Novel Review: A Monster Calls: Inspired by an Idea from Siobhan Dowd, by Patrick Ness and Illustrated by Jim Kay

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy, grief

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Release Date: 2013

Spoilers?: Light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

The Cover:

The cover is dark and haunting, using the same artwork as throughout the book, which I think is actually very fitting. Thinking back on the book, it doesn't particularly feel like those adjectives, and yet the artwork feels very fitting to the story anyway.

Review:

Conor's mother has cancer, again, and she's doing worse than she used to. At the same time, Conor's being bullied at school, and now his grandmother is visiting again, and they don't really get along, either. During all of this, Conor suddenly starts seeing this giant monster at night, causing destruction and conflicts, and telling him these twisted stories.

I really liked the way that Conor meets the monster, how he's absolutely not afraid of him; he's facing much scarier things, and I love the meaning behind that. The stories that the monster tells him, too; they're unique and with a surprise ending each time, which Conor hates, and I love them. They're dark sometimes, and thoughtful, and very important to what Conor needs to learn. It's similar to the meaning behind his bullying, and how he kind of needed Harry to do these things. Their fight was very satisfying, honestly, and it needed to happen. I understood Conor's need, too, for things to go back to normal, for him to feel normal and be treated fairly, not pitied.

This story was really heartbreaking, honestly. Conor's struggle was hard and honest and rough, and no one around him was truly seeing it. The ending, too... It's heartbreaking, and his final confrontation with the monster was honest and brutal, and it made me cry.

These kinds of stories are just brutal, and sad, and necessary. This was a beautiful story, honestly, so thoughtful and well-written and meaningful. I'm glad I finally read it, and I think it's a very important story for a lot of people; that some people might need this exact story.

Novel Review: Kissing Brendan Callahan by Susan Amesse

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Genre: MG Contemporary

Publisher: Deborah Brodie Books (Roaring Brook Press)

Release Date: 2005

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Like many girls who read, Sarah wants to be a writer -- a best-selling author of romances. Her plan is to enter a local teen writing contest to be judged by romance writer Antonia DeMarco (author of Enraptured Thorns in My Heart) and win first place by dazzling Antonia with her passionate and soulful writing. What could go wrong? Mom won't let Sarah enter the contest, that's what. Then along comes Brendan Callahan, a rule-breaking boy she has never liked. Will Sarah let Brendan teach her to stand up for herself?

The Cover:

I am just extremely unimpressed with this cover. It's not eye-catching or nice to look at. The picture and the font just look amateurish. I do think that the picture represents an important symbol or scene in the book, and I'm annoyed with how it contrasts the title, but otherwise I don't care for it.

Review:

This was a pretty average, very middle grade, book.

First of all, I don’t like the title, at all. It’s emphasizing the romance, which is not the most important, or the most present, part of the book.

The age of the characters and their maturity level is definitely middle grade, but not in a bad way. It was overly angsty, but middle school like.

Sarah wants to be an author, and she has the potential. I do like that her trying for the contest wasn’t unrealistic, and the outcome of it made sense. I liked that her unreliability was shown and made her learn that she doesn’t know everything. The author that she meets drove me insane, though. She was a horrible person, a bad influence, and I hated how selfish she was, and that she didn’t really get a consequence for it.

I liked some of the messages and the way certain things were portrayed. I didn’t really care for the romance, or the humor of Brendan, as it was very elementary and not original at all, and he seemed pretty one-dimensional. Overall, it was a pretty average read for me, though. I’m not really in the age group for it anymore, though.

Manga Review: Yotsuba&!, Volume 6, by Kiyohiko Azuma

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: 2009

Volumes: 12+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 5. 7. 12.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiike, Yotsuba’s getting a biiiiiike!! Didja know the wheels of a bike go round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and roun — oh, Yotsuba’s getting dizzy…whoooooa…

Review:

I wasn’t planning on reviewing another volume until I was all caught up, but I’m in a standstill until I get more, and just really needed to express my love for this series some more. I wasn’t completely bought in the first volume, but now I am.

I completely love and adore Yotsuba, as a series and a character. Yotsuba is adorable and so hilarious, and I love the way everyone goes along with her. She’s not in school yet, and so pretty much just hangs out with her father and her neighbors all day, getting into trouble and having fun. Her father has rules, and she does get in trouble when she breaks them (like how she got grounded when she rode her bike too far out of the neighborhood on her own), but for the most part he lets her do what she wants (like jumping on him). And then she’ll get play ideas in her head, like someone’s a bad guy or that a cardboard robot is real, and everyone will just go along with it. They want her to stay happy and oblivious, and I love it.

This is pretty much just a comedic series, with story for at least a chapter and long-running jokes, and some four panel strips. But it’s hilarious, and everything Yotsuba does is adorable, and just plain has me grinning at this point.

I can’t wait to get my hands on the rest of this series, and am so glad I decided to catch up on this one first.

Manga Review: Jaco the Galactic Patrolman by Akira Toriyama

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January 2015

Volumes: 1.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Akira Toriyama, manga legend and creator of Dragon Ball Z, is back with the quirky comedy Jaco the Galactic Patrolman! Retired scientist Omori lives alone on a deserted island while continuing his research into time-travel. His quiet life is interrupted when galactic patrolman Jaco crash-lands and decided to move in with him. Can Jaco get along with the old man long enough to save the earth from a dangerous threat? Includes a special bonus chapter introducing Dragon Ball Z hero Goku's parents!

Review:

I don’t read many books like this, and I’ve only read one other book in the Dragon Ball series. And so I am again surprised by how much fun this book was.

This is an All Ages book, with a more childish exaggerated humor, made for kids, cheesy. It’s that way on purpose, and it does it excellently.

This book stars Jaco, a galactic patrolman who crash lands on Earth. He’s a little full of himself, klutzy, offhandedly stating he could destroy Earth with one button, not sure if humans are worth saving. He’s quite fun to watch, honestly.

He meets an old man who is trying to make a time machine. He meets a rich girl who wants some adventure. They go on a couple crazy adventures together.

It’s cheesy, it’s fast, it’s quite funny. I’m surprised by how much I liked reading this, and am honestly now debating on  watching or reading Toriyama’s other books. This was fun, and I kind of want more.

I also want to note that there’s some mentions of the beginning of the Dragon Ball series, including a little prequel chapter. I understood their significance, I think, but I’m sure it would mean more to people who have actually read or watched the series, as I have not.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, and Erik Jansen from MediaLab PR. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Tokyo Mew Mew, Omnibus 3, by Reiko Yoshida and Mia Ikumi

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics (Previously Tokyopop)

Release Date: 2012

Volumes: 7; 3 omnibus

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. a la Mode.

Goodreads Synopsis:

CAT-ASTROPHE!

Tokyo Mew Mew - the crime-fighting collection of girls imbued with the power of cat DNA  - face their greatest battle ever to save their beloved city of Tokyo. Arch-villian Deep Blue reveals a startling secret, and Ichigo and Masaya reveal their true feelings to each other. Will they survive long enough to celebrate their love? Find out in the thrilling conclusion to Tokyo Mew Mew! This omnibus edition contains volumes 5, 6, and 7 of Tokyo Mew Mew!

Includes special extras after the story!

FINAL VOLUME!

Review:

So. Um. This series was… yea.

I didn’t dislike it, for sure. But I also definitely didn’t love it. I wanted to, though, and thought I would like it more. Sadly, I didn’t.

I did like the story, and the character’s weren’t too bad. I wanted to read to the end, to see how it all wrapped up. The ending was a little cheesy, and seemed to work a little too well, but it was all right. The romance was actually all right, for the most part. I wanted to see how it all concluded.

I’ve watched about half of the anime at this point (it’s taken me, like, five plus years, but still), and I think it’s done better than the manga, though. The characters are given more time to develop, especially the minor-characters. It also seems less immature, and more cute magic-girl. So, better.

The writing here was immature and exaggerated. I’m not sure if the translations aren’t as good as Kodansha’s more recent series, but I think it might just be the author’s writing.

The characters are also hugely immature. Ichigo is immature and whiny and exaggerated. Ichigo freaks out over everything. She falls in love with Aoyama pretty much immediately, with no reason given, even after they start hanging out. There’s no real chemistry between them, at least to me. I think mostly, though, it was very one-dimensional. There wasn’t any real development or reasons or chemistry. It was very surface-level, all the way through the series.

There were hints of chemistry between Ichigo and Ryo, but that kind of fizzled by the end of the series. The other Mews were pretty much ignored for the entire series. They were given no development, very-little-to-no background, and seemed pretty much useless without Ichigo during the fighting. It was ridiculous, and a bit annoying. The fight scenes were hard to follow, too.

Honestly, I’m disappointed. I was expecting it to be a little immature and exaggerated, but not this much. I was expecting more development. I’m glad that I picked it up, and that I finished the series so I could finally see how it ends. I might go finish the anime now, though, since I know it has more development than this did. I do still want to pick up the Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode omnibus, as well. I read the first volume way back when and really enjoyed it.

I would probably recommend this to a middle-school and elementary age girly person. I think I would have liked it more at that age, in particular.