Review: The Beauty Volume 1 by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley

March 23, 2016July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

* New Release *

Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease? In the world of The Beauty, physical perfection is only one sexual encounter away. The vast majority of the population has taken advantage of it, but Detectives Vaughn and Foster will soon discover it comes at a terrible cost. Now, they’ll have to find their way past corrupt poiticians, vengeful federal agents, and a terrifying mercenary out to collect the price on their heads. The Beauty Volume 1 collects the first six issues of the critically acclaimed series by writer/artist JEREMY HAUN (Constantine, Batwoman) and co-writer JASON A. HURLEY.

“A high concept that is, frankly, genius.” MultiversityComics.com

“This is absolutely a book to check out.” All-Comic.com

“One of the strongest introduction to a series in a long time.” ComicBookResources.com

MY THOUGHTS

I received a e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, THANK YOU.

My thoughts on first coming across this comic; “that blurb, oh hell yes, I’ve got to read this”. My thoughts upon finishing it, in one sitting without getting up to pee or get a drink, yes it had me that engrossed; “Dammmmmn, that was awesome”.

We follow Detectives Kara Vaughn and Drew Foster as they stumble upon a cover up with deadly consequences and meet unlikely allies. The beauty disease and its ticking time bomb plot is brilliant and keeps you turning the pages.

Both main characters are likable and by the end of this volume both of them have proved themselves worthy of being called comic book heroes.

The sixth issue ends on a cliff hanger that will make you shout out loud. After all the hell Vaughn and Drew go thorough during the six issues, to find the truth and a cure, the side effects of the cure set up some serious drama to come. Bring on the next issue ASAP I say.

More Info & Buy links: The Book Depository | Booktopia | Goodreads | Image Comics

Review: Faith by Jody Houser

March 9, 2016July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

FAITH #1 (Faith) by Jody Houser

Orphaned at a young age, Faith Herbert – a psionically gifted “psiot” discovered by the Harbinger Foundation – has always aspired to greatness. But now this once ordinary teenager is taking control of her destiny and becoming the hard-hitting hero she’s always known she can be – complete with a mild-mannered secret identity, unsuspecting colleagues, and a day job as a reporter that routinely throws into her harms way! Well, at least she thought it would… When she’s not typing up listicles about cat videos, Faith makes a secret transformation to patrol the night as the City of Angels’ own leading superhero – the sky-soaring Zephyr!

But flying solo is going to be tougher than Zephyr ever thought when she uncovers a deep-rooted alien conspiracy. Two-bit burglars and car thieves are one thing, but when the world needs a hero to stave off a full-blown extraterrestrial invasion, will Faith find herself in over her head…or ready for her biggest challenge yet?

FAITH #2 (Faith) by Jody Houser

Just as she uncovers a conspiracy in the Hollywood Hills that threatens the lives of her fellow psiots and new friends alike, Faith must also deal with the return of her ex-boyfriend and one-time teammate Torque…and a volatile new alien threat that nobody saw coming!

Be here as all-star creators Jody Houser (Orphan Black), Francis Portela (Green Lantern), and Marguerite Sauvage (DC Comics Bombshells) continue the groundbreaking, first-ever solo series for the Valiant Universe’s most extraordinary hero…the high-flying Faith!

“A superhero we can all admire.” -People Magazine

Faith on Goodreads

* * * * M Y T H O U G H T S * * * *

Thank you Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review a partial galley (Issues 1 & 2) of Faith Volume 1: Hollywood and Vine.

Faith Volume 1: Hollywood and Vine will be released on the 26th July and it will contain FAITH Issues 1 – 4.

I loved Faith! None of the other characters stood out to me in the two issues, but I loved Faith after the first ten pages or so.

In the first two issues we met super hero Faith and her secret alter ego Summer, find out why she is out on her own and get a sneak peek at what looks to be an exciting world.

Oh Faith! You are my kind of woman!

The first two issues were slow burning and things were only starting to heat up as the second issue finished. I’m hanging out now to see if the pace picks up in the later issues *Fingers Crossed* as this series could be brilliant! So far it feels like this is a series where you want to collect a few issues and read them in a binge, that way you get a bit of action with the fantastic world building.

Three “I liked It” Stars for my enjoyment of these two issues, but with the likely hood of an improvement to Five Stars with the addition of issue 3 and 4 and some bad guy butt kicking. I mean did you read that synopsis! BRING IT ON!

Bookish Babble: Y16.W5

February 14, 2016July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

I’ve had The Mortal Instruments series on my TBR for a while. I held off seeing the 2013 movie as I wanted to read the first book first, I gave in and ended up watching it on DVD in mid-2015 and I really enjoyed it. I watched the first two episodes of the Netflix TV series and seeing how much they’ve changed just from the Movie, I said to myself “Stop you need to read the books”, so I bought the first five books second hand on eBay for $25 including postage – I was pretty chuffed with that :-). I have just started the third book and I am loving the series so far, hence why I thought I’d do a Babble based on it.

The Destroyed Edition:

Since I just mentioned the movie and TV adaptations:

The TV Jace is more my cup of tea then movie Jace. He’s a pretty boy, but he’s supposed to be. I kept seeing movie Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower) as Caius in The Twilight Saga, looking all pale and evil. Jamie also played he young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – shame he’ll always be one of the Volturi to me.

Oh Simon! you make me giggle.

Oh if only! If Jocelyn doesn’t wake up I’ll happily have Luke. Oops, what, who said that!

This broke my heart, oh Jace! but I do agree with the sentiments. The more you love someone the more they can hurt you, but I’ve never seen that as a reason not to love!!

Well I’m going to go finish reading City of Glass, until next time 🙂 Enjoy Your Shelves 🙂

Bookish Babble: Y16.W2

January 24, 2016July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 4 Comments

Agatha Edition:

Did You Know: Agatha Christie wrote romance under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. I didn’t until I started search for stuff for this babble!

Until Next Time 🙂 Enjoy Your Shelves 🙂

Bookish Babble: Y15.W13

December 6, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 2 Comments

The “I solemnly swear I am up to no good, ALWAYS” Edition:

Hear Hear!!

R.I.P. Dobby

I pray for world peace, the safety of kittens and that Rowling's new 'Adult Book' is secretly about "Harry Potter: the Grown-Up Years.":

Yeah that’d be nice or even better some Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

Yo, Siri. Expecto Patronapp:

Hehehehehehe.

what if harry potter is really a biography, sold to us muggles as fiction! lol:

Hahahahaha we can dream. I’ll believe it when my son gets his letter!

this way to the ministry of magic:

YES YES YES! There are some listings for this on Etsy.US – More research required.

* * * mischief managed * * * for now…

Bookish Babble Y15.W7

October 25, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

Winnie the Pooh edition:And now for the warm and fluffy quotes.

Until next time 🙂 enjoy your shelves 🙂

Pledged by Louise G. White

October 23, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

Pledged (Gateway #3) by Louise G. White

Published: October 22^nd 2015

A big thank you to Louise for giving me a copy to read and review.

View on Goodreads

The deal was simple: Carolyn and her friends could return home after 21 days. What could happen in 3 short weeks?

Rather a lot: Carolyn’s mother is livid about her “rescue” and Edward is being groomed for a chiefdom he doesn’t want. The Agency’s “elixir of life” has been perfected, and O.W.E. permits mean that certain humans have been authorised to work in the demon realms.

The destroyer is about to face her greatest fear, and it has nothing to do with killing demons: She must decide what to do about Ethan and Note who risked everything for her and already accomplished the impossible in “Chasing the Demon”.

Oh my gosh where do I start. I have been hanging out for this book since I finished Chasing the Demon in July last year. I’ve now read it and Loved it, but am sitting here trying to figure out how to tell you about the story without spoiling it.

At the start of the book we get a wonderful summary of the story so far. I loved the idea of the refresher summary and I loved the execution – It was like a warm hug from a friend I hadn’t seen in ages.

Each book introduced new charters while keeping the old, so yes there were a lot of characters to keep track off by the end of it, but the writing is easy to read and keeping up with them all wasn’t a problem. I found that the jumping around between the thirteen different POV characters pushed the story along at a ferocious pace.

This book has; action, adventure, danger, magic, romance, and of course the destroyer.
I was enthralled with the world Louise created after only a few chapters of the first book and she’s kept me so the whole way through, but alas, now the trilogy is complete.
The only bad thing I can say about this, the third book, is that it isn’t long enough. I would have loved to have gotten to spend more time with all of the characters, well most of them anyways.

In the first two books I was rooting for the other guy to win in the love triangle, but the way Louise ended it felt exactly right.

“…they leaped together into the first adventure of the rest of their lives.

The end.”

I’m looking forward to reading whatever Louise White comes up with next.

Purchase Links:

Louise has had a variety of jobs, including waitress, library assistant, nurse, and police officer. She holds a BSc in Health Studies, and a PG certificate in Primary Education. She lives in the scenic west coast of Scotland with her family.

Louise didn’t set out to write Fantasy, but when she sat with her laptop to begin The Calling, it became apparent that she still believed in Bogey Men, the Monster in the cupboard and of course, the Faeries at the bottom of the garden. Suddenly she found that she was writing a story of heroes who could be found both on our doorsteps and in the realms that lie beyond.

Author’s Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Calling, Gateway #1 My Review | Goodreads

Chasing the Demon, Gateway #2 My Review | Goodreads

I’M BACK (Holiday book haul)

August 9, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 1 Comment

So after 38 days away I’m back home. I’ve still got some more time off of work and am planing to do some work on the house, do up some sort of post/s about our Aussie Outback and Cape York 4WD family trip, as well as write reviews for the books I read while I was away.

I took a fair few books with me; 5 paper backs and my entire eBook collection – I managed to read 9. I hadn’t intended to buy any books while I was away, but I should have known better!! I’ve said it over and over in the last twelve months “I’m not buying any more books until I read the ones I have” HA! Yeah right I haven’t figured out how to manage that yet, they are always calling out for me to buy them. Damn needy things they are always crying out to be in my arms and once I’ve picked them up off of the shelf I’m a goner, I have to take them home.

ANYWAY so this is what I picked when I was trying not to:

Oops!! Two second hands and the rest brand new. But hey, I refrained from buying any eBooks 😛 and my eBook collection WAY out weights my paper backs. Yeah, that totally makes it ok.

The Cattle King and Meet Banjo Paterson were purchased from The Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach – There is a story behind the Cattle King purchase but I’ll leave it for the review which I’ll post up soon.

The second hand Agatha Christie was picked up out of a book bin with a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor service at Adels Grove in Lawn Hill National Park. Reilly’s Ice Station was picked up at a book swap at the Lion’s Den Hotel, Rossville.

The Song of Achilles was purchased in Coffs Harbour, while I was looking for a present for my mum – Oops!

Crystal Kingdom, Percy Jackson and Pieces of Sky were picked up yesterday in Hamilton for National Bookshop Day – and yes I’m counting them in my holiday book haul as I’m still technically on holidays.

I’ll leave you now with funny cartoon while I try and write reviews on books I read at the start of July – oh dear.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

March 31, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 2 Comments

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Release date: April 1, 2015

Thank you Simon & Schuster Australia for giving me an ARC to read and review

Four high school seniors put their hopes, hearts, and humanity on the line as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth in this contemporary novel.

They always say that high school is the best time of your life.

Peter, the star basketball player at his school, is worried “they” might actually be right. Meanwhile Eliza can’t wait to escape Seattle—and her reputation—and perfect-on-paper Anita wonders if admission to Princeton is worth the price of abandoning her real dreams. Andy, for his part, doesn’t understand all the fuss about college and career—the future can wait.

Or can it? Because it turns out the future is hurtling through space with the potential to wipe out life on Earth. As these four seniors—along with the rest of the planet—wait to see what damage an asteroid will cause, they must abandon all thoughts of the future and decide how they’re going to spend what remains of the present.

When I finished reading the last page I actually laughed at loud “that’d be right”. I closed the cover and muttered to myself “that’s brilliant”. Yep, I LOVED IT. And dare I say, I think it’s going to be the next big thing, I’m imagining the closing credits for the movie adaptation already.

I finished We All Looked Up on Sunday morning and I’ve been trying to figure how to write a review to do it justice ever since. Wallach’s writing is beautiful, easy to read, emotional and powerful.

We get backgrounds on the four view point characters and then follow them as they learn that there is an asteroid tearing toward earth with a 66.6% chance of impact, with the possible collision being so catastrophic it will wipe out the world. The four viewpoints are: the all-around golden boy and Jock Peter, the promiscuous and artsy Eliza, the good girl and overachiever Anita and the stoner and slacker Andy. Wallach uses teenage stereotypes and makes them feel real. He gives a world of complicated characters to care for and despise all at once. There is a little bit of all of us in this story somewhere.

We follow them as they try to survive until the end, as they try to deal with and make sense of their lives, as the world goes crazy and they try to come to terms with death. There are inner demons faced and new friendships made. The story keeps moving on, revolving through the different viewpoints. The different points of view flow beautifully and I enjoyed getting in all their heads.

The ending was open and leaves us to ponder. I’d like to think this book might make a few teens wake up to themselves. What would you do if the world was coming to an end? I found a few parts hard to swallow, mainly Anita’s struggle of living her life for everyone other than herself, as I feel that way sometimes, so that made me contemplate my own situation.

FIVE STARS for the next big thing > > > We All Looked Up.