[BOOK REVIEW] Another Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone

Title:  Another Monster at the End of this Book

Author:  Jon Stone

Artist: Michael Smollin

Genre:  Children's / Humor / Monsters

Year Published: 1996

Year Read:  2019

Publisher: Golden Books Publishing Company, Inc.

Series: The Monster at the End of this Book #2

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I remembered watching “Sesame Street” a lot when I was a child and I used to collect a few books that featured the Sesame Street gang.  One of the books that I got was “Another Monster at the End of this Book” by Jon Stone, along with artwork by Michael Smollin.  This book is the sequel to “The Monster at the End of this Book” and it’s such a hilarious and cute story!

The book starts off with Grover and Elmo discovering about the monster at the end of the book and Elmo wanted to see the monster. But Grover didn’t want to see the monster at the end of the book and he spent most of the book trying prevent both him and Elmo from seeing the monster at the end of the book.

Wow!  I never would have expected to enjoy this book as much as I did!  Even though I grew up watching “Sesame Street” when I was little, I didn’t really collect that many books that were based off of “Sesame Street.”  But I found this book to be so adorable and hilarious that I just could not help but fall in love with this book!  Jon Stone did a fantastic job at writing both Grover and Elmo as they are both extremely faithful to their characters from the TV series.  I loved the fact that Grover is being shown as the cautious one as he does not want to see the monster at the end of the book (although kind of justified since he had the same problem in the first book). Meanwhile, Elmo is shown as being the one who is excited at the idea of seeing the monster at the end of the book.  I also loved the relationship between Grover and Elmo as Grover acts like an older brother who is trying to protect Elmo from the monster at the end of the book, while Elmo is the younger sibling who is very curious about the world around him.  Michael Smollin’s artwork is completely faithful to the characters of the “Sesame Street” TV series as Grover and Elmo look faithful to their designs from “Sesame Street.”  I also loved the way that Michael Smollin drew the humorous moments in this book such as showing Grover trying to block the pages by either putting up building blocks or gluing the pages together to prevent the reader from turning the pages.

Overall, “Another Monster at the End of this Book” is a fantastic sequel to “The Monster at the End of this Book” and if you are a huge fan of “Sesame Street,” then you will definitely enjoy this book!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• This is a Taco! by Andrew Cangelose

• This is a Whoopsie! by Andrew Cangelose

• It's a Book by Lane Smith

[ARC REVIEW] Diary of a Monster by Valeria Davila

Title:  Diary of a Monster

Author:  Valeria Davila

Artist:  Laura Aguerrebehere

Genre:  Children's / Humor / Monsters

Year Published: 2018

Year Read:  2018

Publisher:  Crackboom!

Source:   eARC (NetGalley)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Gross Humor)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

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

After reading “Diary of an Ogre,” I was actually surprised that there were several companion novels to the “Dear Diary” series and I was so excited to check out the newest book in the series “Diary of a Monster!”

The book explores about what life for a monster is like as we get to see the world through a monster’s point of view.  The titular monster in the story writes in his diary about the various things that he does as a monster such as terrifying the people he comes across, being one of the smelliest beings among his fellow monsters and eating worm cakes and mosquitoes!

Wow! Valeria Davila has done it again with writing this series in such a hilarious and creative way!  I loved the way that Valeria Davila explored the world through a monster’s point of view and we get to see what kind of activities the monsters do and how they feel about doing these activities.  I also loved the fact that the titular monster in this book is actually proud of being a monster, despite all the disgusting things that he does throughout the book such as being the smelliest monster around and eating mosquitoes and worm cakes.  It shows that the message of this book is being yourself, no matter how strange or frightening you might look towards other people.  Laura Aguerrebehere’s artwork is as usual humorous and fun to look at as we get to see the monster’s activities in all its disgusting glory!  I especially loved the images of the monster scaring off the tourists on an island and the green stink clouds that surround the monster to indicate how smelly he is.

Parents should know that there is some gross humor in this book such as images of the monster cooking up a stew made out of rats and cockroaches and images of the monster eating mosquitoes and worms. 

Overall, “Diary of a Monster” is a fantastic book for anyone who is a huge fan of books about monsters and it is definitely worth the read!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some of the gross humor might be a bit too much for some children.

 You might also like:

• Diary of an Ogre by Valeria Davila

• Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz
• The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman

[BOOK REVIEW] This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

Title:  This Savage Song

Author:  Victoria Schwab

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2016

Number of Pages:  427 pages

Date Read: 6/27/2018

Series: Monsters of Verity #1

Publisher:  Greenwillow Books

Source:  Purchased

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

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Monsters, monsters, big and small,
"They're gonna come and eat you all.
Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,
Shadow and bone will eat you raw.
Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,
Smile and bite and drink you dry.
Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,
Sing you a song and steal your soul.
Monsters, monsters, big and small,
They're gonna come and eat you all!” 

Now, I have been hearing so many good things about Victoria Schwab’s popular “Monsters of Verity” series and I just had to pick this series up as soon as possible!  So, the first book in the series is “This Savage Song” and it was so beautifully written by Victoria Schwab that I just immediately fell in love with this book!

The city of Verity is in the middle of a war between the monsters and the humans, as monsters such as the Corsai, Malchai and the Sunai, are plaguing the city with violence and death.  The humans, on the other hand, are trying to protect themselves against the monsters and are living every day in fear.  Overseeing the city of Verity is a man named Callum Harker, who is the most powerful man in the city and he promises to protect the humans against the monsters if they pay him for his help in taking down the monsters.  On the other side of the city, a man named Henry Flynn rules the part of the city that Harker has no control over and he also tries to protect the people of Verity from the monsters plaguing the city.  But, he is up against Harker and the two are at war with each other to see who will take over the city of Verity.  Kate Harker had just recently been kicked out of her most recent school for trying to set the building on fire and she returns to Verity to prove to her estranged father, Callum Harker, that she can be just as ruthless and merciless as him and has decided to attend Colton Academy to be closer to her father.

However, while at the academy, Kate encounters a shy and awkward boy named August Flynn, who is actually undercover by orders of Henry Flynn, to spy on Kate and see if they need to use her for leverage against Harker.  Also, August harbors a secret that Kate does not know about:  he is actually a Sunai, a monster that can suck out the souls of the people who have sinned and he uses his violin as a way to bring out the people’s souls so he can devour them.  In order to fit in the school, August must keep his true identity a secret from the other students, including Kate, who he slowly starts to develop a bond with.  In a city that is wrecked by war, August and Kate must find a way to survive in this war-torn town while trying to understand each other better.

Wow!  Double, DOUBLE wow!  I never would have thought that I would love this book so much when I read it for the first time!  Victoria Schwab’s writing was so beautiful and intense that I found myself being enthralled by the haunting yet amazing world that the story takes place in!  I loved the way that Victoria Schwab created the world of Verity as it is a truly frightening place, especially with the monsters constantly running amok the city and killing many innocent people without warning.  I liked the fact that this book can be really scary at times, especially during the scenes where August is having trouble controlling his powers and you cannot help but feel a sense of unease as you wonder if he will hurt Kate if his powers get out of control.  I liked the way that Victoria Schwab wrote all the characters in this book as each character is holding a dark secret that the reader does not know about until the very end of the book and Victoria Schwab does a great job at building up the mysteries surrounding each character.  Out of all the characters in this book that I enjoyed the most, they were, of course Kate and August themselves!   I liked the fact that Kate was an anti-hero in this story and that she was acting a bit ruthless throughout the story because it is rare to see the protagonist of the story be so ruthless, even when we found out that it is because she just wanted her father to notice her.  I also loved August as he is the opposite of Kate as he is actually polite and shy, in contrast to Kate’s more aggressive personality and the fact that he is struggling with controlling his monster side makes him into such an interesting character!  I especially loved the relationship between Kate and August as they are more like friends in this book than lovers as it is rare for me to read a book where the main protagonists are just friends and I enjoyed the bonding that Kate and August have once they get to know each other better.

For anyone who does not like strong language, there are a couple of words like the “f” word and the “s” word being thrown around in this book that might offend some readers.  Also, there is some gory violence in this book as characters are stabbed or cut up in a graphic manner that might be disturbing to some readers.

Overall, “This Savage Song” is a truly brilliant book about true friendship, music and horror that fans of these type of books will definitely enjoy!  Now, without a further ado, I am off to read the second book in the series “Our Dark Duet!”

You might also like:

• Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

• Shadow Game by Christine Feehan
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

[BOOK REVIEW] A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Title:  A Monster Calls

Author:  Patrick Ness

Artist: Jim Kay

Genre:  Fantasy / Horror / Drama

Year Published: 2011

Number of Pages: 205 pages 

Date Read: 2/23/2018

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 12+ (Some Disturbing Imagery and Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.” 

Alright, I had actually been hearing about Patrick Ness’ hit book “A Monster Calls” for many years and I have been trying to read it ever since, but I never had the time to!  Now, I finally got the chance to read this book (especially after the movie has been released) and oh man, you will be both shocked and crying after you get through with this unique gem!

The story starts off with a young boy named Conor O’Malley, who was suffering from an intense nightmare where he was engulfed in darkness and he was holding onto the hands of someone he cares about, except that he accidentally let the person’s hand go and the person ends up falling to their death.  The nightmares started when Conor’s mother ended up getting cancer and she has to go through numerous treatments to treat her cancer.  Unfortunately, the treatments were not working well and the worse Conor’s mother’s condition got, the more Conor pushed away everyone who is trying to help him through this, including his divorced father and his former best friend Lily.  It was then that Conor subconsciously called upon a monster to help him through this ordeal and in order to help out Conor, the monster tells Conor that he will tell three stories and that Conor must tell the fourth story himself.  However, the monster warns Conor that telling the fourth story will not be easy as it will cause lots of pain for Conor.

Will Conor tell the fourth tale and will his mother survive her cancer?

Read this book to find out!

Wow…just wow…How could I wait this long to read this unique gem!?  Patrick Ness has done a spectacular job at writing this book as the narrative is both emotional and intense to read through and I was sitting on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what the monster’s motives are and whether or not Conor’s mother will survive her cancer.  I liked the fact that Patrick Ness wrote this story in dedication to Siobhan Dowd, who had died from cancer herself before she was able to complete this story and I really enjoyed the twists and turns that Patrick Ness spin into this tale as it made the narrative extremely unpredictable at times and that is what has gotten me so interested in this story!  I have also noticed some parallels with this story and Joe Kelly’s fantastic graphic novel “I Kill Giants” where both protagonists have to deal with their parents being ill and how their insecurities about their parents’ conditions take on monstrous forms.  Jim Kay’s artwork is probably what sold this book to me as they were truly frightening to look at and I just loved the way that everything is done in shadows as it gives the story a truly mysterious feel.  I also loved the images of the monster itself as it truly looked like what I expected a yew tree monster to look like and the images where it looms over Conor are truly terrifying!

For anyone who does not like disturbing imagery, there are some images in this book that are truly frightening, especially the images of the monster itself.  Also, there is some language in this book, although it is not that strong, with only a few mutters of the “h” word being said.

Overall, “A Monster Calls” is truly intense yet beautiful tale about accepting the harsh realities of life that every fantasy and horror fan should definitely check out!  Of course, be forewarned about the ending…it will make you cry a thousand times over before you finished this book!

* 2011 Galaxy British Book Awards for Children's Book of the Year

* 2011 Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Novel

* 2011 The Kitschies for Red Tentacle (Novel)

* 2011 Galaxy National Book Award for Children's Book of the Year

* 2011 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's

* 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Young Adult Literature

* 2012 Kate Greenaway Medal

* 2012 Red House Children's Book Award

* 2012 The Inky Awards Shortlist for Silver Inky

* 2012 Carnegie Medal

* 2012 The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky

* 2012 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Preis der Jugendjury & Nominierung Kategorie Kinderbuch

* 2012 Prix Elbakin.net for Meilleur roman fantasy traduit Jeunesse

* 2013 Prix Imaginales for Jeunesse

* 2013 Grampian Children's Book Award Nominee

* 2014 Gouden Lijst for vertaald boek

* 2015 Lincoln Award Nominee

You might also like: 

• I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly

• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

• Gregory and the Grimbockle by Melanie Schubert

[BOOK REVIEW] Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume 1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Title:  Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume 1  

Author:  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa  

Artist:  Francesco Francavilla  

Genre:  Horror / Drama / Zombies / Alternative Universe / Friendship

Year Published: 2014

Year Read:  10/28/2017

Publisher:  Archie Comics

Series: Afterlife with Archie #1

Source:  Purchased

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

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

Introduction:

Alright, so I will admit that I have not read many Archie Comics where the gang is put into a darker situation that is different from the “wholesale family entertainment” adventures that they are usually in (and this was BEFORE the reboot came along, although the reboot was not as dark as this comic).  So, since Halloween is around the corner, I just had to pick this graphic novel up called “Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume One” which is written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa along with artwork by Francesco Francavilla, where Archie and the Gang end up in a for real zombie apocalypse!

What is this story about?

The story starts out with Hot Dog, Jughead’s beloved dog, being run over by a car and Jughead ends up going to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, to see if she can help his dog.  Unfortunately, Sabrina’s aunts tell Jughead that there is nothing they can do for Hot Dog and that he should let Hot Dog stay dead.  But then, Sabrina decided to help out Jughead anyway and she ends up resurrecting Hot Dog.  Unfortunately, it turns out that when Sabrina brought Hot Dog back to life, Hot Dog became a zombie dog and he ended up biting Jughead, which turned Jughead into a zombie! So, when Jughead went to the school dance, he ended up affecting most of the school by biting most of the students, with the exception of the main cast, which consisted of Archie, Dilton, Midge, Moose, Reggie, Betty, Veronica and many others.  The remaining students ended up going to Mr. Lodge’s mansion in order to protect themselves against the zombies, while also trying to see if there are any survivors from the zombie apocalypse.

What I loved about this story:

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing:  Wow!  I never would have thought that I would live to see the day where there would be a graphic novel series that has Archie and the gang getting involved in a zombie apocalypse!  Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has done a fantastic job at giving the usual sweet natured Archie Comics a darker and scarier tone in this graphic novel and it never felt so out of place to me that the Archie gang in this story are portrayed in a much more mature and cynical way, since they are stuck in a zombie apocalypse and it is appropriate for this type of story.  I also loved the way that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa created a different spin for each of the main characters, such as Betty and Veronica being more antagonistic with each other rather than be good friends with a small rivalry with each other, Sabrina and her family being more realistic and intense versions of witches and Nancy and Chuck…well, I will let you find out for yourselves what is going on with Nancy and Chuck in this comic!  I really loved the fact that this comic is much more serious and frightening in tone since the gang are facing a zombie apocalypse and I found myself a bit creeped out by some of the moments in this comic, such as the zombified citizens of Riverdale attacking the main protagonists.

Francesco Francavilla’s artwork:  Francesco Francavilla’s artwork fits the scary and serious tone of this comic quite perfectly as the zombies in this comic are quite terrifying to look at such as the images of the zombified Hot Dog.  I loved the fact that the art style is much more realistic in this comic as it really captures the mature and serious nature of this story. I also loved the way that Francesco Francavilla did the coloring of this book as the colors are mostly in red, black, orange and grey that greatly convey the horror elements of this story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Anyone who does not like language or gory violence might be a bit uncomfortable with some of the gory violence and language in this comic.  The language in this comic is not as strong as some of the more mature comics as only the “h” word is uttered in a couple of sentences and as for the gory violence, there are many images of zombies biting into people which is pretty graphic.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume One” is a fantastic graphic novel that anyone who loves both the Archie Comics and zombies will easily enjoy!

* 2014 Harvey Awards Nominee for Best New Series

* 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best Lettering (for Jack Morelli), Best Cover Artist (for Francesco Francavilla)

You might also like:

• Archie Volume 1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid

• Jughead Volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky
• American Vampire Volume 1 by Scott Snyder and Stephen King