January Wrap Up 2016

Every month I usually find myself wondering where the time has gone, but this month has been surprisingly different.  I look back on what I did in January, and it feels like it was ages ago.  I have done a lot more in this first month of 2016 than I expected.  I've been to Queensland and Sydney (and back home), and I've been to the zoo and seen my extended family.  I caught up with friends and watched some new movies.  I even managed to read a few books :P  Here they are!

1.  These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (3 stars, review)

2.  Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (4.5 stars, review)

3.  Ms. Marvel Volume 1, No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona (left unrated)

4.  Stung by Bethany Wiggins (2 stars)

5.  Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (left unrated)

6.  Marvel Knights: Spiderman: Fight Night by Matt Kindt and Marco Rudy (left unrated)

7.  Batman Volume 1: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (left unrated)

I have reviews up for These Shallow Graves and Before I fall, so you can check those out.  I'm planning on doing a review for Stung so all I'll say on that was that the concept was so great, but everything else was pretty plain.

Now, the graphic novels.  I started reading graphic novels last year, because I wanted to add some diversity to my reading habits - I also tried audiobooks and ebooks.  Anyway, I thought why not read some about superheroes?  Especially since I have been obsessed with superheroes since I was a small child.

Ms. Marvel was perhaps the biggest disappointment, because I had heard such amazing things about it and it had been so hyped up a year or so ago.  I loved that it was a female superhero - and a Muslim, person of colour too!  It was great for how diverse it was.  Unfortunately, the story wasn't anything special and the moral of the story was not subtle at all - maybe that's just me, but I hate it when stories are too obvious about giving you a life lesson.  I did enjoy the main character and thought she was adorable and relatable, but that was it.  I think I would give the book a 2/5 for the story and a 3/5 for the artwork.

The Incredible Hulk... well that was something.  The book I read contained a collection of the first six volumes of The Hulk ever, which was quite amazing to me in itself.  The artwork in this one was sloppy at times and the stories seemed to all be very similar.  The plots were so outrageous and overly dramatic that it became very entertaining.  I just could not take it seriously at all.  I'm unsure on what I would rate this one because it was all so ridiculous but at the same time, I enjoyed the experience.

Source

The Spiderman one was another let down.  Spiderman is my favourite superhero, but he was ripped off in this graphic novel.  It was definitely my least favourite of the four.  The story was, honestly, boring, simple and rushed.  Basically, Spiderman just has to fight every single villain he's ever faced and all the battles happen in quick succession.  Most of the villains didn't even get dialogue, so that was also sad.  The only thing I liked about this was the artwork.  I would give the story 1/5 stars and the artwork 4/5 stars.

Batman is probably my least favourite popular superhero.  Yes, you read that right.  I just don't understand what everyone sees in this too-serious rich guy - compared to other superheroes, of course.  So it completely took me by surprise when I loved the Batman graphic novel.  Unlike the other ones I read, this had an original storyline with interesting dialogue and voiceovers plus plenty of action and mystery.  The artwork was done well and the style of the frames was varied so I never got bored.  My only issue was that the story didn't entirely finish - but I have the next volume on hand to read straight away!

So that was my month!  How was yours?  Get a lot of reading done?