[BOOK REVIEW] Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: The Crucible Volume 1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Title:  Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: The Crucible Volume 1

Author:  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa  

Artist:  Robert Hack 

Genre:  Horror / Drama / Romance / Witches / Family

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  10/31/2018

Publisher:  Archie Comics

Series: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Scary Content and Some Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Introduction:

After reading “Afterlife with Archie,” I was definitely looking forward to reading “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and see how this compares to the “Afterlife with Archie” series. I also wanted to read this graphic novel because I wanted to read it before I watch the new Netflix series “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina!”  Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the same writer of the “Afterlife with Archie” series, along with artwork by Robert Hack, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Volume One: The Crucible” is definitely worth the read!

What is this story about?

Sabrina Spellman is not your average teenage girl.  She is actually a half witch (her father was a warlock who married a mortal woman).  According to her aunts Zelda and Hilda, Sabrina has to be baptized on her sixteenth birthday in order to become one of the Devil’s handmaidens.  But, there are a couple of things that will complicate Sabrina’s demonic ceremony.  One of them is her love for a mortal teenage boy named Harvey Kinkle, as she cannot tell him that she is really a witch and that she will be celebrating a forbidden ceremony for witches. Another one is that an enemy named Madam Satan is going after Sabrina and is doing everything in her power to make Sabrina’s life miserable, due to Sabrina’s father choosing a mortal woman over her.  With her sixteenth birthday fast approaching, Sabrina must decide about what she really wants in her life and what she is willing to sacrifice to get the life she really wants.

What I loved about this story:

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing:  Wow!  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has done it again with his stellar writing on the darker retellings of the characters from the Archie Comics!  When it comes to darker retellings of the characters from the Archie Comics, I believe that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is probably the best suited at writing these characters due to making the characters so intriguing!  I am also usually shocked at how dark Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa can make these characters as I would not believe that these characters from the Archie Comics would do such heinous crimes, if it was not for the fact that these are darker retellings of the characters.  I also really liked the dark and mysterious atmosphere of this story as the witches are shown in a much more menacing and frightening light here than with what you would see in the regular “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” series.  The fact that Satan is the being that the witches worship makes this story even darker in tone.  I also liked the way that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa made the story extremely emotional, especially for Sabrina since I really wanted to see Sabrina and Harvey stay together through all the terrifying events going on in this volume.

Robert Hack’s artwork:  Robert Hack’s artwork was just so gorgeous and frightening to look at!  I loved the way that Robert Hack made all the characters look extremely realistic, especially with their facial expressions.  I also loved how detailed the images can be during scenes of horror and violence and I found myself cringing a bit at some of the artwork because of how realistic they looked.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like scary content, this volume has a surprising number of terrifying moments such as a witch ripping off the face off a person or a satanic ritual with the witches. 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Volume One: The Crucible” is a truly fantastic graphic novel that manages to make a darker retelling of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” worth the read!

You might also like:

• Archie Volume 1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid

• Jughead Volume 2 by Chip Zdarsky and Ryan North
• Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume 1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

[BOOK REVIEW] I Hate Fairyland Volume 3: Good Girl by Skottie Young

Title:  I Hate Fairyland Volume 3:  Good Girl

Author:  Skottie Young

Genre:  Thriller / Comedy / Fairy Tale / Action

Year Published:  2017

Year Read: 7/15/2018

Series: I Hate Fairyland #3

Publisher: Image Comics

Source: Purchased

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Introduction:

So, after I finished reading “I Hate Fairyland Volume Two: Fluff My Life,” I just had to read the third volume of Skottie Young’s hilarious “I Hate Fairyland” series called “Good Girl” and I was curious about why the cover was showing a HAPPY, CUTE EYED Gertrude and what that was all about!  Well, I must say that “I Hate Fairyland Volume Three: Good Girl” was definitely an unexpected step up from the second volume!

What is this story about?

It seems like after the events of the last volume (her future self comes and tells her that if she does not change her ways, she could possibly doom Fairyland), Gertrude still has not learned her lesson that if she continues to kill people left and right, she could be heading for some big trouble.  That is until she meets up with a girl named Maddie, who is Gertrude’s biggest fan and Gertrude decides to teach Maddie everything about killing people to get what she wants.  But, when Maddie proved to be even worse than Gertrude, Gertrude then realizes what a terrible person she has been and she decides to try to become a better person in the long run.  However, knowing Gertrude, that is not going to be easy!

What I loved about this story:

Skottie Young’s writing:  As usual, Skottie Young has done a fantastic job at writing this story as the story is both hilarious and shocking at the same time (especially, with that twist of an ending)!  I really loved the scenes where is Gertrude trying to become a better person by helping people, but since she is violent by nature, she cannot help but destroy the many things she comes across to.  It was a nice change of pace for the series as we finally get to see Gertrude actually act (a little) nicer towards the people she comes across to and it was also hilarious still seeing Gertrude destroy things, even though she tries really hard not to!  I also loved the way that Skottie Young further developed Larry the Fly’s character as we get to see that Larry actually does care about Gertrude, despite constantly snarking at her. We also get to see what his life would have been like without Gertrude and it was both sad and hilarious seeing his alternative life from his perspective.

Skottie Young and Dean Rankine’s artwork:  Skottie Young’s artwork is as usual hilarious to look at as all the characters look exaggerated and I especially loved the appearance of Gertrude herself as she looks like an evil version of “Shirley Temple!”  I also loved the artwork done by Dean Rankine in the issue where Larry the Fly starts dreaming about how his life would have turned out if he did not meet Gertrude as the artwork is even more cartoonish than most of the artwork in this volume and the art style actually reminds me of the art style from “Rocko’s Modern Life!”

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like gory violence, there is some gory violence in this volume, mainly during the scenes where characters are ripped apart and blown up in extremely bloody ways (all courtesy of Gertrude herself, of course)!  Also, this is a bit of a nitpick for me, but the narrative is a bit all over the place in this volume as Gertrude and Larry go on many different adventures in this volume and the narrative tends to jump from one situation to the next.  This would often confuse me as I was trying to figure out what the main plot of this volume was, although I will admit that the narrative is a bit more straightforward here than in the second volume.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “I Hate Fairyland Volume Three: Good Girl” is a truly fantastic volume that is full of hilarious (and violent) adventure along with a shocking twist of an ending that fans of the “I Hate Fairyland” series will definitely enjoy!

You might also like:

• I Hate Fairyland Volume 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young

• I Hate Fairyland Volume 2: Fluff My Life by Skottie Young
• The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais

[BOOK REVIEW] I Hate Fairyland Volume 2: Fluff My Life by Skottie Young

Title:  I Hate Fairyland Volume 2:  Fluff My Life

Author:  Skottie Young

Genre:  Thriller / Comedy / Fairy Tale / Action

Year Published:  2016

Year Read: 6/23/2018

Series: I Hate Fairyland #2

Publisher: Image Comics

Source: Purchased

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Gory Violence and Brief Strong Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

Introduction:

So, years ago, I had read the first volume of “I Hate Fairyland” on Netgalley and I loved the graphic novel so much that I just had to pick up the rest of this series and put it in my ever-growing bookshelf!  So, I finally got around to reading the second volume of the series called “I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life Volume Two” and it was just as entertaining as the first volume!

What is this story about?

After Gertrude kills Queen Cloudia in the last volume, she is then forced to become Fairyland’s next Queen since the law stated that if something were to happen to the Queen of Fairyland, then another person must become Queen in their place.  This upsets Gertrude since she spent most of the first volume trying to get out of Fairyland and once she becomes Queen, she is doing such a horrible job at ruling Fairyland that she ends up getting fired from the position.  This then allows Gertrude to continue her journey to escape Fairyland and along the way, she gets into lots of crazy situations such as meeting Duncan Dragon, who is actually a young boy in a dragon suit, fighting with a princess who is actually more than she seems and possibly changing the fate of Fairyland for the worse!

What I loved about this story:

Skottie Young’s writing:  Skottie Young’s writing is just as witty and hilarious as it was in the first volume and I really enjoyed the chaotic adventures that Gertrude goes on!  I like the way that Skottie Young continues to make Gertrude into the same rambunctious and violent character that she was in the first volume as it made the story quite entertaining! I also liked the fact that Skottie Young started to gradually give Gertrude some character development in this volume as we start seeing some repercussions of Gertrude’s actions in Fairyland and I hope to see where Gertrude’s character arc goes to in the next volume!  Also, this may sound a bit sadistic of me, but I did enjoy the way that Skottie Young incorporated the over the top violence in this volume as it made the volume so hilarious and entertaining to read through!

Skottie Young and Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz’s artwork:  Skottie Young’s artwork is just as hilarious here as it was in the previous volume as Gertrude continues to look like a young girl with a crazy expression on her face and having messy green locks for her hair. I also enjoyed seeing the carnage that Gertrude wrecks on Fairyland as it looks so exaggerated and comical at the same time!  Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz’s artwork for issue eight was so hilarious and creative to look at!  I loved the scene when Gertrude ends up going inside an arcade game and the art style is done in an anime style that really fits well with the video game setting of that story and it made me really enjoy that issue!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Even though I still enjoyed this book, one of my main problems with this volume was that there were too many things going on in the story that I found myself being confused about some of the arcs in this volume (even the ending of this volume was a bit odd due to it coming out of nowhere).  Also, for readers who do not like gory violence or strong language, there is lots of gory violence in this volume that might be uncomfortable for some readers to handle.  Also, even though it was only one instance of this, there is the mention of the “s” word in this volume that anyone who does not like strong language should watch out for.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “I Hate Fairyland: Fluff My Life Volume Two” is a great continuation of the first volume that anyone who is a huge fan of this series should definitely check out and I definitely cannot wait to check out the third volume to this series!

You might also like:

• I Hate Fairyland Volume 1: Madly Ever After by Skottie Young

• Jughead Volume 2 by Chip Zdarsky and Ryan North
• The Little Red Wolf by Amélie Fléchais

[BOOK REVIEW] Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Title:  Tender Morsels

Author: Margo Lanagan

Genre: Fantasy

Year Published: 2007

Number of Pages: 436 pages

Date Read: 7/19/2010

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers   

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Sex Scenes and Rape Scenes)

Trigger Warning: Rape Scenes

Buy on:   Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After I read Margo Lanagan’s “Black Juice,” I thought that Margo Lanagan’s “Tender Morsels” was going to be a horrible read.  However, I was quite impressed with how improved the plot and characters are in this book are from “Black Juice.”  “Tender Morsels” is a Printz Honor Book by Margo Lanagan and it is about how a suffering woman named Liga is mysteriously sent to a world where everything is perfect and friendly and raises her two daughters, Branza and Urdda, in this heaven.  However, when wild bears and tiny men come to Liga’s heavenly world, Liga and her two daughters realized that there is another world different from the world they live in.  “Tender Morsels” might be too dark and upsetting for some readers to handle, but the fantasy elements of this book might enchant some readers.

I must admit that after I read “Black Juice,” I thought that this book was going to be no better. However, I was surprised at how much improved this book was in character development and plot development than in “Black Juice.”  Margo Lanagan has done an excellent job at making this story extremely dramatic and somewhat frightening as the characters, especially Liga, go through a series of horrifying events that will have many readers cringing at the description of these events and many readers will definitely feel sympathy for the main character Liga as she goes through so many horrendous situations during her life.  Also, readers who love dark fantasy elements will definitely enjoy this book as there is a good amount of fantasy elements dealing with other world barriers and has an extremely dark tone to the story that would intrigued many readers.

There are three main issues that I had with this book and they included strong violence, some rape scenes and confusing narration.  There are many violent scenes in this book that readers who are sensitive to violence might not be able to handle and these violent scenes include a brutal murder scene, which I will not go into too much detail since I do not want to spoil the book for people who want to read this book, but the violence is extremely graphic as Margo Lanagan goes into great detail about how one of the characters is murdered.  Also, there are two rape scenes in this book that many readers (including myself) who do not approve of rape scenes might not be able to handle.  The issue that really stood out the most in this book is the narration as the story switches from Liga’s perspective to the bear’s perspective on the story and that will confuse many readers.  Liga’s side of the story is pretty straightforward and the characters are well developed and the plot is more interesting, however whenever we get to the bear’s side of the story, there are several different characters speaking on their experiences as the bear character and it is extremely frustrating to read through since you do not know which character is speaking their tale.

“Tender Morsels” is an interesting tale about the dangers of reality versus fantasy worlds and many readers who are fans of dark fantasy books will definitely love this book.  I gave this book three and a half stars because the violence is extremely graphic and the narration is a bit too frustrating to read through as it constantly switches from Liga’s story to the bear’s story and I would have gladly just stick with Liga’s side of the story since her story is much more understanding and interesting than the bear’s side of the story.

* 2008 Shirley Jackson Award Nominee for Novel (Finalist)
* 2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List
* 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
* 2009 Ditmar Award for Best Novel
* 2009 Michael L. Printz Award Nominee
* 2010 Sakura Medal Nominee for High School Book

You might also like: 

• The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

• East by Edith Pattou

• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

[ARC REVIEW] Gregory and the Grimbockle by Melanie Schubert (@NewWrinklePub, @M_L_Schubert)

Title:  Gregory and the Grimbockle

Author:  Melanie Schubert

Artist: Abigail Kraft

Book Soundtrack:  Jared Kraft

Genre:  Life / Children's / Drama / Family / Adventure / Fantasy

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  12/29/2017 

Publisher: New Wrinkle Publishing

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 7+ (Some Scary Imagery)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads

I would like to thank NetGalley and New Wrinkle Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

YES!  Another new book from the folks over at NetGalley!  When I saw this book over at NetGalley, I just had to pick this beauty up as soon as possible!  “Gregory and the Grimbockle” is a children’s book that is written by Melanie Schubert along with artwork by Abigail Kraft and it is definitely one fantasy read that children should check out!

Gregory is a ten-year-old boy who does not have many friends and his family often ignores him whenever he is home.  But, probably the biggest sore spot about Gregory is that he has a large mole on his face that everyone keeps picking at, despite the fact that it causes him great painOne night however, Gregory’s enormous mole suddenly opens up and out stepped a Grimbockle who has a cockroach steed and it was then that the Grimbockle tells Gregory about his job in collecting thread like creatures called Exoodles that appear on human beings and repair them whenever they are damaged.  Gregory then wanted to help the Grimbockle with his duties and the two of them go on a wild adventure to fix all the exoodles on humans before it is too late!

Wow! Just wow!  I never would have thought that I would be able to read a children’s book that is so full of imagination and adventure that it wounded up being one of the most unique books I had read for this year!  Melanie Schubert has done an excellent job at writing this book as the writing is both witty and exciting to read through.  I loved the way that Melanie Schubert used various phrases like “Grimbockle” and “Exoodles” to explain the bizarre world that the Grimbockle lives in as it reminded me of the wacky phrases used in books that are written by Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl.  I also loved the way that Melanie Schubert had written Gregory as being an all loving hero who only wants to help the people he cares about and I like the fact that this story is set up as a coming of age story for Gregory himself as he learns to show compassion towards people, even towards people that treat him badly.  The mysterious world of the Bockles was so magical and imaginative that I found myself fawning over the small world of the Bockles and how they are able to see the mysterious exoodles when no one else can!  Abigail Kraft’s artwork is highly creative and detailed, especially of the images of Gregory himself as his facial expressions are usually drawn in an exaggerated way and yet, I have always loved the surprised look on his face as it reflects the bizarre situation he is thrown into quite well.  I also loved the images of the Bockles themselves as they are portrayed as small purple creatures who have large eyes and have some features that make them look like little elves.

Parents should know that there is some scary imagery in this book, which mainly consist of images of the dark exoodles, which are black worm like things that pop out of people’s heads.  This may cause some small children to be terrified about the possibility of having strange worm like creatures in their heads, even though this book is purely fictional (yuck, even that makes me feel nauseous typing this down).  Parents might want to read this book first to see if their children can handle the scary imagery in this book.

Overall, “Gregory and the Grimbockle” is a fantastic fantasy adventure for children both young and old!  I would recommend this book to children ages 7 and up due to some of the scary imagery.

You might also like:

• The Frog Prince by Mike Klaassen

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

[BOOK REVIEW] Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted? Volume 0 by Jason Latour

Title:  Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted? Volume 0

Author: Jason Latour

Artist: Robbi Rodriguez

Genre:  Action / Superheroes / Drama / Crime / Music

Year Published: 2015

Year Read:  11/11/2017

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Series: Spider-Gwen #0

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Some Language and Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

Introduction:

Wait a minute…Gwen Stacy is…SPIDER WOMAN!?  And who ever heard of a graphic novel having a volume 0?

Before you get confused about this (as I was), there was an event called “Spider-Verse” that might explain about all this (except that I haven’t read the “Spider-Verse” event yet, so that point might be moot at this time).  Anyway, I have been hearing so many good things about the “Spider-Gwen” series that I had to give “Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted? Volume Zero” a shot and I must admit that I actually liked this graphic novel!

What is this story about?

In this universe, it was Gwen Stacy who was bitten by a radioactive spider and possessed spider powers (not Peter Parker).  It turns out that Peter Parker was bullied so much at school that one day he decided to transform himself into the lizard and went on a rampage throughout the city and ended up getting himself killed.  Because of this, Gwen harbored a lot of guilt over what happened to Peter since Peter was doing all this to be like Gwen.  After this tragic event, J. Jonah Jameson had caused the public to turn against Spider-Gwen by stating that she was responsible for Peter Parker’s death and Gwen ends up being on the run from the law, including from her father Captain Stacy (at least until she tells him who she really is).  Now Gwen has to prove to the public that she did not kill Peter Parker and that she is a true hero while also avoiding the people after her including Frank Castle (A.K.A. The Punisher), the Vulture and Matt Murdock himself!

What I loved about this story:

Jason Latour’s writing:  Jason Latour’s writing was quite unique and interesting to read as this universe’s Gwen Stacy is one of the most interesting characters I had ever read!  I loved the way that Jason Latour made Gwen Stacy into such a strong female protagonist as Gwen also cracks jokes like Spider-Man, but she can be moody at times due to her guilt over Peter’s death and I loved the way that Jason Latour wrote Gwen’s struggles with trying to cope with Peter’s death as it made Gwen into a truly relatable character.   I also loved the fact that Gwen Stacy is involved in a rock band as it adds even more dimension to her character and I just loved the fact that we have a heroine who is into music!   I also enjoyed the moments between Gwen and her father, Captain Stacy, as while it was quite intense due to Captain Stacy not wanting his daughter to get in danger, it was nice seeing how much Captain Stacy cares about his daughter and only wants what is best for her.  Jason Latour also did an interesting job at giving us a Spider-Man universe where Gwen Stacy is Spider Woman as I never would have thought that Gwen Stacy of all people could become a superheroine.  But, this version of Gwen Stacy is so well written that I actually loved the fact that Gwen Stacy makes an interesting Spider Woman!

Robbi Rodriguez’s artwork:  Robbi Rodriguez’s artwork was quite creative to look at, especially Spider Gwen’s outfit!  I just loved the reddish hues that cover the pages whenever Gwen is performing in her rock band as it makes those moments really stand out.  But the best part of Robbi Rodriguez’s artwork is Spider-Gwen’s outfit!  I think I have fallen in love with Spider-Gwen’s outfit since it is actually white and pink all over and it makes her look like a savior type being within the pages!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The reason why I gave this book a four-star rating was because I felt that the dialogue was a bit disjointed at times.  I was not sure if it was because the dialogue was trying to use street slang to make the characters seem more modern or if it was the writing itself.  I often had a difficult time trying to understand what the characters are actually saying due to how the dialogue is being written.  Also, if you have not read “Spider-Verse,” chances are you will probably be confused about what is really going on in this book (although this is technically an alternate universe of the “Spider-Man” universe).

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted? Volume Zero” is a great graphic novel to read if you want to see a different take on Gwen Stacy!

You might also like:

• Ms. Marvel: No Normal Volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson

• Daredevil Volume 1 by Mark Waid
• Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon Volume 1 by Matt Fraction