impressionblend's reviews
564 reviews

Here's the thing: I was instantly in love with the art of this comic book series. I also really like the setting—Golden Era of Hollywood has always appealed to me, and the overall mood definitely fits. But the plot... Is there a plot? This volume is almost entirely all setup with characters I honestly found way too similar (and therefore confusing). Initially I thought this was about to be this elaborate murder mystery, but then it kind of fizzled into subplots. This COULD be a slow builder of a story, but honestly it didn't grab me enough to be excited for more, so I'm not sure I'll even pick up the next volume. It's not terrible, but it's not very exciting either. The only reason I can get volume 1 of The Fade Out to 3 stars is the art/setting. Great presentation, but definitely style over substance.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love where this story is going! Enjoyed this volume even more than the first, and it's a bit more eventful as well. Can't wait to read more!

Beautiful beginning to a story! I can't wait to see what happens next. Don't come into this expecting action - it's not that kind of comic book series (at least not at this point). I can definitely see why people compare this to the movie Her!

An absolutely insane volume, but also a perfect way to wrap up the series! Loved it!

The story in House of M is so much fun to read, and it's also a pretty big mindfuck because the Scarlet Witch is out of control. It throws you right into action, and it never stops. I have to say, since I've only started reading X-Men recently (and my only knowledge of the Avengers is through movies/wikipedia) I was a little bit confused at first, since House of M has a ton of characters I'm not super familiar with. However, I figured it out eventually, and now I HAVE to know what happens next! The art is beautiful, the dialogue balances between serious and fun, and seeing all of these characters interact was very exciting. Loved it!

Note: I definitely would NOT recommend this to anyone who isn't familiar with X-Men/Avengers. This is a pretty big event, and there is no time within it to explain the characters or their powers to new readers. You will either be confused or spend a lot of time googling mutants and events.

This actually started out pretty interesting, but it all went into a really strange direction, and then the ending was pretty abrupt as well. Wasn't a fan of the art either. If you're looking for what to read after House of M, skip this one for sure.

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You know when a book is compared to another great book, but doesn't live up to the claims, and you as the reader end up disappointed? This is how I feel about The Girl on the Train, which people keep comparing to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Now, I knew better than to expect a similar story, but I did expect the quality to be comparable. It's not. Here's the thing: The Girl on the Train is a pretty solid mystery thriller, and if you love the genre I think you will definitely enjoy it, but I don't think it's anything particularly special.

The story is told from three different perspectives, but our main character is Rachel—a woman with a drinking problem, who takes the same train to work and back home every day. She observes the same streets, houses, and people going about their daily lives. However, one day Rachel sees something unusual that has a strong effect on her, and she just can't let it go. That's all you need to know about this book.

I think my biggest issue was that I didn't like any of the three women from whose perspectives the story is told, and it's hard to enjoy a book when you don't like anybody. I could definitely understand Rachel making bad decisions—she's an alcoholic, and for someone in her position she actually seemed pretty reasonable. However, the other two ladies I occasionally wanted to slap around with a dead fish. They frustrated me to no end, and seemed incredibly immature. What's sad is that most of their problems stemmed from the fact that they were bored, and creating drama was the solution, apparently. Because if you're married you most likely sit at home and don't know what to do with yourself. Right.

"I can’t do this, I can’t just be a wife. I don’t understand how anyone does it—there is literally nothing to do but wait. Wait for a man to come home and love you. Either that or look around for something to distract you."

As a psychological thriller, The Girl on the Train was reasonably entertaining—the concept was intriguing, and towards the end it definitely gained intensity. However, I can't say I was particularly surprised by anything. The writing itself was pretty plain as well, and I wish that the three women had more distinct voices. I was never confused about whose perspective I was reading from, but that had more to do with plot than personality.

Overall, I liked The Girl on the Train, but it definitely didn't live up to the hype for me. What I do want to recommend is the audiobook: the three narrators did a fantastic job bringing personality to the three POV characters. I actually wish I would have listened to the entire book instead of reading a physical copy.

3.5 out of 5 stars

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My relationship with fairy tale retellings (as well as YA books in general lately) has been a rocky one, but I'm happy to tell you I have hope for the genre again. Cinder is a science fiction retelling of Cinderella, in which the main character is a cyborg and a mechanic. It takes place in New Beijing, while the country is being ravaged by a plague for which there is no cure. The book has the standard Cinderella elements: the mean stepmother, two stepsisters, a prince, a ball, and some romance. However, there are plenty of unique addictions as well, which made this book very interesting to read for me.

First of all, I was very intrigued by the Lunars—people living on the moon, most of whom possess special powers, ruled by an evil queen. I thought they were a really interesting addition, and I can't wait to find out more about them. The flip side of this is that I thought there wasn't enough about the Lunars and what their "deal" was, which is probably something that will get discussed more in the other books in the series, but at this point I was definitely left wishing for more information. Second, while we're on the topic of wishing for more information, I really wanted the author to go further into the discussion of who Cinder is. Does she have artificial intelligence? Is she human? How much of her being a cyborg and her brain wiring actually effect her personality, emotions, and feelings? How much programming is involved (since we know there is some)? All of these questions were left unanswered, and I thought there could be a very interesting discussion had there.

Something that I really appreciated about Cinder was that not everyone in the family was mean to the main character. First of all, one of the stepsisters was very friendly and kind, which I thought was a great change from the original story. I also loved Iko—Cinder's android friend, she was adorable. Something I was pleasantly surprised by was Kai, the prince in this story. I always thought that the Cinderellа prince lacked any kind of development and personality, and Kai is a huge improvement—he's an actual human being, he's pretty relatable, and his character development is interesting to follow. I'm actually excited to see what his life will be like after this book!

My biggest issue with Cinder was its predictability. Of course, a fairy tale retelling comes with a certain level of predictability, but this was on a whole different level. Every plot twist was obvious way before it actually happened, and like most people I was able to predict how things were going to go down very early on. This is ultimately what made me take the rating down from 4 to 3.5 stars, because despite the faults I still really enjoyed Cinder, and I burned through it pretty quickly.

Overall, I think this is definitely a book worth reading, and I will be continuing with The Lunar Chronicles series very soon (I already bought the next two books). I hope the rest of the series is just as fun, but a little less predictable, because this sci-fi setting is really working for me.

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Have you ever wondered what LOST would be like if it was a young adult romance novel set in space? These Broken Stars has your back. While Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the galaxy (and also a spoiled brat), Tarver is a war young war hero who comes from nothing. They are on board of the largest spaceliner called Icarus (why would you name a spaceliner that?!) that promptly malfunctions, and the two crash-land on an unknown terraformed planet. Lilac and Tarver have to overcome personal problems, and survive in the unfamiliar mysterious environment.

I really wanted to love this book, but it was just... not that good. The biggest problem that I had with it were the characters: I didn't connect with them or like them. While Tarver was OK, and could potentially be semi-relatable, Lilac was just plain annoying. She spends so much time trying to create an impression of a tough girl who isn't just a spoiled rich brat, but it's actually not true. She is unbelievably stubborn, and though she ultimately has a good heart, she can't help her upbringing. Lilac insists on treading through the forest in high heels, she gets in trouble the moment Tarver isn't paying attention, and she is obsessed with shoes. I'm sorry, but if you're trying to survive in a possibly hostile environment I think ruining your designer shoes should be the last thing you're worried about. She also is concerned about things like this:

"I can’t help but wonder how long it will take the blisters and calluses on my feet to fade when we’re rescued. How soon will I be able to wear proper shoes again without displaying my battle scars?"

Another thing that didn't work for me in this book is the lack of an actual villain. This is a survival romance story, and the villain is the environment (and the characters' bad decisions). Now, the planet and its "quirks" were actually the better part of the book—I thought the setting itself was interesting. However, I'm someone who loves a good antagonist, and if you're like me you will find yourself wishing for a villain in this story where there are essentially only two characters.

On the plus side, These Broken Stars is very fast paced and it's an easy read, if you're looking for that kind of thing. The writing is a bit too plain, but it sets the tone for the story. However, nothing could save the cliché romance for me—every time Lilac and Tarver had a "moment", I couldn't help my own eye-rolling. I think someone who likes romance books would appreciate this more than I did. The science fiction element of the story is underdeveloped, and the explanation behind the events left a lot to be desired.

In the end, though this wasn't a book for me, it wasn't terrible. I think if YA was the genre I read the most, I would enjoy this book more: the setting is creative, and I appreciate the authors trying to do something different. However, I have read and seen better science fiction, better romance, and better survival stories, so I can't give These Broken Stars more than 3 stars out of 5. There is no way I'm continuing with the series.