Tackling Mt. TBR

This was recommended to me by Youngest Sis. She reads tons of graphic novels and has offered lots of great suggestions. This is one of those series that I feel will get better over time.

The story takes place in the 1920s and in the 1880s. I must say that the 1920s portion was much more interesting than the 1880s bit. That was somewhat disappointing as learning about Skinner Sweet's back story should've been pretty riveting.

The bit in the 1920s really sets up some great stuff though, so I suspect future issues won't suffer from this same problem. I will definitely be checking out the second graphic novel to see how the story progresses.

I came into this book figuring there was a fifty-fifty shot of me loving it. I absolutely adored Anna but didn't care much for Lola at all, so I thought Isla could go either way. I'm happy to report that I LOVED it!

I liked Isla right away because she was kind of shy and awkward and being a bit of an awkward person myself this made her very relatable to me. She struggles with her own insecurities and self-worth and that plays a big part in the conflict of the book.

Josh is basically perfect. He's an artist, a senator's son and he has just enough rebellion in him to give him some edge. Trust me when I say that none of the boys in my high school were even half as great as Josh, but that's the joy of fiction.

There is one main supporting character which is Isla's best friend Kurt. There is absolutely no unrequited anything between them (thankfully) they are strictly friends. At first when I found out she had a male BFF I cringed thinking there was going to be a love triangle, but they are definitely more of a brother/sister dynamic.

I should note, that while I loved the book, it's definitely not going to be for everyone. Josh was a bit too perfect which can be an issue for some, Isla's insecurities might bother some people more than they did me. And there is the fact that they are a bunch of overprivileged kids gallivanting around Europe which may not be everyone's cuppa.

For me it all worked to make for a fabulous little escape from the real world.

This is my favorite of all the graphic novels I've read so far. The art was fabulous, the storyline was funny and unique and the characters are extremely likable.

Definitely a great read if you enjoy a lighter side to zombies, ghosts and other paranormal creatures. This book does a wonderful job of setting up the series and introducing the three main characters and Gwen's love interest. I'm quite interested to see where the story goes from here and what is up with the mummy guy.

I'm on reserve for book 2 and already picked up three and four during my trip today to the main library in downtown Columbus. They have TONS of stuff there.

Burn For Me

This was a really fun read. I love how the Edgar Allen Poe references were cleverly worked into the story. The art was quite nice as well particularly the covers, which are all featured in the back of the graphic novel. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I snagged this book from the library but I consider it a pleasant surprise.

Note: This appears to be the cover of the first comic in the series, but I used it since the graphic novel cover didn't seem to be in the Booklikes catalog.

This book was a bit of a slow starter for me. The main character Duncan is quite likable and I enjoyed his tone. He had a humorous take on life especially since has a zombie dog and his boyfriend is a ghost. Having said that the book definitely suffered from some pacing issues.

Also, there were large passages from the killer's perspective. This pretty much never works for me. I don't ever care about the killer's back story or about listening to his creepy inner thoughts when I'm reading a book like this.

I did like the ghost, the witch and the zombie dog. The ghost boyfriend has proposed a bit of a threesome with Duncan, his living love interest, and the ghost by way of the ghost possessing the new love interest. I have to say that if that scenario ends up happening it would be something I've never seen before.

Overall, a decent read that is definitely more urban fantasy than romance. I may pick up the second one eventually.

In this installment we meet Ezekiel and the fact that he has a tiger is one of the reasons this didn't get four stars. Seriously, a tiger? I can't say for certain, but I'm guessing he liberated the tiger from a zoo or something. At any rate that bit was a bit too jump-the-shark-ish for me.

Negan, the new villain is about a thousand times better and more villainous than the governor. Some of the things he has going on are pretty shocking. It's amazing what people are willing to put up with for safety.

At any rate Rick has a plan. He always seems to have a plan, but most of them are not great successes (probably because comic book Rick doesn't have Daryl around) so it's hard to say whether his plan is going to be an epic win or an epic fail, but I look forward to finding out.

Side note: I am reading a non-graphic novel book as well, but these are so crazy fast to get through and that is why I've been finishing so many of them.

Tessa Dare freebie!

This one caught my eye since it takes place during the English Civil War which is not a time period I've often read about.

This was such an odd read. I had to sit for a bit afterward and think about how to rate it. I found the story both creative and fascinating and the art work was quite well done. However, I didn't really find any particular characters to root for. There are no good guys in this graphic novella. Everyone is bad. And I'm not even saying that there are shades of gray, they are pretty much all horrible people in one way or another.

Despite the horribleness of all the characters, I was completely enthralled by the world that is created here. Why do all these people believe in The Message? How did Death manage to leave behind the other horsemen? What is really up with the kid?

It'll definitely be interesting to see what direction this series goes in because at this point I honestly feel like anything could happen.

Samhain freebie!

This could be the book that changes everything. This installment has so many shocking moments and two very shocking deaths. I am extremely interested in seeing where all this is headed. I still find myself questioning Rick's leadership skills. He seems to underestimate his actual enemies and treat people that mean him no harm as if they have killed his dog. I would say he is possibly the worst judge of character I have ever had the pleasure of reading about, but then that is what makes the series so endlessly interesting.

Freebie in one of my favorite series? Yes, please!

Entangled freebie!

This is an extremely well done novella. It's amazing the amount of story that Merrow was able to pack into such a small amount of pages.

Al was a delightful and rather unusual narrator and watching him fall in love with Larry was quite lovely. I will admit I was a bit skeptical at first about a relationship between the two men, but it quickly became apparent that they brought out the best in each other.

This novella was surprisingly poignant in places and had way more depth than I'm used to finding in shorter books. There were also some delightful splashes of humor.

Overall, this was a win.