spacerkip's reviews
261 reviews

The story was enjoyable, and the romance made me smile, but the art...

I didn't know "show, don't tell" was a critique one could make in a visual medium. The amount of unnecessary sound effects/descriptions in every single panel bothered me at first, annoyed me by the middle, and had me wanting to chew things by the end. I do not need words across a page to tell me two characters have been surrounded. The many swords pointing at them got that across very well, actually.

The use of flat colors without any shading seems to be an artistic choice, but I really think it made the visuals suffer. There was an overall lack of depth to the art that I eventually got used to, but kept the novel from feeling finished.

I didn't hate it, but I wished I could have enjoyed myself more.

Robin Hood has been a favorite story of mine since childhood, and I'm happy to add this novel to the list of adaptations I truly enjoyed.

I thought this was a very clever adaptation, and the way the author reimagined the Robin Hood mythos was genuinely delightful. Mirroring the story into a different part of the crusades really served to bring something new to a story that's been retold countless times - expanding upon the same themes, but adding new insights. I also liked how there were chapters sprinkled in from the pov of important political figures - it provided historical context for a time period I (and likely few other readers) only have a vague impression of, and really made it feel like our heroes were skirting through all these big, moving parts.

Since this was published as part of Macmillan's Remixed Classics series, I don't know if there were any limitations placed on the author in terms of length or page count. However, I think the story would have benefited from being longer. One or two more isolated adventures with the group all together would have helped solidify character dynamics, and would have solidified their reputation before the climax. The "original" Robin Hood is a serial story told across many legends and ballads, and I would have liked to see what else this merry band of misfits could get up to.

Even though this book was historical fiction, I'm more eager to get to all the Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy that's on my tbr. This was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to reading more things that will scratch a very specific itch in my brain.

I picked this up at the library, despite not knowing much about the main series of novels. The art style and character dynamics drew me in, and I'm very interested in diving into the rest of the books. I think I'll wait to read the other graphic novel, as these prequels seem better suited to someone already familiar to the world and the characters. Still, this story painted a vivid picture of the fictional empire and living under its martial law, and I'm eager to see if my library has a copy of the first book.

Aroace Jo is for all the girlies who cried during the hilltop scene in the 2019 movie, only to realize everyone around them was crying for different reasons.

By far my favorite of the remixed classics that I've read. The rich descriptions of cities, places, and food brought both the setting and the time period to life. I found myself deeply engaged in the first half of the book, despite the bulk of the action happening much later. As a long-time lover of sea stories, I loved the chance to step into a maritime context (1820's South China Sea) that I'm still unfamiliar with. I also appreciated the author's notes about language and cultural background at the end.

I could really feel the love the author had for this story and its themes. Xiang and her personal struggles with living up to her mother's expectations (and wanting something different out of life entirely) explored a different facet of the coming-of-age narrative the original novel puts forth - just like Jim from Treasure Planet, another retelling I adore. Treasure Island simply stays winning.

(And as a fun little bit of meta, the audiobook narrator, Emily Woo Zeller, is the same person who read the audiobook for Red As the Sky, Deep As the Sea. Zheng Yi Sao cinematic universe lmao.) 

It's been a good 16 years since I read the original, so I remember the plot well enough, but the finer details are a bit too fuzzy for me to really critique this as a Secret Garden remix. Even if this retelling didn't grip me the way I hoped it would, I still very much enjoyed it! The new cultural context (and the sapphic romance) breathed fresh life into a story I remember loving as a child.

Some of the reasons this didn't quite click are entirely personal - I found the third act conflict pretty triggering (child abuse involving isolation and subjecting someone to harmful medical treatments), so I skimmed through a lot of the last chapters. I also wish there was more time spent in the titular secret garden. I remember there being a lot of attention drawn to different plants and how to tend a garden in the original, and I would have enjoyed seeing this translated with Ontarian plants and wildlife.

All in all, an enjoyable read! Gonna keep going down the list of these remixes.

I found the use of the original novel's themes to explore Black queerness very clever. This new lens breathed fresh life into a well-known story, and gave me a different perspective on a setting I'm already familiar with. I'm a hard sell on romance, but I thought Henry and Gabriel were sweet, compelling, and tragic without losing my attention.