Month In Review(s) - October 2016

October is over!!! And I'm sure most of you are currently stuffed with sweets and/or chocolate from Halloween.

So, without further ado my dearest nerdlets - let's get this wrap-up started!

October was a pretty cr*ppy month for me, depression-wise, but I'm lucky enough to have a) family, b) The Bestie, and c) all of you guys.

Seriously, I appreciate you guys a butt-tonne! You make me smile :)

And even though someone who I once considered cool - a fellow bookworm in fact - unfollowed me when I tweeted about LGBTQ+ things, the number of people actually doing that has reduced from what was happening last month.

This is possibly because I've put Sexually Fluid/Queer on my Twitter bio - so the a*shole bigots probably aren't following me to begin with.

And the very lastest day of this month saw my two-year blog anniversary! And with over 40k pageviews over all, and over 7k pageviews this month, DORA is still going strong (and I'm so surprised and happy, you honestly wouldn't believe it!)

So, to the books I reviewed this month:

Young Adult

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley - historical fiction, LGBTQ+ (F/F)

Adult

Finders Keepers by Stephen King - crime, thriller

Star-Shot by Mary-Ann Constantine - magic realism*, sci-fi* (*ish)

Comics/Graphic Novels

Bread and Butter #1 - contemporary

Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead - kids, horror, zombies

Comics Wrap-Up - Here We Are Now

Film Trailers

Uber-short Doctor Strange trailer for you my dear nerdlets:

Graphic Novels

This week I read Who Killed Kurt Cobain? - The Story of Boddah (UK - US) by Nicolas Otero.

This is pretty dark, very graphic, mightily weird, and could probably do with being sealed in a child-proof 'Trigger Warning' box to ensure readers are suitably prepared... but for all that, I really liked it!

I'll be reviewing soon :)

I also binged on webcomics and read the first volume of Honeydew Syndrome.

This can be read for FREE here.

I quite enjoyed this dose of m/m-yaoi manga, but I did have some issues with it - little things like relationships which start with a punch to the face not being a great example.

The references to self-harm and suicide being a part of emo culture seemed a little too flippant/treated too lightly/over-simplifying for my liking.

That said - I totally binged on it, so it must be doing something right!

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The Greek Mythology Tag

I was tagged for 'The Greek Mythology Tag' by both the lovely Emily @ The Paperback Princess and the fantabulous Tina @ As Told By Tina.

Go check out their awesome-sauce blogs because they officially rock!

Zeus - God of the Sky: Favourite Book of Your Own Category

I am going to pick the uber-specific category of favourite vampire detective novel (yes, yes this is a thing; a thing that I read; do not judge me until you've tried my way of life.)

My favourite vampire detective novel is the first in Tanya Huff's Blood books: Blood Price (UK - US.)

Not only is there a vampire detective who writes romance novels in his spare time, but he's also the illegitimate, bisexual, son of Henry VIII - really, what more could you want?!

Plus, this is the series that really got me hooked on urban fantasy - though, unfortunately, it's no longer easy to get hold of copies in the UK (argh!)

Hera - Goddess of Love and Fertility: Favourite Book Couple

At the moment, I'm shipping Linda and Sarah from Robin Talley's Lies We Tell Ourselves (UK - US,) to the point where they're nearly at OTP status right now (plus, canon F/F romance!)

You can read my review of Lies We Tell Ourselves here.



(Fangirling notes:

Shipping = wanting characters to be in/approving of romantic relationships.

OTP = One True Pairing. A relationship you will defend to your last breath. Despite the name, most people have several OTPs.

Canon = Official.

F/F = same-sex female romance.)

Poseidon - God of the Sea: Book that Drowned you in Feels

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (UK - US.)

I really don't think I need to say any more.

Athena - Goddess of Wisdom and Handicraft: Series with the Best World Building

The Hollows series by Kim Harrison does such a great job of setting up a post-tomato-apocalypse (I kid you not,) urban fantasy world, where vampires, witches, etc. are living out in the open.

Plus LGBTQ+ characters! :)

Hades - God of the Underworld: Book with a Dark Plot

OK, so many I could go for here... you know I like the gothic-y-ness...

I'm going to go with Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (UK - US.) This is definitely not one for the faint of heart.

Even those who've seen either of the film adaptations will be surprised at the brutality and grit of this book, as well as the hugely uncomfortable plot-aspect of the paedophile who is manipulated by our vampire-child, Eli.

Scandinavian horror is a step past Scandinavian noir - though (in this case at least,) exceptionally skilled. You have been warned.

Aphrodite - Goddess of Love and Beauty: 2016 Release with the Most Beautiful Cover

I don't know - a lot of the time, the UK has different covers to other countries anyway...

Oh! I know! The cover of graphic novel The Beauty, Vol 1 (UK - US.) Wow, that is still one of the most striking covers I've seen.

You can check out my review of The Beauty, Vol 1 here.

Ares - God of War: Most Violent Book you've Read

Hahahahahahahaha - OH MY GOD, do you know who you're talking to????

All of the gothic-y-ness often leads to the stabbage. #TrueStory.

It's really hard to measure one type of violence against another, but I'm going to go with The Crow (UK - US) here.

A legendary graphic novel, this includes rape, violence, and a core of pain, melded with James O'Barr's poetic skill and ability to somehow make bleak scenes beautiful.

Hephaestus - God of Blacksmiths: Scorching Hot Character

Loki. Obviously.

via GIPHY

(When Loki is Lady Loki, she's also pretty damn hot; #JustSaying)

Artemis - Goddess of the Hunt and Fertility: Kick ass Female Character

Red Sonja - that famous comic heroine who is so often de-clothed and subjected to out-of-character actions by unskilled, misogynistic, hands - is, at her very heart, the woman who will save a kingdom and cut the hand/thing off a molester on the same day.

Apollo - God of the Light and Healing: Sequel that Redeemed a Series


Actually can't think of one right now - my brain is just throwing white noise at me. Sorry!

Hermes - Messenger God: Book with the Best Message

Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig (UK - US.)

Why? Read my review.

Hestia - Goddess of the Home: Book that's the Most Relatable

Luna The Vampire: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh (UK - US,) because I, too, am a grumpy millennial space vampire.

You can check out my review of Luna The Vampire here.

Demeter - Goddess of Agriculture: Favourite Bookish Setting


I don't know - I tend to forget places pretty easily. Narnia, maybe.

Dionysus - God of Wine and Celebration: Anticipated Release

Ummmm... nothing in particular, in honesty. I have enough books to read right now!

Ooh! I know! There's a new Robin Talley book slated for 2017 called Our Own Private Universe - and I really want to read that!

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Comics Wrap Up - Things Are Shaping Up To Be Pretty Odd

Film Trailers

Marvel made a Doctor Strange trailer that makes 2 different trailers! One when it's played forwards, and one when it's reversed.

It's called 'Strange's Time' (yes, the trailer has it's own title, but to be fair, whoever made it is probably pretty chuffed with themselves right now.)

Here it is played forwards:

Annnnd here it is in reverse:

And just because I like your robot, dear nerdlets, here's the new TV spot for Doctor Strange too:

TV Trailers

Dudes, the next series of DC's Legends of Tomorrow looks EPIC!!!!

As a reminder: this is the series which totally shouldn't work but does - a ragtag spinoff with minor characters from CW's DC pantheon, along with him-off-Dr-Who (otherwise known as Arthur Darvill, here playing Rip Hunter,) and a flying time machine.

We also have one of the only LGBTQ+ superheroes to ever make it on screen (and still be LGBTQ+ - Harley Quinn, Mystique, Loki, et al. had that part of their identity erased when transferred to screen) - the amazing and beautiful Sara Lance, aka the White (formerly the Black) Canary.

Yes, my dearest nerdlets, this looks pretty damned cool:

Graphic Novels

This week I read and reviewed Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead (UK - US.)

This is a fun and zombie-filled kids/all-ages graphic novel, which I enjoyed a helluva lot more than I thought I would!

You can check out my review of Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead here.

So that's it for my week in comics, dearest nerdlets: on to the next week!

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Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead

Title: Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead

Author: Steve Bryant

Contributors: Mark Stegbauer, Jason Millet

Genre: Kids, Horror, Zombies

Series: Ghoul Scouts #1-#4

Release Date: 18th Oct 2016 (US); 20th Oct 2016 (UK)

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Edelweiss provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

In honesty, I thought this would just be OK, and nothing more. Turns out, it was really freaking awesome! :)

Premise:

Full Moon Hollow - Paranormal Capital of the World. But of course, those are just stories.

A scout jamboree. Fun, right?

Until the zombies show up, and the remains of two scout groups have to fight to find their way to safety...

What the hell is going on in Full Moon Hollow?

Best bits:

Have you ever thought what would happen when you smoosh a multi-racial Scooby-Doo style gang of kids (unfortunately, without the dog,) into Brian K Vaughn's Paper Girls, with the more family-friendly parts of the film Zombieland?

Nope, me neither. But clearly someone's been thinking about it - because here it is.

And it's really fun!

Bright, spoopy ('spooky' to the purists amongst you,) and with an adventure that really scoops you up and drags you along with it, this is a really involving book.

The artwork was effective - bright, but not too in-your-face.

And the main characters are pretty evenly split between white characters and people of colour (PoCs). Overall, the split may even be slightly in favour of PoCs - depending on who you count as main characters.

It's done well - not forced; it simply is (as it should be.)

Not so great bits:

While the kids were relatively well-drawn characters (in the metaphorical sense - though in the literal sense too, I suppose,) I think they still could do with some character development - though this may be expanded on in continuations of the series.

I also think that things maybe weren't tied up correctly...?

Like, how did the kids explain the zombie attack to the adults? And where the hell did the zombies come from in the first place?

Again, this is possibly just a symptom of first-volume restrictions - and it's entirely possible that this'll get sorted in later instalments.

OK, so I'm nit-picking a little... but someone has to ;)

Verdict:

This was so fun! A well-rounded kids' story (and big kids, like yours truly, of course,) with a diverse cast and zombies!

With room for growth, and perfect for Halloween, I really do recommend this one guys - I enjoyed the hell out of it! :)

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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