[Book Review] A Boy and A Girl

A Boy and A Girl

Jamie S. Rich (Author)

Natalie Nourigat (Illustrations)

December 31, 2013

Oni Press

Sci-Fi, Contemporary Romance,

Graphic Novel

Links:

Goodreads // Amazon // Barnes & Noble

Travis and Charley have just met. It's Charley's last night in town, and Travis can't let her leave without getting her to go on a date. In a future where real people are rapidly being supplanted by lifelike androids, sometimes one shot is all you get! Intelligence may be artificial, but the emotion is real in this futuristic romance from the writer of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her and the cartoonist behind Between Gears.

[Book Review] The Stereotypical Freaks

Title: The Stereotypical Freaks
Author: Howard Shapiro
Date Published: November 4, 2012
Publisher: Animal Media Group
Source: ARC
Genre: Young-Adult, Graphic Novels
Rating: ★★★★★ 

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon

About the Novel:

THE STEREOTYPICAL FREAKS

Four disparate high school seniors come together to compete in their school's battle of the bands. Sharing a love for playing rock and roll, the members name the band "The Stereotypical Freaks" because they feel stereotyped by their classmates - smart kid, geek, star athlete and quiet weirdo… when in fact they know they are much more than those labels that have been placed on them. 

When one member reveals life altering news, winning the competition takes on more of a meaning to each member. Scared and angry, upset and yet still with a lot of resolve they set out to win one for the good guys… will they?

Review:
An uplifting take on the jungle that is high school! A positively heart-warming story about hope, friendships, cliques and teenage problems.

Here are a few admissions on my part: I used to be in a band as a vocalist. I love Paramore, and I'm a fan of Green Day. I read a lot of mangas (Japanese graphic novels) and manhwas (Korean graphic novels). These are just a few of the reasons why I was delighted to be given a copy of The Stereotypical Freaks to read and review.

The story opens up during senior year, the last hurrah for the seniors. Plot-wise, the beginning was nothing remarkable. We meet Dan and Tom, two seemingly ordinary high school students who are both part of the unpopular crowd. They express their situations and even a little hatred for the popular crowd.

Art-wise, all the characters look distinct from each other. Also, I love how neat each pane was. And what I liked best is that the first picture of Tom mirrors the last one, the only difference is that Tom at the beginning is young and the Tom at the end is the adult one looking back on everything they all went through.

What I like about the story is that it was simple and straightforward. There's no dilly-dallying and at the same time, all the bases are covered, such as how the friendship between Tom, Dan, Jacoby and Mark developed. The peer pressure and popularity contest was also smoothly showcased.

My most favorite character out of the bunch is probably Tom's Dad. He's hip and supportive without being overly embarrassing. And he actually rocks! Second to him is Jacoby, because he's an inspiration and a true friend.

I guess it would only be appropriate for me to say that this graphic novel is both heart-warming and bittersweet. I felt like there was a hole in my heart after reading. I don't want to go into details because I might spoil the story.

Also, I appreciate the fact that this graphic novel chose to tell a story that everyone can relate to. Most graphic novels I see nowadays almost always contain a super hero. This one is a nice break from the mainstream.

[Book Review] Trese #2: Unreported Murders

Title: Unreported Murders (Trese #2)
Author: Budjette Tan
Illustrator: KaJo Baldisimo
Date of Publication: July 2008
Genre: Horror, Urban Fantasy, Graphic Novel
Source: Purchased Copy
Rating: 4/5

Links:
Official Trese Blog
Powerbooks
National Book Store

About the Graphic Novel:

When dusk arrives in the city of Manila, that's when you become the most likely prey of the criminal underworld. 

Kidnappers and thieves will be the least of your worries. 

Beware the criminals that can't be bound with handcuffs nor harmed with bullets. 

Beware the ones that crave for your blood, those who hold your heart ransom, and the ones that come to steal your soul. 

When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police call Alexandra Trese.

Review:
A unique, urban-fantasy graphic novel showcasing Filipino folklore and mythology, with a strong female protagonist at its helm!

This is the first book from the Trese series that I actually picked up. It's the first one I've read, so I read it without any expectations or preconceived notions. I wasn't without hesitations though...

When I first picked up this graphic novel, I was quite skeptical because of two reasons: one, I've read too many Japanese and Korean graphic novels (Manga and Manhwa) and I was afraid that the graphics I'd see would be a complete rip-off of Mangas and Manhwas; two, the cover is too beautiful (I'm a skewed person so my definition of beauty is a little different), and in my experience in scouting locally-published books, pretty covers are usually deceptive. Then again, I still picked up Trese because I've been ogling at it for months at the local book store. Hee.

Now, for the review proper...

A few parts of the art were reminiscent of old Filipino comics back in the days. I was an avid reader of Funny Comics back in the 90s. What I liked about the art in this graphic novel is that it was just like comics, but it wasn't. A little contradictory, I know. The thing is, aside from some parts looking like comics, majority of the graphic novel was portrayed using the contrast of black and white, of light and shadows. (Just look at the cover!) And I really liked how everything looked. (Like I said, the cover ish prreeettttyyyy~!)

This volume of Trese contained four short stories: Case 5 - A Little Known Murder in Studio 4, Case 6 - The Outpost on Kalayaan Street, Case 7 - Embrace of the Unwanted, and Case 8 - The Association Dues of Livewell Village.

Each story was unique and although some of the supernatural characters featured were not entirely Filipino (zombies and dwarfs), the storytelling was fast-paced and filled with Filipino inspirations. I'd have to say that I loved reading about Heather Evangelista and Nova Aurora in Case 5.

Also, I noticed that the theme in each of the short story is the same: justice. Or, more specifically, what is justice for one specific character. Sometimes, revenge is misinterpreted as justice as in the case of Case 6 and Case 7. Then there's also the familiar theme of greed as shown by Case 5 and Case 8.

All in all, I really liked this graphic novel. However, I would love to read more about Alexandra and her origins. This volume didn't really explain much about Alexandra's background. Then again, I guess I'll have to grab a copy of the other volumes.