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Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story
Interview with the Vampire: Claudia's Story
Anne Rice, Ashley Marie Witter | 2012 | Comics & Graphic Novels
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
187 of 230
Book
Interview with the vampire Claudia’s Story!
Graphic Novel
An Adaptation by Ashley Marie Witter of the book by Anne Rice
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A richly-illustrated adaptation of Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, told through the eyes of the vampire Claudia, who was just a little girl when she was turned by the vampire Lestat. Though she spends many years of happiness with her two vampire fathers, she gradually grows discontent with their insistence upon treating her like a little girl, even though she has lived as long as any mortal man...and her lust to kill is certainly no less than theirs...

This was such a beautiful graphic novel! Interview with the vampire is one of my favourite books so to see this side of Claudia story so beautifully illustrated was just special. Stunning book.
  
C
Coven
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Title: Coven
Author: Jennifer Dugan, Kit Seaton
Read Dates: August 17th
Rating: 4/5

I chose to read Coven by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton because it seemed interesting and was sent to me by Bookishfirst. I love the cover it's very pretty. The title and rest of the cover is what caught my attention. This Graphic Novel takes place in Upstate New York. One thing I loved was the illustrations in this Novel. Graphic Novels are something out of my comfort zone to their a little harder to get into because I prefer to leave it up to the imagination. But I really liked the story. It's sad what happened to Ben's parents and I understand Emsy's frustration with moving and being the new girl as that was me a lot. I loved the ending it was very unexpected.
  
Our Kind of Cruelty: A Novel
Our Kind of Cruelty: A Novel
Araminta Hall | 2018 | Crime, Thriller
7
8.5 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Eerily mesmerizing & creepy thriller
Mike Hayes had a terrible childhood, where he was neglected by his drunken mother and beaten by her string of hapless boyfriends. At ten, he was taken into care, eventually winding up with a nice couple. With their help, Mike went on to a good university, where he met Verity (V), with whom he fell madly in love. V helped Mike learn the ways of the world and society. They also played a sexual game called the Crave that brought them even closer together. However, after Mike went to New York for two years for work, their relationship ended. Even worse, Verity is now getting married to another man, Angus. At first, Mike is devastated. But soon, he realizes that V's wedding invitation is just another piece of Crave. As such, he must watch her, track her, and prepare his home for her inevitable return--all parts of the tense and careful game that is Crave.

Well, this was an interesting one. It was a pretty quick read, yet sometimes felt a bit long. It was definitely creepy, for sure. Hall has created a slow-burning thriller here, and you become eerily mesmerized by Mike's crazy. In fact, at times, I almost found myself rooting for him, despite the fact you knew he was unreliable, delusional, and not at all good for anyone in the novel. The book is less "edge-on-your-seat" thriller and more a character-driven study. Be prepared for Mike, Mike, and more Mike. The novel is told from his perspective and we're reliant entirely on his mindset. Because we know we can't trust said mindset, we're constantly waiting for something bad to happen. It's like watching a train wreck. A very twisted one.

That being said, the novel can be fascinating at times, but it also hard to know where it's going. As you're constantly waiting for something terrible to occur, you're waiting. And waiting. The novel moves slowly, with its intense focus on Mike, and his thoughts on Verity. I would have liked more insight to V, for instance, or the other people in Mike's life. So at that point, things can get feel drawn out. Not to mention, is Mike really this delusional, you wonder? Can he really believe what he's spouting? Needless to say the book is very effective at making you feel uncomfortable. It captures anger, longing, tension, and more (stalking?!) very well.

Overall, this novel drew me in with its creepy tone and compelling character of Mike. It's definitely slow-moving at times, but oddly fascinating as well.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
  
Wires and Nerve, Volume 2: Gone Rogue
Wires and Nerve, Volume 2: Gone Rogue
Marissa Meyer | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.3 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
As the second and final graphic novel (for now) chronicling Iko's adventures after the events of the Lunar Chronicles, Gone Rogue does a brilliant job catching us up on what all of our favourite characters have been up to in the last year. Despite the fact that Wires and Nerve continues the story in graphic novel form, rather than the original book - I never felt like I was missing anything.

As the story focuses on Iko, there was less time dedicated to the other pairs from the series. In the first graphic novel, I felt that Cress and Thorne were given a lot of story time and that they weren't as present in the second novel. On the other hand, Scarlet and Wolf were almost nonexistent in the first and had more of a presence in the second. Meyer did a brilliant job developing the relationships further and showing readers how they have evolved despite the limited amount of text she had to work with because it was a graphic novel.

Although Iko was a supporting character in the original series, she completely stole the show and lit up every scene that she was in. It was wonderful to see her take the lead in this series and adapt to a world in which she looked human, although there were still those that constantly reminded her that she was not. She struggles to deal with the reminders that she is an android and programmed to be the way that she is, despite the fact that her closest friends never see her as anything but normal.

The three main additions to the series are the villain, the guard Kinney and his sister Tressa. I felt that the two male characters were well developed and you could understand their motivations throughout the story. Tressa felt less real and I honestly forgot who she was from the first book to the second, until reminded in the course of the story. She is an exuberant character who loves a lot of the same things as Iko, but I don't feel that I know as much about her as I wish I did so that I could connect to her more.

Overall, the plot was brilliant and the story was so engaging that I didn't put the book down from the moment I began reading it until I was on the final page. While I am saddened that this is the final graphic novel in the Lunar Chronicles, I love the world and characters so much that I hope that the series continues in some manner. I felt satisfied with the ending and feel that if it is in fact the end of the story - I am happy. I loved this series so much and being able to watch Iko shine in her own adventures.
  
A Pleasure and a Calling
A Pleasure and a Calling
Phil Hogan | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/a-pleasure-and-a-calling-by-phil-hogan

<b><I>You won’t remember Mr Heming. He showed you round your comfortable home, suggested a sustainable financial package, negotiated a price with the owner and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key.

That’s absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine?

The answer to that is, he has the keys to them all.</b></i>

This is a truly chilling novel. With such a unique plot line, excellent narration and beautiful descriptions, I’m amazed this hasn’t found itself being more popular. After scanning this books lower reviews, I can understand some people's frustrations with this because they were expecting a thriller, and while this technically does class as a thriller, it’s not what most people associate with thrillers. When you think of a thriller, you think Jason Bourne, fast-paced, exciting, and, of course, thrilling, so when you open this to find it’s slow-paced narration of Heming’s day-to-day life you’re going to be a bit miffed. So don’t go into this thinking your socks are going to be blown off in super fast-paced action.

Heming is a seriously unreliable narrator. Thanks to his wonderful storytelling, we’re drawn into his life, eager to know what happens next with almost no regard to the horrible things he’s actually doing! The narration is amazing at masking the creepiness of the situations Heming puts himself into, making you want to like his character, when really we know we shouldn’t.

Each character in this novel was presented in an excellent way, giving you enough to know about them without things becoming confusing and too heavy. As for the plot, well, what can I say? It was magnificent! It was so well thought out and solidly presented. I had wanted to read this novel for such a long time, I’m remarkably pleased it didn’t let me down, not even in the slightest!

I don’t have a lot more to say about this other than I loved it completely, I don’t think it let itself down at all and I was prepared for it to be a slow moving, almost dream like novel (which is a writing style I personally adore). In many ways, this is a very Lolita-esque novel, the unreliable narrator, the slow moving pace, in-depth and beautiful descriptions, deep infatuation etc etc, so if Lolita was a novel you enjoyed, for all of those reasons, then definitely give this a try.