billyjepma's reviews
593 reviews

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

First half is killer suspense and growing dread, while the second half is much more mechanical and makes some strange structural choices that I think were intended to make things less predictable but inadvertently bypass the stuff I was most interested in seeing more of. Still, a very fun read I would’ve torn through far quicker had other favors (i.e., I got COVID, lol) got in the way. As shaky (and occasionally pedestrian) as the writing can be, this absolutely scratched the itch I had for “scary spaceship vibes,” so consider it a 4-star read if you ever find yourself with a similar craving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Death of parent, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol

William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

It’s the weakest of the three, just like the film it’s based on, but is still a total delight with some of the best soliloquies of the trilogy. Doescher really outdid himself with Vader’s internal monologues—it got me feeling some genuine swells of emotion while cooking dinner tonight. I’m devastated to learn that they didn’t produce audiobooks for the rest of the saga (except for The Force Awakens) because I really can’t imagine experiencing them in any other way. They’re perfect encapsulations of the joys of the films and the unique pleasures of Shakespeare’s plays, and as bummed as I am that there aren’t six more to listen to, I love that they exist at all.

The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition Book Two by Neil Gaiman

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The interludes that focus on the broader world still aren’t my favorite, as interesting as insightful as they, but the crux of the story with Dream and the Endless is really excellent stuff. I’ve experienced this story already in the audio dramatization (which I like a lot), but seeing it brought to life on the page is stunning. Jones’ art is a special standout, with spreads and details that give the pages a rich, classical style that I absolutely adore. 

Amazing stuff—even the side-stories, which can feel frivolous in the moment, enrich the world so much that I can’t help but be impressed by it all.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very good book with very, very good writing. It doesn’t all come together—the ending is a little glossy for my taste, and the genre elements don’t quite mesh with the historical fiction as cohesively as I hoped—but LaValle’s writing and characterizations are so sharply nuanced and textured that I was always invested in the story, even if I never felt compelled to rush back to it—which is why it took me a month to finish it. If anything, I wish it had been longer. With some more space to explore the setting, enrich the character dynamics, and delve into the themes, I could see the story becoming something really immersive. But as it is, LaValle accomplishes a lot in under 300 pages and delivers another tonal masterpiece that strikes a nearly perfect balance between the various genre, thematic, historical, and even political edges it’s engaged with. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Lesbophobia, Gore, and Deadnaming

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Dysphoria

Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

A towering, alienating, raging tapestry of the violent, bloodthirsty heart of the American condition. It’s a nightmarish read, one that forces you to wrestle with its foggy, murky plotting and aimless pacing—there’s a reason it took me months to finish. But that’s part of the nightmare McCarthy is cataloging for us, and his disdain is palpable even (especially?) as he coldly pontificates on the situation of the men his story follows.  

“In the days to come the frail black rebuses of blood in those sands would crack and break and drift away so that in the circuit of few suns all trace of the destruction of these people would be erased. The desert wind would salt their ruins and there would be nothing, nor ghost nor scribe, to tell to any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place died.”

There are a lot of quotes that speak to the intent of this book—a book I might someday understand better—but that one might be the one I latch into. McCarthy understood violence and its roots in the masculine soul better than almost any other American writer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Murder, Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: War, Alcoholism, Torture, Excrement, Kidnapping, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, and Cannibalism

Saga, Vol. 11 by Brian K. Vaughan

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Maybe it’s a side-effect of finally reading the series more-or-less as it comes out, or maybe the second half of the overall series is taking some time to find its footing again, but Saga is in a strange place right now. The momentum is janky, and the plot often feels like it lacks focus. It’s not uncommon for the book to flow untraditionally, but after two volumes into this new “era,” I still don’t feel like there’s a driving force. The subplots and supporting cast are benefiting from this—especially in this volume—but it’s still strange to have the core family so adrift in their own narrative, even if it does make sense contextually. I just want something more from it, if not on a plotting level, then on a subtextual one. This collection of issues does take some steps in that direction, thankfully, so maybe things will pick up steam from this point forward. 

And yet, even with those not-insignificant qualms, this remains a banger of a read. I continue to bristle at some of Vaughan’s writing and use of tone, but the interconnected story he and Staples have created is just about as dazzling as it’s ever been. Staples’ art is among the best in the business, as always, and I’m always impressed with how she manages to iterate while still maintaining the ironclad consistency she’s had for all these years. My misgivings (or maybe impatience) with the state of the story aside, I’m still enamored with the series and its unique brand of crude, chaotic, heartfelt adventure and bloodshed. This outing gets a 3.5/5 from me, but I’m adding some extra points  because of issue 65, which is structured and paced so well I almost forgot to breathe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Cursing

Moderate: Xenophobia, Gore, Blood, Death, and Animal death

Minor: War, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Trafficking, and Fire/Fire injury

Daredevil: To Heaven Through Hell, Vol. 4 by Chip Zdarsky

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another really strong entry in a really good series. I keep waiting for it to hit the highs I’ve occasionally seen it heralded for, and they haven’t come, but it’s a testament to how solid and commitment the writing and art—even when it’s not Chechetto, although his work remains the highlight—that I’m still as into it as I am. Every time I pick up the next volume I’m reminded why I keep coming back. The plotting is still mostly fine, in my opinion, with some good themes (that still don’t double-down on themselves the way I want) to back it up. It’s ultimately all about the character dynamics, anyway, which Zdarsky handles so well that they all feel tactile and genuine in ways a lot of superhero stuff doesn’t.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A very solid step-up from the first book. It takes the relatively lacking stakes and character dynamics of the last one and successfully elevates them to the level of the thematic and narrative material around them. I love how these books are leaning even harder into the political undertones of the animated series by prominently featuring marginalized characters in leading roles, avoiding easy cliches, and consistently casting the government, authorities, and the rich as antagonists. And they’re not shallow antagonists, either. The villains aren’t as compelling as in the Kyoshi books, but they’re still effective and have complicated believable motivations. I also like how the conflict requires intellectual fortitude over “let’s see who the better fighter is.” I’ll continue to read as many of these as they put out. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Torture

Minor: Grief, Death, and Murder

Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures Volume 1 (Phase II) by Michael Atiyeh, Daniel José Older, Toni Bruno

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Another very fun, light read. The Adventures line of the series is arguably better than the main, Marvel series because, unlike the latter, this one has genuine personality and charm. It’s relatively light on story, though, so as much as the breeziness is a feature, it does keep things from leaving more of an impression (for me, at least). Eager to keep going with it!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0