Dear Readers, May was an okay month for reading and catching up on my TBR, I read 5 books this month. I read almost all the books on my TBR except one book.  My ratings for this month are 2 five star, 1 fours star, 1 three star and 1 two star. I read 1 graphic novels this month, 4 books in a series, 1 horror, 2 advance reader copies (thanks to Netgalley).

Five Star Reviews:

In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune is a smart futuristic retelling of Pinocchio. The book is filled with a lot of heart both literally and figuratively. The story is an emotional one with lots of twists and turns. The story is Pinocchio with a combination of Wall-E meets Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The characters are very memorable which makes this story work so well. Rambo is a little robot that I need in my life and was my favorite character by far. This story is a retelling of the classic story Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi but told for a new age with robots. I’m a sucker for a retelling but I need it to be clever as it makes odes to the original, actually being a retelling does not use one element of the story and throw everything else out and call it a retelling, and make changes that honor the original story’s theme. In the Lives of Puppets nails all three of these elements. I got a free copy to read In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune from Tor Books and Netgalley. In the Lives of Puppets was published on April 25, 2023.

Marvel Wastelanders: Star-Lord by Sarah Cawkwell is a Marvel Comics story set in the future. The set-up for this story is the question: what if the bad guys won and Earth was turned into a wasteland? Marvel Wastelanders: Star-Lord has a fantastic beginning that captures the characters of Rocket and Peter Quill (Star-Lord) so well. The banter is perfect as they are instantly in danger and arguing over whose fault it was and how to get out of the situation. The humor is on point and does not let up, I laughed out loud more than a few times. The novel reads at a rapid pace with not many dull parts at all. When there are no action scenes there are humor scenes and sometimes a mix of both making it a very fun read. I read an advanced copy of Marvel Wastelanders: Star-Lord in exchange for an honest review thanks to Aconyte Books and Netgalley. Marvel Wastelanders: Star-Lord by Sarah Cawkwell is published on July 4, 2023.

Four Star Reviews:

Harley Quinn: Ravenous by Rachael Allen is the sequel to Harley Quinn: Reckoning and part of the DC Icons series. The DC Icons series has seven books so far and tells stories before the DC hero or villain became iconic. This book like the last book starts with a flash-forward which we catch up to a little past the point midway in the book. This book is a little slower-paced than the first book at the beginning because Harleen is trying to be good but spoiler it won’t last for long. The best part of the book is how well Rachael Allen captures the character of Harley. The jokes, the inner monologue, the bisexuality, the ADHD, and many more nuances of the one and only Harley Quinn. Harley interns at Arkham Asylum and we get to meet some villains, King Shark, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, The Joker, The Riddler, and Talia al Ghul. We also meet 2 not yet villains in Poison Ivy and the Queen of Fables. Harley Quinn: Ravenous was published by Random House Books for Young Readers on April 25, 2023.

Three Star Reviews:

Goosebumps – How I Got My Shrunken Head by R. L. Stine is book 39 in the original series order. This book has some scares, quicksand, giant ants, a tiger, and people trying to shrink the main character’s head. This book has more than a few twists, some are good and others are not. The beginning is set up like other Goosebumps where the object comes alive and causes trouble, Like in Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes and Night of the Living Dummy 1 and 2, but this is just a setup and not about the shrunken head coming alive. After a setup scene in America the novel is mostly a jungle island adventure either Central America or South America (it is a made up Island name). The novel takes fish out of water turn as it did in Return of the Mummy where it takes a kid out of his element and makes him live in the jungle. This is a good solid Goosebumps not great but good. How I Got My Shrunken Head by R.L. Stine was published on January 1, 1996, by Scholastic.

Two Star Reviews:

Dark Nights: Metal by Scott Snyder is a DC Comics graphic novel event book that brings nightmare forms from the dark universe to do battle with the Justice League. This book introduces The Batman Who Laughs a character that is created from a Batman nightmare where he becomes the Joker. This new villain is an instant classic that will be around the DCU for a while. Every scene with The Batman Who Laughs works well, but he’s not in this book enough. This book is very disjointed from the beginning and gets to about the halfway point until everything starts to click together. The beginning jumps all over the place and then when things start happening I feel like I missed something, or if it was a flashback. Dark Nights: Metal collects DARK NIGHTS: METAL #1-6. Dark Nights: Metal was published on June 12, 2018.