The Black Bull of Norroway (Norroway, Book 1)
by Cat Seaton & Kit Seaton
Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: November 13, 2018
THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY is about Sibylla, an adventurous, bold girl who isn’t fazed by anything. And her husband. Who happens to be a 2-ton (I’m guessing) black bull with a horn-span as wide as a full-grown man’s arm-span. The bull isn’t very kind, or very interested in her, but she follows him to the ends of the earth anyways, and meets his dysfunctional family, for the sake of...adventure? That, and to undo a curse that has haunted the land for years.
NORROWAY was supremely chaotic -- I couldn’t tell what was going on half the time, and Sibylla is unfazed to the point of unbelievability, which I feel was due to rushed writing –- but fun. The art was amazing, the character interactions and dialogue were golden, and the plot was really interesting –- based off a classic Scottish fairy tale -- and could’ve been more complete had the writer slowed down and smelled the roses, as it were. Somewhat ironically, the main thing keeping this book together is the illustration. Maire, keeping an eye on Sibylla and her bull-husband Brom from the very beginning, makes for a very unique frenemy. She clearly cares a lot about the well-being of the two other lead characters, but her mission is to separate them and send them through trial after trial. At first, Sibylla is unaware that her older witch friend is the orchestrator of it all, but when she finds out -- again, with very little digesting time –- she immediately starts asking questions without needing more than a few minutes to digest what could’ve been a big twist. Sibylla prefers to get angry about things she doesn’t understand, and immediately desires more information, rather than get flustered for even a second. All in all, I have mixed feelings about this book, but I do think it’s worth reading, for the fantasy of it.
The Beast is an Animal
by Peternelle van Arsdale
Publisher: Margaret K McElderry Books
Publication Date: February 28, 2017
THE BEAST IS AN ANIMAL by Peternelle van Arsdale follows Alys, a young girl whose parents are killed by soul eaters. After losing her parents, Alys goes to live in a nearby town called Defaid, where the adults’ fear of both a creature known as The Beast and the soul eaters seems to have taken over their entire lives. As Alys grows up, she begins to see the danger in the town’s fear of the unknown, and takes it upon herself to redefine the line between good and evil.
In the beginning of the novel, Alys is seven, and readers stay with her until she is fifteen years old. Being able to see Alys’s growth throughout the novel created a personal connection between the main character and reader, and will allow readers to understand her on a deeper level. The entire novel is written like a dark fairy tale, with eerie rhymes about The Beast and the soul eaters woven throughout the story. Fear of these creatures leads the town-members to struggle to accept anybody who may be different from them, while Alys struggles to find the balance between finding herself and caring for others. While some may find that the plot seems slow to unfold, it will give readers time to reflect on the ways they deal with fear, and what it takes to overcome prejudice. Overall, van Arsdale created a dark fantasy world that readers will be left thinking about.
Hunted
by Meagan Spooner
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: March 14, 2017
After her father loses their fortune, Yeva aka Beauty and her family are forced to move to a small cabin on the outskirts of town. When her father goes missing while obsessively tracking a Beast, Yeva, the only one he taught to hunt, is obliged to keep her family alive. However, not knowing how to live without her father, she decides to go after him by hunting down the Beast. Soon she encounters the Beast who forces her to hunt down an unknown force to save him.
In HUNTED, Spooner decides to give a whole new appearance to this classic tale. This retelling of Beauty and Beast presents Beauty as no damsel in distress. She’s independent, brave and totally badass, making her the perfect role model for the 21st century girl. In addition, Yeva and the Beast’s relationship is more relatable than other YA novels, where the leads tend to fall in love right away.
The Wish Granter
by C. J. Redwine
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
In THE WISH GRANTER by C.J. Redwine, Thad makes a deal with the mysterious Wish Granter so that he and his sister Ari ascend to be the King and Princess of the
kingdom. Thad does the best he can to protect his people, but is
restricted by his side of the Wish Granter’s deal. Sebastian, the
new weapons master, helps Ari try to find a way to get Thad out of
his contract, and return peace to the kingdom. The motivation of the Wish Granter, Teague, felt a little weak, such that the extent that he goes to in order to achieve his goal seems like overkill. I enjoyed reading THE WISH GRANTER, which retells a certain fairy tale with a dark twist.
Those who are not familiar with the fairy tale will not understand
what it is based off of until the end of the book, but those who are
familiar with it will be able to figure out the ending. I recommend this to fans of the book CINDER.
