Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

I'm just throwing this up behind a spoiler wall so I can talk freely about it.

(view spoiler)[
This book was a doozy and now that I am finished I have some mixed feelings. This felt like the author had a great idea to start the book and a great idea how to finish the book but wasn't sure what to do in between. I loved the set up for this book and the initial back and forth over Oliver's innocence. Then that back and forth started to get on my nerves a bit. Every time there was any sort of evidence one way or the other it would always end with with the big flip flop. The big section in the middle of the book that felt like a complete side story was the whole scene with Storm chasing the cougar. That felt like it went on for a really long time and it wasn't bad but I couldn't help but think "don't we have a serial killer wandering around out here some where?". Then we get to the ending. Honestly, I like the "big reveal" of the fact that both men were killers. The whole Val thing came out of left field for me and I really not sure of I can trust anyone in this town. I know we are not supposed to but still, wow. I really hope we get some sort of follow up on this one. I want to know what happened to Gregory. The whole Petra thing has me asking a whole bunch of questions. I almost wonder if there is another group at work here besides the council. Just a couple random final thoughts. Phil sounds like a punchable man. Mathius (spelling?) is growing on me. (hide spoiler)]

Candy Cane (it's a Christmas thing here)

Rangers

Slime

I'm the villain! Yes, me and my magic sea sponge shall rule the world! Or at least get an secret underground volcano lair so no one will bother me. Oh, oh, oh does that mean I can also get the sharks with lasers on their heads?

McDonald's

For some reason I have been just stupid hungry the last few days. Nothing has really changed in regards to activity level or amount that I am eating. My body has just suddenly clued in that I'm not eating as much as I used to and it has decided to be grumpy about it. I feel like it's every couple hours or so that I'm just hungry.

Structure

Bomb

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

You're BEAUTIFUL, and you know it. You're also introspective and have a strong conscience. You could definitely be a heartbreaker if you tried. You're a person of many talents and virtues, but you tend to value youth and beauty most of all. Maybe a word of advice: if someone offers to entrap your true face in a portrait, maybe just don't look at it?


BUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA where did this go so horribly wrong. Me beautiful, a heart breaker, in what alternate world is this? I'm the grumpy troll under the bridge that everyone avoids.

I got Alice as well.

Stripper (I'm sorry, it's the first thing that popped into my head)

Time for another weekly update and I am on a reading streak lately.

Random in Death ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This one here was one of my favorite types of In Death novels. The ones where there is a clicking clock type of element. In this one there is someone stabbing young girls with a needle loaded with a slew of various drugs. It was also interesting to see the author pull from real world influences to create the villain for this novel.

The Scions of Shannara ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was planning on reading through the Shannara books but kind of stalled out due to the time commitment for listening to these books. Now that I am back to walking that is no longer and issue and I am so glad that I returned to this franchise. This book was such an interesting read after the original trilogy. In some ways the book feels real similar to the original book but once you get settled into that mindset the author really starts to play with your expectations. You expect the characters or the story to do this but instead we are going to do something else. There was this one moment where one of the MC's is trying to figure out something and as the reader you suddenly realize that you have been fed clues all along. You never realized that they were clues at the time but suddenly everything clicks and you have the whole light bulb moment as you realize what is going on. The other big difference between this and the original is that this series is one whole story instead of three separate books like the original trilogy. I am really looking forward to the next book and what happens next.

My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World: Volume 2 ⭐⭐⭐
The next volume in this series and it's more of what I was expecting. Smithing, going to town, walking through the forest, etc. We also got some more world building as our MC is drawn into bigger events outside of his little bubble. We of course get more young women added to the "harem". I say harem but there really is no romance in this. We also get our first fantasy metal with good old mythril being tossed in as well as the inclusion of magic into the smithing. Just a fun popcorn read.

Now for the comics/manga

Dragon Ball 3-in-1 Edition, Vol. 13: Includes Vols. 37, 38 39 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As you can tell from the cover we have now met Boo. Yet another villain that I know from pop culture osmosis. Some random thoughts I got while reading this. I legit feel bad for Hercule in this world. He is a legit strong guy and everyone looks up to him but he is also painfully aware of just how out classed he is by the main group of guys. Seeing him getting bodied by a mere child who was holding back was hilarious. I'm still rather shocked by how much of a back seat Goku has taken in the last couple arcs. He is there but is more of a side character now. I'm also starting to understand the appeal of Vegeta. He is a prideful idiot at times but he is a good man as well. Finally, this series is just so weird at times. I know this is not my first time saying this but man there are moments in this series that are just weird.

Ichi the Killer (Omnibus) Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Seeing this franchise pop up in my local library was this bizarre trip down memory lane for me. Many, many, many years ago I remember watching the movie and being grossed out by it. Then a while back I found a fan translation of the manga and devoured it. I was incredibly surprised to see that Seven Seas has decided to release this in an omnibus format. As you can tell from my rating I really enjoyed this but at the same time it's not a series I can recommend to people. This series is about horrible people doing horrible things to horrible people. There are no "good" characters here. There are just various levels of bad. This is a crime thriller set in the 80's/90's I do believe. I don't want to get into spoilers but there is a group of people manipulating various clans within the Yakuza for reasons. It's been so long since I read this that coming back to things feels almost fresh. I'm really looking forward to my revisit of this dark and twisted tale.

Doomsday with My Dog, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐
This was a random snag from the library and I knew I was in trouble when I opened it up and saw that is a 4 koma (or 4 panel) style manga. Listen, I don't hate this style of manga/comic but I find that it is a delivery method that is great for story telling. This style is great for social media when you are doom scrolling. The comic pops up, you take 30 seconds to read it, you go "huh" or laugh, and then you move on. Taking that 30 second interaction and then making a full book out of it rarely works for me. It's just a random collection of jokes and thoughts from the author. That is exactly how I would summarize this book, a random collection of the author's thoughts. It's not that it's bad or anything but I wanted a story, I wanted a world to explore, and instead I get random jokes and philosophical ramblings. This book is about a young girl who is apparently the last surviving member of the human race and she is exploring the ruins of Japan with her Shiba Inu. Great setup for a story and the reason why I picked it up. Is anything explained? Nope. How did the world end? No idea. How did she survive? No idea? How does she get around? No idea. What is up with all these aliens and supernatural creatures? No idea. Were they involved in the end of the world? No idea. There is no story here and it just left me feeling frustrated. Needless to say, I will not be back for the second book.

The Boxer, Vol. 11 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book destroyed me emotionally and I was not alright after I finished this one. At long last we finally get the back story for the MC and just, wow. This book just highlights how many emotions cans be shared through a visual medium and man did it have an impact. It's wild that I am sitting here emotionally destroyed after reading this considering when I picked up the first volume it was on a whim and I figured it would just be another sports story.

You Can't Live All on Your Own!, Volume 1 ⭐⭐⭐
This was a cozy little read that I'm glad I picked up. It's a slice of life story about four women in their late 20's all living in the same house. It's about their struggles as women. One is focused on her career, one is worried about still being single at 28, one was in a relationship but got dumped, and one is just figuring out what she wants in life in general. It's just a glimpse into their life and there is just something cozy about it all. I'll definitely be back for more.

Kill Them All ⭐⭐⭐
This was another random snag that sounded great on the surface but something in the execution just did not land for me. You have an assassin who was wronged by the criminal organization who is out for revenge. You also have a disgraced ex-cop looking for a way to redeem himself. Their target, a skyscraper full of criminal scum with the boss on the top floor. It's that classic action story with tons of violence as the "good guys" kill their way to the top. It's an easy setup for some over the top action. The first glaring problem that I ran into was the art itself. I'm not saying that the art was bad but, for me, the art just didn't work for this kind of story. I would expect to see this style of art work more in a middle grade kind of story. I'd want more of a realistic/detailed art style for this kind of story. Something that allows me to see all the gory details. The other issue was the story itself. I'm not expecting the most high brow style of writing. Heck, I'm not expecting a whole lot out of a story like this in general. The writing for this though felt like a teenage boy saw one of those action movies like The Raid and wanted to write their own version of it. There was this kind of weird juvenile feel to parts of this. Overall it wasn't horrible but I was just expecting something a bit more.

What I'm working on next


These are the audiobooks that are on deck currently. This Fallen Prey is a great read so far.


This is my current book. I've also got some more manga/comics for this week. I'm also thinking of getting the next Campfire Cooking light novel as well.

Busters

Wail

Bread

Hockey

I also got Grumpy Sunshine and I can kind of see it. The grumpy part at least

Paladin

I watched Sinners last night and it was a pretty good movie.