Tag: review

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Books

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: Monstress 1 #fantasy #graphicnovel

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

“I’m late, I’m late. Late for a very important date.” (or something like that.) ~The White Rabbit

So, all month-long I’ve been reminding myself not to miss this post, and sure enough, that’s exactly what I did. Oh well, I tried. I’ve been doing a self-assigned graphic novel read-a-thon this month and I’m down to wire trying to squeeze in as many books as I can before nightfall on Wednesday. Of course, this would also be the month that my creative juices would start to flow, but I just don’t have enough time in the day. In any case, I’ll tell you what has been my favorite read so far, but I don’t have a full review for you yet. So sorry for that….

Below I’ve listed its stats, blurb, and my overall rating; however, I will say that the artwork in this book is so beautiful that even if the story wasn’t that great, I probably would have given it a 4.5 stars with an asterisk.

Title: Montress, Vol. 1: Awakening
Series: Montress #1
Author: Marjorie M. Liu & others
Artist: Sana Takeda
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel
Pages: 192
Reading Level: Teen-Adult
Content: R (strong language, violence, brutality, crime, war, adult and mature situations, brief partial nudity, oppression)

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both.

Collects MONSTRESS #1-6

I give this book a 5.

Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: The Abduction of Rupert DeVille #humor #book

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

Title: The Abduction of Rupert DeVille
Series: NA
Author: Paul White
Genre: Humor, Contemporary
Pages: 235
Reading Level: Adult
Content: R (language, violence, crime, adult and mature situations, comedic nudity, strong sexual content)

This is a very British dark comedy and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I was disturbed a bit at times. This book takes you on an emotional journey, traversing every possible feeling, sometimes with no transitions or segues to ease the mental whiplash. Yet, somehow it all worked together, in the end, to make the story wonderful it a very specifically dark, funny, and unique way. And, don’t get me wrong; the writing is impeccable, almost lyrical at times. It was an easy and engaging read.

This emotional adventure starts with Rupert early in his day, contemplating the step-by-step (literally) plans he’d made for his special evening. Then he’s snatched off the street and the story begins. As the description explains, there’s a girlfriend and an employer worried about Rupert’s disappearance, and after you get to know him, you can totally understand why they’d worry so only after a few short hours.

Attempting to avoid spoilers, none of the characters in this book are quite what they seem. While Rupert is definitely mild-mannered, he’s also calculating, considerate, and most definitely a lover (not a fighter). George is probably my favorite character in this wacky tale of random events that all fit together perfectly, actually making sense in the larger scheme of things. He’s older and calmer than Rupert and Carla, but he might also be a bit scary (in the best possible way). Carla’s a simple girly-girl on the surface, but after taking a peek into her past, you learn that her perfect simplicity is hard-earned.

There are moments in this story that made me blush, made me feel a bit queasy, made me laugh out loud, and even made me feel sentimental. I imagine that it was like reading the screenplay of a Guy Richie modern adaptation of a classic whodunit. There was violence, sex, mystery, and all the complexities of family dynamics.

This is definitely an adult only read; perfect for fans of dark humor, British humor, tales of calamity, and upbeat characters in odd and sometimes violent situations. I hope this author has more stories like this.

I give this book a 5.

Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀


Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books Fun Hops

The Cephalopod Coffeehouse #Review: Armada #scifi #book

The idea is simple: on the last Friday of each month, post about the best book you’ve finished over the past month while visiting other bloggers doing the same. In this way, we’ll all have the opportunity to share our thoughts with other enthusiastic readers. Please join us below.

Last month I talked about reading Armada, so this month I’ll post about finishing it. But first…

I finished my reading challenge for the year and might even add to it before January 1st, but we’ll have to see. Since I’ve neglected my YouTube channel for the last few month, and update on what I read and how my challenge went is in the works.

On a completely separate note, I started a new blog series on music and writing over at A Small Gang of Authors. Give it a look, if you are interested.

2017 Reading Challenge

2017 Reading Challenge
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Title: Armada

Series: NA

Author: Ernest Cline

Genre: Science Fiction, YA

Pages: 368

Reading Level: Teen-Adult

Content: PG-13 (some language, violence, bullying, war, combat, espionage, genocide)

This is a fun story. It’s not the most clever sci-fi story ever written, but coming from the man who gave us Ready Player One, it’s still pretty cool.

The story of Zach Lightman is literally one we’ve heard before, but the changes and twist are still fun to watch unfold. Perhaps you’ve heard of Luke Skywalker, (cough, cough) Wade Watts, heck even Daniel LaRusso aka Daniel Son- well then, in a way, you’ve met Zach Lightman already.

In Ready Player One, Cline showed readers a world where virtual reality was the only reality that mattered. In Armada, he shows how conspiracy theories and art (i.e. science fiction) is a true reflection of reality. By comparison, instead of being trapped in the Matrix, our characters are living in Zion, the last human city, getting ready to learn that the Matrix exists. They’ll have a few brief moments to decide if Zion is worth fighting for or concede to be consumed by the program…

A little dramatic I know, but that’s kind of how this book is. Plus, I’m pretty sure it makes reference to every science fiction book, movie, and TV show to ever be Tweeted about. It’s not an original idea, but the execution is great and the characters are entertaining.

The beginning is slow but humorous and then the sh** hits the fan. There are secrets being kept from all sides and a mystery that only a few are willing to pursue. It’s a good story, but somewhat predictable. Still, I liked every minute of it. I let myself get caught up in all the characters, however brief their stories might have been, ‘cause some didn’t make it very long, and I think that made all the difference.

The ending was a bit unsettling for me. If there’s going to be a follow-up, I think it’s a fantastic ending, if not, I feel it leaves too many unanswered questions; it harkens back to the ending of Childhood’s End (see not so original, but still good). In any case, it’s still a satisfying ending, if not also sad, in some ways.

Recommended to fans of science fiction and video games. For this one, I fear that people who are not into at least one, but probably both of these criteria, may not enjoy or even “get” this book.

I give this book a 4.

Please stop by and see what others have read. 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords