way about these two books.

Conclusion: I would definitely recommend the Maus graphic novels to everyone. I have to warn you that main story line is very sad and sickening, but the good thing is that these novels still have a hopeful aspect to them and are beautifully executed.

My Rating:

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral (Illustrator) ~ Impeccable Reviews

Publication Date: February 2, 2012

Publisher: Razorbill

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Format: Library Book

Page Count: 272

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks."

My Review

This book was such a cool idea! It is the story of this teen prodigy who is pushed to her limits by her over aspiring dad. Glory's young teen love and her escape from all the madness and pressure of fame were to play before my eyes as the whole story was beautifully told by mostly pictures alone. Sounds great right? Yeah well that's what I thought too but....not so much.

Before I begin to sound cynical I want to let you guys know that I DO believe this book is very unique and the pictures were well done. Each page featured pages of a newspaper, items belonging to the characters, letters between the protagonist and the love interest, photographs, room posters, etc. It was a story in collage form and each visual was beautifully laid out to build the story. Unfortunately, it was the execution of the plot that was the disappointment for me.

It's hard making a book out of pictures. It is equivalent to creating a movie without sound. The book just left me feeling kind of empty. I feel like the plot had too many holes and missing pieces. The pictures really did not do the story justice and I believe they even took away from the plot's depth. I just wish I could go back and read this story in only text form so I can grasp the whole magnitude of what the author and illustrators had in mind to portray because just by pictures alone, I completely missed it. It is hard to explain but....it felt like the wrong match. It felt like a beautifully done picture book meant for another plotline and a beautifully thought up plot meant to be told in a style other than mainly visuals. (If that makes any sense.)

Then there was the romance that had instalove written all over it. The issue is, I don't think it was actually meant to be instalove (or who knows I could be wrong), but all I know is on one page this guy just moved in and on the next he and Glory are dying to hang out with the each other. Like really??? What did I miss? When and how did they even meet? Then from there they are inseparable and burning with love through letters and IM messages. Oh and the love interest (I don't even remember his name lol) can't stand the idea of Glory leaving him for a while, but it's okay when he wants to return back to South America permanently. Seriously??? Let me just stop there. I think you get the picture.

So basically this was a very quick, but interesting book to say the least. I am glad I read it because I loved the idea of a story told pretty much through physical things. I also liked the plot idea and thought the synopsis was very intriguing. I just wasn't too fond of these things being fused together. I guess the overall conclusion really is: This book was not created for someone like me who enjoys written words and has trouble gaining full meaning out of pictures.

My Rating:

3 out of 5 stars

(For uniqueness)

Two Days After Writing This Review

Early this morning I had a revelation while flipping through this book and scanning its Goodreads reviews out of curiosity that made me jump up and head straight for my laptop to edit this review. My first instinct was to delete it all together to cover up my initial stupidity, but I decided against it. I made a blunder...a big one. I being the slow, visually challenged person I am did not realize I completely missed the point of this novel. I had missed the whole twist that made the book and its story brilliant. I am really kicking myself right now because I DON'T KNOW HOW ON EARTH I MISSED IT. I even read the synopsis after reading the book which does contain a slight spoiler in its last line (don't worry I did not include it). The confusion I had while reading the story and the synopsis together should of tipped me off but it didn't. My only hope is that most of you reading this are A.) Not as slow as me B.) Have not become bored and skipped over this part of the review AND C.) Will be willing to still give this book a try because it really is obvious how well done it is when you are able to see the real story for what it really is. I do not want to spoil the book for any of you who have not read it, but Chopsticks is honestly so clever and beautiful and intriguing. I was just not able to see it the first time around.

My Amended Rating:
4 out of 5 stars

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Strange Fruit, Volume I: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History by Joel Christian Gill ~ Impeccable Reviews

Publication Date: June 3, 2014

Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Genre: Young Adult, Graphic Novel, Nonfiction

Format: eARC (Edelweiss)

Page Count: 176

Strange Fruit, Volume I is a collection of stories from African American history that exemplifies success in the face of great adversity. This unique graphic anthology offers historical and cultural commentary on nine uncelebrated heroes whose stories are not often found in history books. Among the stories included are: Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped from slavery by mailing himself to Philadelphia; Alexander Crummel and the Noyes Academy, the first integrated school in America, established in the 1830s; Marshall "Major" Taylor, a.k.a. the Black Cyclone, the first black champion in any sport; and Bass Reeves, the most successful lawman in the Old West. Written and illustrated by Joel Christian Gill, the diverse art beautifully captures the spirit of each remarkable individual and opens a window into an important part of American history.

My Review

Strange Fruit, Volume I: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History (other than having a long title) is a graphic novel of nine stories from African American History. Each one is told simply and usually with humor. When I first saw this book I knew I wanted to read it and I am honestly glad I did.

Let me be completely honest with you guys. At the beginning, I was not fond of this book. I even considered DNFing (lol) the book at one point, but I forced myself to keep going and it is a good thing that I did. I think it was just the first few stories and the style they were written in that were not too appealing to me. I felt as if they were written over-simplified as if the novel was geared towards younger children, but at the same time with random pretentious words sprinkled in here and there. I also found it ironic that simple words were defined while bigger, more complicated words I did not understand were not, but I guess that probably was tactfully done this way. Now don't get me wrong the actually history in these first few stories was good, but it was just how they were told that I disliked. The text in these few was a little too tiny for my liking as well.

Moving from about the 3rd story to the fourth was like a drastic improvement. The stories suddenly became more engaging and I was not able to put the book down from there until it was finished. The style used to tell the first few stories was left behind and the new style (I felt at least) was much better and well put together. Even the text improved. All the historic tales were told with eloquence and in a way that kept me interested. It really pleasantly surprised me how the book just shifted into a great reading experience.

The graphics from this book were interesting as well. I am not sure if the finished copy looks the same compared to the e-galley, but for the most part I really liked the drawing style. The only thing that really bothered me here was that I felt the skin color of the African Americans was way too dark. Yeah I'm talking real dark, like I can only make out the eyes dark. That being said this might be a problem unique to the e-galley format and not a problem for the finished copy.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this graphic novel. It is unique and for the most part very well done. I really would recommend it to everyone because it's a nice, quick, and easy nonfiction read. Honestly, this would probably be a 4 star and above book if it was not for the first few stories I did not enjoy.

My Rating:

3 out of 5 stars

Cover Rating:

3 out of 3 stars