Star Rating: 3.5 Stars Borrow it  (or buy for collection)

Won an advanced reading copy from publisher! Paperback.

Definitely not as good as his other work. What a let down. Also, where are the cats??  There are half naked people, cooking, and music but no cats.  The novel is still beautifully written, but the story line is really lacking.  I hate it when a favorite author disappoints!!  I love Murakami’s work. Most of them amble, take long winding roads but eventually do go somewhere. They are lovely, beautiful, pleasant trips that sometimes make you go WTF. While this one was still beautiful to read, absolutely nothing happens  except a teen boy gets thrown out of a group of friends and is basically scared for life. The whole book is him dealing with this. Seriously??? So sad I didn’t love this.

5 Stars, but it

Self purchase for Kindle.

First Impression:  I think I’m going to love this.

Volume 1: The Beetleburg Clank: In which Agatha Clay causes chaos.

Volume 2: The Airship City: Agatha Clay is kidnapped and meets new people in her new surroundings. Chaos continues. Also, includes a mini side story, not really sure what that is about, I found it confusing as I was dropped into the middle of a story.I love Agatha Clay’s character, she is hysterical even if portrayed a bit slutty.  The trolls or whatever the things are (Jagermonsters?) are so flipping hard to understand even when you try to read it outloud. Agatha Clay seems to end up in her underwear a lot. Also love the surprise talking cat.

Volume 3: The Monster Engine:  The dialogue can be a little on the cheesy side, but instead of it being annoying, its rather funny. The pace is really fast and can be hard to follow sometimes.

Complaints:  Forced to read in landscape form and two pages at a time. It makes for hard reading. I’m hoping that maybe the non omnibus versions aren’t in this format. Agatha Clay’s boobs look like they’re implants

Overall this is a great steampunk graphic novel. Finally steampunk I really do like instead of should like but don’t.  Agatha Clay’s character is adorable and fun. The talking cat is great and all of the other characters are pretty funny too. Even the supposed bad guys.  Because an omnibus volume 2 isn’t available, I bought the pdf versions of volume 4-6 to read soon. Can’t wait, this was a lot of fun. Highly recommend.

CAN NOT WAIT. LOVE LOVE LOVE Murakami.

Star Rating:  5 Stars

Netgalley review.

I really like the font, very pretty. Art is computer generated and nice. I like how half of the art is black and white and half is color. And some, is a mixture of both. Cool.  I really like the layout of the book.

This book is a lot of fun.  It tells the story of a young girl trying to make a magnificent thing. She and her pug dog try to make this thing but gets really frustrated. After a break she realizes what is wrong and is able to make her thing.  Its a good lesson to teach kids, that sometimes after taking a break you can see what was frustrating you and you can fix it.  Very well done. Highly recommended.

5 Stars

Netgalley review- on iphone.

First Impression: Loving the art. I love it when the colors completely fill the pages and there aren’t borders.

Minnow is a mermaid who has 49 sisters, all of whom are talented at something, except for Minnow. Minnow is only good at asking lots and lots of questions. One day she discovers a shoe and sets out to discover what a shoe is. She finds out and returns home. Her sisters are dismissive, but her father, King Neptune shows he adores his daughter just like she is.  

This book is so juicy and sweet and amazing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book.