This week's Mini Review Saturday, I will be wrapping up my reading month and reviewing all the books I read in February. There is still 2 days until the end of the month but they will be pretty busy for me and so I don't think I will get any more reading done. I had a pretty easy going month of reading as I only read 6 books with all of them being graphic novels/manga. Before we begin, I would like to point out that most of these reviews will not be as long as I usually write them due to it being apart of a series (to avoid spoilers) or because I have a full review of it coming soon. So sorry in advance for being brief.
Now let's dive right into it!!
Author: Joe Sugg
Publication Year: 2015
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25588761-username
Sentence Summary: Evie wants nothing more than to escape reality but what will happen if she actually gets given that option.
Mini Review: When Joe Sugg announced that he would be creating a graphic novel I honestly got really excited. I have been a big fan of his work on Youtube for a couple of years and was happy to see that he would be publishing a book. It has taken me a while to finally pick up a copy and read it but I'm glad I finally did it. I'm going to start off by saying that this isn't the greatest graphic novel I've read but it was definitely a good debut for Sugg. I found this book to be quite a fast read as I read it in one sitting. From the very first page, there is action and intrigue which then continues throughout the book. Although there were moments when I felt like the story was moving forward too quickly which kind of took away from the story. I think this would have worked really well as a graphic novel series as there was plenty more that could have been written about all the characters. I was also not a huge fan of the art style. I haven't read any other graphic novel with this type of art style and it just made it less enjoyable to read. In saying that, I did like the way the landscapes and buildings looked in the illustrations as they were really well done. I think I just had a problem with the way the people looked. There was an odd look to them that I wasn't expecting when first browsed through the book. Overall, it was a good book but
I would of just liked to have seen more about the world and the characters. As a debut graphic novel, Joe Sugg did really well. I will definitely read his next graphic novel if he decides to publish another one.
Star Rating: 3/5 Stars
Author: Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10710392-chopsticks
Sentence Summary: The blooming relationship between a piano prodigy and an artistic neighbour who both just want to be more than people perceive them to be.
Mini Review: I really enjoyed reading this book as the story was presented in an interesting format. This book is written completely of photographs, documents and chat messages which makes the reading experience really enjoyable. I loved the story and the underlying theme that ran through it. I would love to read more in this style. I have a full review of this book coming soon onto the QBD Blog (link at the top of the page) so be sure to keep an eye out for that to hear more of my thoughts. I will be posting a link on my instagram and twitter once it becomes live.
Star Rating: 4/5 Stars!
Title: Sailor Moon: Volume OneAuthor: Naoko Takeuchi
Publication Year: 2011 (originally 1991)
Publisher: Kodansha International
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10862575-pretty-guardian-sailor-moon-vol-1
Sentence Summary: Usagi Tsukino was just your average teenager but then a talking cat follows her and tells her that she Sailor Moon, the fighter against evil.
Mini Review: I love Sailor Moon! Like a lot of people who were born in the 90's, I grew up watching the anime of Sailor Moon on television every morning. Now that I am older, I wanted to relive the story that I loved when I was a child. This first volume was a good refresher of the main points of the series. You learn about how Usagi became Sailor Moon and how she met the other guardians. Usagi is an interesting character to read about as she is both a whiny teenager and a kick ass heroine. She can be a bit annoying at times but I think that is what I love about her as you get to see her learn through her adventures of being Sailor Moon. I also love all the other guardians as well. It was great to read about where they all came from and about their different powers. I particularly love Sailor Mercury as she is really clever and caring. I really enjoyed reading this and remembering the story with each chapter. The art style is beautiful as it still managed to be quite detailed despite being completely in black and white. When I first started reading this series, I was getting confused a lot because of the Japanese format of reading right to left. After a while I got used to it and once that happened, the story began to make more sense. I now want to read more manga in this style as it is a really different way of reading. Being a huge fan of the series, This volume wasn't entirely the best read due to knowing a lot about the story from the anime but it was still fun . I hope to read all the volumes before the end of March, so that I can begin re-watching the anime and comparing them.
Star Rating: 4/5 Stars
Title: Sailor Moon: Volume TwoAuthor: Naoko Takeuchi
Publication Year: 2011 (originally 1992)
Publisher: Kodansha International
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10912036-pretty-guardian-sailor-moon-vol-2
Sentence Summary: With almost all the guardians finally being united, They must figure out who their enemy is and who is their beloved princess that they need to protect.
Mini Review: A fantastic second installment to this awesome series. I really enjoyed this volume are there was a lot of twists and turns throughout the book. A lot of things get revealed in this book which reminded me why I loved watching the television show so much. It was action packed and full of romance and drama. I still continue to love the black and white art style and also love how the author is able to illustrate flash back scenes that are clearly distinguishable from the present day scenes. You also get to see the Guardians work together as a team and you watch them grow stronger. This is probably my favourite volume of series so far as it really laid out the story for the future volumes which I am excited to re-live.
Star Rating: 5/5 Stars!
Title: Sailor Moon: Volume ThreeAuthor: Naoko Takeuchi
Publication Year: 2012 (originally 2003)
Publisher: Kodansha International
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11251704-pretty-guardian-sailor-moon-vol-3
Sentence Summary: With their precious Moon Princess now revealed, The guardians must protect her from their newest enemy, A little girl?
Mini Review: An action packed installment to the series. I really enjoyed this volumes as you see the development of all the characters as they grow stronger as a team. There is an introduction of a strong new enemy as well a couple of new characters such as a little girl who looks like Usagi. There is a lot of action in this volume as they go through the final battle with the enemy from the previous volumes. The previous battle was a great conclusion to that arc which I really loved reading as it was such an intense fight that was so stressful to read because you almost feel like you'll lose some awesome characters. This is probably my second favourite volume so far as it had a good balance of action and romance.
Star Rating: 4.5/5 Stars!
Title: Sailor Moon: Volume FourAuthor: Naoko Takeuchi
Publication Year: 2012 (originally 2003)
Publisher: Kodansha International
Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11930007-pretty-guardian-sailor-moon-vol-4
Sentence Summary: With a new enemy that is taking down the guardians one at a time, Who will save them as well as protect earth?
Mini Review: Another amazing installment to this great series. This new enemy is quite an interesting one to read about as they are really strong and seem to know a lot about all the guardians. The plot moves a long quite quickly in this volume, as Sailor Moon goes from battle to battle to try and protect earth and the other guardians. I also like how there was a big emphasis on Tuxedo mask in this one as we see some glimpses of him in previous volumes but in this one we see his true abilities. I will say though, that I wasn't not entirely sure how I felt about this arc when I started reading it as I'm not a huge fan of the mini Usagi. She is an important character but she is quite annoying to read about but in a less likeable way than how I feel about the actually Usagi. There is also a lot of unnecessary drama that Usagi creates between herself and Mamoru which I didn't really enjoy. By the end of the volume I was feeling much better about the story and was dying to read the next volume. I hope the next volume progresses the story further in the same way it ended this volume.
Star Rating: 4.5 Stars!
So those are all the books I read this month. As you can tell, I have been loving Sailor Moon in February and will hopefully finish the series in March. I also hope to read other books that aren't graphic novels but I still haven't decided which ones. Let me know if there is a book you would like me to read and I might just choose it for March.
I hope you are all having a wonderful day!
~Louise
No comments:
Post a Comment