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Fall Comics
Spy x Family Vol 16 by Tatsu Endo
Master spy Twilight is unparalleled when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions for the betterment of the world. But when he receives the ultimate assignment—to get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!
When Melinda comes to Loid for counseling, he lucks into a great opportunity to gather intel. During their session, even Loid is shocked by what he learns about Donovan Desmond. Meanwhile, it’s a new term at Eden Academy, and Anya’s found herself in the middle of an international dispute!
Finally we get Mrs. Desmond into therapy, but what she reveals about her husband is certainly jaw-dropping. I’m on Twilight’s side, is she delusional? Or is this supposed to be some sort of metaphor for a different mental illness that Mrs. Desmond isn’t willing to admit? Either way, Endo leaves an intriguing cliffhanger. More interestingly, Yor’s assassin organization gets more of a spotlight as we see their neutrality on display when it comes to the cold war. Plus Yor gets her own rival in the form of Nightshade who makes her question her double life that will have YorxTwilight shippers at the edge of their seats. For several issues, Endo has kept things at a slow status quo but this volume represents a turning point for the Forager family facade and I can’t wait to see what will happen next.
Teen Titans Together by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo
H.I.V.E. has been experimenting on teens with superhuman abilities, and Kori Anders is next on their list. Dick Grayson, Rachel ‘Raven’ Roth, Garfield Logan, Max Navarro, and Damian Wayne got to Los Angeles to save her before Slade Wilson found her, but should she trust these strangers? After all, they’ve accused her mom’s fiancé of abduction, experimentation, and torture! And Kory’s new friend, Victor Stone has a summer internship designing next-level prosthetics at Edge Labs, a company funding H.I.V.E.
To make matters worse, Kori’s sister Kira is working with the organization and singing its praises. H.I.V.E. has a plan for taking down Raven’s demon father, Trigon. It’s got a plan for training the next generation of superheroes. It’s got plans for everything.
Lines blur as the teens struggle to decide what to do. H.I.V.E. might be their greatest ally…but at what cost? Can the Teen Titans pull together a plan before they fall apart?
The conclusion of the Titans Together was full of action thanks to Picolo’s art. I can’t say enough about the crispness of his lines, the burst of color and dynamic poses. He’s a great artist and it’s a joy to admire his work.
The story was good enough. Admittedly, it’s been awhile since I read the lead-up, but I found Garcia had trouble balancing the large cast of characters. Raven and Beast Boy who had been the leads of the series in the beginning are forced to the side. Cyborg, a new addition, is almost completely underutilized and I forgot he was there at points. Robin only exists as Kory’s love interest which look, I love me some RobinFire, but I wished he did have more of an arc. He was a bit too perfect compared to Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire’s books with struggles to get through.
The character spotlight was shared between Damien and Starfire. Damien’s arc was predictable and as he’s an edgy teen kid with a chip on his shoulder, I had absolutely no interest in how easily he was manipulated by Blackfire and his last minute apology and make-up. Starfire’s rivalry with her sister was much more engaging as Starfire wants so much to share a sisterly bond but Kira’s narcissicm and resentment always gets in the way. It was awesome to see Kori let loose when she realizes Kira is never going to change. However, the continued use of ableist and ablesim in their arguements felt repetitive. I know that’s the correct term but perhaps changing it up would break the monotony.
Additionally, because of the trouble balancing the cast, the final battle did not feel as epic as it could have been because one lost track of the characters. Slade who had been such a big villain is underwhelming. Raven doesn’t get to truly confront her Dad. And her sister is just there.
So an full of potential that falls apart under its weight.
(more…)#a:tla, #agneseeterno, #aladdin, #alexandriamonik, #amychu, #aquaman, #bailierosenlund, #bellbessa, #benwilgus, #brandonhoang, #carolineshuda, #comingofage, #danabnett, #danaterrace, #danconner, #davescheidt, #davidm.booher, #dccomics, #dcink, #disneyhyperion, #disneyvillains, #dynamitecomics, #edwingalmon, #faitherinhicks, #fredvanlente, #g.willowwilson, #gabrielebagnoli, #gabrielpicolo, #gaston, #gregpak, #ingridkan, #jacqueaye, #jamesIII, #jet:rebelsandrhinos, #kamigarcia, #kellymatthews, #kikihughes, #kyaandthesecretofthesand, #lanmedina, #lok, #mastersoftheelements, #mera, #merdithmclaren, #milenaciccarello, #nathanhale, #nathanhaleshazerdoustales, #nicolematthews, #peterwartman, #queenofatlantis, #rachelreads&reviews, #rachelsilvertstein, #returnoftheking, #shaunmclaughlin, #sherril.smith, #sjsindu, #spyxfamily, #stulevy, #tallwater, #tatsuendo, #teentitansforever, #thebattleforpumpkinking, #thelionking, #thelonglivedking, #thenightmarebeforechristmas, #theowlhouse, #ursula, #vixen, #vizmedia, #webofwar, #world’sscare, #xanthebouma -
Amanda Flower Interview
Amanda Flower is the author of a dozen cozy mysteries including the Cat Rescue Mysteries, Amish Candy Shop Mysteries, Emily Dickinson Mysteries, and the upcoming First Ladies Murder Club. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about self-publishing, her new book, and more. Enjoy!
1. Who are some of your favorite mystery writers?
Vivien Chien, Anastasia Hastings, and Charles Todd, But there are so many more too!
2. What draws you to the genre?
I have loved mystery since I was a child. My mother was a big mystery reader, so there were always mysteries in the house.
3. What are the crucial elements that make up your mystery?
There is the plot, of course, meaning the murder and investigation. However, I focus a lot on the characters too. Great characters that readers care about are the most important part.
4. What pushed you to self publishing?
I have been traditionally published since 2010 and so grateful for that. I have one series, starting with Caturday Crime, that I self published because my husband and I have a cat sanctuary with 21 cats currently. We use all the money from my self publishing to support the cats. Many of them are special needs and have medications and high vet bills. We also have an Etsy shop that supports the cats at Amanda Flower Designs.
5. What are some of the pros and cons?
The pros of self publishing is I can control a lot more like the release date and the due date. However, the writing is about the same. I treat all books equally. Since I have control of everything, the cons are I have to do everything from finding an editor and cover artist to publicity.
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My Australia/New Zealand Story
Last year I went on a historical fiction binge, completing my reads of the Dear America series for the fourth time, and reading the Dear Canada series in its entirety. Then I go to wikipedia, and I found out Scholastic has Australian/New Zealand equivalents. What’s more, they are still publishing books. They didn’t stop their series after 1965, they have diaries going all the way to 2011. 2011!
A whole new side of history I never heard of? I had to read it.
Unfortunately, after a fruitless afternoon talking to very helpful Scholastic customer service, I learned that the My AUS/NZ Story only sells down under. No there is no way to buy it unless I want to pay an extra $50 for shipping.
I despaired that I would only get to learn about such historical events like the bombing of Darwin or the Rainbow sabotage through wikipedia articles. Available but not as entertaining as historical fiction.
Luckily, Thriftbooks/Ebay/Internet Archive came to my rescue and I got my hands on a few cheaper copies.
I’ll start with the My NZ Story. I got Dawn Raid by Paulina Vaeluaga Smith first (see my interview with her in link below).
(more…)#adifferentsortofreal, #alantucker, #anitaheiss, #ataleoftwofamilies, #australianhistory, #canturburyquake, #contagion, #davidmulligan, #dawnraid, #dearamerica, #dearcanada, #desnawallace, #goldiealexander, #heroesoftobruk, #historicalfiction, #jennypausacker, #kerrygreenwood, #myaustralianstory, #mynewzealandstory, #mystory, #newzealandhistory, #paulinavaeluagasmith, #rachelreads&reviews, #rainbowwarrior, #sabotage!, #scholastic, #scholasticaustralia, #scholasticnewzealand, #shannonholt, #survivingsydneycove, #thebombingofdarwin, #thedeadlyflu, #transported, #whoamI -
Free Resources
Want to read a book, but unsure of committing to buying? I’ve been there. Some books you can tell are just one and done.
But others, you’re unsure. That’s why libraries are great. You can borrow without having to buy. But sometimes libraries don’t have the book you want. Interlibrary loans are a great resources. Always do it because it lets libraries know they are wanted, and when people use the library they get more funding.
Sometimes interlibrary loans take awhile. Then try hoopla or libby. My library limits me to three reads per month but it’s online, free and you only need a library card. Again, using library resources give libraries data to show to local and federal governments that control their budgets.
But what if that book is out of print? What if that book is from another country? What if it’s too old to be transported or too expensive to buy on ebay?
Here are my favorite sights to use.
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Ripley’s Bureau of Investigation
I’m sure many know of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not compendiums that come out every year, but did you know the company also released a lower school adventure series (plus a cartoon!)? I found out because of the CA store where they were selling them in the gift shop. Of course I gravitate to the book series instead of a mini-shrunken head.
I reread the series, and I think it still holds up. With eight book in total (plus two e-novellas that supposedly exist but I haven’t been able to find anywhere) written by Kay Wilkins, they follow a team of seven teens with enhanced skills of mimicry, athletic strength, animal communication, etc. Suitably diverse with a member from each continent, each novel sends a trio to a far-flung destination to investigate whether an unbelievable sighting is real or a hoax.
They also have a team of saboteurs in the form of DUL (Department of Unbelievable Lies) that seek to create hoaxes to ruin Ripley’s legacy for. . . reasons? They aren’t given any reason for why they are against people learning about wonderous things. Without names, and in uniform corporate wear, they are one-dimensional villains for the teens to go up against and predictably incompetent.
I found DUL to be unengaging. Luckily, they only appear in half the novels. Rather the strength lies in Wilkins basing the adventures on Ripley’s real-life finds of unbelievably mutated creatures and humans with special skills like Erik Sprauge the Lizard Man, a previously undiscovered island in Bornea holding thousands of thought-to-be extinct species, and leaps in technology made by Swiss scientists. Each book has Ripley’s Believe It or Not facts showcasing the real figures the adventures are based on, which will blow some kids’ minds that almost all the gadgets and cool skills featured in the books are based on real life. Fact is stranger than fiction indeed.
The teens are likable enough as protagonists although it’s clear that Wilkins has a soft spot for Max, the 14 year old tech genius and trouble-maker (yes he’s the American one), and for Zia, the mysterious survivor with unexplained electric powers. Or maybe they’re just more dynamic to use for character flaws and adventures. Personally, I get why Wilkins have a three agent per mission rule in order to keep the mission from being bloated, but I do wish she got a super special so readers could see how the team interacted all together, see more of the rivalries and friendships formed between them.
Anyway, if your kid wants some adventure books that will spark more interest in the amazing feats of the natural and technological world, they should give RBI a try.
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Samantha: The Next Chapter Review
It’s 1920, and 25-year-old Samantha Parkington is working hard to educate women in New York about suffrage and encourage them to vote in their first presidential election that fall. But when Samantha’s large inheritance, including her childhood Mount Bedford home, is stolen in a shocking scheme, she goes from socialite to shop girl overnight and experiences a very different side of New York City living in a boarding house. Searching for clues regarding the theft of her inheritance, she infiltrates the business of a notorious criminal in New York City. Determined as ever, Samantha will do whatever it takes to find answers and save her family’s legacy.
I received this ARC for free from Davis’ agent in exchange for an honest review. Spoiler free
Dear America, take note, this is how you celebrate a anniversary. Not with new covers, but new books.
Davis already has a steller reputation in crafting compelling historical narratives from the point of view of women, so I was eager to see how she’d tackle Samantha Parkington all grown up. Spoiler alert, she did well.
The beginning of the novel brings back a sense of nostalgia, literally, as Samantha returns home for the summer to care for Grandmary while Uncle Gard/Aunt Cornelia go away to the Far East. It’s a nice beginning as it immediately hones in on th nostalgia the reader must feel and eases them into this novel fitting the original series’ cozy atmosphere.
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Ranking Gargoyles
After a thousand years, they live again!
Okay, it’s only been three, but with all the delays because of Diamond Distributers bankruptcy it feels like forever. I had HiM vol 1 in my hand for two years, and refused to read it until I could get my hands on the clan-building that kept getting delayed. Finally I got to read them all this week and here are my rankings.
1. Dark Ages: The prequel mini-series is epic, showcasing Hudson’s (or as he was known then “Mentor”) first alliance with King Malcom, the Head of the Guard and the rest of the people of Wyvern. We get to see the beginnings of Demona’s hatred towards humans. More of the Wyvern Clan. The trio as adorable babies and such a nice combination of medieval battles with uplifting hope for cooperation between humans and gargoyles.
2. Bad Guys: This mini-series brings a rag-tag group of bad guys in need of redemption. Basically it’s Suicide Squad with Gargoyles villains as they’re all blackmailed into joining the team under Robyn Canmore. I enjoyed how each issue gets into their regrets (except Claw’s) and bring deeper backstory to them all. I only wish it hadn’t ended abruptly and allowed for more issues of them working as a team instead of just recruiting.
3. Clan Building: Continuing where S2 ends, Weisman and crew demonstrate the consequences of the gargoyles existence in Manhatten, further reckoning of Goliath and Elisa’s relationship and the expansion of the Manhattan clan. While some issues are slow (specifically the one concerning the Rock of Ages. You can tell Weisman is letting his English folklore major run wild), I enjoyed the continuing adventures in this world.
4. Here in Manhattan Vol 2: While Vol 1 was Weisman and co setting the foundation for the new arc, this volume allows for them to run wild in unleashing new double-crosses, feature return of old characters plus a trial scene with Goliath.
5. Here in Manhattan Vol 1: The return to Manhattan suffers from having to reintroduce readers to the characters after the cancellation of the Clan Building comic/series in 2003 plus introducing a plethora of new characters and plots that come to fruition in part 2, so this comes last.
I can’t wait till next year when I can get my hands on Quest.
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Saturday Night Cleaver Review
Poor Barb. She just can’t stay out of trouble, no matter how hard she tries. But this time she has a good reason: family friend Colt Baron has gone missing. When soccer mom, Barbara Marr, and her ex-FBI husband, Howard, begin following clues in a search for their treasured pal, they find themselves crashing a rather racy sort of party – a soiree for swinging couples. Awkward. What they learn there is…interesting. But the question is, does the information lead them to Colt?
Cantwell had left Barb on such a heart-pounding cliffhanger, but the consequences leave an uneven follow-up. Taking place almost a month since the car accident, retirement has left Howard dealing with not only a lengthy road of physical therapy but the listlessness. Meanwhile, Barb is going through her own hell that is menopause and the mood swings that come with it. Meaning she is taking everything a bit too defensively and the root of her own problems.
I like how Cantwell tries to insert some more introspection with Barbara in acknowledging the flaws of her own behavior, and show some maturity in that she doesn’t know her mother as well as she thought and maybe she’s at at place where she can get to know her better. I also enjoyed the new dynamic of her investigatin with her husband. But the potential clash between their detective styles and their new way of connecting aren’t given much page time or depth.
Rather Cantwell throws three different mysteries into the adventure with none of the threads feeling developed. It just felt like it was jumping from one red herring to the other. And the time-jump between makes me feel like the reader missed potentially exciting developments. Colt’s relationship with his son. Callie’s reaction to her dad’s accident. Barbara’s friend moving away. All could have emotional weight but because of the time skip, we are left with all good status quo that the characters have adjusted but the readers are catching up. I’m left with some comedy but no real conection to the characters or the situations.
3 stars
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Silenced by the Yams Review
Soccer mom, Barbara Marr attracts trouble the way the North Pole attracts short men with odd wardrobe choices. So it’s no surprise when she finds herself in deep doo-doo while attempting to prove the innocence of friend and ex-Mafia goon, Frankie Romano, after he’s arrested for the murder of a famous action movie director.
This third book in the popular Barbara Marr Murder Mystery Series brings Barb out of the suburbs and into the slimy, urban world of bright lights, nightly news, and drive-by shootings. Luckily, she never loses her sense of humor or her ability to befriend some decidedly quirky characters.
Cantwell shakes things up from her previous two books. Peggy and Roz are busy with their own lives, leaving Barbara to scramble on her own when her semi-friend, Frankie, gets framed. In my previous review, I said that I felt including Barb’s friends made the scene overcrowded so it was pleasant to see how Barbara deals with the mystery on her hunches. Admittedly, she gets a lot more distracted but the problem-solving is linear and readers are able to make sense of how the red herrings tie together.
Plus it allows Cantwell to introduce new characters like obnoxious reporter, Guy, the mysterious Clarence and his surprising family ties to Colt, Colt’s new girlfriend, Meegan, and the appearance of Howard’s mother, Mrs. Marr, who I would totally want to read a spin-off book of her and Barb’s mom going on Thelma and Louise adventures. The comedy she (and Barb’s daughters) brought made me laugh way too loudly.
I applaud the addition of new characters to buff up the mystery, but it did make the denouement confusing. About five men were involved in the murder for differing reasons, backstabbing each other. Two of them never appear on the page, so I had to reread the explanation several times to understand the moving parts. However, I enjoyed how Cantwell wove Barb’s movie knowledge and made it for vital to solving the case.
I also admire Cantwell’s commitment to changing the status quo. She nips the (non-existent) love triangle in a bud by giving Colt an intriguing new arc, brings a new bump to Howard’s professional life and leaves the book on a cliffhanger.
4 stars
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Citizen Insane Review
If you think PTA meetings are boring, then you haven’t attended one in Barbara Marr’s neighborhood, where MURDER is on the agenda. Always one to stumble into trouble, Barb learns the hard way that a seemingly innocent yearbook scandal is actually part of a seriously sinister and deadly plot. Join soccer mom and movie lover Barbara Marr in this second laugh-out-loud, chaotic mystery, where high-profile crime and suburban living collide in an unexpected fashion.
Again, not a horror but there is some blood which makes it perfect for October. I enjoyed the first adventure in the Barbara Marr mystery combing a suburban mom with a love for movies, goofy mafia henchmen and madcap escapes. Finally, I got my hands on the next few novels in the series.
The title is apt as the richest widow-mom in town Bunny Bergan appears to be the citizen insane by popping her face in windows and screaming paranoid rants. Also she has a surprising connection to Barbara’s estranged husband (currently out of the house since the first novel when she Barb finds out that he’s not an engineer but an FBI agent this whole time).
The mystery was a bit complicated for me to understand, and over-the-top, but that’s part of the fun. So I allowed my suspension of disbelief that a group of bank robbing sorority sisters all ended up in the same town after several years and sabatoge a yearbook to make sure their crimes aren’t uncovered. But I did enjoy the soul-searching Barabara deals with in how she failed to follow her own advice to her daughters about not believing in second-hand gossip as she did with Bunny, and soon forms a potential new friendship.
The ending also provides a new wrench in the burgeoning love triangle. Though married, there is a rival in the form of bounty hunter, Colt. Long-time friend to the Marrs and Barbara’s ex-bf in college before she married Howard. The ending seems to reunite the husband and wife and Colt puts a brave face, but I wonder how the trio will continue to navigate the obvious unrequited feelings of their friend.
My one complaint would be the inclusion of Barbara’s friends Roz and Penny in the final. After being kidnapped in the first book, for it to happen again in the second feels like a convenience to force them together in the final fight and overcrowded the scene. I was fine with them helping Barbara with her investigation, but it would have been better if Cantwell had simplified the conflict to just Bunny and Barb being held hostage instead of all four of them.
3 stars
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