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ashar_allaire's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
emkoshka's review
3.0
Deliciously funny, creepy and derivative, it's Locke & Key, Sandman and Labyrinth rolled into one. Courtney's a classic anti-heroine, equal parts sassy and gutsy.
lisamquinn's review
3.0
It was as all freaky, and purple, and new-book-smelly. I dug it. I'll read a volume 2.
(3.5 really...but I'm in a good mood, so I'm rounding up!)
Edit: I'm no longer in good mood, just average- and do not want to contribute to star inflaion. 3 it is.
(3.5 really...but I'm in a good mood, so I'm rounding up!)
Edit: I'm no longer in good mood, just average- and do not want to contribute to star inflaion. 3 it is.
booksonhermind's review
3.0
http://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/
Courtney Crumrin just moved into a new town with her parents in her Uncle Aloysius big spooky mansion where there are tales and rumors surrounded her uncle and what really goes on at his house. Courtney doesn't know what to really make of it she just knows that her uncle gives her the creeps. She is an instant outcast because of this and she's just an outcast herself. She isn't rich like the other kids and she doesn't suck up to them either.
She soon discovers that her new home and the woods around her new town are filled with many dark secrets and many dark creatures. Her Uncle has strange books around about the strange dark world and they form a bond because of their knowledge while her parents are the suck up types and have no clue what's going on.
Our young heroine Courtney has got gumption I'll give her that. The way she's drawn though... I don't know. I really feel like she needs a nose. But she grew on me. She goes out of her way to obtain control of the dark creatures. There are a couple in her room and I'm still wondering what they are for. I mean can she use them to do things? Why do they hang around her? The book is narrated by one of them which is a nice change of pace especially in a graphic novel like this. The book isn't ridiculously scary so it should be just fine for some kids. The heroine is in Junior High so... She is another one of those children who are the underdog. No one really pays attention to the quiet ones which is too bad if you don't want to be eaten by a goblin.
This is a special edition because it now comes in color so it must be very well liked which isn't surprising. I like horror books. Books with things that go bump in the night from time to time. I don't understand why how the only person who was paying any kind of good attention to her just disappears and there's no real mention of it anymore. That's pretty messed up how nobody cares and then there is this baby who gets taken away. She tried to get him back but the Uncle says that these things happen. His going to turn into a slave! So this isn't as you can tell a very happy touchy feely book. Courtney might not get a happy ending and if she does she's going to deal with a lot before she does. I just hope for her sake that she doesn't get eaten by an even larger smarter creature.
Courtney Crumrin just moved into a new town with her parents in her Uncle Aloysius big spooky mansion where there are tales and rumors surrounded her uncle and what really goes on at his house. Courtney doesn't know what to really make of it she just knows that her uncle gives her the creeps. She is an instant outcast because of this and she's just an outcast herself. She isn't rich like the other kids and she doesn't suck up to them either.
She soon discovers that her new home and the woods around her new town are filled with many dark secrets and many dark creatures. Her Uncle has strange books around about the strange dark world and they form a bond because of their knowledge while her parents are the suck up types and have no clue what's going on.
Our young heroine Courtney has got gumption I'll give her that. The way she's drawn though... I don't know. I really feel like she needs a nose. But she grew on me. She goes out of her way to obtain control of the dark creatures. There are a couple in her room and I'm still wondering what they are for. I mean can she use them to do things? Why do they hang around her? The book is narrated by one of them which is a nice change of pace especially in a graphic novel like this. The book isn't ridiculously scary so it should be just fine for some kids. The heroine is in Junior High so... She is another one of those children who are the underdog. No one really pays attention to the quiet ones which is too bad if you don't want to be eaten by a goblin.
This is a special edition because it now comes in color so it must be very well liked which isn't surprising. I like horror books. Books with things that go bump in the night from time to time. I don't understand why how the only person who was paying any kind of good attention to her just disappears and there's no real mention of it anymore. That's pretty messed up how nobody cares and then there is this baby who gets taken away. She tried to get him back but the Uncle says that these things happen. His going to turn into a slave! So this isn't as you can tell a very happy touchy feely book. Courtney might not get a happy ending and if she does she's going to deal with a lot before she does. I just hope for her sake that she doesn't get eaten by an even larger smarter creature.
reader_fictions's review
4.0
The Courtney Crumrin series reminds me a lot of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Of course, Courtney's an only child and her parents are still alive, only they're completely useless, which is why they move in with the creepy as hell old uncle. Another difference, too, is that the uncle, so far at least, does not really appear to be evil. Everyone else in the series sure does though. Oh yeah, and there are monsters, but some of them are nice.
You may be thinking 'hey! that really doesn't sound too much like the Lemony Snicket books,' which would be somewhat justified based on that description. However, there's something about the tone and even the illustrations that called it to mind constantly. From the creepy tower Uncle Aloysius lives in to the dark humor, I would definitely recommend this to fans of that series.
While I was definitely entertained by the story, I wasn't a fan of the artwork. Well, I mean, the buildings and stuff were fine, but the people. They just were not working for me. They all look like something out of a dream, perhaps one inspired by The Scream. Here's a sample image, just so you know what's I'm talking about.
Here's what bothers me about this. Let's start with Courtney, the girl in the middle, who's probably the most normal looking character in the series. She actually doesn't inspire nightmares and is, in some scenes, almost cute looking, in a moppet sort of way. However, she doesn't have a nose, not just in this picture, but in any of them. Where did it go? Then on the left, you have a boy (I can only tell the gender by the uniform), we have a guy with empty, soulless eyes. Many of the characters have eyes like that, like she attends a school of zombies or brainwashed kids. On the right is a guy, who is supposed to be Mr. Hottie-Face, and he does somewhat resemble Spike from Buffy, but he also looks like an alien or a snake. I mean, his ears...they are pointy, even more so in some other images. I expect that if he opened his mouth, he would have sharp teeth with which he will chomp on your soul, which is probably what happened to the kid on the left.
All of that said, the art totally fits the story, since it does have a vague nightmarish quality to it, and real monsters do abound. However, it just seems odd that the monsters are so much less intimidating than the humans, which may in fact be the point. Actually, that's a message I can get behind, since so many people suck.
This was fun in a very creepy way. This appeals to the kind of people amused by children getting eaten or babies being replaced with a changeling. If you like Neil Gaiman's work for children, especially Coraline, you may want to give Courtney Crumrin a try. I think I'll be checking out volume two. Who knows, we might even find out what monster took Courtney's nose!
You may be thinking 'hey! that really doesn't sound too much like the Lemony Snicket books,' which would be somewhat justified based on that description. However, there's something about the tone and even the illustrations that called it to mind constantly. From the creepy tower Uncle Aloysius lives in to the dark humor, I would definitely recommend this to fans of that series.
While I was definitely entertained by the story, I wasn't a fan of the artwork. Well, I mean, the buildings and stuff were fine, but the people. They just were not working for me. They all look like something out of a dream, perhaps one inspired by The Scream. Here's a sample image, just so you know what's I'm talking about.
Here's what bothers me about this. Let's start with Courtney, the girl in the middle, who's probably the most normal looking character in the series. She actually doesn't inspire nightmares and is, in some scenes, almost cute looking, in a moppet sort of way. However, she doesn't have a nose, not just in this picture, but in any of them. Where did it go? Then on the left, you have a boy (I can only tell the gender by the uniform), we have a guy with empty, soulless eyes. Many of the characters have eyes like that, like she attends a school of zombies or brainwashed kids. On the right is a guy, who is supposed to be Mr. Hottie-Face, and he does somewhat resemble Spike from Buffy, but he also looks like an alien or a snake. I mean, his ears...they are pointy, even more so in some other images. I expect that if he opened his mouth, he would have sharp teeth with which he will chomp on your soul, which is probably what happened to the kid on the left.
All of that said, the art totally fits the story, since it does have a vague nightmarish quality to it, and real monsters do abound. However, it just seems odd that the monsters are so much less intimidating than the humans, which may in fact be the point. Actually, that's a message I can get behind, since so many people suck.
This was fun in a very creepy way. This appeals to the kind of people amused by children getting eaten or babies being replaced with a changeling. If you like Neil Gaiman's work for children, especially Coraline, you may want to give Courtney Crumrin a try. I think I'll be checking out volume two. Who knows, we might even find out what monster took Courtney's nose!
aconfundityofcrows's review
2.5
It gets a bit too dark for my tastes at some points and I wasn't wild about the art style. I like the relationship set up between Courtney and her great uncle at the end enough that I'm going to read the next one also because I've already checked it and the one after that out from the library.
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