Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Mini-reviews: Nimona and Felicity

Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain. He's slightly busy causing mayhem and stopping the plans of the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. When Nimona, a teenage shape-shifter, shows up at his liar and offers to be his sidekick, Blackheart is sure she will be more trouble than help. But Nimona turns out to be much more powerful than Blackheart imagined and the two villains might even strike up a friendship.

Nimona is the perfect blend of thought-provoking story and uproarious fun. Blackheart and Nimona both have serious attitude and ideas about what villains do. Nimona can also shapeshift, so look out for shark and dragon sightings. But it is also an examination of what it means to be a hero or a villain and the ways in which good and evil are not as simple as we like to believe. I was sad to have read through the entire thing in just an afternoon. If Noelle Stevenson wanted to write some more adventures of Nimona and Blackheart, I would not complain. If you love comics or just a great story where humor and big questions can go hand in hand, Nimona is the perfect pick!

Nimona
By Noelle Stevenson
HarperTeen May 2015
266 pages
From the library


Mary Oliver is a much-beloved poet. She writes about quiet moments in nature, the impact of love, and the small revelations of faith. Oliver is a poet for people who don't think they can understand poetry - her poems are beautiful and insightful, but they aren't written in a way that makes the ordinary reader shy away.

The collection is broken into three sections - The Journey, Love, and Felicity. In the first section, she realizes that the flowers do not worry about the answers to life's big questions - they are "entirely busy being roses." In the section about love, she adapts and riffs on Elizabeth Barrett Browning's famous How Do I Love Thee sonnet. The third section centers on those tiny moments of happiness: the moments just before sleep, the beauty of spring, or the wonder of a kiss. While it's not my favorite collection of her poetry, it's one that you don't want to miss. Oliver is an excellent poet who gives voice to the small moments of beauty we find in a world full of chaos and pain.

Felicity
By Mary Oliver
Penguin Press October 2015
96 pages
Read via Netgalley
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 29, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    Uproarious is definitely Nimona! Great review. You make me want to read it again - I read it as a webcomic online so have yet to hold this book in my hands!

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    1. LindseyMarch 29, 2016 at 11:10 PM

      It's a gorgeous book! The panels are beautiful and I loved getting some behind-the-scenes looks into the making of the book.

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  2. UnknownMarch 29, 2016 at 10:08 PM

    I think this is the third or fourth review of Mary Oliver that I've seen today. I haven't read poetry that wasn't pretending to be a novel or memoir since college. Maybe I will give it a shot.

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    Replies
    1. LindseyMarch 29, 2016 at 11:22 PM

      I read a lot of poetry in college too, but I find I have to really push myself to read it now. Mary Oliver is always a good choice!

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