#i feel like im gonna have to tag this comic with that lest i be misunderstood | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

7abwis · 1 year

Text

Talking about the books & comics I’ve read this 2023 so far so they have more staying power in my brain and bc i gotta learn it’s good to appreciate the things you’ve read lest you just kinda zoom from one thing to the next w/o really absorbing it. not tagging them and just putting xs in the name cause i don’t want it to end up in the tags. but also | contains spoilers |. doing this for my own documentation rather than for reccs, so im not gonna attach any warnings to the books - but if you do end up going for them make sure to look it up first.

1. Monster of Elendhxven - Jennifer Gixsbrecht Think I started it a little before the new year but it still counts for 2023. Fun, easy read. Really appreciated how the author could be concise with everything they wanted to say and still convey all the depth and emotion and some of those hard-hitting lines. It’s a short book of a little over a 100 pages.

The slow buildup and shift in audience perspective of Johann being the titular monster to realizing it’s Leikenbloom was really well done. Kanya’s buildup didn’t feel as smooth but that could be attributed to the fact that the story’s mainly Johann’s POV. The metaphors were chef kiss.

Think it did a good job of straddling the dark aspects in a way that was like yeah this is a dark setting with fucked up characters and it all fits together vs violence for violence’s sake without tying it in to the existing themes and motifs and all which isn’t my thing personally. 2. Nxna the Ninth - Txmsyn Mxir ugh ugh ugh love the lxcked tomb series. Every single book is from a radically different pov and a completely different genre and they’re all so good. the family dynamic was so good and cam and pal are my favorites. love nna so much, she was such a good character. there’s something about a character in the most bleak dogshit situations managing to find the beauty and hope in so much despite Everything that’s happening.

in general having the physical manifestation of earth’s soul be so hopeful and having people who were just trying their best take care of her and love her and her in turn loving them is just... good. paul still sucks as a name for cam/pal lol but its fitting to the humor of the story and cam and pal’s own subtler cheekiness so im not mad at it. but even then, i have a feeling before the next book’s end paul will probably die, as cam and pal have technically done so now. the whole series feels tied into the theme of things change, they’re scrambled, shits all so fucked up, and then things never go back to the exact thing they once were, but we adapt and change with them, we adapt and change things ourselves, we fight for the things we want and the things we don’t know we want. and when things come to an end, that’s just the way it is.

gid’s pov came first and we haven’t seen it since (edit: actually let me rephrase bc technically both gid and hxrrow were told through gid’s pov - we haven’t seen gid’s pov WITH her agency intact since the first book. txmsyn making it more complicated as usual lmao, but if you’ve read it you get what i mean), but we haven’t seen hxrrow’s pov with her agency intact since hxrrow, now nxna’s pov will likely not be present at all in the next book. all were different genres, all told through different eyes and cirucmstances, and honestly they’re probably not going to be repeated again. the last book will probably be another different pov (unless mxir pulls a fast one and decides to switch it up by making this last book switch povs from character to character. i wouldn’t put it past her bc she seems to like challenging herself and trying new things) anywho, god love this series. edit: AND WAIT ANOTHER THING! its funny how when you read the first book you’re like yeah gxdeon’s the protag, no bar, and then as you go to hxrrow its like ok wait hxrrow is the dual protag, then you go to nxna and at the end of the day you realize gxdeon _isn’t even really_ the Tried and True One protag in the way that her 1st pov set it up. hxrrow yes bc _everything_ centers around her and yeah gid’s highly important, but its funny how the two highly important characters can be put to the side for a whole book and give the stage to someone else (at least mostly, not including the asides where hxrrow’s in that limbo talking to john) and the plot still moves forward 3. Cretaceous - Tadd Gxlusha

Fun comic, this was definitely one of those things that felt like it helped train my visual literacy for western comics. p much only grew up reading manga in the comics department, so getting older and actually reading western comics and seeing how different the pacing and paneling and different approaches were and getting used to that had a bit more of a learning curve. for a while it felt like i wasn’t absorbing as much of the plot and characterization for things.

but this one being silent definitely helped with that - i was more able to focus on the art itself and what it was conveying than just breezing through it by reading the words. the story was exceedingly clear and the artist did a great job in conveying emotion in realistic dinosaurs. also there was so much clever paneling. 4. Six of Crxws - Lxigh Bardxgo Started off kinda rocky. i don’t often use this word but the intros felt cheesy, felt very underdeveloped YA for a second there. but it improved vastly as it went on when we actually got to properly see the characters in their element. i appreciate the way the different povs gave the audience different bits of info not privvy to the other characters and what they thought of each other vs how they thought the others perceived them.

i really do appreciate that they all felt like completely different characters with completely different goals in mind, and how those goals clashed were interesting. ive seen some writing (and honestly it’s something i have to work on my own stuff) fall into the trap of i Have to make sure the audience knows these are Reasonable Characters who are smart in certain situations bc it’d be stupid if they did this and this, rather than letting the personality of the character and their experiences take over instead and let those stupid decisions happen and let the audience form their own conclusions about it.

felt indifferent towards the romances - though they had a couple good lines, but overall i’ll def be trying to read book 2. probably not gonna bother with the tv show. inxj, jxsper, nxna’s friendship though is very cute. but what i especially will give the book is that once i got past the first part i did want to continue hungrily reading it.

mixed feelings about wylxn because for most of the book he just kind of Existed not doing much and then he was their get out of jail free card. not mad at it bc it fits in with his theme of yknow rich boy who isn’t particularly worldly but at the end of the day there are several things he’s really good at and he will grow a spine when necessary. but at the same time couldn’t form an attachment or find him too compelling yet. will say it is funny that he’s presented the way he is as more timid and unknowing and then you find out all the shit he got in trouble for with his dad. like that’s hilarious. 5. Lxura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me - Mxriko Txmaki Loved the inking and paneling for this comic. the limited color palette choices were so good too. Rosemary Vxlero-O’Connell did such a good job. Overall, just felt like such a natural story, like something you knew that happened to a friend or a friend of a friend. the combination of the writing and paneling worked so well to convey the feelings it needed to. also i really liked how well the artist filled each panel in the establishing shots when they needed to and how natural that felt. that’s something i definitely struggle with and wanna take with me. Aaaand that’s it for now. Next is Nxghtwing: Leaping into the Light, Long Wxy to a Small Angry Plxnet, and if I can get my hands on it without it being checked out 24/7, A Cxurt of Thorns and Rxses

#zab speaks #zabs book club

4 notes · View notes