Book Review: Scarlet Rose #1: "I Knew I'd Meet You" (Graphic Novel)

Scarlet Rose #1: "I Knew I'd Meet You" by Patricia Lyfoung

Publishing Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Charmz
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Maud, a dreamy young woman, who loves justice, lives in France in the 18th century. The incomprehensible murder of his father forced him to rejoin Paris where his grandfather, a noble whose existence she was unaware, saw. It crosses the road of the Fox, a brigand of the highways that she admires. But she still does not know anything about the secret that her father bequeathed to her and that a mysterious individual covets. 

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I rated it 5/5 "it was amazing"

Thank you Papercutz for the copy via NetGalley.

This Graphic Novel is fun, easy to read, and has a good sense of humor.

It starts with the murder of Maud's father, a past revealed to her and thus she travels to live in Paris. Her huge crush on a bandit calling himself "The Fox" has lead her to a conclusion of becoming a bandit herself - Scarlet Rose.

Guilhem is quite cute but I can't really tell of his age based on the drawings. Their facial expressions are right and I love how they change to impossible human faces to exaggerate an emotion.

I believe the english translations have just begun and I can't wait to read the next installment. This is my first Graphic Novel series so I'm not very familiar with the slang. Is it called an 'installment', an 'issue' perhaps?

Book Review: Beowulf

Beowulf by Jacqueline Morley

Publishing Date: October 1, 2010
Publisher: Barron's Educational Series
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

This retelling of the first great epic poem in the English language recounts the story of Beowulf, his heroic struggle against the monster Grendel, and his final fight to the death with a ferocious dragon. Barron's " Graphic Classics " offer easy-to-follow retellings of immortal literary works. They introduce elementary and secondary school students to many of our culture's great plays, novels, and epic poems, and encourage boys and girls to discover the joy of reading the masterworks in their original form. "Graphic Classics " titles tell absorbing stories with high-quality color illustrations complemented with short narrative sections and dialogue balloons that capture the spirit of the originals. They also present background material to help young readers understand when and why the literary work was originally written. " Graphic Classics " titles are available in both paperback and hardcover editions.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I rated it 5/5 "it was amazing"

This was a fun read. It works for all ages.
I always wanted to know the story of Beowulf but I didn't want to read a really thick book for it. This comic book was very helpful as it has great art with synonyms for words that are less familiar.

If you need to write an essay on a classic, choose comic books especially from this publisher because it's easy to read and it has a lot of pictures.

Book Review: Stealing Snow

Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige

Publishing Date: October 6, 2016
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn't belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door – and Snow knows that she has to leave … 
She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate …

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

I rated it 4/5 stars

It may have mixed reviews but it all comes down to how the reader feels about the story. It's a loose retelling of the Snow Queen, but regardless whether you know anything or nothing about the story you'd still find this book entertaining. It took me a while to get into this book, but soon I found myself reading more chapters everyday and the feels started to kick in.  It was a bit unexpected. There are twists to characters, plots, and mixed emotions. Nothing really surprised me nor caught me off guard but I still enjoyed it very much. The world that Danielle created is really something, especially the different kinds of magic in their realm. There wasn't much information drop to confuse the reader, it was just right. I am so glad I crossed the Tree, and I would very much like to read the next installment. I want to see more of Jagger and the different back stories of the Robbers.

Movie Review: Barbie: Video Game Hero

Movie Trailer

Release date: February 1, 2017

Cast: Erica Lindbeck, Siena Bohn, Shannon Chan-Kent

Barbie is a video game designer and she’s making her own game called “Cupcake Cavern” with her friends and her sister Chelsea helping her in testing out the game. While playing Cupcake Cavern with her friends, they find that there’s a glitch and they can’t finish the game. 

Taking a break from the game and trying to figure out how to fix it, Barbie’s tablet keeps on beeping until she picks it up. When the screen tuned on, Cutie - the tutorial or video game narrator - came up and asked if Barbie would like to play the game. When Barbie pressed “Yes”, she was instantly sucked into the game. Cutie tells her that there’s a virus spreading and they’re taking over the game. Barbie must win all levels of the game to save everyone and fix the game.

Review:

If all the other characters and the design of the virus weren’t cute, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the movie. But that’s a Barbie film for you, there’s always that cute character. The story line isn’t that good, but then again this is a kids movie so it shouldn’t be complicated. It was pretty basic, there were no plot twists, there was only one point of view. Reading other people’s comments, they agreed about the decrease in the story lines and animation/design of the Barbie films because we always compare them to the Second Generation of films (Rapunzel, Swan Lake, Nutcracker). I myself also compare the new films to that generation but I really cannot expect much for the new films since the old films were based on classic stories and not originals.

The Barbie film franchise needs to release 2 to 3 Barbie films in a year and there isn’t much time they have to write a killer story. When writing a story they also need to consider about a lot of aspects where they can’t make it too complicated and kids the age below 10 need to understand them. They also cannot add characters that aren’t common knowledge to kids or professions that they don’t see everyday.

The animation was okay, I liked the idea where the game designs per level was different. In the first part it was a bit glitchy like a lag in the game, then came the simple looking designs, followed by the super high effects, and now to the hip game design like tiny pixels looking like Minecraft. Barbie’s main in-game character design was very cute and it felt kind of nostalgic. Her long pigtails and the shape of her eyes, there was really something about the animation and design.

I am a super huge fan of Barbie and I swore to myself that I will watch all Barbie films to my last breath. I will grow up with Barbie and I will die with Barbie too. I just hope they’ll be able to make better story lines. Does anyone know where I can send out suggestions to Barbie stories or if they ever accept any?