Horror done in true Clive Barker style. Sex, beliefs and humanity all come into question in these 5 graphic novels.
There are two stories / graphic novel and each story is not only different in content but also in art style. Essentially it's like reading 12 different comic books with the same writer. It's almost like reading an animated Books of Blood. And just like the Books of Blood some stories are better than others, nevertheless, Barker definitely has a handle on the short story format. And in book 3 we get to see one of his tried and true stories "Midnight Meat Train" come to life in true graphic novel form. As always he is a fabulous writer and the artwork just accentuates his amazing writing. I do wish however that Clive Barker would have done some of the illustrations himself as he is a brilliant artist and some of his sketches are completely out of this world! I think it would have been nice to see a few of his sketches within these books. Perhaps at least on the covers. All things considered these books definitely have my heart. ❤️ Clive Barker's work. Do recommend!
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(Sigh) Oh this book 🙄
Okay I am reading this book as a part of my reading challenge for the year to reread a book that we read in school. I remember this book being read aloud to me in the classroom because the teacher couldn't trust us to actually sit and read the book ourselves. Foreshadowing? Coincidence? Maybe not. In case you haven't read the other reviews, this book is about a 13 year old kid named Brian who endures a terrible plane crash and ends up being stranded by himself in the wilds of Canada. First of all as a survival book this book is exceptional. It really is one of the great survival Classics and is reminiscent (to me at least) of the original The Boxcar Children book. the story is also on par with something written by Jack London such as the Call of the Wild and White Fang. This is definitely something that is geared towards a more masculine audience. So what's the problem? Repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition repetition.... did I mention repetition? 😵 This book has so much repetition in the writing style that it's almost sickening. It's downright maddening in fact. Brian keeps obsessing over "The Secret" which alludes to his parents divorce which he is broken up over and simply cannot get past in the book. Let's just say he obsesses over "The Secret" so much that it makes you want to pull your own hair out. Other than that I think this is a great survival book. Complete with stupid mistakes that I'm sure every 13 year old kid that has never been alone by themselves, let alone in the wilderness, would make. It does lack the lightheartedness I respect that would have definitely pushed this book to a higher rating. If Brian could have simply focused on other things and possibly even laughing at his stupid mistakes from time to time it would have made the narration of the book a lot better to follow for the reader. Especially for the age group audience this book was intended for. All-in-all I give this book of solid 3 stars. I do recommend it on the basis of it being a classic but not much more. Captivating...
A stunning replica of many people's lives Hamburger takes us on a journey through the eyes of Ari, our main character who tells us of his teen years long ago. Ari, now in his 40s, looks back on his teen years with joy and remorse, happiness and sorrow. This is a very heartwarming coming-of-age novel that tugs on your heartstrings. Ari is a wonderful character and as we see the world through his eyes we find out that things aren't so cut-and-dry in our world. As many other victims of sexual assault will agree with me, this book was a little difficult but genuinely a good read. The one thing that I really liked about this book was the flashbacks back to the 1990s and all of the references to movies and music and things of the time. It really made me look back on my childhood with nostalgia. And how the author was able to interweave the main storyline with that of the tragedy of Kurt Cobain was pretty ingenious. Another thing I would like to add if I may be so candid, is that this was my very first LGBTQ book. I'm very proud to say that it was my first. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in a coming of age with a lot of nostalgia 😉 |
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