Review: The Flash: Rebirth

The Flash: Rebirth by Geoff Johns

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



23 years before, Barry Allen (also known as the Flash) disappeared into the Speed Force in order to save the multiverse. And when the Final Crisis came about, he returned. But Allen isn't sure why he's back or how the Speed Force let him go. When something happens to the other speedsters, Allen finally finds out the reason for his return to the world - and the malevolent nemesis that was behind it and many of the tragedies that Barry had lived through in his life.

My Thoughts: I've always enjoyed reading about Flash. He's a DC character that I didn't know much about, beyond the fact that there were many that have carried the name of the Flash throughout the years. I'd recently read Final Crisis and I saw Barry's return in those pages. So when I saw Flash: Rebirth and knew that it was Barry Allen's story, I had to pick it up to read. And I'm glad I did. Like many of the other graphic novels that I've read, I got to learn more about the characters that I loved and be introduced to several more that I learned to love. The story was great and it opened up the DC world even more with the secret of the Speed Force and Barry Allen's history.



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Review: Justice League Elite: Volume 2

Justice League Elite: Volume 2 by Joe Kelly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Several members of the Justice League were tired of being reactive to threats to the human race. They wanted to be proactive instead. So they, along with others that weren't quite so noble, combined to make the Justice League Elite. But they are being eaten away from within. Someone is a traitor, and someone else isn't quite who they say they are. Will the JLE survive the trouble from within?

My Thoughts: I was in the mood for more graphic novels and found this one while I was searching. Of course, my library didn't have the first volume, but that never seems to stop me. I wasn't really sure what to expect of this one, but it had Green Arrow (my favorite superhero) so I knew I'd enjoy it for that, if nothing else. And I did end up enjoying it quite a bit. I was only familiar with a couple of the characters before I'd read this one - Flash and Green Arrow. But many of the other characters - particularly Manitou Raven - were ones that I found myself really enjoying learning about. I'm going to see if my library system has the first book so I can check it out, as well as see if there are more books in that series. But I love reading anything DC related, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I've enjoyed it.



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Review: The Rogue Hunter

The Rogue Hunter by Lynsay Sands

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Garrett Mortimer has been immortal for a long time - 800 years. In all that time, very little has been able to draw him away from his duty as a Rogue Hunter for the Argeneau clan. Until, that is, he and his partner are search cottage country outside of Toronto for a rogue vampire and he finds the one woman he cannot mentally influence - Samantha Willan, also know as his life mate. Sam is at her family cottage with her sisters, while Mortimer is staying next door with another member of the clan. As Sam and Mortimer get closer, more obstacles seem to be thrown in their way, finally ending with Mortimer telling Sam about who and what he really is, asking her for commitment. What will Sam decide? And will they ever find the rogue biting mortals in the wilds of cottage country?

My Thoughts: I'd read a few of the Argeneau short stories (or, I think I have. I've read so many anthologies that it's hard to remember what I have and what I haven't read!) I saw this book at my library's month book sale and thought, "You know, I've heard a few good things about this, so let me pick it up." Yes, I'm following my trend of starting somewhere in the middle of a series rather than at the beginning. But in this case, it wasn't a hindrance. Sands wove the vampire mythos into the story very well, along with giving other bits of information that long time readers of the series may have known by newbies needed to know. I'll admit, that's something I relish finding in a book that I'm reading. It makes me want to read what's come before and not feel completely lost in what I'm reading now. I loved the characters - especially Bricker. He's the youngest of the vampires in that group and still has a lot to learn about being an older vampire like Mortimer and Decker (the vamp who owns the cottage). It's a shame that he isn't life-mated with Sam's sister, Jo. They would have made a great couple.

There was also a lot of humor in the book, and that is something I love to read. The interactions between the sisters and the vampires got incredibly comical - particularly when the vamps were trying to come up with a cover story of what they did with a living and Bricker blurted out that they were in a band together, formerly called Morty and the Muppets. The band bit led to some humorous moments throughout the rest of the book. And the poor luck that continually happened to Sam and Mort whenever they tried to get it on was just... definitely chuckle worthy. One of those stories you tell your kids so you can embarrass them when you're older.

One of the highest kudos, however, goes to Sands for the world that she built. I love the vampires-as-products-of-science so much more than the vampires-as-products-of-cursing so much better. Yeah, you need to stretch your imagination a little to make it work (premise: the vampires have nanotechnology inside of them that keeps them in top physical condition. The nanotechnology runs off of the blood in the body and that is why they need to replenish themselves by drinking blood. The Argeneau clan has been around a long time - the first people to have this technology implanted were part of the highly-developed country of Atlantis.), but it's something that doesn't cause the immortals to be evil creatures. And I've never liked vamps as absolute evil. Sometimes you need to do what you have to do to survive, right?

If you like your vampires a little different than the norm, check this series out. I don't think you'll regret it. It's one of the best.



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Review: Bitten

Bitten by R.L. Stine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is a compilation of the two books thus-far written for this series. The first book, Dangerous Girls, introduces the reader to Destiny and Livvy Weller, twin sisters ending their jobs as summer camp councilors before the start of their senior year of high school. After all the kids have gone, the councilors and the junior councilors have one last good time together, and Destiny finds herself walking in the woods with the gorgeous head life-guard, Renz Angelina. Little does she know, but Renz is a centuries old vampire and, even more, thinks that Destiny is the reincarnated soul of his long dead love. He wants to be with her again, so he prepares to make her into a vampire so they can spend their lives together. Before he has a chance to do more than bite her himself (since the ritual recalls mingling their blood by each biting the other under the full moon), they are interrupted. He temporarily erases her memory of the night thus far and she heads home with her sister.

When things start feeling strange around her - most noticeably her overwhelming hunger for blood - she starts to get worried. And it's both better and worse when she finds out that she is not the only one who has been bitten. Livvy is showing the same powers that Destiny seems to have. And then their friends start dying around them. They need to find someone to cure them, before the next full moon. Otherwise, they'll go crazy.

The second book, The Taste of the Night, ends a couple of months after Dangerous Girls. Livvy has embraced her vampire-self, while Destiny has been cleansed of the blood lust. Livvy has distanced herself from a family that she doesn't think understands, making new friends among the growing vamp community in their hometown. Regardless of the pleas of her sister, father and brother, Livvy is determined to live a life that she wants, regardless of what the rest of the family has to say. When a new vampire arrives in town, things start to go bad for both girls - again, losing friends that were an integral part of their lives. Can the sisters put aside their differences long enough to save the people they care about?

My Thoughts: I picked this book up in the discount bin at my local grocery store. I've been pretty heavily into paranormal lately, and the back cover intrigued me. So I figured $3 wasn't bad for an omnibus and brought it home. While it's far from the best paranormal story ever written, it wasn't a bad read for a teen novel. The characters were pretty easy to care about, though at times they did seem to act a bit more irrational than others. The story had me turning pages, curious what answers they would find for the mystery that their lives had become. It may not have been the best read that I have had this week, but it wasn't a bad one. I'd say that if you're a fan of the Twilight series, you'll probably enjoy this one as well.



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Review: 52, Vol. 4

52, Vol. 4 by Geoff Johns

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



(This review is for 52, Vol 1-4. I couldn't separate them out in my mind.

52 is the story of what happens between the end of Infinite Crisis (after which Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman disappeared for a year) and Year One, where there was a bit of a reboot/change in the status quo. The story revolves around... well, almost all of the characters you've ever cared to hear about in the DC Universe. There are many storylines that weave themselves together into a wonderful whole - Booster Gold and Skeets trying to figure out why history is changing and having some pretty bad things happen to them through out; Black Adam finally finding peace with a woman he loves, only to have that peace ripped from him by people who refuse to believe that he could have changed; Renee' Montoya, former cop whose life has been spinning out of control, meeting the mysterious Question and having her life change tremendously; Adam Strange, Beast Man and Starfire being stranded in space, desperate to try to find a way home; Steel and his niece, Natasha, standing on opposite sides of a battle instigated by Lex Luthor, Not to mention all the other super-heroes who are trying to make sense of a world without the big three. This is a truly epic story that any fan of the DC super-heroes should check out.

My Thoughts: I'd heard a lot of things about 52 while I'd been reading some of the other graphic novels that came across my desk. And almost unanimously, it was said to be one of the best. Most recently, while reading Gotham Central, I heard about it again when told that Renee' Montoya has a large part in the storyline that spanned 52 issues in one year. So I requested them from the library.

Unlike other times when I've gotten books, I waited until I had all four volumes before I started reading. And I'm glad that I did, since I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning - when my eyes could barely stay open - turning pages to find out what was going to happen next. It was truly a world-encompassing story and gave me fantastic introductions to some characters I'd never heard of before, and yet found myself loving. The story was full of surprises, the plot was very tightly written (especially for a series with the kind of time crunch these authors were on - for those unfamiliar with the world of comics, they are usually released in 16 page monthly books. This year-long series was released in 16 page weekly books.). I found myself crying a few times through-out the story, which has always been one of my indicators that a story is good. If it can give me strong emotion, then it's one that was good. And this is one of the few that I want to own, not just have to borrow from the library. I was seriously blown away by all four of these books and the complete story in general.



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