A worthy, faithful companion to the prose novels.
A graphic novel adaptation of the Monsterjunkies YA adventure.
Talon and Pandora Monsterjunkie use their mansion in Foggy Point, Maine, as a sanctuary for rare and endangered creatures. In their care are the pituitary giants Frances and Betty, a pygmy elephant, a sea monster, and a sasquatch named Beau (among many others). The Monsterjunkies keep their lives as cryptozoologists private, fearing that the outside world might exploit or turn violent against them. Yet the Monsterjunkie children, Crow and Indigo, have the normal teenage desires to fit in and have friends. Talon and Pandora bring a few creatures to the kids’ schools for show and tell, dispelling some of the mystery shrouding the family. Indigo befriends a girl named Winter, and Crow eventually hits it off with a trio of classmates after they sneak onto the Monsterjunkies’ property (only to be terrified by Beau). Later, when a group of bullies picks on Winter, Crow and his friends are drawn into an escalating prank war. The lead bully, Ruth, is encouraged by his rich and powerful father, who’s busy using connections to run the Monsterjunkies out of town. Can the family rise above the prejudice of a hateful minority? This graphic novel adaptation by Jay Fotos Studios is delightfully faithful, in spirit and dialogue, to the original material. The art presents wide-eyed, smiling characters who skew fairly close to those found in Archie comics. The color palette is mostly subdued greens and browns, except for bolder colors that help the creatures jump from the panels. Shein and Gates’ important themes of standing against bullies without stooping to their levels and battling homophobia carry over from their novel. There’s also an anti-smoking and -drinking message, as Ruth and his evil father indulge frequently. For the wrap-up, the authors rely on realistic solutions to the Monsterjunkies’ problems—like Talon working less and being more available to Crow—which keeps the characters identifiable (and admirable) to readers of all ages. Fans will surely welcome a follow-up adaptation.
A worthy, faithful companion to the prose novels.Pub Date: March 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-615-99015-6
Page Count: 82
Publisher: Red Anvil Comics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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