book review

  • My Secret Mol

    What I liked most about Hye-young Pyun’s City of Ash and Red were her observations on the language barrier between her protagonist and his citizens of Country C. Her nameless protagonist has come to Country C for work. He only has an elementary grasp of the language so as Hye-young puts it “he could only…

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  • Poems to sing to Wonderwall

    After her story,“Stargazing,” I read all of ND Chan’s poetry to the tune of Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” “Stargazing” is my favorite story in her collection of flash fiction and poetry, Saved as Draft: Stories of Self-Discovery Through Letters & Notes. Set during her morning commute through New York City’s Grand Central Station, a trip to the…

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  • It doesn’t have to be Greek to us

    I needed something to take the weight of Arrival off my mind. Daryl Gregory’s Spoonbenders was a very effective and enjoyable salve. It’s Daryl’s clever observations about life and the poesy he wraps it in that makes Spoonbenders such potent medicine. When we are introduced to Teddy Telemachus, he is cruising for women in the…

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  • Sensibility and Discovery in Ted Chiang’s Speculative Fiction

    It’s been months since I finished the stories in Ted Chiang’s Arrival. Before that I had binged Rick Remender’s Black Science comic book series. It was a struggle to get through the opening story in Ted’s book. After the kinetic shootouts and chases of Black Science, it was a challenge adjusting to the slower pacing…

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  • Billy Dean Sounds Out War

    WARNING SPOILERS!!! As I read David Almond’s The True Tales of the Monster Billy Dean Telt By Hisself I kept thinking of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Both stories center around preadolescent boys who have become part of an ad hoc families. Gaiman’s Bod is adopted by the graveyard’s ghosts and Almond’s Billy, while still…

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  • Jughead as Thurber Man attending Degrassi High

    Jughead is best when his story stops being THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY and attempts to be Degrassi High. I preferred Volume 2 of Chip Zdarsky’s Jughead over Volume 1. It felt a little deeper than the first. More thoughtful. Volume 1 felt unimaginative despite the Jughead’s fanciful daydreams. It was formulaic and overly…

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  • Goodreads Review – We Are Robin Volume 2: Jokers

    We Are Robin…, Volume 2: Jokers by Lee Bermejo WARNING! POTENTIAL SPOILERS! It’s the last story in WE ARE ROBIN VOLUME 2: JOKERS, “The Hero Business,” that I enjoyed the most. The inclusion of “Jokers” made the volume’s title provocative but the story itself was a let down — No new addition or twist to…

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  • Goodreads Review – Gotham Academy Volume 2

    Gotham Academy, Vol. 2: Calamity by Becky Cloonan WARNING! POTENTIAL SPOILERS! Waiting for the next volume of your favorite comic book series is like waiting for the next season of your favorite TV show to stream on Netflix. Sometimes it takes too long, so you forget certain details that help the story in the new…

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Vincent Young