Initial Response
I really wish there were more of these...

High Lights
- Kara/Linda is SUCH a funny character! I loved seeing into her thoughts in some panels. Her brain whips up panic and it's hilarious to see.
- Lena, even though she didn't appear until later on, was a cool character too!

I also kinda saw it coming when she was Lex Luthor's sister, but it was still really neat.

- The art style was really fun and lively. It was really easy to jump from panel to panel, turning pages as fast as possible.
- I loved the unique plot twists. At the beginning, things seemed to be going pretty well, but as the story progressed, things started getting more and more intense. And the climax! So epic and awesome! It was just so cool to see everything tie so nicely together.
- I would honestly love this as a movie. :D

Low Lights
- There was much cheesiness and clichés, but that only made it more fun. Like reading the old DC comics. :)
- I really wish there were more books!!

Conclusion
If you're looking for a fun, quick comic to read, consider this one! It actually reminds me of Spiderman, in a sense. A young hero, trying to find their way, saving the world. It's nothing deep, but sometimes it's fun to just read cheesy action and high school drama. :)

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

These stories were all kind of crazy, some more than others... *cough*Just Deserts*cough*... But some I found really entertaining and thought-provoking.

Archie Smith, Boy Wonder - 2.5/5
It was a cute, kinda strange little story...what exactly were those little voices talking...? There was also a lot of baseball lingo I didn't understand.

Under the Rug - 1/5
There were a couple stories that I just found out right creepy and this was one of them. It was just plain scary. What even?!

A Strange Day in July - 1/5
Man I hate those kids...I found myself thinking ?!?!?! a lot.

Missing in Venice - 2/5
I really had no idea what was going on...so yeah...

Another Place, Another Time - 3/5
I really loved the writing style! The characters were good too, but the ending was a bit abrupt. I guess that kind of adds to the mystery.

Uninvited Guests - 1/5
So um...this was another creepy one...

The Harp - 5/5
YES! Loved this one! I loved how it all tied together at the end and for once there was a <u>happy ending</u> people, is that so hard?! Anyway... Really clever and fun.

Mr. Linden's Library - 3.5/5
I found this interesting...but then the ending kind of just left me like 'okay, so...huh? What now?' I still liked it though.

The Seven Chairs - 3/5
Interesting...MK is a feisty little character, which is both a good and a bad thing. Nevertheless, this was a fun read.

The Third-Floor - 5/5
No surprise this was written by Kate DiCamillo and it was one of my favorite ones. This was SO SWEET! I absolutely loved the brother-sister relationship with Pearlie and Martin. So good!

Just Desert - .5/5
I have no words. This was literally the most disturbing, creepy out of them all. Just...no words.

Captain Tory - 5/5
I really liked this one! Super intriguing and very well written. Also, just the right amount of mystery to suit me. ;)

Oscar and Alphonse - 3.5/5
This was slightly odd, but super funny and sweet. I'm just thinking of what's going to happen after someone finds out about something...yeesh.

The House on Maple Street - 3/5
The longest story in this book, it was perhaps the oddest out of them all. And not so much in a bad way as a thought-provoking way.

All in all, this was an interesting read that kept my attention, (in good ways and bad). If you're looking for a fun little set of short stories, I would recommend this book. Harris Burdick would be proud. Not that I know him personally or anything, but...

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

AGGGHHHH I HAVE ALL THE EMOTIONS.

I honestly don't know what to think. My heart hurts, but I'm also relieved, and sad, and mad at the same time. All of the characters were SO fascinating, especially Em and James. At first, I thought I had figured everything out from page one, and I was feeling like a genius...but then I realized that's what I was supposed to know. I'm no genius. XD And as I kept reading, I began to realize that I really had no idea what the heck was going to happen, and I LOVED IT.

I thought the story was SO interesting and gripping, and the idea was such a cool one! I don't want to spoil much, but let me say, it involves time travel and alternate timelines and IT'S BASICALLY EPIC.

One thing I would have liked was to know more about what exactly Cassandra's purpose was. How did James think it was going to stop wars and bring peace when it clearly wasn't? And how does it work? I don't know, I guess I wanted a little more info on the time machine itself.

Overall, this was SUCH A GOOD BOOK and I'd recommend to anyone who wants a good twisty, time travel-filled, action read.

Content Warnings

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Initial Response
O______O
WHAT DID I JUST TAKE PART IN.

High Lights
- The setting is SO. BEAUTIFUL. I mean, Blackcliff is horrible and all, but it's SUCH a cool setting!
- It was SO gripping! I couldn't stop turning pages! My poor Elias...
- ELIAS IS A PRECIOUS LITTLE THING AND I JUST. *cries and cries*
- Laia is so much like me, and so that added another level of relatable. She's scared, but loves her family, and would do anything for them.
- The Augurs. MIXED FEELINGS.

Like, I DETEST THEM WITH ALL OF MY BEING but they also...kinda make sense? Like, they knew what was going to happen before it even happened, and that things would semi-work out in the end. That was...really interesting.

- THE COMMANDANT MAY JUST BE THE WORST BEING ON THE ENTIRE PLANET. I hated her with a passion.

When you wish your only son were dead because you think that he's just a mistake...YOU'RE NOT RIGHT IN THE HEAD GOOD GRACIOUS.

- Helene...oh dear, Helene...

I just...I really don't know. I'm glad that we see in the end that she was doing everything for Elias, to protect him, but...I've a feeling something else is up. But magic singing healing powers are cool!

- Marcus is loathsome. Which is very saddening, because I have a brother named Marcus, so... I actually have a main character named Markus too. Huh. Weird. Anyway, this Marcus is horrible.
- Spiro Teluman is a great guy.
-

And can I just say that I'm so happy that Izzi got away free with Keenan? That makes me so happy. :)

Low Lights
- There was a lot of content in this book that I didn't like. There was a lot of swearing and suggestive sexual content (though nothing actually described). Surprisingly, there wasn't as much violence as I expected. (Well, except for this one scene...) So all that knocks off a star.
- But that's all I have to say about that.

Conclusion
WOW! This book was SO. AMAZINGLY. GOOD. I don't know if I'll continue the series, only for the inappropriate content, but OH MY GOODNESS, THIS WAS GOOD. I don't know if I could recommend it, but if you want to take a chance, GO FOR IT. The story is EPIC.

Content Warnings

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paper_queen's reviews 83 reviews

paper_queen's reviews
83 reviews