Review: Ms. Marvel Volumes 1-4

I started reading Ms. Marvel about 9 days ago and just finished reading the fourth volume today. I know that graphic novels are short, but with the new semester starting last week, it was a little rough to get back into the swing of things.

Overall, I absolutely adore Kamala Khan. I love that she is not your typical superhero and that she is a 16-year-old Pakistani American girl. I love that she is an absolute nerd and that throughout all four volumes, there were pop culture references that yes, will eventually date the books, but as someone who is also living in the here and now, I got a true kick out of them. Bruno is a fantastic side character and dropped my favorite lines of the year so far, “Friendship is not a zone, you idiot! Friendship is something real and good and anybody who doesn’t understand that needs a dictionary.” I will get back to him in a little bit.

There were several outside issues/specials that were included in the volumes, and I must say that the only one I truly liked/enjoyed was the Valentine’s Day one with Loki at the beginning of volume 3, Crushed. Though that might be because I am biased and absolutely adore Loki.

The issues with Wolverine in volume 2, Generation Why, were freaking adorable and I love that he was the one who sent Kamala to Queen Medusa so that she had someone looking out for her. What I didn’t like is that in volumes 3 and 4, Queen Medusa is nowhere to be found. Yes, in volume 3, it is explained since the new group of Inhumans overtakes the Inhuman home, but it is implied in volume 4 that Lineage was taken hostage (since Kamran mentions him needing to bust out).

Speaking of Kamran, I just did not enjoy that particular storyline. I knew from the get-go that the relationship was too good to be true and was disappointed when it turned out that I was right and Kamran was not who he appeared to be. I also absolutely hated that once he kidnapped Kamala, he and Lineage tried to victim blame by saying that Kamala getting in the car was her giving consent. When really she had only given consent to getting a ride to school and when she found out they were not going to school, said no, therefore she revoked her consent, therefore she was literally kidnapped. Also, they knew each other during this ‘relationship’ for like, two days, so how absolutely heartbroken she was made zero sense to me. He was not a good guy, she barely knew him (yes, his family was friends with hers before they moved away, but they had been gone long enough they were practically strangers when they reunited). I just really did not like that entire relationship and how everything played out.

My little shipper heart was dying, though, at the end of volume 4, Last Days, because I wanted her and Bruno to get together so so badly. I hate that I don’t know if they did or not (it is implied that she doesn’t want to be in a relationship because she wants to put all of her effort into being Ms. Marvel, which I respect) but just ah! They at least admitted they loved each other and that was enough to make me so so happy.

I love that Kamala said no because of her wishes and not her stereotypical family’s. Though it did get better throughout the entirety of the series, especially with the scene with her mom when she admits to being Ms. Marvel, I just hate how controlling and strict and just completely stereotypical they were at the beginning of the series. And it felt like the writer was making fun of the devout Muslims in the character of her brother, but that is later addressed in the final volume where Aamir basically shuts everyone down and is just like, “My faith is super important to me. Reading is super important to me. I’m happy. Get over it.” (Obviously I’m paraphrasing.)

If I’m being completely honest, I think that the series got worse for me as it went on. Part of it was that I hated the Kamran storyline and part of it is because Ms. Marvel was sucked into the Secret Wars nonsense and so the last volume felt rushed and there were no answers to like anything (Aamir’s powers/the non-terrigen mist that he was exposed to; exactly where Kamala and Bruno stand; what happened with the Inhumans). I also just realized as I was writing this review that there was a door left open for further Inventor storylines because of the whole “Who invented the Inventor?” but it was completely abandoned for the Kamran/Inhuman/End of the World storylines.

I’m hoping that the new series addresses some of these topics, especially the Aamir and Bruno storylines. It is going to be so hard waiting until June to get the volume – I may end up going and buying the individual issues.

I love Kamala as a character and I loved seeing her grow and become more and more confident in her powers. I really do want to continue to read her story because female superhero with her own title? Sign me the eff up. Especially a 16-year-old female with a diverse background. It is so so important for girls to have role models, and Kamala is just that.

I gave volume 1 4.5 out of 5 stars; volume 2 got 5 out of 5 stars; and both volume 3 and 4 received 4 out of 5 stars.

Overall, the series received 4.375 out of 5 stars.

 

Review: Da Vinci’s Tiger

So this blog is off to a great start – I finished this book a week ago and never wrote the review for it.

I received Da Vinci’s Tiger in the December OwlCrate (a monthly YA subscription box, more info can be found at http://owlcrate.com/howitworks) and stuck to my goal of reading it within a month of receiving it.

Da Vinci’s Tiger is a historical fiction inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait, Ginevra de’ Benci. Now, I am kind of on a feminist kick as of late (I blame the lack of Rey toys in Star Wars merch, as well as the lack of Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Gamora. But really, just because, you know, feminism), so I was really excited to get a rather fierce main character who happened to be a female living in the very patriarchal society of 1475 Florence, Italy. I also love that she commented on such topics as how she felt about the fact that she had to get her husband’s permission just to attend a dinner at Lorenzo Medici’s home (just to name one that I remember because like I said, I read it a week ago and also sometimes the comments were just in her thoughts, but it was still refreshing that she was bringing up the ridiculousness of it).

Overall, I did enjoy the book, especially the rich details that were presented. It was obvious that L.M. Elliott did her research to make sure she captured what it was like in Florence in 1475 from the setting to the clothing. However, I found myself wanting Leonardo to have a bigger presence in the novel (he is in the title of the book after all, and his scenes were a breath of fresh air because of his wit and how his banter with Ginevra really made you think). I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed. However, what really made me rank the book lower was that I was not happy with the way things ended between Ginevra and Bernardo. I personally think that the situation that occurred between the two is overused in literature and I personally did not see the necessity of including it. Surely there was a better way of handling the end of that relationship. I could be wrong, of course, given the time period, but I just think that there needs to be less of that situation in media in general. But again, that is my personal take on it. Elliott’s prose was engaging and I found myself repeatedly saying, “Just one more chapter and then I’ll go to bed.”

After all was said and done, I gave Da Vinci’s Tiger 4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Graveyard Book Volume 1

First read of 2016!

5 out of 5 stars

I read The Graveyard Book back in October, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I don’t know what it was about the novel, but I had a hard time picturing some of the scenes, so having the graphic novel format was exciting. I had not pictured the ghouls as they were depicted at all, and I appreciated that the artwork was able to help shape my previously unformed images. I knew going in that there were some graphic images at the beginning, but the beginning of the book was not a cheerful one, so it did not come as too much of a surprise. I thought that the pictures were not too over the top and did a good job of portraying the horrifying situation that Bod’s family ended up in. I loved the artwork, especially how Silas, Bod, and Liza were depicted. I also loved how it covered each of the first five chapters without feeling like it was dragging on. I look forward to reading the second volume.

2016 Book-ish Goals

This year will host my second and third semesters in nursing school, but I have learned through my first that I need to set aside “me” time so that I don’t get bogged down by all of the assignments/studying/care plans that go into studying to be a nurse. The past couple of months, I have really gotten into watching BookTube videos, which has caused me to want to up my reading game. While I am most definitely not comfortable in front of a camera, I want to document (and possibly discuss) my reading this year more than just giving ratings on GoodReads. So without further ado, here are my 2016 book-ish goals:

-Read at least 1/2 of the books I already own (I had a massive problem in 2015 of buying books and not getting around to reading them)

-Read at least 1/2 of the graphic novels I already own (my buying problem was most prominent with graphic novels)

-Read the books I receive from OwlCrate within a month of receiving them

-Do the 2016 TBR Jar challenge (the challenges are from Katytastic’s 2015 TBR challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsxx9UYM5x0)

-Use the PopSugar Challenge when I’m in a reading slump (I’m going to draw from a jar when I don’t know what I want to read next)

-Read at least 75 books

-Utilize the “What I Read” journal from OwlCrate to keep better track of stars (since GoodReads doesn’t allow for half stars)

-Finish A Song of Ice and Fire

-Write a review for each book I read

These are pretty lofty goals given what I will be doing the majority of my time, but I am looking forward to challenging myself and I think I will be decently successful in completing them (though the first two may be a bit difficult given how many unread books I have).