Adam

These books are fantastic and challenging and hard to read. I am sure I said all this about the last volume as well, but it's still true. I like this series a lot and wonder how long this is supposed to run. I feel like we're coming up to the end of big “chapter” in this story and it leaves me curious what's would happen next. Well worth the read.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

This was an awfully self-important book. There were times it was trying for subtly and other times where it was swatting you over the head. I can imagine that there are “Hunger Games” parallels drawn to this and possibly “Steelheart” comparisons. Both of those books moved at a faster clip than this did. I don't know, maybe I'm frustrated that the author was making such a big deal out of the Apollo, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, et al of it. Most of this book felt like it was trying to be something grandiose, but I don't think I bought it. There were time Darrow was simply devoid of the humanity that made someone like Katniss such a compelling heroine. There were times when you felt for him and times when you hoped he'd win, but there were many times you simply wished that he wasn't such a petulant teenager “trapped” in the hard life of an older man. Or something like that. I don't know, maybe it's me.

You can read my full review for No Flying No Tights here.
I will say that this will feel familiar to Brubaker/Phillips fans in a lot of ways, but it also changes the narrative structure you'd expect from them and makes a few unexpected turns. Also, the most nudity/sex I've seen from them in a while, so not necessarily for younger readers.

Ok, this gets 5 stars for being surprising, emotional and moving the plot forward tremendously. If vol 8 was tough to understand or follow at times, this was the opposite. We saw clear motives, character growth and the stakes have never been higher. There was so much heart and humanity here, then absolute devastation both physical and emotional. There was a big twist here that I feel like I should have seen coming, but felt very shocking none the less and really turned this upside-down. I have to assume this book is wrapping up and I can easily say that I haven't read anything that has evolved the way this has. It's so far from where it started in the best, most satisfying way.

The character motivation is clear, the antagonists are actually menacing and the threat is more real than ever. There are giant battles here in all their shonen glory and some panels that are over-reactions for comedic effect, but at the core of this volume was the personal stakes for the characters. We get new kaiju introduced who will have huge ramifications for the story moving forward and we also dive into the psyche of several main characters. This really sums up why I enjoy this series and keep coming back; it manages to surprise from time to time and keeps you invested. It doesn't forget the humanity we need in storytelling not to just tune out. (Also giant fights and comedy make for quick reading so these fly by)