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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
I'm a big fan of The Lunar Chronicles so I figured I should pick up this graphic novel. Iko wasn't my favorite character but she was always great for a fun sassy line. I like the art style in this novel, it's cute without being too cute. I just didn't love this though. It felt like some sort of fanservice. I didn't feel like the plot was actually important. It was more of just showing off each main character from the lunar chronicles and doing a cute check-in to see how they were doing. I did like the villain. He was very charismatic. I do own the second graphic novel but I'm not in any rush to pick it up after reading this.
This was my first graphic novel and it did not disappoint! The only reason it's not getting 5* is that I wish it was soo much longer. I bombed through this in a couple hours and it just left me wanting more. I can't wait to check out Vol 2!
There was, like...never even a question of whether or not I was going to read this book.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.com/2017/04/27/wires-and-nerve-volume-one-review/
I read The Lunar Chronicles way before I became the harsh, bitter, cynical acid raindrop of a reviewer you see before you now, so you may want to take the following statement with a grain or so of salt, but: I really loved that series. I’m too scared to reread the books, because I’m 97% certain they won’t hold up, but I recall them with some degree of fondness. I cited it as my favorite series for a while before realizing that was, no question, not even a little bit true.
Still, I loved them. So of course I’m cursed to forever pick up any addition to that series forever. Marissa Meyer has me on the hook, and unless I begin that formidable reread and it turns out to be as massive a disappointment as I suspect, upon that hook I will remain.
I didn’t, like, love this book. I didn’t even like it strongly. I found it pretty eh. Will I pick up the sequel? Indubitably. (How long is this series? I’m scared. So is my wallet.)
That being said, I read it in a sitting and didn’t hate it. And it’s the little things like that you’re grateful for when your reading year is progressing like mine. (By which I mean, very behind on my reading challenge + giving out one star ratings like it’s my job.)
Let’s get into it.
For starters...I don’t like the art very much. It’s VERY cartoonish, which is cute, but all the characters look exactly the same. They just have slightly different hairstyles. And it’s weird for the caption to be all “this is the most beautiful girl in the galaxy” while the picture is of a head with a glorified smiley face on it. Too mean? It’s not bad. It’s just not my cup of tea...and I’d argue not the right choice for a story like this. But that’s just my opinion. (I say, as if everything I ever write on this site is anything more than my dumb opinions.)
The characters just felt dull. If I’m remembering the original books in The Lunar Chronicles correctly, the characters are vibrant! They’re funny and amusing and it’s cool to get to follow them around. Well, not Scarlet. Or Wolf. Or Cinder and Kai, most of the time. (My god, why did I love those books so much?) But Cress and Thorne usually guarantee a good time. And Iko is a funny little thing.
I’d argue Iko is the most true to my memory of her of the bunch, but even she is toned down. Thorne is VERY different. I swear I can feel the author trying to recapture Thorne’s voice, and just...not getting there. It’s upsetting. All the characters become so flat. And that definitely wasn’t a problem in the original series.
Plot-wise, this wasn’t terrible. I was a bit bored, but that’s fair - this is the setting-up of what is supposed to be a series, maybe? We follow Iko as she’s trying to capture the wolf soldiersleftover from a past storyline in hiding on Earth. Every once in awhile we meet up with another member of the gang. It’s fine.
But then some tough wolf guy is like, oh, I don’t think so! I’m going to kill all of you and get all the other remaining wolf people on my side. Oooooh, not that simple, bitches!
Here’s the thing, though - and hear me out on this - I’m kind of on Professor Wolfdude’s side.
He’s all, “Hey, you guys...this is kind of f*cked. Like, we were made into wolf people against our will, which was straight torturous, and then enslaved and forced to kill people. And guys, it’s not even our faults that we now thirst for human flesh. And now the new queen, who’s supposed to be all nice, is just capturing us? And like, killing us if we maybe don’t want to go back to the place where a ton of bad shit happened to us? Nah. I’m not into it.”
And Iko’s response is pretty much “You’re wrong ahhhh! I’ll kill you harder now!” So I’m not even rooting for the intended people here. But I digress.
Other than that...oh yeah! The romance this series prides itself upon. Every single character is matched up with another character - HETEROSEXUALLY, GUYS. If you were worried about LGBTQ people getting representation here, DON’T. It’s like 1794 but in space.
What was I saying? Right. So the relationships are boring here. The narrator just tells us we should think they’re cute, in the hopes that we do. But I’m rebellious and quirky and cool, so it’s not that easy, Meyer!
Also, I am against the new love interest introduced here, Liam x Iko, with everything that I am. Liam inherently believes that Iko is incapable of emotion and that robots shouldn’t have rights, and we’re supposed to be like, aw! Cute! That’s not the same thing as hate to love. I would make a comparison here, but it would be toeing the line at best and clearly something is off with me today so I’m just going to wrap this up.
Even though this book had problems, I didn’t hate it. I kind of disliked it and found it to be a disappointment, but disappointed is my go to emotion now, baby!
Wow, this review is truly a ride. Sorry about that. And I’m not even going to include GIFs. I’m a mess.
Bottom line: I read this in a sitting and didn’t despise it with every cell in my body, so it’s getting two stars. But man, this book was somethin’.
https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.com/2017/04/27/wires-and-nerve-volume-one-review/
I read The Lunar Chronicles way before I became the harsh, bitter, cynical acid raindrop of a reviewer you see before you now, so you may want to take the following statement with a grain or so of salt, but: I really loved that series. I’m too scared to reread the books, because I’m 97% certain they won’t hold up, but I recall them with some degree of fondness. I cited it as my favorite series for a while before realizing that was, no question, not even a little bit true.
Still, I loved them. So of course I’m cursed to forever pick up any addition to that series forever. Marissa Meyer has me on the hook, and unless I begin that formidable reread and it turns out to be as massive a disappointment as I suspect, upon that hook I will remain.
I didn’t, like, love this book. I didn’t even like it strongly. I found it pretty eh. Will I pick up the sequel? Indubitably. (How long is this series? I’m scared. So is my wallet.)
That being said, I read it in a sitting and didn’t hate it. And it’s the little things like that you’re grateful for when your reading year is progressing like mine. (By which I mean, very behind on my reading challenge + giving out one star ratings like it’s my job.)
Let’s get into it.
For starters...I don’t like the art very much. It’s VERY cartoonish, which is cute, but all the characters look exactly the same. They just have slightly different hairstyles. And it’s weird for the caption to be all “this is the most beautiful girl in the galaxy” while the picture is of a head with a glorified smiley face on it. Too mean? It’s not bad. It’s just not my cup of tea...and I’d argue not the right choice for a story like this. But that’s just my opinion. (I say, as if everything I ever write on this site is anything more than my dumb opinions.)
The characters just felt dull. If I’m remembering the original books in The Lunar Chronicles correctly, the characters are vibrant! They’re funny and amusing and it’s cool to get to follow them around. Well, not Scarlet. Or Wolf. Or Cinder and Kai, most of the time. (My god, why did I love those books so much?) But Cress and Thorne usually guarantee a good time. And Iko is a funny little thing.
I’d argue Iko is the most true to my memory of her of the bunch, but even she is toned down. Thorne is VERY different. I swear I can feel the author trying to recapture Thorne’s voice, and just...not getting there. It’s upsetting. All the characters become so flat. And that definitely wasn’t a problem in the original series.
Plot-wise, this wasn’t terrible. I was a bit bored, but that’s fair - this is the setting-up of what is supposed to be a series, maybe? We follow Iko as she’s trying to capture the wolf soldiers
But then some tough wolf guy is like, oh, I don’t think so! I’m going to kill all of you and get all the other remaining wolf people on my side. Oooooh, not that simple, bitches!
Here’s the thing, though - and hear me out on this - I’m kind of on Professor Wolfdude’s side.
He’s all, “Hey, you guys...this is kind of f*cked. Like, we were made into wolf people against our will, which was straight torturous, and then enslaved and forced to kill people. And guys, it’s not even our faults that we now thirst for human flesh. And now the new queen, who’s supposed to be all nice, is just capturing us? And like, killing us if we maybe don’t want to go back to the place where a ton of bad shit happened to us? Nah. I’m not into it.”
And Iko’s response is pretty much “You’re wrong ahhhh! I’ll kill you harder now!” So I’m not even rooting for the intended people here. But I digress.
Other than that...oh yeah! The romance this series prides itself upon. Every single character is matched up with another character - HETEROSEXUALLY, GUYS. If you were worried about LGBTQ people getting representation here, DON’T. It’s like 1794 but in space.
What was I saying? Right. So the relationships are boring here. The narrator just tells us we should think they’re cute, in the hopes that we do. But I’m rebellious and quirky and cool, so it’s not that easy, Meyer!
Also, I am against the new love interest introduced here, Liam x Iko, with everything that I am. Liam inherently believes that Iko is incapable of emotion and that robots shouldn’t have rights, and we’re supposed to be like, aw! Cute! That’s not the same thing as hate to love. I would make a comparison here, but it would be toeing the line at best and clearly something is off with me today so I’m just going to wrap this up.
Even though this book had problems, I didn’t hate it. I kind of disliked it and found it to be a disappointment, but disappointed is my go to emotion now, baby!
Wow, this review is truly a ride. Sorry about that. And I’m not even going to include GIFs. I’m a mess.
Bottom line: I read this in a sitting and didn’t despise it with every cell in my body, so it’s getting two stars. But man, this book was somethin’.
Qué lástima que las novelas gráficas terminen tan rápido, fue muy emocionante y heartwarming ver a todos los personajes de nuevo, amo a Iko y me encanta profundizar más en este personalidad tan peculiar. Ya tengo en mis manos la 2da parte.
This is essentially Book 5 of the Lunar Chronicles series. I...didn't know that when I started. So, let's just say I accidentally now know pretty much everything that happened in the giant final tome of Winter. Alas. If you haven't finished the series yet, learn from my mistake.
Wires and Nerve is a graphic novel that follows Iko being a kick butt android hunting down the leftover mutant wolf Lunars who are still roaming the earth. There's some interesting discussion of what it means to be truly human, along with SO MUCH FAN FICTION-LEVEL CUTE COUPLEDOM. Meyer basically wrote her own fan fiction, then had an illustrator make it into a graphic novel. It's almost cloyingly sweet. Iko's a pretty spirited narrator, and there's some interesting ethical and political conversations, but there's mostly just a lot of gratuitous adorableness.
Also, yay diverse characters!
I'll definitely pick up Volume 2 when it's out.
Wires and Nerve is a graphic novel that follows Iko being a kick butt android hunting down the leftover mutant wolf Lunars who are still roaming the earth. There's some interesting discussion of what it means to be truly human, along with SO MUCH FAN FICTION-LEVEL CUTE COUPLEDOM. Meyer basically wrote her own fan fiction, then had an illustrator make it into a graphic novel. It's almost cloyingly sweet. Iko's a pretty spirited narrator, and there's some interesting ethical and political conversations, but there's mostly just a lot of gratuitous adorableness.
Also, yay diverse characters!
I'll definitely pick up Volume 2 when it's out.
First book for BTAT 2017 is DONE!
I wasn't planning on finishing this in a day but I honestly just wanted to get the "read a book outside" challenge over and done with and now I'm sitting on the floor in front of a fan.
This was so great!! A story I knew I wanted but didn't know how much until I started it. I *love* that Iko is getting a bigger stage and we are also seeing how a lot of events play out before the last story in Stars Above. It's so wonderful to see all my faves again.
I also enjoyed the graphic novel format! It was great to a) see these characters on paper and b) for it to move fast with a lot of action and still pack in all that sass.
I didn't know this wasn't going to be a standalone so I'm pumped to read the next book!!
I wasn't planning on finishing this in a day but I honestly just wanted to get the "read a book outside" challenge over and done with and now I'm sitting on the floor in front of a fan.
This was so great!! A story I knew I wanted but didn't know how much until I started it. I *love* that Iko is getting a bigger stage and we are also seeing how a lot of events play out before the last story in Stars Above. It's so wonderful to see all my faves again.
I also enjoyed the graphic novel format! It was great to a) see these characters on paper and b) for it to move fast with a lot of action and still pack in all that sass.
I didn't know this wasn't going to be a standalone so I'm pumped to read the next book!!
3 and a half stars. Context; haven't read the Lunar Chronicles, so I was a little bit confused, but still enjoyed this book. I will reserved the right to rescore this duology once I have read the main series, but now, I like the story, the characters design and the dialogue. Can't wait to get deep into the next book in the series.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aww I loved this. I can't wait to read more about Iko’s adventures. Truely another lunar chronicles classic but with art and words!