Cyborg: Unplugged by David F. Walker

Cyborg

Cyborg: Issues 1 – 6

genre: graphic novel. comic. superhero. action.

The Review

Cyborg is one of those superheroes that most people know of, but few people know about. What I mean is, most people will recognize who Cyborg is, but couldn’t tell you his full name or any of his history. And that’s fair enough. I was first introduced to Cyborg through the original Teen Titans show. I grabbed this comic in order to prep for the Zac Snyder version of the Justice League. I’ve never known too much about Vic Stone and wanted to know more before I dove into the movies again.

And if that’s what you’re looking for – a quick dive into Vic Stone’s life in a modern setting – then this will be a good one for you.

Characters:

Honestly, I think Cyborg as a character is the only reason this comic is getting three stars from me. He’s interesting and he’s got depth. Sarah isn’t that bad either. Although I’m always annoyed at the generic love interest personality, alternate reality (ugh) Sarah has got some nerve. Aside from the talented art style, these were the best things in the comic.

The villains felt shoe-horned and vapid. The Metal-Men felt really weird and out of place.
Even the family dynamic between Vic and his father didn’t come across too strongly. Which is disappointing considering this is one of Vic’s most intense relationships. The conflict between these two characters is a huge item in most Cyborg stories, but it feels so underwhelming in this comic.

Set-Up:

This was kind of an up and down read for me. I was really impressed at the beginning of this volume. I haven’t read any Cyborg comics and was really enjoying everything that was going on. I liked the art style. I liked the story. I liked what the characters were doing. And then … I feel like it just sort of fell flat and I was waiting for it to wrap up. Alternate realities and different dimensions of time have always felt like cop-outs or bad story-telling for me and this was no exception. It caused the plot to just hop around and become more and more disjointed. At about the halfway point, I was just waiting for it to finish up.

Approx. read time: 2 days

Rating: 3 out of 5 Screems™

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Related YouTube video: here

Ownership: borrowed from the library

Links: Author. Goodreads.

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

the Chronicles of Narnia series: book one

genre: children’s. fantasy. christianlit.

The Review

The Magician’s Nephew is a special kind of book. I have no doubt that this is almost wholly to do with the fact that C.S. Lewis is the mastermind behind it. There’s just something magical about how he writes. While I’ve enjoyed some of the books he’s written for adults (the Screwtape Letters – AMAZING), his children’s stories are such treats. 

Characters:

The Lady is certainly one of the more fascinating characters I’ve ever read about. Lewis obviously employs heavy Christian influences in a lot of his books and there’s no shortage of that here. The Lady is meant to represent the Devil or maybe just evil personified. Yet, when we’re introduced to her character, she’s a giantess that’s been frozen in time in an abandoned hall on a dying planet. This is nuts. What does all of that even mean? The whole idea of the Lady as a character is fascinating. Lewis knows how to have the perfect amount of mystery so you’re hooked, but not confused.

The only thing that limits this story is the unfortunate sexism of its time of publication. While the Lady is an intimidating force to be reckoned with, all other female characters are cast aside. Polly seems to be as much a main character as Digory, yet she misses out on half of the adventures just because she’s a girl. A little of this can be forgiven seeing as these were written in the 50s, but that still doesn’t take away the disappointment. 

Set-Up:

Short and to the point, this book definitely left me wanting more. This world feels so heavy with lore and it’s like we’re only dipping our toes into the ocean.

As I’m writing this review, I have only recently read three books in this series and this is the only look at the other worlds that I have seen. The idea behind the Woods between the Worlds is jaw-droppingly amazing. I want to say there’s even a Doctor Who episode like this, but I could be making that up. As someone who isn’t a huge fan of overly-religious connotations in literature, the scene with the creation of Narnia is just magical. C.S. Lewis manages to weave out something beautiful and enchanting, while still managing to keep that children’s-book feel.

The Magician’s Nephew is a children’s book with an adult story. If you allow yourself to read it without thinking, it’s entertaining; enjoyable. If you sit a little too long and think about what you’ve read and what’s happening between the lines, you realize that it’s just on the edge of being disturbing. Which, in fact, is true of a lot of children’s books.

approx read time: 3 days

Rating: 5 out of 5 Screems™

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Ownership: I do own this book, but will probably donate it for a complete, matching set later on

Links: Author. Goodreads.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

genre: fiction. classics. psychological fiction.

The Review

Before we get started, I wanted to put a content warning on the below review. Unlike a horror novel or manga which is obviously going to include mature content, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, might catch you unawares. This book contains discussions of mental illness as well as racist opinions and references. So, if that’s something that makes you uncomfortable, this story might not be for you.

Also, this review in its entirety will contain spoilers.

Characters:

This book is unique in that the narrator of the story is not considered the main character. We’re not seeing an omniscient narrator; we’re not even seeing a narrator tell his own story. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a story about Randle McMurphy told from the perspective of Chief. Randle McMurphy is a hotshot. A regular, over-the-top, confident man. He swaggers in to the story and immediately takes over — the narrative and the mental institute both. It’s hard not to be pulled in by the magnetism that Chief describes. McMurphy is totally at odds with everything around him. Where everyone else is subdued, McMurphy is outrageous. He doesn’t take no for an answer and is asking questions the minute he shows up. And this is his whole thing — to stir up trouble. To rock the boat. And that’s exactly what he does. He drives Nurse Ratched up the wall and brings all the Acutes with him. McMurphy is easily relatable to the reader. In a world of insane patients and those suffering from catatonia, McMurphy is the most normal character in the story. You want him to beat the system. Because it’s obvious he’s not insane. Right?

The rivalry between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is one of the biggest driving plot-points in this story (running alongside McMurphy’s attempt to free the Acutes). They butt heads from the very beginning; recognizing one another as opponents. Although Nurse Ratched doesn’t want to think of McMurphy as an equal, he continues to meet her plays throughout the course of the story and it makes her furious. She doesn’t want an inmate questioning her well-kept authority. She’s maintained it for years and likes it that way. But McMurphy turns all that on its head. He revitalizes the Acutes and rallies them against her. However, throughout the story we still see Nurse Ratched try to bring McMurphy down into the dirt. She refuses to acknowledge how dangerous he is to other staff members; refusing to give him “power.” But she and McMurphy play the game. Each making moves; sometimes in plain view, sometimes in the shadows. But each looking for a checkmate.

Nurse Ratched is unique because she’s portrayed as this iconic Angel of Mercy. She’s there to treat patients, but it’s obvious she takes pleasure in watching them suffer and struggle with their illnesses. Due to the bias of the narrator, I was constantly questioning her true nature as the story went on. Was she really as bad as Chief thought? Or was she really just trying to do her best? Believing in the mental institutes policies? But, as the story comes to a close, I was left to wonder, just because Chief isn’t seeing reality as we do, doesn’t mean it’s any less true. Chief sees things that don’t exist, but are we sure they don’t or is he just seeing an over-exaggerated version of the world’s true nature?

Set-Up:

This story would suffer greatly if it was narrated by a reliable source. For me, this brought about a whole mixture of questions as I was reading. Was what I was reading even happening? Was the mental institute really as bad as Chief thought or was everyone really out to get him? In the end, it’s hard to tell. As a reader, you’re reliant upon the story-teller and Chief certainly tells his own version of it.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is special because we get to see a version of mental illness and mental institutes right out of the 60s. Ken Kesey wrote this a few years after spending some time using drugs for a paid experiment. He volunteered at a psych ward. Kesey may not have been an expert on this subject matter, but he knew enough to make you shiver. Having a 1962 publication date, this book dropped right before deinstitutionalization. People are really starting to question the humanity and morality of mental institutions. Looking into the barbarity of particular practices that go on behind closed doors. This makes the story all the more tragic when we discover that McMurphy has lost his mind. McMurphy was never crazy. In fact, many of the characters in this book aren’t. Many of them would have lived lives that would have been, if anything, unconventional. Maladjusted, maybe. And yet, we see them being treated like these who are barely conscious or self-aware.

The real tragedy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is seeing how an institution like the one Nurse Ratched is in charge of, can turn anyone insane.

approx read time: 1 month

Rating: 5 out of 5 Screems™

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Ownership: I own the Penguin’s Classic copy of the book as shown above!

Links: Author. Goodreads.

Stargazer by Patrick Carman

stargazer

the Land of Elyon series: book four

genre: children’s. fantasy. christianlit.

The Review

What a surprise! Stargazer is a great end to the Land of Elyon series. I absolutely fell in love with the Dark Hills Divide and was then extremely disappointed in the books that followed. However, Stargazer is so good it almost makes up for the previous three.

Characters:

Alexa is so much more mature in this final book. She is directly responsible for almost every outcome in this story (which was one of my main issues with the previous books) and really comes into her own. We see her do a lot of things in Stargazer that she would never have done in the earlier books. I have a few more comments on this in the spoilers section below.

The other characters are just as well-rounded. The other characters are just as well-rounded. Yipes, Matilda, Marcus, and the ever present cast of animal characters are interesting, unique, and adorable (Grump was one of my favorites even though he barely spoke at all).

Set-Up:

The year between Into the Mist and Stargazer must have been spent doing an extensive amount of writing exercises or something, because Carman’s writing is just that much better! The wording is more mature, more filling, and more entertaining. Stargazer doesn’t feel so much as a children’s book, as a young adult adventure.

However, the ending wasn’t quite as good as the rest of Stargazer. I felt like Carman sort of lost his groove and almost reverted back to the writing of the previous books. I won’t spoil too much, but the final climax felt corny and kind of like a cop-out. It’s also super quick and some long-distance journeys take little to no time at all.

That being said, Stargazer is definitely a great read. Was it worth reading Through the Valley of Thorns , the Tenth City , and Into the Mist ? I’m not so sure, you tell me.

Spoilers below: highlight text block to view

Alexa finding her “home” in the air was something I found to be really satisfying and might have been the best part of the book/series as a whole. It felt right with Thomas and Roland Warvold being masters of the land and sea (respectively) it was fun to see Alexa become the master of the sky.

approx read time: 4 days flat. Loved this one!

Rating: 4 out of 5 Screems™

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Previous book in the series: Into the Mist

Ownership: this series has been donated to my local library!

Links: Author. Goodreads.

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

inkspell

the Inkworld series: book two

genre: children’s. fantasy.

The Review

Okay, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book so hold on to your hat here. This is such a classic series that I had a really hard time choosing a rating. In the beginning, I was all about this, but it just kind of went downhill for me.

Characters:

In comparison to the first book, Inkheart, I felt like Inkspell really let me down in the area of characters. Which was honestly a surprise to me. I really enjoyed all the characters in Inkheart, yet, for some reason, the same characters felt flat and uninteresting in the sequel. It seemed like Funke writes in limited third person with Meggie as the main character (at least that’s how Inkheart was). But in this book, Funke hopped around all over the place and I had a hard time keeping up with whose head I was supposed to be in. And, if Meggie is still supposed to be the main character, she didn’t have a lot of chapters.

One area where Funke succeeds is the covering the unlikeable, but natural emotions of her characters. Meggie and Farid acknowledge their unfounded jealousies. Fenoglio is a whole mess in and of itself (he’s the main villain of this story in my opinion, I hate him). And even Roxanne, in the end, can lash out when she’s in pain. However, the problem is that the positive aspects of her characters can get lost because of her emphasis on the negative. This really made it hard for me to attach to and root for the characters.

Set-Up:

This is the main problem with this book. It is way too long. And I don’t mean page length — I have no issue reading a long book. But man this book felt like it took FOREVER. There were a lot of parts in here that weren’t really important and they took up pages and pages of this story. I understand wanting to flesh out your characters and fill in gaps to give your story substance, but there were so many parts that dragged on for no reason. I loved Elinor in the first book, but her chapters, specifically, were completely unnecessary. She and Darius had no influence on the story at all. If Funke wanted to still have her in the story, she could have stuck with just one chapter and been done with it.

The middle chunk of this book is really where I got stuck. It felt as though nothing was happening and the story was just bouncing around between characters. Chapters that were 3 – 10 pages in length and just adding a ridiculous amount of background or scenic descriptions.

Additional notes: This isn’t a bad book. The Inkworld series is rich and creative, but I find it hard to think of this as a kid’s book. In comparison to Inkheart it feels like it’s on a whole different level. It’s violent, it’s wordy, and it’s long. If anything this is a young adult fantasy story about a 13/14 year old and her experiences in a cruel fantasy realm.

Spoilers below: highlight text block to view

My biggest complaint is that my favorite character dies in the end. Honestly, Dustfinger was the only reason I kept struggling to get through this. Why did this have to happen haha.

approx read time: 23 days (I told you this took me forever. yeesh.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Screems™

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Previous in the series: Inkheart

Ownership: I was going to keep this series, but I’m pretty sure it will be donated now 😂

Links: Author. Goodreads.

Into the Mist by Patrick Carman

into the mist

the Land of Elyon series: prequel

genre: children’s. fantasy. christianlit.

The Review

Technically, this is prequel, but the story is being told to Alexa Daley in between the space of the Tenth City and Stargazer. To me, this is more like the fourth book of the series with really large flashback scenes. It’s set up as a story-within-a-story and takes you to an entirely different kind of tale. Overall, it’s not a bad addition to the Land of Elyon series, but I’m hoping Stargazer really brings it home with a solid ending.

Characters:

The characters for this part of the series are pretty good. Roland and Thomas are both interesting. The brotherly dynamic is a nice touch and makes for relatable interactions throughout the story. Thorn, to me, was the best part of the story. As with the previous three books, I seem to really like the animal characters the best. I just really want a big cat for a friend, okay?

Set-Up:

However, as with the previous two books of this series, I still have problems with the plot. The adventure itself is fun and entertaining, but … I feel bad saying it almost seemed unnecessary. Since I’ve already read the following book, it’s easy to see that Carman wrote this afterwards (or in tandem) so that he could explain what was going to be present in Stargazer. Which is totally fine, but some of it seemed very over the top.

By biggest issue was the idea of these boys experiencing so much responsibility and hardship. I understand the need for characters to “go their own path” and learn on their own, but a lot of things (like literal child abuse) was unnecessary to the story as a whole. There are some other fantasy aspects of the story that are a little ridiculous, but this is targeted from young readers so I can’t really criticize too much here.

Spoilers below: highlight text block to view

There was one other bit of plot in Into the Mist that I found difficult to take. The whole business with the Lost Children was over the top. I loved the idea that Armon was saving them from the reign of Grindall and taking them to safety. But was it really necessary to take them all on a 12 day voyage into the Lonely Sea and then dump them on an uninhabited island? Why couldn’t they have set them up somewhere near the Wakefield House even? Considering how small the Land of Elyon actually is, maybe they would be found easily, but I just don’t think sending 10 year olds out to an abandoned island seems like “saving them.”

approx read time: less than a week

Rating: 3 out of 5 Screems™

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Next book in the series: Stargazer

Previous book in the series: The Tenth City

Ownership: this series as been donated

Links: Author. Goodreads.

Shiver by Junji Ito

shiver

genre: manga. horror. teen.

The Review

Happy Halloween! I couldn’t resisted holding off on this review so I could post it today. Just like the last Junji Ito review, this is a horror manga collection and I’ll be including some panels from the stories. If this isn’t your thing, you’ll probably want to skip this one!

Used Record: 2 out of 5

I think the main reason this story landed flat for me was because it was sound dependent. “Used Record” is straight up about a spooky recording that makes listeners obsessed with it. But it’s hard to really get into the story when … well, when you can’t really hear said recording.

Shiver: 3 out of 5

Man, this one had so much potential. It could have been so much scarier though. If anyone has Trypophobia this story is basically your worst nightmare. These random holes start appearing in people’s skin and eventually makes them deteriorate. This is creepy in and of itself, but then Ito starts mentioning bugs and … ick! The imagery is just out of this world for this story. This one honestly ended way too fast. Right when it was getting good.

Fashion Model: 4 out of 5

I can’t really put my finger on why I liked this one so much, but it’s just so fun to read. This lady … she is just so disturbing! This story is very much a slow-build. You know there’s something wrong with the creepy fashion model, but really there’s no outward evidence that she’d a bad person. The end comes up fast and is so satisfyingly grotesque.

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Hanging Blimp: 4 out of 5

This is such a bizarre story. I can’t even begin to imagine how Ito comes up with the majority of his ideas, but this one is pretty out there. How he manages to make giant head blimps (yes, you read that right) terrifying is just unbelievable. That’s pretty much all I have to say about this one haha.

Marionette Mansion: 5 out of 5

A classic spooky subject that was given Ito’s trademark twist. Marionettes, puppets, whatever. They’ve always been a big subject in the horror genre, but, as always, Ito takes it to a whole new level. Another slow build, this story is inherently creepy from the start, but there’s no violence or straight up here until the very end. This was one of my favorites because it makes you feel uneasy from the very first page.

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Painter: 5 out of 5

I don’t know if anyone here follows me on Instagram, but I love the Tomie story. “Painter” is a part of the Tomie set and it’s perfectly disturbing. The idea of a girl being so beautiful that she drives people mad is sick and it’s the kind of story I’d read over and over again. Although Tomie looks a lot Ito’s other beautiful protagonists, there’s just something about her — which, is kind of her whole thing. This was definitely my favorite story in this whole collection.

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The Long Dream: 4 out of 5

This is one of those stories that really gets under your skin. There’s no jump-scare kind of horror or overtly gross imagery (although some panels are creepy). “The Long Dream” was disturbing because of the idea behind it. Every night your dream gets longer and longer. One night your dream lasts a century and you have no idea what had happened the day before. You’ve lived through so much time in your dream that you’ve lost touch with your own reality. So much so that the dream feels so real when you’re in it. So … how can you be sure that this, right now, isn’t a dream. You’ll wake up and it was all in your head. NOPE.

Honored Ancestors: 3 out of 5

This is another one of those “how did he come up with this???” kind of stories. Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it. Just don’t read this if you’re scared of caterpillars. I wasn’t before, I definitely am now.

Grease: 2 out of 5

If you like gross stories, “Grease” is right up your alley. I do not, so I had a really hard time reading this one. This is a gross fest. Ito really pulled out all the stops for this one and I found myself flipping pages and skimming as much as possible. I can’t even add an image here because there’s no way I’m googling this story.

Cursed Frame: 4 out of 5

This technically isn’t a full story — it’s more of a bonus. But I loved it! This is a companion piece to “Fashion Model”. It’s super short (only a few pages), but those last few panels really hit me. This was a perfect ending to this collection.

cursed frame

The collection as a whole:

I liked this one way more than the first collection I read (Smashed). I think the stories in this set are much better and flowed better when I was reading them. Just like the Smashed, it took a few of the stories for me to really get into the groove of it. The first few are a little weak, but eventually you really get that classic Junji Ito feel.

I mentioned this last time, but Ito has such a unique artistic style that draws me in. It’s crisp and beautiful even when it’s offset by the horrible images he conjures up. This is a good collection for anyone who’s interested in his work and wants some good spooks!

approx read time: 17 days. I got distracted, okay 😬

Rating: 5 out of 5 Screems™

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Ownership: borrowed from my library

Links: Author. Goodreads.

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) TV adaptation

bly manor

based on the Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Review

This is not a book review. This is a review of the TV adaptation of Henry James’s book, the Turn of the Screw. If you’re looking for the book review, please follow the link at the end of this post. This review will follow a different structure than the book reviews. Similar to the graphic novel adaptations, this review will discuss the portrayal of the characters and scenery, the faithfulness to the original work, and the quality of the film in general.

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK, THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Portrayal:

Generally, the portrayal of characters in this adaptation is spot on. Obviously, seeing as this is a nine-episode-long series based on a book that was less than 100 pages, they took a little liberty. But I think they made the right choices here. In almost every case that is. Just like I saw in the book, the relationships between females characters in the show are so strong and important to this story.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t really a huge fan of Victoria Pedretti in this show. I loved her in the Haunting of Hill House, but I found some of her mannerisms to be a little off-putting here. Her acting is pretty perfect for the role she plays though. She obviously has a lot of issues in her past from the very beginning and addressing those problems was on oof the best underlining bits of the show. Mrs. Grose was absolutely amazing in this. Her role is much more important in the adaptation and I just love the diversity they wound in here.

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Another adjustment they made for the adaptation was to the previous governess and Peter Quint. In the book, these characters are 100% portrayed as bad guys. They were the ghosts and they were there to be feared. In this adaptation, they’re fleshed out with backgrounds and stories of their own. I love that Miss Jessel is a career-driven woman trying to better herself. Peter Quint (although a lot of his actions contradict themselves I think) feels like he’s stuck in life because of where he was born. This really makes you invest and hang on to the characters.

Faithfulness:

I think it’s important to note here that this adaptation and book are telling very different stories. There is so much more information in this show and the inclusion of these details really changes the plot and feel. Where the Turn of the Screw thrives on vagueness, the Haunting of Bly Manor uses explanations and backgrounds to really delve into this idea and dig out what made readers uncomfortable in the original.

I think the biggest adjustment for me was how romanticized everyone was in this adaptation. I don’t think that necessarily made the adaptation bad, but there were really no villains. Peter Quint and Miss Jessel were evil and tainted in the original book, but here we’re seeing them as people who are relatable and flawed. Again, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it was a little jarring to see the change after having read the book.

Quality:

Overall, the quality of this show is phenomenal. The acting is excellent. The scenery and sets are beautiful. The lighting, music, camera usage are all perfectly moody. There are a few discrepancies that don’t fit or sit well with me, but that’s bound to happen when expanding an adaptation to this extent.

I wanted to address the LGBTQ+ inclusion down here in this section. All the relationships felt really natural. I feel like a lot of lesbian relationships are forced in other types of media, but this show didn’t do that. It also really served to bring the show to a great conclusion that was very different from the book. For me, it was a really good addition to the story in general and I love that they added this.

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Rating: 9 out of 10 would play ded™. would watch again.

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The Haunting of Bly Manor is a Netflix original series and can be streamed there.

book review: the Turn of the Screw

links: IMDB

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

turn of the screw

genre: horror. classics.

The Review

This book had been on my list for years. I finally went out to buy it after watching the opening scene of the Haunting of Bly Manor. I was a huge fan of the Haunting of Hill House and I appreciated the adaptation they did of Shirley Jackson’s book. Since I’d wanted to read the Turn of the Screw already, I figured now was as good a time as any! I certainly wasn’t expecting what this book had to offer.

Characters:

The characters in this story are dated, but not to the detriment of the story. In fact, I think because of when this book was written, the characters are all the more impressive. The main character is a woman. Her confidante is a woman. I love that this story was centered around intelligent women who are still aware their feelings. The governess, the main character, is a force to be reckoned with. She is absolutely sure of her conviction. Very rarely, she doubts herself and continually tries to barrel through her situation with logic. Throughout this, she’s dealing with the strong feelings she has for her charges and the insane events that are occurring around her.

The Governess’s relationship with Mrs. Grose is excellent. I think strong relationships between two female characters are so important in literature and media. These two characters fully support one another through the entire ordeal and this is probably what I liked most. They never turn on one another, even when there is evidence contrary to what the other is saying. There is no drama between them. No false fronts. Just support. To me, this was the best part of the book.

Set-Up:

Despite the phenomenal characters, I can understand why a lot of people rate this book low; it is hard to read. This was published in 1898 so the writing is complicated and convoluted. The English is difficult to decipher and very old-fashioned. In fact, the entire situation is old-fashioned and a little weird. A lot of things that happen in this book — or short story, more aptly — would be completely different in present day. The way the Governess behaves with the children; how the “help,” while still older than the children, aren’t really in charge. This is off-putting, but eventually I got used to it. This book was written in a different time and you have to bear that in mind while reading.

As to the most important part of any horror story: this book really did put me on edge. If you can take the time to really decipher what James is saying and what the words are showing you, there are some absolutely terrifying scenes. The writing was more like an unsettling mood for me than a jump-scare worthy fright, but it definitely did the trick. I have a lot of feelings about the ending. I’ll leave it in the spoiler block below if anyone is interested!

Spoilers below: highlight text block to view

The end of this story is a whole discussion. I was so caught off guard. This ending is so ambiguous and left such a sour taste in my mouth (in a good way. I’m sure that was entirely the point). The fact that James cuts the book off where he does, just makes the story that much better. Because really, you have no idea what happened. Did you just read a book about an insane governess who sees things and finally loses it? Killing one of her charges? Or was she right all along and poor Miles died of fright? Absolutely crazy.

approx read time: this story is only around 86 pages, but don’t let that fool you. It took me 5 days to wade through this.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Screems™

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Ownership: I did purchase a copy of this book and it will be going in my bookshelf!

Links: Author. Goodreads.

The Tenth City by Patrick Carman

tenth city

the Land of Elyon series: book three

genre: children’s. fantasy. christianlit.

The Review

To be honest I was disappointed with this addition to the Land of Elyon series. I thought the Dark Hills Divide was absolutely fantastic so I continued the series. I was a little let down with Through the Valley of Thorns but I was still ready to keep reading. However, the Tenth City was not what I wanted out of this series.

Characters:

I know a lot of people complained about Alexa not doing a lot in Through the Valley of Thorns which was something I didn’t really agree with, but in the third book, this is really apparent. I liked how Carman went about this in the first book. Not making Alexa so brave that she was an unbelievable or unrealistic character, but as the books go on it seems as though Alexa is only following instructions. There are a lot of moments were Alexa could shine and do her own thing to save Elyon, but she’s only given instructions and then follows them to the letter. It completely diminishes her character and seems like she’s only there as a narrator of the story instead of an active participant.

Set-Up:

As far as plot goes, there are a lot of “twists” that felt cliche that didn’t really add to the actual story. There’s nothing wrong with predictable plot twists, but these were unnecessary. This was supposed to be like the climax of the trilogy, but it was just uninteresting. I really didn’t want to give this book a bad review, but it was just so disappointing in comparison to how great the Dark Hills Divide was. With all of this said, I’m still going to finish the series as I remember enjoying Stargazer and the one about Thomas and Roland when I read them as a child.

approx read time: around three days

Rating: 2 out of 5 Screems™

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Next in the series: Into the Mist

Previous in the series: Beyond the Valley of Thorns

Ownership: I used to own this, but have since donated it to my local library

Author. Goodreads.