Tag: 2 Star Reviews

All 2 Star Reviews In One Place

“Crimson Society Vol. 1: Introduction” By Mike Hunau & Carlos Trigo Review

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In the very near future, supernatural beings live among humans in peace, yet Jack Crimson finds his life as a werewolf frustrating, and wants nothing more than a cure. Desperate to free himself from this curse, he makes a series of decisions leading him down an unexpected path. Join Jack as he makes his way through this dark new world.

Let me start this review by saying that this one is just a preview for the entire comic book. And I read it because I wanted to see if the full comic book was worth the money and time I would spend on it. And I’m gonna give you the answer for that at the end of this review.

This preview attempts to introduce a dark, gritty world filled with intrigue and action, but ultimately falls short due to weak storytelling, underdeveloped characters, and uninspired art.

To be very honest here I gotta say that this preview feels like a very rough draft rather than a polished preview for the full version of this comic book.

The artwork in this preview is very fun and cute. Because it has a moody, gritty tone that fits the series’ theme, with some interesting character designs.

At the same time this preview has a a good potential which the creators of this preview didn’t use fully. I find the idea of a secretive society with dark motives to be very interesting but the way it is presented to us makes me feel like the potential of this preview wasn’t fully used.

The plot in this preview is confusing and poorly structured, with abrupt scene changes and little context to understand the characters’ motivations or the world.

The characters in this preview lack depth, development, or clear personalities, making it hard to care about their fates.

The artwork in this preview is functional but uninspired, with bland panels and a lack of visual dynamism that could have heightened the story.

This preview has also a lot of pacing issues. Because the story in this preview drags in places and feels rushed in others, leading to a disjointed reading experience.

So will I buy and read the full version of this comic book ? I don’t think I will. The main reason behind this is how poorly this preview was very uninteresting for me personally.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“The Side Hustle: How to Turn Your Spare Time into $1000 a Month or More” By Nick Loper Review

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Make Money and Live Completely Updated and Revised! Important The reviews dated before 2019 are for a previous version of the book that was not nearly as strong as the current edition. I took that feedback, bulldozed most of the content, and rebuilt it from the ground up. The Side Hustle is for people who want or need to earn some extra money outside of their day jobs. Maybe you need a few extra dollars to make ends meet. Maybe you want to pay off debt. Maybe you want to save for a rainy day or for your children’s education.

I need to admit here that this book is one of the worse business books I have read in my time. And of course I will explain everything in this review so if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book then keep reading my dear reader.

So this book is meant to be as a side hustle inspiration where it gives us ideas about side hustles we should start on our own to earn a few extra bucks each month. Which I really appreciated the idea of this book but at the same time the ideas which this book tries to give us are so overused on the internet. Because the author goes with drop shipping, affiliate marketing and overall all the other generic side hustles you have seen on the internet a dozen or more times. 

At the same time the author of this book makes starting a side hustle seem very easy and simple like even a 10 year old cold do it. But in reality its pretty harder than saying “you can do it” and overnight you are earning a lot of cash each month. Which had put me off at times because of how easy the author made starting a side hustle seem.

I gotta say that this book doesn’t bring anything new to the table for people who wants to start a side hustle. Because as I’ve said above all the side hustle ideas this book gives us are very overused and very generic. Because each of the side hustle listed in this book are what the majority of influencers do like affiliate marketing, starting a business on shopify etc.

The writing style of this book is very simple and east going. Which made this book quick to read and at times find enjoyable. 

After reading this book I gotta say that this book isn’t worth buying because all the things this book talks about can be found on the internet for free. And the reason why I have this book and read it is because at the time I got this book it was free for the kindle and thats how I got my hands on this book.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“The Power of Creativity: Learning How to Build Lasting Habits, Face Your Fears and Change Your Life” By Bryan Collins Review

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This book is for new writers, musicians, filmmakers, artists and anyone who has ever asked questions like “How can I become more creative?” or, “How can I get more ideas?” or “How can I focus on my thoughts and just let them flow?” If you’ve ever struggled with a problem or challenge in your personal or professional life and thought, “I can’t do this, I’m not creative enough”, this book will help you.

I gotta admit here that this self-help book is not the greatest self-help book I have read in my time. But as always I will explain everything in this review. So if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book then keep reading this review my dear reader.

This book is a very quick read, because it has barely 100 pages and it explains everything in a nice and simple way which really makes going through this book quick. Which is one of the few things I liked about this book.

This book gives us a lot of quick success stories which makes it in a way more interesting to read this book and understand the points which the author makes in this book. Which made me give this book some extra points for doing.

But the self-help tips and topics this book talks about are very obvious in a way. Which made me think something along “no shit Sherlock, I have thought about this topic myself and came to the same conclusion”.

Which really shows in a way that the points which this book makes aren’t that hard to come up with. But this book doesn’t explain them in a nice and easy way which doesn’t make the points this book makes seem half bad.

But I gotta admit there that the majority of the points this book makes reminded me of other and better self-help books I have read in my time. Which made me think about the better self-help books I have read in my time reviewing books and comic books on this website which have been a while and involved a dozen of books by now.

The writing style in this book is very straightforward and easy going. Which makes this book easy to understand even thou this book is a self-help book which makes a lot of points on how to improve our lives. 

I need to admit here that even thou this book is far from being one of the better self-help books out there in the world it wasn’t so bad as I feared this book would be. 

But if someone wanted me to be honest here and say if I would recommend this book or not. I would say not. Because I would easily recommend better self help books I have read like “12 rules for life” by Jordan B Peterson, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, “power of habit” by Charles Duhigg and “you are a badass” by Jen Sincero amongst other self-help books which would take too long for me to list them all here.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“X-O Manowar, Vol. 9: Dead Hand – Introduction” By Robert Venditti Review

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In the far reaches of deep space, the ultimate fail-safe of an extinct alien race has finally counted down to zero…and the robot army called Dead Hand has been activated. The civilization that built them has fallen…and, now, to combat the doomsday threat that destroyed their world, Dead Hand will complete the mission that their creators could not. Soulless and brutal, this billion-strong legion is the phantom army of a dead world…and it will cleanse the universe by any means necessary. But what unthinkable menace were they created to destroy? And will Dead Hand’s slow march across the galaxy spell death for countless worlds?

Let me start this review by saying that this one is just a preview for the entire comic book. And I read it because I wanted to see if the full comic book was worth the money and time I would spend on it. And I’m gonna give you the answer for that at the end of this review.

This preview tries to pick up momentum with new threats and high-stakes action but ultimately falls flat due to clunky storytelling and underdeveloped plot points.

In a way this preview feels more like a transition issue that lacks the punch needed to leave a lasting impression.

The artwork in this preview is easily the best part of this preview. Because the artwork in this comic book is solid, with dynamic action scenes and detailed armor designs that are a highlight of the series.

This preview hints at interesting future conflicts and new enemies, which could develop into something more compelling down the line.

The story in this preview feels very disjointed, with abrupt scene changes and confusing transitions that make it hard to follow the plot or understand character motivations.

The storyline’s stake in this preview feel vague, and the action sequences, while visually exciting, don’t carry enough weight to made me care about the story of this preview or anything else about this preview.

The characters in this preview, lack a lot of depth and emotional stakes. Which have left me feeling disconnected from their struggles. Which didn’t help me liking the characters or care about their journeys in this preview.

This preview relies heavily on exposition, telling rather than showing, which slows down pacing and reduces engagement.

So will I buy and read the full version of this comic book ? I don’t think I will. The main reason behind this is how poorly this preview was very uninteresting for me personally.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“Legends & Lattes” By Travis Baldree Review

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The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.

I gotta admit that the only reason why I have read this book is because this book has been showing a lot on my booktok feed and feel where saying how good and amazing this book is. So I decided to give this book a shot and I gotta admit that I really should stop reading those way overhyped book Tok books because they never work for me personally. 

The only thing which I liked about this book is the fact that it has the DnD-style fantasy vibe to it which I am a huge fan of. But the way the story is presented to us as readers I gotta admit that the author of this book didn’t use the potential which this book had.

The whole plot of this book is it is about Viv an orc which moves to a new city and decided to open a very early version of first ever coffee shop. I personally was very intrigued by this plot which made me read this book and after reading it I gotta admit that it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be.

The overall plot of this book aims to be a cozy and stress-free read. But even thou I tend to like cozy books I gotta admit that I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to. The reason behind this is that the author of this book was trying almost too hard to make this book be cozy.

The action int this book is almost none-existed. Because this whole book is mostly about Viv opening a coffee shop even thou she has no idea how to run a business and she learned about it as she goes with the coffee shop. 

I personally found myself a lot of times to be very bored of this book or just skimming this book because the plot build the plot in such a way that any minute something might happen. But nothing ever happens in this book so basically I was waiting for something to happen for the entire book and nothing have happened which would make me like this book.

The writing style of this book is very simple and easy going. Which played very well with the cozy ish plot of this book. But other than that I gotta admit that at times I felt like the writing style in this book is too generic in a way. 

I personally feel that this book could have easily be a short story rather than 300 pages of just Viv making coffee and talking to be people about nothing. I feel like this book was entirely too long and that it could have been at maximum 100 pages long and it would only make this book better than it is now with 300 pages in which nothing really happens for the entire book other than making coffee and pastries.

The characters in this book are okay for the most part. I wasn’t a fan of the characters in this book. Because they felt like very generic fantasy characters. We didn’t learn much about the characters other than some glimpse into their backstories here and there throughout this book. 

There were times where the characters started to talk about their backstories but those times were quickly shut down by the character saying “oh well its not important anymore lets move on”. Which made me really annoyed because whats the point of bringing out the character’s backstory if you gonna shut it down after one paragraph or so? 

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“THE HEART OF JERRY DAGDA” By Kons Gkos Review

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It’s a comic book about a guy named Jerry Dagda who gains the ability to cause heart attack to people.

This comic book tries to tell a poignant or quirky story but in the end it falls flat due to its disjointed narrative and lack of emotional impact.

I gotta admit that this comic book feels more like an unfinished draft than a fully realized piece. Which explains the low rating I have given this comic book.

The plot line in this comic book had a lot of potential in my opinion but the way the plot line is presented to us feels like is very underdeveloped and unexplored which gave me the feeling like the creator of this comic book had no idea what he was doing.

The plot line in this comic book feels very scattered, with no clear focus or direction. The events which happen in this comic book seem disconnected, making it hard to follow or care about what’s happening.

The artwork in this comic book is very decent. Because it has clear linework and expressive faces, but they don’t do enough to elevate the storytelling. 

But I gotta say that the artwork in this comic book was my favorite part of this comic book. 

The characters in this comic book come across as flat and underdeveloped which made it hard for me to like the characters in this comic book or even care about their journeys through this comic book.

The pacing in this comic book is very uneven. Because some parts of this comic book drag for too ling without any purpose or direction while other parts are very rushed especially through important moments.

The tone of this comic book is very confusion. Because this comic book makes it very unclear and difficult to make a sense of what tone this comic book aims for. 

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“Brutopia: The Poshlost of Mohammed: Book 5: Islamonausea & Copium” By  Talha Dahlan Review

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This is a seven-part graphic novel depicting the life of Mohammed. The series, based almost entirely on the original and earliest sources of Islam, has been released and is now available in seven full-color volumes. Mohammed, if real, is said to have lived between 570 and 632 AD. It is hoped that with the seven books in this series, readers will gain a greater understanding of Mohammed the man, his legacy, his actions, and his impact on the world.

This comic book had a lot of potential which it didn’t use, but of course I will explain everything in this review. So if you are interested in reading about my thoughts and opinions about this comic book then keep reading.

This comic book tries to tackle complex socio-political themes with provocative intent, but they way it is presented to us as readers I gotta admit that it falls short due to its heavy-handed tone and lack of nuanced argumentation.

The writing style in this comic book is unapologetic and confrontational, aiming to challenge prevailing narratives and provoke debate. Which was the main reason why I gave this comic book 2 stars instead of 1 because in a way I liked the writing style in this comic book.

The tone of this comic book often feels accusatory and dismissive rather than analytical. Which really annoyed me in a way because of how dismissive this comic book sounded even thou I’m a huge atheist. 

The arguments this comic book tries to give us are presented to us are sweeping and lack depth.

This comic book’s structure feels disjointed, with abrupt jumps between ideas without clear development or context, making it hard to follow or engage meaningfully.

The artwork in this comic book is very minimal. Which doesn’t give a lot to talk about when it comes to the artwork in this comic book.

The artwork doesn’t support or enhance the provocative themes, which makes the reading feel dry and uninviting.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“Bird Box” By Josh Malerman Review

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Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it’s time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

This review might be a very unpopular opinion about this book because of my rating of this book and my opinions about this book. So if you are interested in reading my controversial opinions about this book then keep reading. 

The plot of this book, is very overrated. Because a lot of people on the internet call this book “very terrifying” but in reality this book is everything but “terrifying”. After reading this book or trying to read this book I need to say that this book is very overhyped and it gets way too much credit for being scary even thou the scariest part of this book is that the author was able to write such a long book on a story that would easily be a good short story. 

The plot of this book drags for way too long than it needed to. Because easily if this book was cut in half we would still get the same story out of it. Which in my opinion says a lot about how much irrelevant things the plot in this book had.

The plot of this book moves very very slowly. And because of this there is almost no action in this book. At the same time I feel like the plot is very repetitive. Because 60% of this book is about the mother telling her kids to “don’t speak, listen” which made me wonder if thats the mother whole dialogue with her kids.

When it comes to the dialogues in this book they are very uninteresting and unrealistic. Because the dialogues are very stilted and they feel like the characters are written by a toddler who didn’t have any idea how grown ups talk to each other.

This book has 2 timelines which it follows, and I gotta admit that if the author was so set to have 2 timelines of the plot of this book. It would have worked better in my opinion to have 2 separate books. One book for each timeline. 

I personally found the second timeline to be very boring and uninteresting. Because the second timeline talks about everything that took place as the fear and apocalyptic events were first starting.  While the first timeline was way more interesting than the second. Because the first timeline takes place 5 years into the apocalypse of this book. Which I personally enjoyed way more than the second timeline of this book.

The plot build towards this big action taking place, but the action never comes in this book which really made me very annoyed at this book and at the author of this book.

The characters in this book in my opinion feel very underdeveloped and unexplored. Because this book doesn’t use a lot of time for us to get to known the characters. instead this book jumps straight into the action, and we have to figure out everything about the characters as the plot moves forward. 

I personally found the characters to be boring and uninteresting. Because of we don’t get to know them. At the same time the characters feel very unrealistic in a way. And the mom in this book instead of giving her 2 kids names she only calls them “boy” and “girl” which is their gender because she as one girl and one boy. Which really made me question what parent would not name their kids and only call them by their gender.

The writing style in this book is very stiff. For the most partite felt like the author wasn’t that interested in writing a good book instead he was more interested in the paycheck he would get for publishing this book. Which really speaks for itself here because I don’t am that harsh about the writing style in books.

I Give This Book 1 / 5

“Seto Utsumi Vol. 1” By Kadzuya Konomoto Review

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This manga has been made into a movie and a TV drama in japan.”I wish we could just spend all our high school days sittin’ and chattin’ by this river.” This seven chapter volume is a collection of the funky, off-the-wall, and sometimes cynical after-school conversations between Seto and Utsumi, two high-schoolers from the Kansai region of Japan.

This comic book tries to blend slice-of-life humor with a sports theme but in my opinion this falls flat in is presented to us as readers. 

The characters in this comic book feel very underdeveloped and like the creators of this comic book didnt exactly know what they were doing when it came down to the characters. 

The characters feel overly stereotypical in this comic book. At the same time the characters in this comic book lack nuance which made it hard for me personally to connect or care about their journeys.

The plot in this comic book is just as underdeveloped and unexplored as the characters in this comic book. Which really annoyed me a lot because the plot in this comic book had a lot of potential to it. 

The pacing in this comic book is all over the place. Because some scenes are dragging on without an end while other scenes are very rushed especially through important moments.

The humor aspect of this comic book, really misses the mark in my opinion. Because the humor which the creators tried to go with felt more cringy to me than actually being funny. 

The artwork in this comic book was easily my favorite aspect of this comic book because of how cute and clean it was. The artwork made it very easy to follow the characters and action. 

The artwork is the only reason why I gave this comic book 2 stars instead of one star. Which in my opinion speaks for itself how good the artwork was that it made me give this comic book a whole star more to the rating. 

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“The Strawberry Patch Pancake House” By Laurie Gilmore Review

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As a renowned chef, single-dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive. Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when Mayor Kelly suggests Archer is looking for a nanny, and Iris might be available, she shudders at the thought. But in need of money she reluctantly agrees.

This book is the 4th book in the “Dream Harbor” book series. And I need to admit here that this book is in my opinion the weakest book in this series so far. But as always I will explain everything in this review so if you are interested then keep reading.

The plot is kinda of decent in this book. But it isn’t as cozy as in the other books in this series. There was something about the plot in this book that didn’t made me interested enough in it. 

The main reason why I didn’t like the plot in this book as much as in the other books in this series is because I’m not a big fan of the single-dad and the nanny hooking up and falling in love with each other. I personally am okay with a lot of things but the single-dad and the nanny has something to it which makes me uncomfortable. This is something which I don’t like in books I’m reading which is the main reason why I say that this book is the worst book in this series so far.

The majority of the book is just the single dad saying “I don’t want to live here” and “I don’t know how to be a parent”. While the nanny says “I cant believe I find my boss attractive”  and “I don’t like kids so why am I a nanny?”.  Those 4 lines are pretty much a dozen of times in this book. Which really made me bored and uninterested in this book because of how much those 4 lines are used in this book. Which made me feel like I’m reading the same thing over and over again for this entire book.

The characters here aren’t that good as they were in the 3 previous books in this book. It might have something to do that Archer is a completely new character in this series and we didn’t get him introduced to us in the previous books in this series. And when it comes to Iris, we only got her introduced to us in book 3 in this series. And even thou she was in book 3, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her or get to know her. 

In this book we don’t get to know Archer and Iris on a deeper level beside them freaking out about not knowing how to take care of a 5-year-old. All we get to know about Iris and Archer is that Iris had many jobs in her life and Archer worked in some fancy restaurants in Europe and wanted to be a famous cook. And thats pretty much all we get to know about those characters. 

The characters from previous books are pretty much none existing because we only get like 2 or 3 scenes where we get to see Kira (the main character from book 3) and we get one scene with Logan (the main character from book 1) and thats pretty much it. Which in a way annoyed me because I really loved the characters from the previous books in this series. And this book not having those characters feels in a way like a stand alone book rather than a book in a series. Because the previous books in this series had characters from the previous books in this series. 

The writing style was easily my favorite part of this book, because it was the same as in the other books in this series. The writing style in this book is easy and straightforward. The writing style is pretty much a YA writing style because of how easy and simple it is and it makes the book fast to read. At the same time the writing style really goes well with the easy going plot of this book.

I Give This Book 2 / 5