Review: Graphic Novels Part Two

Hey everyone! I figured that since I had a fair amount of things to say about quite a few different graphic novel standalones and series, I'd split it up into two reviews. This is part two!

Here is the link for part one!

Saga Vol 1-8 by Brian K. Vaughan
       I've seen everyone on booktube reading Saga on and off for the past few years, so I figured I'd give it a go and see how it was, and just, WOW.
The artwork in the series is absolutely amazing. It's consistent, and all the characters are drawn beautifully. (This series is definitely a mature series, however).
The storyline is completely perfect. It's a story about aliens in space, travelling the galaxy, as well as a war happening between a planet and its moon, and how everyone in the galaxy can be affected in a negative way because of it. It's a story about war, sadness, and guilt, but also about love and how anything can be overcome by it.
The characters are amazingly well thought of. Every single character is weird and different (as they should be - they ARE aliens), but they are also so well developed, and they still develop a lot throughout the story. Everyone is connected in some way, and even though some characters only see each other once in awhile throughout the volumes, they still are all connected and are affecting each other in some way or another.
Overall, every single volume is amazing, and I know I'm going to be reading and rereading them time and time again.
Overall - ★★★★★

Archie Vol 1-4 by Mark Waid
       I used to read the Archie comic books when I was a kid, and I have such fond memories of going to flea markets at the cottage and buying boxes of old Archie comics, and I'd sit on the porch or in the woods by a stream and spend the rest of my time at the cottage reading them. With the new Riverdale TV show that came out (and yes, I do watch it - a guilty pleasure of mine) I missed the Archie comics, so I figured I'd pick up the new graphic novels.
The artwork is the same idea as the original comics, but there is a modern spin on it. I liked how they stayed true to the characters (Betty and her cars, Jughead and his crown, etc.) and how they didn't change anything massive or drastic.
The plots of the graphic novels, the storylines themselves, are different from the original comics, but in a good way. They all focus around one massive problem, and it is usually solved by the end of the novel, and another problem occurs. I enjoyed the plots themselves because they reminded me of the originals and they still had a bit of a modern spin on them.
The artwork itself was also enjoyable, and just like the plots, is similar to the original comics but with a bit of a twist on it.
Overall - ★★★★☆

Paper Girls Vol 1-3 by Brian K. Vaughan
       The first novel of this series I had a lot of mixed feelings about. I knew going into them that they were supposed to be strange and that the reader was supposed to struggle a little bit in the first volume, but honestly, I had zero idea of what was happening. The only reason the first volume for me got two stars instead of one was because the art work was really pretty and I loved the style.
That being said, going into the second volume was a lot easier, because I had some idea of what was happening, and I knew it was going to be super weird. The second volume was better than the first because I was able to follow it a lot better, and the third was better than the second for the same reason.
The only problems I have with this series is that they are so fast paced, that something will happen and you don't have a chance to understand what is happening before something else crazy happens. I personally love fast paced novels, but these are on a whole different level.
The art work in this series is the only reason that I kept reading them after the first novel. The art work is futuristic while being older, and I love the style. Also, as I said above, I LOVE Saga, and knowing that Brian K. Vaughan had his hand in this series really helped to keep me reading.
I'm going to keep reading this series as it comes out, and see where it goes and how my views change as I get further into the series.
Volume 1: ★★☆☆☆
Volume 2: ★★★☆☆
Volume 3: ★★★☆☆.5

2018 Resolutions

Hey everyone! Where did 2017 even go?? I can't believe how fast it went, but here's to new year and even more books! I figured I'd share with you all some of my 2018 bookish resolutions, so here we go!

2018 RESOLUTIONS

1. Buy less books
I've been saying for a long time now that I need to take a break buying books, and just read the ones that I own and haven't read. Well, 2018 is the year for that. I've gone through my shelves and I'm *slightly* overwhelmed by the sheer number of books that I own and haven't read, so I'm really hoping to help deal with (or start deal with) that overwhelming number this year.

2. Read at least 60 books
This past year in 2017, I read a total of 57 books out of my goal of 52. I wanted to read a lot more than that, but considering I'm a full time university student 8 months of the year, as well as having a part time job year round, I'm happy with that number. However, I'm hoping to read a bit more this year, in 2018.

3. Finish all of the series that I've started and put down
I normally am really good about finishing a series as soon as I start it. I'll read every book in the series one after another, but when I either don't get my hands on the book for awhile, or the book doesn't come out for awhile, I end up putting the series down and not finishing it for a long time, which makes it hard for me to read because I can either re-read the entire series, or I can just read the newer book, and struggle with some of the things that I've forgotten. This year, I want to finish every series that I've started that is completely out, and get caught up with all of the ones that have new books out. This includes:

1. The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
2. The Kiss of Deception Trilogy by Mary E. Pearson
3. A Darker Shade of Magic Trilogy by Victoria Schwab
4. Cinder Series by Marissa Meyer

As well as quite a few others.

4. Read more diversely

In 2017 I started reading some new things that I've never read, as well as never been a fan of before. I've started reading a lot of graphic novels (per one of my friends' requests), as well as poetry and some non-fiction. I'm hoping to continue this into 2018, and find some new things as well.

Here's to a great reading year for everyone!

2018 Reads

2015 Reads | 2016 Reads | 2017 Reads

Last updated: December 31st, 2018

January

1. ★★★★☆       Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately by Alicia Cook
2. ★★★★☆       The Beauty of Darkness (Remnant Chronicles #3) by Mary Pearson
3. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
4. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
5. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
6. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
7. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 5 by Brian K. Vaughan
8. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 6 by Brian K. Vaughan
9. ★★☆☆☆       Paper Girls Vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
10. ★★★☆☆       Paper Girls Vol 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
11. ★★★☆☆.5    Paper Girls Vol 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
12. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 7 by Brian K. Vaughan
13. ★★★★☆.75  The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
14. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 8 by Brain K. Vaughan

February

1. ★★★☆☆.5    The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
2. ★★★★☆       How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
3. ★★★★☆       Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent
4. ★★★★☆       The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
5. ★★☆☆☆       The Wicked + The Divine Vol 6 by Kieron Gillen
6. ★★★☆☆.5    Suitors and Sabotage by Cindy Anstey
7. ★★★★☆       A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

March

1. ★★★☆☆       The Bachelor Girl by Kin Van Alkemade
2. ★★★☆☆.75  I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman
3. ★★★☆☆       The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

April

1. ★★★☆☆.5    Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman
2. ★★★★☆       The Amateurs by Liz Harmer

May

1. ★★★★☆.5    A Breath After Drowning by Alice Blanchard
2. ★★★★★       Circe by Madeline Miller
3. ★★★★☆.75  The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
4. ★★★★☆       Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
5. ★★☆☆☆.5    My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley
6. ★★★☆☆       Paper Girls Vol 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
7. ★★★★☆       Dead Girl Running by Christina Dodd
8. ★★★★★       Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi

June

1. ★★★☆☆       The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
2. ★★★★☆       Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian
3. ★★★★☆       Our Animal Hearts by Dania Tomlinson
4. ★★★☆☆.5    The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet
5. ★★☆☆☆       Tin Man by Sarah Winman

July

1. ★★★★☆       I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell

August

1. ★★☆☆☆.75  Lear's Shadow by Claire Holden Rothman
2. ★★★☆☆       West by Carys Davies
3. ★★★★☆       Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1) by Kevin Kwan

September

1. ★★★★★       Herokiller by Paul Tassi
2. ★★★★☆       Game of Secrets by Kim Foster

October

1. ★★★★☆.5    An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena
2. ★★★☆☆.5    The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson
3. ★★★☆☆       Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
4. ★★★★★       An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
5. ★★★★★       Vicious (Villians #1) by V. E. Schwab

November

1. ★★★★★       Vengeful (Villians #2) by V. E. Schwab
2. ★★★☆☆.5    You Are the Everything by Karen Rivers
3. ★★★★☆       Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
4. ★★★★★       Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia
5. ★★★★★       Saga Vol 9 by Brian K. Vaughan

December

1. ★★★☆☆       The One That Got Away by Melissa Pimentel
2. ★★★☆☆.5    After Nightfall by A. J. Banner
3. ★★★★☆       Truth and Lies by Caroline Mitchell

Books read this year: 58/55

Review: Graphic Novels Part One

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted anything but...university finals are no joke. However, now that I am OFFICIALLY on my winter break, I'm hoping to read a lot, post a lot, and not buy a lot of books, but we all know how that goes, especially since I work in a bookstore, being surrounded by books is not very helpful for a book buying ban.
To start coming back into blogging, I've decided to write a few mini reviews on some graphic novel series that I've read while I was trudging through finals. Without further ado, here we go!

PART ONE

The Wicked + The Divine Vol 1-5 by Kieron Gillen

       This series is currently still being written, but I have read the first 5 novels. This is a series about gods that have been reincarnated as teenagers, and they live for 2 years before they die and then are dormant for 90 years, where they then come back to life.
The premise for this series was very interesting, so I jumped right into it without knowing anything other than that little bit. I'd seen it all over the place, and with the first 5 books out, I figured, why not?
Overall, the books were weird, in good and bad ways. At some points the story line is very hard to follow, and at other times, the story line was super easy to follow. The problem with this is that I was reading some parts knowing exactly what was happening, before I got to the next part and I was completely lost. This made reading it hard, because I had to constantly keep reading and re-reading everything in order to remember what was happening.
The art style for this was also very weird. Each novel was broken into separate sections, with each section focusing on one of the gods or goddess. The problem with this is that each section was drawn by a different artist. This means that there were some slight variations between some sections, and such drastic ones between others that I had NO idea who the characters were, which is strange, especially when this was occurring in the 5th novel. The series started well, hit a far low at novel 3, and is starting to pick itself up again with the art, as well as with the story line itself.
Overall - 1 - 4 ★

Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

       This one is a standalone graphic novel, but I loved it so I figured I would include it here!
Seconds is about a woman who owns a restaurant, but has made some decisions regarding it and her personal life that she regrets. Then a strange woman arrives in her home, and she gives our main character the opportunity to change one thing about her life, anything that she wants.
From here, the main character finds a way of being able to repeat this a multiple amount of times, and she begins to do things in her life that she would never do, only to undo them the next morning. This creates a lot of problems for her, and her life is drastically changed.
I loved this graphic novel, the ideas behind it were some things that I've always considered in my life; what if I could change something? What would I change? How would that affect the person I've become, the person I am now? I think this novel was a real eye opener, showing how that we take so many small things for granted, and that any tiny decision we make and every little thing we do can have a drastic affect on who we are as people, as well as our lives and the people around us.
I really liked the art work for this novel, the drawing was consistent throughout the entire novel, and it is a big one too! All the characters were drawn carefully, they all had good expressions, and they all seemed like they belonged in the story line and were carefully thought of.
Overall - ★★★★☆
     
Alex and Ada Vol 1-3 by Johnathan Luna

       This was a series that I picked up on a whim. It follows our main character Alex, who is gifted Ada, who is an android, from his grandmother. This story takes place in a futuristic world where everyone has an android, as either someone who does everyday tasks like cooking or cleaning, or as a lover or friend.
I liked the concept behind this story, as I personally am a HUGEEE fan of science fiction. Robots? Count me in.
With this series thus far, I've really enjoyed the story line. There is more text in this graphic novel series than any that I have read thus far. Having the larger amount of text was really nice, because it made the novel seem more like a book than a novel. The story line was easy to follow and interesting, the characters were realistic without seeming overdone, and the artwork was beautiful.
This is a series that I didn't have any massive problems with. The story was an interesting idea that I haven't seen before in graphic novels, and the artwork was nice to look at, as well as being a style that I also hadn't seen before.
Overall - ★★★★☆

Here is the link for part two!

Review: Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Title: Meddling Kids

Author: Edgar Cantero

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 366 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Doubleday Books
Publication date: July 11th, 2017

Synopsis from Meddling Kids' Goodreads page

For fans of John Dies at the End and Welcome to Night Vale comes a tour de force of horror, humor, and H.P. Lovecraft. The surviving members of a forgotten teenage detective club (and their dog) must reunite as broken adults to finally solve the terrifying case that ruined them all and sent the wrong man to prison. Scooby Doo and the gang never had to do this!

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she's got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter's been dead for years.

The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.

With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids taps into our shared nostalgia for the books and cartoons we grew up with, and delivers an exuberant, eclectic, and highly entertaining celebration of horror, life, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.

THOUGHTS

I picked up Meddling Kids on a whim. I saw the cover and absolutely loved the colour scheme and it so vividly reminded me of Scooby-Doo and watching those cartoons when I was a kid. Needless to say, for a random book I found on the shelf, I had pretty high expectations for it.
The beginning was strange, but in a good way. It was a bit confusing and mysterious, and that's how a good mystery should start.
Meddling Kids centers around a group of adults that, when they were kids, solved mysteries just like the Scooby-Doo gang. However, in this book, the kids are all grown up and they have to confront their past and one of the mysteries that they believed they had solved, but really hadn't.
This book was dark. It had monsters and death and gore and blood. But it was also good in that it involved growing up, and what that entailed. It showed that kids and adults alike can have issues, but those issues don't define who they are, or who they become.
Parts of this book were very good, and other parts were okay. I found some parts to lag, and other parts to be too short for what was happening, and I wish there had been more. The writing style was also a little different, as it would tell like a story, and then suddenly parts would turn into almost a play script.
The characters were something that I absolutely loved about this book. The characters were all likeable, even the bad guys, and they all had a human element (except for, well, the nonhuman creatures). They all had their own faults, issues, and difficulties, but I enjoy reading about characters that have a difficult time with some things, because it makes them easier to connect to and with. These characters definitely had no light and easy issues, but they were all wonderful in their own ways and were great to read about.
Overall - ★★★☆☆.5

Review: Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

Title: Our Dark Duet
Series: Monsters of Verity #2

Author: Victoria Schwab

Genre: Urban fantasy

Age group: Young adult

Pages: 510 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication date: June 13, 2017

**The below synopsis will contain spoilers if you have not yet read This Savage Song. The below review is spoiler free.**

Synopsis from Our Dark Duet's Goodreads page

THE WORLD IS BREAKING. AND SO ARE THEY.

KATE HARKER isn't afraid of monsters. She hunts them. And she's good at it.

AUGUST FLYNN once yearned to be human. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.

THE WAR HAS BEGUN.

THE MONSTERS ARE WINNING.

Kate will have to return to Verity. August will have to let her back in. And a new monster is waiting—one that feeds on chaos and brings out its victims' inner demons.

Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within?

THOUGHTS

I have, at this point in my reading career, read three other Victoria Schwab books. None of them have disappointed me, and none of them have had less than a 4/5 star rating, and this book is no exception.

Every single one of the worlds that she creates are so different, so unique, and are so wonderfully crafted and created, that you can almost believe that you can just step into the book and become a part of the world you're reading about.

This book is the second, and conclusion, of the Monsters of Verity duology. The first book, This Savage Song, I read last summer and wrote a full review of, which can be found here.

This Savage Song created the world, introduced the characters, and created the conflict all wonderfully, but I found it was missing...something. Our Dark Duet, however, was everything that I wanted, everything that I hoped for, and everything I didn't even know I wanted all wrapped up in one.

Our Dark Duet picks up a few months after This Savage Song ends, and although a fair amount of the conflict from the first book was wrapped up at the end of This Savage Song, SO much more conflict was created within the first few chapters of this book.

The conflict was utterly unbelievable (in a GREAT way), the characters were so wonderfully dark and twisted while also being loving and sweet, that it makes you want nothing more than to have friends like August and Kate.

Every time I read one of Victoria Schwab's books, I am struck by how powerful of a writer she is, in more ways than one. She can create so many different worlds, so many complex characters, and just when I think I finally understand her writing style, she starts writing poetry in Our Dark Duet. And her poetry? DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It was dark and twisted and creepy, everything it was meant to be and more.

I absolutely flew through this book. I read it in two sittings, starting late at night until the early morning, and then as soon as I woke up the next day, I finished it. It was a quick read, even though it is 500+ pages.

The ending of this book utterly destroyed me. It was painful and my heart still aches even though I finished it 12+ hours ago. I know that Kate and August's story is complete, and it feels like it. Everything that needed to be wrapped up was wrapped up perfectly, and although the ending destroyed me, I couldn't imagine it ending any other way.

Thank you, for writing such an amazing book that touched me so strongly. I know I will never forget it.

Overall - ★★★★★

2 Year Review

Hi everyone!
So today officially marks two years on this blog for me. I started it with no idea what I was doing or where I was planning on going with it, and some days it still feels like I have no idea what I'm doing. However, even though I've had a hard time getting this all going, it's definitely been rewarding, and I just want to take a second to thank everyone who has supported me these past two years! Hopefully I'll be able to keep this going for years to come!

THE GOOD

Since I've started this blog, I've met so many wonderful people here and on my Instagram, mickeyreads247. I've met authors and booktubers, book bloggers and bookstagrammers alike. Every single person I have met on here has been absolutely wonderful and so kind, and I honestly couldn't have done it without every single one of you!
Mickey Reads has definitely opened me up to many more genres and many different books than I would normally read, and it has also showed me so many books that I never would have found, or even heard of, let alone read, if I hadn't started it up. I have no idea where I would be without it!
Starting Mickey Reads also showed me how much I was reading each month, and it made me really think about what I was going to, and what I wanted to, read each time I started a new book. I had to think "Is this something that I want to spend my time on, to write a review on, and to talk about with my readers?" It made me pick different books than I would have had I not started my blog, and I'm happy that it made me more careful and really think about what I was going to read.
Mickey Reads also made me become more organized, in a way. I had to keep track of everything I buy every month, and what I read and what I thought about each and every book I read. I had to stay organized so nothing got misplaced, and I had to write organized notes about every single thing I read, so that I could write a detailed review later on after I had read the book, which also helped my memory to remember what I had read.

THE BAD

After I first started my Instagram and my book blog up, I found that that was all I could focus on, and I was having so much fun with it and having such a great time taking pictures of my books, reading and writing about them. After awhile, it became about likes and followers, and about page views. It became all about the numbers, and I really hated that that was all I could see. So, I took an unexplained absence for a few months, and I tried to come back...to no avail. At that point, I found that Mickey Reads was all about the numbers, and I hated that because I started Mickey Reads to share my love of books with the world. Now, after taking some time off, I've realized that the numbers don't matter, and that I need to read, review, and take pictures of things that I like, and that I WANT to read, not to do things to please other people or for the likes. I'm hoping I can keep this mentality, and that my time off has allowed me to become more creative and to enjoy doing this more.
I also found that after awhile, I began to write reviews about books that I really didn't have much to say about. It became about the number of posts I could write each month, not about what I liked and wanted to read, and instead about following trends and writing things I wasn't overly proud of. Since then, I've written reviews and other things that I am extremely proud of, and I'm hoping that I can reach a wider audience because I'm writing for me, and I'm being 100% myself in everything I write and everything I put forwards on here and my Instagram. Saying that, however, means that there will be less content released going forwards, but it will be better content and content that I am 100% proud of to have my name on. In my opinion, quality over quantity!

FINAL THOUGHTS

The past two years have been amazing and I've loved every second of Mickey Reads and the amazing people and opportunities it has brought me. I wouldn't change a thing, and I'm happy to continue working on my little corner of the web and to make it something that I am extremely proud of! Here's to many more years of reading, and many more amazing books!