I meant to be reading and posting reviews from my backlog of NetGalley titles, but I've actually been binge reading Betty Neels' novels...about ten of them in the past couple of months. I've left short reviews for some of them on Goodreads, but haven't posted much of those here until now, because I didn't feel up to writing about the same general plotline over and over again. Betty Neels' novels are a fine example of the word, "formulaic."
My interest in Betty Neels' work this year started off with a Harlequin manga version of "A Kiss for Julie." I eventually found the original version of this novel on Hoopla Digital, a web and mobile platform that gives access to digital content such as e-books and movies, which my local library started using this year. Hoopla has around 87 of Ms. Neels' books in its library.
As I mentioned before, and in a previous review of a Betty Neels' novel, her work is quite predictable. The plot generally goes as follows: an older, rich, handsome doctor (usually of Dutch background, but sometimes may be English) and a younger, plain looking, hard-on-her-luck English nurse fall in love with each other. There may be variations to these characters; sometimes the female protagonist has an occupation other than being a nurse, and sometimes she may actually be beautiful. Sometimes, the hero has a girlfriend or fiancée. Sometimes, the heroine has supportive parents, but sometimes not.
Often, though, Neels' novels start off with the hero not having much of a memorable impression of the heroine when they meet (often, he forgets her as soon as she is out of sight), but the heroine usually remembers him quite well. The hero and heroine usually don't get along initially. Many times, the heroine finds the hero's mannerisms quite rude and gruff for her tastes. However, after repeated exposure to each other, they become attracted to one another.
I find many of Neels' heroes to be rather overbearing. They take charge of situations that steer the heroines into doing things the men's way, well intentioned or not. In a couple of novels, the heroes went around the heroines and made arrangements to stop the women's employment without consulting them in the first place. Wow. The men also often vacillate between hot and cold in their feelings and keep their women guessing about whether they have a real relationship or not. This is because many of them prioritize relationships with other women above the one that they have with the heroines so that the heroines are uncertain of the place that they have in their love interests' lives. This is something that I've found mind boggling; how can there be any certainty of romance between the hero and heroine if he's giving the impression that the other woman is more important to him than the heroine?
However, with the predictability of Neels' plots, I know that the couple will get together by Chapter 9. Sometimes I view the romantic resolutions with disbelief. One plotline had the hero revealing that, no, he's not in a romantic relationship with someone else (after letting the heroine believe for eight chapters that he was in love with another woman), and yes, he's madly in love with the heroine, and that he has made arrangements for them to marry in a few hours. I wanted to say, "You've just let the heroine know that you're both actually in a romantic relationship...how about taking the time to build it now, because she didn't realize that you were even in one with her!"
Now that I've trashed Betty Neels' plots, I'd like to tell you what I like about her work. For starters, her stories are generally clean. In fact, I noticed this from reading the manga adaptations of several of her titles, and this was confirmed from actually reading some of the original books. You don't have to worry about reading a bedroom scene, and the kissing doesn't get too hot and heavy.
I also think that she does a good job of presenting the romantic tension between the characters. The reader is more aware of what's going on than the poor heroine as Neels writes in third person, and one can read both the hero's and heroine's points of view. Now, I try to figure out when the hero is starting to fall for the heroine as I'm reading. In my earlier reading of her work, I was as uncertain as the heroine as I would only consider her perspective, but now it's fun to guess when the hero's feelings start, especially before he is aware of them.
It's a guilty pleasure for me to read about a handsome man falling for a plain looking girl.
Finally, sometimes, it's nice to know what to expect. Given the predictability of Neels' books, I know that there are going to be happy endings for the couples in her books.
Review: Betty Neels' Pineapple Girl
A Dutch doctor and an English nurse (who thinks that she's not good enough for him) fall in love. Clean, but here's another Betty Neels story in which the male protagonist blows hot and cold, is sufficiently unclear about his intentions, and doesn't explain himself to the heroine right up to the last minute. To top if off, he expects her to marry him on the afternoon that he finally clarifies his mysterious and ambivalent behaviour. I think that I'm being a bit kind in that assessment, because I thought that Timon had a bit of a mean streak compared to some of Neels' other heroes. Maybe because I'm at an age where I really don't think that a girl should experience that kind of behaviour from the man who is supposedly in love with her, I find that I would like to strangle the doctor for behaving like a jerk.
Review: Betty Neels' The Magic of Living
Another handsome Dutch doctor, and another plain looking English nurse fall in love with each other. This time, the nurse has to deal with a sly cousin who is competing for the doctor's affections. The hero was a bit nicer than the one in the previous Neels' novel that I read (Pineapple Girl), so this one was easier to swallow. However, I think that I'd be a bit ticked off if my fiancé arranged for me to resign from my job without consulting with me about it first, even if I got to marry his handsomeness in the end.
Betty Neels' A Secret Infatuation
This time, a handsome Dutch doctor and a beautiful English nurse fall in love with each other. However, the doctor is engaged to another woman, but he takes his sweet time in breaking up with her. In the meantime, he seems to find plenty of opportunities to spend time with the nurse, even though he's still engaged. If you think about it, he's kind of being unfaithful to his fiancée. He seems to not want to be the one to initiate the break up, even though he realizes that the relationship isn't going to work. And the nurse...well, she can't seem to stay away from the doctor, even though she knows that he's taken. She seems to keep torturing herself by fishing for information about the doctor's relationship with his fiancée, and the doctor isn't gentle in his responses to her when this happens.
There are quite a few Betty Neels' novels in which the hero already has a girlfriend or fiancée before he meets the heroine, but usually by the midpoint of the story, he will have made a decisive move in ending that relationship before moving onto the heroine (at least, this is my impression from the other Betty Neels' novels that I've read to date). In "A Secret Infatuation," the doctor remains in the engagement practically right up to the last chapter, despite calling the heroine, "his love," and kissing her a few chapters earlier. It's just sort of strange to point out the unfaithfulness in a Betty Neels' book, and generally, I hate stories in which the heroine is the "other woman." It seems that because the fiancée is an unpleasant and unsympathetic character, and because she wasn't the right woman for the hero anyways, the protagonists' unfaithfulness is glossed over and minimized.
Just something to think about.
Betty Neels' The Mistletoe Kiss
In the Mistletoe Kiss, we've got a handsome Dutch doctor and a plain looking phone/switchboard operator at the hospital where they both work. The doctor is engaged, but that doesn't keep our protagonists from falling in love with each other. The fiancée is a nasty social climber, however, she happens to be from a rich and cultured background. She doesn't love the doctor; instead she only loves what he can bring into their upcoming marriage and she fully expects the doctor to provide the lifestyle that she is accustomed to, even though he has hinted to her that he wants to live a quieter life than what she may be expecting.
I've mentioned a lot about the nasty fiancée because, although the plot is very similar to the last Betty Neels novel that I read, A Secret Infatuation. The doctor, Ruerd, starts falling for the heroine while he is still engaged, but in the Mistletoe Kiss, Ruerd is more decisive in making a clean break with the fiancee than the doctor in A Secret Infatuation. Also, the fiancée eventually crosses the line into unfaithfulness, so the outcome was a bit easier for me to accept this time around. However, the heroine is the other woman, even before the fiancée exhibits indiscrete behaviour. Emmy is more sympathetic than the heroine from A Secret Infatuation because she didn't pursue the doctor as the other heroine did.
I wonder what would happen in a Betty Neels' novel if the heroine had a firmer backbone and didn't permit the hero to run roughshod over her boundaries? In both The Mistletoe Kiss, and in A Secret Infatuation, the heroes got a bit pushy, interfering in the heroines' lives, even though they had no business in doing so since they were already engaged to other women. I think that, given the nature of Neels' formulaic writing, that it highly unlikely that I will find out.
Tuesday 5 December 2017
Wednesday 8 November 2017
Review: An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter
An Inconvenient Beauty, by Kristi Ann Hunter, is the last installment of the Hawthorne House series. I've been waiting for this title for a long time, because out of all the Hawthorne siblings, I really wanted to know Griffith's story. He is the oldest sibling, and holds the position as the Duke of Riverton. Throughout the series, Griffith has been the responsible one who has been looking after everyone or everything that is under his care, including his mother, siblings, ward, tenants, and holdings. He is also a thoughtful man who thoroughly considers all the possibilities before deciding on what he believes will work out best for everyone involved.
After observing the matches all the members of his family have made, including his former ward (Amelia Pendleton, nee Stalwood, the present Lady Raebourne, whose story is told in Hunter's A Lady of Esteem), Griffith also desires to find a love match for himself. He applies logic to choose his future duchess and decides on Miss Frederica St. Claire. He hopes to gain her hand before the ton's matchmaking mamas realize that he is looking for a wife. Unfortunately for Griffith, trying to find time alone with Miss St. Claire is proving to be a challenge. More often than not, he finds himself in the presence of her cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge, this season's Incomparable. He is attracted to her, but doesn't want to get caught up in the drama of trying to compete with the rest of the throng clamoring for Isabella's attentions. He also is resistant to giving up the choice that he made from his decision making process, to the amusement and chagrin of his relations who know perfectly well that Griffith is a goner where Isabella is concerned.
While Griffith is struggling with his reluctance to set aside his pride in pursuing Isabella, Isabella is struggling with her conscience. She has come to London for the season to aid her uncle's political efforts, in exchange for financial assistance for her family. However, their plans require her to pretend and act in ways that conflict with her spiritual beliefs. By the time Isabella discovers that Griffith is the kind of man that she has always hoped to marry, she realizes that her actions in town will make any genuine romantic relationship between the two of them impossible. Who will Griffith make into his duchess? Will Isabella be able to be true to herself, and help her uncle achieve his political goals so that he is willing to help her family?
I like this novel. I like Griffith. If you are looking for a lot of stolen kisses, you won't find them in An Inconvenient Beauty...Griffith is a nice and respectful man. If it helps to draw you in, there is a secret dance on an upper balcony. In my opinion, Griffith is an attractive alpha male character who displays a satisfying amount of power in being able to solve problems and get things done. This is enough for me to award him a high swoon factor as a romantic hero. He's also self aware enough to realize that he can be arrogant due his station and upbringing, and that he needs to exercise his influence with care, so as to not abuse his position as a duke.
I found Isabella to be okay. She is a pleasant enough character who doesn't let her beauty go to her head. She cares for her family and is willing to sacrifice her reputation and be thought of as a coquette in order to help them.
It was fun reading some of the interactions between Griffith, his siblings, and brothers-in-law. Most of them know him quite well, and tease him over his courtship plans for Miss St. Claire. However, the love that binds them together is good and light hearted. It is nice to read about relatives who get along with each other and who try to help each other out. It was also nice to be able to visit with characters that appeared in earlier novels of the Hawthorne series.
Even though An Inconvenient Beauty is the last of the series, it can be read as a stand-alone book. In fact, I still haven't read Georgina's and Colin's story (An Elegant Façade) yet, although I have read all the other novels. I'm glad that I still have one more story to read about the Hawthorne Family. If you are looking for clean regencies that feature characters who have faith, then you may wish to consider reading books from the Hawthorne series if you haven't looked into them yet.
After observing the matches all the members of his family have made, including his former ward (Amelia Pendleton, nee Stalwood, the present Lady Raebourne, whose story is told in Hunter's A Lady of Esteem), Griffith also desires to find a love match for himself. He applies logic to choose his future duchess and decides on Miss Frederica St. Claire. He hopes to gain her hand before the ton's matchmaking mamas realize that he is looking for a wife. Unfortunately for Griffith, trying to find time alone with Miss St. Claire is proving to be a challenge. More often than not, he finds himself in the presence of her cousin, Miss Isabella Breckenridge, this season's Incomparable. He is attracted to her, but doesn't want to get caught up in the drama of trying to compete with the rest of the throng clamoring for Isabella's attentions. He also is resistant to giving up the choice that he made from his decision making process, to the amusement and chagrin of his relations who know perfectly well that Griffith is a goner where Isabella is concerned.
While Griffith is struggling with his reluctance to set aside his pride in pursuing Isabella, Isabella is struggling with her conscience. She has come to London for the season to aid her uncle's political efforts, in exchange for financial assistance for her family. However, their plans require her to pretend and act in ways that conflict with her spiritual beliefs. By the time Isabella discovers that Griffith is the kind of man that she has always hoped to marry, she realizes that her actions in town will make any genuine romantic relationship between the two of them impossible. Who will Griffith make into his duchess? Will Isabella be able to be true to herself, and help her uncle achieve his political goals so that he is willing to help her family?
I like this novel. I like Griffith. If you are looking for a lot of stolen kisses, you won't find them in An Inconvenient Beauty...Griffith is a nice and respectful man. If it helps to draw you in, there is a secret dance on an upper balcony. In my opinion, Griffith is an attractive alpha male character who displays a satisfying amount of power in being able to solve problems and get things done. This is enough for me to award him a high swoon factor as a romantic hero. He's also self aware enough to realize that he can be arrogant due his station and upbringing, and that he needs to exercise his influence with care, so as to not abuse his position as a duke.
I found Isabella to be okay. She is a pleasant enough character who doesn't let her beauty go to her head. She cares for her family and is willing to sacrifice her reputation and be thought of as a coquette in order to help them.
It was fun reading some of the interactions between Griffith, his siblings, and brothers-in-law. Most of them know him quite well, and tease him over his courtship plans for Miss St. Claire. However, the love that binds them together is good and light hearted. It is nice to read about relatives who get along with each other and who try to help each other out. It was also nice to be able to visit with characters that appeared in earlier novels of the Hawthorne series.
Even though An Inconvenient Beauty is the last of the series, it can be read as a stand-alone book. In fact, I still haven't read Georgina's and Colin's story (An Elegant Façade) yet, although I have read all the other novels. I'm glad that I still have one more story to read about the Hawthorne Family. If you are looking for clean regencies that feature characters who have faith, then you may wish to consider reading books from the Hawthorne series if you haven't looked into them yet.
Thursday 2 November 2017
Review: A Betty Neels Christmas by Betty Neels
"A Betty Neels Christmas" actually contains two stories written by, of course, Betty Neels. They are "A Christmas Proposal," and "A Winter Wedding." Both are stories about handsome, older, mature doctors who eventually fall in love with plain looking, gentle hearted women who believe that no one will ever ask them to marry. These two stories follow the same general plotline of practically every Betty Neels story that I've read so far: a plain looking woman (often a nurse) harbours an impossible attraction to an older accomplished and handsome man (usually a doctor, and usually of Dutch descent). Eventually, somehow, the plain looking nurse catches the doctor's attention, but is unaware of her effect on the doctor. She believes herself to be unable to compete with another gorgeous woman who appears to be a more suitable mate for the doctor.
All you have to do is substitute the names of Bertha Soames (who is not a nurse, but rather a sheltered young woman who is also plain looking), and Oliver Hayes-Smith (an English doctor, not Dutch) into "A Christmas Proposal." Bertha is competing with her step-sister, Clare, for the attentions of the doctor. In "A Winter Wedding," Emily Seymour, a plain looking, but competent nurse, and Professor Renier Jurres-Romeijn (definitely a Dutch doctor) are the characters that appear in that story. Renier has to convince Emily that he is not interested in two other girls who vie for his attention, one of whom is her own sister, Louisa.
Both stories are contemporary, but they seem to take place (in my opinion) in the sixties...maybe up until the eighties. There is no mention of the electronic devices that we are familiar with today (no cell phones, smart phones, Blackberry machines, iPods, etc., although there are references to getting bleeped (I assume this is from a pager of some sort). Social media is not mentioned at all. Of course, Betty Neels passed on in 2001, before the advent of Facebook.
I like that Betty Neels' stories are clean, but I find some of her heroines to be pushovers. Bertha Soames falls into this category. Other heroines are more belligerent when the hero says something that hurts their feelings as Darcy does to Elizabeth in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when he declares that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Emily Seymour fits this type.
As for Oliver and Renier, both act similarly enough in that they really make it difficult for their respective objects of affections to realize that they are interested in them...especially when the men appear to continue paying court to the competition. I sometimes find this a bit annoying: when the men discover that their ladyloves misunderstand the nature of the relationships with the competition, they often continue to allow the heroines to remain unenlightened about their real feelings. Often there is a big reveal later, which is usually tied to some big romantic gesture that the men do to demonstrate the depth of their affections. There's only so much extra angst that I can take, and I think that reading the same formulaic development in each of these stories has left me rather unenthusiastic about the women being kept in the dark and having their romantic suffering prolonged every time. I wonder what would have happened if a male lead actually revealed the truth of his feelings right when he realized that there was a misunderstanding, or if a female lead recognized the feelings of the hero rather than remaining obtuse and clueless.
That being said, I will probably still continue reading Betty Neels' books. As I mentioned before, they are clean, and I enjoy the romantic tension that is built between the heroes and heroines in her novels.
All you have to do is substitute the names of Bertha Soames (who is not a nurse, but rather a sheltered young woman who is also plain looking), and Oliver Hayes-Smith (an English doctor, not Dutch) into "A Christmas Proposal." Bertha is competing with her step-sister, Clare, for the attentions of the doctor. In "A Winter Wedding," Emily Seymour, a plain looking, but competent nurse, and Professor Renier Jurres-Romeijn (definitely a Dutch doctor) are the characters that appear in that story. Renier has to convince Emily that he is not interested in two other girls who vie for his attention, one of whom is her own sister, Louisa.
Both stories are contemporary, but they seem to take place (in my opinion) in the sixties...maybe up until the eighties. There is no mention of the electronic devices that we are familiar with today (no cell phones, smart phones, Blackberry machines, iPods, etc., although there are references to getting bleeped (I assume this is from a pager of some sort). Social media is not mentioned at all. Of course, Betty Neels passed on in 2001, before the advent of Facebook.
I like that Betty Neels' stories are clean, but I find some of her heroines to be pushovers. Bertha Soames falls into this category. Other heroines are more belligerent when the hero says something that hurts their feelings as Darcy does to Elizabeth in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice when he declares that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Emily Seymour fits this type.
As for Oliver and Renier, both act similarly enough in that they really make it difficult for their respective objects of affections to realize that they are interested in them...especially when the men appear to continue paying court to the competition. I sometimes find this a bit annoying: when the men discover that their ladyloves misunderstand the nature of the relationships with the competition, they often continue to allow the heroines to remain unenlightened about their real feelings. Often there is a big reveal later, which is usually tied to some big romantic gesture that the men do to demonstrate the depth of their affections. There's only so much extra angst that I can take, and I think that reading the same formulaic development in each of these stories has left me rather unenthusiastic about the women being kept in the dark and having their romantic suffering prolonged every time. I wonder what would have happened if a male lead actually revealed the truth of his feelings right when he realized that there was a misunderstanding, or if a female lead recognized the feelings of the hero rather than remaining obtuse and clueless.
That being said, I will probably still continue reading Betty Neels' books. As I mentioned before, they are clean, and I enjoy the romantic tension that is built between the heroes and heroines in her novels.
Wednesday 25 October 2017
Review: Sweet Christmas Romances 2017 - by Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Angela Ford, Tammy Tate, and Laura Strickland
I haven't been posting on the blog for a few months, but I have been reading a lot of secular and faith based romances. This review is based on one of the former: Sweet Christmas Romances 2017. It is a collection of short novellas whose authors include Sharon Kleve, Jennifer Conner, Angela Ford, Tammy Tate, and Laura Strickland. These authors match up with the following titles in the following order: Evie's Christmas Chocolate Kisses (Kleve), Analeigh's Christmas Cookies (Conner), Chrissy's Christmas Sugar Cookies (Ford), Amy's Christmas Casserole (Tate), and Margie's Magic Christmas Bars (Strickland).
The book caught my attention because of the title, because I wanted to see what was meant by the definition of "sweet." After reading through the collection, I would say that it has more to do with the recipes that are included after each novella, about a dessert/recipe that has a starring role in each of the stories. That's not surprising considering the titles of the novellas, but I wasn't able to read what they were until after I had downloaded the book. I had actually been expecting to read stories that were clean (yes, with that kind of definition of "sweet"), but that wasn't quite the case for all of them. However, the love scenes for the ones that did have them were not very graphic or the intimate moments were mentioned briefly in passing. The exception was in Tammy Tate's story, Amy's Christmas Casserole, which had a descriptive sex scene. If you were expecting to read stories that were clean, then, please, know that not all the stories in this collection will pass muster in this expectation.
One of the stories, and I don't want to mention which one, could have used a bit more editing; there were a number of errors in diction and spelling. However, I also understand that I was reading a galley/proof that may undergo more work before being placed on the market. Most of the other stories didn't have errors that were as noticeable as the one that I just mentioned.
Of the recipes, I think that the one that captured my interest is Analeigh's Christmas Bourbon Bacon Cupcake recipe, but just so that you know, if you are not tremendously inclined to bake entirely from scratch, the cake portion appears to allow for the use of a Betty Crocker cake mix. I also find it amusing that the title of novella that this recipe is supposed to go with reads, "Analeigh's Christmas Cookies." (By the way, this was not the story that had the numerous spelling errors.)
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Sweet Christmas Romances 2017 from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
The book caught my attention because of the title, because I wanted to see what was meant by the definition of "sweet." After reading through the collection, I would say that it has more to do with the recipes that are included after each novella, about a dessert/recipe that has a starring role in each of the stories. That's not surprising considering the titles of the novellas, but I wasn't able to read what they were until after I had downloaded the book. I had actually been expecting to read stories that were clean (yes, with that kind of definition of "sweet"), but that wasn't quite the case for all of them. However, the love scenes for the ones that did have them were not very graphic or the intimate moments were mentioned briefly in passing. The exception was in Tammy Tate's story, Amy's Christmas Casserole, which had a descriptive sex scene. If you were expecting to read stories that were clean, then, please, know that not all the stories in this collection will pass muster in this expectation.
One of the stories, and I don't want to mention which one, could have used a bit more editing; there were a number of errors in diction and spelling. However, I also understand that I was reading a galley/proof that may undergo more work before being placed on the market. Most of the other stories didn't have errors that were as noticeable as the one that I just mentioned.
Of the recipes, I think that the one that captured my interest is Analeigh's Christmas Bourbon Bacon Cupcake recipe, but just so that you know, if you are not tremendously inclined to bake entirely from scratch, the cake portion appears to allow for the use of a Betty Crocker cake mix. I also find it amusing that the title of novella that this recipe is supposed to go with reads, "Analeigh's Christmas Cookies." (By the way, this was not the story that had the numerous spelling errors.)
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Sweet Christmas Romances 2017 from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Tuesday 9 May 2017
Review: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir - Akumatized by ZAG Entertainment, Cheryl Black, and Nicole D'Andria
Ah, Ladybug! When I saw this title on the Read Now list on NetGalley, I snagged it up because...curiosity got to the cat! Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir - Akumatized presented by ZAG Entertainment, and published by Diamond Book Distributors is available in e-book format, as well as in print. This book is a tie-in to the French television series which also goes by the name of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. It contains stories of three televised episodes from Season 1: Dark Cupid, Horrificator, and Le Mime.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an ordinary girl with an ordinary life, but by night, she patrols the city of Paris as the super-heroine, Ladybug, along with her crime fighting partner, Cat Noir. Most of the time, they are busy fighting against people who have been "akumatized" or "evil-ized" into being villains by the Supervillain, Hawk Moth. The process of akumatization typically begins when the victim experiences negative emotions as a result of being emotionally hurt by the actions of other people or by life's circumstances. These leave them susceptible to the influence of Hawk Moth's akumas (moths that have been "evil-ized," and who give Hawk Moth control over his victims to do his will). In each story, there is at least one person who becomes akumatized and given special powers by Hawk Moth to take revenge against the person who hurt them, or against the world. These powers are offered in exchange for a special favour; Hawk Moth wants the akumatized person to take the miraculouses (contact objects which give Ladybug and Cat Noir their special powers) and give them to him for his own nefarious purposes.
In Dark Cupid, the Horrificator, and Le Mime, the stories follow the formula mentioned above; hurt/broken hearts and anger leave a gateway open for Hawk Moth to seduce two classmates and a classmate's father into working for him so that they can pursue revenge. I have seen Dark Cupid and Le Mime on television, but haven't seen the Horrificator yet. Generally, the art work looks fairly true to the televised series that I wonder if they are actually screen shots. There are a couple of frames that have been altered to fit into the comic book format (I noticed a frame in which the Mime appears to be a reverse image of what appears in the televised episode). A few frames showed blurry motion, which created an interesting effect for activity, but again, I wonder if this could be due to a screen shot effect. I didn't gain any extra information about the stories from the comic version compared to the televised version, except that I could read the text of hand written notes more easily than from what appeared on television, because it was stationary and didn't disappear into the next scene. Although the dialogue in the galley that I looked at was written in English, I was curious if the artists would translate the text of the handwritten notes into English in the comic, but as with any text that appears in the television series, these were also written in French.
In my opinion, the Dark Cupid and Horrificator stories were easy enough to follow; they are similar enough to their televised counterparts in getting the stories told. However, Le Mime had some frames in which it was difficult to understand what the Mime was doing. Because I had previously viewed the televised episode, I knew what he was doing, but it is understandably difficult to show what the mime was doing without filling the frame with textual explanations, or risk losing the story's momentum by showing more frames of all of his motions, which could slow down the urgency of the action scenes. For the Le Mime story, I would say that the televised episode was superior in getting the story across.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir - Akumatized from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Addendum:
From a Christian perspective, there may be some parents who are concerned about any spiritual content that may be present in this book. In the Ladybug universe, the miraculous that Ladybug possesses are her earrings, which allow her to transform from Marinette into Ladybug. In order to become Ladybug, a kwami, Tikki, (a tiny magical being that is several thousand years old) enters the earrings and transforms Marinette into Ladybug. Her powers include an ability to create a lucky charm that allows her to defeat the akumatized person, and to "de-evil-ize" and strip the akuma butterfly of its ability to make its victims evil. Cat Noir's miraculous is a ring into which Plagg, another kwami, enters. This gives Cat Noir the power to destroy whatever he touches once he activates that power. An akumatized person is somewhat possessed, where they are overcome by the influence of an evil akuma butterfly.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an ordinary girl with an ordinary life, but by night, she patrols the city of Paris as the super-heroine, Ladybug, along with her crime fighting partner, Cat Noir. Most of the time, they are busy fighting against people who have been "akumatized" or "evil-ized" into being villains by the Supervillain, Hawk Moth. The process of akumatization typically begins when the victim experiences negative emotions as a result of being emotionally hurt by the actions of other people or by life's circumstances. These leave them susceptible to the influence of Hawk Moth's akumas (moths that have been "evil-ized," and who give Hawk Moth control over his victims to do his will). In each story, there is at least one person who becomes akumatized and given special powers by Hawk Moth to take revenge against the person who hurt them, or against the world. These powers are offered in exchange for a special favour; Hawk Moth wants the akumatized person to take the miraculouses (contact objects which give Ladybug and Cat Noir their special powers) and give them to him for his own nefarious purposes.
In Dark Cupid, the Horrificator, and Le Mime, the stories follow the formula mentioned above; hurt/broken hearts and anger leave a gateway open for Hawk Moth to seduce two classmates and a classmate's father into working for him so that they can pursue revenge. I have seen Dark Cupid and Le Mime on television, but haven't seen the Horrificator yet. Generally, the art work looks fairly true to the televised series that I wonder if they are actually screen shots. There are a couple of frames that have been altered to fit into the comic book format (I noticed a frame in which the Mime appears to be a reverse image of what appears in the televised episode). A few frames showed blurry motion, which created an interesting effect for activity, but again, I wonder if this could be due to a screen shot effect. I didn't gain any extra information about the stories from the comic version compared to the televised version, except that I could read the text of hand written notes more easily than from what appeared on television, because it was stationary and didn't disappear into the next scene. Although the dialogue in the galley that I looked at was written in English, I was curious if the artists would translate the text of the handwritten notes into English in the comic, but as with any text that appears in the television series, these were also written in French.
In my opinion, the Dark Cupid and Horrificator stories were easy enough to follow; they are similar enough to their televised counterparts in getting the stories told. However, Le Mime had some frames in which it was difficult to understand what the Mime was doing. Because I had previously viewed the televised episode, I knew what he was doing, but it is understandably difficult to show what the mime was doing without filling the frame with textual explanations, or risk losing the story's momentum by showing more frames of all of his motions, which could slow down the urgency of the action scenes. For the Le Mime story, I would say that the televised episode was superior in getting the story across.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir - Akumatized from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
Addendum:
From a Christian perspective, there may be some parents who are concerned about any spiritual content that may be present in this book. In the Ladybug universe, the miraculous that Ladybug possesses are her earrings, which allow her to transform from Marinette into Ladybug. In order to become Ladybug, a kwami, Tikki, (a tiny magical being that is several thousand years old) enters the earrings and transforms Marinette into Ladybug. Her powers include an ability to create a lucky charm that allows her to defeat the akumatized person, and to "de-evil-ize" and strip the akuma butterfly of its ability to make its victims evil. Cat Noir's miraculous is a ring into which Plagg, another kwami, enters. This gives Cat Noir the power to destroy whatever he touches once he activates that power. An akumatized person is somewhat possessed, where they are overcome by the influence of an evil akuma butterfly.
Tuesday 31 January 2017
Review: Homestands by Sally Bradley
Homestands, by Sally Bradley, is the first in the Chicago Wind series, which feature stories about second chances. The novel covers what I would call messy relationships, because it touches the topic of adultery, and its consequences in the lives of Mike and Meg Conner. Mike is a professional major league baseball player who unexpectedly runs into his ex-wife at a ball game...along with their five year old son, Terrell, whose existence has been unknown to Mike until this point. In fact, even at this accidental meeting, Mike is still not aware that Terrell is his son, but finds out the truth shortly after when he visits Meg to talk to her about rekindling their relationship.
Meg does not want to have anything to do with Mike, especially not after his betrayal and abandonment, and although she has been a believer for a year, she is not ready to forgive her ex-husband. She agrees to let Mike into the life that she built for herself and Terrell only because Mike threatens to go through the law courts to take Terrell away from her. Mike is angry that Meg had kept Terrell's existence a secret, but hopes that if he shows her forgiveness over keeping Terrell's birth a secret, that she would forgive him of his betrayal of their marriage. However, Mike and Meg need to work through anger, guilt, forgiveness, differences in faith, and more secrets before a reconciliation is possible between the two of them.
This novel covers a lot of ground: adultery, secret babies, a coming to faith story, struggles with forgiveness, spousal abuse, abortion, and a mentally unhinged stalker. Did I mention anything about messy relationships before? In spite of all these things, there was also hope in this story.
The author shows us that neither Meg nor Mike were blameless in the collapse of their marriage, but that both made choices with far reaching consequences. The tension ramps up when faith was tossed into the picture; we know that Meg must choose whether to forgive Mike or not, sooner or later, because there will be no healing without it.
I found Homestands to be a fascinating story about forgiveness, and will be looking out for more books by Sally Bradley.
Meg does not want to have anything to do with Mike, especially not after his betrayal and abandonment, and although she has been a believer for a year, she is not ready to forgive her ex-husband. She agrees to let Mike into the life that she built for herself and Terrell only because Mike threatens to go through the law courts to take Terrell away from her. Mike is angry that Meg had kept Terrell's existence a secret, but hopes that if he shows her forgiveness over keeping Terrell's birth a secret, that she would forgive him of his betrayal of their marriage. However, Mike and Meg need to work through anger, guilt, forgiveness, differences in faith, and more secrets before a reconciliation is possible between the two of them.
This novel covers a lot of ground: adultery, secret babies, a coming to faith story, struggles with forgiveness, spousal abuse, abortion, and a mentally unhinged stalker. Did I mention anything about messy relationships before? In spite of all these things, there was also hope in this story.
The author shows us that neither Meg nor Mike were blameless in the collapse of their marriage, but that both made choices with far reaching consequences. The tension ramps up when faith was tossed into the picture; we know that Meg must choose whether to forgive Mike or not, sooner or later, because there will be no healing without it.
I found Homestands to be a fascinating story about forgiveness, and will be looking out for more books by Sally Bradley.
Monday 2 January 2017
Review: Sub-Human by David Simpson
Sub-Human was an Amazon freebie that I picked up just before Christmas. It is book 1 of the Post Human series by David Simpson. Normally, I read historical romance, but the pickings were probably slim on the freebie list for that on that day, because I think that I found about three to four e-books on dystopian science fiction. Now, having read several stories in this genre, I think that I can say that generally, these books are secular and humanistic in nature. Often, they include the topics of cyborgs, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, nuclear war, ecological destruction, alternative universes, transference of human consciousness into computers, and the collapse of society as we currently know it.
In Sub-Human, almost all of the topics listed above are included, but instead of broaching the topic of transferring human consciousness into a computer, an artificial intelligence (AI) is dumped into Dr. Craig Emilson, a soldier who had died, but had been revived by his former wife, Samantha, and her new husband, Dr. Aldous Gibson. Craig had been dead for 14 years after the end of World War III, which came about because the current leader, President Morgan, wanted to wipe all forms of post-human development in order to preserve humanity in its pure, unadulterated state (i.e. having no physical technological modifications or being threatened by the presence of AI).
However, Morgan and his Purist troops have come to destroy and annihilate the Post-Humans in their hidden base, hours within Craig's revival. The new world is confusing for Craig, who now must adapt to being a Post-Human without any help except from the AI that he is charged with protecting from the Purists who are in pursuit.
This novel troubled me at first because I felt empathy for Craig's character; he has been broadsided by the fact that Samantha, his wife, has moved on. For her, 14 years had passed since his death, but for Craig, it seemed as if only a few hours has passed since he last saw her. The ethics and morality of reviving a person who has clearly died and has been dead for 14 years is questionable, especially since it appears that Samantha and Aldous revived Craig for scientific reasons and because they could do it. I didn't get the sense that they spent much time considering how it would feel for Craig to realize that his wife is no longer his, but to another man whom Craig was suspicious of before he died. Perhaps Aldous did, but Samantha was not intuitive enough to figure out that this would pose a big problem if Craig did return to life.
Also thought provoking: Aldous is chronologically 74 years old, but he now appears to be around 30 years old. His post-human research has enabled him to turn back the biological clock and give him the body of a younger man. He has achieved a form of immortality through the nanotechnology in his body, which can repair aging and diseased tissue. Post-Humans can still die, but it may take longer and be more difficult than killing the average human.
Besides touching the issues of immortality achieved through technological advances, Sub-Human tries to explore what the term itself actually means. In the novel, different groups, factions, and people define it differently, but I want to point out two from the novel. To a Purist like Morgan, the Post-Humans are sub-human because they are no longer "pure" physiologically or cognitively (this coming from a conversation that Aldous has with a doctor from which he is asking help from). For Aldous, a Post-Human, the sub-humans are the Purist forces that have slaughtered and killed billions of people, average or post-human, in order to eradicate the world of post-human development (also described from the same conversation as described in the previous sentence). I also found it a bit ironic that, though the Purists' leaders were trying to protect the purity of humanity, they had no qualms about turning their armed forces into cyborgs in order to stamp out the Post-Humans.
It was difficult for me to like many of the characters in the novel. The one that I was most sympathetic to, again, was Craig, because he seemed to care about people the most. I liked how humane Aldous was until the Purist forces killed Samantha, his wife. The way he threw ethical standards away for vengeance was a bit head spinning, and I didn't really care for that. There was an antagonistic character, a Purist soldier named Paine, who I understood was honourable in a twisted way, in which he wanted to maintain the integrity of the timey-wimey space/time continuum, however, he was a bit over the top in his nastiness, so I didn't like him much either. I totally did not like Samantha; she gave a rather callous response in how she didn't ask for billions of lives to be lost just because her group wanted to continue with their post-human research. In my opinion, "the needs of the few don't outweigh the needs of the many," especially with billions of lives in the balance.
What I find interesting, on reflection, is how the desire for immortality pops up in science fiction, and that in this genre, the desire is sometimes supposedly achieved through the path of technological advances. This is comparable to how this desire to live forever is reflected in some of the vampire or werewolf fiction that I've read elsewhere; a bite from one of these dark creatures may transfer some sort of immortality, but they could still be killed under certain circumstances (e.g. by beheading, stake through the heart, exposure to sunlight, by silver bullet through the heart, etc.). However, in these fictional accounts, this kind of immortality is also limited, and is not absolute.
There is some swearing and violence in Sub-Human.
I have not read the other installments of the Post Human series other than a quick peek at the fifth book in the series which was also offered for free during that Christmas week. However, in my opinion, the novel ends at a point where a reader can stop and leave this fictional universe if there is no more desire to read about what happens next.
Edited on January 3, 2017 to add:
There is no room for God in this series. It appears that the concept of god is...post-human. A quick peek into another of the subsequent books (not book five) indicates that some of the testing that the AI had to undergo appears to have much akin to torture. Just reading what I have is a bit bewildering.
I took at look into this genre to see what ideas are being bandied about for spirituality (God) and immortality, but the world being described is pretty dark, depressing, and nihilistic to me.
************************************************
1 Corinthians 15:51- 52 (NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
In Sub-Human, almost all of the topics listed above are included, but instead of broaching the topic of transferring human consciousness into a computer, an artificial intelligence (AI) is dumped into Dr. Craig Emilson, a soldier who had died, but had been revived by his former wife, Samantha, and her new husband, Dr. Aldous Gibson. Craig had been dead for 14 years after the end of World War III, which came about because the current leader, President Morgan, wanted to wipe all forms of post-human development in order to preserve humanity in its pure, unadulterated state (i.e. having no physical technological modifications or being threatened by the presence of AI).
However, Morgan and his Purist troops have come to destroy and annihilate the Post-Humans in their hidden base, hours within Craig's revival. The new world is confusing for Craig, who now must adapt to being a Post-Human without any help except from the AI that he is charged with protecting from the Purists who are in pursuit.
This novel troubled me at first because I felt empathy for Craig's character; he has been broadsided by the fact that Samantha, his wife, has moved on. For her, 14 years had passed since his death, but for Craig, it seemed as if only a few hours has passed since he last saw her. The ethics and morality of reviving a person who has clearly died and has been dead for 14 years is questionable, especially since it appears that Samantha and Aldous revived Craig for scientific reasons and because they could do it. I didn't get the sense that they spent much time considering how it would feel for Craig to realize that his wife is no longer his, but to another man whom Craig was suspicious of before he died. Perhaps Aldous did, but Samantha was not intuitive enough to figure out that this would pose a big problem if Craig did return to life.
Also thought provoking: Aldous is chronologically 74 years old, but he now appears to be around 30 years old. His post-human research has enabled him to turn back the biological clock and give him the body of a younger man. He has achieved a form of immortality through the nanotechnology in his body, which can repair aging and diseased tissue. Post-Humans can still die, but it may take longer and be more difficult than killing the average human.
Besides touching the issues of immortality achieved through technological advances, Sub-Human tries to explore what the term itself actually means. In the novel, different groups, factions, and people define it differently, but I want to point out two from the novel. To a Purist like Morgan, the Post-Humans are sub-human because they are no longer "pure" physiologically or cognitively (this coming from a conversation that Aldous has with a doctor from which he is asking help from). For Aldous, a Post-Human, the sub-humans are the Purist forces that have slaughtered and killed billions of people, average or post-human, in order to eradicate the world of post-human development (also described from the same conversation as described in the previous sentence). I also found it a bit ironic that, though the Purists' leaders were trying to protect the purity of humanity, they had no qualms about turning their armed forces into cyborgs in order to stamp out the Post-Humans.
It was difficult for me to like many of the characters in the novel. The one that I was most sympathetic to, again, was Craig, because he seemed to care about people the most. I liked how humane Aldous was until the Purist forces killed Samantha, his wife. The way he threw ethical standards away for vengeance was a bit head spinning, and I didn't really care for that. There was an antagonistic character, a Purist soldier named Paine, who I understood was honourable in a twisted way, in which he wanted to maintain the integrity of the timey-wimey space/time continuum, however, he was a bit over the top in his nastiness, so I didn't like him much either. I totally did not like Samantha; she gave a rather callous response in how she didn't ask for billions of lives to be lost just because her group wanted to continue with their post-human research. In my opinion, "the needs of the few don't outweigh the needs of the many," especially with billions of lives in the balance.
What I find interesting, on reflection, is how the desire for immortality pops up in science fiction, and that in this genre, the desire is sometimes supposedly achieved through the path of technological advances. This is comparable to how this desire to live forever is reflected in some of the vampire or werewolf fiction that I've read elsewhere; a bite from one of these dark creatures may transfer some sort of immortality, but they could still be killed under certain circumstances (e.g. by beheading, stake through the heart, exposure to sunlight, by silver bullet through the heart, etc.). However, in these fictional accounts, this kind of immortality is also limited, and is not absolute.
There is some swearing and violence in Sub-Human.
I have not read the other installments of the Post Human series other than a quick peek at the fifth book in the series which was also offered for free during that Christmas week. However, in my opinion, the novel ends at a point where a reader can stop and leave this fictional universe if there is no more desire to read about what happens next.
Edited on January 3, 2017 to add:
There is no room for God in this series. It appears that the concept of god is...post-human. A quick peek into another of the subsequent books (not book five) indicates that some of the testing that the AI had to undergo appears to have much akin to torture. Just reading what I have is a bit bewildering.
I took at look into this genre to see what ideas are being bandied about for spirituality (God) and immortality, but the world being described is pretty dark, depressing, and nihilistic to me.
************************************************
1 Corinthians 15:51- 52 (NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
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