Tag: the-she-hulk-diaries • BookLikes

review 2018-10-08 02:30

I'm generally not a reader of comics, but I do enjoy the Marvel and DC properties on the big and small screen. So, I was interested in this one even though Bruce Banner/the Hulk is a character I'm fairly ambivalent about. This book is about his cousin, Jennifer Walters.

Jen is good at her job, but also has self-esteem and some anger issues in regards to her alter ego She-Hulk. At the beginning she was a bit hard to like for me; she was (IMO) shallow, immature. Her best friend Dahlia was also. By the end, she was a little better.

I didn't like the big focus on getting a boyfriend. There is a bit of a love triangle with Sven and Ellis. I didn't like that Ellis was engaged to Amber. Amber, was also a BITCH (because of course she has to be, right?).

Didn't care for the fashion show fat shaming. Interesting story-line regarding ReplaceMax with cloned organs. Just not enough for me and ended up a little disappointed.

This fits in very well with the "New Adult" genre. But based on a comic superhero/sci-fi/supernatural elements. Thus far, I've noted there are very few NA books I've actually liked. As a result, I generally avoid them.

Booklikes Bingo: 13 square (this book was published in 2013 and it was 13 in the ISBN #!)

read-2018 halloween bingo 2018

Like Reblog Comment

review 2013-09-21 13:37

The She-Hulk Diaries

Litchick's Hit List

To be honest, I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. I thought it would be a fun read with some action and drama and some sort of crazy evil villain trying to take over the world.

What I didn’t bargain for and what I was pleasantly surprised by, was how frigging hilarious it was. No really. This book was LOLno LMFAO not extreme enough…ROFLMFAOOHMYGODMYRIBSHURT funny. Don’t let the comic book beginnings fool you, this is definitely a book for a mature and decidedly female audience. This book is classic Marvel meets Sex in the City.

One thing you should know about me is that I am into comic books, secretly wish I was a superhero, get into legitimate arguments about why Star Wars is infinitely superior to Star Trek and work with dudes that make Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory look like a social extrovert am sort of “nerdy”.

If you’re looking solely at that then it would make sense that I loved this book, however I also have a lot of literary pet peeves. I’m pleased to say that this book was surprisingly free of the tropes and stereotypes I expected to find.

Our main character is the decidedly non-Mary Sue-esque Jen, aka She Hulk, aka Shulky. Her life is in shambles because of her alter-ego, she’s dateless, jobless and sometimes even a little spineless.

Her best friend is a foulmouthed horndog of a pixie named Dahlia who vaguely resembles an anime character with her propensity to match her contact lenses to whichever color her hair is currently died. Their friendship was so refreshing. They give each other good advice, rely on each other and trust each other implicitly. I’ll say it again; HOW REFRESHING. And every time the two of them were together I was gigglefitting. Their back and forth was truly hilarious…and dirty, in a good way.

Then there’s Ellis Tesla, one of the loooooove interests *waggles eyebrows*. When he walked back into Jen’s life this book went from giggling funny to choking on laughter funny. Jen has this incredible self deprecating sense of humor that I absolutely LOVED. Oh God, it was so awkward. There’s just the small problem of his shark of a fiancé Amber, whom you’ll hate. And that brings us to the other love interest. Dr. Morigi of the beautiful face and the dubious character. I’ve come to fear all mysterious doctors that I meet in the Marvel world and with good reason. Nuff said.

The book follows Jen through her resolutions to make her life better, her confusion over Ellis, the trial she’s working on in support of her client Dr. Morigi and against the organ cloning company ReplaceMax, and her investigation into the identity of a mysterious new villain and a mysterious new hero.

Will everyone love this? Hmmm…me thinks not. There are quite a few story lines in here. There’s Jen’s love life, Jen’s work life, Shulky’s ‘work’ life, Shulky’s social life, the emergence of mysterious new bad guys, the strange and ominous ‘Happy’ that seems to be infecting all residents of NYC (which prompted me to assume: THE END IS NIGH!) and also the innumerous name drops of other Marvel characters that you almost need to have read the comics to really understand.

Because of all this the book might come across as all over the place to some people. It didn’t bother me. I was too engrossed in what was going to happen next on all fronts and with so muchgoing on the story never had time to drag. It was continuously interesting or hilarious or awesomely awkward or action packed.

Then there’s those pesky Marvel purists. I’m sorry. I love the classics but I don’t want to read the same shit over and over and OVER again. I want new, I want fresh and this book was both of those things for me.

Purists however, are purists and this book is a deviation from what you’ve previously seen of Jen and Shulky. So be warned.

One last thing. I originally rated this book two stars because there's a body shaming scene 4/5ths of the way through that really irked me. Since it's been a while since I read it, I've calmed down enough to edit my original review and remove the rant concerning this scene. Just be forewarned that it's in there so if you have issues with body shaming you may be annoyed.

Like Reblog Comment

review 2013-07-09 00:00

shiori

If I could give this zero stars, I would. This was honestly one of the worst books I have ever read. A banal, simpering reimaging of Jennifer/She-Hulk as a dime store Bridget Jones knock-off that delivers more Tyra Banks appearances than actual laughs. Or plot. Or logic.Full review to come, but seriously, run screaming from this dreck while you have the chance. There isn't enough alcohol in the world to make this book tolerable.

Like Reblog Comment

review 2013-06-28 00:00

Genosha is for lovers

Here is a quote from someone who gave a positive review to this book, "Don’t let the comic book beginnings fool you, this is definitely a book for a mature and decidedly female audience. This book is classic Marvel meets Sex in the City."

Besides placing quote marks around "mature" and "female" this pretty much sums up why I'm giving it a negative review.

By the way, Marvel, a huge part of your fan base is female and so you don't need to pander to what marketing companies tell you women are like by changing our favorite characters.

Like Reblog Comment

review 2013-06-27 20:40

The She-Hulk Diaries

In Libris Veritas

Source: Hyperion/Netgalley – I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I received no compensation.
Publisher: Hyperion
Series: -
Edition: Egalley, 336 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository *
*I receive a small monetary kickback from Amazon purchases
Rating: 3.5/5

With the completion of Rogue Touch I immediately jumped right into The She-Hulk Diaries, because one kick-ass super-heroine is just not enough. Two isn’t really enough either but since these are the only two out right now, I suppose I’ll have to make due.

The She-Hulk Diaries surprised me by focusing on Jennifer Walters instead of putting all the attention on her green counterpart. Jennifer is a talented attorney and thanks to a transfusion (from her cousin Bruce aka Hulk) now has the ability to shift into a very large and very lively green woman with the ability to crush almost everything. I really loved that Jennifer is really down to earth and pretty geeky at times, she’s not necessarily shy but compared to She-Hulk (affectionately called Shulky) she really does seem that way. I also really liked She-Hulk’s personality overall and I liked that Jennifer feels kind of at odds with it. It really is a co-existent battle of personalities and this book explores how Jennifer copes with the alter ego while trying to live a normal life, and it even delves into self-acceptance and discovery.

The romance is one part comedy, one part frustration and one part swoon inducing. Jennifer has a rather goofy outlook on her dating life and it’s one of her Valentine’s Day resolutions to find a potential husband. Even though the hunt for a male kind of bothered me Jennifer is a goofball and I couldn’t help but enjoy watching her develop (in some cases destroy) relationships with some of these guys. The frustration comes in when she goes into default lawyer mode and starts acting like relationships are business meetings, I get why she does it but I just want to shake her back into reality. There are also times where you can really see how much Jennifer self-depreciates herself and it’s kind of heartbreaking that she’s willing to change for someone, especially since Shulky would probably break someone before trying to mold herself into someone else. It’s great to see that development happen.

We do get a taste of the other characters from the Marvel universe, though most of them are more of side mentions or telephone calls but it’s nice to have that connection anyway. There is also a dose of superhero mystery/crime to figure out and it’s great to see She Hulk in action in a few scenes. Jennifer’s best friend Dahlia is a loon and at first a bit put off with her tunnel vision (she focuses on men quite a bit) she really becomes kind of endearing after while. The biggest issue I had with this was the thin line between casually funny and immature that wavered ever so slightly. I’ll be very happy if I never see the words OMG!amazing ever again. The phrase fits the personality of those saying it but it just grated me nerves whenever I saw it. Another personal irritation is original music lyrics because I don’t know the tune it goes to, so I just feel awkward reading it like a poem. I have nothing against the songs themselves, but it’s something that has always bothered me (I don’t even like Tolkien’s songs in the Lord of the Rings). There is also a scene about 80% in that kind of threw me for a loop because it was so random, and even though I chuckled at a few names involved it just didn’t really seem necessary..considering She-Hulk weighs like 650 pounds.

Overall I’m pleased with the book and I think it’s great that Marvel has partnered with a publisher in order to bring their kick ass women to a new audience. She-Hulk Diaries is a fun, quirky, and adventurous book that I think would make for a perfect summer time read. Now to wait patiently to see what else Hyperion and Marvel have up their sleeves.

science fiction superheroes