Early Book Review: Nothing Special, Volume One Through the Elder Woods (A Graphic Novel) by Katie Cook
Book Review: Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
Book Review: That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (Mead Mishap) by Kimberly Lemming
Book Review: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishap) by Kimberly Lemming
Early Book Review: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde) by Heather Fawcett
Book Review: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Book Review: The Witching Hour (Secrets of Camp Whatever) by Chris Grine
Audiobook Review: Pirates, Parley, Plunder! (Dungeon Runner) by Dustin Tigner, Narrated by Jackie Meloche
Pirates, Parley, Plunder! is the second book in the Dungeon Runner series by Dustin Tigner, the audiobook is narrated by Jackie Meloche. This book picks up right where the first left off, and I highly recommend reading them in order.
Entin’s guild flourishes, eager to face the untamed dungeons of Eternal Fantasy Online. These dangerous places are worlds within worlds, each presenting unique themes that truly stretch the definition of what a dungeon should be. All seems well until Entin meets a young woman by the name of Aymie Avys. She brings a wealth of knowledge and secrets that challenge everything he thought he knew. There is something dark in this world, a festering corruption that might hold the answers to questions no one is asking. But pursuing these answers could threaten everything Entin and his Runners have built and force him to choose between who he was in the past life and who he is now.
Pirates, Parley, Plunder! is a much more cohesive and engaging read than the first book in the series for me, mostly because it was written to be. I enjoyed getting to know the characters more and seeing them grow as individuals and as a team. I am glad that the author continued to give us the story through several points of view. This gave me a much better understanding of the bigger picture and each character's emotions well before the rest figured things out. I like that while there is romance, and in some sections very important, I like that the book did not become all romance. The pairing off did not derail the other aspects of the story, instead just made the mundane interactions more intense and important. I think readers that enjoy fantasy and Game lit will enjoy this very much. I am grateful that the author unearthed the stories that became the first book in this series and continued it.
Pirates, Parley, Plunder! is a fabulous follow up to the first runners book. I cannot wait to see what Entin, Aymie, and the rest get up to next.
Book Review: Tyranny of the Fey: Adventure Waits for No One. by Terry Bartley
Audiobook Review: Exploit, Extract, Exit! (Dungeon Runner)by Dustin Tigner, Narrated by Jackie Meloche
Exploit, Extract, Exit! is not quite what I had expected when I started listening, but that is because I read the author's name and not the description. This is not related to the Arachnomancer series- this is a different game world, with different characters and rules. Once I got past my own expectations I was able to get drawn into the story much more. I thought the characters and world building were well done, and I enjoyed getting to know new aspects of the world along side the characters. I thought the dynamics on Entin and his circle of friends and found family were fantastic, and I enjoyed that those relationships grew and changed without making it the focus of the story. I really liked the development of the main character of the alternating stories, and think she shows a great deal of growth in her stories as well. I liked the world building, and while the author admits in the forward and afterward of the book that it comes off as a little disjointed, because of the format the stories were originally written in, I think it still is very much worth the read, and I look forward to reading more to find out how everything comes together.
Audiobook Review: Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne A. Brown, Narrated by Soneela Nankani
Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem by Roseanne A. Brown, narrated by Soneela Nankani, is the second book in a series about a preteen vampire slayer, inspired by Ghanaian folklore. This series is one that must be read in order to understand the characters, their connections, and context of most of the action.
After a lifetime of fighting creatures of black magic, twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng has just learned a devastating secret: she herself is half vampire! Now not only is she dealing with vampire puberty, she's on the run from the organization of Slayers she trained her whole life to join. Serwa's only ally is her aunt Boahinmaa, an obayifo who urges Serwa to embrace her vampire side. Boahinmaa and her underlings are on the hunt for the Midnight Drum, from which they hope to free Serwa's grandmother. When they learn that the Abomofuo have hidden the Midnight Drum deep within the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C., what do they do? Stage a heist to steal it, of course! For their plan to succeed, Serwa will have to get close to her rival, a Slayer named Declan Amankwah, without revealing her true nature. Declan gets under her skin like no one else...and might just force Serwa to confront some truths she's tried hard to deny. With both sympathy and laugh-out-loud humor, Rosanne A. Brown captures all the discomfort of a girl stuck between two worlds.
Audiobook Review: Wrong Divinity: Oh Sh*t! I F*cking Hate Spiders! by Dustin Tigner, Narrated by Qarie Marshall; Reba Buhr
Early Book Review: A Natural History of Magical Beasts by Emily Hawkins, Jessica Roux
Early Book Review: Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke
Book Review: The Book Hunter by Alex Evans
The Book Hunter by Alex Evans is a 18000 words novella. Bored by a PhD on a mundane topic, Cassa takes on a side job: investigating the whereabouts of the Call to the Elders, a mythical grimoire, lost centuries ago. Despite her initial skepticism, she becomes increasingly intrigued by the challenge. Her investigation brings her to the ancient city of Gandarah, but other, more sinister individuals are after the book. Soon, tracked in the undergrounds of a city on the brink of a revolution, Cassa discovers the secret behind the Call to the Elders.
The Book Hunter is a short read, with a great deal going on. I liked the set up and the majority of the story. However, since it is a novella there is not a whole lot of room for world and character building, which I rather missed. I think I would have been happier if this was a longer book, with the connections and backgrounds of the characters more fully fleshed out and detailed. That being said, I think the author did a good job with the plot and main character in such a short time frame. I understood her thought process, motivation, and desire for knowledge. I will admit that I had to double check which characters were interacting on the page more than once, but I think that was a me problem with my attention span rather than a book issue. My biggest problem was just that I wanted more. I want more back story, more world building, more character building and connection. I knew I was not going to get that in a novella, so I will be on the look out for more from the author set in the same world where I might be able to get that itch scratched.
Book Review: The City of Ember (The Graphic Novel) by Jeanne DuPrau, Niklas Asker
The City of Ember (The Graphic Novel) written by Jeanne DuPrau and illustrated by Niklas Asker is being republished in 2023, the original graphic novel adaptation was done in 2012. As the lights begin to flicker, Lina finds a message from the past that she's sure holds the secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must race against time to decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever!
I was glad to be reminded of The City of Ember, which I remember fondly as my time working with children's book in a public and elementary school library. I was happy to explore the graphic novel version, and spend some time with it. I thought the art and story come together very well to tell the story of how society can feed and ignore corruption in turn, and that sometime the curiosity, innocence, and hope of a few can trigger needed change. The story and the art hold up well, and I think it was well done in both regards. This middle grade adventure is one that I think young readers, and us not so young, readers can still enjoy and get something from. If you loved this book the first time around, or might enjoy discovering it for the first time, it is very much worth the read.