Torment (15/08/14)

I have literally realised that I had missed on posting a review from back in August. Luckily I had it saved so have been able to copy it over now.

So a couple of months back I read Fallen and was decidedly unimpressed with the whole story in general. I still can’t explain why I decided to read to follow up book Torment. But I’m glad I did. Once again, it could have been better, I’m not saying it was as good as some of the books I have read lately, but it was much better than the first book.

This book sees Luce sent off to a posh school on the west coast (there happens to be special classes about angels and demons, which made me pull many faces when reading it). Daniel, the uber love interest of the first book, Luce’s ‘one true love’ send her here after the events at the end of fallen with the premise of keeping her safe. Rebellious teenage acts ensue, and as you can guess, Luce ends up not being very safe. I still have real issues with Daniel as the love interest. We know nothing about him, he hasn’t done a single thing to endear me to him, and I kind of route for Luce to screw him over a little bit and date someone who doesn’t control her every move without giving her even a glimpse of understanding as to why these things keep happening to her.

Other than that actually the general way the story is going was much more interesting to read, Luce had more backbone and the new characters that were introduced as her friends were well rounded and well written into the story. I can see where the story may head now, which is saying a lot as I didn’t get the first book at all. I can honestly say I will now read the rest, I just hope that the author carries on developing the story and possible try to include a few less cliché type scenarios.

The Walking Dead Vol. 5 The Best Defence (03/11/14)

Vol. five see the survivors pushing their boundaries outside the relative safety they have developed inside the prison setting. Whilst outside the main complex Rick notices a helicopter crashing in the distance. Seeing this Rick, Glen and Michonne venture out to discover where the helicopter came from and is anyone has survived. Upon arrival at the scene they discover anything of importance has already been removed and there is evidence another group of people got there first. As their car is stuck and night is approaching they decide this other group must be somewhere near by so go in search of answers. This lead them to the town of Woodbury and basically all hell has begun to break lose, with the introduction of The Governor.

Anyone who has seen the TV series will understand this importance and vaguely know what to expect… What I wasn’t prepared for is how evil this villain is in the graphic novels. He is so much worse than I thought he could be and I really fear for the characters. After saying I wasn’t fond of Michonne in the graphic novels I now have new found respect for her. I really hope she gets to wreak some revenge soon. Rick may have seemed crazy in the last volume but I am glad of this now and can’t wait until this story line really gets going. 

I really feel like the art work is developing and it definitely has its own feel about it now with characters facial expressions becoming more define as the story progresses. There is a definite feeling of story progression now rather than, these are some people and this is the setting. I feel like there are some drastic things to come in the next volume and really I can’t wait to see what happens.

The Walking Dead Vol. 4 The Heart's Desire (01/10/14)

So what can I say about Vol. 4… I will start with it being a little shocking. Not as in bad, but as in I didn’t see some of the relationship changes coming. I am pretty much a traditionalist at heart once I get an idea of a couple in my head it is very hard to change that. I will try not to go into too much detail, I do so hate spoilers, but I will talk about which characters shocked me. Firstly Rick, how ‘cray cray’ is his character going to go…. They touched on this insane descent in the TV show but it was never anything like this. I’m even at times finding it hard to like his character, that doesn’t mean I don’t get why he is doing what he is doing but it’s just hard to take the image of Andrew Lincolns portrayal of the character out of my head. However I can see these characters getting more removed from each other as I progress.

The other character that is shocking me in the graphic novel is Carol, she seems to have no backbone and is constantly on the edge of no return. I guess the emotions in this series are just so extreme. I’m finding it compelling but also a frightening how the human mind seems to breakdown. It would be impossible not to mention Michonne in the character shocking review. I love her character in the TV show, I liked her instantly and love what she brings to the group. But right now in the graphic novel I really don’t like her. There is something off about her and what she does, it would be a shame not to like her in the actual graphic novel series but I will have to see how things develop.

Talking about how the characters differ, I think I actually prefer Hershel in the graphic novels. He loses his optimism sooner and goes pretty scary after losing two of his daughters in the previous volume. This seems more realistic and credible. I also love this evil eye look he seems to always have going when someone does or says something to annoy him. It is so easier to read though these volumes and I can’t imagine it will take me long to get through them now I’ve got started.

The Walking Dead Vol. 3 Safety Behind Bars (30/10/14)

Once again really interesting story progression. I find it really interesting to compare and notice the plot elements that differ in the TV show to this graphic novel series. It has been really hard to displace the feeling I have for the TV show characters and how they come across in this novels. Carol’s character is one that I have been finding it hard to come to grips with. However I am still so early on in the overall story that I am sure my opinion will change as the characters develop. So in this issue they have been clearing out the prison and trying to work out if this could be a safe place to live after leaving Hershel’s farm at the end of the second volume. Ricks group have to try and live side by side with the group of prisoners they find camped out in the prison cafeteria but then stuff begins to go wrong in this place they thought was safe. Due to this they have to set their own code to live by which shows how their world is changing with every passing day.

As always the drawings are so good and the story flows so well. It is so easy to read and become absorbed into this world that is changing all the characters personalities. I still stand by the main story being how people adapt to this changing world rather than it being about zombies. They are just a catalyst to bring out peoples raw behaviours when put into dire situations.