Review: Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography by Chester Brown

School is back in session, and I'm in three different English courses, which means I have a crap ton of academic-related reading to do. As such, most of my reviews will be about books I read for class--including this one. (And, bare with me, some of them might sound a bit more academic after discussing them in class for so long.)

Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography is...well, exactly what it says it is. For those of you non-Canadians who are unfamiliar with our history, Louis Riel was a Métis politician back in the 19th century. He helped found Manitoba (the province I live in now), and lead a couple rebellions against the Canadian government for their mistreatment towards the Métis while establishing the Canadian prairie provinces. If you want to learn more about him, you can...well, you can pick up the book, because it does a pretty good job of getting everything across.

Louis Riel is either a hero or a traitor, depending on who you ask. But what I was most impressed about in terms of the book was how Brown managed to, like, not take a side. I mean, he takes a side to an extent--he definitely villanizes the government, and thus sympathizes with the Métis cause. But in terms of Riel himself, he just kind of portrays him in a neutral way. He's careful not to over-embellish his positive traits or his negative traits, and creates the much-needed but often-missed unbiased portrayal of an historical figure.

The reading, though, was a little...dry. This was not written to be light hearted and fun--it's an educational text. The narrative has been changed and shifted slightly from true events, but all changes are recorded in Brown's note section in the back. The comic is very text-heavy (although it does have its silent sequences, too), and the panels are very strictly laid out in a three-by-three grid pattern. Unless you are genuinely interested in learning about Louis Riel and Canadian history, you might not have a fun time with this book. (It does have its moments, though.)

Final rating: 3/5

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

You know that you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever; and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it. - Kiera Cass, The Elite

ALRIGHTY SO HERE'S THE DEAL. This book, along with its successor, may not contribute as detailed reviews as I would like. Why? Because I read both of them almost a full month ago, back to back, in like one day, so they almost kind of blend together.

So Justyne, why drag this out into two reviews? Why not just condense them and save us time and you effort? 

Because, dear reader of mine, they both have completely different ratings for completely different reasons, so shut your trap and let's get started.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SELECTION. 

When America Singer entered the selection, she was still heartbroken over her first love, and completely set against marrying into Illéa's royal family. She never thought that she'd make it into the Elite, the final six of the competiton. She never thought that she'd actually find herself falling for Prince Maxon. She never thought that Aspen would wind up working at the palace, begging for forgiveness, and presenting her with an impossible choice.

The moment that America's decision seems obvious, tragedy strikes that forces her to see her future, and her options, in an entirely new light. With fewer girls competing, the stakes are quickly rising, and her chance to choose is about to slip between her fingers. 

What you'll quickly notice about the first three books in this series is that it does a very low dip--I rated The Selection five stars last year, and (spoiler alert) I rated The One five stars, as well. It's not that this one wasn't good, it was just...frustrating.

So here's what I liked, in a nutshell: I thought it did a decent job of spreading out in the world, of giving a new light to the royal family and their history, as well as giving a better insight into how the societal system was created in the first place. In that regards, it did a good job of expanding on the foundation the first book laid out.

What I didn't like, however, was the complete and utter indecisiveness of our main protagonist.

This is a common complaint, from what I've heard, and it's one of the reasons I was almost scared to continue with the series. She flip flops from one guy to the other so fast it gave me whip lash, and I honestly felt that she was often being unfair to Maxon, and not giving him any of the time or patience that he's always been so willing to give to her.

She also made some VERY QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS about who she spent her time with and what she told other people, which lead to some VERY AUDIBLE SCREAMING on my part, because far too many people were lacking common sense in this novel for my liking.

And yet, I still jumped immediately into the next instalment.

Anyway. Final rating: 3 stars. Stay tuned for the next one!

Until later,

- Justyne