Graphic novels - mini-reviews (non-spoiler).

Hi booklovers

A while ago a colleague let me borrow some graphic novels that he really enjoyed. The only graphic novel I had read so far were Fables, Locke & Key and Saga, so I thought it would be nice to discover some new ones.
 

These were the graphic novels he lent me:
 

-Y, The Last Man: Unmanned.
-Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street.
-The Boys: The Name of The Game.
-Scalped: Indian Country.

The only one of these I had ever heard about was 'Y, the Last Man', so I was immediately intrigued by that one - although it still took me a couple of months to finally pick it up :-$

These last couple of weeks, I finally felt like reading them and I even read them back to back and now I'll do a mini-review for each one.

The order in which I'm reviewing them is the order in which I read them:

*Y, The Last Man

I found the concept of all the male species - save two - dropping dead for no apparent reason really 'refreshing'. Throughout this first volume we don't really get an answer as to why Yorick & Ampersand - his male monkey companion - survived, but I'm guessing that will be explained in later volumes. Some of the women in this graphic novel are very weird - yes, Amazones, I'm talking about you - but I'm curious to see if they'll succeed in their plan to get rid of the last two males on earth.
I found this to be a very cool concept and I really liked the drawings. I'll definitely be continuing with the series. I might even start collecting them.

*Transmetropolitan

My colleague 'warned' me that the other three graphic novels were more 'guy-orientated' and this one is definitely a lot more 'graphic'. The drawings in this one were completely different, much more ellaborate and bombastic. The colours were a lot more vibrant, so it took me some time to adjust to that. The story was all kinds of weird. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it was unlike anything I had ever read before. That being said, the ending of the first volume left me really curious and I'll also be continuing with the series.

*The Boys:

 

The drawings in this one reminded me very much of the drawings in Locke & Key and I really like those, so I didn't have any problems getting into this one. Again, the story is all kinds of weird with all these superheroes that have gone wild, but there is also a lot of humour in it. I was only on page 6 when I started laughing out loud, which is very weird when you're on a train. The different characters have their own unique personalities and they 'complement' each other very well. Oh and I love Terror the dog :-) Also, be warned that this one is very 'graphic' as well. Out of the four I liked this one the best and I'll definitely be continuing with the series and probably start collecting them. 

*Scalped

I couldn't - for the life of me - get into this one, mainly because of the drawings. I don't know what it was, but they felt off to me. I started it twice and both times I gave up after a page and a half, even though my colleague said the story was very good. I won't be rating this since I never finished it. Needless to say I won't be continuing with the series.

All in all, I think this was a successfull introduction to some new graphic novels.
 

Have you read any of these or other graphic novels. Which ones would you recommend?
 

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Favourite books of 2016 (so far).

Hi booklovers

We're already halfway through July, so I tought I'd make a list of my favourite books of 2016 so far.

I'm going to divide this into categories:

*Fantasy: 

- Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, both by Leigh Bardugo.

*Contemporary: 

- Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry.

 - Amy & Roger's Epic Detour and Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson. These were both rereads. (Click on the titles to go to my spoiler-free reviews)

*NA: 

- Clipped Wings and Inked Armor both by Helena Hunting.

 











 
     *Graphic novels: 

                            - Fables Volume 1.                                     

- Locke & Key Volume 1.

Have you read any of these books/graphic novels? What are you favourite reads of 2016 so far? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Library haul - graphic novels

Hi booklovers

A few weeks ago we - finally - started watching Doctor Who and Sherlock (I'm going to do a seperate post about my thoughts on that) so I went to the library to get the dvd's and I picked up a few graphic novels while I was there.

Ever since hearing almost every BookTuber raving about Saga I've been very curious to read it. I'm not used to reading graphic novels, that's why I didn't want to immediately buy them, so I decided to get them from the library. I would like to get more books from the library, but the selection of English books is rather limited, so...

Anyway, I found the first two volumes of Saga and also some other graphic novels that looked cool:

These are two totally different kinds of graphic novels, but hey... I've always felt daunted to read any Jane Austen book, so maybe this will help, I don't know.

When I went to the Antwerp Book Fair last Saturday (again, there will be a seperate post about that experience) there was this whole section of comics and graphic novels. They had all five volumes of Saga, but since I haven't read them yet, I decided against buying them. I've learned my lesson: I'm not buying anything anymore based on a hype. If I like the first two volumes - those are the only ones my local library has, btw - I might buy the others as well. I've had a flipthrough and it seemed a bit peculiar to me, but I still want to give them a try. Like I said, I'm not used to reading graphic novels, so maybe that's why it seemed odd. 

I really like the cover of the Pride & Prejudice one, it looks like a magazine :-)

Let me know in the comments if you've read any of these and what you thought of them. Do you have any other recommendations? Please let me know.

Bye for now

Annelies