NG

It's Batman 1.5: Unfairly Great

Revisado: 02-16-25

This is the unseen Keaton/Burton Batman film we never got, and it's unfair it'll never exist in live action!

The story captures the vibes of the '89 movie perfectly, featuring surprising cameos, subtle and brilliant references, recurring characters and a thrilling plot that bridges the gaps between the first two films amazingly well. It would be an unfair spoiler to fully reveal the villains used in this, but they worked surprisingly well in the context of this universe to great effect.

Huge credit to the author who clearly did his homework and must be a huge fan of the Tim Burton films and Batman as a whole. And the narrator also does a great job not only capturing the tones of Bruce Wayne AND Batman; I could easily see Michael Keaton performing these lines in my head!

I would absolutely love to see another novel set in this universe, seeing as how this one does not seem to bump into any of the lore explored in the '89 Batman comics or the movies that follow Batman Returns. Otherwise it's easy to consider Batman Resurrection

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Shallow and Boring YA Novel

Revisado: 03-03-22

Having now seen The Batman movie, I can certainly say this book was a wasted opportunity. It's a very dull Young Adult novel that doesn't really want to explore anything interesting about this world and its characters. Chapters range from 2 to 5 minutes each, meaning hardly any moments or emotion are explored. Nothing about the pathos of Batman is really examined here, nor do we even see him do any real training to become The Batman. Bruce Wayne is so uninteresting as a character here and is given so little to actually do, as is the problem with the other characters throughout the story as well. This is such a shallow and disappointing book that feels rushed and pales greatly in comparison to the movie it's preluding.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Had to give up because of the narration

Revisado: 07-30-21

I enjoyed the movie for the most part and I think the novel is a (mostly) worthy expanding/reworking of what Tarantino wanted the story to be. There are some great moments where we see some deeper insight into the main three characters, but there are also chapters/scenes about background details that QT spent waaaay too much time thinking about. He clearly fleshed out his universe very well.... Yet some parts of the book just devolve into a textbook about Hollywood history, and most of it doesn't add anything to the story at all.

My main problem is with the narration. Jennifer Jason-Leigh is a phenomenal actor but a very bad reader. At times her dry, raspy voice works well for a character like Rick Dalton. Most other times, JJL sounds like she's falling asleep at the microphone. I had to give up on the audio version because her voice finally got to me. Her energy was just madly inconsistent (I would guess she had to record at home/remotely because of the pandemic and there was no director present).

I might pick up a physical copy and finish it some day, but I honestly feel like the audiobook would benefit from a more lively narrator. Or at least a second take.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

NOT who I thought it was

Revisado: 06-13-21

It was NOT noted funnymen Andrew Dice Clay and Stephen Colbert (Late Night guys) as advertised. Disappointed.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Series and Conclusion

Revisado: 06-13-21

Hogan and Del Toro did a fantastic job of creating a new vampire mythology that is very unique from other versions. The human characters were likeable and complex, and the tension was definitely palpable. It's worth noting the way the series wraps up predicted in some ways how the world would respond to a pandemic like that of Covid-19. Overall this series was worth the trilogy journey.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Don't Be Fooled by the Unrelated Cover

Revisado: 04-27-21

As the book clearly states at the beginning of the tale: "This is a horror story." So why the book has a cover like a (beautiful) detective pulp novel makes no sense. The book is not like that all. In fact the people on the cover don't even fit the description of the book characters either, so it's like the cover was meant for some other book and got added on at the last second. Again, gorgeous artwork but has ZERO connection to the story.

The big connection of this story though is to IT, and if you're a Constant Reader you won't find that as a surprise. In many ways it's a semi-sequel to IT, but with a much shorter, contained story. The villains and the themes are really familiar. It's really enjoyable but the ending, as with most King stories, left a little to be desired. Absolutely worth the listen, as the narration is great too!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Not Much of a Mystery

Revisado: 02-22-21

I lost interest in this story because other than some allusions to names/phrases from the Sherlock Holmes mythos, this book really has nothing to it that really honors the namesake.

There's no deduction or mystery solving on the part of "Holmes", he's merely a wacky Ace Ventura-like character that acts like a manchild and bumbles into events. "Watson" is a pretty generic action hero archetype with nothing interesting going on other than a dislike for his road trip buddy, Holmes. And that's all this story is, really... a road trip/buddy cop movie that's not really original, comedically strong, or smart enough to be worthy of being even tangentially related to the world of Sherlock Holmes. The story, like the characters, goes aimlessly nowhere... at least not in any direction that kept me invested.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Alex Rider does brownface in this one

Revisado: 01-04-21

I definitely did not think twice in middle school reading about Alex dipping himself into a bathtub and dying his skin brown so he could go undercover as an AFGHAN REFUGEE?? That was a pretty wild choice, Mr. Horowitz!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Needs a New Narrator

Revisado: 12-19-20

I'm pretty much convinced 6 books into this series that either there was no director present for any of these readings or they just didn't care. Prebble's accents are so inconsistent and off-the-mark, you would think someone on the other side of the booth would stop recording and say "What was that, Simon? Because that wasn't a Russian accent."

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Narration Needs An Update

Revisado: 12-09-20

Either my headphones work too well, or the microphone they used to record did, because you can hear absolutely every sound that comes out of the narrator's mouth. It's like the microphone was right there inside. Thankfully there weren't as many foreign accents in this book because Prebble is really bad at them. He can't seem to pick one specific dialect and pronounces words wrong all the time (like a French person who said "Paris" with a hard "-iss" at the end). Ultimately I'm just venting here because no one else will really understand. The story itself is great, and definitely the highlight of the series so far.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña