7 posts tagged “series”
Gossip Girl: A Novel
By Cecily von Ziegesar
Audiobook read by Christina Ricci
So, I had heard a lot about these books before I "read" this one (on audiobook) and I was actually pleasantly surprised. I had anticipated shallow, vapid, mean characters doing horrible things - but the main characters were actually quite sympathetic, and there was genuine character growth (at least for the Serena character).
Basically, the story centers on the rivalry between ex-best friends Serena and Blair. Serena was always more beautiful and popular, but when she moved to boarding school, Blair took over as Queen Bee. Then Serena is kicked out of boarding school and Blair, threatened by her appearance, spreads vicious reasons about why Serena was kicked out - while Serena just wants to be friends with Blair again.
Anyway. There are other characters, like the non-rich Dan, who loves Serena in secret; Vanessa, a goth girl who loves Dan in secret; Blair's boyfriend Nate, who loves Serena in secret; and Dan's sweet sophomore sister Jenny who doesn't know what she's getting into by befriending Blair and Serena.
This was an OK audiobook - Christina Ricci's bored, Valley-girl drone suits the characters and storyline. Every few chapters, a different voice actress comes on (with obnoxious techno music in the background) to dish gossip as the anonymous "Gossip Girl" -- either talking about things which we just saw happen, or giving hints as to the events yet to come. I haven't read any of these actual books, but I guess in the books, GG's monologues are in the form of an online blog or something.
Anyway. I can see why girls would like these books - everything is sooo over-the-top with the teen characters drinking martinis in bars; smoking all the time; wearing fabulous outfits; going to art openings and attending chic parties - it is totally escapist and the hint of "badness" probably just lures in the readers. While there is some sexual content, the only actual sexual scenes are handled with awkwardness and humour - reminding you that these characters really are just 16 or thereabouts.
Rating: Obviously girls aged 13 and up are devouring these books; and that is probably the target audience
Breaking up is really, really hard to do (Dating Game 2)
By "Natalie Standiford"
I read this because I had read the first book in this series, and I wanted to see how this would stack up. (You may recall I found the first one to be Hilariously Awful)
And you know what? Either these girls are growing on me, or the author figured stuff out better, but this one was quite a lot better than the first one. Maybe the first one had to set up so many characters and situations, this one was freed up to just explore the plot.
It follows the same formula as the first book, alternating points of view in chapters between best friends Holly, Madison, and Lina. Each chapter also starts off with a brief horoscope that foreshadows the events to come in that chapter.
Continuing from the first Dating Game novel, Holly is now second-guessing hooking up with nice guy Rob (who drives her crazy asking permission every time he wants to kiss her); Madison is still pining after unattainable senior Sean; while Lina is hopelessly in love with their teacher.
Madison gets some character growth in this book, evolving from the love-struck girl desperate for popularity in book 1 to developing her artistic talents in this book (and meeting a cute artist boy who helps her move on from Sean, sort of). Holly is also more developed here - in the previous book, all we really knew was that she was a blond bombshell who wouldn't take crap from anyone. Her storyline of wanting to get rid of Rob to realizing maybe she was too hasty in trying to break up with him, will probably ring true to a lot of girls. Finally, Lina gets the most cringe-worthy moments as she finds her beloved teacher's on-line personal ad and starts e-mailing him, pretending to be a film student in grad school... and then she agrees to meet him! You are cringing but obsessively reading on to see how that trainwreack will go over.
Anyway, this is a much better book than the first one, in part because there is a lot less casual use of drugs and alcohol (maybe there were complaints about this in the first one? It wasn't even the drug and alcohol use that bugged me there, but the fact that it didn't really have to be there and seemed to be trying to be "cool" or something to impress readers). I would put this series in the same category as the "Mates, Dates" books, not quite as good as the Georgia Nicolson books, not as trashy as the "Gossip Girls" books...
Rating: A nice, sweet pick for girls ages 12 to 14.
By "Natalie Standiford"
I read this because I had read the first book in this series, and I wanted to see how this would stack up. (You may recall I found the first one to be Hilariously Awful)
And you know what? Either these girls are growing on me, or the author figured stuff out better, but this one was quite a lot better than the first one. Maybe the first one had to set up so many characters and situations, this one was freed up to just explore the plot.
It follows the same formula as the first book, alternating points of view in chapters between best friends Holly, Madison, and Lina. Each chapter also starts off with a brief horoscope that foreshadows the events to come in that chapter.
Continuing from the first Dating Game novel, Holly is now second-guessing hooking up with nice guy Rob (who drives her crazy asking permission every time he wants to kiss her); Madison is still pining after unattainable senior Sean; while Lina is hopelessly in love with their teacher.
Madison gets some character growth in this book, evolving from the love-struck girl desperate for popularity in book 1 to developing her artistic talents in this book (and meeting a cute artist boy who helps her move on from Sean, sort of). Holly is also more developed here - in the previous book, all we really knew was that she was a blond bombshell who wouldn't take crap from anyone. Her storyline of wanting to get rid of Rob to realizing maybe she was too hasty in trying to break up with him, will probably ring true to a lot of girls. Finally, Lina gets the most cringe-worthy moments as she finds her beloved teacher's on-line personal ad and starts e-mailing him, pretending to be a film student in grad school... and then she agrees to meet him! You are cringing but obsessively reading on to see how that trainwreack will go over.
Anyway, this is a much better book than the first one, in part because there is a lot less casual use of drugs and alcohol (maybe there were complaints about this in the first one? It wasn't even the drug and alcohol use that bugged me there, but the fact that it didn't really have to be there and seemed to be trying to be "cool" or something to impress readers). I would put this series in the same category as the "Mates, Dates" books, not quite as good as the Georgia Nicolson books, not as trashy as the "Gossip Girls" books...
Rating: A nice, sweet pick for girls ages 12 to 14.
The Dating Game #1: The Dating Game
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
By "Natalie Standiford"
OK, so I just finished reading this book, and while at first I thought it was The Worst Book Ever Written, I have since decided that it is simply Hilariously Awful. This is the first of a series, and I look forward to reading the next few.
What makes this book so Hilariously Awful, to me, is the fact that the subject matter would be best suited to probably 16-17 year olds, but the language and dialogue and overall writing style is better suited to 12 year olds. So I don't know who it is really aimed at. I guess 12 year olds? But that is fairly creepy considering:
a) how obsessed with sex the three main characters are
b) the casual drug and alcohol use in the book (with no real negative consequences)
And I have no problem with YA books that deal with either of these things - but when the style of a book makes it seem like it is clearly marketed to 12 year olds, I find this all somewhat offensive. But at the same time, throwing all of this stuff in the book does make it more realistic - what high school party didn't include drinking and/or pot? I guess, though, since characters in book are usually a few years older than the intended audience (i.e. these girls are all 15 and 16, which is why 12 and 13 year olds would be reading these books) the characters are acting almost like role models to the kids, and if the characters are drinking screwdrivers and making out with potheads and getting themselves into extremely dangerous situations - I guess I am afraid that 12 year olds will be going out and trying to emulate this behaviour.
Man, I am getting old. Probably kids would read this and just think, "Man, that is awesome, I can't wait till I'm in high school and my life is like this!" Or, alternately, kids would think "Geez, I was doing all that stuff back in Grade Three" (because kids are growing up faster these days)
Anyway. The bottom line is: the writing style is so unbelievably crappy (for instance, the introductory chapter's desription of all of the girls feels like a throwback to Nancy Drew books or something where you have to describe exactly what all of their hair is like, how tall they are, and what they are good at) - but, I will freely admit, that the characters are spunky and fun and I do think that 12 and 13 year old girls would eat this up. That may make me feel kind of bad for them, but there really are worse things they could be reading.
Oh, and also - this book makes very good use of modern technology. An example is how the girls fill out an on-line quiz for "what is your love aura" (while drunk, incidentally), e-mail the results to a classmate, the classmate posts it on her blog, and at school the next day, everybody knows that one of the girls is apparently a slut because she has a red love aura. That sequence of events, which would not even exist ten years ago, seems realistic and a good handling of the way that teens use the internet.
Rating: A good pick for girls aged 12-14
Ultimate Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 : The Fantastic
Yeah, I didn't like this one very much. The artwork was maybe too busy for this size of book? And I was confused when to read left to right and when to read top to bottom. Also, I didn't like the story very much, and was much more confused than with other graphic novels I've been reading.
Rating: maybe bigger comics fans than me would like this more? I thought it was pretty bad. Recommended for Fantastic Four fans, ages 8 and up.
Yeah, I didn't like this one very much. The artwork was maybe too busy for this size of book? And I was confused when to read left to right and when to read top to bottom. Also, I didn't like the story very much, and was much more confused than with other graphic novels I've been reading.
Rating: maybe bigger comics fans than me would like this more? I thought it was pretty bad. Recommended for Fantastic Four fans, ages 8 and up.
Runaways Vol. 2 : Teenage Wasteland
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
By Brian K Vaughan, et al.
So, I just finished reading the second and third (and am midway through the fourth) installments of the Runaways series of graphic novels. These are seriously extremely enjoyable.
I would say that Volume 2 shows more character development of the core group of teens, and increases how much we know about the world they are living in (i.e. the Marvel universe). They also introduced two characters who are apparently C-list Marvel heroes from the seventies, Cloak and Dagger, who are themselves former teen runaway superheroes.
It is also in this volume that the Nico character realizes that the way to unleash her magic wand (which resides inside of her body usually), is to cut herself. When she bleeds, it emerges. This is an interesting twist to the usual teens-cutting-themselves thing, especially since her character is quite gothic-y.
I was going to complain that when this new character, Topher, shows up, the Runaways all come kind of unhinged (both Nico and Karolina end up kissing him) and I was going to criticize that silly plot development, but then when we find out more about Topher in this volume, there is a good character reason for that all to happen.
Which leads us to...
Runaways Vol. 3 : The good die young
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
By Brian K Vaughan, et al
What is interesting about this one (volume three) is that it basically wraps up the first "volume" of Runaways comics, tying up all of the loose ends and making these three kind of like a trilogy. (But now I am starting up Volume Four, which starts a whole new plotline - and introduced new characters due to the carnage at the end of this one - SPOILER!!)
What I think works very well telling this story in graphic novel format is that - everybody knows one of the Runaways is a mole (i.e. working against the other Runaways by secretly helping their evil parents). But the parents don't know which one is the mole. The Runaways don't know which of them is the mole. And by doing it all in graphic novels, where we don't ever see the thoughts of the characters, only what they say and do - the readers don't know either. Even when The Mole makes a phone call, we (the reader) can't tell if it's a male or a female voice or anything other than the words the mole says.
And I won't spoiler stuff here, but the whole reveal of Who Is The Mole, is very well done. The authors clearly knew before they started who would be The Mole, and after finding out who it is, you can go back and look at that character's actions in earlier comics and suddenly you can read all of their actions a different way.
I think it is in this comic that two unlikely characters make a romantic connection - and that kind of works for me. Obviously you heighten sexual tension in graphic novels featuring teen superhero characters - but that sometimes doesn't work, like Alex and Nico's declarations of love for each other, or when (in Volume 2) Topher kisses Nico and also Karolina. But the unlikely connection between two characters in this one works very well.
And I did read ahead on-line to see plot outlines for later volumes, so I know where Karolina's character is headed (i.e. lesbianism!) and that is all being nicely foreshadowed here. Having her be an alien, and also a lesbian and also a teen girl who only wants to be "normal", is a neat way of looking at things - in so many ways, she feels disconnected from her friends, and (bad pun!) alienated from her closest friends.
Anyway, I have to go now and finish reading Volume Four.
Rating: Totally good! If you read the first one, you have to read these two (obviously) as all three volumes are really part of one long story. Ages 12 and up.
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1 : Gifted
By Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 152 pages
This takes place after the X-Men movies, when Kitty Pryde is grown up, and she goes back to be a teacher at the mutant school, and there is this cure for being mutants and that leads to all sorts of fighting between characters who were not in X-Men the movie, or Marvel 1602, and hence who I don't know who they are.
Anyway. This one ends with an obnoxious cliffhanger, which is why I am annoyed with comics, because I like things that end properly. But anyway, there is this very cool new character in this one, called Emma Frost, who I guess used to be a villain but now is a good guy, and who wears very skimpy ridiculous outfits and is telepathic and, it turns out, possibly still secretly evil. And there is a series of graphic novels about her as a teen (in the same style as the Mary Jane comics) which I hope the library gets soon so I can learn more about her.
Rating: Pretty good, but I think people who know more about graphic novels than I do would enjoy it more than I did. Recommended for X-Men fans aged 12 and up.
By Joss Whedon and John Cassaday
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 152 pages
This takes place after the X-Men movies, when Kitty Pryde is grown up, and she goes back to be a teacher at the mutant school, and there is this cure for being mutants and that leads to all sorts of fighting between characters who were not in X-Men the movie, or Marvel 1602, and hence who I don't know who they are.
Anyway. This one ends with an obnoxious cliffhanger, which is why I am annoyed with comics, because I like things that end properly. But anyway, there is this very cool new character in this one, called Emma Frost, who I guess used to be a villain but now is a good guy, and who wears very skimpy ridiculous outfits and is telepathic and, it turns out, possibly still secretly evil. And there is a series of graphic novels about her as a teen (in the same style as the Mary Jane comics) which I hope the library gets soon so I can learn more about her.
Rating: Pretty good, but I think people who know more about graphic novels than I do would enjoy it more than I did. Recommended for X-Men fans aged 12 and up.
Runaways Vol. 1 : Pride & Joy
By Brian K Vaughan
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 144 pages
This is totally great! The series is about a group of teens who have nothing in common, but every year they are forced to hang out together as their parents prepare some sort of charity event... or so they think. It turns out their parents are a league of super-villains, and it is up to the kids to bring them down. Extremely clever, witty dialogue between the kids, all of whom fall into one stereotype or another but no more than real people do.
The art is also really appealing, and the storyline is quite fun. These kids exist in the same Marvel comics universe as the X-Men, Spiderman, and others so there are neat details like when they try and call the cops on their parents, they are instructed to try calling Captain America's Justice League instead (as the police don't deal with supervillains, only normal criminals)
Bottom line: Totally great! A good choice for ages 10-16
By Brian K Vaughan
Marvel Comics (2004), Paperback, 144 pages
This is totally great! The series is about a group of teens who have nothing in common, but every year they are forced to hang out together as their parents prepare some sort of charity event... or so they think. It turns out their parents are a league of super-villains, and it is up to the kids to bring them down. Extremely clever, witty dialogue between the kids, all of whom fall into one stereotype or another but no more than real people do.
The art is also really appealing, and the storyline is quite fun. These kids exist in the same Marvel comics universe as the X-Men, Spiderman, and others so there are neat details like when they try and call the cops on their parents, they are instructed to try calling Captain America's Justice League instead (as the police don't deal with supervillains, only normal criminals)
Bottom line: Totally great! A good choice for ages 10-16
