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mrogows's review
4.0
I probably would have liked this a bit more if it was a bit easier to follow. I have a feeling I'll need to go back to issue one and start again from the beginning to really understand everything that happened.
booksatdawn's review
3.0
This volume took the confusion to a whole new level. This volume concludes season 1 and questions were supposed to be answered, but all I got was new confusion. With the introduction of new characters things only started to get more messy. Suffice to say I didn't enjoy this volume as much as I did the previous ones.
Full review coming soon!
Full review coming soon!
leahrosereads's review
3.0
What the hell is going on? Seriously, by the end of Volume 3, I thought I had an understanding as to what was going on, but this volume just completely fucked all my theories about what was going on, and now I'm back to square one.
And I'm annoyed by that.
The writing/story/plot:
Nick Spencer has done a crazy good job at keeping the mystery going with TRUANTS. And, while I'm irritated that I have no idea what is going on, and that nothing has been answered, and I now have even more questions about this story, still he's doing a good job at keeping me hooked. So, yay for him. But seriously, I'm hoping for some answers soon.
We see a lot of backstories in this, and a couple of them have shed light on some character personalities, but the plot itself and what this school is all about and why the students are there, still a mystery. I still have no clue what these children's gifts are, or why the Headmaster wants them. I just want the why question answered. Or the what. Or the who. Something answered soon would be great.
Like:
What's up with the time traveling?
Why is Casey still the main heroine?
What's Jade's role because I think she's more important than what's been shown?
Who/what is David?
The hell is going on at this school?
Is Lara a good guy?
Is Abraham a good guy?
...Is Georgina...a good guy? Is she the Snape of this story?
I have more questions, but you get the point: nothing's being answered as of this volume. I just get to keep adding questions to the list of what I hope gets answered.
The characters:
In addition to hearing more about Ike and his daddy issues with Abraham, we meet six other students. They're friends of Hisao (Jun)'s and had been brought to the school a year earlier. There's the sadistic psycho in charge - Irina. You should never put that type of crazy in charge of anything.
Then there's Akiko and Fortunato. We don't see that much of them but some backstory, but what they do do, is pretty intriguing, and it involves David, so I wanted to know more. Hope to see what that was all about soon.
Also in this new group are Ian and Vanessa, who seem to just be followers of Irina's but I'm hoping they get more developed soon.
And then finally, there's Guillaume. Hisao and his story is really good, personal, but good, and I'm hoping to see more of them together. Although, with the drama near the end of the volume, I don't know if it will be possible.
Other than Ike and a little bit of Jade, Hisao and Hunter got some playtime in this story, but Zoe was of course absent and so was Casey. I'm assuming we'll see more of Casey in Volume 5, because she definitely does still seem to be the main heroine, and the one that will end up saving them all. I'm assuming that she's going to be the one to face off against the Headmaster in the final boss battle.
The other backstories in TRUANTS were for two of the teachers - Lara and Georgina. They're the Headmaster's daughters, and we see why they are the way they are. I think it was to try to get the reader to sympathize (especially for Georgina), but I didn't care.
Overall, I want answers. I'm liking the characters well enough at this point, but with pretty much nothing getting answered, it's just kind of annoying. I'm going to keep reading, but I'm really hoping for something to start tying this story together for me.
And I'm annoyed by that.
The writing/story/plot:
Nick Spencer has done a crazy good job at keeping the mystery going with TRUANTS. And, while I'm irritated that I have no idea what is going on, and that nothing has been answered, and I now have even more questions about this story, still he's doing a good job at keeping me hooked. So, yay for him. But seriously, I'm hoping for some answers soon.
We see a lot of backstories in this, and a couple of them have shed light on some character personalities, but the plot itself and what this school is all about and why the students are there, still a mystery. I still have no clue what these children's gifts are, or why the Headmaster wants them. I just want the why question answered. Or the what. Or the who. Something answered soon would be great.
Like:
What's up with the time traveling?
Why is Casey still the main heroine?
What's Jade's role because I think she's more important than what's been shown?
Who/what is David?
The hell is going on at this school?
Is Lara a good guy?
Is Abraham a good guy?
...Is Georgina...a good guy? Is she the Snape of this story?
I have more questions, but you get the point: nothing's being answered as of this volume. I just get to keep adding questions to the list of what I hope gets answered.
The characters:
In addition to hearing more about Ike and his daddy issues with Abraham, we meet six other students. They're friends of Hisao (Jun)'s and had been brought to the school a year earlier. There's the sadistic psycho in charge - Irina. You should never put that type of crazy in charge of anything.
Then there's Akiko and Fortunato. We don't see that much of them but some backstory, but what they do do, is pretty intriguing, and it involves David, so I wanted to know more. Hope to see what that was all about soon.
Also in this new group are Ian and Vanessa, who seem to just be followers of Irina's but I'm hoping they get more developed soon.
And then finally, there's Guillaume. Hisao and his story is really good, personal, but good, and I'm hoping to see more of them together. Although, with the drama near the end of the volume, I don't know if it will be possible.
Other than Ike and a little bit of Jade, Hisao and Hunter got some playtime in this story, but Zoe was of course absent and so was Casey. I'm assuming we'll see more of Casey in Volume 5, because she definitely does still seem to be the main heroine, and the one that will end up saving them all. I'm assuming that she's going to be the one to face off against the Headmaster in the final boss battle.
The other backstories in TRUANTS were for two of the teachers - Lara and Georgina. They're the Headmaster's daughters, and we see why they are the way they are. I think it was to try to get the reader to sympathize (especially for Georgina), but I didn't care.
Overall, I want answers. I'm liking the characters well enough at this point, but with pretty much nothing getting answered, it's just kind of annoying. I'm going to keep reading, but I'm really hoping for something to start tying this story together for me.
raeleenlemay's review
3.0
Slowly but surely, the puzzle pieces that make up this series are starting to come together. Obviously there are still tons of unanswered questions, but we're also starting to get a few answers.
connieischill's review
3.0
3/5 stars
Okay, I actually think I'm starting to notice problems with this series now. I'm noticing a lot of inconsistencies in the art style (there were a few ears that really shouldn't have been that low), and there are so many characters who are drawn very similar. There's been so many characters introduced that I'm beginning to lose track of who's who, and the plot just didn't compute with my brain. I had no idea what was going on for the first few issues in this volume, although I did enjoy the last few issues with Ike.
I'm going to give this the benefit of the doubt considering that I really enjoyed the first 3 volumes, but if it doesn't improve in the next one or two volumes I'm not sure if I'll carry it on. At this point in time there are more unresolved plot lines than resolved ones, and I have no idea where half the characters even are-is Casey alive? Hunter? Is Jun Jun or Hisao? I just don't know.
Also, the characters in this series are unlikeable. That's their thing, and I don't mind that. But a lot of them don't even have qualities that redeem them, or keep my interest in them. I really like Ike, Jade, Hunter, Akiko and Ian are good characters that I actually want to see live through this, but so many other characters have either left (with no signs of them returning anytime soon) or just plain died at the end of their character arc. Killing off characters once you're done with them isn't the best strategy, especially taking into account the sheer amount of characters involved in the story, and I'm just getting tired of all of these characters just being killed instead of actually getting good ends to their arc.
So yeah. I hope the series improves, but I'm worried. I'll put the next volume on hold for a while, just to let it rest, and it'll allow me the chance to read other graphic novels I want to read more!
Okay, I actually think I'm starting to notice problems with this series now. I'm noticing a lot of inconsistencies in the art style (there were a few ears that really shouldn't have been that low), and there are so many characters who are drawn very similar. There's been so many characters introduced that I'm beginning to lose track of who's who, and the plot just didn't compute with my brain. I had no idea what was going on for the first few issues in this volume, although I did enjoy the last few issues with Ike.
I'm going to give this the benefit of the doubt considering that I really enjoyed the first 3 volumes, but if it doesn't improve in the next one or two volumes I'm not sure if I'll carry it on. At this point in time there are more unresolved plot lines than resolved ones, and I have no idea where half the characters even are-
Also, the characters in this series are unlikeable. That's their thing, and I don't mind that. But a lot of them don't even have qualities that redeem them, or keep my interest in them. I really like Ike, Jade, Hunter, Akiko and Ian are good characters that I actually want to see live through this, but so many other characters have either left (with no signs of them returning anytime soon) or just plain died at the end of their character arc. Killing off characters once you're done with them isn't the best strategy, especially taking into account the sheer amount of characters involved in the story, and I'm just getting tired of all of these characters just being killed instead of actually getting good ends to their arc.
So yeah. I hope the series improves, but I'm worried. I'll put the next volume on hold for a while, just to let it rest, and it'll allow me the chance to read other graphic novels I want to read more!
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