billyjepma's reviews
628 reviews

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 1: Gotham Nocturne: Overture by Ram V, Simon Spurrier

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Honestly, this was pretty good! It feels like a lot of setups for the next volume(s), which means the momentum Ram V builds doesn't really go anywhere, but it's good momentum with some sharp hooks that make me optimistic about where it could go. The art is also excellent and lives up to the "Nocturne" subtitle more than the story itself does, at least so far. Lots of moody environments, strong lighting, striking coloring choices, and generally impressive layouts give the occasionally slower, tenser pages an ominous air that I very much vibe with. The backup story with Gordon is a nice bonus, even if it ends on a lackluster note. It's not uncommon for these backups to be pretty forgettable and frivolous, but I like how this one leans into the vibes of Ram V's story and gives it some additional dimensions. 

Consider this a soft recommend, as my final sentiments of the collection will likely depend on how well the rest of the story does or doesn't capitalize on the potential. But I will say it's nice to feel some excitement about the setup for one of the main Batman comics.
Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 4: Riddle Me This by Nadia Shammas, Mariko Tamaki

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2.75

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Immaculately charming, even if its particular brand of whimsy and the overly quirky humor of the narrator didn’t always work for me. It starts off so well and gives you such a strong sense of tone, place, and character that I was instantly all in. Which is good, considering there’s a decent length of time in the middle that really doesn’t go anywhere, struggling to find the momentum in its plot. It doesn’t help that the stakes are often too loose to have much bite, especially with the “antagonists,” who are as one-note as they come.

And yet…I still had the loveliest time reading this. I might’ve been expecting something that wowed me a little more, but hey, I’m very happy to have spent the last two weeks reading this. It was like drinking a warm cup of tea in bed—in your favorite mug, obviously—while listening to someone tell you a story they’re making up as they go. It’s not exactly an exhilarating, or even all that memorable story, but it has such consistently enjoyable vibes, creative worldbuilding, and a rewarding character arc for our protagonist that I was more than content to sit back and let the book do its thing.
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Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II Vol. 2: Battle For The Force by Ario Anindito, Cavan Scott

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adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.75

It was rough at first, but picked up at the end. Phase 2 of The High Republic has yet to do much for me, and I’m honestly of the mind that there simply isn’t enough substance in this flashback era to sustain this much material. And there’s also not enough to this comic to feel like a noteworthy addition to the Battle of Jedha audio drama, which felt properly epic and complete by itself. It has some cool beats and decent art, but little more.
The Seasons Have Teeth by Dan Watters

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

2.75

I was really into this at first, continued to be in when the writing kept reiterating the same message ad nauseam, and I would’ve been in until the end if it actually had an ending. Instead, the repetitious narration droned on about guilt and grief and then ends abruptly without resolving anything, without finding some conclusion to its thoughts on change and death—it just ends. And it doesn’t even feel like an intentional abruptness, either. It bummed me out because I was really enjoying what Watters was doing, as blunt as it was. Using the four seasons as a metaphor is a cool enough idea, but turning those metaphors into lumbering, terrifying behemoths that leave death and destruction in their wake is not only cool but interesting, too. Especially with the art from Cabrol and Jackson, which is steeped in moody atmospheres that contrast beautifully with the sharp, unsettling colors the Seasons bring to the page when they make their fateful appearances. 

I was leaning toward a 4-star rating for this until the final pages, which took the wind out of the story’s sails so suddenly that it nearly sunk the whole thing. There’s still something here, though, and the art alone was enough to make me glad I spent the time reading it. But man, with a little more time to breathe, it could’ve been so much better than it is. 
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Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

First half is killer suspense and growing dread, while the second half is much more mechanical and makes some strange structural choices that I think were intended to make things less predictable but inadvertently bypass the stuff I was most interested in seeing more of. Still, a very fun read I would’ve torn through far quicker had other favors (i.e., I got COVID, lol) got in the way. As shaky (and occasionally pedestrian) as the writing can be, this absolutely scratched the itch I had for “scary spaceship vibes,” so consider it a 4-star read if you ever find yourself with a similar craving. 
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William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

It’s the weakest of the three, just like the film it’s based on, but is still a total delight with some of the best soliloquies of the trilogy. Doescher really outdid himself with Vader’s internal monologues—it got me feeling some genuine swells of emotion while cooking dinner tonight. I’m devastated to learn that they didn’t produce audiobooks for the rest of the saga (except for The Force Awakens) because I really can’t imagine experiencing them in any other way. They’re perfect encapsulations of the joys of the films and the unique pleasures of Shakespeare’s plays, and as bummed as I am that there aren’t six more to listen to, I love that they exist at all.
The Sandman: The Deluxe Edition Book Two by Neil Gaiman

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The interludes that focus on the broader world still aren’t my favorite, as interesting as insightful as they, but the crux of the story with Dream and the Endless is really excellent stuff. I’ve experienced this story already in the audio dramatization (which I like a lot), but seeing it brought to life on the page is stunning. Jones’ art is a special standout, with spreads and details that give the pages a rich, classical style that I absolutely adore. 

Amazing stuff—even the side-stories, which can feel frivolous in the moment, enrich the world so much that I can’t help but be impressed by it all.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very good book with very, very good writing. It doesn’t all come together—the ending is a little glossy for my taste, and the genre elements don’t quite mesh with the historical fiction as cohesively as I hoped—but LaValle’s writing and characterizations are so sharply nuanced and textured that I was always invested in the story, even if I never felt compelled to rush back to it—which is why it took me a month to finish it. If anything, I wish it had been longer. With some more space to explore the setting, enrich the character dynamics, and delve into the themes, I could see the story becoming something really immersive. But as it is, LaValle accomplishes a lot in under 300 pages and delivers another tonal masterpiece that strikes a nearly perfect balance between the various genre, thematic, historical, and even political edges it’s engaged with. 
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Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
A towering, alienating, raging tapestry of the violent, bloodthirsty heart of the American condition. It’s a nightmarish read, one that forces you to wrestle with its foggy, murky plotting and aimless pacing—there’s a reason it took me months to finish. But that’s part of the nightmare McCarthy is cataloging for us, and his disdain is palpable even (especially?) as he coldly pontificates on the situation of the men his story follows.  

“In the days to come the frail black rebuses of blood in those sands would crack and break and drift away so that in the circuit of few suns all trace of the destruction of these people would be erased. The desert wind would salt their ruins and there would be nothing, nor ghost nor scribe, to tell to any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place died.”

There are a lot of quotes that speak to the intent of this book—a book I might someday understand better—but that one might be the one I latch into. McCarthy understood violence and its roots in the masculine soul better than almost any other American writer.
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