[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: Just Desserts Volume 3 by John Layman

Title:  Chew: Just Desserts Volume 3

Author: John Layman

Artist:  Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2010


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #3


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

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



Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of John Layman’s “Chew” series, my interest in this series just keeps rising every time I picked up a new volume!  Now, I had finally read the third volume of the “Chew” series called “Chew: Just Desserts Volume Three” and this volume was just as good as the previous two volumes!  Being an Eisner Award and Harvey Award winning series, “Chew” so far has definitely deserved the praise it has received over the years!

What is this story about?

In this volume, things are looking good for Tony Chu!  For one thing, he has a new girlfriend in Amelia Mintz, his boss is actually being nice to him and he has the best partner anyone could ever ask for in John Colby!  But, when Tony Chu realizes that his ex-partner Mason Savoy is out and up to no good, Tony must choose between being with Amelia and focusing on his job.

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: As usual, John Layman has done a brilliant job at writing this volume!  The characters were truly interesting to me, especially Tony Chu and John Colby.  I really loved the way that John Layman portrayed the relationship between Tony and John as they have great chemistry with each other (I really enjoyed their playful bickering which was extremely hilarious to see)!  The fact that both Tony and John are willing to protect each other in times of danger was fantastic to see and I would definitely love to see more of their friendship in the future volumes.  I also loved the way that John Layman portrayed Tony and Amelia’s relationship with each other as they truly are a cute couple and I liked the fact that their relationship is more in the progressive stage rather than they are the perfect soul mates because it made their relationship much more believable to look at.  Not only does Tony and Amelia have similar powers which is what brought them together in the first place, but it was great seeing how Tony’s job could affect his relationship with Amelia since he is always going to his job and I was always hoping that Tony and Amelia could work through this problem in order to have a more stable relationship with each other.  I really enjoyed the way that John Layman balanced the humor and the horror in this story as both genres fitted in so well together and was able to create one interesting storyline!

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork as usual was humorous and interesting to look at as it set a more comical and intense mood for the story.  I loved the way that Rob Guillory made the characters look so exaggerated, despite this being a crime series as it really brought in some humor to the story.  I also loved the characters’ shocked expressions whenever something horrific or weird happens to them as it made them truly believable.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Just like the first two volumes, there is some strong language and gory violence involved in the story and anyone who does not like reading about gore and strong language might be a bit offended by this volume. There are many scenes of characters being shot and blood gushing out in an exaggerated fashion and also there is some strong usage of curse words such as using the “f” word a dozen times.  Readers who are offended by these aspects might want to skim over these scenes when reading this volume.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: Just Desserts” is a fantastic volume for fans of the “Chew” series and anyone who loves reading about comical crime drama!  I am definitely going to check out the next volume in this series soon!

[BOOK REVIEW] Vampire Knight Volume 2 by Matsuri Hino

Title:  Vampire Knight Volume 2

Author:  Matsuri Hino

Genre: Horror / Romance



Year Published: 2005



Year Read: 2013



Series: Vampire Knight #2



Publisher: VIZ Media


Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Usually, I have a tough time reviewing manga because the stories are pretty consistent throughout their runs and sometimes it is hard to review a single volume without at least dredging up the storylines from the last volume.  But, review I shall since I have so much to say about the second volume of Matsuri Hino’s popular series, “Vampire Knight!”

 In this volume, Yuki Cross, one of the guardians of Cross Academy, realizes that her partner, Zero Kiryu is having trouble coping with being a vampire after a terrible incident where a vampire killed his family years ago.  Not only that, but when Yuki goes outside of school grounds one night, she is suddenly attacked by a vampire and since she injured herself early on, she could not defend herself against the vampire!  However, two students from the Night Class (who are also vampires) ended up saving Yuki from the attack.  When Yuki asks the two night class students (who turns out to be Takuma Ichijo and Senri Shiki) why they rescued her, they ended up telling her that once she comes to the Moon Dormitory at midnight, all will be explained.

What will Yuki find out?

Read this volume to find out!

Now, it has been awhile since I had read the first volume of Matsuri Hino’s “Vampire Knight” series and my memory is a bit rusty about what this series is all about.  So, let me just recap a bit about what the overall gist of the series is:

*Cross Academy is a school that is attended by two groups of students.  One group of students is called the Day Class where normal human beings attend during the day and the other group of students is called the Night Class, where only the vampire students attend.

*Basically, the goal of Cross Academy is to have humans and vampires live together in peace and harmony.

*Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the guardians of Cross Academy as they make sure that the Day Class students do not associate with the Night Class in order to protect them from the vampires.

Now that I recapped the idea about this series, I now would like to give out my opinion on this volume!  Matsuri Hino has done a brilliant job at writing and illustrating this novel as the characters are all extremely memorable and the artwork is gorgeous to look at.  I loved the way that Matsuri Hino really portrayed both Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu as they truly stood out so much in this novel.  It was really intense in seeing Zero Kiryu coming to terms with being a vampire and how he is constantly suffering throughout this volume because he does not want to give in to the allure of sucking blood from human beings.  Yuki Cross was a truly amazing character in this volume as she was the one who tried to help Zero Kiryu through his ordeal and I loved the fact that Yuki is so kind towards Zero, despite knowing that he is a vampire.  I also loved the humor in this novel and despite the fact that this series is about VAMPIRES; there are many hilarious moments between the characters especially during the scene where Yuki and Zero go shopping!  Matsuri Hino’s artwork is truly gorgeous to look at as the characters’ hairstyles are creative and just looks so smooth.  I also loved the way that Matsuri Hino put some shadowing on some panels where the characters have intense looks on their faces as it really brings in a somber mood to the scene.

There are some bloody scenes in this novel, especially with some of the vampire characters sucking blood out of some miscellaneous characters and that can be a bit disturbing to anyone who does not like seeing blood in a manga.  Also, this was something that bothered me a bit personally, but the fact that Zero Kiryu spends almost the majority of the volume brooding about being a vampire and trying to resist his urges of draining blood from humans got a bit tiresome for me.  I understand that what we are seeing is Zero struggling with his inner demons, but I would like to see Zero actually trying to overcome this ordeal and try to move on with his life despite being a vampire.

Overall, “Vampire Knight: Volume Two” is a great volume for anyone who is a huge fan of Matsuri Hino’s “Vampire Knight” series and is definitely worth checking out!

[BOOK REVIEW] The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Sandman: Endless Nights

Author: Neil Gaiman

Artists: Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Barron Storey


Genre: Fantasy / Horror


Year Published: 2003


Year Read: 2013


Series: The Sandman #12


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

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

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading almost all of Neil Gaiman’s fantastic run on the “Sandman” series (to the point where I called the year 2012 “The Year of the Sandman” since I had spent the year reading the Sandman comics), I wanted to read Neil Gaiman’s latest story on the “Sandman” series, “The Sandman: Endless Nights,” even though “The Sandman: The Wake” was actually considered the final story arc in the “Sandman” series.  “The Sandman: Endless Nights,” which is also a Bram Stoker Award winner and a Locus Award winner, is a fantastic series for any newcomer who wants to learn more about the Endless characters!

This volume is basically detailing seven chapters that deal with the seven siblings of the Endless and how they meet up with several unsuspecting characters in their stories.  The chapters are as follow:

Chapter 1: Death: Death and Venice – artwork by P. Craig Russell

Chapter 2: Desire: What I’ve Tasted of Desire – artwork by Milo Manara

Chapter 3: Dream: The Heart of a Star – artwork by Miguelanxo Prado

Chapter 4: Despair: Fifteen Portraits of Despair – artwork by Barron Storey with designs by Dave McKean

Chapter 5: Delirium: Going Inside – artwork by Bill Sienkiewicz

Chapter 6: Destruction: On the Peninsula – artwork by Glenn Fabry

Chapter 7: Destiny: Endless Nights – artwork by Frank Quitely

For the past few volumes of the “Sandman” series, we were able to really get deep into the dark and mysterious world of Morpheus, better known as Dream of the Endless.  Now, we finally have a volume that is dedicated to all of the siblings from the Endless, most notably Death, Dream’s older sister, Delirium, the youngest sister and Destruction, the brother who left the Endless family over four hundred years ago.  Neil Gaiman has done a brilliant job at writing this volume as we actually get a closer look at not just Dream, but his siblings and I loved the way that Neil Gaiman explored each Endless character in deep detail.  Probably my favorite stories in this volume were “Death and Venice,” “What I’ve Tasted of Desire,” “The Heart of a Star,” and “On the Peninsula” as these stories had the most interesting storylines and really delved into the minds of the characters being presented. Neil Gaiman’s introduction in this volume was probably the best introduction I had read out of any graphic novel (although, I do not normally read the introductions in graphic novels since I easily get bored reading them). Neil Gaiman clearly explains to the readers about why he wrote this volume after his nine year run on the “Sandman” series and it was interesting that Neil Gaiman wanted to do this volume because he wanted to work with different artists while still telling more stories about the Endless.  The artwork in this volume, as with the previous volumes, are extremely well done as there are many different artists working on this volume and they include Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Barron Storey.  Probably my favorite artworks in this volume were done by P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara and Glenn Fabry.  P. Craig Russell’s artwork in “Death and Venice” was extremely well done as the characters look slightly cartoonish, but still have a realistic touch to the characters’ appearances and I loved the way that the colors are done brightly which makes the artwork pleasing to see.  Milo Manara’s artwork in “What I’ve Tasted of Desire” has a brilliant Renaissance Era vibe as the characters are realistic looking and the paintings flow well with the artwork.  Glenn Fabry’s artwork in “On the Peninsula” is truly beautiful as the characters have realistic facial expressions and the environment of the peninsula is amazing to look at.

The reason why I took off half a star is because some of the stories were a bit confusing to read through.  Probably the stories I had the most problems reading through were Delirium’s story “Going Inside” and Despair’s story “Fifteen Portraits of Despair” as the narratives were too complicated to understand since it seems like the stories were being told from a point of view of a crazed mind (although Delirium’s story makes so much sense based on her character).  Also, for anyone who does not like violence and language, this volume does have some gory violence and strong language, although the violence is not as strong in this volume as it was in previous volumes.

Overall, “The Sandman: Endless Nights” is a fantastic book for fans of the “Sandman” series!  Even though “The Sandman: The Wake” is often considered the final volume in the “Sandman” series, this volume is sometimes considered the final volume of the “Sandman” series, even though any new reader to the “Sandman” series can read this to gain a better understanding of the “Sandman” characters as a whole.

* 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative

* 2004 Locus Award for Best Art Book

* 2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Short Story ("Death"), Best Anthology

[BOOK REVIEW] Chew: International Flavor Volume 2 by John Layman

Title:  Chew:  International Flavor Volume 2

Author:  John Layman

Artist: Rob Guillory


Genre: Crime / Humor


Year Published: 2011


Year Read: 2013


Series: Chew #2


Publisher: Image Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 16+ (Violence, Strong Language and Some Gross Humor)

Introduction:

After reading the first volume of this fantastic series “Chew: Taster’s Choice,” I was geared up to read the second volume “Chew: International Flavor!”  “Chew: International Flavor” is just as interesting and creative as the first volume and being that John Layman’s “Chew” series is an Eisner Award Winning and Harvey Award Winning series, this volume is definitely something that any comic book fan should check out!

What is this story about?

In this volume, Tony Chu is back and this time he is working with his old partner John Colby (you know, the guy who had his face cut off in the first volume and now, half of his face is robotic)?  Anyway, Tony and John stumble upon a case on the mysterious island Yamapalu and not only does Tony meet a tough female spy named Lin Sae Woo, but he also notices that many of the people who were killed on the island have mysterious bite marks on their necks…

Vampires do not exist, do they?

What I loved about this story:

John Layman’s writing: Just like the first volume, John Layman’s writing is just as good in this volume as it was in the first volume!  I loved the way that John Layman characterized each character as all the characters in this volume were written in an exciting and intense way!  I really enjoyed the character Tony Chu as he is shown to be a strong and sarcastic character that has already come to terms with his special powers and I loved the scenes where he gets angry at people who make him use his powers for idiotic reasons.  I also loved John Colby as he was also just as sarcastic as Tony and yet, he remains to be a great friend to Tony, even standing up for him against his boss.  John Layman did a brilliant job at balancing both the humor and the horror in this volume as I found myself laughing at all of Tony’s misfortunes on his adventures.  I also loved the little “vampire” twist on this story since at first, I was rolling my eyes at the idea that they would introduce a concept that was used over a MILLION times in other stories, but in this volume, it was actually used in an extremely creative way and I hope to read more about the “vampire” situation in the next volume!

Rob Guillory’s artwork:  Rob Guillory’s artwork as usual is both hilarious and somewhat disgusting in an extremely good way!  Even though this volume is not as disgusting as the first volume, the artwork of the characters discovering murdered bodies is truly effective as you can see the blood spilling out of the victims, which gives the artwork a truly chilling feel.  I also loved the way that Rob Guillory made the characters look cartoonish in nature and yet, there is still some intensity to the artwork.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only problems in this volume involve many scenes of characters getting murdered and some strong language.  Even though this volume is not as disgusting as the first volume, there is still a bit of gross humor such as Tony coming across a large pile of poop in his first case that might make any reader feel a bit ill.  Also, there is some strong language in this volume, such as the continuous use of the “s” word and anyone who is offended by such words might want to skim over them.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Chew: International Flavors” is a fantastic follow up to John Layman’s “Chew” series and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from the “Chew” series and seeing what kind of wacky and intensifying crimes that our favorite characters will get into next!

[BOOK REVIEW] Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy

Title:  Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Author: Carmen Agra Deedy

Artist: Michael Austin

Genre: Fantasy / Animal / Romance / Folktale

 Year Published: 2007


Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Peachtree Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating: Ages 5+ (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

 “Martina the Beautiful Cockroach” is a Pura Belpre Honor Book by Carmen Agra Deedy along with gorgeous illustrations by Michael Austin and it is about how a young and beautiful cockroach named Martina tries to find a good husband by following her Cuban grandmother’s advice in spilling coffee on her suitor’s shoes.  “Martina the Beautiful Cockroach” is a beautiful Cuban folktale that everyone who loves books about bugs will definitely appreciate.

Carmen Agra Deedy has done a superb job at writing this story about a young cockroach’s attempts in finding the perfect husband.  Carmen Agra Deedy makes the story hilarious and creative at the same time as the reactions that each of the suitors give to Martina after she spills the coffee on them is extremely hilarious and amazing as the suitors get easily angry at Martina, not knowing full well about how Martina cleverly tries to find the perfect husband by their behavior and I think that the way that Martina tries to find her perfect husband by testing their personalities is a stroke of genius since I have never heard anyone try to find their perfect mate by testing their temper (which makes me think about doing this just to test their personalities).  Michael Austin’s illustrations are extremely beautiful and exaggerated at the same time as Martina is drawn to be extremely beautiful with her fluttering eyes and her smooth figure and Michael Austin has also shown comical sides to the illustrations as Martina’s suitors look enormous and out of place and they always wear a cocky expression on their faces which goes along nicely with their personalities.

“Martina the Beautiful Cockroach” is a truly brilliant book about how respecting your elders can help you in your most dire situation and about what true romance is all about and many children who love Cuban folktales and bugs will definitely love this book.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the language might be difficult for smaller children to understand.

* 2008 An ALA Notable Children's Book for Younger Readers 
* 2008 The Pura Belpre Award Nominee for Narrative

[BOOK REVIEW] How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz

Title:  How I Learned Geography

Author: Uri Shulevitz

Genre: Geography / World War II / Biography
 
Year Published: 2008
 
Year Read:  2011

Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Themes of War)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

When I have heard of Uri Shulevitz’s most recent children’s book, I was excited at reading this book!  “How I Learned Geography” is a Caldecott Honor book by Uri Shulevitz that details author Uri Shulevitz’s experiences as a young Polish refugee during World War II and how he lived in Kazakhstan and how a map made him realize the beauty of the world.  “How I Learned Geography” is a truly brilliant book for children who want to learn about author Uri Shulevitz’s life during World War II and want to look at the beauty of the world through a map.

When World War II started, a young Polish boy had escaped the land with his mother and father and they headed to a country called Kazakhstan where they lived their lives as refugees.  One day, the boy’s father went to the bazaar to buy bread and he ended up buying a map instead.  This ended up making both the boy and his mother furious at the father for letting them starve that night, however the next morning; the boy’s father put the map on the wall of their little room, which covered the entire wall.  When the boy started looking at the map, he discovered that the map can open up a world that he has never known existed right before his eyes!

Oh my goodness!  This book was truly a wonderful experience for me!  I never would have realized that a map could help a person see the true wonders of the world through their own eyes and help them get through tough times during their lives!  Uri Shulevitz has done a brilliant job at writing about his childhood during World War II and it was truly written in such a dramatic and heartwarming way that I often find myself sympathizing with the boy in the story many times.  It was interesting seeing how the family had to run away from their home to find safety from the war and Uri Shulevitz has certainly done a brilliant job at detailing the hardships and pain that he and his family had to go through during the war, such as not having enough food to eat.  I loved how Uri Shulevitz pointed out in the book that he found happiness in the dreary life he was thrown into by witnessing the wonders of a map through his mind.  Uri Shulevitz’s illustrations are extremely colorful as there are detailed images of the country Kazakhstan  with images of small houses that are made of clay, straw and camel dung, in the background.  I also enjoyed Uri Shulevitz’s colorful images of the different countries that the boy visits through the map such as running across the beach and jumping about in the dessert sand.  My favorite image in this book was of the boy flying all around the world and you can see various buildings from Europe to North America standing beneath him.

Overall, “How I Learned Geography” is a truly amazing and imaginative book that detailed the magic of viewing a map in an exciting and inventive way and children might be interested in witnessing the lives of many refugees during World War II in this book.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since some of the countries that the boy mentions might be difficult for smaller children to understand and the themes of war and hunger might upset smaller children.

 * 2009 Caldecott Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

Title:  How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Author:  Dr. Seuss

Genre: Christmas / Spirit / Animal 
 
Year Published: 1957

Year Read:  1993

Publisher:  Harper Collins Children's Books

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Scary Imagery and depictions of stealing)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

 

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is Dr. Seuss’ memorable classic about how the Grinch tried to steal all the presents from the Whos of Who-ville to spoil their Christmas.  “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is definitely the best out of all of Dr. Seuss’ books that many children will enjoy for many generations.

Dr. Seuss’ tale of finding the true meaning of the Christmas spirit has been memorable in many generations’ eyes and the writing is excellent as it is written in a creative way by using a rhyming text that truly showed the creativity of this book.  Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are extremely creative especially when most of the images are in black and white, but Dr. Seuss uses some red coloring in the images from the Grinch’s Santa suit to his red eyes to represent the colors of Christmas.

Parents should know that the Grinch might scare smaller children, especially since the Grinch is drawn in a very menacing way with his red eyes and his evil scowls.  Also, smaller children might be upset at the fact that the Grinch steals all the Whos’ presents without remorse and that might upset many children who are afraid that their presents would get stolen by a mysterious stranger. 

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is Dr. Seuss’ greatest classic as it shows children what the true meaning of Christmas is really all about and has remain to be a true classic in many generations’ hearts.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the images of the Grinch might scare smaller children.