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Snowpiercer (2013)
Snowpiercer (2013)
2013 | Sci-Fi
Dystopian sci-fi movie from the director of Parasite and that film about the giant pig. After an ecological disaster, the last remnants of humanity are stuck on a train doing endless circuits of the world. What will they do when the sausage rolls and toilet paper run out?

Almost certainly the best Korean-Czech graphic novel adaptation ever made, and a pretty good film in all departments - a faint structural resemblence to The Matrix Reloaded may unsettle some viewers, but it just about holds together, and any holes in the plot are largely excused by the fact the film is clearly meant to be intepreted metaphorically. Fine cast, many interesting ideas, well-staged action; should have been a much bigger hit.
  
Locke & Key: Slipcase Set
Locke & Key: Slipcase Set
Joe Hill | 2014 | Comics & Graphic Novels, Horror
9
8.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Beautiful artwork (4 more)
Gripping storyline
Great plot twists
The slipcase edition is a great collectors piece
Brilliantly laid out
Only 6 volumes in the series. (2 more)
The comics can be a little hard to get out of the skipcase
Excessive use can damage the slipcase if not careful
A gripping and scary series!
The slipcase edition contains all 6 paperback volumes in the main Locke and Key series.

It follows the tale of the Locke family who have moved to Keyhouse.

This series sees horror, grief, magic and good vs evil in a gipping storyline that keeps you on the edge of you seat all the way through.

I would 100% recommend this to both new and old graphic novel lovers looking for their next adventure to read.
  
The Limehouse Golem
The Limehouse Golem
Peter Ackroyd | 1994 | Fiction & Poetry, Film & TV, History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The blurb gives out all the necessary information about this book, leaving some mystery for the reader to figure out. The star of this novel is Lizzie Cree, an actress and a wife of well-known reporter John Cree. This novel is told from multiple perspectives: Lizzie’s life story, “Limehouse Golem’s” thoughts during the killings, and other character’s views and life stories. The most interesting to me was Lizzie’s life story, I think it was the most intriguing, complex part of this novel. I am really grateful that Peter Ackroyd added the murderer’s thoughts to this book. Even though they were really graphic, I always love to have an insight into what’s happening in a psychopath’s head. There is a wide variety of characters to choose from in this book, and I think that everybody can find their favourite. My pick would be Lizzie, she is such a well composed and intriguing character!

The narrative of this novel was very well written and researched. I did enjoy the story which author was sharing with the reader, however, there were many philosophical parts in this book, which I found boring and unnecessary. It reminded me of all the dull books I had to read while in school, so I just skim read those parts. 😦 I would like to throw in a disclaimer, that there are graphic violent parts in this book, and it is not suitable for sensitive readers. 😉

The writing style of this book is impeccable. Peter Ackroyd is a master of his craft and truly gifted writer. This novel was first published in 1994, but it feels like it was written in the 19th century. I could clearly see the author’s knowledge in this book because it was shining through the pages. The language used in this novel was very sophisticated but not very difficult to read, and the chapters where decent length, so it did not leave me bored. I really enjoyed the ending of this novel, I think it was well deserved and rounded up the story very nicely.

The film actually surprised me, it had a completely different approach to the whole story and told it through Inspector Kildare’s perspective. In the book, the whole police investigation was very vague, so it was a real surprise to see this approach, and I didn’t really mind it. The acting was marvellous and Mr D. Booth (Dan Leno) was absolutely amazing. He had the charisma and the skill to be a star of this movie. The whole movie was not a full representation of the book, they used some parts from the book and amended it to fit their story, but I liked it nevertheless. This movie is not suitable for children under 15, as it has some really gross scenes in there.

So to conclude, this book is very well written and amusing read, with well rounded and charismatic characters, and the narrative is twisty and always changing, keeping the reader interested. I do recommend to experience Lizzie’s journey and to watch the film afterwards. They do compliment each other, offering different perspectives and different interpretations, so give it a try and I hope you will enjoy it 🙂
  
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Domino Strays in Books

Sep 3, 2020 (Updated Sep 3, 2020)  
Domino Strays
Domino Strays
Tristan Palmgren | 2020 | Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great comic novel
I received an advance copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
I have to admit to being a little disappointed when I realised this was an actual novel rather than a graphic novel. It had been filed as a graphic novel on netgalley and I was looking forward to my first reading of a Domino comic. However, once I started this disappointment evaporated. This is a wonderfully told and thrilling, charming book.
The story switches from different times through Domino's life so is very much an origin story. We have when Domino was growing up in a variation of Wolverine's Weapon X programme, as Project Armageddon sought to create the perfect soldier. Domino was one output from that programme, as she developed the mutant ability to have luck on her side. Then we have her time in an orphanage, having escaped the programme. Then her mission to track down the person who might have been responsible for her upbringing and finally her present mission, to rescue two adolescents who have been brainwashed by a cult leader. These different time periods are covered throughout the book, layering up her back story as we follow her on her current mission. This is superbly woven together, and we have almost parallel storylines near the end, her infiltrating Project Armageddon and her sneaking into the cult's base. A few times this got a little muddled in my head, but served to wonderfully draw a parallel between her upbringing and that of the non-mutant, more traditional cult.
Domino is accompanied on her later mission by Black Widow amongst others (the characters' real names are generally used, so it was fun to try and track down which Marvel characters they actually were), but she is very much the leader of her merc crew.
The storyline is good, combining plenty of backstory and exciting missions, with excellently narrated action sequences. I don't tend to like first person books as much as third person, but this angle gave Domino a much more likable personality, having a fair chunk of her friend Deadpool's humour, mixed with Rogue's childhood trauma and Wolverine's anger at experimentation.
As noted in Deadpool 2, having luck on your side isn't a superpower, and it isn't very cinematic. Domino's power is not overly laboured in the book, and it isn't used to make her seen completely invulnerable to injury. She uses it sparingly because luck going her way in a fight (bullets being deflected etc) can have adverse consequences for those around her. It was used when absolutely needed, but she has so many capabilities that she barely did.
This is a really great book that gives so much more backstory to a lesser-known Marvel character than could have been achieved in a graphic novel. A very strong female cast of role models.
The only downside was the overuse of footnotes which didn't tend to add much to the story, other than witty asides, and are quite frustrating on a kindle.