The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff

Are the accidental death of Deshi Li's brother, Deshi sets out to find a bride that will keep him company in the afterlife.  When a woman's body is hard to find, Deshi turns to more desperate means find one.

Deshi Li is the younger son, and clearly his older brother was the favored one.  His parent doted on him.  As the book progresses, we learn about the older son and how he was not quite as perfect as his parents thought.  Deshi struggles with his guilt over the part he played in his brother's death, which he does not tell his parents about.  Deshi Li does not believe in the custom of burying unmarried men with a woman to keep them company, but he is determined to do this for his brother and to give his parents a reason to take pride and comfort in him.

Deshi is a scared and timid character.  We really learn very little about him, even over the entire course of the story.  It's not clear what motivates him, aside from fear of his parent's and guilt about his brother.  What does he want?  What does he hope for?  I have no idea.  We learn much more about Lily.

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can (Goodreads).

The book description makes it seems like there's some kind of supernatural power at work here.  There isn't.  The Kingdom of Little Wounds won a Printz Honor.  It is published by Candlewick, which only publishes YA and children's books.  The Kingdom of Little Wounds is not a YA book.  Not in any way.  I think someone at Candlewick really wanted to publish this, and so it got marketed as YA, when in truth, it is not.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Twins Cather and Wren have been Simon Snow fans since the very first book came out.  More than fans, they both used to write fanfiction, and Cath still does.  In fact, her fanfic is some of the most popular in the entire world.  But now the girls are going to college, and Wren wants everything to be different (starting with not being roommates), and Cath wants everything to stay the same.  But things won't stay the same; things keep changing, and Cath isn't sure if she can make it.

Simon Snow seemed to me a mixture of Harry Potter and Twilight.  It's got the intense, crazy fandom and the massive fanfic network they both have, Harry Potter's magical wizarding world, but with the writing full of descriptions of clenched square jaws and tousled golden hair which is pure Twilight.

I didn't find Cath, our main character, especially likable.  She grew on me, but until I better understood what was going on I just found her sullen and a pain.  She was way past someone who's shy, or a little antisocial, or who's nervous about starting college.  Cath went to extremes to not talk to or interact with people.  Even when they were being nice to her.  Cath was pretty unpleasant to anyone who tried to talk to her.  She had no interest in making new friends, having new experiences or doing anything she hadn't always done before.  She hid in her online world, where she was safe and secure and didn't have to look at or talk to anyone.

The Property by Rutu Modan

After the death of her father, Mica and her paternal grandmother Regina Segal travel to Warsaw in an attempt to claim property lost during WWII.  Regina has not been back to Poland since she was sent away to Israel before WWII.  But Regina is carrying a secret.  She has other reasons for coming to Warsaw.

Rutu Modan is the author of Exit Wounds, which is on my "to read" list and had a lot of positive buzz when it came out.  There's been lots of buzz about The Property too, and it's started showing up on "best of 2013" lists.

We have two parallel stories happening, Mica's and Regina's.  Mica doesn't know what her grandmother's actual purpose in Warsaw is.  All she knows is that her grandmother initially wanted to come to Warsaw to claim this property, but upon arrival she wants nothing to do with it.  Mica sets out to find the property herself.  She has to deal with a snoopy and interfering friend of her aunt's (who has plans of his own) and meets a young Polish man.  All while trying to figure out what on earth is going on with her grandmother.

Spoilers

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Lucy Knisley's most vivid memories are of how things tasted.  She grew up with a foodie father and caterer mother in the middle of New York's blossoming food scene.  Her memoir tells the love story of her relationship to food, and provides many tasty recipes along the way.

Lucy tells vignettes of her life which all revolve around food in some way.  She recalls her quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookies; her trip to Mexico with her mother and her friend Drew's family (their moms got the flu and the two of them ran all over San Miguel eating cheap food); working in a cheese shop like her mother; relating to her father through food.

As well as giving us a picture of her life, Lucy gives us some of her recipes.  Of course, they are told through image and words, it's a comic, after all!  Her recipes include huevos rancheros, veggie sushi (I feel like I could actually make sushi now!), and shepard pie, among others.

At first I thought the art looked much different than it did in French Milk.  Then I realized, no, it's not the art that looks so different, it's the colors.  The style is the same, but French Milk was in black and white, so the lines were much more clear and detailed.  Relish is done in bold, almost muddy colors (I didn't love the color palette), causing the illustrations to appear less detailed.  I still like the style, which is very cute.

Relish is great, because it not only tells the story of the love of food, but also the story of an awkward kid growing up and making mistakes.  Great for young adults and adults alike.

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

Flannery Culp is starting her senior year.  She has seven wonderful friend and one huge crush on Adam Slate.  But Adam doesn't seem interested, Flan's science teacher is harassing her, she's constantly cutting school, drinking absinthe...and Adam Slate is going to be killed on October 31st.  And one of the Basic Eight is going to do it.

It was certainly interesting to read.  It does not take the reader very long to figure out we're dealing with an unreliable narrator.  At the beginning, Flan explains that she's rewriting her journal for publication.  But the past and present get mixed together.  Flan is clearly adding things in after the fact, sometimes it seems like something is part of the "original" journal but there's no way she could have know it at the time.  She also admits to adding things in to "introduce" characters and the like.  So there's no way to tell what's from the past when she was actually experiencing these things, and what's been added in later.

Flan also seems to mix things up sometimes, but again, we don't know if she's mixing things up now or if she was mixing things up then. There's no way to tell.

Spoilers.

Rachel Rising: The Shadow of Death by Terry Moore

Rachel wakes up and digs herself out of a shallow grave.  She isn't sure what's happened.  And why she looks so strange.  And why people are freaking out when they see her.  Rachel is dead.  And she's going to find out who killed her and why.

Rachel Rising is another graphic novel I've been hearing about for a while, due to how awesome it was, but hadn't gotten around to getting a copy.  I have finally read the first issue.  It was pretty awesome.

It's very dark.  People are dying in violent ways.  Rachel wakes up with strangulation marks around her neck.  A man gets --> decapitated in elevator doors.  Yeah, dark and violent.  But not gratuitously so, I didn't think.

The story is a mystery.  Rachel is trying to figure out who killed her and who is behind other people dying.  She sees a strange woman, who no one else, with the exception of a little girl, can see, who seems to show up, and then terrible things happen.  And Rachel isn't the only one coming back from the dead.

The first volume is doing a lot of set up.  It establishes some major characters and raises lots of questions and doesn't answer any of them.  I am looking forward to reading the next volume and seeing where it goes.

The art is black and white ink drawings.  For the most part it's in a traditional panel format.  The darkness of the panels fits well with the tone of the story.

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja and Javier Pulido

Clint Barton is Hawkeye, a self-made hero with no superpowers, but with his incredible skills with a bow and arrow, he was once an Avenger.  But not anymore.  Now Clint wants a little downtime from the superhero life.  But of course the superhero life won't leave him alone.

This was the trade paperback which collected issues 1-5.  It was awesome.  The two series I kept hearing people rave about were Saga and Hawkeye, and after waiting on a wait list at the library FOREVER, I finally was able to read Hawkeye.  It was just as good as everyone said it was.

First off, Hawkeye is a totally fascinating superhero in the fact there is nothing super about him.  He has no superpowers whatsoever.  He's an amazing sharp shooter with a bow and arrow.  And he's pretty good at punching people in the face.  But he's also a regular guy, and living the life he does often ends up in the hospital.  In traction.  I kind of loved that.  I mean, Batman supposedly doesn't have superpowers, but does he ever end up in the hospital like a regular person?  Surely not.  Well Hawkeye does.  And when he gets out, he does it all again.  His tag line seems to be, "This looks bad."

Second: Kate Bishop.  Kate Bishop is freaking fantastic and I love her and she is my new favorite.  Kate Bishop was ALSO Hawkeye for a time, with the New Avengers when Clint had retired.  Then he came back.  Now he and Kate are working together and it's excellent.  Don't worry if you don't know all the Avenger/New Avenger backstory stuff.  I did not either, and there was enough to understand what was happening that it makes a great jumping on point, but also won't bore those who are very familiar with the stories.  Kate is incredibly smart, confident and kickass.  She is just as competent with a bow and arrow as Clint is.  She's young, and kind of has a crush on him, but also doesn't put up with any of his crap.  Kate and Clint make a good team.  Also, she always wears purple.  I like that.  I wear a lot of purple too.

The story lines were a little hard to follow for me, as there's a lot of jumping back and forth in time, but once I figured out that's what was happening it wasn't a problem.  Often a story will open with Clint in some unfortunate situation, like falling out a window, and then we jump back and see how he got there.

The art style is gritty.  There is no bright happiness in this world.  Colors are dark and muted, and everyone looks a little rough.  There isn't a whole lot of detail, especially in the backgrounds.  Things are pretty flat and one-dimensional.  It has a 50s vibe to it, and it all works very well.

I will definitely be following this one as it continues.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples

The native people of the planet Landfall and the native people of Landfall's moon, Wreath, have been at war for generations.  Much of the galaxy has been pulled into the war and forced to chose sides.  Alana and Marko are from opposite sides, but fall in love, run off together, get married and now have had a child.  And now both sides want them dead.

I had heard nothing but good things about Saga.  I finally read it.  It was just as awesome as everyone said it was.  More!  I need more!  And now, please and thank you.  I read the trade paperback, which collects issues 1-6.  There are currently 8 issues out, with the 9 coming out this month.

How can I begin to extol the awesomeness of Saga?  First off Alana and Marko are great characters.  Yes, they have the whole star-crossed lovers thing, but not in an annoying stupid I-can't-live-without-you kind of way.  Although they clearly love each other very much.  They are an equal team, they have each other's back, they are very funny, and they are going to save their child if it's the last thing they ever do.  Alana is tough.  She has a sarcastic edge to here.  Marko seems to be the more introspective and thoughtful, but Alana is the one who pulls him back when he goes into a rage.  Their relationship seems so natural and genuine.  You know, they really seem to care and like each other.

The world is really interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.  There are all different sorts of creatures in this world, since there are all sorts of planets involved in the war.  Alana's people, from Landfall have wings, but don't seem to be able to fly.  Marko's people, from Wreath, have horns and have some kind of magical ability.  There's also a strange planet of robots (but robots that can procreate?  Interesting) with televisions as heads.  The prince of the robot kingdom is one of the one's hunting down Alana and Marko.  He also seems to be suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after being in a particularly  gruesome battle.

Then there are the bounty hunters that have been sent to search for Alana, Marko, and their child, who after much discussion is named Hazel.  The two we meet in volume 1 is The Stalk and The Will.  The Stalk is this incredible looking body of a spider, armless torso and head of women but with spider eyes being, and The Will seems to be a human.  The Will is a confusing man.  He's paid to kill people, but is also trying to free a six-year-old child from the sex-slave trade.

Fiona Staples' illustrations are great, as always.  There's always such detail.  People have facial expressions that fit with their personalities.  People have different kinds of body types.  Not everyone looks the same.  The world around the characters are drawn with as much detail as the characters themselves.  With scenes that are provocative, it never feels explicit or done to titillate.  There is a sex scenes between he robot prince and his wife.  The Stalk is topless.  But these things are not sensationalized.  They just are.  They are part of the world, and they are not there purely to thrill the reader.

Hand shakes all around.  Everyone should read it.  Yes, everyone.  And I need to find myself the next issue.

Summer and Bird by Katherine Catmull

One morning Summer and Bird wake up to find their parents gone.  Following a picture message their mother has left, Summer and Bird find themselves in and underground world of birds, where their Queen, a swan, has been missing for 13 years.  In her place is the Puppeteer, who has plotted to take over, if only she can have the swan queen's robe.  Separated, Summer and Bird go on very different journeys, each seeking her heart's desire.

The story is loosely based on a number of fairy tales where swans can take human form - The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson, or perhaps Swan Lake.  As is typical, a man sees a beautiful woman emerge from the body of a swan (or a seal or whatever) and because of his love for her hides her swan robe so she cannot transform.  Quite out of character, the man realizes this was a cruel move and not one of love and tries to return the robe to his now wife, but the robe is gone, stolen by someone who wants to be the swan queen.  The couple has two children, one who is more bird than the other and wants to be a bird more than anything.  But the children do not know about their mother's secret identity, and that although she loves them she also longs to return to her birds.

My biggest struggle when reading this was the question, "Who is this book for?" and I don't know if it's for a YA audience.  Yes, it focuses on two young girls, but the fact that the girls are so young (8  and 12) and it's not written for middle school students causes me to think even more that this is not a children's book.  It's coming from Penguin Young Readers Group, and it's marketed toward YA, but...it's just not.  Yes, the characters are children, but it's not about the children.

Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson, art by Emma Rios

Luci Jenifer Inacio das Neves, Lucifer for short, is a thief.  An occult thief.  And one who only steals things for the right reasons.  Unfortunately for her, someone from her past wants her to steal something very dangerous, and NOT for the right reasons.  Now Lucifer must steal an object with the power to kill, and put it into the hands of a killer, otherwise the life of the one person she cares about could be forfeit.

This was pretty great.  Lucifer is a character from Fall of Cthulhu, which I have not read but now that I've read Hexed I want too.  Nelson liked Lucifer so much he wanted to give her her own story.  So he did.  This means that there are some references to things that happened before which I did not understand, but that just made me want to find out what happened, it did not disengage me from the story.  Lucifer is smart and capable.  She isn't attached to very many people, but to the one person who she really cares about, Val, (no, it's not a boyfriend!  Just a friend!  A female friend!) she is fiercely protective of and loyal too.  She is put in dangerous and tricky situations, and she works her way out of them.

Lucifer has been Hexed, and we don't learn what that actually means until almost the end of the story.  We also don't know how she got into this business of stealing occult objects.  Lucifer is kind of a Robin Hood figure.  She steals occult objects and returns them to their rightful owners.  She doesn't do this on her own, however.  She is hired to do so.  Many of her jobs go through Val.  We don't know how Lucifer and Val met.  I'm not sure how much more I would know if I'd read Fall of Cthulhu, and how much just hasn't been revealed.  I hope there are many more Hexed stories.  I would really like to continue with it.

For the most part, I really liked the art.  From when the story starts, Lucifer has been working for some time, and when crises strikes she doesn't get to rest.  There are several mentions of how she'd love to sleep or take a shower.  And she looked it.  She looked like someone who was tired and filthy and exhausted but couldn't stop.  I wish people's faces had more expression.  There was a generic flat look, a generic angry look, and a generic smirking kind of look and all the characters, for the most part, worse one of those looks.

There was only one scene that I felt was gratuitously sexual.  Lucifer has to cut into a dead body and jump inside to find the doorway into the world she has to get too.  Before we know that's what she has to do, it set up like she's going to have to have sex with a dead body in order to open the door.  She says "Finding the Carasingth will be the easy part.  The hard part is getting into his lair...It's just that there's this whole "yuk" factor...Sadly, violating the body of a 300-pound dead man isn't the worst thing I've ever had to do on a gig.  But it comes pretty damn close."  And the images are of her taking off her pants and straddling a dead body.  Why did she have to take off her pants?  Why did she have to straddle the body?  So I didn't love that scene.

Also, I wish the cover image were not Lucifer crouching in her underwear.  She's such a kickass girl, why'd they have to use the one image of her when she's partially undressed?  Annoying.

This is definitely for older YA and adult.  I really enjoyed it though and recommend it.

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James

 I would like to forewarn readers that this review is going to be talking about very adult sexual content. I'm sure you've all heard about 50 Shades of Grey and know what this will deal with. There are going to be spoilers and I'm going to be discussing the sexual events of the book. If you do not agree with these, or are averse to these topics please do not read the rest of the review. Naughty words will be used.

Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection by Gail Simone

In this reboot (am I not suppose to call it a reboot?) Barbara has made a miraculous recovery.  After being shot by the Joker in the spine, Barbara was paralyzed for two years.  But then she was able to walk again.  Now recovered, she's ready to be Batgirl once more.  Or so she thinks.  Up against a new villain named Mirror, Batgirl realizes she may not be as prepared as she needs to be.

So I was finally able to get my hands on The New 52 Batgirl.  I was on the library waiting list for months.  So I begin my process of reading the female-focused comics of The New 52.  I know I'm behind the times.  What can I say?  I have a lot to read.

I was pretty sure that new Batgirl was going to be at the very least decent because it's written by Gail Simone, who, as we all know, is awesome.  She was also the only solo female writer on the entire New 52 line.  Yeah.  DC and Marvel still have a tendency to sort of suck in that respect.  They also like to stick their heads in the sand and pretend that women aren't reading their comics, because if women aren't reading their comics, then they don't have to care about them or cater to their needs.

Back to the story itself.  So you have to be willing to take in stride Barbara's new story.  No Oracle, no Birds of Pray, she's back to being Batgirl, but has this traumatic background she has to deal with as she gets back into the crime fighting game.  It isn't easy for her to get back.  She freezes the first time Mirror points a gun at her.  As usual, Gail Simone told great stories with a good mix of humor and action.  There's enough back-story to understand what's going on, but not too much that it drags down the action.

I certainly liked the illustrations much better than when I read Birds of Prey.  There were no tits and ass shots, which I appreciated.  Actually, there was very little gratuitous boob flashing or impossible poses, which was delightful.  Yes, a villain who shows up toward the end is wearing a white cat suit with a lot of cleavage.  But it wasn't too bad and that was really it.  Thank you, multiple people who did the art, for not resorting to hypersexulization but allowing the images and words work together to tell a story.

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Hatner

Raami is seven in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge forces everyone to leave the cities of Cambodia.  Raami, along with the hundreds of thousands forced from the cities, are put into work camps in peasant villages all over Cambodia.  With people dying all around her from starvation or from be suspected of being against the Organization, Raami struggles to survive and stay with what is left of her family.

This was pretty amazing.  It was hard to read, but beautifully done.  Vaddey Hatner chose to write a novel rather than a memoir because she was 5 years old in 1975.  She wanted to have the freedom to tell the story, but everything that happened to Raami happened to Vaddey.

My knowledge of the Khmer Rouge and what happened in Cambodia was very limited.  I knew about Pol Pot, and that millions of Cambodians died, and that was about it.  The problem with history in high school is that no one every gets past the 60s and the Vietnam War.  As we get further and further away from the 60s, we're missing out on learning about a growing chunk of history.  After I'd read the first chapter of In the Shadow of the Banyan I had to stop and go do a bit of background research so I would have a little foundation for understanding.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

In this sequel to A Discovery of Witches, Diana and Matthew have travelled back to the Elizabethan Age in order to find someone to teach Diana about her powers and find the complete Ashmole 782. While Matthew and Diana have rather naive visions of being able to participate in the past without affecting it, as soon as the step into the past they realize that neither one of them is prepared. Matthew's former choices and secrets become a heavier burden than he foresaw, and Diana's modern day independence and historian's eye is a huge hindrance when trying to go unnoticed. As their goals become more hazy and their seemingly small choices make huge changes in the future, one thing remains certain: Diana's abilities and the Ashmole's insight to the genesis of witches, vampires, and daemons, are intrinsically bound together.

If you read my review of A Discovery of Witches, you know that I really enjoyed it: Deborah Harkness creates an amazing secondary cast and really develops a sense of place in her books. You also know I was rather put off by Diana and Matthew's relationship and how it didn't seem to have any foundation to develop. Shadow of Night does an excellent job of quelling those niggles I had about the series. As this book focuses in on their time in the Elizabethan Age, most of the book delves into their own relationship when they don't have to interact with the strong secondary cast that I love. Not to say that this book doesn't have a great cast, but I'll get to that later. At the beginning of the book Diana becomes rather frustrated by the secrets that Matthew has kept from her and his need to protect her by keeping relevant information from her. All the things that annoyed me about Matthew in the first book now annoy Diana too and shockingly they actually discuss them! Like adults! Who knew that could happen in a book with vampires in it? Yes, there is still some whitewashing done to create more depth in their relationship but it's not heavy-handed and it helps the overall storytelling. So thank you Deborah Harkness for nipping all two of my dissatisfactions in the bud.

The Magician's Apprentice by Kate Banks, pictures by Peter Sis

Like his older brothers before him, Baz leaves home to become a weaver's apprentice.  His master is a cruel man, and all the apprentices suffer under him terribly.  Then Baz is sold to a magician for a sword, and his journey truly begins.

This was a quiet and beautiful story.  The language was lovely, weaving beautiful pictures with words.  While it wasn't in verse, it had a rhythmic, poetic feel to it.  Peter Sis' deceptively simple drawings fit perfectly.

This is a learning-a-lesson about life book, so if you don't like those you won't like this.  If you're willing to just let the language and the imagery wash over you, and take whatever you can out of it, you're in for a treat.

Spoilers

One Soul by Ray Fawkes

The life stories of 18 individuals throughout history are told, from birth to death.

This was a fascinating read.  I didn't really know how to dread it when I started.  Every page is a double-page spread divided up into 18 boxes.  Each individual has their own box.  My first read through I looked at all the boxes on each page.  I found myself focusing on particular stories that drew my interest and ignoring others.  You can't keep all 18 in your head the whole time all the way though.

After I'd finished I started going back.  I would take a strip at a time and follow their stories all the way through.  I could keep three in my head at once.  Whenever an individual died, their box went black, and stayed black the rest of the way through, although sometimes there would be a few sentences in the boxes.

The stories span history and geography.  The first box seemed to be a man in an early civilization.  I think there was an Egyptian one.  One who fought in the Crusades.  A child who was left on the steps of a monastery.  One who fought in the Revolutionary War.  One from either WWII or Vietnam, I wasn't totally sure.  We don't just see their adult lives, but from the very moment of their birth.

So many of them seemed to have sad lives.  Life was very difficult for most of them, and people died early, because that's just how things were.  You didn't live very long when you live during a period of constant war and change.  There were moments of happiness as well, of course, but I was definitely struck by how sad it all seemed.  Out of all 18 lives, only one made it to be an old woman.

Was it supposed to be the same soul reborn throughout history?  The title would suggest that, or does it mean that people are contented throughout time?

I would highly recommend getting this one.

Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit by Peter Calloway, Tony Bedard and Andres Guinaldo

A couple of story lines that tell of the new female team of Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy.

I like the fact that this is a very female-oriented and yet not overly sexual. You get to see three strong women who really support and care for each other really kicking ass of those who would try and hold them back. I would like to see more of that done.

Here's what I didn't like: all of the stories pivoted around their romantic relationships with men. The impetus for all the action had to do with either past love or using a woman's emotions against her. Sad. These are three strong famous super villains, they have fantastically complex back stories, and yet they can't seem to step out of the men's shadows. Why? Why can't they go off to take down someone or steal from the mob because they just want to? Does it have to be because Batman's past relationship with Catwoman makes her weak? I just wish it could've allowed for stronger female protagonists. Perhaps in the upcoming comics?

I'll read the next one, give it a chance, but I can't seem to be optimistic that it'll change all that much.

Can of Worms by Catherine Doherty

Although she does not use her real full name (the character's name is Catherine Margaret Flaherty), this is the autobiographical story of Catherine Doherty searching for her birth mother.

This was a mostly wordless graphic novel.  Catherine discovers she's adopted as a child and much later as an adult she begins the search for her birth mother.

One of the things I enjoyed about this was seeing the process Catherine went through in her search.  She began her search in the mid 90s, and it took her three years to track her birth mother down.  It involved hours or research at the library looking a microfiche and library indexes and phone books.  Now, you'd search for people on Facebook or spend some money to do a classified person search and done.

I did find the story a little confusing at some points because it was wordless.  There were some frames that I wasn't totally clear what was going on or what Catherine was thinking about.  When Catherine first contacted her birth mother, the woman denied she'd ever had a child, then a year later she contacted Catherine and they met.  At the end, there was a letter that seemed to suggest that she wasn't eager to meet again, but maybe that wasn't true.  Again, it just wasn't clear what was going on with the birth mother.

Overall though I thought it was a good story and fascinating to follow Catherine on her search.  The art was sketch like and not very detailed, which I think was part of why some frames were unclear.

Killer Princesses by Gail Simone and Lea Hernandez

Faith, Charity, and Hope are three beautiful idiotic sorority girls who happen to also be vicious foul-mouthed assassins for a secret agency that promotes "Better a World Without Genius, Than a World Determined to Conflagration."

I would like to put out for all the world to see that I love Gail Simone. I think she's brilliant, she can do no wrong. Her books always have more depth to them than you expect, and are seriously twisted. I first thought that this would be her attempt to reach out to the young adult group, but I was wrong. So wrong! It's only 88 pages long, but it entertains, disturbs, and makes you think. WHO ELSE CAN DO THAT IN 88 PAGES! There is more violence and swearing packed into this than I saw in Batman: The Killing Joke. And yet it's still exceptional storytelling.

I really enjoyed Lea Hernandez's artwork, it's got a little bit of a manga-vibe to it, but it was totally appropriate for this book. She makes killing adorable.

Let make it clear that this is not for the young or faint of heart. This is pretty hardcore and don't go into it thinking that if you enjoyed Cardcaptor Sakura you're going to like this, because you will definitely not get the same thing from it. Otherwise awesome!