What I Read: March 2015

"In the Shadows" - Kiersten White / Art by: Jim Di Bartolo


This book. I LOVED it.
It's different from most novels in that each new chapter is preceded by a few pages of illustration telling you a part of the story that is essentially still to come. Like mini movie previews on paper. And this story itself can only be described as a suspenseful mystery of sorts, with touches of magic and the supernatural. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!

It's the story of a young man trying to escape his dark past in the early 1900's. He makes some new friends when he goes to live at a boardinghouse owned by an old friend of his late mother's. His 'curse' seems to follow him, though, and soon his new friends become tangled in the dangerous mess. They meet and fight off strange characters, and try their hardest to delve deep into the mystery of who these villains and their secret society are.. and more importantly, what it is they want.

And the art! I wish I could show you all of it. It truly was beautiful, but at first, it didn't make sense to me because it doesn't follow the story that you're reading. It's not meant to,  I realized towards the end. And once you do finish the reading parts, the art story falls together nicely and finally makes sense. OH, and something rather cool: if you've read the "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" series and love it (like I do!), then you'll be pleased to know that the dude behind the artwork for this novel, Jim Di Bartolo, is actually married to Laini Taylor, the author of "Smoke and Bone"!  What a cool couple! Definitely talented, and the writing by Kiersten White is not too shabby, either. I recommend this book to everyone!

"Emerald Green" - The Ruby Red Trilogy - Kerstin Gier 


If you'll remember, I read the second book in this series by Kerstin Gier in February.  "Emerald Green" is the third and final installment that I read in March. The mystery of "the magic of the Raven"-girl Gwyneth Shepherd is finally solved! She, along with her partners-in-time-traveling-crime, defeat the evil doers we've encountered in the first two books, and Gwyneth also discovers a deep family secret that changes her life forever. Oh, and she also discovers that she's basically.. well.. nevermind. I don't wanna spoil it! But she does have a very cool "super power" that gives her an edge against the villains!

I can't talk too much more about the story without ruining it, so if you're curious, you'll just have to check out the series for yourself!

Graphic Novels

"Constantine - Volume 1: The Spark and the Flame" - Ray Fawkes, Jeff Lemire, Renato Guedes, Marcelo Maiolo

In keeping with my goal of discovering comic books that I like, I decided to look into the story of the character John Constantine. He made his debut in the Hellblazer series, (I'm told), in the 1990's by DC-imprint Vertigo Comics, but I haven't found copies of those originals. So instead I found a 'remastered' /new version by DC. According to most reviews on Goodreads, John Constantine comes off as way less "evil" in this new story than in the originals. In fact, to me, he didn't seem all that evil at all. He did bad things, of course, but with the intention of using the powers he acquires from said bad things for GOOD. Overall, I liked it. He seems cool to me. He's a 'magician' and he's British. What more can I ask for? (But, alas, no I did not ever watch the t.v. show that recently ended it's first season on NBC. I didn't know about it until it ended, and it sounds like it may have been cancelled.. boo).



"Justice League Dark" -Peter Milligan, Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, J.M. DeMatteis, Mikel Janin

Mr. Constantine also appeared in this comic about the WAY COOLER/other 'Justice League' team: Justice League DARK. And yes, I say 'way cooler' because they are! I'm sorry, but 'traditional' (and more popular) superheroes kind of bore me. I like darker, more mysterious and more unconventional and underrated kind of heroes. This particular team consists of John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman, the Shade (aka the Changing Man), and Madame Xanadu at the helm. I really liked this story, overall, and I want to read the rest in the series. Also, a little birdy told me that Guillermo Del Toro (only the guy that makes pretty much every movie I love), has been working on a movie script for JLD... which makes me TERRIBLY excited!!

Stay tuned for April 2015's reads! In case you missed January and February 2015:

What I Read: January 2015

What I Read: February 2015