I Love Him to Pieces by Evonne Tsang & Janina Gorrissen: Review Posted by Tiffany at 7:13 AM

Title: I Love Him to Pieces
Writer: Evonne Tsang (interview)
Artist: Janina Gorrissen (site)
Published: April 28th, 2011  by Graphic Universe

Pages: 128

Series: My Boyfriend is a Monster #1

Buy: Amazon / Book Depo /Powell's

Rating: 80%

Synopsis: Can love survive the zombie apocalypse? Maybe Dicey's first chance at a real relationship was dead from the start. She's the star of her high school baseball team, and Jack's the star of the science program. Her idea of a study session includes sleeping in the sun, and his idea of a good game involves dungeons and dice. But opposites start attracting when they're assigned to be partners in a class project. Now an outbreak of a weird infection--it eats your brains and leaves you hungry for more--might not mean just the end of their first date. It might mean the end of everything. Will their relationship fall apart faster than zombies in the Florida sun, or can Dicey and Jack beat the odds and find a happy ending? (Goodreads)


Story Review: 35/50 points


This really felt like two stories. The first was about Dicey and Jack getting to know each other and falling in love. The second was about that love being immediately put to the test by a zombie plague. It was all very cute and fun, but it was just a bit too young for me. The pacing was a bit off: some parts were too slow and then suddenly it was weeks later and things were completely different. I'd recommend it to younger teens and preteens. There was nothing sexual or anything else to make it inappropriate for kids.

Graphics Review: 40/50

I am not a huge fan of black and white comics. It's harder for me to get really absorbed in them because after a while the pages all kind of blur together. However, this was cleanly drawn and very readable. My main complaint was about the facial expressions. Dicey especially kept making this incredibly stupid happy face that made me want to smack her. Other than that, the art was very clear and went well with the story. I would have loved to have seen it in color, though.

Bonus points: 5

I'm adding bonus points here because this would be a great comic for younger readers. A lot of the big comics now have scanty costumes, tons of sex, and tons of cussing- and I'm not complaining about any of these things, but it does make me uncomfortable recommending them to younger readers. It's nice to find a comic that is cute, sweet, short, and fun that I could recommend to a gradeschooler or a teen.

Total Score - 80 points out of 100 possible, or 80%

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross: Review Posted by Tiffany at 8:35 AM

Title: The Girl in the Steel Corset

Author: Kady Cross (site)

Published: May 24th, 2011 by Harlequin Teen

Pages: 473

Buy: Amazon / Book Depository 

Rating: 3.75/5

Source: NetGalley
Synopsis: In 1897 England, sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne has no one except the "thing" inside her. When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch... 
Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she's special, says she's one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets against the wishes of his band of misfits. Emily, who has her own special abilities and an unrequited love for Sam, who is part robot; and Jasper, an American cowboy with a shadowy secret. 
Griffin's investigating a criminal called The Machinist, the mastermind behind several recent crimes by automatons. Finley thinks she can help-and finally be a part of something, finally fit in.  But The Machinist wants to tear Griff's little company of strays apart, and it isn't long before trust is tested on all sides. At least Finley knows whose side she's on, even if it seems no one believes her. (Goodreads)


Review: This book started with a scene that is often found in regency romances. Maid is cornered by the lord of the house, who is on the prowl for some sexytimes. However, her reaction to his unwanted advances is definitely not something you'd find in a regency romance novel. Maybe a Bruce Lee movie, but not a RR. I loved it! One of the best opening scenes I've ever encountered. I love a book that starts with action, throwing you right into the thick of things. Things moved pretty quickly in The Girl in the Steel Corset. There were various romantic sub-plots going on, but none of them advanced much during the book (which is not a bad thing). Cross said in the afterward that she meant for it to be a "cross between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and X-Men" which is a pretty bad-a pitch if you ask me. It definitely had that vibe, although it took a while for things to become clear. Finley seemed like an inconsistent character until explanations were given and the whole reason for their "abilities" was explained, but it was crammed in between adventures. I really liked this book and read it quickly, but there were some flaws. Things just seemed a bit jumbled and imprecise. Can I elaborate on that? No, I don't think I can. I'm just left with a vague feeling that things could have been a bit cleaner.

My main complaint is that we didn't see more of Jack Dandy. Really, let's just ditch this storyline and make it all about Jack Dandy, kind of like the Jack of Fables spin off of the Fables comics. He was my favorite character by far. The whole cast of characters was pretty awesome. I could've killed Sam a few times, but they were very interesting. Without giving anything away, I would like to say that it was a bit The Great Mouse Detective. I saw it coming a mile away and was a bit annoyed by how long it took them to figure it out. I suppose I should go easy on them, though. They had probable never seen the Disney classic. The Girl in the Steel Corset was a very good book, an excellent example of Steampunk YA, and a very fun read. It had its flaws, but it's definitely worth picking up.

Notes: Kady Cross has written a short story prequel to The Girl in the Steel Corset, which is about how Finley lost her second job. It is called "The Strange Case of Finley Jane" and right now it is free in ebook format on Amazon. This would be a great way to try out the author if you're on the fence (although I really feel like you should experience that amazing first scene!).

Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban: Review Posted by Tiffany at 7:00 AM

Title: Two Moon Princess

Author: Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban (site)

Published: June 16th, 2010 by Tanglewood

Pages: 324

Buy: Amazon / Book Depository 

Rating: 4/5

Source: NetGalley
Synopsis: In this coming-of-age story set in a medieval kingdom, Andrea is a headstrong princess longing to be a knight who finds her way to modern-day California. But her accidental return to her family's kingdom and a disastrous romance brings war, along with her discovery of some dark family secrets. Readers will love this mix of traditional fantasy elements with unique twists and will identify with Andrea and her difficult choices between duty and desire.(Goodreads)


Review: I loved this book! Andrea is a princess who wants to be a warrior. Unfortunately, her parents decide that her days of playing with the boys are over. It is time that she become a lady. Andrea decides to skip town and what ensues is an amazing story with great characters and a plot that doesn't follow the usual girl meets boy, pines after boy, gets boy formula. The best part about this book was the ending. I began to hope for this particular ending towards the end of the book, but never would have seen it coming in the beginning. Andrea is a great character from the get-go. Her attitude and dreams were unusual for a girl in her situation, but not too modern to be believable. She had a wonderful Evil Sister that had me pretty angry a few times. She's one of those characters that manage to be completely evil while looking completely blameless in front of Authority Figures. Did she get her comeuppance? The jury is still out, but I can live with it. The romance was fantastic. Things don't happen as the characters want them to, affection is not easily won, and several huge mistakes are narrowly averted. I love romantic intrigue! Two Moon Princess was a great book, full of adventure and engaging characters. I'm going to be picking up a paper copy for my permanent collection.

Unthinkable by Shirley Duke: Review Posted by Tiffany at 8:51 PM

Title: Unthinkable

Author: Shirley Duke

Published: August, 2010 by Darby Creek Pub

Pages: 106

Buy: Amazon / Book Depository 

Rating: 2/5

Source: NetGalley

Synopsis: Omar Phillips is Bridgewater High's favorite local teen author. His Facebook fans can't wait for his next horror story. But lately Omar's imagination has turned against him. Horrifying visions of death and destruction come over him with wide-screen intensity. The only way to stop the visions is to write them down. Until they start coming true... Enter Sophie Minax, the mysterious Goth girl who's been following Omar at school. "I'm one of you," Sophie says. She tells Omar how to end the visions, but the only thing worse than Sophie's cure may be what happens if he ignores it. (Goodreads)

Review: Unthinkable was a very short book. Everything moved very quickly. This is often a good thing, but in this case the result was a story that felt half-sketched. The characters had a lot of potential. A teen horror writer whose stories come true? Awesome idea for a book. However, I felt like this was more of an outline for a book. It would have made a great short story with some more character development added in. The overall result? A vague and forgettable story that left me feeling a bit confused. I hate to give a bad review, but this one just missed the mark for me. Maybe it would have been better received by a younger reader, especially a boy who is looking for more action and less character development. I would definitely give the author another chance, the idea was original and the characters had a lot of potential, but this one didn't do it for me.

Dear NetGalley Posted by Tiffany at 4:05 PM

Dear NetGalley,

Why do you have to be so awesome? My queue of books is getting out of control. Just when I think I have it down to a manageable size, you have to go and add more amazing books, like Bumped by Megan McCafferty, The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, Mercy by Rebecca Lim, Hereafter by Tara Hudson, and Die For Me by Amy Plum. Are you going through my wishlist?! My poor paper books from before Christmas are just sitting there forlornly, waiting for me to have time for them. With the addition of the amazing books available from GalleyGrab (Wither by Lauren DeStefano! Red Glove by Holly Black! Stay by Deb Caletti!), I am basically a Nook Only girl right now.

Yours Forever (Practically Against My Will),
Tiffany


P.S. Who am I kidding? I love you.