The Dark Knight: The Master Race by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello - Review

Finally I can talk about this book!! I was so excited to be approved to read this book early and I have been waiting to share my review ever since. I am a huge Batman and DC fan (well all comics really) and Frank Miller is one of the all time greats. 

The Dark Knight: Master Race

It's been three years since the Batman defeated Lex Luthor and saved the world from tyranny, Three years since anyone has seen Gotham City's guardian alive. Wonder Woman, Queen of the Amazons...Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern...Superman, the Man of Steel...all of the Dark Knight's allies have retreated from the front lines of the war against injustice. 

But now a new war is beginning. An army of unimaginable power led by Superman's own daughter is preparing to claim Earth as it's new world. 

Batman - the only hero that can stop this master race - is dead. 

Long live the new Batman...

(Collecting the full nine-issue miniseries and its mini-comic tie-in issues, Batman: The Dark Knight - Master Race features incredible artwork from comics icon Andy Kubert (Flashpoint), as well as Klaus Janson (The Dark Knight Returns), John Romita Jr. (All Star Batman), Eduardo Risso (100 Bullets) and Frank Miller himself!)

My Review

This book blew me away. 

I'll start with the cover, I think the stark contrast between the black and white and the simplicity of the picture is extremely striking and eye-catching. I could quite happily look at it all day and it will be a beautiful addition to anyone's collection. 

To continue with the art, it's all outstanding the whole book through and the different styles of the artists are very distinctive. There's one page with Diana (Wonder Woman) fighting a minotaur and it is one of the most stunning pages I have ever seen. I've been back to look at that page more than once since my first read through of the book. 

The story is masterfully written. Between the art and the dialogue it's a perfect match. There was twice where I actually choked up, there was so much emotion on the pages. I loved the different big bad and how it was used in almost a mirror as to a lot of what is going on in real life. The panels with tweets, texts and news broadcasts were genius and added to the real life feel I got from the story. 

(Images are all credited to DC Entertainment) 

I loved the cast of characters used in Master Race, it was really good to see Atom and Hawkman and Hawkgirl, though even in passing. It was also really good for the spotlight to be on Carrie Kelley and to see her growth and maturity over the whole story. It was interesting to see Lara used in the way she was and her relationship with her mum and dad. I even loved the darker and more sinister Hal Jordan and the journey he had to go on alone to find himself again. 

I can't very well review The Dark Knight without mentioning the Dark Knight himself. I thought the depiction of old and broken Bruce going on a kind of last quest to rid the world from this new and dreadful evil was brilliant. He was grumpy, he was snarky and he had some amazing speeches and one liners. I will always love Batman, old or young and this version I thought was great. 

I may have gushed more than usual in this review, but overall I think this is an outstanding collection and one I will most certainly be revisiting again in the future. 

I gave the book 5 stars. 

About The Author

Frank Miller is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. He is one of the most widely-recognized and popular creators in comics, and is one of the most influential comics creators of his generation. His most notable works include Sin City, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One and 300.

Books I Read - May 2016

My reading in May has been wonderfully mixed as usual and though it looks like I haven't read as much, I have in the fact that the books I have read this month have been a lot longer in content. I haven't however got around to reading my single issue comics yet, though I have got a journal ready to start keeping a record. I still haven't decided quite how to write them in, so I've been putting off starting. Hopefully in the next few days I'll have something figured out.

Over the next month I have three book tours, the first one being on the 1st of June (so it might actually be up before this post) for Anything For Her by Jack Jordan. I will also be reviewing a few comics once I start picking them back up, as when I first started blogging it was comics that I started with and it'll be nice to get back to that in a small way. 

In May I visited the Enid Blyton exhibition at the Scarborough Museum and I'm actually hoping to have a blog about the experience up in the next few days. Small spoiler, but I loved it. 

Onto the books:

1. Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder - 5 Stars
2. Whispers Of Bedlam Asylum by Mark C. King - 5 Stars
3. Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan - 5 Stars
4. Saga, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan - 5 Stars
5. Demon Bound (Marris And Wade Book 1) by David Parkland - 5 Stars
6. The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett - 5 Stars
7. Anything For Her by Jack Jordan - 5 Stars
8. City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare - 4 Stars
9. City Of Ashes by Cassandra Clare - 5 Stars

I'm looking forward to all the books for review I have lined up for June and all my new books that I want to fit in around them.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them?

June 2015 Book Round Up

I started the beginning of June with a serious case of reading slump and I didn't read for days as I just didn't know what I was in the mood for. I then decided that I really wanted to read some manga but it seems I've exhausted my local libraries supply and there was only one that I hadn't read, so I ended up with a few graphic novels/trade paper backs as an alternative.

Book 1 - The Borrowers by Mary Norton - 3 Stars
Book 2 - Batman: A Death In The Family by Jim Starlin - 5 Stars
Book 3 - X-Men and Power Pack: The Power of X by Marc Sumerak - 3 Stars
Book 4 - Animal Academy: Hakobune Hakusho Volume 1 Moyamu Fujino - 2 Stars
Book 5 - Hunger by Michael Grant - 5 Stars
Book 6 - Lies by Michael Grant - 5 Stars
Book 7 - Captain Atom, Volume 1: Evolution by J.T. Krul - 4 Stars
Book 8 - Justice League Beyond: In Gods we Trust by Derek Fridolfs - 4 Stars
Book 9 - Uncanny X-Men: Sisterhood by Matt Fraction - 3.5 Stars
Book 10 - Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn - 5 Stars
Book 11 - Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman - 5 Stars
Book 12 - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - 1 Stars

Not a bad month, though I really need to get back into it as that last book has put me back into a slump! What's everyone else been reading this month?

Once Upon A Time - My Review of Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape

I've been wanting to pick up a Fables book for a long time and the Panels comic book read harder challenge gave me the perfect excuse under the topic of "read a fantasy comic". The book I picked up at the library was Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham.

I have played the first chapter of The Wolf Among Us by Telltale Games on the Xbox 360, which I loved and so I did have a little insight as to the Fables and how their world works.

The story was really great and very interesting, I loved all the characters (except Jack, but I think that's the point). It was weird, in a good way to see all the characters that I grew up reading about as grown ups themselves and doing "grown up" things like smoking, drinking, swearing and having sex.

The artwork was brilliant too and worked brilliantly with the writing, I loved searching each page to see which fairy tale characters I could spot in the back ground.

I absolutely loved this book and I am hoping to add it to my own personal collection at some point in the future, as well as all the other volumes.

I started reading this book on the 22nd of February and completed it the same day
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

I Need Eye Bleach - My Review of Requiem Vampire Knight

For part of my Panels comic book reading challenge, under the category "a comic published in Europe" I picked up Requiem Vampire Knight Vol. 1: Resurrection by Pat Mills from the library (my library has an amazing selection of graphic novels and trade paper backs for such a small town).

I wasn't sure what to expect as I didn't read any synopsis and chose it for the fact it was published in Europe and the cover art was awesome. Looking back I think I could have done with some preparation for what I was about to face.

I have really struggled writing this review as I've been so unsure as to what to say about this book. The story itself is interesting as it describes how depending on your crimes during your life time you get "resurrected" in hell as different terrors and the worst people become Vampire Knights. The main protagonist is a Nazi who was killed by the woman he was attacking and we follow his story and learn about vampires.

The artwork was stunning if not brutally graphic. I still don't feel that I needed to see a grotesquely pierced penis to help with the story and was left worried about looking too hard at the details on the pages, The one picture I thought was awesome though was the flying ship.

All in all a weird read and not something I'll be picking up again.

I started reading this book on the 20th of February 2015 and finished it on the same day
I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads

In Blackest Day , In Brightest Night - My Review of Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War

This library haul pick would only be my second comic book experience with anything Green Lantern (though I love the animated versions of him, never seen the live action film!) The book I'm talking about is Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns. 

From my experience Green Lantern and the rest of the Corps' have a really bad reputation as not being very interesting and the characters aren't great, This has always put me off picking anything up about them, but the more I've watched different animated versions of Hal Jordan and the gang, the more I thought I should give them a fair chance and make my own opinion. So when I saw this book looking back at me at the library I picked it straight up. 

I knew Geoff Johns was awesome before reading this, but I believe it even more so now! This book is action packed with enough story to balance it perfectly. You see lanterns that as far as I'm aware you don't normally see and you learn so much, 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I will be picking up the next volume as soon as I can. There is one part where Parallax possessed Kyle Rayner and Sinestro welcomed him to his Corps, I actually out loud went "ooooooooh" it was just such an epic moment and the art work did it justice with a totally badass picture. 

I'd recommend this to anyone even if they've never read or seen anything of the Corps' before,

I started this book on the 20th of February 2015 and finished it on the same day

I originally gave this 4 stars on Good reads, but have changed it to 5 stars

My Review of Golden Age Sub-Mariner Volume 1

As part of my Panels read harder comic book challenge, the one category I really thought that I'd struggle actually finding anything to read was the Golden Age (30's to early 50's). However, while deciding on my options I went to the library with my husband and he spotted Marvel Masterworks: Sub-Mariner - Volume 1 (Marvel Masterworks #47) by Bill Everett, Ray Gill, Stan Lee and Mickey Spillane. This was originally written and published individually in 1941, so it fell perfectly right in the middle of that time frame.

Much as I wanted to love this, as this time period was when comics really got started, I really struggled with the stories and the way the text was written. I felt that each story with Namor was pretty interchangeable as each issue followed the same arc of finding the Nazis did something bad and then punishing them for it, usually by punching them in the face. (action was certainly very different in the 40's)

The writing itself felt very formal and stilted, however that could be due to how people spoke in the 40's, but its not all that long ago in the whole scheme of things.

I believe the stories were run as part of a propaganda plan to try and get America involved in the war (I seem to think we saw Captain America fighting in the war too before America officially joined). This does give at least the reason why the Nazis are in every story, however how they are shoehorned in or blamed in some of the stories is quite unbelievable.

Overall with the Namor stories, I got bored after the second one, so it was quite a slog to get through the rest of the book.

Saying all that, there were stories at the end of each issue about The Angel. These stories and this character I absolutely loved and looked forward to getting to his pages. I liked his character, I thought the stories were good and slightly cheeky. I also loved the idea that when he left a scene, he left a shadow of an angel on whatever surface there happened to be (wall, gravestone etc)

I gave the book 3 stars, mainly because of The Angel, however had this been a more modern book, I would have given less.

I started this book on the 14th of February 2015 and I finished it on the 20th of February 2015
I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads

Nice To Meet You - My Review of Supergirl, Vol. 1, Last Daughter of Krypton

Ok, I'll be honest with you, my only experience with Supergirl I believe is from Smallville. So when I picked up Supergirl, Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton by Michael Green I had no idea what I was to expect and I already had a bit of bad feeling towards her as I really disliked her character in the TV show.

The art I felt was not the greatest that I have ever seen and I actually don't think it did justice to the story being told. Truthfully, I disliked the art and I found myself not looking at anything other than the text for the most part.

This book has been a revelation and definitely a great introduction to Supergirl for me. I absolutely loved the story and I loved the character. I felt that Green got the perfect tone for a confused teenager without her sounding whiny or bratty. She reacted to her situations exactly how you would expect someone in that situation to react (someone in that situation and a superhero naturally). I enjoyed meeting villains that I had not come across before, the Worldkillers, they were really interesting and I really want to know more about them and what they go on to do.

I originally gave the book 3.5 stars, however I was still thinking about how good the book was days after I had read it so I changed my mind to a 4.5 stars. I can't give it a full 5 due to the art work as it really let it down in my opinion

I started reading this book on the 14th of February 2015 and I finished it on the same day
I gave this book 4.5 stars on Goodreads

A Light in the Dark - My Review of The Darkness Vs Eva: Daughter of Dracula

When I picked up The Darkness Vs Eva: Daughter of Dracula by Leah Moore and John Reppion, though it seemed familiar, it didn't click until I got home and the hubby pointed out that it was The Darkness that the video game was based on. This made me happy as I love that game and the story in it.

This book is incredibly well written, as soon as I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down. Jackie Estacado is exactly how I remember him from the game, which is great as I love his character, he's such a badass. Eva I have never met before, but I definitely want to meet again, she is such an interesting character and I want to learn more of her back story and then more of what she goes on to do after this story. As well as having two powerful main characters, the peripheral characters all have personality and presence, so they do not get lost in what could have been a two man (well one man, one woman) show.

The artwork by Edgar Salazar, matches perfectly the tone of the story and is just genuinely beautiful work.

Though I'd liked the sound of the synopsis and was pleased when I discovered it was related to The Darkness video game, I really wasn't sure if I would like this book. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it and that I enjoyed it so much. Definitely one to recommend to fans of the game who may not have read any of the comics or to people who love kickass, powerful women characters.

I started reading this book on the 11th of February and finished it on the same day
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads

Nananananananana Batman! - My review of Batman: The Jira Kuwata Batmanga, Vol. 1

For such a small library, my local one has quite a good selection of comics, graphic novels and manga. One of my most recent finds there was Batman: The Jira Kuwata batmanga, Volume 1 and as soon as I saw it, I picked it right up as though I had heard of Batmanga, I had never seen any.

Before I begin to review the actual content, I would just like to take a moment to tell you how absolutely beautiful the book itself was. The cover art was stunning and the paper used for the pages was amazing quality and so thick, it was such a joy to hold and read such a well made book. 

The volume is a collection (the first 20 chapters) of Batmanga's written by Jira Kuwata written back in the 60's to bring Batman to the Japanese audience. The writing holds up incredibly as well as the art and reading it, it could have been written today. Adam West is my personal favourite portrayal of Batman (Michael Keaton is a close second), so having stories based on his character in the TV show was really good for me. 

I love that only the cover page of each story is in colour and the rest of the pages are in black and white. It shows the skill of the artist to get so much detail and keep the readers eye while not using colour. 

Each story is based on Batman and the Boy Wonder defeating a different enemy, the names of which are awesome (Dr. Faceless and Professor Gorilla as examples) but my absolute favourite name and story has to be the first one in the book about Lord Death Man. I love the slight cheesiness of it all and the incredible deductions Batman makes to solve each crime. 

It really pained me taking such a wonderful book back to the library and I genuinely will be adding this book to my collection at some point in the future, as well as the other volume. 

I started reading this book on the 6th of February 2015 and finished it on the 10th of February

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

Lost In Space - My Review of Star Wars: In the Shadow of Yavin, Vol. 1

I have always wanted to try some Star Wars literature, so when I saw Star Wars: In The Shadow of Yavin Vol. 1 by Brian Wood at the library, I made sure to pick it up.

This book is timed just a few weeks after Episode IV movie ends and we're following the story of the Rebellion trying to find a base and further their challenge to the Empire. We see the fan favourites, Leia, Luke, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Chewie and others and yet, their characters fall flat. Wood has failed to capture the personalities that the real life actors put into their characters. None of them seem quite right, a bit like a bad imitation.

The artwork for this book is good, but I wouldn't say that it was exceptional. The ships were definitely the best looking things on the page.

As to the story itself, I think there is a very good idea of a story, hidden in there behind all the blocks of text. There could have been drama, there could have been suspense, there could have even been some mystery and intrigue, but again it all just seems so lifeless. I KNOW I am comparing this to the movies, but when you are writing something that is to fill in the gaps between movies, then your characterisation and storytelling need to be on point.

Added at the end of the book was a mini story between Boba Fett and Darth Vader (I believe set before Episode IV) and it felt almost like an apology for the rest of the book. Sadly, this added nothing and I barely ended up skim reading it because I was so glad to be finishing the book. This should have taken me a couple of hours to read, but it took me days as I kept picking it up and putting it down because I just was not enjoying it at all.

Overall I was extremely disappointed with this, I will be trying other Star Wars literature, but I will not be continuing with this series.

I started reading this book on the 31st of January 2015 and I finished reading it on the 6th of February 2015
I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads

Panels Comic Challenge

Just when you thought I was doing enough challenges, I go and add another one! This challenge was suggested by the head honcho of the Iggle Bookworms and I thought "why not"

The Panels challenge is a sister to the BookRiot read harder challenge but is for comics instead of books. As I like to broaden my interests and up my knowledge, I thought this was another great way of adding different formats to my reading pile.

I will say that this was actually harder to put together than any of my book challenges and that some of these choices are likely to change depending on whether I can get my hands on them or not.

So to the list:

Read a comic book from the Golden Age (30's to early 50's) - Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner Vol. 1
Read a comic book that features a creative team representing more than one gender - Adventure Time Vol. 1 by Ryan North
Read a comic book originally published in Europe - Requiem Vampire Knight Vol. 1: Resurrection
Read a piece of comics journalism - A.D. : New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Read a self contained graphic novel - Watchmen by Alan Moore
Read a comic book from an independent publisher - Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince
Read a comic book by an all female creative team - Lumberjanes #1 by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson
Read a comic book about a culture other than your own - Sailor Moon, Vol. 01 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon 1)
Read a comic book about a religion other than your own - Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1
Read a comic book marketed at children or all ages - Tiny Titans #1
Read a comic book that features a LGBTQ character - Rat Queens #1
Read a comic book that won an Eisner Award - Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loab and Alex Ross
Read a webcomic - Digger by Ursula Vernon
Read a comic book starring anthropomorphic animals - Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus #1) by Art Spiegelman
Read a volume of manga - Maria Holic 1
Read a comic book written and drawn by the same person - God Hates Astronauts by Ryan Browne
Read a collection of comic strips - Calvin & Hobbes #1
Read a comic about a non-traditional superhero - C.O.W.L. Volume 1: Principles of Power by Kyle Higgins
Read a new to you comic from the library - Supergirl, Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton
Read a science fiction comic book - V for Vendetta by David Lloyd
Read a fantasy comic book - Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham
Read a comic book featuring non-traditional art - Pax Arena #1
Read a comic set in a country other than your own - Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From the Farm by Jeff Lemire
Read a controversial comic book - Heroes Reborn: Captain America
Read a book about comic books - How to Draw Your Own Graphic Novel: Learn All About Creating Characters, Storytelling, lettering and Inking by Frank Lee
Read a comic with a villain for the protagonist - Sinestro Vol. 1: The Demon Within by Cullen Bunn

I'm really looking forward to reading some of these titles, in particular the comics journalism, I didn't know that that kind of thing existed, so it should certainly be interesting.

The Good, The Green and The Ugly

I picked up a few graphic novels this week and one of them was Avenging Spider-man: The Good, The Green and The Ugly written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and art by Stuart Immonen

I really enjoyed this book! To me it portrayed Spider-man exactly how he should be, sarcastic, funny and annoying (to the other characters at least). The book was split into three stories in which Spidey teamed up with a different character for one reason or another.

The first story Spidey teamed up with She Hulk. I have never read anything with the She Hulk in and know very little about her, so this was a really nice way to be introduced to her. I really liked the character during this and I will probably go off and find more books to read about her, so that is definitely a good sign about how well this book is written.

The second story follows Spidey and Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) and again this is another character that I have never read before and know little about. This story I feel was the weakest out of the three in the book, though I did still enjoy it and it was good to meet another character I haven't met before.

The third and final story involves Deadpool. I am a huge fan of Deadpool and him and Spider-man teaming up is always good for a good laugh! The story itself is really interesting and well written and the villain is hilarious. Overall I think this was my favourite story in the book.

Other good things I can say about this book include the artwork being great and all the little references to real life things (check out the DB Cooper reference) which are a really nice touch and it makes you feel good when you catch them.

I started this book on the 14th of January 2015 and finished it the same day
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

Minimum Carnage Maximum Confusion - My review of Minimum Carnage

I have always been intrigued by Venom and the other symbiotes that come after him, so when I saw Minimum Carnage by Christopher Yost at the library I thought I'd give it a shot and see what Carnage was like.

From pretty much page one I was sat scratching my head, Venom is a "police officer" what is that about? I've obviously missed some important plot development before this book as the Venom I am aware of is a villain.

I really was not a fan of this book, I didn't like the way it was written, I didn't like the story and I didn't like Venom being a "good" guy. I feel that the idea of the microverse could have been done in a much better way and in a way that wasn't so rushed.

I actually feel bad as I can't remember anyone else's name from the story and yet it introduces a lot of people. I'm trying to think of anyone other than the main two characters and I know there was a reporter and a scientist (because every good "hero" story needs a reporter or a scientist and this has both), there was a team of some kind made up of tiny people, but I couldn't tell you more that that and I only read this last night.

I will say that the artwork is fantastic and Carnage looked exactly how I'd imagined so that was a definite bonus for me.

Sadly not for me, however I will try again with a different book at some point in the future.

I started reading this on the 15th of January 2015 and completed it the same day
I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads

Life After a TV Show - My review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home

One of my graphic novel picks from the library this week was Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon and art by Georges Jeanty. I will start by saying that I have never seen a single episode of Buffy while it was on television and the only experience I have of anything "Buffy" is the original 1992 movie and other people talking about the TV series.

I'll start by mentioning the artwork, the style is not my cup of tea, however it is very well done. You can tell who is supposed to be who without reading the dialogue which is definitely a good sign. There isn't much I can say about the art, except for the fact it works for this book. 

The story itself starts after the TV series has ended, so immediately I knew that I would be at a disadvantage with not knowing how the show had ended. I carried on though as everyone I know who had watched Buffy has been a huge fan. There seemed to me to be an awful lot going on in just one book which is only Vol. 1 of a series and it was just too much for me. With stories about different countries, people and references to things that had happened previously, it was too much crammed into 136 pages. I didn't like how Buffy was portrayed (though I've no idea how she was portrayed in the show, so it could be spot on)as a character and found her irritating. I also didn't connect with any of the other characters, you didn't really get to "meet" any of them long enough in this book to start forming any sort of feeling or bond. 

Overall I really disliked this book, but I feel a big part of that is because I hadn't seen the TV show. It'd be interesting to hear from someone who did watch the show and then read this book to see what they thought of it, to get a better opinion of how good this book is. If you are that person, please get in touch and let me know.

I started reading this on the 14th of January 2015 and finished it on the same day

I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads

Something a Little Different - My review of Hinterkind Vol 1: The Waking

Since last year I have been working my way through the graphic novel and manga sections at the library. I was genuinely amazed that we even had these sections as I live in a relatively small town. On Monday, I went to hand in my read books and pick up a new stash (I'm sure you know how libraries actually work). One of the books I picked up this time was Hinterkind Vol.1: The Waking World by Ian Edginton and illustrations by Francesco Trifogli. I have heard nothing but good things about this series on Twitter and other social media, so my expectations were very high and yet when I came to write my review, it has been slated pretty much across the board on Goodreads. Definitely seems to be a Marmite kind of read!

Looking at the book, the artwork is done really well, but feels primitive, this however as you read through matches the story and the way in which it is written. The artist has done a great job of matching the tone and mood of the writing.

The story itself is an eclectic mish-mash of post apocalyptic settings with references both to "current" modern time and fairy tales. It took me quite a while to get used to these things being used all together, so I am glad that I read this as a graphic novel instead of individual comics as I probably would have given up after issue 2. At one point a giant type creature utters the line "FFFIFUFHM IZ SMEHLL BLUD OVA HUMUN!" and this nearly finished it for me there and then. I love fairy tales, I love post apocalyptic stories, but these two combined just felt very jarring to me.

I stuck with it and I have to say that I am glad that I did. No it wasn't the best thing that I have ever read (or anywhere even close), but it was certainly interesting to the point that I would like to see where they go with the story. There are no punches held with characters coming and going (though I think we've met all the main protagonists now) and there are side stories which I feel will be good to follow. If I see the next instalment in the library I will definitely pick it up, it's not something I would go out and personally buy though.

I started reading this on the 12th of January and finished it on the same day
I gave the book a (low) 4 star rating on Goodreads