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abookabookabook's review
4.0
It's like Buffy meets Fables. Good world building. I'm looking forward to more.
valjeanval's review against another edition
2.0
I got a really beautiful edition of this book through kickstarter on the basis of a cult following and some of my favorite artists contributing. The art is beyond gorgeous. The story ... was a let down.
I think this book suffers from wrong medium. The actual story is fun, though more or less a Buffy fanfic. There's nothing wrong with Buffy fanfic. However, the writing is clunky and juvenile. Words like "badass," and "double t hott" just have no place in a third person narrative. All of the characters' thought processes are spelled out in painstakingly told-not-shown detail and the author tries a clever simile about every third simple sentence, effectively removing any of the cleverness. This story really should be told in visual format where emotions can be conveyed in a panel instead of a full page, or even a tv show, but not as a novel.
Another review I read pointed to this as a "girl power fantasy" complete with shopping scenes and hott guys falling over our hero. I'd add to that a selection of 80s teen movie bullies (no bully has every really used the phrases "new girl" or "double half breed" as insults), an incredibly awkward not-sex scene, and instantaneous life bonds which, again, might work in a short format where the reader got to infer the relationship progress. There is nothing to infer here. Everything is spelled out to the point of frustration. I felt like I was editing fanfic reading it. It uses every one of my own horrible crutches.
I almost stopped reading after the first chapter, but I still kinda wanted my money's worth and the story itself has a good deal of promise. Fenris is great. The concept, though it has been done a bit to death recently, is popular for a reason. The fight scenes, too, are decent (and that's not easy to do). However, I thought it fell flat as a novel. I would love to see it again in a more trimmed down format, but for now there isn't really anything making me want to read the next book.
I think this book suffers from wrong medium. The actual story is fun, though more or less a Buffy fanfic. There's nothing wrong with Buffy fanfic. However, the writing is clunky and juvenile. Words like "badass," and "double t hott" just have no place in a third person narrative. All of the characters' thought processes are spelled out in painstakingly told-not-shown detail and the author tries a clever simile about every third simple sentence, effectively removing any of the cleverness. This story really should be told in visual format where emotions can be conveyed in a panel instead of a full page, or even a tv show, but not as a novel.
Another review I read pointed to this as a "girl power fantasy" complete with shopping scenes and hott guys falling over our hero. I'd add to that a selection of 80s teen movie bullies (no bully has every really used the phrases "new girl" or "double half breed" as insults), an incredibly awkward not-sex scene, and instantaneous life bonds which, again, might work in a short format where the reader got to infer the relationship progress. There is nothing to infer here. Everything is spelled out to the point of frustration. I felt like I was editing fanfic reading it. It uses every one of my own horrible crutches.
I almost stopped reading after the first chapter, but I still kinda wanted my money's worth and the story itself has a good deal of promise. Fenris is great. The concept, though it has been done a bit to death recently, is popular for a reason. The fight scenes, too, are decent (and that's not easy to do). However, I thought it fell flat as a novel. I would love to see it again in a more trimmed down format, but for now there isn't really anything making me want to read the next book.
chronotope's review against another edition
3.0
An artifact of the internet's strange and incredibly strong preference for plot over form. Storykiller, like many self-started, self-published, internet-fan-supported novels, displays strong plotting that lays out a good narrative with good drive behind it.
However, the characters are somewhat weak, though they improve by the end of the novel, and the writing style leaves something to be desired. While the plot has clearly been thought out, the mechanics of the writing are still rough. Especially in a few places where the story becomes disjointed, like a record skipping a beat, before it all comes back together.
All said, there's still plenty in the novel to recommend to a reader, especially the fan of meta-fiction or of Buffy and her monster-of-the-week ilk, who are clear progenitors of Storykiller's protagonist.
However, the characters are somewhat weak, though they improve by the end of the novel, and the writing style leaves something to be desired. While the plot has clearly been thought out, the mechanics of the writing are still rough. Especially in a few places where the story becomes disjointed, like a record skipping a beat, before it all comes back together.
All said, there's still plenty in the novel to recommend to a reader, especially the fan of meta-fiction or of Buffy and her monster-of-the-week ilk, who are clear progenitors of Storykiller's protagonist.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/08/2015-book-190.html
This book is basically like if Buffy met Fables, or if Buffy met Seanan McGuire's Indexing series. There's a teenage girl who's suddenly gotten a bunch of powers on her 17th birthday, there's a couple of new human friends, Robin Hood as a love interest, the Snow Queen as a reluctant ally, and a bunch of fictional characters plotting against her for various reasons. It's entertaining enough, though the romance was a little annoying, and there were a LOT of missing commas. Where did all the commas go??? I more or less liked how it ended. But if you're gonna read a book by Thompson, check out the new Jem comic book! It's GREAT. This one is just ok. B.
This book is basically like if Buffy met Fables, or if Buffy met Seanan McGuire's Indexing series. There's a teenage girl who's suddenly gotten a bunch of powers on her 17th birthday, there's a couple of new human friends, Robin Hood as a love interest, the Snow Queen as a reluctant ally, and a bunch of fictional characters plotting against her for various reasons. It's entertaining enough, though the romance was a little annoying, and there were a LOT of missing commas. Where did all the commas go??? I more or less liked how it ended. But if you're gonna read a book by Thompson, check out the new Jem comic book! It's GREAT. This one is just ok. B.
foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Mandy C.
Cover Story: Menacing Peek-A-Boo
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Fractured Fairytale
Bonus Factors: Presentation, Oregon, Awesome Hair
Relationship Status: WIP
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Menacing Peek-A-Boo
BFF Charm: Yay
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Fractured Fairytale
Bonus Factors: Presentation, Oregon, Awesome Hair
Relationship Status: WIP
Read the full book report here.
korrigan's review
4.0
While it could have used some more editing before going to print, Storykiller comes together to bring something new and exciting to literature. A lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to what Thompson is planning for later installments.
coraotf's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I really like it. The sequel will definitely be on my TBR list. I felt like a lot of questions were unanswered, though. So, frustrating, but entertaining.
I really like it. The sequel will definitely be on my TBR list. I felt like a lot of questions were unanswered, though. So, frustrating, but entertaining.
csharp7's review against another edition
5.0
Full disclosure, I backed this Kickstarter, and I was already disposed to love it on account of how much I *adore* The Girl Who Would Be King, author Kelly Thompson’s first novel (seriously, check that one out too.)
I love stories, and fairy tales in particular. I really love adapting and changing classic fairy tales in inventive ways and I positively ADORE metafiction about fairy tales. Any time characters from a story know they’re in a story, or when storybook characters are “real” and interact with the real world… it’s like catnip for me and I can’t get enough. Fables, Once Upon A Time, the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. If you like any of these things, you’ll love Storykiller.
Though the idea of “real life” story characters isn’t exactly new, the world of Storykiller is really unique and vibrant, and extremely well-developed: Every story that’s ever been written is real, and the characters possess a limited ability to travel back and forth between their world and ours. A mortal - the Scion - exists in every generation to help keep the peace, and is the only being with the ability to completely kill a Story, effectively erasing it from human consciousness throughout time and space. As the Last Scion, Tessa Battle (best name EVER) quickly learns that with great power - the “standard superhero package” - comes great responsibility, and a heck of a lot of fictional characters who want to befriend you, help you, con you, or kill you.
I love every one of the characters. Tessa is both supernaturally fabulous and extremely relatable, strong on the outside and insecure on the inside. She gets actual superpowers (which, since Buffy, has become kind of a rarity for girls…) She’s a clever and inventive problem solver with a wry wit, a huge mythical axe, and an undercut. Everyone and their mom is comparing her to Buffy - for obvious reasons, she and her team of wonderful misfits owe a lot to the OG Scooby Squad. Helping her out are nerdy and enthusiastic Brand and shy, still-waters-run-deep Micah, BFF that will make you fall in love with them in about two seconds - even faster than you’ll fall for Robin… yeah, Robin Hood *suggestive eyebrow waggle* Also, the Snow Queen - who is a lot more Emma Frost than Queen Elsa (and therefore no one is surprised that Kris Anka drew the pinup of her for the Kickstarter. Did I mention that there are killer illustrations in this book? Drawn by none other than Stephanie Hans, Noelle Stevenson, Dustin Nguyen, and so many more huge names!) Kelly Thompson writes the most compelling and complex villains around and Snow is no exception. She’s sort of the Spike in this scenario. And if brooding/mysterious anti-hero is your type, may I present Fenris? The Big Bad Wolf. Every one of these characters is fully-realized and complex, with their own demons to fight and agendas to follow.
This is the first novel in what is bound to be a fantastic series and you can get in right now and say you loved it before it was cool/a summer tentpole movie trilogy. It’s too late to back the Kickstarter, but it’s only $4.99 on Kindle, so you really have no excuse. Fight Your Fiction!
I love stories, and fairy tales in particular. I really love adapting and changing classic fairy tales in inventive ways and I positively ADORE metafiction about fairy tales. Any time characters from a story know they’re in a story, or when storybook characters are “real” and interact with the real world… it’s like catnip for me and I can’t get enough. Fables, Once Upon A Time, the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. If you like any of these things, you’ll love Storykiller.
Though the idea of “real life” story characters isn’t exactly new, the world of Storykiller is really unique and vibrant, and extremely well-developed: Every story that’s ever been written is real, and the characters possess a limited ability to travel back and forth between their world and ours. A mortal - the Scion - exists in every generation to help keep the peace, and is the only being with the ability to completely kill a Story, effectively erasing it from human consciousness throughout time and space. As the Last Scion, Tessa Battle (best name EVER) quickly learns that with great power - the “standard superhero package” - comes great responsibility, and a heck of a lot of fictional characters who want to befriend you, help you, con you, or kill you.
I love every one of the characters. Tessa is both supernaturally fabulous and extremely relatable, strong on the outside and insecure on the inside. She gets actual superpowers (which, since Buffy, has become kind of a rarity for girls…) She’s a clever and inventive problem solver with a wry wit, a huge mythical axe, and an undercut. Everyone and their mom is comparing her to Buffy - for obvious reasons, she and her team of wonderful misfits owe a lot to the OG Scooby Squad. Helping her out are nerdy and enthusiastic Brand and shy, still-waters-run-deep Micah, BFF that will make you fall in love with them in about two seconds - even faster than you’ll fall for Robin… yeah, Robin Hood *suggestive eyebrow waggle* Also, the Snow Queen - who is a lot more Emma Frost than Queen Elsa (and therefore no one is surprised that Kris Anka drew the pinup of her for the Kickstarter. Did I mention that there are killer illustrations in this book? Drawn by none other than Stephanie Hans, Noelle Stevenson, Dustin Nguyen, and so many more huge names!) Kelly Thompson writes the most compelling and complex villains around and Snow is no exception. She’s sort of the Spike in this scenario. And if brooding/mysterious anti-hero is your type, may I present Fenris? The Big Bad Wolf. Every one of these characters is fully-realized and complex, with their own demons to fight and agendas to follow.
This is the first novel in what is bound to be a fantastic series and you can get in right now and say you loved it before it was cool/a summer tentpole movie trilogy. It’s too late to back the Kickstarter, but it’s only $4.99 on Kindle, so you really have no excuse. Fight Your Fiction!
readundancies's review
4.0
Fight Your Fiction
Everything from the cover to the plotline to the characterization to the damn tagline of this book is just so creative.
And I'm out of my reading slump!
Why?
Because this book totally blew away any and all expectations I had of it.
I wasn't actually expecting much. Which is probably why I liked as much I did, because I love being surprised by a book.
The plotline was very complicated to say the least. The land of Story is one completely unlike our Mortal world and the rules and ethics and the morality of it's inhabitants can only be described as a rainbow of different shades of gray. To them, there is no right or wrong or good or bad - everything is relative to choice and the lack thereof when it comes to fighting their DNA and fiction roots. But Thompson does a great job explaining the complex world that she's created though, so you find yourself relishing every detail that she lets slip through characters like Fenrir and Snow.
And speaking of characters! Not only are the ones that are currently in existence in fairy tales and pop culture absolutely spectacular, but the original characters like Tessa and Brand and Micah are just so realistic as well. Not a single character is dull or repetitive and the personalities just run wild with colour in this book - making the characterization absolutely top-notch and enjoyable as you read along.
Tessa is the perfect mix of sass and bad-assery. Micah and Brand are her perfect sidekicks. Snow is freaking riot because she's just so great at teetering along the line of bitch and BFF. Fenrir is a perfectly mysterious enigma, even when you find out the rather crueler aspects of him at the end. And Robin - oh God, Robin, like, talk about an entrance - was just so swoon-worthy and indecisively irritating that you couldn't help but fall for him.
So why not a full 5 stars?
The questions I have. Too many of them. There was so much that went on in this book that I don't know what to make of all it. The Little Red Riding Hood scene. Sophia at the end. Tessa's father? I was constantly bombarded with little scenes or characters of whose importance was unclear or seemingly irrelevant and it irked me. Not to mention the whole thing was a little too whirlwindy for me. The pace was more of a gallop than a trot and with the amount of things going on, I felt like I needed a little more time to just smell the roses, you know? I don't want to say there were plotholes, more like little bumps in the story that jostled me the wrong way and threw me for a loop in the not-so-good way.
But other than that? I'm feeling pretty good about this read! Which is a great improvement from the last 10, because a 2 star average is just unacceptable.
So kudos to you Ms. Thompson! When's the sequel coming?
Everything from the cover to the plotline to the characterization to the damn tagline of this book is just so creative.
And I'm out of my reading slump!
Why?
Because this book totally blew away any and all expectations I had of it.
I wasn't actually expecting much. Which is probably why I liked as much I did, because I love being surprised by a book.
The plotline was very complicated to say the least. The land of Story is one completely unlike our Mortal world and the rules and ethics and the morality of it's inhabitants can only be described as a rainbow of different shades of gray. To them, there is no right or wrong or good or bad - everything is relative to choice and the lack thereof when it comes to fighting their DNA and fiction roots. But Thompson does a great job explaining the complex world that she's created though, so you find yourself relishing every detail that she lets slip through characters like Fenrir and Snow.
And speaking of characters! Not only are the ones that are currently in existence in fairy tales and pop culture absolutely spectacular, but the original characters like Tessa and Brand and Micah are just so realistic as well. Not a single character is dull or repetitive and the personalities just run wild with colour in this book - making the characterization absolutely top-notch and enjoyable as you read along.
Tessa is the perfect mix of sass and bad-assery. Micah and Brand are her perfect sidekicks. Snow is freaking riot because she's just so great at teetering along the line of bitch and BFF. Fenrir is a perfectly mysterious enigma, even when you find out the rather crueler aspects of him at the end. And Robin - oh God, Robin, like, talk about an entrance - was just so swoon-worthy and indecisively irritating that you couldn't help but fall for him.
So why not a full 5 stars?
The questions I have. Too many of them. There was so much that went on in this book that I don't know what to make of all it. The Little Red Riding Hood scene. Sophia at the end. Tessa's father? I was constantly bombarded with little scenes or characters of whose importance was unclear or seemingly irrelevant and it irked me. Not to mention the whole thing was a little too whirlwindy for me. The pace was more of a gallop than a trot and with the amount of things going on, I felt like I needed a little more time to just smell the roses, you know? I don't want to say there were plotholes, more like little bumps in the story that jostled me the wrong way and threw me for a loop in the not-so-good way.
But other than that? I'm feeling pretty good about this read! Which is a great improvement from the last 10, because a 2 star average is just unacceptable.
So kudos to you Ms. Thompson! When's the sequel coming?