sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:

Follows you (block)

Requested to follow you (accept | block)

Blocked (unblock)

Bonnie S

Bonnie S

has 7 followers and is following 4 people

  • Puyallup, WA
  • member since January 26, 2008

Reviews

  • Sort by:
 
1 2 3 4 5  | Next » Last 
Displaying 1-10 of 159 reviews
  • Far Arden

    Far Arden

    by Kevin Cannon
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Check out my review on No Flying, No Tights: http://noflyingnotights.com/?p=9869 ”

    Bonnie S wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
  • Darker Than Black Omnibus
    • Rated 2 stars

    “Check out my review on No Flying, No Tights. http://networkedblogs.com/rNZEE”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Tuesday, December 20, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Fraggle Rock Volume 2 HC

    Fraggle Rock Volume 2 HC

    by Tim Beedle, Jason M. Burns
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Check out my review on No Flying No Tights: http://noflyingnotights.com/?p=8113”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Sunday, December 4, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Hunt of the Unicorn
    • Rated 2 stars

    “When Elayne's father asks her to read a story the night before he goes into the hospital, she grudgingly agrees. It's a fantasy, about maids and unicorns, but it's also a family history. Elayne is the descendant of a girl who promised to help a unicorn, should he need it. And suddenly Elayne is swept into a world of magical beasts, hunts, and a dangerous ruler determined to whip out the few unicorns left. It may be her destiny, but Elayne has no idea how to tame a unicorn or defeat a king.

    Though fans of fantasy may enjoy this story, Humphreys' writing is clunky and the characters are one-dimensional. Elayne brings a modern teen's sensibilities to a medieval setting (we hear about how much her dress starts to stink after a few days, that she has no clue how to ride a horse, and how disgusting the food is - mostly meat and wine), and there are some funny parts to the story. We get a few chapters as told by Moonspill, an aging unicorn, and I enjoyed his perspective, but it wasn't enough to save this book. I would recommend it for upper elementary, except the author threw in a few colorful phrases that seemed entirely out of place. If you have a high demand for books with unicorns, perhaps get this, but it's not a must-have.”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Friday, October 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Sorta Like a Rockstar
    • Rated 5 stars

    “Amber Appleton is an unyielding optimist. Even though she, her mom, and her dog - Bobby Big Boy - live on a school bus, and her mom sort of sucks at being a mom, and Amber's starting to feel like the walls are closing in, she still maintains a positive outlook on life. Amber volunteers at a local nursing home, helps teaching English at a nearby Korean church, and fights to keep her favorite teacher from losing his job. But when a fatal tragedy destroys Amber's life, she loses it. She is just a shell of her former self, and it's up to the people she's always cared for to help Amber.

    It's almost impossible not to like Amber. As a character, her voice is strong, unique, and realistic. Great attention is paid to the surrounding cast of characters, making everyone - even the jerky jocks - realistic. Quick weaves together a story that involves poetry, religion, disability, and depression, without it ever becoming too overwhelming or preachy. I highly recommend this book!”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Friday, October 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Incarceron
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I'm on the fence with Incarceron. Some things I liked, others I didn't. The scenario is excellent - this description reads like a checklist of all things Bonnie should get excited about in a book - a living, expansive prison, a mythical figure who once escaped, all-powerful keys, a society trapped in time (and a little reminiscent of steampunk), strong heroine solving a mystery and trying to get out of an awful arranged-marriage. Yes, all those things are good. Great, even!

    But with all that, I still had a hard time getting into Incarceron. I felt like I was missing bits and pieces about the characters. That's not a great thing to complain about, since the characters are supposed to have an air of mystery to them. Part of the fun of this book is supposing if a character is who we really think they are. But still, I felt that many of the characters weren't well-defined and that they acted oddly. For example, why did Finn feel any sort of attachment to Keiro or the Sapienti (I forget his name)? Events felt a bit disjointed and I had a lot of trouble picturing the world of Incarceron.

    And then there was the character of Incarceron itself, which I felt was left out for the most part. I'm wondering if Sapphique will explore the prison in more depth.

    Still, for a book I had problems enjoying, I was still riveted by the ending. I'm just wondering if it was worth it to wait through 80% of the book to get to an exciting conclusion - which is also a cliffhanger.

    Give this to fans of dystopian futures, lots of adventure (for girls and guys), and maybe steampunk. There's a nice mix of historical setting as well as gritty sci-fi.”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Friday, October 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Johnny Hiro

    Johnny Hiro

    by Fred Chao
    • Rated 5 stars

    “Another great recommendation from my friendly local comic book shop! Johnny Hiro and his girlfriend, Mayumi, live in New York. They're scraping along, barely making rent or having enough time to spend together. This is a graphic novel about having a relationship and trying to get along in life... but it's also about the amazing things that happen to us, spiraling out of control. And Fred Chao tells this story with a sense of humor and style that takes this beyond the average coming-of-age, coping with life story.

    You see, we open with Johnny and Mayumi asleep in their apartment, only to have the wall torn off my a Godzilla-wannabe. He has a beef with Mayumi's mother, and as he makes off with her, Johnny quickly springs into action, chasing after her and the monster. I'll skip the chase scene and just say that this leaves them with a hole in their wall that they'll have trouble explaining to their landlord. And that's just the start of their problems. The book includes ninja sushi chefs, IT samurai, and the cast of Night Court. It's the perfect mix of silly and serious.”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Friday, September 16, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Castle Waiting (Vol. 2)
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I was so excited when the second volume of Castle Waiting finally came out, all bound and beautiful! And it doesn't disappoint - it's more of the same wonderful storytelling, myths and folktales reimagined, and gorgeous artwork. If there's an issue at all, it's that it leaves you wanting to know so much more. We get a lot of Jain's childhood, but not much into her adolescence. We meet some of Henry's relatives and get snippets of his arrival at the castle. And Dr. Fell and Dinah's backgrounds are briefly explained, but you feel like you barely scratched the surface. I hope that there's a volume 3!”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Thursday, September 15, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Last Unicorn
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I was first introduced to The Last Unicorn through the movie. I think my sister and I watched the VHS until is was ragged. And then in high school I found out that the movie was based off of a book. I have bought multiple editions of this book because I love it so much. I found out about the comic adaptation a little more than year ago when one of the teens at my library very sweetly bought a copy of the first volume for me. All that is to say that I went into this book pretty much prepared to love it. And I do.

    The story sticks close to the novel, not the movie, which I appreciated. I love the movie, but I also know that it's cheesy and has some grimace-inducing scenes - oh, the singing! The singing. So instead we get more of Schmendrick's history, the story of Hagsgate, and Lir is a little more fleshed out. Dialogue is often taken straight out of the novel.

    The artwork does seem inspired by the movie, but cleaned up and less ridiculous. Parts are absolutely gorgeous - check out the Midnight Carnival and the cover for that issue with the creatures tangled in Mommy Fortuna's hair. I got choked up during the final battle with the Red Bull - the art just has an excellent sense of pacing. When I got to the guest art featured at the end, I couldn't imagine the book looking any other way than it does with Rene De Liz illustrating.

    If there's anything I missed in this book, it was the way that the story is told in King Haggard's castle. I feel like that part of the story is glossed over in both the comic and the movie. Haggard is a fascinating but unexplored character, Amalthea is losing herself and falling in love at the same time, and Schmendrick and Molly are both trying to solve the mystery of the Bull's location. But this section of the tale gets rushed to the moment of finding the clock and the passageway and the final confrontation. I don't know if that's to be helped, but that's my complaint.

    This is definitely on my wish list - time to try collection more of the individual issues!”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Monday, August 1, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Broken House of Cards
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Yay, Amy Reeder is back! I love her work and this is no exception. I thought the story was good - a big improvement on volume two, but not quite as good as volume one. This volume focuses on the relationship between Nimue/Madame Xanadu, and her sister Morgana. We get a lot of backstory about the two sisters. It comes in the midst of the main story, dealing with a 1950s housewife struggling with her life and - quite suddenly - with the supernatural. She seeks help from Madame Xanadu and this leads to a confrontation between Nimue and Morgana. Oh, and throw in John Jones, who's investigating a little Satanic cult! Yeah, seriously.

    I enjoyed the main storyline, but I didn't know what to make of the secondary story, dealing with the sisters' pasts. You come away from that plot feeling sort of sorry for Morgana. She's not as talented as her sisters when it comes to magic and she's part of a family who's power is diminishing and who's time has come and gone. Nimue is depicted as the perfect sister and Morgana as the bitch. And she is... she's violent and crazed and vicious. And she's grieving the death of her son. But we have to reconcile this with her new appearance in the 1950s, where she's bursting people, Violet Beauregarde-style, as she gets her feet rubbed. So yeah, that's a little strange.

    I did like the way that Madame Xanadu is and isn't a part of the 1950s lifestyle. Talk about a decade where she just doesn't fit. And yet, Wagner makes it work. I would recommend this volume... though I would recommend solely on the artwork, even if the story sucked. Which it didn't.”

    Bonnie S wrote this review Friday, July 15, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
1 2 3 4 5  | Next » Last 
Displaying 1-10 of 159 reviews

© 2006-2012 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close