paranormal – Page 2 – My Book Joy

Review: RWBY The Official Manga 1 by Bunta Kinami

Posted on April 10, 2020April 11, 2020 by Jennifer

RWBY THE OFFICIAL MANGA 1 by Bunta Kinami – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great to read, but some visuals that were difficult to parse out into elements and movement.
Expected Release: July 21, 2020

Recommended: yes!
For those who like the supernatural-hunter kind of manga, for very clearly defined character personalities, for some intriguing lore and monsters, and of course for anyone who’s seen the Rooster Teeth production it’s based on

Summary:
In the world of Remnant, monsters known as Grimm wreak havoc. They’re kept in check by Huntsmen and Huntresses, highly skilled warriors experienced in monster extermination who utilize their special abilities on the field of battle. Ruby is a ferociously talented young girl who comes to Beacon Academy to hone her skills and serve as a Huntress herself. Alongside her sister Yang Xiao Long, rival Weiss Schnee and newfound friend Blake Belladonna, Ruby leads Team RWBY, the coolest new group at Beacon! Ruby takes her first step on the road to becoming a Huntress by enrolling at Beacon Academy, eager to take on the battery of tests, challenges and difficulties that follow. Ruby knows her talents will take her to her goal, but is she ready to clash with Weiss Schnee, haughty scion of the Schnee Dust Company?

Thoughts:
I’m in an unusual position I think, as I have been aware of this series since it started with Rooster Teeth. However at that time I didn’t enjoy the animation style they used, and wasn’t able to watch more than a few episodes before being turned off despite what seemed like a promising plot. So when I heard there was a manga version of it… WELL. That sounded perfect – I could finally get the story without the animation!

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Reviews

Review: Curse of the Worgen by Micky Neilson

Posted on January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 by Jennifer

Curse of the Worgen by Micky Neilson – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Loved it! It was so fun to get the detailed story that you play through when starting as a worgen in WoW. There are parallels through each, but details in this one that add so much to the story. And Genn is such an inspiring badass.

Recommended: yes!
If you’ve played a worgen this will be familiar but give more detail and background, for fans of the series who want gorgeous art on a dark, dramatic, and intense storyline, for a darkly illustrated story about werewolves and a city on the brink of desctruction

Summary:
The world’s most popular massively multiplayer online videogame continues its exodus into comics with this new graphic novel. The best-selling WORLD OF WARCRAFT comic series returns in time for a worldwide cataclysm! A series of grisly, animalistic murders have rocked the walled town of Gilneas. A famous detective sets out to discover the perpetrators and finds far more than he bargained for. To find the truth, he must delve through years of twisted history – both the history of his family and Gilneas itself.

Thoughts:
My first character in World of Warcraft was a worgen, so the starting area quests for that are really stuck up in my head. Seeing those quests and moments drawn and woven into the comic was like a return to an old friend. Even without that background coming into this, the story is undeniably dramatic – how could an infestation of werewolves and undead at the gates not be? Betrayal, self-discovery, old enemies, new friends… it sounds cliche, but it’s actually fantastic.

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Reviews

Review: Sons of Fire by Tracy Auerbach

Posted on January 8, 2020January 8, 2020 by Jennifer

Sons of Fire by Tracy Auerbach – ⭐⭐⭐

Recommended: sure
For the standard fun of watching a non-human have to adjust to becoming human, for a new imagining of Hell (and Lucifer, who takes an unusual personality)

Summary:
Keegan has always been the unfortunate by-product of his brother’s creation. Their father, the Demon King of Fire, grooms Keegan’s brother Aidan as his heir while merely tolerating Keegan and his shameful emotions. But when his father tries a power grab in Hell, it ends with Keegan and Aidan being cast to Earth with a challenge of humanity. If they fail, they will both be cast into the abyss. Forced to work together with their roles reveresed, Keegan struggles with newfound demonic power while Aidan is blasted with human emotion. Navigating this new world while trying to save themselves is hard enough, but they begin to uncover secrets that leave them asking: what is their father truly planning with this challenge?

Thoughts:
This was both exactly what I expected, and not what I expected, which ended up evening out into an okay read. When our two protags get to Earth and find out how their roles have been reversed, I was drooling a bit like “Oh yeah, this is what I’ve been waiting for!” But then for a while it felt like any other standard teen story where the main characters struggle with fitting in and having a crush.

For demons from Hell, this change felt weirdly simplistic; it was hard for me to accept the abrupt switch with so few ramifications of their original natures. Granted, this is addressed and it got easier to accept throughout, but I had been anticipating some more dire situations given powerful demon Princes of Fire were walking Earth….

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Sons of Fire Update

Currently reading Sons of Fire by Tracy Auerbach (thanks Netgalley) and it’s both what I expected and not at the same time. I think I was imagining something a little more grandiose, with larger stakes for the world. I mean, you’ve got two Princes of Fire running loose on Earth, and that seems like a significant issue when their primary energy force is human souls.

It’s smaller scale than that, but it does have the fun “learning-to-be-human” aspect of it. I’m grateful that’s present, as it’s always entertaining. I just want there to be more to it, more depth to hold my interest.

These are demons; I don’t want this to end up feeling like a typical high school crush novel. That said… this quote made me absolutely crack up. 😂

I would set all the world’s lands ablaze or boil the seas if you asked me to. I have the power, you know. I’m a Prince. A Fire prince.
Sons of Fire by Tracy Auerbach; Aidan, attempting pick-up lines while smashed

PS – this is releasing tomorrow, for anyone interested in a copy!

Reviews

Review: Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garci

Posted on January 4, 2020January 5, 2020 by Jennifer

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended: yup
For an impressive standalone whether you know everything or nothing about the universe, for likable and dynamic characters, for a clever use of the art to convey elements of story

Be ready for a lot of purple and hidden ravens

Summary:
When a tragic accident takes the life of 17-year-old Raven Roth’s foster mom—and Raven’s memory—she moves to New Orleans to recover and finish her senior year of high school. Starting over isn’t easy. Raven remembers everyday stuff like how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can’t remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. And when impossible things start happening, Raven begins to think it might even be better not to know who she was before. But as she grows closer to her new friends, her foster sister, Max, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she’s ready to face what’s buried in the past… and the darkness building inside her.

Thoughts:
I fell in love with the cartoon “Teen Titans” when I was a kid, so I was pretty excited to see this graphic novel come out. I didn’t know much about Raven’s actual story, and was excited to get some details. From the author’s notes, it sounds like they might have changed or adapted some aspects from the original, so if you’re a diehard fan who knows the story keep an open mind.

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Reviews

Review: Noblesse: Season 1, Set by Son Jae Ho

Posted on December 23, 2019December 31, 2019 by Jennifer

Noblesse: Season 1, Set by Son Jae Ho – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended: yep
For an unexpectedly funny tale woven with darkness and ethics, for wonderfully complex characters who grow and change your heart

Summary:
He awakens. For 820 years he has slumbered with no knowledge of mankind’s advancements and scientific achievments. The land which he once knew has become an unfamiliar place with new technologies, attitudes, and lifestyles. Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (Rai), while seeking to familiarize himself with this era, somehow locates a loyal servant of his, Frankenstein, who is currently the principal of a South Korean high school. Rai decides that this high school would be the perfect place to help him learn about the new world. He enrolls, and suddenly becomes the friend of Shinwoo, an immature teenager who is also a master martial artist. But this new world is no safer than the old, and the dignified, bewildered, technologically illiterate Rai finds himself caught up in adventures both ridiculous and dangerous.

Thoughts:
The bandaid on his nose has got to go. Sorry – just had to get that out! It’s been driving me crazy! Though with that out of the way, I can focus on everything that I liked, which was pretty much everything else.

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Reviews

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

Posted on November 27, 2019November 24, 2019 by Jennifer

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommended: Yes!
For a world full of creative systems and imaginings, for a a breakneck adventure that goes between realms and countries, for the best trip to Hell or a library you’ll probably ever have

I don’t want to tell you how long it was before I noticed the arm coming out of rip.

Summary, from Goodreads:
Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job is mainly repairing and organizing books, but also keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of muse-turned-assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto. But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil’s Bible. The text of the Devil’s Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell … and Earth.

Thoughts:
So if I liked it so much, why not five stars? I just want to get this out of the way so I can gush about everything I loved. I didn’t feel very attached to the characters, for whatever reason. There was plenty done to build them, it just didn’t click for me. Rami and Hero were my faves, but even then it was still a bit lukewarm. Claire did nothing for me, and with her being our main leading lady, that took away from it a bit.

But you know what made this OUTSTANDING? So many things. Let’s see if I can cram them all in here.

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Cover Roulette

Cover Roulette: City of Bones

Posted on October 3, 2019July 7, 2021 by Jennifer

I did my first cover roulette post a little while ago for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and it was so fun I wanted to do another! Luckily I found another popular series that has had many different editions made, and I wondered…

What other awesome covers have I missed?

Tonight’s featured book is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. When this series first came out, I was immediately sucked in. It’s one of the few series I ever started when it first came out and had to actually wait for the new books to come out! It’s also one of the first series that made me think, “Wow, that cover is so pretty I would buy it just to look at it on my shelves.”

The Cover I Know

The coloring! It’s so ominous and creepy, and the weird swirling tattoos on Dude’s body were intriguing. I knew magic would be involved for sure, and I’m always down for magic. The demons were just a bonus!

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