Mini-reviews- Ghost busting and vampire hunting!

Today, quick reviews of Hamlet II-Ophelia's Revenge by David Bergantino, Butterfly vol 1 by Yu Aikawa and Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis.

Title: Hamlet II-Ophelia's Revenge
Author: David Bergantino

Series:  Bard's Blood

Published:  4 February 2003 by Pocket Books

Warnings: sex and gore

Source: bought

Review: Cameron’s father was murdered, his ghost tells him his aunt did it, and he randomly inherits Elsinore Castle, which he’ll get control of when he turns 21. He and his friends go to Elsinoret o celebrate. So, bunch of young adults, alcohol, and fun times. But there’s a problem-the ghost of a girl who drowned centuries ago is back, and she wants her Hamlet.

I love Hamlet so much. This was an impulse buy because it was Hamlet and it was cheap. I wasn’t really expecting much.

Part of this is a straight adaptation of Hamlet shoved into a modern day setting, which I am not against in the slightest. The names got adapted ok (Laertes becomes Larry, Gertrude becomes Geri, the theatre players become rock band The Playaz) apart from Cameron, which is seriously random compared to Hamlet.

Ophelia in this, is a  ghost who leads to some very big things happening. She’s interesting as ever, and is the one who develops most as she possesses various people.

The writing isn’t amazing, and some parts of the book seem a bit forced.

Overall:  Strength 2 tea to a quick, spooky redo of Hamlet.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Title:  Butterfly

 Author: Yu Aikawa

Series:   Butterfly #1

Published:  1 March 2011 by Tokyopop

Warnings: suicide, violence

Source: bought

Review: Ginji is highly against anything to do with the occult, due to the fact that he is haunted by the ghost of his brother, who killed himself. When he gets into an fight at a haunted mansion, which leads to them demanding bills and reparations, he has no way to pay up. Until a child called Ahega shows up and asks him to help out. Ginji can earn 20000 Yen a job-with the job being ghostbusting!

 This was  cheap at the Tokyopop stall. I got it not knowing what to expect. It was better than I thought it would be. There’s some humour from the awkward train of thought that Ginji has when wondering about the job,  and other little spots here and then. Ginji and Ahega complement each other well in terms of abilities (destroying and creating illusions respectively). Ginji shows more depth now, but I’d like Ahega to have more development later-there’s an interesting backstory coming. The characters in the short-bit-mystery (the swimming chapter) were also well developed.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea to a supernatural manga with promise.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website | 

Title:  Hard Spell

 Author: Justin Gustainis 

Series:  Occult Crimes Unit Investigation #1

Published:  26 July 2011 by angry Robot 

Warnings: violence, suggestive situations, 

Source: bought

Review: Detective Stan Markowzi is on the Scranton’s Police Department’s Occult Crimes Unit. He does exactly what you’d expect him to do-run around dealing with it when vampires, werewolves, faeries and the like mess up. The main plot starts when someone gets killed with mysteriokus symbols carved on him. That someone is a vampire. As more killings happen and some guy shows up claiming to be able to tell them everything, Max 

 I remember trawling round the internet and finding someone describing this as pararnormal investigations taken to the extreme end of fun. definitely my thing.

Rachel was my favourite character-she was sensible, and did a bit for plot development (pace advancement really). Stan was a good narrator and had a tragic backstory that motivates him.

It’s definitely fun, though maybe not my kind of fun. it takes a lot of cliches, like lesbian vampires and the white witch, which I like in moderation but got a bit overdone in parts.

The writing  plays with sarcastic humour in places. I have huge love for the hellhound on the police team. Called Daisy.

Overall:  Strength 3 tea  to a... unique pararnormal investigation. I’ll definitely read on in the series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |

Book Review: Falling For Hamlet by Michelle Ray

Title: Falling for Hamlet

 Author: Michelle Ray

Series:  N/A

Published:  5 July 2011

Length: 369 pages

Warnings: : Sex, drink and drug references, violence

Source: Library

Summary : Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.

Review: Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's better known plays. Here, Michelle Ray brings it right up to date, setting it in modern day Denmark. Ophelia is Prince Hamlet's girlfriend, also daughter of the King's trusted advisors. Then the king is killed under suspicious circumstances and Hamlet slowly goes mad. Surrounded by the royal family and the press, Ophelia's options become more and more limited, and her life starts edging away from normality.

As Hamlet is one of my favourite Shakespeares, I couldn't wait to see how this would be put together. Michelle Ray has taken the major points of the play, and the best known speeches, and brought them up to date for modern readers.

In the author notes, she says how hard it was updating some parts, like the To Be or Not to Be. I agree with her in that it would be quite clunky if said aloud, and I like how she pulled it off in the end. Other speeches, such as Laertes' violet in the youth  of primy nature one, were also modified but kept recognisable.

Ophelia has a new dimension built into her, as well as the crazy girl we see in the original. Having a book more devoted to her lets us explore her character more, which Michelle Ray has done very well. She has a group of friends outside the palace, and is also possibly falling a little in love with someone other than Hamlet. Horatio too we see a lot more of, as in this, he,  Ophelia and Hamlet all have known eachother for a long time.

I love the way that some scenes were played out, for example the get thee to a nunnery one being played out in public in a limo. And there were some things I’d have never expected, such as the big scene in which the majority of the royal family is killed off, being played at a lacrosse match, which I didn’t think would work but somehow it did.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a great retelling of one of my favourite stories. I really hope Michelle Ray retells another Shakespeare story.

Links:  Goodreads | Author website |