Review: Book Nerd by Holly Maguire

Title: Book Nerd

Author: Holly Maguire

Genre: Adult, nonfiction

Publication date: December 2020

Published by: Workman Publishing Company

Source: Purcahsed hardcover

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: You know you’re a Book Nerd when…

—You have a minimum of 5 books on your night table.

—You never once thought the movie was better.

—Your favorite mug says “I’d rather be reading.”

—You use words like librocubicularist in casual conversation (though no conversation about books is ever "casual”).

—You wear a T-shirt that says—what else?—"Too many books, too little time."

Charming, affectionate, and unabashed in its celebration of book nerdiness, this little love letter is for every avid reader. Every page is packed with bright, playful, intricately detailed illustrations by Holly Maguire, and wonderful mottoes, definitions, relatable moments, and more.

My rating: ★★★★★

This was a book about loving books and it was as cute and relatable as it seems!

Review: Odin (Asgardians #1) by George O'Connor

Title: Odin

Series: Asgardians #1

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Norse mythology

Publication date: March 26th 2024

Published by: First Second

Source: eARC from publishers via Netgalley

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis: Following his smash-hit the Olympians series, New York Times bestseller George O'Connor embarks on a new saga about the Norse gods. This first volume tells the story of the warrior god Odin!

Welcome to the Nine Worlds, home of Gods, Valkyries, Dwarves, Jotnar, and more! Travel the burning rainbow bridge to Asgard where Odin, king of the Aesir, surveys his realm. His thirst for knowledge drives him ever onward, but nothing is learned without sacrifice...

In Asgardians, George O’Connor’s highly kinetic illustrations bring these gritty and astonishing tales of war, betrayal, and the quest for enlightenment at any cost to vivid and startling life and provide the perfect companion to his Olympians series.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I really enjoyed this author’s Olympians graphic novel series, so I was very excited when I found out he was going to be starting a Norse mythology series!

Review- Aphrodite: Goddess of Love (Olympians #6) by George O'Connor

Title: Aphrodite: Goddess of Love

Series: Olympians #6

Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2) | Hera: The Goddess and her Glory (#3) | Hades: Lord of the Dead (#4) | Poseidon: Earth Shaker (#5)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: December 2013

Published by: First Second

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Behold the wondrous beauty of Aphrodite, goddess of love and embodiment of the intangible Eros. A creature born of pure force and destined for power and fame, so lovely that the Earth and all its inhabitants bend to please her.

Pitted against Athena, warrior goddess, and Hera, goddess of the heavens, the lovely, cunning Aphrodite must find a way to outwit her opponents in a high-stakes beauty contest, the outcome of which will affect the destiny of mortals and gods alike. Will she do what she must to succeed? After all, all's fair in love, war, and vanity...

My rating: ★★★★☆

Did I purposely schedule this post about the goddess of love to be published on Valentine’s Day? Absolutely I did 😆

Anyway, in this next volume of the Olympians series, we focus on Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. This goddess has a couple of different birth stories—there sometimes tend to be different versions of the same myth in Greek mythology. Aphrodite, for example, is sometimes said to be the daughter of Zeus and the titan goddess Dione, and other times she is said to have been born from sea foam, hence the famous Venus painting:

Review- Ares: Bringer of War (Olympians #7) by George O'Connor

Title: Ares: Bringer of War

Series: Olympians #7

Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2) | Hera: The Goddess and her Glory (#3) | Hades: Lord of the Dead (#4) | Poseidon: Earth Shaker (#5) | Aphrodite: Goddess of Love (#6)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: January 2015

Published by: First Second

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: In the chaos of the Trojan war, Ares arrives in a chariot, armor blazing like fire. Strategy has failed and gore drips from every surface, but the god of war denies his nature and sits on the sidelines as the blood of both mortals and demigods stains the ground red.

Strong, vengeful, and just plain angry, Ares enters the battle, his mind set on one thing: total obliteration. But will he be satisfied with the death and destruction he causes?

My rating: ★★★★☆

One thing I appreciated about this volume is that it starts right off with differentiating him from Athena because they are different. Athena is more the goddess of battle strategy, while Ares is the god of, well, war.

Review- Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory (Olympians #3) George O'Connor

Title: Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory

Series: Olympians #3

Previous books in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1) | Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (#2)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: July 2011

Published by: First Second

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: There's only one thing Zeus, the king of the Gods, is afraid of. It isn't the many-headed Hydra or the towering Gigantes. It isn't his powerful, jealous brother Poseidon, the god of the seas. Monsters, gods, Titans—none of them make the mighty Zeus blink an eye.

The only thing Zeus fears is his wife: Hera. Goddess of the air, the sky, and the heavens, patroness of the cunning Jason, and scourge of the mighty Heracles, Hera rivals Zeus in power—and surpasses him in wrath.

My rating: ★★★★☆

This volume of the Olympians focuses on Hera, the Greek goddess of marriage. For being the goddess of marriage, she really married the worst guy possible...

Review- Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess (Olympians #2) by George O'Connor

Title: Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess

Series: Olympians #2

Previous book in this series: Zeus: King of the Gods (#1)

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, fantasy, Greek mythology

Publication date: April 2010

Published by: First Second

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Step into a world of fearsome battle, cruel treachery, and fierce loyalty. Your guides are the three Fates, eerie figures who weave the tale of life. Their subject today is Athena, warrior goddess. Five astonishing tales of brave Athena's adventures lies ahead.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I really liked this series! I love that they’re retold myths in the form of graphic novels! (Also, the kids at the school I work at LOVE this series! Lol.)

Review: Gone Rogue (Wires and Nerve #2) by Marissa Meyer

Title: Gone Rogue

Series: Wires and Nerve #2

Previous book in this series: Wires and Nerve

Prequel series: The Lunar Chronicles

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA, sci-fi, fairy tale retelling

Illustrator: Stephen Gilpin

Publication date: January 2018

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift Books

Synopsis: Iko – an audacious android and best friend to the Lunar Queen Cinder – has been tasked with hunting down Alpha Lysander Steele, the leader of a rogue band of bioengineered wolf-soldiers who threaten to undo the tenuous peace agreement between Earth and Luna. Unless Cinder can reverse the mutations that were forced on them years before, Steele and his soldiers plan to satisfy their monstrous appetites with a massacre of the innocent people of Earth.

And to show he’s serious, Steele is taking hostages.

Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, and Winter and Jacin all feature in this epic new battle. But it is Iko who must face her deepest fears when she uncovers the truth about her own unusual programming.

My rating: ★★★★☆

So the crew are still dealing with the rogue wolf soldiers and their leader Steele. Throughout this whole book, I was very frustrated with Wolf and all the dumb decisions he made.

Review: Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer

Title: Wires and Nerve

Series: Wires and Nerve #1

Prequel series: The Lunar Chronicles

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA, graphic novel, sci-fi, fairy tale retelling

Illustrator: Doug Holgate

Publication date: January 2017

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased paperback

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Thrift Books

Synopsis: In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new, action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers' leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, Winter, and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was so excited to find out that there was a follow-up graphic novel to The Lunar Chronicles because I was just not ready to say goodbye to these wonderful characters just yet. This takes place after Winter but before the short story Something Old, Something New that is in Stars Above.

Review- Zeus: King of the Gods (Olympians #1) by George O'Connor

Title: Zeus: King of the Gods

Series: Olympians #1

Author: George O'Connor

Genre: Middle Grade, graphic novel, Greek mythology

Publication date: January 2010

Published by: First Second

Source: Own paperback

Add it to your Goodreads shelf

Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Here's Where It All Starts: the beginning of everything - the world, the gods, and even humanity. Might Kronos, the most terrifying of all the Titans, reigns as the unchallenged tyrant of the cosmos...until his son, the god Zeus, stands up and takes on his own father in a battle intense enough to shatter the universe! Who will emerge triumphant?

My rating: ★★★★☆
I LOVE Greek mythology, so the idea of Greek mythology graphic novels sounds amazing to me! It’s basically the myths in condensed form but with pictures! This series focuses on the main twelve gods AKA the Olympians. Hence the series name. Lol. I actually read a couple of the other graphic novels in this series, which is totally okay to read before this one because it doesn’t really tell a linear story, so they can be read as standalones.