Stacking the Shelves: The Oops I Did It Again Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, I’ve officially been back from my Midwest vacation for an entire week. I’m back to the ole grind now in the ever-dirty NYC. Somewhere along the way, though, I think I picked up a bug. Not sure if it’s allergies or just a cold, but I’ve been feeling funky. It’s not terrible or anything, just off-putting. Plus side, being back at work means I get to pick up more ARCs!

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

The title of this post is dedicated to these three ARCs. Once again, I raided the Take Shelves at work. I have waaaaay too many ARCs. I don’t know how I’ll ever read all of them. (Spoiler alert: I probably won’t.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Vol. 2 Omnibus

Another oops I did it again came when I bought this comic. I had almost finished volume one, and I decided I should just go ahead and buy the second one. Thankfully, my library has most of season nine, so I won’t have to purchase any of those individual volumes until the omnibuses come out.

And last for this haul is my preorder swag for Claire Legrand’s Furyborn. I’m honestly surprised this came already. I figured I wouldn’t get it until after the book releases later this month. I’m also a little sad that the map and the bookmark are bent. Boo...

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Buffy Season 8 Omnibus, Vol. 1

Buffy Season 8 Omnibus, Vol. 1

Joss Whedon and co.

(Buffy Season 8 Omnibus 1)

Publication Date: September 26, 2017

Paperback, 592 pages, Dark Horse

Genres: Comic, Paranormal

B&N | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

Series creator Joss Whedon brought Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to life with this comics-only follow-up to Season 7 of the television show. Aptly named Season 8, these comics are the official sequel to Buffy and continue where the live-action series left off with the Slayer, her friends, and their ongoing challenge to fight the forces of darkness. After the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers--newly legion--have gotten organized, but it's not long before new and old enemies begin popping up. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and a very different Dawn are introduced to the season's big bad, Twilight, and begin to understand the incredible reach of this mysterious threat. Meanwhile, rebel Slayer Faith teams up with Giles to handle a menace on the other side of the Atlantic. It's a dirty job, and Faith is just the girl to do it! Then, as Twilight's ominous influence continues to expand Buffy and her Slayers travel to Tokyo to face a new kind of vampire with powers they've only witnessed in Dracula . . . And, when trouble with Buffy's scythe comes to light, Willow and Buffy head to New York to investigate the secrets behind the ancient weapon; ever full of the unexpected, Buffy is transported to a dystopian future where her first chance meeting is with Fray, future Slayer!

This oversized omnibus edition is one of two volumes that will contain the entirety of Season 8. It includes the first four arcs of the series along with one-shots and short stories written by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Drew Goddard, and Jeph Loeb, with art by the acclaimed Georges Jeanty, as well as Karl Moline, Paul Lee, Cliff Richards, and more.

My Review

I’m not very good with reviewing comics, so I thought I’d do this a little differently than my normal reviews. Basically, I’m just going to discuss the pros and cons of this volume as I saw them in no particular order.

Okay, so first off, I’m glad that I was able to have a piece of the Buffy world back. I definitely miss it (as my Hulu history can attest to). I was even glad to see two members of the Trio return. Even though they weren’t my favorite villains, I still enjoyed seeing that part of the show on the pages. And Willow got a big thumbs up, except for the weird flying thing. That was a little too far…

Xander was fine. He didn’t make a strong positive or negative impact either way. Faith is still cool. And Buffy is pretty much Buffy. Now Dawn on the other hand, wth!?! I actually liked show Dawn for the most part, but her storyline in this comic was just way too much. I hope it gets resolved soon ‘cause it’s just weird. Oh, and there were some very minute glimpses of Angel and Spike. Very nice. Very nice.

Okay, so here’s the more negative comments. One, minor characters like the extra slayers and villains were drawn super similar, so it was hard to tell some characters apart. Two, just because the writers didn’t have a budget in the show, doesn’t mean they should have gone crazy in the comics—it lost a little of its Buffy specialness with all the big action-y spy feels. Three, sometimes the jumps between characters/storylines was too confusing. Four, Dracula. Boo. Five, Buffy’s experimentation, while it could have been fine, just felt weird. I had no idea who the character was, and I want to know who Buffy’s potential love interests are. They should be worthy of her!

Oh, last but not least, is a mix of good and bad. The future setting. I hated the language mess, but I somewhat enjoyed the plot development. It’s an interesting concept.

All in all, the comic series isn’t for every Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show fan. But, if you really miss the Scooby gang, then you’ll look past the comic’s flaws just to get more time with the characters.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The Slayer Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

It’s been a good week. It might snow later, so that sucks. But otherwise, I’ve been pretty chill. Oh, and my mom sent me an Easter basket full of candy! Yay!

Blood Fury by J.R. Ward

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Vol. 1

I mentioned in my wrap-up that I’ve been addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’m re-watching episodes and replaying the soundtrack to “Once More With Feeling” way too much. I also learned that my co-workers and roommate don’t really like Buffy. GASP! Like WTH?! How do you not like Buffy? That being said, I needed more of the vampire slayer in my life. Thus, I decided to invest in the comics.

As for Blood Fury, I borrowed it from the library after reading Blood Vow.

Hounded by Hearne

I randomly decided to buy this one on Kindle since it was only $2.99. I kind of started reading it, but I’m not very impressed with the first chapter. Has anyone read this? Does it get better? Because I’m not entirely sure I’ll enjoy this thing. It’s too kooky compared to what I expected.

As for my book budget, I only spent the $2.99 so far, since I bought Buffy last month.

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Traps and Trapezes (Nightwing Vol. #1)

Traps and Trapezes

Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows

(Nightwing Vol. III #1)

Publication Date: October 10, 2012

Paperback, 160 pages, DC Comics

Genres: Comic, Superheroes

Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

Dick Grayson flies once again as Nightwing! And as he embraces his destiny, Haley's Circus, the big top where Dick once performed, returns to Gotham City: bringing with it murder, mystery and superhuman evil. Nightwing must confront his past among former friends and enemies from his circus days, while uncovering a greater evil.

Collects Nightwing #1-7.

My Review

This is the second—and probably last—DC comic book I’ve read. I don’t have anything against DC, I’ve simply realized comic books are not my thing. I knew this before buying both this one and the Red Hood and the Outlaws comic, but I thought I could beat my own preferences. I like reading my stories, not trying to read and interpret images and figure out the order of the thought bubbles.

That being said, this comic was good. It simply wasn’t my thing. Dick Grayson is still the lovable Nightwing and ex-Robin that a lot of us have grown to love, and his good-guy personality really shines. Furthermore, his character development provided me with an aspect to the story that the Red Hood and the Outlaws comic didn’t. Additionally, I liked how this comic went back to the roots of Dick’s origins. I love comic book backstories. I also really enjoyed the small appearances of members of the Bat Family. (I wish those scenes had been longer though.)

As for the plot, it was a little slow through the middle, but things really picked up towards the end. I was ridiculously surprised by the revelation a certain Bat Family member gives Dick. If this were a book series instead of a comic series, I’d probably be ordering the sequel right away. However, as I’ve explained overly much, comics and I just don’t mix.

All in all, if you’re a fan of comics or even graphic novels and a fan of Batman and/or Nightwing, I’d suggest giving this one a try. Although, who am I kidding? If you’re a fan of Batman, you’ve probably read this already.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this comic for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Review: REDemption (Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1)

REDemption

S. Lobdell, K. Rocafort, J. Williamson

(Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1)

Publication Date: November 13, 2012

Paperback, 160 pages, DC Comics

Genres: Comic, Superheroes

Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

No sooner has Batman's former sidekick, Jason Todd, put his past as the Red Hood behind him than he finds himself cornered by a pair of modern day outlaws: Green Arrow's rejected sidekick Arsenal, the damaged soldier of fortune, and the alien Starfire, a former prisoner of intergalactic war who won't be chained again. As a loner, Jason has absolutely no interest in this motley crew of outlaws. So what's he going to do when they choose the Red Hood as their leader?

Collects Red Hood and the Outlaws #1-7.

My Review

So I’ve been really into the Batman Family lately. More specifically, I’ve been really interested in Jason Todd. Now, I’ve never read a DC comic before, but I’ve watched some of the cartoon movies and TV shows, the live-action movies, etc. I’ve also been reading fanfiction. (I know, it’s not the most accurate source of comic book information. I just like reading stories versus having to look at illustrations.) My family is also pretty big on superheroes, so we talk about them constantly.

The reason I’m sharing all of this is because I thought I would be somewhat prepared to just jump right in and read REDemption—my first DC, and pretty much my first comic book read, ever. I guess I was. There were a few parts I had trouble with, like some of the villainous characters, but they weren’t some of the more well-known ones, so I feel justified not recognizing them.

As for the main cast of characters, I think there were just too many for me. I wanted to really get to know Jason, Starfire, and Roy since this was my first comic experience with them. I just wanted some personality or development. I read a Nightwing comic (which I’ll review sometime soon), and it managed to give me some character development. One character in a comic is good. More than that is bad. For me, anyway.

The plot of this volume is kind of weird too. It had a pretty connected storyline and I adored the flashbacks, but I just thought it was kind of “eh” until the last issue when things started to pick up a little bit. However, I do have to mention that Starfire’s attitude and outfit do bother me. While I like her attitude towards sex and her body, I think it was overplayed too much to make her appear as nothing more than a sexual object with powers. Maybe reading another issue would help with this…?

All in all, I’m not sure if I’ll continue with this series. I love the Batman Family, and I want to get to know Jason, Dick, Tim, Damian, Barbara, Stephanie, and the entire gang, but I didn’t want to have to start at the very beginning. It looks like I might have to in order to get the connection with the characters that I want though. *sigh*

*Note: I purchased a copy of this comic for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.