Review! - Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of The Faun by Guillermo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.

Title: Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of The Faun

Author: Guillermo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke

Genre: Media Tie-In, Horror, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tales (-ish,) Magic Realism(-ish,) Young Adult (Maybe? Maybe just adult with YA appeal. It's kind of difficult to gage the age range here!)

Amazon USA

Comics Wrap-Up - And The Silence Is So Deafening, It's Like Picking at a Sore

I'm super-tired this week, so if I'm spouting nonsense and/or using verbiage and syntax usually found only in 19th Century novels (a weird habit I have sometimes when I'm tired,) then that's why! 😅

Comics Wrap-Up - What a Catch

Film Trailers

Some little Spider-Man: Homecoming trailers this week (well, some are from before this week, but... semantics)!

They tie-in with NBA finals - which is... I wanna say basketball...? Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Warning: Some flashing images.

Comics Wrap-Up - Silver Children She Roared

Graphic Novels



This week I read Captain America: First Vengeance (UK - US.)

This is actually a media tie-in with the Captain America: The First Avenger (UK - US) movie, but unlike most tie-ins, it doesn't simply re-tell the story.

Instead we get more background on both the Red Skull and the allies' team making the Super Soldier Serum.

Yes, it treads some well-worn ground - kid from Brooklyn, wanted to join the army, etc.

But we also get aspects that the film doesn't show - more detail on the Howling Commandoes, more background on Steve and Bucky in New York, etc. etc.

I was actually pretty damned impressed by how well this works - and (always important) the artwork is great too.

Other Stuff



Marvel (and, more specifically, Brian Michael Bendis,) have announced that the new Iron Man - black teenage girl Riri Williams (and how awesome is that!) - will be known as 'Ironheart.'

I still think that they missed a trick by not going with Iron Maiden, but apparently that would've been 'a legal nightmare.' (Dammit!)

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Marvel latte art vid! Short, cool, and coffee-ful; just what I need in a video ;)

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And, with adult humour, gore, and a sh**-load of randomness, here's a hilarious spoof of the Wonder Woman trailer:

Like this post? Try these:

• Comics Wrap-Up - And She Thinks She's Made Of Candy
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Month In Review(s) - August 2016

August. Ahhhh, August.

(I can't resist a happy-dog-in-sunglasses pic!)

August was actually a pretty good month for me.

Despite how difficult my anxiety made it, I came out as sexually fluid; and that felt great ;)






Blog-wise, less impressive stats than last month. But they were still pretty damn good :)

Over 4k page-views this month, reaching over 25k page-views over-all!!!!!!!!!!! XD I mean - wow! 25k!!!!!! XD XD

(Actually I've now reached over 26k, but 25 is such a round and shiny number, lol!)

And I now have over 950 followers on Twitter.

Things've stagnated a little on BlogLovin' - but still trotting along with a handful of new followers this month :)



And shameless plug time!

The Bookish Diversity Link List 2016 is up and running.

Be sure to check it out, and let me know if you find anything I can add! (It's easier when people help me, lol.)

Kids

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon - contemporary, magic realism

Young Adult

Switched by Amanda Hocking - fantasy, paranormal* (*ish)

Adult

Blood Season by Claire Meadows - poetry

Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life - non-fiction, essays

Graphic Novels

Limbo, Volume 1 - fantasy*, horror*, crime* (*ish)

Malice In Ovenland by Micheline Hess - kids, fantasy

Kilala Disney Princess, Vol 1 - young adult, fantasy, manga, fairy tale, media tie-in

Comics Wrap-Up - And She Thinks She's Made Of Candy

Graphic Novels




This week I reviewed cotton-candy sweet Disney Kilala Princess, Vol 1 (UK - USA ).

This is a re-release of an old, very popular, series from Tokyopop (for whose resurrection we are all very thankful,) and is uber-cute!

You can read my review here.

Single Issues





I've just finished reading Sun Dragon's Song #1 by Joyce Chng and Kim Miranda - I'll be writing a mini-review of this beautifully-illustrated comic soon :)

(Why a mini-review and not a big, grown-up, full-blown, review? Because it's 24 pages long - a mini-review will be enough, methinks!)

Other Stuff

This week I reviewed the non-fiction book Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life by Liesa Mignona (Ed.) (UK - USA).

This is a fantastic and beautiful book - not just about superheroes, but about the people who use them for hope, inspiration, and strength.

You can read my review here.

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Panels - one of the best Comics-devoted blogs/websites out there - is closing. Instead there will be a comics section to their sister site, Book Riot.

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Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Disney Kilala Princess Vol 1

Title: Disney Kilala Princess Vol 1

Author: Rika Tanaka

Contributors: Nao Kodaka

Genre: Graphic Novels, Manga, YA, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Series: Disney Kilala Princess

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

This is a re-release of one of Tokyopop's most popular titles.

Seeing as how Tokyopop are back, back, back! and working very closely with Disney, they're doing another release of the series, which was first given unto the world (sorry, I'm in a really weird mood,) circa 2007.

It's still as cute today ;)

This is a manga volume, and reads right to left, in traditional manga style.

Premise:

Kilala is living in admiration of her favourite Disney princesses. Little does she know that they're about to help her save the day!

Best bits:

This book is so sweet and cute and kawaii that I'm going to get a cavity from all the sugar! At the same time, it's not sickeningly-sweet (which takes some skill!)

There are bits of what can only be described as swashbuckling action, and Kilala is a relatable heroine with a pet mouse. I defy you to resist the sweetness!

I actually quite liked the romantical-aspects, true it verged on insta-love, but managed to juuuuust dodge the most annoying parts of that trope (plus, we're dealing with Disney princesses - insta-love is going to happen. Deal with it.)

I also liked the way Snow White (our princess for this volume,) was a part of the story without dominating it - this is Kilala's story, not Snow's.

But neither do the Disney elements feel forced - they're woven in very well, particularly when you consider the balance of the manga style with the more traditionally 'Western' style of Disney princesses, which this volume totally pulls off :)

Not so great bits:

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once (let me know if you got that reference, I will love you forever,) -

GIRLS SHOULD NOT BASE THEIR ENTIRE FUTURE PLANS ON MEETING A HANDSOME DUDE TO MARRY. #JustSaying.

Also, if you're looking for something deep and intellectual? Yeah... this isn't the book for that.

Don't get me wrong, it's sweet, it just has the net substance of cotton candy (hence the cavities.)

Verdict:

A fun and sweet manga that any fan of princesses will love, but which is perhaps a little heavy on the gender stereotyping in places.

Still, it's an enjoyable read. :)

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads

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Month In Review(s) - July 2016

Ahhh, July - funny old month, some good things, some not-good things.

But, y'know, I'm still standing, and blog-wise things are looking uber-awesome if I do say so myself! :)

This is me this month. #TrueStory ;)

This month has been rockin' as far as blog-stats are concerned:

I hit over 20k page-views in all, with over 5k views just this month.

A lot of this was due to my most popular post of the month - my review of Luna the Vampire, which hit over 2k page-views all on its lonesome! (Honestly, I don't know why that post was so popular, but I'm not complaining!)

Diary of a Reading Addict now has 50+ followers on BlogLovin'.

I now have 900+ followers on Twitter!

I reviewed some awesome-a*s books this month - stand-outs for me include Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi and Monstress, Vol: The Awakening. But honestly, I reviewed a lot of rockin' stuff this month!

And yes, before you say anything - I realise that of the 8 books I reviewed this month, 4 were graphic novels *shrugs* - there's nothing wrong with that!

As July 2016 faffs off into the sunset, I'm going to shamelessly point you at my post for The Diverse Books Tag.

I will also point you at Naz's awesome Read Diverse Books blog - check it out :)

And without further ado, here are the book reviews I wrote this month:

Kids

Thor: Dueling with Giants by Keith R A DeCandido - Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Young Adult

Panic by Lauren Oliver - Contemporary

New Adult

Nina Is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi - Contemporary, LGBTQ+ (M/F and F/F)

Adult

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - (Modern) Classics, LGBTQ+ (F/F)

Graphic Novels

 

   

Disney's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland Vol 1 by Jun Abe - Manga, Fantasy, Media Tie-In

Luna the Vampire, Vol 1: Grumpy Space by Yasmin Sheikh - Humour, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Vampire

Monstress, Vol 1: The Awakening - Fantasy

Mythic, Volume 1 - Fantasy, Mythology