Book Review: The Dragonslayer by Jeff Smith

Title: The Dragonslayer

Author: Jeff Smith

Series/Standalone: Bone Series (Volume 4)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 168

Publisher: Graphix

Year Published: 1996

Format: Hardcover (Library Copy)

"Jeff Smith's New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning BONE books are one of the most popular graphic novel series of all time! Fone Bone confronts a host of Along with Gran'ma Ben and Thorn, he has a terrifying encounter with Kingdok, ruler of the Rat Creatures. The Hooded One is inciting their army to full-scale war. Someone is continuing to haunt Thorn in her dreams. And then Gran'ma Ben disappears. To make matters worse, Phoney Bone has hoodwinked the townspeople into believing that he is a mighty dragonslayer. When he actually does catch the Red Dragon- much to his surprise-- he must face up to his promise-- to slay the dragon at sunrise."

My Rating: 4.5/5

I don't know if it was the length of this one or if I just was struggling to focus on it, but this one had a lot of action, but almost felt like it was a touch too long. I enjoyed it. I love where the plot is going and the art is great, I'm curious to see how the next volume continues on this arc. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich

 Title: Two for the Dough

Author: Janet Evanovich

Series/Standalone: Stephanie Plum Series (Book #2)

Genre: Adult Fiction, Humour, Mystery

Pages: 326

Publisher: Penguin Books

Year Published: 1996

Format: Audiobook

"This one's double the fun!

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is still learning the ropes at her cousin Vinnie's bail bond office, so when she sets out the trail of Kenny Mancuso- a suspiciously wealthy, working class Trenton boy who has just shot his best friend- the stakes are higher than ever. That Mancuso is distantly related to vice cop Joe Morelli- who is trying to beat Stephanie to the punch- only makes the hunt more thrilling.

Taking pointers from her bounty hunter pal, Ranger, and using her pistol-packing Grandma Mazur as a decoy, Stephanie is soon closing in on her mark. But Morelli and his libido are worthy foes. And a more sinister kind of enemy has made his first move... and his next move might be Stephanie's last."

My Rating: 2/5

I think that these books are fun filler books, but they are so outdated. There is mention of the two main characters have sexual actions together at 8 YEARS OLD. I thought it was a one-off in the first book but it was brought up repeatedly in this book and it made me uncomfortable. There were also more stereotypes being filled out in this book. And things were more focused on the relationships in the book instead of the crime. I do plan on reading the next one just to see if these trends continue, but if they do I'm not sure how much further in the series I will go.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Series/Standalone: His Dark Materials (Book #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction
Pages: 399
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Year Published: 1996
Format: Audiobook

"Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her.
In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the alethiometer. All around her children are disappearing- victims of so-called "Gobblers"- and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter are involved."

My Rating: 3.75/5

This book was the monthly pick for my local book club and I was more than a little excited to get to it. I'd heard about this book in the past as it was extremely popular around the time the movie came out, but I'd never really read about it or known what the storyline was about. Overall, I enjoyed the story, especially listening to the audiobook as it was a full cast audiobook. I also really enjoyed the questioning about morals and religion that is hinted at in this first story. That being said I do wonder if I would enjoy the rest of the series based on my enjoyment of this first book. I'm going to give the series a break, before deciding whether to continue with the second audiobook.

Thanks for reading,
Sidny

Spoiler: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Yes, I know I'm behind on extremely popular reads... what else is new?
So this was the pick for my local book club this month, one that I definitely voted for after hearing a lot of praise for the series overall. I'm not going to lie to anyone, I was a little disappointed. I found that this series was interesting, but I was curious about some things and bored with many others throughout it. I also tried to read the physical copy first but the sentences just seemed never ending and extremely intimidating.
That being said I did really enjoy the audiobook. It was full cast and narrated by the author, so I felt that I understood how he meant for his work to be interpreted. 

Characters:
Lyra: Like puberty isn't hard enough, to see playmates getting kidnapped left, right and centre. Also to see the world around you start to drastically change. I do wonder how she will change within the next novel. 

Pan: I wonder how he will be interpreted in this other world and if it will be normal for him to stay so close to Lyra. I also wonder what his permanent form will be.

Lord Azriel: I was extremely surprised to find out that perhaps he was the real problem in these experiments. I was also surprised at the lengths he was willing to go prove his points. I also wonder what he truly believes about Dust.

Marisa Coulter: Here I thought that she was the real villain, and boom she might be the more open villain. The one whose the head honcho.. ya know?

Iorek Byrnison: Loved his voice in the audiobook and his love for Lyra. I wonder how he will react once he realizes that she is gone. I do wonder how he'll rule the bears and react with Lyra kind of disappearing. 

Iofur Raknison: An interesting idea to see a bear wishing to be human. As well as someone trying to be something they are not. I won't say that he'll be missed. The description of his palace though was astounding and really helped me to understand his character.

Serafina Pekkala: Another interesting perspective to read about. Hearing about such a different perspective makes me wonder how the separation of others would affect them. Although they can already be far apart, they are still connected.


Thanks for reading,
Sidny