Review: Midnight City (Conquered Earth #1)

392 pgs
Genre: YA, Dystopia, Aliens
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Griffin
Website: http://us.macmillan.com/midnightcity/JMitchell
Rating: 5 stars

Book Description: Earth has been conquered by an alien race known as the Assembly. The human adult population is gone, having succumbed to the Tone--a powerful, telepathic super-signal broadcast across the planet that reduces them to a state of complete subservience. But the Tone has one critical flaw. It only affects the population once they reach their early twenties, which means that there is one group left to resist: Children.
Holt Hawkins is a bounty hunter, and his current target is Mira Toombs, an infamous treasure seeker with a price on her head. It's not long before Holt bags his prey, but their instant connection isn't something he bargained for. Neither is the Assembly ship that crash-lands near them shortly after. Venturing inside, Holt finds a young girl who remembers nothing except her name: Zoey.
As the three make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, they encounter young freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and the amazing powers that Zoey is beginning to exhibit. Powers that suggest she, as impossible as it seems, may just be the key to stopping the Assembly once and for all.
Midnight City is the breathtaking first book of the Conquered Earth series.

My Review: Received through First Reads.

I loved Holt, Mira, Zoey and Max. In Midnight City the reader gets to see how they meet, establish a relationship along their danger filled adventure and get past various obstacles encountered. Expect action, humor, suspense, moments of emotions and some romance.

The world in the book being set around the last survivors after an alien invasion also reads a bit like horror. It gave me a couple of nightmares to be honest. There was that one chapter that did not appear in my dreams nor directly involved aliens, which I am glad for, but was scary.

The last twenty, thirty pages had me turning pages and anxious to know the turnout for these characters I care for. A lot has been overcome, but there is still a lot for this group to cover. I look forward to book two.

Review: Many Moons by James Thurber, Illustrated by Marc Simont

 

48 pages
Genre: Picture Book, Humor
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Website: http://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/Many-Moons/9780152018955
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Description: A reillustrated version of Thurber's tale about Princess Lenore's request for the moon, with an introduction by Rosemary Thuber.

My Review: Many Moons was funny and charming. The art and story contribute equally to make an appealing book. The King with the invisibility cloak is funny. How does he think it's supposed to work? I really liked it.

Review: The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra



 

118 pages
Genre: Family, Cultural, Adult
Publisher: New Vessel Press
Website: http://newvesselpress.com/
Rating: 3 stars

Book Description: At the age of nine, Juan Salvatierra became mute following a horse riding accident. At twenty, he began secretly painting a series of long rolls of canvas in which he minutely detailed six decades of life in his village on Argentina's river frontier with Uruguay. After the death of Salvatierra, his sons return to the village from Buenos Aires to deal with their inheritance: a shed packed with painted rolls stretching over two miles in length and depicting personal and communal history. Museum curators from Europe come calling to acquire this strange, gargantuan artwork. But an essential one of its rolls is missing. A search that illuminates the links between art and life ensues, as an intrigue of family secrets buried in the past cast their shadows on the present.

My Review: Received through First Reads.

Beautiful read. Salvatierra's art is entwined with his life in Cabarrales, Argentina and it all comes together to be told by his son in a deeply reflective and resonant way. It was a unique yet relateable book. I like how art connected to life and was told in the written word by Mairal.

Review: Batman: Heart of Hush

 

144 pages

Genre: Graphic Novel, YA, Action

Publisher: DC Comics

Rating: 4 stars

 

Book Description: The villain named Hush, created by comic superstars Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, make a dramatic return to the life of Batman. What will this mean for Bruce Wayne? Secrets shared years ago between Bruce Wayne and Tommy Elliot begin to have dangerous repercussions in the present. Why is this mystery driving Hush to destroy Batman's life? What part does Catwoman play in Hush's plans?

 

Collects Detective Comics #846-850.

 

My Review: This is the first Batman comic I've read.  I really liked it. The storyline was easy to follow despite my lack of knowledge of other issues. This is centered around the villain Hush, his story and how it connects to Batman. Maybe a bit of reasearch prior to reading this will help introduce anything or anyone unknown. I don't want to give anything away, but my favorite thing in Batman: Heart of Hush were the use of quotes.

 

 



Review: Songs of Willow Frost

Pages: 319
Genre: Adult, Historical, Realistic
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Rating: 3 stars

Book Description: On an outing to Seattle's Moore Theatre, William Eng, a Chinese-American orphan, sees a movie featuring an actress who goes by the name of Willow Frost. William is convinced that Willow is his mother, Liu Song, whom he has not seen since a doctor carried her nearly unconscious body out of their apartment years ago. Determined to find Willow. William searches throughout Depression-era Seattle, where he must confront the mysteries of his past. The story of Willow, however, is far more complicated then the Hollywood fantasy William sees on screen.

My Review: Received this book from goodreads' First Reads.

Sad book overall with a glimmer of hope. In Songs of Willow Frost the reader gets to know Willow's story. It begins with William Eng who believes that Willow Frost is his mother. He eventually goes in search of her along with his friend Charlotte. I was a lot more interested in William and Charlotte than I was in getting to know Willow.

Willow's character was well-developed as was her story. She has a hard life and William is the one good constant in her life. She is very much a loving, sacrificing mother. The story alternates in time. The time fram goes from 1921 to 1934 (not in chronological order). Life was tough for everyone, but maybe tougher for minorities because of tradition, societal standards and laws of the time. I didn't like the sad, unfair, unjust experiences Willow had to endure. However, I did come to like her, want to know her so I read on. I wanted her to succeed, be happy.

The same goes for William and Charlotte. They had some happiness and freedom away from Sacred Heart. William is a good hearted person, so he was likable. I really liked Charlotte though. She is wise and sees more than most despite her blindness. The author really broke my heart when it came to her and William's.

Jamie Ford wrote in his author's note of this book "...I realized that beautiful melancholy will always be my writing partner, and that I will make a living by breaking my own heart on a regular basis." If you like this kind of writing in a book then Songs of Willow Frost is for you.

Review: Rasetsu vol. 3

Pages: 208
Genre: Manga, Supernatural, Romance
Publisher: Viz Media LLC
Weblink: http://www.viz.com/manga/print/rasetsu-volume-3/8151
Rating: 3 stars

Book description: Being haunted by spirits seems to run in the family--this time, it's Rasetsu's mother who needs help! Can Rasetsu dispel the spirit successfully with her own personal family issues weighing her down?

My Review: There was some development. At least for Rasetsu. My thoughts about Kuryu were confirmed. I like how the story is moving along; as in romantic development. There was some backstory on Aoi, which was nice because I was not really appreciating his role. Not as much humor in this one.

Review: Rasetsu vol. 2

 

Pages: 192
Genre: Manga, YA, Humor, Supernatural
Publisher: Viz Media LLC
Website: http://www.viz.com/manga/print/rasetsu-volume-2/8150
Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads description: Not knowing it's the solution to her curse, Yako thinks that Rasetsu's quest for a boyfriend seems frivolous. Nothing's trivial about Rasetsu's next exorcism, however, especially when she's suddenly overpowered by the emotions of the spirit!

My Review: I think one of the elements I will continue to like in later volumes of this series are the humorous situations. The first volume had it and now this one too. I'm referring to the chapter in which Kuryu uses his kotodama experimentally. Also got to see some much coveted backstory. It makes me wonder about Kuryu. I really liked this volume.