Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew

~Book Review #7~

Well, it's been a while since the last book review. And with this blog getting off-hiatus, I decided that it was time to post a new one. In the several months since the last review, I've read many books that will be the subject of future posts. However, I actually just finished a graphic novel today that completely took me by surprise and overall exceeded my expectations.

When I first started reading this book, I judged it by its cover (Yes, I know the expression...) I presumed that it was simply another retelling of the age-old classic, Alice in Wonderland. I thought that it would simply be a graphic novel with new illustrations / a new story adaption. Plus, considering that it is published by Disney, it wouldn't have any major story changes and would remain true to the original source material.

In short, I was dead wrong. Wonderland was the most amazing graphic novel I've read in recent weeks. The story is NOT an adaptation at all. Instead, it is a completely original take on the story of Mary Ann (the White Rabbit's housemaid in Lewis Carroll's original books) and set in Wonderland. Mary Ann- who was merely a minor character who is mistaken for Alice in the books- is the main character in this six-issue, award-winning miniseries. It was pure genius and creativity that caused the creators of this series to share her story.

The story / plotline was spectacular. We're introduced to new characters (such as the Queen of Spades) and old ones (the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit are all present). And the writer actually stayed true to Lewis Carroll's "nonsense" world. There were clever puns throughout the book, and there was a perfect balance between having a plotline that moved forward splendidly and a world that did not make any sense in reality. The art was just as amazing. The characters were all drawn very cutely- with cartoon-like expressions. However, there was much detail put into the backgrounds of the comic and such. I could tell that the artist labored over every single panel. Each page looks like it could be hung on a wall or displayed on an art museum.

Overall, if you're a fan of the original Alice in Wonderland, this book is a must-have! I admit I don't follow the comics world as much as I used to, but I really should have heard of this book before!

5 out of 5 Stars. Completely Recommended!!

Photo Credit: Cover of Wonderland by Disney Press / SLG Publishing company.
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The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross by Arina Tanemura

~Book Review #6~

This post is a tribute to what is one of my favorite manga series of all time. And despite what you may think, I have read a TON of manga (mostly shojo), and I have never liked a series so much that did not have any fantasy elements in it. Most of the time, when I read a non-fantasy book, I'll say "it would have been better with magic" or etc. Well, this series is perfect exactly the way it is. (NO spoilers below.)

To start off, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura that was collected in 11 tankobon (volumes). Rather than summarize the series myself and ruin something for non-readers, here's some info from Wikipedia: The series revolves around "15 year-old girl named Haine Otomiya, a student at the elite private Imperial Academy, who was sold to foster parents for fifty million yen. She used to be a Yanki (girl gang member), but reformed when she met Shizumasa Togu, who told her to live life how she wanted to. She fell in love with Shizumasa and entered the Imperial Academy to try and win his love. Shizumasa is the Emperor of the school. Being the president of the student council and the only member of the gold class, he is the one who everyone looks up to. Through various circumstances Haine is tricked by Maora, a student council member, into becoming his bodyguard and joining the student council. However, Shizumasa claims not to know her and is unexpectedly cold towards her."

Yeah, so it may sound like a typical shojo manga series, let me assure you that it is far superior to many. The school is (of course) very different from normal high schools- starting from the ranking, the student council, and many other things. But, this manga deals with a lot of mature themes (which is why it is rated at 16+). It doesn't show anything outright violent or sexual (honestly, I think that it should be rated 13+), but a lot of stuff is implied. Like the fact that Haine is a former Yanki (a real thing in Japan) means that she was part of a gang and probably participated in illegal activities. Stuff like that is implied, but definitely not shown, which is why it's rated 16+. Overall though, the series is very light-hearted and comical, and I fear that I may have over-emphasized the mature themes too much. It's a really a nice balance of funny and serious moments, and the writing is spectacular. I never expected some of the plot twists that occurred in later volumes.

The art itself is spectacular. Arina Tanemura may use more screentones in one chapter than other manga artists use in an entire volume! Just search for her art on Google images, and you'll see how truly beautiful her art is. It's like hang-on-your-wall type beautiful, seriously. I think she has several art books out. Anyway, so she's a great writer and artist, so this manga has everything. If you have never read anything by her before, be sure to check this series out! Tip: another series translated into English by her is Full Moon wo Sagashite- which keeps up the quality of the art and writing Gentlemen's Alliance Cross. If you read any further works (like Time Stranger Kyoko or earlier), the art will not be up to par- though it's still very readable. I can't wait till they translate some of her more recent works into English.

5 out of 5 stars. Completely Recommended!!

Photo credit: A Gentlemen's Alliance Cross image by Arina Tanemura.
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The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

~Book Review #5~

So I never thought that I would read a comic book on DC Comics' Vertigo imprint- besides for Fables. And after I stopped reading Fables after volume 6 or 7 (because it was getting very boring with the long texts and the storyline), I thought that I was done with comics that were rated for adults. Well, I read a preview of The Unwritten online at some comics website or something like that. And I really like the premise of it.

WARNING: I would definitely not read this comic if you can't handle adult material. There's swearing, super violent stuff, etc. And normally, I don't read that kind of stuff either. Like I don't watch rated R movies because I'll most likely get nightmares and be afraid to step outside my house. However, I think I was so interested in the story of this comic that I just skipped over the bloody and gory parts to get the actual plot.

So the basic story is that a father (author) based his famous book character on his own son, Tommy Taylor, and named it after him. The character is a boy wizard, but this is not a Harry Potter rip-off. The books become best-selling, but then the author disappears. Meanwhile, the son grows up and is sick of trying to live up to the storybook character that the whole world knows him as. When characters from the books start appearing in real life, it makes Tom question his origins. And that's where the story begins. According to the author, the book is based more on Christopher Robin (the real one, whose father based a character on from Winnie-the-Pooh) 's auto-biography than Harry Potter.

The story is definitely interesting, although gory as mentioned before. And I can't wait to read the next volume. (I just finished reading the first graphic novel.) Hopefully they will make the series short so that I can find out the ending soon; but I have a feeling that's not going to happen.

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.
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The Secret to Teen Power by Paul Harrington

~Book Review #4~

So I picked up this book from my local library based on a recommendation from a friend. Sure, I had heard of The Secret before- I mean who hasn't heard of one of the latest best-selling books of all time (citation needed, lol)? I was initially interested, particularly because this book was aimed directly at teens. Being a teenager myself, I just HAD to read this book.

After reading this, I have pretty mixed opinions about this book. The logic of the Law of Attraction seems very sound- especially since the author mixed real-life quotes of famous people with stories from regular teenagers around the world. I just don't think that it will actually work. What, you say? How in the world could I not believe in The Secret after all the evidence that the book cites? Well, maybe it is because I already have a very very good life... in my opinion, I am one of the luckiest people that I know. So have I managed to attract very good things into my life even though I constantly think negative as well as positive thoughts?

I realize that some of you readers may have no idea what I'm talking about. Well, this post is for the people who also know about The Secret. (Spoiler warning.) Back to the subject. The book says that you can attract anything you want into your life simply by visualizing that it will happen, thinking positive thoughs, and believing that it will eventually come true. I just don't believe that this can happen. Sure, there are miracle stories, but I don't think that something will happen simply because you want it to. Also, people who think negatively all the time can still get what they want... it's common sense. In conclusion, I guess that The Secret may work for some people, and others may not ever understand it.

I still recommend this book though, because it is a very nice book that will let anyone get his or her self-confidence back. Overall, it's very positive, and I'm sure that anyone who truly believes in it will find that their life will become better. However, I call this the "placebo effect" (no, I didn't make that up). It's basically when a sick person takes medicine that doesn't do anything, but because the person believes that the medicine will work, the patient ends up getting better. I think that the same principle applies here. People who did not know The Secret may have been taking the good things in their life for granted, or not noticing them. However, once they get the book, they will start noticing all the good parts in their life and atttribute it to The Secret. That's my theory. I recommend this book to people who think that everything's going wrong in their life- perhaps The Secret will help them develop a more positive outlook and will "work" for them =D

Recommended. 3 out of 5 stars.
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Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger

~Book Review #3~

Before I read this book, I knew little to nothing about Emily Strange. Sure, I had seen the usual franchise items: comic books, wallets, clothes, etc. But since I had never bothered to look up Emily's back-story, I was very much clueless when I started reading this book.

The plot of this book revolves around Emily who wakes up one day with no memory of who she is. At once, I felt that the premise of the book was interesting. The book is written in diary form, and as you read it, you start to realize just what kind of character that Emily Strange is. The plot is very, very interesting once you get into it. There are many strange happenings and characters in this book, and you get to experience all of them through Emily's eyes- and through illustrations that are characteristic of Emily Strange's gothic style.

At one point near the beginning, I began to feel bored with the book, and wondered if I should continue reading. This was because I had absolutely no idea what the book was going to be about or how it was going to end. The summaries of the book were very vague, and I did not want to spend days reading a 264-page (though easily readable) book if the ending was not borderline satisfying. Well, to put a long story short, I am very glad that I continued reading. The book is perfect if you're into mysteries, diaries, suspense, humor, or teen fantasy fiction- like me. Although there are no out-right supernatural elements, there are still a few fantastical characters/events that cause you to wonder.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered about the real story behind Emily Strange. I have a feeling that the book is aimed to tweens more than young adults, since there is nothing that I can recall that would be inappropriate for a 9 or 10-year old. If you like gothic settings, semi-snarky heroines, reading diaries, mysteries, and long lists, then you should definitely check this book out!!

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

Click HERE to purchase the book off of Amazon.
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Thirst: The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

~Book Review #2~

Thirst: Vol. 1 is definitely one of the most interesting vampire books that I have ever read. Although many people would compare it to Twilight (just because both books are about vampires), Thirst is about as far from Twilight as you could possibly get in a genre. While Twilight is a romance at its heart, the story of Thirst contains romantic plotlines that are second to the action scenes.

(Note: Thirst: Vol. 1 is another of those "3-in-1" books that Simon & Schuster has been putting on shelves at an increasing rate recently. To learn more about these type of books and my thoughts on them, read my review of "Dark Visions" by L.J. Smith.)

The plot of Thirst (or the Last Vampire series, as they were originally published as in the 90's) revolves around the character of Alisa Perne, a 5,000 year-old vampire who looks like an average teenager. In the three books included in Vol. 1 (624 pages on total), Alisa gets hunted down by the person who made her into a vampire, finds true love, and becomes the last vampire. There's also a huge twist at the end of the third book that I won't spoil for you. The story contains a lot of action and violence. The author is also very skilled at including many philosophical thoughts that will make the reader think while reading the book. (Don't think of it as akin to "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho though- a book that I was assigned to read in high school. I didn't like that book much at all.) Instead, think of the issues presented as the same as those in "Skinned" by Robin Wasserman- a book that I liked much better. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read; though if you don't like violence and can't handle a bit of gore, then you should not bother going through the 600+ pages. There's more than a "little bit" of violence (much more than Twilight actually) and some scenes would be better suited toward a 16+ age group of readers. Be on the look-out for Vol. 2 of the Thirst series, which will conclude the series, and becomes available in the US next month. Personally, I can't wait to read the ending!! =D

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

Click HERE to buy the book off of Amazon.
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Why I Love #1: Tamora Pierce's books

I am a huge Tamora Pierce fan. I read a lot of her books during my middle school years, and I am proud to say that I have read every single one of her books except the recent ones (like Melting Stones and Bloodhound). Like with most of the books/authors that I will feature on this blog, Tamora Pierce generally writes young adult or teen fantasy. Don't think of her as another Twiilight rip-off though.. Tamora Pierce is an actual accomplished writer, and her books are amazing.

The first book that I read by Tamora Pierce was Alanna: The First Adventure, which was amazing. The most memorable thing about Tamora Pierce's books are her characters. I was able to picture exactly how every single character looked in all of her books, and I'm sure that any other reader will be able to, too. Her characters have very distinct names, appearances, and personalities, and they actually sound like real characters. Forget about flat characters with stereotypical personalities. After you read one of Ms. Pierce's books, it'll seem you've known the characters forever.

Another thing that I noticed as I read her other books (See: the Circle of Magic series, the Trickster series, etc.) was that Tamora Pierce is a very good storyteller. The plotlines are amazing, and their genre can range from romantic, action, mystery, and fantasy, to anything. None of the storylines were predictable, but every time I finished a book, I remember a feeling of satisfaction- like a "that was exactly how the story was supposed to end" feeling.

Thus, the storylines are perfect, the characters are amazing.. what more could you want from a book? The books are also very good because they are fantasy. I think that every book features magic, spells, or some figment of imagination of some sort. The fantasy element adds much to each book, and you will often be entertained by some event that could not possibly have happened in the real world. Although the Song of the Lioness quartet holds a special place in my heart (being the first series that I read by Tamora Pierce), my favorite is Terrier from the Beka Cooper series. It's the most recent book that I've read by her, and I remember reading it like it was yesterday. As with all of her books, the storyline and characters were perfect, and I remember thinking that the fantasy elements in that story were cooler than usual. So... what are you waiting for? =D

Click HERE to visit Tamora Pierce's official website.
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Dark Visions by L. J. Smith

~Book Review #1~

Dark Visions is one of the best books that I have ever read. If you're an L.J. Smith (Vampire Diaries and Night World) fan, then you'll definitely love this. I previously read the Night World series before reading this book, and this was infinitely better. Think Twilight, but with a little X-Men thrown in.

(Note: Dark Visions is another one of those "3-in-1" books that Simon & Schuster has been putting on shelves at an increasing rate recently. In a desperate attempt to engage the Twilight audience, a supposed group of teenagers who read super-thick books in the fantasy genre, the publishers have apparently decided to print three "average-sized" books from the 90's into one omnibus that is Twilight-sized. See: Thirst series, Kissed by an Angel series, etc. Not only does this make the books worth your money by including a couple hundred extra pages, the publishing companies also save the money that they would used paying an author to write a 500+ page book. Smart move, Simon & Schuster =D

The plot revolves around Kaitlyn Fairchild, a girl with psychic powers who is misunderstood in her hometown. She moves to the Zetes Institute in order to participate in a study with other psychic teens. Throughout the books, Kaitlyn makes friends with the other teens, who all have very real albeit stereotypical personalities, and together they have several adventures in which they try to stop the bad guys from taking over the world (I don't want to give too much away here). And of course, along the way, she also finds true love. It's actually a much better read than it sounds.

I am very glad that I was able to read this book. At 752 pages, it is a touch read for even the most seasoned young adult reader, but it is definitely worth it. The book can be funny, serious, terrifying, and touching at times. The romance parts reminded me of Twilight (she has to choose between two guys), and there were also several action parts that kept my eyes glued to the pages. The Zetes Institute also reminded me of X-Men. This is a definitely a must-read if you like reading teen fantasy books like I do <3

Completely recommended. 5 out of 5 stars.

Click HERE to buy the book off of Amazon.
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