introverted_dragon's reviews
258 reviews

2 stars for the art and 4 stars for the story=3 stars

I loved it! I know I say that a lot but I love books. The art was beautiful. And I loved the romance between Ethan & Lena. It was adorable. The plot twists had me hooked and the whole story was intriguing. A perfect blend of Rome and the paranormal. Though I wish Macon didn't die, I really liked him :(

Rating: 3.70

Plot:
Twenty six year old David Smith is at a loss. Being a sculptor is hard work and he’s hit a dry spell. Not being able to sculpt a single piece is driving him mad and he’s down in the dumps and doesn’t know what to do. But then Death comes along and strikes him a deal he can’t turn down: the ability to sculpt anything with his bare hands. However, there’s a catch, once David makes the deal, he’ll only have 200 days to live and if he tells anyone about his deal then his 200 days will be shortened by 3 days.
David is okay with this; after all he thinks that he has no one left in this world other than his perky best friend Ollie. The last thing he expected was to fall in love but then again we never expect to fall in love. The sweet and enthusiastic Meg, his “angel”, enters his life and makes him question his decision to throw his life away for his art. He’s caught between devoting himself to his work and devoting himself to her. But he’s running out of time and David still wants to make his big splash in the art world before his 200 days are up but a shocking event is just the push he needs in order to sculpt his masterpiece and make his mark in this world.
Characters:
The characters were nice and entertaining but to be honest I didn't really feel for any of them other than David. I just couldn’t connect and I would constantly question Meg’s choices and her behavior. I know she was meant to be careless and reckless but look how that turned out. Honestly the only one I could relate to was David because I know how much of a struggle art is. I'm no huge artist or anything but I know it’s hard to draw, write, sculpt or anything so I kinda understand where David was coming from but still making a deal with Death is a bit much and overdramatic but hell, if that didn't happen we never would’ve met David Smith, now would we?
Thoughts:
I had high hopes for this one but sadly it didn't blow me away like I thought it world. The whole deal with Death thing was right up my alley and I love books that have Death as a character and I liked Harry. But I think the thing that got me was the romantic element in this graphic novel, the romance felt…kinda dead. I mean, first of all, guy meets girl and instantly falls in love with her because she came to him as an angel and told him everything will be alright. Then the same girl takes him after a rather dreadful meeting with his landlord to be. At first she drills him for saying the three special words to her and makes him promise to not say them unless she does first. She constantly ignores his feelings and her friends always tell him that he’s not good enough or not one of her real friends. And she constantly makes him feel like things will never work out. But then they're all lovey-dovey again as if nothing happened. I don’t know maybe it’s just me but I prefer romances that are a bit more interesting and less predictable and cliché.
And aside from the romance, I did like the book; it’s not one of my favorites but it still good. The artwork was amazing and very nice. I liked the style of drawing and thought that it went well with the story. And as for the plot, interesting to say the least, like I said I love books with Death as a character and I really liked Harry and David’s relationship, overall, good read.

If you like books with a funny grim reaper and cute, dedicated sculptors go read this.

Okay this was wonderful!
Great story,funny characters and just great overall.
Even the ending had me laughing out loud, poor Miko!
And Kagura, God! This is why they say perfect boys only exist in books!
But I have to admit. I wish Miko would just realize that Kagura loved her, I mean it's obvious! But anyways great writing, beautiful art, a smexy hero and wonderful heroine, what more could you ask for! Definitely gonna read this series.

Rating: 2.75-3.0

Plot:

Sometimes it's just too much.
This is the case of Hannah Baker, a girl who earned a gruesome and insulting reputation without even trying. And that same reputation drove her to take her own life.
But that's not all, in light of her decision she recorded seven cassette tapes, each containing one of thirteen reasons as to why she committed suicide.
Each reason was connected to a person and once she had recorded the tapes she mailed them out to the people on her list, the people who eventually killed her.
This is where Clay Jensen comes into the picture. One day, after coming home from school, he finds a shoe box wrapped in brown paper on his doorstep. Thinking it was a gift from an admirer or friend he happily takes it up to his room and unwraps it only to find a bunch of old tapes inside. Confused, he takes the box down to his garage and pops one into the old stereo on the workbench but what he doesn't realize is that the second he hears the voice on those tapes, he's going to experience the worst day in his life.

Characters:


I liked the character developement in this novel. I felt terrible for Clay to have to listen to all that but i liked the way he handled the situation and i could connect with his thoughts and reasoning and i wish i could just give him a hug, the poor dear!
Hannah on the other hand, I found her a bit childish at times and i didn't agree with her reasoning. I will say that she was very well written, i just didn't like her as a character.

Thoughts:

How I felt throughout most of this book:



How I felt towards the middle:



How i felt at the end:



I didn't love this as much as i wanted to. I thought it was okay and really i just pushed myself through most of it. The last 50 or so pages were the only pages that actually interested me.

Don't get me wrong the plot premise was interesting and this was very well written but i just can't relate to it. I know Hannah was going through a tough time in her life but i just don't agree with her reasoning.
You don't kill yourself because someone made a stupid list about you or started a rumor or a girl just wanted to be casual acquaintances instead if friends or you had a stalker and so on and so forth.
I often found Hannah to be childish and at times almost immature and naive.
She didn't have to do all this and if she had gotten help this could all be avoided and seriously you're gonna tell me that no one, not a soul, saw this coming?!
didn't they bloody discuss suicide and the warning signs you see in someone who is suicidal. Wasn't "a sudden change in appearance" at the top of the list? I mean Hannah chopped off her hair and you're telling me that not a single person noticed?!
I mean that's downright stupid, suicide is a serious topic and it's becoming more and more common in teenagers, but the reasons Hannah presented weren't ones i would deem so devastating and painful that she found the need to kill herself. I think the only reasons that actually made sense were the rape and accident.
And why on earth would you put people through this kind of pain? some of them like Bryce and Justin deserved but others, especially Clay, who did very little wrong didn't deserve to be put through this.
Once you're gone, you're gone. You don't need to put people through unnecessary pain, I mean you decided that you wanted to kill yourself and you can't blame others for your decision. Nobody told you to end your life, it was your choice so don't go around pointing fingers at people who don't deserve it.

I...I'm sorry, i just don't agree with the views presented on suicide in this book and i thought it was an okay read.

If you like books about real life issues and outdated technology as a form of good-bye, go read this.

Rating: 3.7

What a creepy tale, I would certainly not want to meet that raven!
I expected nothing less from Poe.

Rating:3.5

Hmmmmmm...I was a bit confused with this one, I think it was about astral projection or something along those lines. Interesting thought

I really liked this one. The writing was enjoyable and the premise was intriguing

Rating: 3.75


Plot:

Judas Coyne, a middle aged rocker and the lead singer of the popular band, Jude’s Hammer, is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals, a snuff film, a hangman’s noose, Jude’s got it all.

However, he’s going to wish he wasn’t an occult fanatic pretty soon. One day, his assistant Danny Wooten, comes to him with an advertisement of an online auction, where the auctioneer claims to be selling the ghost of her dead stepfather.

Jude already intrigued, puts in his bid but little does he know that the game is rigged and that he’s signed himself up to ride the night road with a dead man willing to do anything in order to make Jude feel pain and suffering for a crime he did not commit.

Characters:

Now I did like the character development in this book, especially the relationship between Jude and Georgia (Marybeth). I feel like after the hell they went through, no bond could be stronger than theirs. Also I loved how loyal, protective and intelligent Jude’s dogs were, it was adorable seeing them interact with their owners, and terrifying to imagine them when they were angry.

I also enjoyed reading about Anna (Florida) and I loved that despite everything that happened between her and Jude, she kept her word and helped him in the end. And lastly we come to Marybeth, more commonly known as Georgia throughout most of the book. Can I just say that she is a complete badass! Honestly I was so happy when I was reading about her because she doesn’t act like a damsel in distress; she uses her head and gets stuff done. Yeah, she’s scared who wouldn’t be in their situation? But despite that, she does everything in her power to keep herself and Jude alive and that’s a respectable quality in a female character and one I admire greatly.

thoughts:

Where to start? So to begin with, I did enjoy the book, it’s not one of favorites but I definitely liked it. There were quite a few new ideas and concepts presented in this book that I enjoyed for example the hypnosis, the dog souls, the power of pain and the reality of truth.

Those are just a few key concepts I liked. Next to that I also enjoyed the fake death report scene in Jude’s house, which was brilliant. I was so shocked by it and I think that was something to really suck me in. You cannot imagine the relief I felt when I read about Jude switching off the T.V. I actually had to reread that paragraph, three times before I calmed down enough to move on.

Anyways, I also liked the plot twist; you’d never expect it from dear old Craddock now would you? I didn’t and that’s one of my first complaints, the plot twist came out of nowhere. Normally I like to guess as to what the twist is but this one seemingly came out of the blue.

Another thing I didn’t like was the lack of introductory pages, normally I like to read books with a bit more back ground on the characters in the beginning and then that background is built on throughout the course of the book. This novel didn’t have as much background in the start but made up for it in the middle.

My last complaint is another minor one: it was too fast paced, I mean thirty pages in and the ghost is already trying to kill Jude.
But other than these things and a few others that I won’t mention as I don’t want to spoil anyone, I enjoyed this read. I’m looking forward to reading more of Hill’s work in the future.

If you like old time rockers who can put up one hell of a fight and old ghosts who go to any extreme to get what they want, go read this.