Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.

Review: Bad Girls

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Title: Bad Girls
Author: Alex de Campi, Victor Santos
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Gallery 13
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: July 17, 2018
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In this heart-pounding, starkly colored, and visually stunning graphic novel, three women have twelve hours to get out of Cuba with six-million dollars on the night of New Year’s Eve 1958.

Gangster’s moll Carole, jazz singer Taffy, and mambo queen Ana all have their reasons for needing to escape the El Eden Casino in Havana. And on the tumultuous night of New Year’s Eve, when Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the country and the nation falls to Fidel Castro, they get their chance…with the help of six suitcases filled with stolen dirty money. Of course, it’s one thing to get the cash…and quite another to get off the island alive.

From the Eisner-nominated writer Alex de Campi and virtuoso artist Victor Santos, this story of three strong and multifaceted women struggling to leave their pasts behind in a tension-filled getaway is timely, fast-paced, and gripping.

Review:

The description of this book makes it sounds like an Oceans Eleven-type heist. But it wasn’t quite like that. There was a lot of murder and politics involved.

I found many of the scenes confusing. The style was a little noir and a little art deco. The scenes were done in monochromatic colours with a lot of shadows, so it was hard to distinguish between characters unless you look very carefully. The men all looked alike and wore similar suits so I got them mixed up, but the women wore different dresses and had different hair styles so it was easy to differentiate between them.

There was a lot of tension in this book. There were some murders and an attempted rape. Some of these scenes were hard to read. There was also a lot of political upheaval in terms of the communists taking over Cuba.

Unfortunately, this book isn’t for me. It wasn’t the type of story I usually like, but I’m sure other readers will enjoy it.

What to read next:

  • Mayday by Alex de Campi, Tony Parker, Blond

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  • Smoke 1: Good Boys Grow Up To Be Soldiers by Alex de Campi, Igor Kordey

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Have you read Bad Girls? What did you think?

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Favourite Short Stories/Novellas

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Favourite Short Stories/Novellas. For this list, I revisited the short stories and collections I read in university, so some of them are pretty heavy. Here’s my list:

1. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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2. The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

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3. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

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4. A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Flannery O’Connor

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5. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

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6. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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7. Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro

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8. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

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9. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

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10. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

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(All photos taken from Goodreads)

 

Review: Miles Morales

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Title: Miles Morales
Author: Jason Reynolds
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Marvel
Source: Library
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man. But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself. As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk. It’s time for Miles to suit up.

Review:

I love Jason Reynolds, and I think my expectations for this novel were too high. It wasn’t as good as I expected.

Jason Reynolds usually writes books about some kind of social and racial injustice. This theme wasn’t as prevalent in this book. There were some things that happened, such as Miles being treated unfairly by their racist teacher, but I hoped it would have been a larger theme in the book. It would have been a great way to tie Miles to the real world.

I didn’t like Spider-Man’s mission and enemies in this story. I won’t spoil the ending and tell you what happened, but the story could have been much more exciting. Some things were just silly and unnecessary, such as the presence of the cats. I didn’t understand the meaning of them.

I was also a little lost in the beginning, because I’ve never read a Miles Morales story before. I hoped there would be some introduction to him in the story. We do find out how he became Spider-Man, but I still had questions about his life. For example, why does he go to an expensive private school when his parents can’t afford it? They are struggling to pay their bills, and I don’t see any special reason that he attends that school. I wish things were explained better.

I was disappointed in this story, but fans of Miles Morales comics may like it better.

What to read next:

  • Runaways by Christopher Golden

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  • Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

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Have you read Miles Morales? What did you think?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – July 16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

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This weekend I finished Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds.

What I’m currently reading:

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I’m currently reading My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows.

What I’m reading next:

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Next I will be reading Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – July 15

Here’s my weekly wrap up!

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

I did 7 weekly blogging memes:

I posted about my first trip to BookCon:

And finally, I did the FIFA World Cup Book Tag:

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays in Bed With… Miles Morales

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I reading Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man.

But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself.

As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk.

It’s time for Miles to suit up.

What book are you in bed with today?

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

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Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Purchased
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

Review:

I flew through this book! I’m so obsessed with the story! For some reason, it kept reminding me of The Mediator series, which is another one of my favourites.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story from the description, but it sounded spooky. It had thriller aspects as well as creepy horror scenes. One of the creepiest things was the many unexplained occurrences such as Mara’s hallucinations. They scared me, and I thought it seemed like more than just a psychological problem. It isn’t normal for people to die just because you imagine their death.

I was also intrigued by Noah. I know that he has his own spin off series now, so I figured he would be important when he was introduced. He turned out to be different from how he was portrayed at the beginning, so I’m curious to see what happens to him too.

I loved this book! I can’t wait to read the next one!

What to read next:

  • Shadowland (The Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot

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  • If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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Have you read this book or this series? What did you think?

Stacking the Shelves – July 14

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This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I received two paperback books from Penguin Random House Canada! Thank you so much!

  • A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

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  • Believe Me by J.P. Delaney

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I also borrowed 3 middle grade graphic novels from the girl who I was babysitting this week. Even though she’s 11, we are always recommending books to each other:

  • Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson

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  • Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson
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  • Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

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What books did you get this week? Have you read any of these ones?

Review: Archie: The Married Life Book 1

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Title: Archie: The Married Life Book 1
Author: Michael E. Uslan, Paul Kupperberg, Norm Breyfogle
Genre: Comics, Graphic Novel
Publisher: Archie Comics
Source: Library
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Find out what happens after the “I do”s!

Delve deeper into all of the emotion and drama surrounding two different choices: Archie’s decision to marry sultry debutante Veronica Lodge versus his decision to marry sexy girl next door Betty Cooper. How do his choices affect not only Riverdale, but the world and everyone around him? Is it a match made in heaven? Will he find that he can’t put a price on love?

Collects the first six chapters of both Archie Marries Veronica and Archie Marries Betty, the most critically acclaimed storyline Archie has ever published, as originally seen in the newsstand magazine Life with Archie.

Review:

I loved Archie comics as a kid, and I still love them today.

This book about an adult Archie reminded me of the show, Riverdale, which I’m obsessed with. It had some of the same subplots, such as Mr. Lodge buying lots of property in Riverdale and an important mayoral race. There were mature themes explored in this story, such as marriage, death, and losing jobs. The comics I read as a kid were more optimistic and innocent. The worst thing that happened was that Cheryl Blossom would come to town and steal Archie from Betty and Veronica. This book shows more of what happens in real life, which was kind of depressing most of the time.

One thing that bothered me about this book was the way that it switched between Archie and Veronica’s married life and Archie and Betty’s married life. Both lives were similar but slightly different. For example in both stories, Jughead was trying to buy Pop’s diner but was struggling to find the money. However, only in one of them does Moose run for mayor. I kept getting confused between chapters because it would alternate between them both. One thing I liked was that there were some characters and events that appeared in both of Archie’s stories, so those things were meant to be. It would have been easier to read if the book was divided into two different sections, one about Betty and one about Veronica, rather than having alternating chapters.

Despite the confusion, I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

 

First Lines Friday – July 13

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This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.

Here are my first lines:

“There is a very particular art to the making of grilled cheese. To making the perfect grilled cheese, at least. It’s so much more than just slapping a slice of Velveeta between some white bread and letting the thing languish in a skillet. A grilled cheese, when done right, with melty strings of provolone and buttered French bread crisped to golden brown, is a culinary wonder.”

Do you recognize these first lines?

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And the book is… The Art of French Kissing by Brianna R. Shrum.

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Here’s the Goodreads synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Carter Lane has wanted to be a chef since she was old enough to ignore her mom’s warnings to stay away from the hot stove. And now she has the chance of a lifetime: a prestigious scholarship competition in Savannah, where students compete all summer in Chopped style challenges for a full-ride to one of the best culinary schools in the country. The only impossible challenge ingredient in her basket: Reid Yamada.

After Reid, her cute but unbearably cocky opponent, goes out of his way to screw her over on day one, Carter vows revenge, and soon they’re involved in a full-fledged culinary war. Just as the tension between them reaches its boiling point, Carter and Reid are forced to work together if they want to win, and Carter begins to wonder if Reid’s constant presence in her brain is about more than rivalry. And if maybe her desire to smack his mouth doesn’t necessarily cancel out her desire to kiss it.

I loved this book. You can find my review here. Have you read it?