Review: Lips Touch by Laini Taylor

Lips Touch | Laini Taylor | Hodder and Stoughton Short Story Collection | Source: Bookbridgr | 266 pages | Young Adult | Fantasy
Release Date: October 24th, 2013
ISBN13: 9780545055857
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis

In Victorian times, goblin men had only to offer young girls sumptuous fruits to tempt them to sell their souls. But what does it take to tempt today’s savvy girls?

Spicy Little Curses
A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.

Hatchling
Six days before Esme’s fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?

Review

I have been a huge fan of Laini Taylor for a number of years now. I need to get a move on and finish her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series but what I have read of that, I have enjoyed. When I found out that Laini’s short story collection was being published again, I basically asked the publishers how high they wanted me to jump!

I usually stay away from short story collections but this one was definitely worth the chance I gave it. This collection consists of three short stories where a kiss proves to be a turning point in someone life, albeit for the better or for the worst.

Goblin Fruit follows the story of creatures that try and obtain the souls of young girls. It is incredibly dark and majestic. The pacing was brilliant for a short story and I adored the ending. Not my favourite of the three but it was a great read and so eerie!

Spicy Little Curses was hands down my favourite of the three short stories. It follows the story of a cursed English girl whose voice kills anyone who is unfortunate enough to hear it. I found it cruel that this person was essentially a grenade in waiting. Again, I adored the ending and I honestly think that this could easily become a series.

Hatchling was my least favourite story by far. I can’t comment too much as I found it difficult to follow and I couldn’t even tell you what the story was about. I think that there was something wrong with me as opposed to the novel but I couldn’t work with this story at all. It definitely wasn’t the best way to end something that I initially enjoyed so much!

I think two out of three stories isn’t half bad when it comes to a short collection. If you love Laini’s writing style, you will definitely love these reads!

Goodreads Average: 3.84/5 (out of 7,111 ratings)

This novel was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

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Graphic Novel Review: Marvel Adaptations – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice | Original work by Jane Austen | Adapted by Nancy Butler & Illustrated by Hugo Petrus | Marvel Comics | 4 Stars | Source: Bought | 114 pages | Collects Issues #1-#5
Classics | Romance
Release Date: October 28th, 2009
ISBN13: 9780785139157
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis:

“An adaptation of the original by Jane Austen that tells of Lizzy Bennet and her loveable, eccentric family as they navigate through tricky British social circles.”

Review:

As some of you may know, I have just recently got in to graphic novels. I was told by a few friends that the best way to get in to them is to check out adaptations of books you have already read instead of original works. With that in mind, I went to Goodreads and found this!

This is a review of the adaptation more than P&P since I would not know where to start reviewing that since I loved it so much!

This graphic novel sits at just over 100 pages has just under 300 so a considerable amount of the books has had to be taken out. Some of the descriptions have obviously been thrown and Mrs. Bennett’s nerves aren’t mentioned as much. In terms of maintaining the original story arc, I think it does this perfectly. In the same week I read this, I listened to the audiobook, watched the miniseries and watched the film so I had most of the book to memory.

If there is anything I remember Pride and Prejudice for, it is for how genuinely funny and witty it is. This adaptation definitely maintains that. I still laughed at Lizzy’s commentary and Mrs Bennetts hysteria.

Small note on the illustrations. For the most part, they are beautiful. The cover is kind of deceiving since the inside is not like that.  The only thing I found of putting was the fact that characters facial expressions were incredibly harsh. This works perfect for characters like Mr. Darcy or Lady Catharine, but when it came to the Bennett sisters (arguably apart from Mary!) It didn’t suit them at all. This only happens a few times in the comic so it is not too bad!

All in all, I think this is a great adaptation. I think it is good for lovers of P&P and also for those who have yet to read it and find the whole classic thing daunting like I do sometimes. I wish I had this back when I was studying the novel in school. The small overview would have been nice! I will definitely check out the rest of the Marvel Classics adaptations!

Goodreads Average: 3.76/5 (out of 2,720 ratings)

EXTRAS:

This originally came out in 5 separate volumes and in the back of this bindup of there were the covers for all of them. Here are two of my favourites.

 

 

Review: Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh

Shovel Ready | Adam Sternbergh | Headline Publishing Shovel Ready #1 | Source: Review (Bookbridgr) | 256 pages | Adult | Fantasy | Dystopia 
Release Date: January 24th, 2014
Goodreads

Goodreads Synopsis:

“I don’t want to know your reasons. I don’t care. Think of me as a bullet. Just point.’

Spademan used to be a garbage man. That was before the dirty bomb hit Times Square, before his wife was killed, before New York became a burnt-out shell. Now the wealthy escape grim reality by spending their days tapped into a virtual world; the rest of the population has to fend for itself on the streets. Now there’s nothing but garbage.

So Spademan became a hit man. He doesn’t ask questions, he works quickly, and he’s very handy with a box-cutter.

When he’s hired to kill the daughter of a high-profile evangelist, Spademan’s life is upended. To survive, he will have to navigate two worlds – the slick fantasy world of the elite and the wasteland reality of the rest of the city’s inhabitants – to finish the job, clear his conscience, and make sure he’s not the one who winds up in the ground.”

Review:

I had never seen this novel around until I picked it up on the Bookbridgr site. Set in a dystopian New York City where bombings have destroyed the city and a new society has formed, this definitely seemed the book for me. In short although I was not a huge fan of some elements, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Negatives out of the way first, the writing style was a huge case of hit and miss for me. Although it was more hit than miss in the end, I sometimes felt so lost when it came to the dialogue. There is little to no punctuation and while reading it is incredibly choppy (choppy in the best way possible). It is very snappy and to the point. This meant that world building was so on point, however, me attempting to follow some of the dialogue, not so much.

One of my favourite parts of the novel was the “Limnosphere”. A form of virtual reality, if you will. Before the bombs struck it was just a small part of some peoples everyday lives, now, the majority of who is left have retired to it full time. I found the whole logistics behind it so interesting!

Just a quick shout out to Spademan, our main character. I think he is one of the few characters who have been so well introduced that have made me empathize with an assassin. The novel is from his point of view and as I said before, the world building from him was spot on. I also loved how he had a certain levels of ethics when it came to executing his assassinations. Small bits of info that in the grand scheme of things may not have been needed but I still was more than happy to have!

Overall, this a solid start to a series and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I am truly looking forward to see where this series goes!

Goodreads Average: 3.48/5 (out of 1,683 ratings)