Scan barcode
justjonsbooks's reviews
180 reviews
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
3.0
— • 3.5 • —
Only really downloaded this because it was free on Audible and not very long. Each chapter is a short tale commonly told to young witches and wizards in the Wizarding world. They are also followed up with some analysis of the meanings and interpretations behind them by Dumbledore himself. Nothing too deep, but it added a lot of useful context and extra info.
The last tale of The Three Brothers was my favourite since I already knew it well from the final books/films - The origin of The Elder Wand, the Philosophers Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. So it was cool to learn a little more about that.
Production wise, I liked the fact that they got some of the actors from the movies to do the narrations of each tale, for example Jude Law as the younger Dumbledore we see in Fantastic Beasts. It adds a nice touch to the performances. Also the music and sound effects used within the tales were fun, though it probably didn’t need them.
Overall it was decent for what it is, some of the tales may not be very memorable but for a lil 2 hour listen I can’t complain. It reminded me a bit of the Norse Mythology audiobook I finished not long ago. Also all profits from the audiobook go to a children’s charity formed by J.K.R so that was nice to know.
Only really downloaded this because it was free on Audible and not very long. Each chapter is a short tale commonly told to young witches and wizards in the Wizarding world. They are also followed up with some analysis of the meanings and interpretations behind them by Dumbledore himself. Nothing too deep, but it added a lot of useful context and extra info.
The last tale of The Three Brothers was my favourite since I already knew it well from the final books/films - The origin of The Elder Wand, the Philosophers Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility. So it was cool to learn a little more about that.
Production wise, I liked the fact that they got some of the actors from the movies to do the narrations of each tale, for example Jude Law as the younger Dumbledore we see in Fantastic Beasts. It adds a nice touch to the performances. Also the music and sound effects used within the tales were fun, though it probably didn’t need them.
Overall it was decent for what it is, some of the tales may not be very memorable but for a lil 2 hour listen I can’t complain. It reminded me a bit of the Norse Mythology audiobook I finished not long ago. Also all profits from the audiobook go to a children’s charity formed by J.K.R so that was nice to know.
Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, Lauren Myracle
3.0
— • 3.5 • —
Now this was a fun little read and a nice break away from the heavier books that I have been reading recently. There’s not much to say as it was pretty much how I expected it to be. I liked the fact that the stories felt light and Christmassy and avoided ever getting too deep, mostly thanks to their short lengths. And I loved the way the stories intertwined with each other at the end. I’m sure the Netflix adaptation is hot trash but I think I would still be down to watch it some time!
Now this was a fun little read and a nice break away from the heavier books that I have been reading recently. There’s not much to say as it was pretty much how I expected it to be. I liked the fact that the stories felt light and Christmassy and avoided ever getting too deep, mostly thanks to their short lengths. And I loved the way the stories intertwined with each other at the end. I’m sure the Netflix adaptation is hot trash but I think I would still be down to watch it some time!
Hedra by Jesse Lonergan
3.0
Unlike anything I’ve ever ‘read’ before, this silent comic is a very unique form of storytelling. The art style, the creative layouts and the meaningful story all leads to an experience that shows great potential. It’s just a shame it only took me about 5 minutes to finish, it deserves more!
Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point #5 by Donald Mustard, Christos Gage
3.0
Another cool volume as our heroes finally discover the zero point. Artwork was fantastic as always and there were some cool moments with all the characters together. Main reason I’m only rating this volume 3 stars is because at times it felt like Batman / the writers were just making it up as they went along and since the volumes are so short there is basically no depth to the details. That fast paced story-telling is probably fine for a younger audience but for me everything comes across as quite rushed.
I believe there is 1 volume remaining, so we’ll see how that goes to wrap things up, and then I can write a final review for the series.
I believe there is 1 volume remaining, so we’ll see how that goes to wrap things up, and then I can write a final review for the series.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 by Veronica Fish, Jack Morelli, Kelly Thompson, Andy Fish
4.0
I’ve been interested in reading some Sabrina comics after watching the show and reading the first book, but was reluctant to start the original series due to its age and the older artwork. This series however was exactly what I hoped for, the artwork was modern and wonderfully magical, especially the front covers of each volume. The story also felt fresh, rebooting what we already know about Sabrina and Greendale. It had some cool new characters and an interesting new love triangle that it didn’t take her long to get into. The story wasn’t bad either, although same with most comics I probably would have liked it to have been a bit longer. That being said it was fun and much lighter than the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Here we just have a young Sabrina dealing with high-school life and using magic to save the day. I look forward to reading more!
Artemis by Andy Weir
3.0
So I’ll be honest I listened to this audiobook while playing some video games so I didn’t absorb as much as I would have liked.
It was a cool enough story but not as thrilling and memorable as The Martian. There were times when it was a bit too geeky with the science and numbers, and not in an interesting way. I also feel like the world building could have been much better.
I won’t go into the writing and some of the strange going on’s but like many of the other reviews here have stated, I think it struggled most with our protagonist Jazz. It felt like Weir didn’t really know how to write a unique female character, as the way she speaks and narrates feels identical to Watney in The Martian. I don’t feel like I had the chance to fully understand or relate to her.
That being said I enjoyed the performance by Rosario Dawson for this audiobook. While the writing and characters weren’t entirely amazing, she still has a soothing voice and her uses of accents helped bring the different characters to life.
It was a cool enough story but not as thrilling and memorable as The Martian. There were times when it was a bit too geeky with the science and numbers, and not in an interesting way. I also feel like the world building could have been much better.
I won’t go into the writing and some of the strange going on’s but like many of the other reviews here have stated, I think it struggled most with our protagonist Jazz. It felt like Weir didn’t really know how to write a unique female character, as the way she speaks and narrates feels identical to Watney in The Martian. I don’t feel like I had the chance to fully understand or relate to her.
That being said I enjoyed the performance by Rosario Dawson for this audiobook. While the writing and characters weren’t entirely amazing, she still has a soothing voice and her uses of accents helped bring the different characters to life.