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Review:

It took me a few volumes to get totally hooked on Goong, but I am so there right now!  I don’t have volume 6 for some reason, and neither does Amazon, so I am a little bummed that I had to order it from a 3rd party seller.  Hopefully they will ship it soon, because now I am dying to read more of the series!

Chae-Kyung is having a hard time adjusting to her new life as a princess.  I can’t blame her; the rest of the royal family certainly isn’t welcoming her with open arms.  Suddenly her life as a normal high school student is kicked out the window, and she’s expected to behave in a manner befitting a princess.  Her humble background isn’t making it easy, because the people who are supposed to be helping her the most look down on her and try to make her life miserable.  Yul’s mother is especially evil, as she plots Shin’s downfall and tries to find ways to make Chae-Kyung look like a fool.  She has split up the royal couple just as they were making progress with their relationship, effectively driving a wedge between them.

I feel so sorry for Chae-Kyung.  Being a princess isn’t fun and games for her.  Instead, it is unbearably lonely.  She doesn’t know how to act anymore, she been distanced from her family, and now even Shin has been sent to London to visit the royal family.  Shin won’t return her calls or her emails, which makes her even more miserable.  When she discovers that she was originally supposed to be Yul’s bride, a new awkwardness between them strains the only friendship she seems to have left.  That’s got to be tough, thinking that you don’t have anyone to rely on, and that everyone around you is only using you.  Ouch.

Plots are surfacing to embarrass Shin and cause him to lose his position in the royal succession.  Yul’s conniving mother is out to shame both Chae-Kyung and Shin, and it looks like she very well may succeed.  Ugh!  She is so mean and vindictive, and I can’t believe Shin’s father is so stupid as to fall for her games.  He can’t be that dumb, can he?  He’s supposed to be savvier that than!  This guy really disappoints me, in practically every volume!  He has absolutely no faith in his own son, and that is very distressing.  I find it hard to believe that he feels that much guilt about he’s brother’s death that he’s letting it drive his decisions, but maybe I’m wrong on that. 

There is so a lot going on in Goong, and like a good soap opera, little actions have sweeping consequences.  It’s a fun series about a girl caught up in something that is way, way over her head.  The good thing about Chae-Kyung?  She’s much too stubborn to ever give in, and if she goes down, this girl is going down fighting!  Go get ‘em, Chae-Kyung!  I bet the royal family will never be the same after you get through with them!

Grade: A-

Review copies provided by publisher

May Contain Spoilers

From Amazon:

In The Vampire’s Assistant, Darren returns to the old-fashioned freak show where, thanks to Mr. Crepsley, he became a "half-vampire." Darren once again struggles against the urge to feed upon the human blood his health requires.

Darren Shan was born in London but at an early age he moved to Limerick, Ireland, with his parents and younger brother. He grew up watching old Dracula horror movies and reading spooky comics, which were the inspirations for this series.

Review:

I am rather indifferent to this series so far, but I can see the appeal for younger readers who crave an action packed story.  There’s just enough gore to hook those looking for a slightly scary, fast paced adventure that doesn’t require much thought. Darren’s struggle to avoid drinking human blood makes the young half-vampire a more sympathetic character, and his confused feelings for Lartan make for a suspenseful read. The freak show setting offers up the opportunity to introduce a cast of creepy and dangerous characters as well.

Darren is struggling to accept his new reality. He’s a vampire, and in order to thrive and stay alive, he has to drink human blood.  He refuses, insisting instead on consuming only animal blood.  His master, Lartan, is at a loss.  How can he convince the stubborn boy to drink human blood?  Darren refuses, even knowing that he will eventually weaken and die.  In his mind, drinking human blood will truly make him a monster.

Darren is surrounded by monsters, some menacing, some not so intimidating.  With his ability to control Madam Octa, he’s put to work for the circus.  Soon he’s battling his desire to kill Lartan. This struggle with his inner darkness was fraught with suspense.  Will he give in to the murderous longing in his heart?  Lartan is responsible for Darren’s present condition – shouldn’t he pay the price for turning him into something so vile?  These thoughts torment him, but by killing Lartan, doesn’t he descend into an abyss from which he’ll never emerge?

Despite a rather generic plot, I couldn’t put this volume of Cirque Du Freak down.  It offered up just enough thrills and excitement that I wanted to see where the story went.  Darren’s insistence on having a human friend leads to disaster, and a new menacing addition to the freak show crew promises more danger in the vampire’s future.

Grade: C+

Review copy provided by publisher

May Contain Spoilers

From Amazon:

Everything is pretty average about Hitomi; she’s an average student, has an average brother, average looks …the only thing that makes her stand out is her weight. Weighing in at 220lbs, she’s no elegant swan. But this wasn’t always the case! When she was younger, she would take part in children’s beauty contests and bring home all sorts of prizes. It was only when her sweet tooth took over that she gained all the weight. So when Hitomi moves into her older brother’s apartment, she discovers that his neighbours are the five hottest boys at her school! And when they decide to get Hitomi back to her cute and pretty roots by helping her stay away from sweets and lose weight, it’s a recipe …for disaster!

Review:

This random collection of episodic chapters left me perplexed.  I’m not sure what to think of it, and I found the presentation bland, uninteresting, and the more I think about it, insulting.  The characters are all cookie cutouts, and they are boring, boring, boring.  Not one of them has a personality worth remembering.  Hitomi, the overweight protagonist, is as sweet as they come, but she is portrayed as an uninteresting blob.  While all of the pretty boys are drawn with precise details, Hitomi is a caricature, a round, fluffy, shapeless blob.  The other overweight character, Tooru, is also drawn as an unattractive lump. 

The more I think about this book, the more annoyed I get.  Plot? There isn’t one.  Hitomi tiptoes around school, trying her hardest not to offend anybody with her mere presence.  She’s friends with all of the pretty boys, but because she is drawn with no appeal what so ever, there’s not even a glimmer of attraction between any of them.  It’s like Hitomi is their mascot, like she’s some weird animal that everyone wants to pat on the head.

Somewhere along the way, she starts exercising, by swimming and picking up trash during cleanup duty.  She berates herself for craving sweets, and wonders why she is such a bother to everyone around her.  Everyone but her brother, that is.  He has a sister complex that I think is supposed to add some comedy to the book, but falls flat for me.

I don’t know where the series is going to go, but with the first volume, I am unimpressed with the message that I am getting.  Why does Hitomi have to change in order to be attractive to these guys.  Some of them are very shallow and aren’t worth her attentions.  Why does Hitomi have to be a big, blobby lump?  Why can’t she sparkle because of what’s inside, instead of what’s on the outside?

Grade: C-

Review copy provided by publisher

May Contain Spoilers

From Amazon:

Welcome to New York’s Upper East Side, where the claws are about to come out! S is back in town after an encounter with B’s boyfriend, N. Now B’s looking for payback with S’s new love interest, D. Looks like B’s prepared to put it all on the line this time to take down S once and for all.

Duck and cover — this might get ugly!

Review:

Well, it was bound to happen.  I finally met a Yen Press graphic novel adaption of a popular prose series that I didn’t like.  Gossip Girl is just not my cup of tea, and I had a hard time relating to any of the odious characters that populate Cecily von Ziegesar’s popular Gossip Girl series.  Ugh!  I hope that the rich and ill-mannered aren’t as unlikable as the gang collected in this book.  Ugh!

Here’s the predictable plot in a nutshell;  Beautiful Serena sleeps with Nate, ultra rich bitch Blair’s boyfriend. Blair finds out, Serena is driven out of the popular circle in shame, and after she starts dating poor, boring Dan, Blair schemes to get Dan to cheat on Serena.  Gah!  The only thing that made the read tolerable were Blair’s missteps during her campaign to humiliate her former BFF.  Karma can be a beautiful thing.

I started hoping that Blair would just throw herself off of the balcony of her penthouse suite and put us all out of our misery.  I didn’t care what happened to this awful witch, or any of the other rotten characters running around the pages of this graphic novel. How sad is that? There wasn’t even one character I felt that I could relate to.  Not one!  Are the novels like this?   Is reading about a bunch of shallow, spoiled teenagers entertaining?  Now I want to read one of the books just to see if they are as unappealing as this volume of the manga.

Grade:  C-

Review copy provided by publisher