So confession time, I have been doing extremely poorly in my New Year’s Resolution to read two books a month. I had a good excuse, I was finishing my thesis and graduating from film school, but I’m still behind. I’ve taken the beginning of this month to get back to reading, particularly after being reenergized by Y’All West. This edition of Le Noir Auteur reads sees me tackling two genre properties: a comic book about young avengers and the sequel in the Shades of Magic series.
Young Avengers Vol. 1
Given that Captain America: Civil War came out (and was amazing) this month and I have recently finished Young Justice, I thought it might be cool to read the Young Avengers comics. Having ZERO knowledge of these characters and of most comics in general, I find myself lost sometimes but did relish in meeting a different interpretation of the heroes I’ve come to know on screen. Young Avengers is a fun jaunt through a story and they manage to touch on many deep themes without making them ISSUES, however the series did get a bit angsty for me. It also repeated the same beat of them being told not to do the thing and then doing the thing a lot, which grew tired by the end. Still worth the read though.
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
Why does V. E. Schwab happen to good people? This is a question I asked myself after I finished cursing her good name and screaming because of how she eneded this book (the final section is called Catastrophe which is…appropriate). I knew after hearing her speak at WonderCon that I’d be in for an emotional doozy but lord have mercy…I went to bed just stressed out. Other than the pain searing anguish and anxiety, the book was a really fun read. I think Schwab is excellent at world building and having her characters react to pressure packed situations and interact. I know that my faves are in the sure (but evil) hands of a good writer and that’s all you can really ask for.
I reviewed the previous book in the series, A Darker Shade of Magic, here.