Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan | Book Review

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan and illustrated by John Rocco

Mythology / Fantasy / Adventure

Hardback, 336 pages

Summary:

A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, Can we do this anonymously? Because I don't need the Olympians mad at me again. But if it helps you to know your Greek gods, and survive an encounter with them if they ever show up in your face, then I guess writing all this down will be my good deed for the week. 

So begins Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, in which the son of Poseidon adds his own magic--and sarcastic asides--to the classics. He explains how the world was created, then gives readers his personal take on a who's who of ancients, from Apollo to Zeus. Percy does not hold back. "If you like horror shows, blood baths, lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on, because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that." 

summary from: goodreads

5 out of 5 stars

First of all, as you can probably guess by the star rating, I loved this book. I have been looking forward to it for quiet some time now and it did not disappoint. Rick Riordan is amazing. Now lets go onto the review.

The first thing you notice, when you look at this book, is the beautiful cover. It's also soft which makes it even more amazing. The illustrations are simply stunning. There is a small illustration at the beginning of each chapter and there are bigger ones throughout the book. They reflect the story perfectly and make the reading experience even better and more exiting.

The chapter names are hilarious, as they were in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. One of my favourite is The Golden Age of Cannibalism (not sure what that says about me). The whole book is in Percy's perspective which means there is a lot of sarcasm and witty comments. What else could you ask for?

The stories in this book were amazing. Some were intriguing, some emotional and others gross. Rick Riordan made all of them fun and gripping, you just couldn't stop reading them. I found out a lot more about Greek Mythology, which was the point of this book. Percy explains everything very simply, so that everyone can understand it.

This book was everything I wanted and more. I would recommend it to everyone, no matter who they are they are going to find something enjoyable about it.

Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike | Comic Book Review

Pretty Deadly Vol. 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue DeConnick; illustrated by Emma Ríos and Jordie Bellaire

( Collects Pretty Deadly issues #1-5 )

Graphic Novel / Fantasy / Western / Comic

120 pages

Summary:

Death's daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her origin story is a tale of retribution as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.

summary from: goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

Firs of all, as it says on the back of this comic, it is for mature audience. There is mature context, such as violence, sex, gore, nudity and language.

Now onto the review:

The way this story was written reminded me a lot of a fairy tale, especially in the beginning as there was a lot of rhyme. The story is told by a butterfly and a bunny, which I thought was very different but interesting, non the least. They tell the story of different people whose lives intertwine and bring them together, for the better or the worst.

The western setting was also very interesting and new for me, as I haven't watched or read any westerns. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is always great.

One of the most important aspects to any story, for me, are the characters and they didn't disappoint. I loved finding out more about their past and seeing them interact with each other. My favourite are Ginny, Sissy and Fox. What I appreciated a lot were the many amazing and strong female characters. Most of the characters, that we follow in this story, are women who can take care of themselves and who know what they want. It was really amazing reading about them.

The art was amazing. There are pages that have different colour schemes and images that took my breath away. Here is one of my favourite, a pretty dark one. I very much enjoyed the art style and the simple colours.

The only reason that I gave this graphic novel 4 stars instead of 5 is because it lacked something. I don't know what exactly it is but something was missing for me, maybe I will find that something in the next volume. I very much recommend this graphic novel, although it isn't for everyone since it has a lot of blood and gore. 

All in all it is an enjoyable and interesting read and I can't wait to read more of this story.