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The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation


My Review:

The Great Gatsby is one of the classics that I somehow missed in high school, and though it is well-loved it was one that I never felt compelled to read. Maybe I just wasn’t that interested in the roaring twenties, but there was nothing about the various descriptions that I had read that pulled me in. I even skipped the film adaptations, I just can’t explain why I had no interest in this story.

Despite that, when I was offered the opportunity to read a graphic novel adaptation, and my husband expressed to me how much he enjoyed the novel, I decided to give it a try. Heavens how wrong I was to skip over this story for so long! I ended up flying through the graphic novel, I ate up the story and immediately ordered a copy of the novel as soon as I finished.

Since this is an adaptation of a piece of classical literature, I will not comment on the story itself since I have yet to read the novel. However, I do want to cover how well this graphic novel does at adapting the story.

The art is excellent, it reminds me of older drawing styles that are fitting for the time period. The pages are beautifully watercolored and are bursting with fun details and color, Gatsby’s parties look whimsical and wild. Where the adaptation suffers is in the format itself, where much of the story is shown to us in pictures instead of told through narrative. There is some dialogue to carry the story, and random blocks of narration, while artfully placed in the background, make the story feel like there are some holes. It makes the reading experience feel a bit like an abbreviated version of the story, showing the major events like a storyboard without any of the detail in between.

Despite this, I feel that a graphic novel adaptation is great because it introduces a wide audience to classic literature in a way that is easy to digest. It helped an uninterested reader like me to take an interest in reading the original work and that I feel is the major goal of any adaptation. In all, I’m thankful to this graphic novel for expanding my horizons, and it is one that I would gladly recommend.


“She was appalled by West Egg⁠—appalled by the two obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a shortcut from nothing to nothing.”


Trigger Warning: Mild Violence, Infidelity


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The Dead House


My Thoughts

The Dead House is a chilling ghost story about a young woman’s descent into madness as she’s swallowed up by the wild Irish countryside. The prose in this novel is absolutely beautiful and paints a stunning picture of a countryside that feels stuck in time, still deeply connected to Celtic tradition. The land is haunted by the tragedy of the Great Famine, where over a million people died of disease and starvation.

When I had read that there was a ouija board in the synopsis I’ll admit that I rolled my eyes. I quickly found that I was mistaken in my pre-judgment of the novel. This book had some genuinely tense moments that made me feel uncomfortable. The writing style is suffocatingly atmospheric, like the land itself is evil, not just the house.

“Something about this landscape, beautiful as it was, inspiring as it must have been with its rare light and aura of ancient magic, troubled me at an almost primal level.”

My only major gripe about the novel was that Mike’s character felt inconsistent. The first half of the book makes such a big deal about how important Maggie is to him and how much he cares. Yet when it’s clear that she’s not well he’d sooner deny and run. Maybe this was intentional, but it just felt like it went against everything his character was built up to be.

Overall though this is a pretty decent read for horror lovers, especially those interested in a little bit of Irish mythology. I picked this book up on a whim and I’m glad that I did, I was enthralled by the story and flew through the pages wanting more.


Warnings: violence


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Ultimate Sacrifice


My Thoughts

A small town and a grisly ritualistic murder followed by whispers of a prophecy and sacrifice – the prospect of this book is terrifying. Ultimate Sacrifice is a young adult novel about a teen girl that finds herself and her family in the middle of a murder investigation with some horrifying implications. The book begins at a running start and keeps up a fast pace for the entirety of the book.

I could sympathize with Vickie and the stress of having her family flooded with hatred and negative press, the pressure of suddenly being in the spotlight, and suspected of the most heinous crime imaginable. I liked that the book showed realistically what something like this can do to a family and to a person’s sense of personal safety, making them question everyone and everything around them.

“How is it possible that any of this even exists and that I’m halfway convinced that it does?”

The hints at a cult in their small town were also seriously creepy, and the more that Vickie dug around the more uneasy I felt at what she was finding. It reminded me of the old slasher films I grew up watching from the 60s, 70s, and 80s with how weird and uncomfortable the town and its inhabitants were. The story definitely takes on a dark and disturbing tone and it only gets worse and worse, but I loved every minute of it.

Now the version that I had was riddled with errors, missing words or ones that I can only assume were auto-corrected and it was a bit off-putting. I was given a copy for a blog tour a few weeks before release, so I can only hope that it has been corrected for the full version. I also have to acknowledge that it’s a tiny bit predictable, but at the same time I kept telling myself that it couldn’t be what I suspected, I didn’t want it to be, so it did a good job of filling me with dread and making me feel invested in the story and characters.

This has got to be one of the fastest most fun reads I’ve had in a while. I enjoyed myself thoroughly despite mild issues, and while it deals in some pretty gruesome topics I think it’s a decent horror thriller for a young adult audience. It’s perfect for the Halloween season and I strongly recommend it.


Warnings: disturbing sex scene, death


four-stars