johanna the mad – Cannonball Read 17

The sword fighting is more interesting than the romance but not the point

Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan

October 10, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Bingo 20: Star I think I mostly like the comics better; the novels for Fence, including Fence: Disarmed, get too wrapped up in the personal drama. At least Fence: Disarmed fits the star square; part of the premise of the whole series is that Nicholas, the new(est) kid at King’s Row boarding school, wants to become a star fencer to impress his supposed father Robert Coste who is a major figure in the sport. Part of the problem though is that Robert may have no […]

Some Fencing but More Personal Stuff

Fence Volume Four Rivals by C.S. Pascat, Johanna the Mad

April 16, 2021 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

So there was a YA novel that kind of tells the same story as volume 4 of the graphic novel Fence Volume 4 Rivals; one the one hand, few surprises, on the other, it wasn’t the EXACT same story, just the same kind with similar character development (at least for some characters). I’m reasonably sure the comic series was first, and that the novelization might be by another author. The basic premise is reasonably common: sports story (high school fencing team) + hate/rival to friend/something […]

Play me your tiny violins and order me a waaambulance, because this review is very whiny.

Fence, Vol. 4: Rivals by C.S. Pacat

September 8, 2020 by narfna 3 Comments

These take way too long to come out and they are way too short give me the next one nowwww. Seriously, it’s so frustrating. I just binge re-read the first three volumes as a refresher, and then went straight into this one, and it took me all of an hour, and then it was done, and now I have to wait. And I’ve been trained to wait since I was a wee-reader, but for some reason, waiting for this series is something that is very […]

Coming to Realize that I Really Do Love Sports Stories

Fence, volume 1 by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad

Fence, volume 2 by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad

May 12, 2019 by Lisa Bee 5 Comments

As per narfna’s suggestion in a glowing review of the first volume of Fence, I waited until there was at least a second volume out: and it still seemed to go by far too quickly! At least the next one is scheduled to be released in August which isn’t too far away, I guess… In any case, this comic series is a super cute and fun one, about a sport I haven’t seen featured much in sports movies/books, etc. There are definitely some familiar features […]

Okay I loved this but don’t read it until there’s more!!!

October 23, 2018 by narfna 6 Comments

What was that and give me the rest right now. I’ve been looking forward to reading this because even from the summary I could tell I was going to enjoy it, and also I loved C.S. Pacat’s Captive Prince trilogy. But I don’t think I was quite prepared for just how much fun I would have with this comic/manga hybrid (it was written with many of the techniques and tropes common in manga, even though pretty much everything else about it is western). Like, that […]

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