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The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan (Trials of Olympus, Book #1) Review

If there is anything that must be said about this book, it is that the haikus are on point! I've never really thought haikus in English were cool in any sense of the word because they are originally meant to be written in Japanese. However, I could read Rick Riordan's haikus all day. We have never really gotten the perspective of a god before in any of Riordan's books, so this was a first. All I really have to say is that Apollo is all the kinds of arrogant I would expect to be if I was a god that just got turned into a human. He has ridiculous complaints about things like not having the perfect body and being a scrawny teenager throughout a good portion of the book. It's golden! Riordan still has that witty writing style that we all love him for. It's a pretty quick read, which is kind of upsetting since the next book doesn't come out until May 2017, a year after the publication of this book. I think we would all kill him if he made us wait any longer. I would say you do have to read the entirety of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the Heroes of Olympus series before picking this series up. You'll miss out on a lot of references to characters from those series and will also be spoiled for both previous series. Besides, the other two series are so enjoyable to read that it's worth reading them anyway. I can securely say that this was one of my favorite reads of 2016.

SPOILER SECTION: Don't keep reading if you haven't completed the book. You probably shouldn't keep reading if you haven't finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus series either. All shall be spoiled if you do!

I don't think I need to emphasize the awesomeness of the haikus anymore. You can follow me on Instagram www.instagram.com/ashlightgrayson if you want to see a few posts about my favorite ones in the book. I have to say that Uncle Rick really knows how to convey the feelings of his characters through thoughts and inner dialogue. Apollo is a character that can seem very self-centered and ridiculous at first because of his selfish banter at the beginning of the book. I wasn't surprised at all that it wasn't his first time being turned into a mortal. All the Greek, Roman, and Norse gods tend to be a pain in the ass to deal with and all seem to have a bad attitude problem from what we've seen in the past. Zeus isn't exactly the patient and benevolent type. In spite of that, the fact that Apollo hadn't really learned his lesson after being turned into a mortal so many times still spoke volumes about his personality.

I like that Apollo still retained his main personality traits even when he had character growth. He saw how difficult life was for a lot of his demigod children and the things he had put others through because of his selfishness. Despite being a god who is supposed to deem himself above mortals and demigods, he learns to have sympathy and relate to humans again. I guess you could say that I liked that he was able to fall in love with humanity again.

Two of Apollo's past relationships are hinted at in the book which added to his very human traits. Despite his arrogance and separation from the mortal world, Apollo has been in love, with both a man and woman in the past. I guess we finally have him established as a queer character. Speaking of which, I'm sure all the Solangelo shippers are jumping for joy since we get a bunch of intimate moments with Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. We didn't really get much of Will in Blood of Olympus, so I'm glad we get to know him better in this book. He's very sympathetic towards his dad, Apollo, and it's nice to see him develop a nice relationship with him. Nico also seems way happier and more likeable. He has definitely had time to accept himself and it really shows since he's not as angsty as he was in past books.

I should probably mention how I love the fact that we get cameos of Percy at the beginning and the end of the book. He's finally taking steps to go to college together with Annabeth and is actually focusing on his grades. His new responsibilities in his personal life keep him from being omnipresent in this book. I love Percy's character, but Riordan makes it clear that this story is about Apollo and not Percy. Each character is getting their own time to shine. On that note, Leo is finally back! Everyone is upset that he didn't tell them about dying and "coming back to life" which is noted through dialogue among various characters. Honestly, I don't blame them, I would have been upset too. Although, I'm still so happy to know everyone knows he is back because that's part of what upset me for the ending of Blood of Olympus.

Other character's whereabouts are also revealed. Clarisse is going to college in Arizona. When Percy is initially speaking to Apollo he states that Annabeth is in Boston. This is an obvious reference to the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series. For those of you who don't know, that series focuses on Annabeth's cousin, Magnus Chase in Boston and his relation to the Norse Gods. I haven't actually read the first two books of the series that are out. I tried reading the first book, but had trouble getting into because I was in the middle of a reading slump. I'll be giving those a whirl later. It's just nice that Rick Riordan keeps us up to date with characters even if they aren't actually in a book we're currently reading. Not many authors are good at giving readers closure like that.

All in all, I like that there is a bunch of room for more character development for Apollo in this book. Leo and Calypso are going to be helping him out on his adventure which will be great to see. I am very excited and can't wait to order the next book. If you have liked Rick Riordan's other books in this universe of Greek and Roman gods, I can safely say this is among my top books from him in this world. A great read for those who appreciate comic relief and adventure.

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Once Upon a Mayan Sky by P.J. Smith Review

I haven't read historical fiction in a while and it's quite rare to find historical fiction novels set in Native American societies. I won this book in a giveaway and was excited about the prospect of reading something that seemed different from most historical fiction books I had read before. It was a short book too, only 148 pages long. It had a few historical inaccuracies, but they were small enough that they could be ignored and didn't interfere greatly with my enjoyment of the story.

Without spoiling anything, I can say that I think the story was okay, but not outstanding. I loved that the book jumped into the action very quickly, but I also wish we had more time to get to know the characters and have the romance in the story develop a bit more. Some parts of the story seemed to be resolved too easily for my taste. I like conflict that isn't too easy to get out of to give it a more realistic effect. This book fell on the border of being an insta-love story, where the characters fall in love a bit too quickly. I wouldn't say that I hated their relationship, by any means, though. I think the fact that the male main character is from a Mayan society and has certain cultural beliefs made it easier to believe he was willing to sacrifice so much for the main character. The book isn't overly saturated with romance, so for those who are like me and aren't too big on overly romantic stories, this might be a  good choice. Overall, I liked the story all right and give it 3/5 stars.

SPOILER SECTION: Don't keep reading if you haven't completed the book.

The story starts off with a prologue which gives insight to the main antagonist of the story, Ah Tusik. He ends up sacrificing his wife, Lady Nicte, to the Mayan rain god Chaac, leaving their child motherless. His brother Balam together with his wife end up helping to care for the child after her death. Based on the other character's reactions to the events in the prologue, it can be said that the Mayan people don't necessarily think their ruler is a benevolent leader.

The story moves on to present day in the first chapter. The main character Jasmine, is on a holiday trip that she was supposed to be taking with her boyfriend Gavin. However, a few days before the trip, he breaks up with her. The story makes it clear that she had paid for the trip and so she opts to go alone on this trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. A few details are revealed at the beginning of this story about this character, including that she is half white and half Mexican. I like that the story's pace is reasonably quick, but doesn't feel forced. Jasmine is quickly transported to Ancient Mayan society when she's alone in her hotel room. I could feel from the beginning of the book that this wasn't a story that was going to drag on as many stories I've read before do. She ends up being found by a Mayan Warrior, Ki who tries to keep her from being captured.

Jasmine is taken to Ah Tusik and as expected from someone who doesn't know she's in a Mayan hierarchy, says all the things that make people think she's odd and disrespectful. Ah Tusik ends up declaring her as the next sacrifice to the gods. This makes Ki very somber since Jasmine reminds him of Lady Nicte, whom he seems to have previously have had romantic feelings for. Ki serves Jasmine as a comfort for most of the book and I can see where they might have quickly become romantically involved since they were both emotionally vulnerable. Jasmine is a strong female character and uses her wits to get herself and Ki out of a pinch when she has to. Ki is also very kind and fair character that tries to help all he can. He seems like the type of person who would have tried to help Jasmine even if she wasn't beautiful or reminded him of Nicte.

It takes a while for Jasmine to realize she has been transported to a Mayan Civilization and I'm not a big fan of her internal dialogue because it comes off as a bit cliché when she does. The entire time Jasmine is in the past, her quetzal necklace is mentioned a lot and seems to be the source of the magic that transported her to the past. It is never really explained how the magic works, which I don't really mind. Some stories actually end up with plot holes and such when they try to science the magic, so it's cool.

I like that Jasmine was able to delay and eventually avoid her execution together with Ki's by pretending she was a messenger of the gods. The description of the Mesoamerican ball game gives a good visual of what's going. It might be slightly inaccurate in terms of the rules of the game based on some research I did about it. However, it doesn't affect the credibility of the story and I'm not an expert on Mayan civilization to be judging P.J. Smith too harshly.

As far as the romance, we mostly only get descriptions of how Ki and Jasmine feel about each other. Ki is a very noble person and does a lot for Jasmine but at times it seems that he is willing to give up too much way too willingly and way too fast. It's not as bad as I've seen in other books with romance elements, but it isn't great either. Had we spent more time with the characters getting to know each other and laughing together and such I think the progression of their relationship would have felt more natural.

By the end of the book it's great to see how Jasmine used logic and knowledge about the Mayan beliefs in the gods' will to convince the entire city that Ah Tusik was an unfit ruler. The ending seemed reasonably satisfying, but again, a bit too easy. In three years' time when Ki and Jasmine go to the present, Ki ends up being on his way to get a Ph.D. because of his knowledge of excavation sites originally inhabited by his people that no one but him and Jasmine know about. Had the author established that he was going to college and got a job as a curator at a museum, or something more realistic, I think I would have believed it. A Ph.D. in three years, though? That's pushing it a bit much. Especially since I'm sure Ki had to learn about a lot of things all at once, like electricity, taxes, bills, etc. I think he'd have to start with getting his paperwork in order and graduating high school.

All in all, the story was entertaining, but I don't think it's something I would go out of my way to buy and add to my cook collection.

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Reading DC Universe Rebirth Comics

Recently I have started reading a few comics from the new DC Universe Rebirth line of comic books. I read DC Universe Rebirth issue #1 before starting to read the Rebirth solo comics. On June 8th I picked up Wonder Woman Rebirth, The Flash Rebirth, and Superman Rebirth. I had like a four minute debate on whether I should get Batman Rebirth or Superman Rebirth. Mind you, if I could afford both at the time, I would have gotten both. However, I'm a college student on a budget, so I had to pick. I ended up opting for Superman Rebirth because I was more curious to see what parts of the continuity they were going to keep for Superman and the explanation behind the new Superman that exists within this continuity. Later the next week I was able to pick up Batman Rebirth. I got the variant covers for all of them because I wanted them all to match and for the most part liked the designs better.

So far, I love what they have done with the new continuity for DC Comics for Rebirth. I use the term "new" loosely because Rebirth has taken elements from the old pre-New 52 continuity and elements from the New 52 and combined them. Personally, I disliked a lot of the things they changed in the New 52. Essentially they erased the legacy of any long standing characters when the New 52 reboot occurred. Lois Lane and Clark Kent weren't an item. Dick Grayson, who has always been very well associated with various characters in the DC Universe essentially had no significant friendships or relationships of any sort. Characters that historically had origin stories that were well known and remained unchanged for decades suddenly were unrecognizable. A good example of this is Beast Boy who in the New 52 continuity was red instead of green at some point and was related to Animal Man erasing any trace of his original origin story with the Doom Patrol. There were other changes I resented because it was a downgrade for some characters. Starfire was a character that lost a lot of her personality and was pathetically sexualized in the New 52. This was something I really hated. Even within DC's animated universe has issues when it comes to consistent storytelling. A lot of their films including Justice League vs Teen Titans and Batman vs Robin have scenes that cater to a younger audience and then have subsequent scenes that aren't appropriate for children due to dialogue or thematics. It's like DC couldn't decide who they wanted to market to.

Without giving too much away, I'll say that Rebirth has given us an explanation as to why a lot of the characters in the New 52 are much younger than their pre-New 52 counterparts and why beloved characters like the original red-headed Wally West are missing from this timeline. Some characters and relationships pre-New 52 fans miss are back, which I'm sure many will be happy about (as I am). I'm looking forward to the rest of DC's new Rebirth line. I've read all of the Rebirth one-shots that have come out to date and am excited for future solo series like Nightwing #1 that hits shelves this July 2016. I probably won't be reviewing these titles on this blog, but I wanted to give my opinion so far for any comic book fans that read my reviews. Definitely recommend all Rebirth titles to any DC fan that hasn't picked them up.

The Lost by James Patterson (Witch & Wizard Book 5) Review

I had trouble getting into the last book of the Witch & Wizard series. I was kind of ready to be done with this series when I started reading this book. The main characters had kind of lost their luster for me, especially Wisty because she was immature at times and not self aware. I think she grew as a character by the end of the novel, but it took too long for my taste. It was interesting to see Whit and Wisty's relationship and the struggles they went through as a family caused by the circumstances they were in. I think it really showed that things like war and conflict can separate family because of differences in point of view, but that love is still what precedes any separation caused by conflict. I was happy with this book by the end, but I would give the Witch & Wizard series as a whole 3 stars out of 5 because I think it could have ended two or three books earlier. In a way, it may have overstayed it's welcome as a series.

SPOILER SECTION: Don't keep reading if you haven't completed the book.

Some time has passed since the last book as is revealed in the first few chapters. Whit has moved in with Janine and Wisty and him are helping anyone who is injured on the streets due to the chaos that is the society they are in. Pearl ends up being one of the casualties that they are unable to save. It kind of bothered me that with the large role Pearl seemed to play in previous installments that her death is brief and kind of brushed over. We aren't even shown how she died. I think starting the book with the scene in which she was initially injured so badly would have been a better introduction. It would have helped us understand better how she had her falling out with the main characters much better.

As the book progresses it is obvious that Whit and Janine are pretty much married at this point in the storyline in everything but name. Throughout the book Whit struggles with his role in this war and consistently questions whether what he is doing is right. People in the city fear him and Wisty because of their powers. Whit, having a very strong moral compass, gets to the point that he leaves Janine out of care for the rest of the world and even gives up his powers. I think this helped a lot in showing how Whit's character is self-sacrificing and selfless to a fault. Wisty on the other hand, seems to be blindsided to her point of view on her powers. She does kill people at a certain point in the book and doesn't seem to understand why people fear her. Her lack of understanding and self awareness are what irritate me most about her character. Wisty has trouble understanding that her decisions and recklessness can end up hurting people and placing them in danger. Whit and her eventually have a falling out when he gives up his powers in hopes for peace with the rest of the world. I can totally understand Wisty being upset at his decision, but I can't hate the guy  for doing it because I can sympathize. Whit felt that having his powers was too dangerous for the rest of the world and was willing to give up everything he loved most for the greater good.

Our new villain for this novel is Darrius, who wants to bring Wisty over to his side and is very interested in her powers. He makes for a good villain but isn't necessarily unique from any of the other villains in the book. This doesn't bother me too much because the story focuses on the development of the main characters enough that the development of the villain isn't as important.

I do have to commend the last hundred pages or so of the book. Within the last section of the book, Wisty helps Whit regain his powers and it is revealed that Darrius isn't the true villain of the book, but The One Who Is the One and his son are. The One Who Is the One comes back in a plot twist at the end and plans on having his son prove himself to him by battling Wisty and Whit. However, his son turns on him and Byron ends up sacrificing himself in order to close the portal to Shadowland. This effectively seals away The One Who Is the One together with his son for good. It's kind of bitter sweet, but truly shows Byron may have had his flaws but in the end truly cared for Wisty a lot.

The epilogue is open ended with Wisty giving a final speech after the final battle to a large crowd. There isn't any explanation as to how the government of this new world will be handled. Despite that, I was satisfied with the ending because I think it wrapped up nicely. I genuinely don't think this series should have lasted five books. At most, I think three would have been enough and I'm pretty sure that's the point where Patterson's ghost writer took over the writing because that's when I noticed I had a stark disinterest in the story as a whole. On the bright side, the story does end with a bang. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this series to anyone, though. It's an okay series, but it's not great.

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Batman A Death in the Family by Jim Starlin Review

I read this a while back and it was quite the sad experience. I really like Jason Todd as a character for the reasons many people disliked him; he was completely different from Dick Grayson as Robin. I think this comic book gives insight into the unique relationship Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd have as Batman and Robin as well as father and son. I liked their dynamic because it was that of the "not-so-obedient" son and father looking for his son's best interest. It was realistic and emotionally trying. I think this is a sad but memorable comic book that all Batman fans should be exposed to.

SPOILERS: Don't keep reading if you haven't read the comic book yet or if you mind spoilers.

This is truly the comic book that made me hate the Joker. When I say "hate" The Joker, I mean it because of the emotional pain he caused Batman. The panels with just The Joker and Jason Todd alone as The Joker beat him to a pulp with a crowbar made me cringe in my seat. I was already familiar with the storyline before I started reading the comic book and even when I already knew what was coming, I was horrified. I think the worst part was watching Jason struggle to survive as he tries to leave the abandoned basement that the Joker left him in with the bomb. A lot of times with Batman characters, you forget that they are just kids. I say this when referring to Batgirl and Dick Grayson and pretty much all of Batman's partners in all continuities. I think as comic book readers we forget that they are teenagers when they are they are exposed to some of the most dangerous villains in the world. I could relate to Jason's fear and panic as he slowly awaited his death when the bomb went off and killed him.

I think readers that are parents should be able to relate a lot to Batman when he finally finds Jason's body. On Batman's end when the story is being told, he is racing against the clock because he knows Jason is in danger. It's heart wrenching when he arrives at the scene of Jason's demise and realizes it's too late. He's shown carrying Jason's bloodied and lifeless body surrounded by rubble. It really is terrible. Jason is for all intents and purposes, Bruce's son. The Joker escapes and Bruce is left to take care of funeral preparations and lying to the world about how his son died, essentially.

My final thoughts on this story are that I really like the way the story was done because it allowed me to feel emotionally connected to the characters. I think you know a villain is well done when his/her actions make your blood boil like The Joker. The only resentment I have toward this storyline is that Jason's fate was decided via phone call voting with fans deciding whether he lived or died. Later on it was revealed that someone possibly cheated by creating a program that would call and vote for them over and over again for quite a few hours. Therefore, a single person was possibly responsible for the very small 72-vote margin that determined Jason would die. This makes me upset on a more personal level, but that's just me. I definitely think this comic book has an intriguing story that is truly pivotal to Batman's development as a character. The response readers had to Jason Todd definitely influenced the creation of future Robin, Tim Drake as well as Batman's reluctance to take on another disciple. If you want an emotional father-son story about loss, this is the story for you.

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Batman The Killing Joke by Alan Moore Review

I have to say this comic book was more shocking than I thought. I'm really excited for the upcoming DC animated film, which will be rated R (as it should be). I guess I didn't expect the plot to be dark in the way that it was. I loved being able to see the Joker's past and that he was at some point just an average guy. The dynamic between him and Batman is one of the most interesting elements of the story. Alan Moore truly shines a light on how Batman and the Joker are two sides of the same coin. Way to put a psychological thriller in less than 50 pages of a comic book. That is part of what makes me have a problem with the comic book, though. As important as this storyline is to comic book history, everyone just seems very out of character for the most part and I hate how female characters are often used by Alan Moore simply as a plot point. I also think that the way the Joker is depicted in terms of psychopathy and cruelty is unfair to the character. I'll get into more details in the spoiler section.

SPOILERS: Do not continue reading if you haven't read the comic book yet or if you mind spoilers!

Okay, so when I said dark, I meant like traumatizing. The comic book starts off with Batman going to see the Joker at his prison cell only to discover that there is an imposter there in his place. This sends Bats on a manhunt for the missing Joker. The conversation he has with the fake Joker is really enticing, though. Batman discusses how the battle between him and the Joker can only end with one of them killing the other or both of them killing each other. He confesses that he wishes that there was an alternative before going to search for the real Joker once he discovers the imposter.

Later in the comic book Joker has the infamous scene where he goes to James Gordon's home where Barbara answers the door and is shot in the spine by Joker's gun. She is deemed paralyzed from the waist down later when she is taken to the hospital and given medical attention, possibly for life. Meanwhile, James Gordon is kidnapped by the Joker where he is humiliated and tortured. What really makes all of this really dark is the way it is all done. Barbara Gordon was shot as a way of provoking Batman. The Joker obviously knew he was hitting a nerve when he planned all of this out. During Barbara's medical diagnosis, it is stated that she was found naked and it is strongly suggested that the Joker took photographs of her while she was unconscious and nude (in her genital areas too). This is, unfortunately, confirmed later in the comic. Talk about creepy. I had a discussion with a friend about this comic and what we both agreed on is that the Joker commits a lot of his crimes because he thinks they are funny. This just seems like something he did out of vengeance and hatred toward Batman which is not Joker-ish at all. It's also a disrespect to Barbara to just use her as a plot point to then go on to only focus on Batman and Joker like what just happened to her wasn't disgusting and terrible. Moving on with the story...

James Gordon, now alone with the Joker, is deemed completely nude and tied up. Very BDSM, but in a totally humiliating and unflattering way. James is at an abandoned amusement park where Joker has his minions (or whoever is working for him), take him for a ride on a roller coaster as he is shown large projections on various screens of the nude photographs Joker took of his defenseless daughter earlier in the story. After the ride, Gordon is eventually found by Batman, still naked, in a cage. Gordon is very shaken by the experience and tells Batman that he will be okay, but that Joker needs to be stopped "their way" so that he can be shown that the straight legal path works.

Batman goes to find the Joker and they have their final confrontation in the plot. Batman really fears that their confrontations will eventually end in one of their deaths, which he doesn't want. He offers an opportunity for redemption which the Joker refuses. Joker then tells a joke to which Batman chuckles and he's shown touching the Joker's shoulder as the police approach them.

The story ends in an ambiguous way which I think is appropriate and very Alan Moore. I should mention that flashbacks of the Joker's life before he became Batman's nemesis are given throughout the comic book. He started out as a regular guy working at a chemical plant that quit his job to try and become a comedian. His attempts failed and he struggled to support himself and his pregnant wife Jeannie. He makes a deal to participate in illicit activities to make some money with a group of guys. During one of their meetings, the police come to him to tell him that his pregnant wife died. Devastated, he tries to back out of the plan, but is threatened into not doing so. He goes to a chemical plant with these guys dressed as the Red Hood and falls into a tub of chemicals emerging with his signature bleached skin, red lips, and green hair, officially becoming The Joker. Whenever The Joker speaks to Batman in present day he mocks him saying that all it takes is "one bad day" to change everything. His assumption is on point since "the bad day" for Bruce Wayne was the day his parents were killed in front of him pushing him to become Batman. I feel like I would have enjoyed the story more if it wasn't with these DC characters and with original characters made specifically for this storyline. Even then, it bothers me that using female characters as victims just to further a plot point seems to be a recurring theme in Moore's stories. However, I think this is a comic book everyone should read to gain perspective on Moore's work, but not as an overall depiction of any of the DC characters. Those are my final two cents on this storyline.

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