REVIEW: Razzle Dazzle Unicorn: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure (graphic novel) by Dana Simpson

Razzle Dazzle Unicorn is humorous fantasy. It's the fourth volume in the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

It's Winter, which means Christmas. We get some tree ornament stuff, Phoebe worries about wasted time and starts journaling on her laptop to keep track of the things she does, Marigold gets "sparkle fever," and Phoebe has to take the bus again for a bit. We learn that unicorns have ad-blocking power. Marigold and Phoebe read the same book together (and enjoy it more that way). Marigold helps Phoebe clean her room. Then it's Summer and back to music camp.

This series is still great, still cute.

Extras:

A few pages on Dana Simpson's creative process, and a glossary. 

REVIEW: Fourth Wing (book) by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing is a blend of fantasy and romance. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Violet Sorrengail had intended to enter the Scribe Quadrant. Instead, her mother, a general, forces her to enter the Riders Quadrant where, if she survives, she'll become a dragon rider. For Violet, who's always been physically fragile, this is pretty much a death sentence. Honestly, for many people this is a death sentence - there are lots of opportunities for cadets to die before they even get a chance to bond with a dragon, and the dragons themselves aren't exactly safe to be around.

All Violet has on her side is her wits and advice from her sister Mira, a talented rider. She'll need everything at her disposal in order to survive, especially when she learns Xaden Riorson is one of the wingleaders in the Riders Quadrant. Violet's mother killed Xaden's father, and now Xaden has the power to make Violet's life miserable and set her up for an early death.

REVIEW: Over My Dead Body (graphic novel) by Sweeney Boo

Over My Dead Body is a blend of fantasy and mystery. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This takes place at the Younwity Hidden Institute of Witchcraft. Years ago, a foundling student named Karla disappeared into the woods near the school and was never found. Now, the same appears to have happened to Noreen, another foundling. Noreen's mentor, Abby, can't stop obsessing over her disappearance and becomes determined to find her, even if it results in her own expulsion. 

The world-building here is light at best. Where do all these foundlings come from? It's never explained. What's the world outside the school like? Also not explained.

Still, the mystery was interesting, and I liked the animal familiars. Also, the artwork was beautiful. 

REVIEW: Love 4 a Walk (graphic novel, vol. 1) by Nuria Sanguino

Love 4 a Walk is romance. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

Pam's previous boyfriend was annoyed at their Doberman Bob's behavior and told Pam "It's me or that thing!" She chose Bob. Now she's trying to figure out how to deal with Bob's separation anxiety and other issues.

Enter Tyler, Pam's next door neighbor, who agrees to spend time with Bob during the day (he works nights as a bartender) and help Pam train him. He'd heard Pam and her ex's fights and could relate to and respect her decision to choose her dog over her ex. He himself seems to have had some past relationship issues, and he now has a spoiled Shih Tzu who hates it anytime a woman is close to him.

Tyler and Pam start to feel drawn to one another, but they both have issues they'll need to deal with - Tyler and whatever happened with his ex, and Pam and her bad habit of easily falling in love.

REVIEW: Ava's Demon, Book 2: Aftermath (graphic novel) by Michelle Fus

Ava's Demon is science fiction. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

At the end of the previous volume Ava (or at least the being inhabiting her) massacred a bunch of Titan followers. In this volume, Ava freaks out when she realizes it wasn't all just a dream and really happened. But the biggest thing that seems to bug her isn't so much all the death, but rather the fact that it makes other people dislike/fear her. 

Gil, a devoted Titan follower, is now a wanted criminal. Readers finally learn more about where Odin comes from, more character relationship info is unveiled, etc.

REVIEW: Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball (nonfiction graphic novel) by Jon Chad

Pinball is a nonfiction graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This graphic novel follows the history of pinball, from Bagatelle to early pinball that had no flippers (1920s and 1930s) and beyond. There was a "think of the children" reaction in the 1940s, and another legal challenge in 1976 (people didn't like pinball's possible links to gambling and delinquency). Eventually, people chilled out, and the rest of the book is about pinball technological innovations, storytelling and design innovations, coexistence with arcade video games, and the near death of pinball in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

I did not realize there was so much to the history of pinball. Honestly, a bit more than I was ready for.

Anyway, the one thing I noticed was never mentioned: pinball video games. I imagine the author doesn't view those as real pinball because there's no true physicality to it.

The author's love for pinball shines through. There's so much here, including a glossary, pinball machine anatomy, tips, sources, and a website designed to help you find the nearest place to play pinball (pinballmap.com). This ends in a way that makes pinball's future sound assured - that said, reading this left me with the realization that it's been literal decades since I've seen a pinball machine in person. 

REVIEW: Why I Adopted My Husband (manga memoir) by Yuta Yagi, translated by Katie Kimura

Why I Adopted My Husband is a manga memoir. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Yuta Yagi and Kyota are a gay couple in Japan. Because gay marriage isn't legal nationwide in Japan, in order to get legal protections similar to a married couple, the two of them utilized a loophole by having Kyota adopt Yuta. In addition, this allowed them a way to not actually come out to most family - Yagi came out to his mom, but otherwise both men just presented this adoption as a convenient way to protect themselves in the future while technically still leaving them both with the option to marry women. (I had to wonder how dense some of their family members were if they all really believed the "we're just close friends" explanation, but I guess willful blindness is a thing.)

REVIEW: Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel (graphic novel) by James Howe and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin, based on the novel by Deborah & James Howe

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel is a horror comedy based on the children's book originally published in 1979. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is told from Harold the dog's POV. Harold's human family brings home a bunny they found in a movie theater showing Dracula. Weird things start to happen, and Chester, the family's cat, is convinced that the bunny, named Bunnicula, is somehow getting out of his cage at night and sucking vegetables dry. In the morning, all that's left is white veggies. Chester becomes consumed with defeating Bunnicula and thereby saving mankind. Harold, meanwhile, doesn't see anything harmful about Bunnicula, even if it does turn out to be true that the bunny is some kind of vampire.

I'm sure I must have read the book this was based on at some point, but I can't remember much about it except the basics. I can't say how the original book and graphic novel compare, but I thought this was a fun read overall. Some of the artwork is hilarious, like the vet with the shot. I also liked Harold's design - he looked like a kindly older gentleman, a good match for his personality.

REVIEW: Be Prepared (graphic novel) by Vera Brosgol

Be Prepared is a blend of fiction and memoir. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The author's note explains that the events of this graphic novel aren't true in all respects. It's all true in terms of the emotions, though, and Brosgol played up the best bits some. So, autobiographical fiction, I guess.

Anyway, Vera is 9, almost 10, and feels like she doesn't belong. She's the not-well-off child of a Russian immigrant and an absent dad. She thinks going to Russian camp over the summer will give her a place to fit in, but her tentmates are older and already friends, and the camp outhouse is awful. She does have a nice camp counselor and eventually becomes friends with a younger girl, but it definitely isn't an easy journey to the good stuff.

REVIEW: Remina (manga) by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen

Remina is sci-fi horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

A Japanese scientist discovers a wormhole that spits out a strangely moving planet and names the planet "Remina," after his 16-year-old daughter. Remina the girl then becomes popular and reluctantly agrees to become an idol. Unfortunately, Remina the planet seems to be eating the stars and planets nearby it, and now it's headed towards Earth. Everyone goes batshit insane, and many decide that the only way to save the Earth is to kill Remina's discoverer and his daughter.

I want an xkcd style look at what would actually happen in this situation. I'm betting people would die a lot sooner, and there would be no survivors. But then we'd all lose out on a lot of the craziness.

Anyway, there are no answers here as to what Remina the planet really is, besides incredibly freaky. As usual, Ito's horror strongly features eyes, tongues, and screaming young women.

This was nuts in a way that kept my eyes glued to the story, even when things got gross. Although, honestly, there are grosser Junji Ito stories out there.

REVIEW: Dissolving Classroom (manga) by Junji Ito, translated by Melissa Tanaka

The Dissolving Classroom is a collection of horror manga stories. I bought my copy used, I think.

Review:

The first five of the seven stories included in this are connected by a brother and sister duo. The brother, the older one of the two, spends all his time apologizing. His sister is a psychotic little monster with wide eyes and a creepy smile.

"Dissolving Classroom" - The introduction of Yuuma Azawa and his sister Chizumi. Melting brains and devil worship. Meh.

"Dissolving Beauty" - Yuuma is living in yet another town, dating girls and melting their faces with his profuse insistence that they're beautiful. Again, meh.

"Dissolving Apartment" - Residents of an apartment worry that the newest residents are abusing their children, creepy Chizumi and polite Yuuma. People dissolve. Meh.

"Chizumi in Love" - Chizumi falls in love with a little boy and wants to lick him, so she and Yuuma kidnap him. This one is gross. I mean, they're all pretty gross, but for some reason this one was particularly "ick" for me.

"Interview with the Devil" - The siblings are hunted down by a reporter, based on a tip from the sole survivor of Story #1. For some reason, Yuuma seems to be genuinely afraid, despite his ability to literally melt people with his apologies. Chizumi and Yuuma never really did much for me, and I was glad to be done with them.

"The Return" - Some guy's dead love comes back to "life" via an asteroid that smashes to Earth and then kills her again. Or something. Not scary, just weird.

"Children of Earth" - A bunch of kindergarteners are changed and swallowed up by the Earth. Creepy, but too brief.

All in all, this was probably my least favorite Junji Ito volume I've read so far. 

REVIEW: Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image (graphic novel memoir) by Siobhán Gallagher

Full of Myself is a graphic novel memoir. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Gallagher looks at her childhood, teens years, twenties, and beyond, writing about her struggles with internalized fatphobia, her insecurities, and more. She starts off convinced that if she gets good grades and gets a job in New York, she'll end up with a boyfriend and live happily ever after, but happiness isn't as easy as checking a few boxes, and life doesn't always turn out the way you think it will or should. This deals with depression, cutting, loneliness, disordered eating, body dysmorphia, drinking, etc.

There's not really a lot here about how Gallagher stopped cutting and bingeing and purging - those things just sort of faded from the narrative. Body image issues and how she tried to deal with them got more detail - positive affirmations, following body positive accounts, etc. She reads her childhood diaries and has a sort of dialogue with her past selves.

Overall, this was okay. It read a bit like a much longer, less in-your-face self-harming version of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. 

REVIEW: A Cat Story (graphic novel) by Ursula Murray Husted

A Cat Story is a one-shot fantasy graphic novel. I bought my copy new.

This review includes spoilers. 

Review:

This follows a pair of dock cats in Malta named Cilla and Betto. When Cilla is told a story about a quiet garden where all cats are welcome, they (I can't remember if Cilla's gender was ever mentioned) become obsessed with finding the door to the garden. Betto is more reluctant but goes along anyway to keep an eye on Cilla. Their journey is partly depicted as taking place through famous artworks.

Cilla and Betto were charming. Unfortunately, their journey didn't work quite as well for me, and I absolutely didn't expect that moment of horror when I finally realized what Dolce (a wise older cat who Betto recognized wasn't giving any concrete answers) meant when they said that the door to the quiet garden could be found in Gozo. Spoiler: Dolce was talking about death. 

So yeah, this got a bit weird and creepy, but Betto and Cilla were both fine in the end. Cilla experienced some disappointment, but that was about it - I don't think that cat even came to the same level of understanding that Betto eventually did.

I enjoyed the artwork, but for the most part this graphic novel seemed fairly pointless to me.

Extras:

There's a multi-page note at the end about all the famous works of art that were referenced throughout the story.

REVIEW: Shino Can't Say Her Name (manga) by Shuzo Oshimi, translated by Molly Rabbitt

Shino Can't Say Her Name is a one-shot manga. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Shino Oshima has just started high school. She has a bad stutter, especially in anxiety-inducing situations or with words that begin with vowels (like, for example, her surname, Oshima). Unfortunately, starting high school means introducing herself in class, and she gets made fun of when she turns into an anxious, stuttering mess. 

Shino eventually befriends a girl named Kayo. Kayo plays guitar, but when she tries to sing and sounds terrible, Shino accidentally laughs...and learns that her new friend has previously been made fun of for being tone deaf. The two of them form a band, with Shino realizing that she is able to sing without stuttering, and try to practice getting out of their comfort zone by performing on the street. This, however, leads to another shake-up in their budding friendship.

REVIEW: Layers: A Memoir (graphic novel memoir) by Penelope Bagieu, translated by Montana Kane

Layers is a memoir in graphic novel form. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I decided to read this because I enjoyed Bagieu's graphic novel Brazen. This memoir deals with lots of different topics: female friendships, grief, girls' struggles with our bodies (wanting to be seen, but not objectified). I really appreciated Bagieu's empathy and love for her younger self.

There's a bit near the beginning where teen Bagieu and her boyfriend had sex and she freaked out later on when it burned to pee. She and her boyfriend made an appointment with a gynecologist, who then found herself having to explain the basics of safe sex to these two naive youngsters (the boyfriend went to a Catholic school that replaced a semester on sex education with geology, and Bagieu's knowledge wasn't much better). I couldn't help but think about the teens in my area who could probably use the very basic information in even just these few graphic novel panels. Unfortunately, this volume is going to end up in my "donate sometime between now and never" box because it talks about and (gasp) depicts teen sex, and my Dean of Libraries would worry that it'd be in violation of Texas' SB20. It was frustrating enough arguing (successfully, I think) that Heartstopper didn't violate SB20 and shouldn't be removed from the collection.

Some of the vertical panel stuff was a little hard for me to follow, but overall I enjoyed this. 

REVIEW: Strange Houses (book) by Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion

Strange Houses is a Japanese mystery. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The narrator has a friend who's considering buying a house but who wants the narrator to look over the floor plans first, because something doesn't quite feel right. The narrator enlists the help of Kurihara, who works for an architectural firm. Kurihara notes some oddities in the floor plans and somehow jumps from those to "This was a murder house in which the previous owners used a small child to commit murders." The narrator writes about the house, without identifying where it is, and yet is then contacted by a woman who not only seems to know which house it is, but who has identified another house with similar oddities. She believes that her husband was murdered by the former owners of both these properties. This eventually leads to the identification of a third house with oddities in its floor plan.

REVIEW: Manga for Success: Resilience, Confidence, & Positive Thinking (nonfiction book) by Koji Kuze, scenario creation by Yoko Matsuo, artwork by Koromo Asato

Resilience, Confidence, & Positive Thinking is another entry in the nonfiction "Manga for Success" series, which combines manga and text portions to communicate concepts. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I like this series' format - alternating text sections and manga sections helps make topics that might otherwise bore me to tears a little easier to deal with. In this case, the manga sections follow Reisa Suto, a 27-year-old woman who recently changed jobs and is now working at an advertising agency. She's super stressed and feels like she keeps doing things wrong. Her supervisor seems to do nothing but criticize her. The one bright spot in her day is when she's on her own time and can try out local cake shops. Then Hasegawa Gou takes over as director for one of the project Reisa is working on and messed up, and she's shocked to learn that this confident person was her laid-back senior in college. With Hasegawa's help, Reisa learns to change her perspective, keep an eye out for her assumptions, and accept help from others when she needs it.

REVIEW: Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, Vol. 1 (book) by Ishio Yamagata, illustrations by Miyagi, translated by Jennifer Ward

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers is a blend of fantasy and mystery. I bought my copy of this first volume new.

Review:

In the world of this series, there is a sealed Evil God that periodically reawakens and threatens the world. Whenever that happens, six powerful warriors are chosen by the Spirit of Fate to go up against the Evil God. Each warrior is literally marked with a crest called the Crest of the Six Flowers. This should, theoretically, make it easy to tell who the six warriors are. Except that, this time around, there are seven people with crests, and now they're all locked in the same area together. Which one is the imposter?

This is one of those light novel volumes I've owned for years and only just got around to reading. By this point, certain volumes are now out of print, so if I wanted to continue with the series, I'd have to hope for library checkouts. A bigger issue is that the series seems to be on hiatus, with no new volumes released in Japan since 2015. 

REVIEW: No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson (nonfiction book) by Gardiner Harris

No More Tears is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book unravels Johnson & Johnson's decades-long image as an admirable and ethical company, one product at a time. It starts with Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder and Tylenol, then moves on to Procrit (a medication used to treat anemia), Risperdal (an antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia and aggressive behavior in elderly patients with dementia and children with autism), Duragesic (an opioid pain patch), and the Ortho Evra birth control patch. It wraps up with medical devices, such as the Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant and the Prolift vaginal mesh, and Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine. This isn't just a book about one company, however. It's a look at the at the many failings and corporate loopholes present in the FDA and American healthcare system.

REVIEW: Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection (manga) by Naoki Urasawa, translated by John Werry

Sneeze is a collection of short manga stories by Naoki Urasawa. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I'll review this like I usually do anthologies, one story at a time.

"Damiyan!" - A yakuza member hires a weird duo, one of whom supposedly has supernatural abilities, to kill someone. This was quirky and weird, but didn't quite feel finished.

"Throw Toward the Moon!" - A psychic homeless guy tells a kid that he's going to win a Pulitzer one day. The kid grows up bitter and angry because the prediction led him to expect better things, but now he's stuck as an obituary writer for a small paper. When he learns that the psychic wrote up his own obituary and expects to die soon, he decides to get back at the man by proving that his claims are false and correcting his obituary. I thought this was one of the better stories in the collection. Not great, but not bad.

"The Old Guys" - A Bob Dylan appreciation comic, I guess? There's no story here, just nostalgia. And not my brand of nostalgia, so this one didn't end up appealing to me at all.

"Henry and Charles" - Two mice, one of them dumb and one with a tendency to lie about his accomplishments, go on an adventure to sneak past a cat and steal a piece of cake. This was a fun little comic that reminded me of old school cartoons like "Tom and Jerry" - no wonder, since apparently Looney Tunes cartoons were part of Urasawa's inspiration for the story.

"It's a Beautiful Day" - A tribute to Kenji Endo (Enken), a Japanese folk musician. The comic features an experience that Enken once described to Urasawa, in which he and his bandmates saw a stripper with a snake one evening and then saw her again during the day, pushing a stroller (which they assumed contained the snake??) and looking much like their album cover. Again, there was an element of nostalgia here that I didn't share.

"Musica Nostra" - Urasawa's LA music travelogue, with some Beatles stuff and observations about rock guitarists. Meh. This read like a bonus author's note manga at the end of a volume.

"Kaiju Kingdom" - A French kaiju otaku travels to Tokyo to see kaiju and falls for a kaiju researcher whose parents were killed by kaiju. This was another weird and quirky one that I, for the most part, enjoyed - there was some joy in the moment I realized that the main character wasn't just a delusional nerd who thought fictional characters were real. This was a world in kaiju actually existed. The story didn't manage to stick the landing for me, though.

"Solo Mission" - Some sort of sci-fi guy has to go out and save the universe, and his wife is terrified for him. This one turned out to be the setup for a ridiculous little joke and was mildly amusing.

Some of the stories were stronger than others, but overall this was just so-so. After reading Urasawa's much heavier and darker Monster, the humor and general quirkiness here took me by surprise. 

Extras:

Includes author's commentary for each of the stories. 

REVIEW: The Long Walk (book) by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman

The Long Walk is a dystopian survival book. I borrowed my copy from a coworker.

Review:

This dystopian novel follows the five or so days of the Long Walk, the "American pastime" in which 100 teen boys must walk at least four miles an hour for however long it takes until only one of them is left. Any boys who drop below the minimum speed or who break any of the other various rules are given a warning. After three warnings, they're shot. Acquired warnings drop off after a few hours of walking according to the rules. The "winner" gets, I think, whatever they want and some cash. Honestly, by that point it really doesn't matter.

REVIEW: Waneella: Pixelscapes (nonfiction book) art by Waneella/Valeriya Sanchilo, foreword by Ikumi Nakamura

Waneella: Pixelscapes is an art book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book collects the pixel art of Waneella (Valeriya Sanchilo), a Russian artist who started posting her art on Tumblr starting in 2013. There's a foreword by Ikumi Nakamura and further text by Sanchilo herself.

Sanchilo discusses growing up in Russia, her artistic influences, her life as an art student trying to find her style and figure out her future path, and more. There are also some "process" pages for several of her artworks, in which she talks about how she went from her initial sketches, to figuring out the layout and color scheme, to completing the work.

The "process" pages don't include quite as much detail as I might have liked. Also, there were several pieces of artwork that I wish had been given more than a three or four inches of space. That said, Waneella's artwork was lovely, and there were still a decent number of pieces that got full pages devoted to them. When she talked about having her father create background music for her YouTube videos, I ended up looking her stuff up online. Much more of it was animated than I expected, and the animations affect where viewers' eyes are drawn - one thing that, unfortunately, the book couldn't really get across very well.

REVIEW: Manga for Success: Managing Change (nonfiction book) by Kazuhiko Nakamura, artwork by Yoko Matsuo

Managing Change is nonfiction with occasional educational manga sections. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I have so many forgotten books laying around. I was at a work lunch talking to someone about their dissertation, which deals with employee retention, when I remembered that I still had several volumes of the Manga for Success series to read. This particular one, which deals with Organization Development, would have been perfect for the person I was talking to. It discusses how to handle workplace issues that are rooted more in the human side - motivation, trust, team relations, the energy and atmosphere of the workplace, etc.

As is the case for all volumes in this series, this alternates between text-heavy sections and edutainment manga sections that illustrate the principles discussed in the text. In the manga portions, readers follow Chuji Sakigake, a store manager at an automobile company who's been sent to a dealership branch that is doing well on the surface but that has deeper issues that are causing a lot of employee turnover and a general bad atmosphere. Sakigake works with Nanako Mizushina from the Organization Development Team to see the problem, hold a serious discussion, and then implement small changes in order to build towards a better future in which the dealership is in a continuously self-organizing state and work is more cooperative.

There were no magical beings or ghosts in these manga sections, which was a little disappointing (I could have used a little more wackiness). Instead, this turned out to be a pretty straightforward warm and fuzzy business story. Everything worked out neatly, and employee resistance was relatively easily overcome with a few discussions that led everyone to realize they were all on the same side, working towards customer satisfaction. 

It's a decent enough book, just very, very earnest. At the end, the author says that it's primarily intended for managers and HR employees, which makes sense, considering how the Organization Development process is supposed to go. 

REVIEW: Gimme a Kiss (book) by Christopher Pike

Gimme a Kiss is a YA mystery/thriller originally published in 1988. I bought my copy new.

This review includes slight spoilers. 

Review:

Jane Retton is a teenager who uses her diary to imagine a slightly better life for herself. In her diary, when Kirk, her friend Alice's ex-boyfriend, asked her out, it was super-romantic and perfect. She's in the process of writing about their perfect first time having sex (in reality, Jane has never had sex) when she's interrupted. She forgets to put her diary away, which, unfortunately, soon leads to Patty, a cheerleader who hates Jane's guts, getting hold of the most recent entry, making copies of it, and passing it around school.

Jane is deeply humiliated. It doesn't help that Kirk doesn't deny the events mentioned in the diary and adds fuel to the fire by confirming that the handwriting is Jane's. But then Jane has an idea, a way to temporarily get back at both Kirk and Patty. Except something goes horribly wrong. Now Alice, one of Jane's friends, is the only one who can say what really happened. But did she actually know everything, and is she telling the police the full truth?

REVIEW: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (book) by Matt Dinniman

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook is the third book in Dinniman LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Carl and Princess Donut have made it to the fourth level, "The Iron Tangle," with Katia, a lost member of Hekla's group, temporarily added to their party. A few differences between the fourth level and earlier levels: the whole level is train-themed, for unstated reasons no one can go to the next level early, top crawlers (like, for example, Carl) have bounties on their heads, and crawlers can now get sponsors.

The Iron Tangle is a complicated mess of train lines. In order to make it to the next level, Carl and his party members are going to have to figure out how the lines work, how to make use of the trains, and what special tricks the Borant Corporation has worked into the whole thing.

REVIEW: Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 3 (book) by Priest, illustrated by Ying, translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy

Guardian is Chinese m/m romance (danmei) that blends urban fantasy, mystery, and historicalish fantasy. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

I actually did well this time - immediately after finishing this, I sat down with pen and paper and tried to write down what happened. And even then it was hard, because this stuff was complicated and I don't know nearly enough about Chinese culture.

Anyway, this is the final volume of Guardian, and everything comes to a head. Technically, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are a happy couple, but under the surface all is not well. The dead and the living aren't meant to be together, and just being around Shen Wei is gradually killing Zhao Yunlan. The Great Seal is about to break, and when it does, all life will be exterminated. Zhao Yunlan refuses to stop searching for some way to make everything work out and keep Shen Wei by his side.

There was a lot going on in this volume. Lin Jing got sent to investigate a life-stealing case (or something) that resulted in mass disappearances, and Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi and other SID employees ended up having to try to help. Guo Changcheng foolishly agreed to help a ghost with a kidnapping case. Ghost Face, Shen Wei's twin, raged at the difference in the way things turned out for him vs. Shen Wei. More mythological knots were untangled. Some Netherworld big shots tried to convince Zhao Yunlan that he needed to die in order to save everyone.

REVIEW: Minesweeper (nonfiction book) by Kyle Orland

Minesweeper is a nonfiction book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This is my second Boss Fight Books read. I wasn't sure if the author could manage to wring an entire book out of Minesweeper and make it interesting besides, but he did it. The book started off by looking at the precursors to Microsoft's Minesweeper and then moved on to Microsoft's journey with the game, including the worry on the part of executives and others that it wasn't "serious" enough for Microsoft's business-focused reputation. Employees playing games when the could be working? The horror! Imagine what it could do to productivity! The author then looked at the relatively small but devoted competitive Minesweeper community that sprouted up, and the issues around determining the "best" Minesweeper players. 

REVIEW: Mothman's Merry Cryptid Christmas (picture book) by Andrew Shaffer

Mothman's Merry Cryptid Christmas is a fantasy picture book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Mothman is considered an ill omen, so when Santa asks him to take over Rudolph's duties and lead the sleigh while Rudolph is on vacation, he's somewhat hesitant to agree. What if he really is an ill omen and ruins Christmas? A pep talk from a friend helps him decide what to do.

This rhyming picture book is a sort of parody of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." As the very beginning states, it can't really be sung to the tune of that song. It's still fine as a rhyming picture book - I read it aloud to my cat and we both enjoyed it.

I liked Shaffer's interpretation of Mothman, with his little stick arms and legs and enormous red eyes. The image of him munching on a used sweater made me laugh. All in all, this was cute, sweet, and a little weird, a perfect read while I frantically finished crocheting a Mothman toy to gift to someone.

The book ends with a Q&A section for adults that answers a few Mothman-related questions such as "Is Mothman real?" and "Why does Mothman have bird wings?"

REVIEW: Pikachu's Nighttime Adventure (picture book) by Rikako Matsuo

Pikachu's Nighttime Adventure is a fantasy picture book. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Pikachu invites Eevee and Dedenne over for a sleepover. Eevee scares Dedenne into thinking ghosts are around, but thankfully the creepy thing outside the window turns out to just be Mimikyu. Mimikyu wants to go to the top of Dark Sky Mountain but is too scared to go alone, so the whole group goes together, experiencing a few frights along the way that turn out to just be other Pokemon.

I was charmed by Matsuo's first Pokemon picture book, so when I saw Gengar on the cover of this one, I knew I needed to read it too. This time around, readers are presented with multiple nighttime scenes, first too dark to see anything but ordinary rocks and plants and then lit up to reveal the Pokemon hiding everywhere.

REVIEW: Dogs of War (book) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Dogs of War is science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Rex is a massive humanoid dog Bioform, a cybernetically and genetically enhanced being created to be a military weapon. He's deadly enough on his own but is also packed with weaponry, and his voice is designed to instill fear. He's the leader of a group of Bioforms that include an enhanced bear named Honey, an enhanced reptile named Dragon, and a hivemind composed of enhanced bees called Bees. All he wants is to be a Good Dog, but what does that mean? 

His whole life, being a Good Dog has meant doing what Master tells him to do. Master tells him who the enemy is, and then Rex and his team kills the enemy. Things become more complicated, however, when Rex and his team's connection to Master gets broken off and Rex is left to decide on his own who is and isn't the enemy and what actions he needs to take to be a Good Dog.

REVIEW: Leech (book) by Hiron Ennes

Leech is a blend of gothic horror and science fiction. I bought my copy new.

Review: 

A young doctor has been sent to a remote chateau to both replace the baron's previous doctor and figure out what killed the original doctor. What neither the baron nor any of his people know, however, is that the new doctor and old doctor are essentially the same person. For generations, the Institute from which all doctors come has been run by a parasitic hivemind.

The new doctor has no memory of how the old doctor died or what killed them. This shouldn't be possible, and it makes this situation unnerving in a way the Institute and its many bodies has never experienced. 

REVIEW: Dinosaur Behavior: An Illustrated Guide (nonfiction book) by Michael J. Benton, illustrated by Bob Nicholls

Dinosaur Behavior is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This book covers, in fairly brief chapters, dinosaur physiology, locomotion, senses and intelligence, diets, and social behavior, with mentions of specific research or studies that contributed to what we know about dinosaurs and how they lived their lives. Overall, this is an accessible read intended for teens and general audiences.

There were times I wished Benton had gone into more detail or spent more time on certain topics. In general, though, I really enjoyed this. I already knew some of what it covered from having read other related books, but there were quite a few details that were new to me, and Benton did a good job covering it all in a way that was interesting and easy to follow. 

REVIEW: Tombs: Junji Ito Story Collection (manga) by Junji Ito, translated by Jocelyne Allen

Tombs is a collection of short horror manga stories. I bought my copy new.

Review:

This starts with the title story, "Tombs," which is a blend of Junji Ito's body horror with a side of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It takes place in a town where bodies naturally turn into tombstones if not disturbed. I liked this story well enough.

Next is "Clubhouse," which stars three friends. Two get possessed by warring spirits in an old clubhouse. This was, for me, the weakest story in the collection.

"Slug Girl" - This is just pure body horror, a story about a girl whose tongue turns into a slug. The grossness of it worked for me.

 "The Window Next Door" - A young man is haunted by a horrific older lady who lives next door. The story is pretty basic. It's the artwork that really sells this one.

"Washed Ashore" - A giant dead sea creature washes ashore. This one felt weirdly unfinished.

"The Strange Tale of the Tunnel" - A tunnel that absorbs people. Meh. This was another weaker entry.

"Bronze Statue" - A woman spies on others via a bronze vanity statute she had made of younger, more beautiful self. We've got murder, art, and a descent into madness.

"Floaters" - People start producing floating hairballs that tell everyone their deepest secrets. This one was okay.

"Bloody Story of Shirosuna" - A town of sick people, and a weird underground horror that's trapping them all there.  

This wasn't one of the stronger Junji Ito collections I've read, but, as usual, Ito's artwork is horrific enough to make up for a few weaker storylines. Here we have people bleeding from their pores, crazy-eyed main characters, horrific rotting corpses, and more. 

REVIEW: Ew, It's Beautiful: A False Knees Collection (graphic novel) by Joshua Barkman

Technically, Ew, It's Beautiful is more of a comics collection than a graphic novel, but whatever. 

Review:

The humor in this only worked for me occasionally, and I don't recall any of it actually making me laugh. That said, I loved the artwork, and I enjoyed the derpy birds, Barkman poking fun at humans, and the few cats here and there.

Barkman's visual representation of a Common Loon's call was perfect.  

REVIEW: Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 2 (book) by Priest, illustrated by Ying, translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy

Guardian is a Chinese m/m (danmei) fantasy series. I bought my copy of this volume new.

Review:

I really need to be better about taking notes, especially if it's going to end up being weeks or months before I finally write my review.

The first half of this volume has a feel similar to the previous one - we've got an urban fantasy series with a weird supernatural mystery, and Zhao Yunlan and his people have been called in to help. This time around, it's hospital patients writhing in pain that seems to have no physical source.

By the second half of the volume, however, we're neck-deep in the mythology of this series, as Zhao Yunlan learns more about what Shen Wei has been hiding from him, and what his and Shen Wei's connection to "Kunlun" is.

I have to admit, I would have loved it if the series had stayed like volume 1 and the first half of this volume, exploring supernatural mysteries while Zhao Yunlan flirted wildly with a blushing Shen Wei. The mythology in the latter part of this volume was difficult for me to follow, and I'm somewhat concerned that the next (final!) volume will be more of the same. 

Extras:

Two full-color illustrations at the start, black-and-white illustrations throughout, and an appendix with a character and name guide and a glossary. 

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Cosmic Chaos! (graphic novel) written and illustrated by Mike Maihack

Spider-Man: Cosmic Chaos! is the third work in the Spider-Man focused "A Might Marvel Team-Up" series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Spider-Man takes the dolphin talisman to Silver Surfer, who tells him that Rocket (Guardians of the Galaxy) may have some useful info about it. It turns out that the talisman was one of seven given away as prizes in cereal, and together they are all-powerful. Unfortunately, Spider-Man starts accidentally collecting them.

It's weird seeing Rocket in a series like this, aimed so much at little kids. He's practically tame here. 

Again, we have a very nice and fluffy story. In this instance, being nice saves the day, multiple times. Spider-Man is all about avoiding battle and just helping people out. Instead of shooting enemies, try giving them a casserole.

I think this is the end of the Spider-Man "A Might Marvel Team-Up" stuff, although a poster included with my book set makes it look like the series might be continued with Iron Man as the focus. 

All in all, this was chaotic and crammed with Marvel characters who rarely got a chance to do much more than show up, but still an okay read. 

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Quantum Quest! (graphic novel) written and illustrated by Mike Maihack

Spider-Man: Quantum Quest! is the second work in the Spider-Man-focused A Might Marvel Team-Up series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

The Fantastic Four show up and ask for Spider-Man's help with locating Namor's lost/stolen city. This will involve finding a dolphin talisman (seen in the previous volume). Although Spider-Man (and Mike the pigeon) manages to find the talisman with Ant-Man's help, the situation rapidly becomes weird. It seems that everything is getting drawn into the quantum realm for some reason.

I don't know much about She-Hulk, but this volume leads me to believe that fourth wall breaking is one of her things. At any rate, there is a good bit of fourth wall breaking, as Spider-Man's flips literally flip the book (readers are encouraged to turn the book as needed in order to properly follow the story).

I didn't like this quite as much as the first volume, but the interactivity helped to somewhat make up for that. In addition to all the book flipping, there's a Seek-N-Find activity that's surprisingly difficult - I never did find three of the items.

Each volume seems like an effort to cram in as many characters (particularly ones from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) as possible. Here we've got She-Hulk, Moon Girl, Shang Chi, Moon Knight, Ant-Man, etc. 

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Animals Assemble! (graphic novel) written and illustrated by Mike Maihack

Spider-Man: Animals Assemble is the first work in the "A might Marvel team-up" series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

J. Jonah Jamison is losing it over pigeons, and there's a villain in Central Park causing problems. Spider-Man keeps expecting to be asked to help fight the villain but is instead asked to watch out for an increasingly ridiculous number of superhero pets.

This was cute and light, very much written for kids but still appealing to me, an adult. There are occasional animals in danger, but none are harmed (even though things didn't look great for the goldfish for a while). There's definitely a goofy tinge to the story, as Nick Fury, for example, literally pokes his head out of a mailbox.

There's a dolphin talisman mentioned near the end with no info about whether it's a reference to something readers should already know and recognize or part of the set-up for a future volume. It turns out to be the latter, but there's no "to be continued" at the end of the volume to let you know this.

All in all, I liked this and wish some of the pets could have gotten more page-time. 

REVIEW: Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea (nonfiction graphic novel) by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher

Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea is a travelogue in graphic novel form. I bought my copy used, I think.

Review:

In 2001, Guy Delisle was allowed into North Korea to work on an animated cartoon. He spent about two months there. This work is a travelogue of his experiences.

His hotel room was located in one of the three hotels meant for foreigners. Although he was only in North Korea for a couple months, he met several people who had been and would continue to be there for years. He was accompanied by a guide and/or translator almost everywhere he went, which included a few sightseeing and museum trips, although there were a few places (the restaurants, I think?) where only foreigners were allowed.

REVIEW: The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt (graphic novel) script by John Allison, art by Max Sarin

The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt is a blend of comedy and mystery. It's technically a sequel, but there are no references to the first work, so it can be read entirely as a standalone.

Review:

Shauna's Uncle Jim has allowed her to borrow his boat, which she is now using to take a leisurely vacation. She lasts about three hours before her poor knowledge of knots and the distraction of a handsome young man result in great big scratches down the side of the boat. 

In order to earn the money necessary to fix the boat, Shauna decides to stop for a while and work for the handsome young man's mother's quilting shop. When her new employer's electric car catches fire, the woman is convinced that the culprit is her business rival, Pat Price. 

While Shauna loves investigating mysteries, this one gets her tangled up in multiple sets of loyalties. Can she figure out who the saboteur is, and also get her boat fixed?

REVIEW: Heaven Official's Blessing (Tian Guan Ci Fu): The Comic (manhua, vol. 1) original story by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, adapted and illustrated by STARember, translated by Mimi

Heaven Official's Blessing is danmei with fantasy and historicalish elements. This is the first volume of the Bilibili manhua adaptation of the story. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I think this is now the third format in which I've experienced this story. It follows Xie Lian, once the beloved crown prince of Xianle, now a god who has ascended three times and been banished from the heavenly realm twice. 

Xie Lian's third ascension caused some damage that he is being allowed to pay for with whatever merits he earns investigating a case for the Heavenly Emperor. There have been reports of brides being snatched from their wedding processions around Mount Yujun. The culprit is being referred to as the "Ghost Groom." Xie Lian has been tasked with finding and stopping this Ghost Groom.

This volume covers the whole Ghost Groom storyline, up to the revelation about what's under Lang Ying's bandages.

REVIEW: The Auctioneer (book) by Joan Samson

The Auctioneer is a blend of suspense and, I guess, horror. I checked my copy out from the library.

Review:

I can't remember how this book made it onto my radar. Maybe some sort of "small-town horror" list? Anyway, this is focused on the Moore family, made up of John, his wife Mim, their four-year-old daughter Hildie, and John's elderly mother. The Moores get by okay, doing work for others in the town of Harlowe and occasionally selling some butter and crops, but they're not wealthy by any means. Even so, when the police chief stops by to tell them that an auctioneer has moved into town, and would they like to donate something to an auction he's planning in order to pay for more deputies for Harlowe, they find a few things to donate.

The problem is that it doesn't just stop with that one request, and as Harlowe gets more deputies, the requests feel more and more like demands. Perly, the auctioneer, is all smiles and charm, but it seems like an awful lot of "accidents" have been happening to those who don't donate. 

A large chunk of this book is John and Mim worrying about the next week's request to donate and fighting about how far they're willing and able to let this go. Initially, they have enough junk that's broken or that they don't regularly use that it's easy for them to find stuff to give. And there's an element of peer pressure in it as well - it's to help Harlowe, so sure, why not donate a few old wheels or whatever?

As things progress, however, the Moores are faced with donating things they actually still treasure, and then things they still use. Peer pressure was part of the issue, but I got the impression that Mim was also kind of dazzled and flattered by Perly's attention, at the start. (Unless I misinterpreted things, it sure seemed like John was ragingly jealous.) When the flattery stopped working, word about the "accidents" started getting around.

REVIEW: Mesozoic Art II: Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals in Art (nonfiction book) edited by Steve White and Darren Naish

Mesozoic Art II is an art book. I bought my copy used, I think.

Review:

This was one of the books that caught my eye when I was on a Bob Nicholls kick. I haven't read/seen the first book, although I plan to.

This book features full-color artwork from 25 paleoartists. The full list: Andrey Atuchin, Rebecca Dart, Simone Zoccante, Brian Engh, Natalia Jagielska, Min Tayza, Bill Unzen, Beth Zaiken, Frederic Wierum, Simone Giovanardi, Curtis Lanaghan, Edyta Felcyn-Kowalska, Anthony J. Hutchings, Haider Jaffri, Lewis Larosa, Gaëlle Seguillon, Henry Sharpe, DJ Washington, Rudolf Hima, Stieven Van der Poorten, Ramón M. González, Maija Karala, Ashley Patch, Mattia Yuri Messina, and Bob Nicholls.

Each artist had a brief bio and then several pages of artwork, some of it full-page and some of it smaller, but all generally large enough to see everything well (there were only one or two pieces that I recall wishing were larger). Each piece included a caption that identified the species of animals and plants depicted, along with a little relevant info from recent research (aspects that the artist depicted particularly well, research that supports the artistic decisions made, etc.).

This was an awkward book to hold, but the large size meant that the artwork got a lot of room to shine. Much of it was intended to be realistic (sometimes to the point where it felt like you could reach out and touch feathers and scaly skin), although there were a few more stylized pieces. All in all, this was really enjoyable to look through.

REVIEW: Barbarian Lover (book) by Ruby Dixon

Barbarian Lover is sci-fi erotic romance. It's the third book in Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians series. I bought my copy new.

This review includes spoilers. 

Review:

Of all the women stranded on this planet, Kira is most likely to hold herself apart from everyone. While many of the other women hope they'll find a mate among the sa-khui (and therefore a firm place in their new community), Kira knows she won't, for reasons she's afraid to reveal to her alien hosts. When she was a child, she contracted an illness that left her infertile.

Initially, the translation device that the other aliens surgically implanted on her ear gave her some useful skills. Now, however, she's aware that she needs to find some other way to be useful in case her infertility is discovered. Unfortunately, the translation device is proving to be more and more of a burden. It not only gives her painfully sensitive hearing (she is embarrassingly aware of who is having sex with whom), it also seems to be a way for the original aliens that were going to sell her and the other women as sex slaves to track her.

To protect everyone, Kira gets permission to travel to the remnants of the sa-khui spaceship to see if there's anything there that can remove her translation device. Easy-going and cheerful Aehako is one of the aliens who agrees to go with her and protect her - largely because Aehako is interested in sad-eyed Kira, even if their khui haven't resonated.

REVIEW: The Best Competitive Multiplayer Games (nonfiction book) by Ryan Janes

The Best Competitive Multiplayer Games is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

In this book, Janes discusses the gameplay and appeal of 60+ competitive multiplayer games. As in his other book, The Most Relaxing Video Games, everything is covered in alphabetical order, and each game includes information about when it was released, its publisher, developer, genre, number of players, and the formats/systems on which it can be played at the time of the book's publication. Each game also includes numerous full-color screenshots. 

I really liked Janes' book on relaxing games. I'm not sure he was the best person to write this book, unfortunately. I don't play a lot of competitive multiplayer games, but my dad does, and from watching and talking to him, even I know there are certain titles that would likely be included in a lot of lists of "best competitive multiplayer games" that weren't included here, although they were sometimes mentioned in Janes' write-ups of other games. For example, Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite aren't on Janes' list. It's tough to tell without a tally of all the genres mentioned, but it felt like the book was fairly heavy on party games in particular. A few shooters were mentioned, but I suspect Janes isn't as interested in that genre.

Another problem with this book was that the editing was horrible. Comma usage was a mess, and there were multiple instances of homophone confusion.

All in all, while I still generally liked the way Janes talked about the appeal and gameplay of individual games and appreciated the screenshots, this wasn't nearly as good as his other book. 

REVIEW: The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story (nonfiction manga) by Marie Kondo, illustrated by Yuko Uramoto, translated by Cathy Hirano

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up is nonfiction. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I haven't read Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, but I assume that this manga includes the same tips and principles as the book, just in a different format, with some edutainment aspects. Here, Marie Kondo has been hired by a new client, Chiaki, a 29-year-old sales rep in Tokyo, to learn how to clean up her fantastically messy apartment. 

Kondo's method requires you to divide the contents of your home up into categories: she recommends Clothes, then Books, then Paper, then Miscellaneous Items, and finally Sentimental Things. First, though she wants you to think about the kind of life you'd like to live in your home - it's a way to focus your priorities and then start to gear your living space towards those priorities.

REVIEW: Psycho (book) by Robert Bloch

Psycho is a horror/thriller. I bought my copy new.

Review:

All Mary was thinking when she drove off with the money that she was supposed to deposit at the bank for her workplace was that she and her boyfriend Sam could finally afford to get married. Sam would probably have questions, but Mary figured she'd think of something. It wasn't like she was getting any younger.

Unfortunately, she took a wrong turn on her way to Sam's and ended up at the Bates Motel, a small, run-down place. Norman Bates, the manager, is odd and kind of pitiful, but he's nice enough to provide her with a sandwich before she settles down in her room. What she doesn't realize is that Norman is a mess of repressed desires, a middle-aged man who has spent his whole life under his mother's thumb and doesn't expect that he'll ever get out.

I've seen Hitchcock's movie and decided it might be nice to read the book it was based on. Aside from some character appearance differences (the original Norman had much less in the way of movie star charisma and was instead an overweight 40-something) and an additional death that I don't recall happening in the movie, the two are very similar.  

Overall, I enjoyed this, although, as with the film version, I had some issues with the psychological aspects.  

REVIEW: Dead of Winter (book) by Darcy Coates

Dead of Winter is horror. I bought my copy new.

Review:

Christa is trying to recover, emotionally, after an incident in her past that left her struggling with depression. She's in therapy, and she now has a wonderful and supportive boyfriend, Kiernan. Kiernan convinces her to join him on a two-week trip to the Blackstone Alpine Lodge to have the kind of winter experiences he grew up with. Christa suspects he's going to propose to her.

Unfortunately, the bus to the lodge encounters a tree on the road. While the group's guide, Brian, stops to try to deal with the tree, Christa and Kiernan wander off a bit. They don't intend to go far, but the weather soon becomes worse than either one of them expects. They're suddenly lost in the snow. Then they're separated, and the only one the tour group finds is Christa. The tree couldn't be moved, so everyone is now holing up in an abandoned hunting cabin.

Christa, who almost certainly has frostbite, desperately wants to go looking for Kiernan. Brian tries to humor her, but it's already too dark and visibility is just too bad. He tells her they can try again in the morning. Unfortunately, when morning comes, it's discovered that Brian has been beheaded - his head is in a tree near the cabin, and his body is nowhere to be found. 

Is there a murderer among the survivors, or is someone outside hunting them? As more people turn up dead, no one knows who can be trusted.

REVIEW: Silent Hill 2 (nonfiction book) by Mike Drucker

Silent Hill 2 is nonfiction, book 27 in the Boss Fight Books series. I bought my copy new.

Review:

I've never played any of the Silent Hill games before. I've seen the 2006 Silent Hill movie, and I've read a bit about Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, and Silent Hill f in social media posts, but that's the extent of my knowledge. When Drucker told readers, at the beginning of this book, to go play the game if they hadn't already done so, I knew I wasn't going to be doing that. I don't have the nerves for horror games, no matter how much some of them intrigue me.

Thankfully, Drucker then went ahead and explained the game's story and characters in detail. From the sounds of things, he went pretty much scene by scene as players would experience the game. It was interesting and enjoyable reading, and probably the closest I'll ever get to actually playing the game besides maybe a "Let's Play" video or something.

Drucker analyzed the game's characters and various aspects of the story and gameplay, mentioning the first Silent Hill game and the Resident Evil games for comparison (I once played 20 seconds or so of a Resident Evil game, so my knowledge there is about the same). He also went through and analyzed the various endings and what players had to do to achieve them, looked at how the game was marketed, and talked about how efforts to remaster the game changed the overall experience of it.

This is my first exposure to Boss Fight Books, and I hope all of them are this good, because this is exactly the kind of focus and detail I'd like to read about individual games. The analysis was interesting without, usually, being too dense to follow, and it gave me a solid appreciation for the game. There are no pictures of any sort (if you want to know more about the marketing Drucker mentions, you have to look it up yourself), but it makes up for it with really solid and thorough text.