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A review by chrissymcbooknerd
House of Night #1 by Karl Kerschl, P.C. Cast, Joëlle Jones, Kristin Cast, Kent Dalian
2.0
I think The House of Night series was really my introduction into the world of YA literature. A certain overly-commercialized beauty guru on YouTube mentioned in a video (because yes, I do have a tendency to over indulge on mindless makeup videos online) that she had started reading this random teen series and that it was amazing, awesome, and fabulous. I hadn't yet ventured into Harry Potter or Twilight when I found the first two or three House of Night novels for about $2 each at my locals TJ Maxx store. Remembering the rave video reviews, I figured I wouldn't be *too* ashamed of myself for spending $6 on teenage literature, even if I did have to struggle to keep a straight face when the emo-wannabe teen girl who rang up my order swore that "OMG, these are way better than Twilight!"
Were they better than Twilight? I honestly have no idea, since I haven't yet actually read Twilight. I have absolutely nothing against the series and have just been delaying the read out of sheer laziness. I think I ended up doing the same with House of Night, reading the first three or four and then moving on to other things before finalizing the series. Actually, I think I moved to Vampire Academy, which I found to be far more intriguing. But, can anyone look back on their first venture into any given genre without a bit of sentimentality? I couldn't -- which is why I requested the House of Night comic book on Net Galley.
Now, I readily admit that I am definitely not a comic book connoisseur, so I am probably not the best to fairly review any type of graphic novel. I think the first graphic novel I ever read was the caricaturization of the first book in the Left Behind series, and it actually wasn't half bad -- at least as far as I remember. That 'comic' was pretty much the exact picture version of the written novel -- so maybe I was expecting the same when I picked up this House of Night book online.
I can't remember well enough to say whether any of these events actually happened in this exact manner in the novels, because it's been a pretty long time and I don't deny that I have a pretty terrible meeting. I'm absolutely positive, though, that this does not follow book one, and I really think the target audience for this specific graphic novel is people who actually *have* read and enjoyed the House of Night series. We don't really get enough background on the main character for me to say that those who haven't yet read the series might enjoy it as a substitution. I mean, I really *have* read it, and I was still a little confused with the way it jumped straight into the action without really introducing us (in pictures, of course) to the characters.
For any reader who does enjoy graphic novels and who does love this particular YA series, I think House of Night #1 would be a fitting read.
But for me, myself, not the comic book connoisseur or rapid teenage fan of popular literature, I would probably not continue this series. Nothing against the book at all -- I just don't think I'm really the intended audience.
Were they better than Twilight? I honestly have no idea, since I haven't yet actually read Twilight. I have absolutely nothing against the series and have just been delaying the read out of sheer laziness. I think I ended up doing the same with House of Night, reading the first three or four and then moving on to other things before finalizing the series. Actually, I think I moved to Vampire Academy, which I found to be far more intriguing. But, can anyone look back on their first venture into any given genre without a bit of sentimentality? I couldn't -- which is why I requested the House of Night comic book on Net Galley.
Now, I readily admit that I am definitely not a comic book connoisseur, so I am probably not the best to fairly review any type of graphic novel. I think the first graphic novel I ever read was the caricaturization of the first book in the Left Behind series, and it actually wasn't half bad -- at least as far as I remember. That 'comic' was pretty much the exact picture version of the written novel -- so maybe I was expecting the same when I picked up this House of Night book online.
I can't remember well enough to say whether any of these events actually happened in this exact manner in the novels, because it's been a pretty long time and I don't deny that I have a pretty terrible meeting. I'm absolutely positive, though, that this does not follow book one, and I really think the target audience for this specific graphic novel is people who actually *have* read and enjoyed the House of Night series. We don't really get enough background on the main character for me to say that those who haven't yet read the series might enjoy it as a substitution. I mean, I really *have* read it, and I was still a little confused with the way it jumped straight into the action without really introducing us (in pictures, of course) to the characters.
For any reader who does enjoy graphic novels and who does love this particular YA series, I think House of Night #1 would be a fitting read.
But for me, myself, not the comic book connoisseur or rapid teenage fan of popular literature, I would probably not continue this series. Nothing against the book at all -- I just don't think I'm really the intended audience.