I think it is time to either pause or cancel my Silver Sprocket subscription. I had gotten several books that I enjoyed and never would have read otherwise if it hadn’t been for this subscription. But in a recent shipment I had nothing but disappointing reads.
The first I read was Magical Beatdown, Vol 1 by Jenn Woodall. It is a short zine that is created with light (almost faded, but still popping) blue and pink colors, quickly drawn looking lines and is overly simplified. If you are a reader of zines, or are a fan of zines and/or books that are odd, edgy, and have “girl power” stories, then this is for you. As there is not a lot else going on. Well, there is a bit about arcade games, but that’s really it.
Our main character is a mousey character. She wants to play games at the arcade after a tough day. She runs into some punk guys (punk as in jerks, not necessarily a lifestyle and/or music choice). They harass her, she is “Oh dear, A$$holes” and turns into a The Bride-like character of Kill Bill status. She kills everyone (chop chop off heads, limbs, slicing in two…) and then goes off to win high scores. Um…. Okay. Now what? It says volume one. So is this the entire series? Well, if I want to read them, volumes two and three are available for consumption.
Needless to say, while I appreciate the work that goes into making any form of a book, this was not meant for me.