justthatstarwarsbookgirl's reviews
34 reviews

Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Star Wars Little Golden Book by Geof Smith

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The book centers and focuses around one pivotal message it is trying to express positively about the realm and aspects of life overall as a whole. The book recommends a variety of inspiring and happy things to do with and incorporate into your life, including real world examples and things you CAN do in real life, such as creating an Alliance with a Special Person (marriage, etc.). The book provides a huge emphasis on the importance of friendship, but also a slighter emphasis on family. It especially expresses that they will stick by you through everything. The book relates ways to deal with dark times including finding wise teachers, being inspired by good stories, always having best friends by your side, especially on trips or for dealing with difficult challenges, and being shown the way by a friend when you’re lost. The book even expresses qualities of being able to find redemption in all people and animals. The book is greatly centered around finding light in the darkness/positivity in negativity or negative situations/hope in hopeless situations and feelings/hopelessness, as well as not turning into a bad, mean or cruel person due to a bad situation and feelings of fear, frustration and anger (using the examples of The Dark Side and the Sith, including emphasizing the power it will give you not being worth what you lose and the destruction it will bring to your life personally). The book also includes details on how quickly a situation can turn from ideal and good to bad and worse, with nothing going right, using the example of Luke riding a Taun Taun one second on Hoth and the next being attacked by the Wampa. I thought personally what didn’t have to be included but were a really nice addition to the overall positivity and message of the storyline were the scenes describing almost every problem having a solution “if you look closely” and the biggest obstacles often have the “simplest answers” using the examples of the Death Star plans being used to find the reactor plot and the AT-AT needing it’s legs to be wrapped with a cord to collapse, whereas laser fire didn’t work to damage them. The inspiration of the many exact lines included from the Star Wars movies, such as “Stay on Target” being so inspiring to motivate you to stay on your assigned task, is a simplistic addition to the book that adds a lot of greatness, as well as the simplistically illustrated “Size Matters Not” page. The pages about never underestimating your opponents or abilities, using the examples of the Ewoks in the Battle of sensor fighting the stormtroopers, newborn baby Luke and Leia holding the hope of the entire galaxy according to Obi-Wan, Yoda and Bail, and child Anakin Skywalker saving Naboo and the Gungans by blowing up the Trade Federation ship, was a very good addition. My favorite pages were where they describe Leia as being rescued by someone special, then rescuing herself! That was super inspiring to me personally. Sometimes I hope to be rescued by somebody special or unexpected, but I know eventually I’ll have to resort to rescuing myself! The section of the book about “Dark Times”, including confidants turning against you (using the example of Anakin), foes appearing when unexpected (Boba and Vader at Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back), dangers blocking the way (Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s path being blocked by Darth Maul), facing monstrous challenges (the Rathtars in Force Awakens for Finn and Rey), escapes being rocky (Obi-Wan being chased by Slave 1 in the asteroid field over Geonosis) and finally safety being fleeting (the worm in the asteroid in Empire Strikes Back), is very entertaining with its examples, which are all very real dangers and situations in life you could possibly go through. The short part of life seeming “cold and lonely” and then the expression of hanging in there (using the example of Obi-Wan hanging off the assassin droid in Episode 2, that was a clever one, possibly the most clever reference/analogy in the book itself), telling us (readers) to not back down (with the example of Leia vs Vader in Episode 4 on Tantive IV), and never giving up our dreams (with the beautiful artwork of Luke looking at the Tatooine sunset, who never gave up his dream of leaving Tatooine for the Academy), was a very inspiring section. The 4 beginning/opening phrases (“feeling like the weight of the galaxy is on your shoulders”, “being pulled in a direction you don’t want to go”, “the walls feel like they’re closing in around you”, and “nobody understanding you”) of the book were great hooking and interesting sentences to make you want to read the book for sure! These are highly relatable feelings. I love the book’s vivid colors on every single page and piece of artwork plus the covers front and back. I also love how the book compiles images and pieces of artwork from multiple Star Wars Little Golden Books. I love the deep and light purple mix backgrounds for the opening page and the front and back covers. I didn’t really like the depiction of Yoda on the front cover very well. I thought I really liked the fact that Geof Smith adapted almost every movie/film as far as I know. I love that the book includes a small paragraph in tiny text at the bottom to the side to explain what book each image is from, who wrote the book, who illustrated the book/made the art piece and the copyright year of the individual book itself. I didn’t like how there were no individual page numbers included to track your progress through the book. I thought they would’ve looked nice in oversized circular bubbles in the corners of the pages. My personal copy of the book I loved that it had the feel of the pages, they were unique and unusual due to how new and untouched they were, I liked the thickness of them individually also for flipping purposes. I like that this Little Golden Book is longer than the usual size. As for the individual artists, I really like Ron Cohee’s depiction of ROTJ Luke, his dark Jedi Knight outfit, bright blue eyes, face and even his strange, large, flat soled feet. I didn’t like how scary his depiction of the Emperor looked because it would frighten kids in my opinion (it frightened me). I love Jabba’s image, and Salacious Crumb, but thought the background characters needed more detail definitely, including Bib Fortuna and Boba Fett/Han in Carbonite. It’s like the illustrator didn’t expect you to notice the background characters, which I’m sure kids might now but I definitely did. The Force Ghosts of Anakin and Yoda looked great but Ben Kenobi didn’t look appropriate or accurate. Boba Fett’s armor’s colors also looked really nice, but I didn’t like the depiction of the mini Admiral Ackbar. I like the Rancor, he actually seems less scary than the Emperor’s character. His work on “I am a Jedi” for each individual Jedi doesn’t seem very detailed for the depiction  of each individual Jedi and I thought that was slightly sad due to how unique so many of them are. The only depictions I really like are Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Yoda. Possibly Plo Koon as well. I thought some of them were even rather inaccurate. More time definitely should’ve been spent on this piece. His images of the younglings wasn’t as detailed as it should’ve been with their alien species, clothing and boots, as well as the training hats and remotes, but it overall looked very nice altogether as a whole image. I however DID love his depiction of Anakin Skywalker with his scar, eye, facial expression, gritted teeth and long brown hair from Episode 3, Darth Vader’s helmet, and Luke training on Dagobah lifting rocks, R2, and storage containers all while balancing Yoda on his leg upside down in “I Am a Jedi”. Those colors look beautiful, especially the neutral tones on the Dagobah scene but also the blues, blacks and purple on the lense of Vader’s helmet, plus the reds, pinks  and oranges on Anakin’s face. I really like all of Caleb Meurer and Micky Rose’s works, such as on the A New Hope and even The Force Awakens Little Golden Books. The desert scene with Rey and BB-8 walking across the Jakku sands is a beautiful photo, as well as Luke rescuing Leia from her cell, Kylo Ren’s back as he is on Jakku murdering the village with his stormtroopers, and the intimidating scene of Vader dressed all in black with his stormtroopers in the vastly different white armor, flying into Hyperspace,  the rewards ceremony on Yavin 4, and even Ben Kenobi turning off the Tractor Beam and hiding from the stormtroopers around the Generator. I’m unsure if the reason their artwork is some of my favorite pieces is because of the fact that there are two artists working on it, compared to one, but I really enjoy their pieces a lot more than the rest. The individual close ups of Rey however I didn’t really like, but BB-8 I loved. I also really enjoy the scene of Farmboy Luke Skywalker looking out into the Twin Sunset on Tatooine on the Lars homestead, with windswept blonde hair and his desert tunic and leg wraps. I love the detail and colors on this piece. The depiction of the Death Star and space are also very nice with the stars in the backdrop. I thought Chris Kennett’s illustration of Luke in the Bacta Tank seemed slightly inaccurate with his body type, but the 2-1B droid looked great. I thought the colors in that piece however were rather bleak and drab. He didn’t seem to put a lot of detail into his pieces for Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back either sadly, I especially didn’t like he portrayal of the Ugnaughts, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, even possibly Vader. Everything looked vastly inaccurate with how streamlined it was, how thin and straight. His work on the Battle of Hoth with the Snowspeeders, AT-ATs and Rebel Gun Turrets however with the snowy backdrop are absolutely beautiful. I like the depiction of Luke and his X-Wing on the swamp planet of Dagobah however, and Luke the Taun Taun, the Wampa itself plus R2 isn’t bad but Yoda’s design is definitely one you need to have grow on you to begin to like. I however LOVE his spread depicting the Empjre with Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, AT-AT, AT-ST, TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers, and the Death Star done for “I Am a Sith”. The darker black colors are beautiful but I also love the lighter grays and light whites. I also love the end scene of Empire Strikes Back, and the photo of Luke falling down Cloud City’s shaft, mainly his brown cargo outfit and the purple dark hues of the backdrop. I love Patrick Spaziante’s work on the Episode 3 Little Golden Book, especially his depictions of Anakin directly after he turned to the Dark Side of the Force, but I also love the piece of Obi-Wan holding baby Leia and Luke and smiling at them with a very tired smile, so much emotion is expressed through that smile in that image. I like how you can also tell the babies apart by the hair curl and eyelashes depicted on Leia. His portrayal of Vader on the operating table is really detailed in his armor and looks really accurate, plus I like how the Emperor looks so conniving knowing what he just did with Padmé. I didn’t really like the 2-1B droid shown however. I also really enjoy Heather Martinez’s works, especially on Episode 1 (although Qui-Gon looks a bit odd, I like Obi-Wan and Maul). I love her depiction of the sleek Naboo Royal Starship and the Naboo Capital City of Theed from the sky. I also liked the image of child Anakin as a pilot. Her work on “I Am a Princess” is the most beautiful, successful, wonderful, God-Given work on a Little Golden Book that I have ever seen so far. Her characters look absolutely GORGEOUS, their eyes, hair, outfits, body shapes, and skin, as well as the different aliens such as Chewbacca the Wookiee and the creatures like the Mynocks. That art piece spread across two pages is one of if not the most beautiful piece in the entire book. Even Vader’s character looks great in the book. I also think the piece of Leia firing her own blaster and Han, Chewie and Luke looking so shocked was very empowering and feminine. I love the expressions shown on their faces. I thought Ethen Beavers work wasn’t bad at all but wasn’t exactly my favorite/didn’t really jump out to me regardless of the majorly bright colors in his pieces for Episode 2: The Attack of the Clones. It sort of even reminded me of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars style with the way Obi-Wan looked. I did however LOVE the scene of Anakin and Padmé’s marriage, if I had one criticism it was that her veil completely covered her hair (and it didn’t in the movie) but the backdrop with the flowers, lake and sunset on Naboo plus their clothes, happy facial expressions and Anakin overall was beautiful. Alan Batson’s depiction of Han Solo for “I Am a Pilot” is so detailed, abstractly shaped and wonderful, I love it, even if I didn’t like Chewbacca as much. I also liked his image of the trio of pilots with the backdrop of ships, as well as his expression of the explosion of Death Star 2, even if I don’t like the overall piece with Lando and the Falcon included. I also like the depiction of Han Solo in the Falcon’s Gunner Turret and Poe flying in his X-Wing with Astromech BB-8. If I had to rank my favorite illustrators provided here from 1-7: 

1. Caleb Meurer and Micky Rose (Episode 4: A New Hope & Episode 7: The Force Awakens) 
2. Heather Martinez (Episode 1: The Phantom Menace & I Am A Princess)
3. Patrick Spaziante (Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith)
4. Alan Batson (I Am A Pilot)
5. Ethen Beavers (Episode 2: The Attack of the Clones)
6. Chris Kennett (I Am A Droid, Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back, & I Am A Sith)
7. Ron Cohee (Episode 6: Return of the Jedi & I  Am A Jedi)

I love the finishing touch and final message of The Force Being with us all Always in this book. 

Overall a good book, I’d definitely recommend it to any Star Wars fan adult, teenager, middle grade level or child, but I’d definitely only recommend it to those who love Star Wars and it’s themes and concepts or at least knows or has general knowledge about them on the whole, because many of the scenes, images and ideas in the book you need to understand and remember Star Wars themes, scenes and concepts from movies 1-7. 

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope by Ryder Windham

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I am absolutely blown away upon finishing this novel. Out of approximately 143 Star Wars universe or Star Wars related books I have read total in my lifetime, this one is by far my favorite of all time within the past year. I knew I probably should’ve expected this, because the book is written by Ryder Windham, whose works and writing I’ve previously enjoyed in the Legends novel the Wrath of Darth Maul, various nonfiction works he has collaborated working on and producing, as well as Star Wars Children’s DK Readers he has contributed to. I considered Ryder Windham one of my “auto-buy” authors previously, and now I know that assumption was completely accurate and correct. I don’t know what it is about his writing in the Star Wars Universe, possibly his extensive knowledge of the Star Wars Universe as a whole or possibly the fact that he’s a fan himself (I believe that’s a fact), but almost every single work of Ryder Windham’s in the Star Wars Universe is PERFECT in every way. I own a ton of other Star Wars Ryder Windham authored books, including the Star Wars 1997 Missions series, and I honestly am getting more excited to read them by the moment. I LOVED this book beyond belief, beyond your wildest dreams and beyond possible imagination. Ultimately, I love this junior novelization even more than the official adult novelization for Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope.  I read this book SO fast. I loved flipping each page and I couldn’t seem to flip it fast enough still, I couldn’t even seem to read and consume the words on the page fast enough. It was so highly enjoyable of a novel to read and overall created such a joyful, hopeful and positive aura and vibe as you read. I was addicted from the moment I began to read the story and shot full steam all the way through the plot from the beginning to the very ending’s final pages. The book was longer than most if not every other Star Wars Junior Novelization I’ve read and own, but it SHOULD be that long, the extra length, even if short and brief, added SO much extra quality and detail the other books didn’t have in their stories that they desperately needed. The portrayal of the characters in this book is highly accurate to the movies and official novelizations as well as every other Star Wars book or work I’ve ever read. I even think the characters may be MORE of how you’d see them in your mind’s eye and imagination outside of the movies which adds extra depth and beauty to how they are written in such overwhelming and utterly consuming detail. The beginning of the book, although starting with the droids usually bores me, was addicting, as addicting as the rest of the book and story’s scenes, because of the way the droids were portrayed as actual CHARACTERS in the book, and not just androids and separate, inhuman beings as they are sometimes portrayed so stiffly and harshly in other works. The droids themselves were given animation and vivid personality. I especially loved R2’s beeps and voice, he is so expressive in this book beyond any of the rest I’ve ever read, and it truly adds so much to his character and importance as not just A droid, but THE droid in the story, especially the beginning. Every background and scene, every setting and place was so wonderfully described to set the area the important moments of the story would take place, such as the Lars Family Homestead, the planet Tatooine, the Starship Hangar or the Mos Eisley Cantina right down to the Imperial Death Star and the Millennium Falcon. The settings were given the importance and made just as important as the rest of the story. I love the numerical details (such as the Docking Bay, Hangar Bay, and Trash Compactor Numbers) as well as the technical details provided in this novelization including the explanation about R5 being an R2 unit somehow, I thought that explanation, although improvised, was really clever and could be used still even today as an accurate cover up for Luke calling R5 an R2 unit when we already know due to the Mandalorian he is an R5 unit. The descriptions and details of the many alien species provided and listed, such as the Jawas but also including all of the different manners of species in the Cantina scene, was really beautiful with the updates compared to when the original movie came out not knowing any of the species names. Luke knowing simply how to use the lightsaber of his father’s instead of pointing it at his face stupidly as he does in the movie’s scene as soon as it is handed to him is very smart to include. Luke’s desperation to find and his repeating and reoccurring thoughts as well as his hope for the possibility of them being away for Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru when he came to the conclusion that they might be dead made a lot more sense compared to the nonexistent emotion he appeared to feel in the movie regardless made it a beautiful scene. The Greedo scene was described slightly confusingly but I believe that was to give both the fandom’s sides of “Han shot first” / “Greedo didn’t shoot at all” a chance at an explanation and their beliefs to be shown in the novelization as an accurate portrayal. The descriptions of Luke’s growing anger, as portrayed throughout the novel continuously (at least three times in 3 scenes I can recall accurately and descriptively that it is pointed out explicitly) explicitly are stated and pointed out to give signs early on of his growing anger and uncontrollable rage that is occurring within him, making it too late to train him as Yoda advises later in Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. The scenes describing this make it laid extremely bare for readers why Yoda states this even more clear than it is shown in the movies, even this early on in the trilogy. The desperation Leia felt at the destruction of Alderaan that she witnessed was portrayed nicely. I really liked how even minor characters were given full names, such as the minor Imperial officers and aides or Rebel X-Wing or Y-Wing Pilots besides their call signs. I like how it is introduced how Luke knew the names of the main pilots portrayed besides their call signs, such as Wedge, Jek Porkins and obviously Biggs but I love that he expresses that through their bravery he felt a connection deeply with all of them, and I completely understood Luke’s rage at Han Solo leaving with the reward the Rebels so desperately needed, although I know why he left and it makes perfect sense to me that he needed to pay off his debt to Jabba the Hutt due to his life being in danger. I like how the book also switched to alternative scenes from the Imperial’s POV occasionally, but the chapters were still long enough to be a decent and accomplishing length. I also like how at the end Vader is starting to question and become thoughtful and figure out the whole mystery behind Luke Skywalker, the fact that Ben Kenobi was on Tatooine (his former home planet) for all those years for seemingly no reason, the pilot feeling strong in the Force. That definitely is a mystery and I like that he’s began to catch on to it. I also like how they mention Vader’s past as Anakin Skywalker at multiple times, including Podracing, etc, and how he used to feel emotion, but as a Dark Sith Lord he doesn’t feel any of the emotions he used to feel anymore performing those same exact actions and activities, that’s really sad to hear, it’s just what the Jedi Teachings said it would be like. The entire Death Star Rescue sequence, from the capture in the Tractor Beam to the TIE Fighter Escape at the end, was BEAUTIFUL. In every single way, in every single little detail and part of every single little scene, big and small, every character, creature, setting, ship, event, droid, emotion, and spoken word. I loved that entire sequence, I have read other really good Star Wars written works on the Death Star escape as a focused scene but this one ranks over them all, even if only slightly. I also really enjoyed the sequence of the Trench Run and Rebel Dogfights with the Death Star Cannons and later the TIE Fighters themselves. The book overall was SUPER well written, absolutely beautiful as a story and with amazingly written characters, perfectly described settings and places, and fantastically portrayed sequences of events and scenes. The book was relaxing for a casual or even a highly dedicated fan to read, whether casually or on alert. It can be read casually to relax you with a familiar storyline and plot from a movie you love watching and know by heart like the back of your hand, while remaining completely true and accurate to the story, scenes, events, aspects of the universe itself, and even the characters you know and love. The book is a beautiful tribute to the true overall meaning and message of Star Wars with it’s hopeful, joyous and happy ending as well as the true emotions usually sensed with the impact of a fantastic story. I felt like literally crying happy tears when Han showed up in the Millennium Falcon to save the day and take the shot at Darth Vader in his TIE, and I don’t usually feel many if any emotions whether when watching movies or reading books at all. This book was completely the most deserving and worthy five star rating I have ever given, even over the Solo: A Star Wars Story Junior Novelization, which would be my second closest favorite due to the quality of its writing. The thing that makes this book the best is the feelings it inspires, the happiness, joy, and relaxation the book’s casual and familiar storyline being told as accurately as possible is giving to you, whereas the Solo novelization I loved for the writing and written word’s as well as the sentence structure’s quality. I never wanted this book to end, so much so that I slowed down my reading of it nearing the end with only a few pages left I kept setting it down purposefully to try to forestall the ending and reading the conclusion of the book and even having to write this review. I would reread this book at any moment in time in order to casually relax and immerse myself in the familiar story that I know so well and love so very much to provide myself the emotions of happiness and joy easily. This book might very well be my favorite Star Wars book I’ve ever read currently as of this moment. I would DEFINITELY highly recommend this book to any person on the planet, whether a Star Wars fan who is highly dedicated, a casual fan, or a person trying to introduce themselves to Star Wars, whether after they have just finished Episode 3  or is starting with Episode 4 as their introduction to the saga, and it doesn’t matter whether the reader is an adult fully grown, a teenager, or a child. READ THIS BOOK (if you love Star Wars)!!! 

Rogue One: A Junior Novel by Matt Forbeck, Gary Whitta, John Knoll, Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

At first I didn’t really like this Junior Novelization. I thought it was not very well-written overall and that the author did not spend enough time on Jyn’s childhood and the opening scene of the movie where Galen is taken and Lyra is killed, and why all of this takes place. I disliked the author’s version/portrayal of the character of Jyn Erso, to me they made her a lot more ragged and rougher around the edges and overall meaner, crueler and more uncaring and completely unsympathetic than she was compared to in the official adult novelization and movie itself. They definitely put more emphasis on her criminality and the bad things she had done in her lifetime in the story. I thought Saw’s scenes were okay (with Bodhi, Bor Gullet, the torture and interrogation, Two Tubes, as well as the holographic message from Galen) and his character was decently accurate. I think they described his health in this novelization as much worse than it was portrayed in the movie however. I like how it is alluded to the characters (the pilot mother and son Jyn had a romance with) who adopted/took her in in the young adult canon book by Beth Revis “Rebel Rising” after Saw “abandoned” her. I can’t recall exactly if it’s accurate that she loses her faith in the Rebellion at that point or if that’s why (as this book states) but I don’t recall her adversity to at least Saw’s Rebel Faction being so strong, possibly the official Alliance though. I don’t like that they try to portray Galen’s message as not being able to finish due to the power going out from the blast of Jedha City. I also thought Jyn’s mourning of Saw was uneventful, as uneventful as his death itself, with the movie lines vastly unspoken. The emphasis put on him raising her like a daughter for so long is a little late in life and a poor afterthought to the story, and should’ve been expressed more or a little earlier in the storyline. As the story went on I went from disliking it to being “meh” about it, and the events taking place (such as the Jedha and Eadu missions), they all seemed a basic and decent description of the events of the movies accurately enough, with no extra added details but no details detracted or inaccurate thankfully. Nearing the end of the story I started to mildly enjoy it, but that was about it. It was still fairly bland tasting in my imagination and mind’s eye. K-2SO’s character is beyond annoying in this novelization, and in the movie he isn’t nearly like this at all, especially with the annoyance factor. Me and my Mom actually love K2 in the movie, so it was shocking for me to dislike his portrayal here with how much he speaks up, even as a byproduct of the reprogramming it seems excessive and uncaring of the things he says or who they hurt. I do like the word spelling of his name being “Kay Tu” however, I think that’s really cute and unique for a droid. I love the portrayal of Baze and Chirrut as brothers and best friends, the expressions of their differences and the qualities of their personalities, I think this book is the best portrayal of their relationship I’ve read so far (but I haven’t read the Guardians of the Whills book or Manga yet, it’s on my TBR list), compared to the official novelization or even the movie. I did think they did Baze dirty in his death scene however. In the official novelization, for Baze, after Chirrut passes away in his arms he becomes a true Guardian of the Whills again, readopts his beliefs in the Force and his mantra and completes the chant as he continues to fight. Here they turn him into a violent animal-like creature, who swears revenge if it’s the last thing he’ll do in his final moments. I didn’t really like Cassian’s character, especially how the author seemed to adopt the idea for a fact that they BOTH lost everything from a young age but he was the only one who chose to “do something about it” by joining the official Rebellion. That seems like something the author truly made up in their own mind to explain away Jyn and  Cassian’s personal arguments, issues and disagreements. The author also makes it appear like the group has issues working as a team, communicating, and coexisting, which isn’t apparent in the movie, they all seem to bond and link together nicely and work well together. I noticed a few main events and scenes weren’t included in the book, including when the Rebel Strike Team is ordered to attack Eadu. I suppose the author deemed that scene unimportant enough to skip over, but I never like to skip over movie scenes in novelizations. I do like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa’s character portrayals, I especially like how Mothma explains why she doesn’t like to be called Senator anymore and the short included explanation of what happened in the Senate with her calling Palpatine out (which we learn about from other Star Wars works as well). I don’t like how they portrayed Bodhi as a huge coward. He wasn’t that afraid in the movies of anything. Maybe he was a little bit, but not nearly on the level this novelization is stating. Almost every chapter near the end begins with “Bodhi is afraid”, I swear, it seems like. The book does add extra emphasis onto the individual and violent deaths of each of the Rebel soldiers, including that one unfortunate X-Wing pilot from Blue Squadron, and it is very saddening and makes you feel that emotion of sadness legitimately. I think this book is one of the first in a very long time to inspire this much emotion in me (inspiring 2 emotions in me, sadness and hatred as explained below). The book even puts a lot of emphasis on how short the time was to speak to both Galen and Chirrut as they passed away, to the point where quite a few sentences spoken in the movie were removed here. Bodhi, in the movie, also, seems to accept his death by the grenade for Galen and the Rebellion’s honor and sake. In the novelization they state “he didn’t even have time to scream” like he didn’t wish to die or didn’t believe it was a possibility when he came here, when it should’ve been considered a fact that he might. This book also sparks a ton of emotion and inspires a BUNCH of hate for Director Krennic. I’m not sure why, Jyn’s lines about him aren’t the worst I’ve ever read, but every single time he’s mentioned from her POV you curl up inside with hatred and despise him. The chapters from his POV, filled with his extreme loathing for Tarkin, his constant attempted career advancements, his “accomplishments” and insufferable pride, even his naïveté in assuming it couldn’t have been Galen Erso who rebelled and how he completely and utterly fell for Galen’s methods and tricks of “dedicating himself to his work”, all make you unable to stand his character. It was SUPER clever to create multiple chapters from Krennic’s point of view as the villain. It was also super interesting seeing Vader from Krennic’s POV. The fact that we never find out directly what happens to Krennic for a positive fact is a downside to the book though. In my opinion the book left a lot of things and plot points unfulfilled. I did like how they gave the crew member who gets the data card with the plans a name after all to make him more of an individual. I also thought that every single chapter was WAY too short, literally every chapter was about a page or two pages in length, you’d flip to the next page and it would be a whole new chapter already, so that there were over 50 chapters in this tiny book alone. I also wish the photo inserts of the book were at the back of the book because some of the photos are of events that take place AFTER where the inserts are currently placed that you haven’t read yet in the book, however I did like the photo inserts layout and sizing as well as the emphasis on the important characters and scenes in the photos. I DID NOT get an overall hopeful vibe from the ending of the book, it was too brief after all of that violence and conflict, which was not good cuz the whole point of the ending of Rogue One is supposed to be hopeful. Overall I would recommend this book to casual Star Wars fans or other various readers, including children, but I feel like die-hard Rogue One or fans of the Star Wars Universe overall would not enjoy the little changed or un included details in this junior novelization, so it may not be for you. The book was a decently medium paced read but not highly addicting enough to make it a fast read also. 

We Are the Resistance (Star Wars) by Elizabeth Schaefer

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I thought that this book wasn’t bad but it wasn’t exactly good either, if anything it was basically decent. It was a simple introduction to the Resistance from the Sequel Trilogy overall. I thought the portrayal of the art of Rey’s character was extremely feminine and her actress, Daisy Ridley, is not that feminine in her features, so therefore I thought that illustration was inaccurate to the movies, but I also sort of liked it at the same time. Finn’s portrayal however does look accurate. As well as Leia’s. I like the roundness of 3PO’s and BB-8’s features and R2’s individual details and coloring. Poe’s character looks a little off to me but that could just be my mind’s eye. Kylo Ren’s character looks NOTHING like his character in the movies and other works. The Fathiers look just like they did in Episode 8: The Last Jedi, and Rose’s character is portrayed well, along with her expression and Finn’s atop the Fathiers being super accurate. I really like the full page spread of Rey in the Jakku sands with BB-8 and fighting Ren’s TIE Fighter. However I thought a lot of the pages, their information and artwork were all wasted in my opinion, a lot of filler items for the book. I loved the two-page spread explaining about Old Allies such as Lando and creating new ones such as Zorii and Jannah. I loved the depictions of Lando, Zorii and Jannah. The last two-page spread of Kylo with the Knights of Ren looks really cool with the reddish pink backdrop against their black outfitting, and finally, the last page having our four main hero’s and two of our main droids on it in a group shot with the captions about loyal friends being all we need, I thought that truly embodied the content and plot of Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker exactly. But overall, I didn’t think the book was that great. It didn’t provide much information and explain much at all about the Resistance itself to me. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book on the whole to anybody necessarily, even child readers. It was a decent read but definitely not enjoyable, it didn’t bring much emotion to my heart as a Star Wars fan at all. I’m sure possibly other, newer or more simplistic fans would possibly enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me. 

I Am a Wookiee (Star Wars) by Golden Books

adventurous informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I thought the book was a great Star Wars-themed read for kids! It had casual information and facts inserted into the book, such as the Wookiee home planet and about their treetop dwellings, but it was simplistic at the same time as it explained aspects of different Wookiee’s personalities and who they are, mainly from Chewbacca’s point of view as an example. The book included many examples of traits and aspects using events shown in all of the Star Wars movies including the Original Trilogy (Episodes 4, 5 & 6), the Sequel Trilogy (Episodes 7 & 8), the Prequel Trilogy (Episode 3) and even Solo: A Star Wars Story!! The book explained a very famous example of a character in Star Wars who is a part of the alien species of the Wookiees (Chewbacca), and even added in a tidbit of information about how unusually long Wookiees can stay alive and age (such as for 200+ years)! The book even listed Chewbacca’s many different roles, jobs and positions over his long lifetime, including being a warrior, smuggler, and Rebel Alliance freedom fighter. The book also included major moments in galactic history that Chewbacca was a part of as a member of the Wookiee species, such as the famous Kessel Spice Mine Slave Revolt in Solo: A Star Wars Story, helping Yoda escape Kashyyyk during Order 66, helping destroy Starkiller Base, and Princess Leia’s rescue from the Death Star. Some of the traits listed to describe the Wookiee species include loyalty, bravery, daring, never giving up/backing down, being an excellent mechanic and copilot, and possessing great strength. I love how the book used the examples of different traits of Chewbacca from events that occur in the many different Star Wars movies. I didn’t really like the idea of including the “roars” that the Wookiees speak with in the book, it seemed rather silly to me especially to spell them out in writing and words, but I suppose the book was mainly catered towards kids, and I know little kids would probably really like yelling and crying out the “roars” just like the Wookiees. I would definitely recommend this book to any kid who loves Star Wars and is familiar with the material and movies overall, and also it could potentially be enjoyable to any adult who is a casual Star Wars fan!! The book would succeed at soothing and relaxing you with the familiarities of the different events from the many movies being mentioned in this one book and overall the book is a great summary of the Wookiee species role in the overall Galaxy and Republic, later  the Rebellion and the Resistance’s fights and wars, as well as Chewbacca’s individual role in these events, and lastly just the events of the movies that involve Wookiees or Chewbacca overall. For an enjoyable, casual and quick Star Wars read, pick up this book!! 

Star Wars: A New Hope by Geof Smith

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really loved this book!! It was beautifully, elegantly written and the modernistic and lovable sound and tone of the author’s voice oozed out of every word you read on the pages. The art wasn’t bad, but at the same time it wasn’t my favorite. I thought a lot of the background and item shapes and character depictions (including clothing, etc., especially on Vader, Han, Chewie, C-3PO and the details on R2-D2) were rather square or rectangular and boxy in an awkward sort of way. I suppose in a way the artwork’s depiction IS accurate, but definitely for a different style of art than I’m used to. I did however like the depictions of Luke Skywalker as a farm boy, Old Ben Kenobi and many of the scenes themselves overall with their backgrounds and items in the backdrops. I thought the book offered a great bedtime-story esque and accurate retelling of all of the majorly important events of Episode 4: A New Hope from Point A to B, with details emphasized and elaborated on in the proper places with additional words and phrases as well as short paragraphs and bold lettering in important places and sentences. The words of the story flowed like a song and made you want to turn the page faster and faster, to read the book quickly, and it made you (well, it did me) very sad to arrive at the ending of the story, to close the back cover and wrap up the book. I just didn’t want the story to end, not because I love the plot of A New Hope, but because of how well written this book was. I love the layout of each of the pages and where the artwork and text was laid out on the pages rather than the standard theme always seen in other storybooks. Mainly I just LOVE how the book isn’t a children’s book completely in every way or is too simplistic for adults or older readers, but has all of the regular and vital events that occur in Episode 4: A New Hope, written artfully in explicit detail and a positive light that brings wonderful, joyous happiness to the reader. The book also has a very accurate depiction of both the looks but also mainly the personalities, actions, motives and dialogue of each of our favorite characters. The book is of medium complexity, to the point where it’s super enjoyable for older readers, it’s relaxing to read through quite simply as a rendition of a familiar storyline in Star Wars overall and it tests and exercises the brain decently enough to not be too simple as to make you feel of low intelligence or as if the book was written ONLY for kids. I’m not sure overall what age range it would be for due to this difference than other Star Wars Kid’s books (in the additional details and complexity) and I’m not sure which age would be best to attempt to read this book successfully and completely but I definitely think other dedicated Star Wars fans of an older age would love to read this book just like me. Overall a fantastic rendition and depiction of Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope! I actually liked it better than the only other Star Wars Little Golden Book I’ve read (Revenge of the Sith). I loved this book!! I hope to reread it possibly someday as a casual Star Wars Universe story and short read to pick up for a quick immersion in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. I definitely recommend it to anybody who is considering taking it on, even including kid’s who want to read it but may not believe they can finish it and may not finish it after all. 

DK Readers L2: Star Wars: R2-D2 and Friends by Simon Beecroft

adventurous informative lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I thought that this book was extremely simplistic and basic and a perfect kid’s book. I definitely would recommend it for little kids, but definitely wouldn’t recommend it for adult fans. I didn’t like how the DK Reading Tips for Adults were in the front of the book, but I thought both the tips for checking out the contents and especially letting your child hold the book and flip the pages themselves were great tips and tricks. As a kid I’d definitely want to be able to touch and feel and hold the book myself. It’s the little things like that that are so important and could change things about your child loving reading or not. As a parent, asking your child questions about the text they JUST read might annoy them however and not be a good idea, but that’s just my opinion. Also the section on praising your child for their attempts and hard work, reading together every day and the amount of time you should read together, as well as the fact that you should read a variety of different types of books, is all very accurate and helpful. I like how large the words are on the pages, the beautiful full-color gloss images from the movies (especially the ones involuntarily showing R2’s color, battle scars and details in depth), and the introduction and beginning pages of the book which really hook you in to the short storyline. I didn’t like how brief some of the entries were on the different droids out there, I had been expecting some more elaboration on them because of the advertisements on the book’s covers, but I thought overall the book was a nice, concise entry on droids themselves and their functions and abilities as well as different types such as Battle Droids, Bounty Hunters, Spy Droids, Medical Droids, and more, even down to their different categories and smaller types. The book puts a lot of emphasis on R2 himself and his abilities, which I suppose is appropriate considering the title of the book itself. I didn’t like how the questions at the end of the book’s last page were checkmark boxes for “Good” or “Bad”, on the actual gloss of the pages, I absolutely don’t think it should’ve been implied to write or mark in the book’s pages itself. The book ends with R2 saying goodbye in his own droid language to the reader which is super sweet and cute and touched my heart and made me super happy even as an adult so I’m certain the child reader would be thrilled and super pleased to have R2 say bye to them!! Again, would definitely recommend this book for any child fan of Star Wars, or even one that would like or whose parents would like to introduce them to it by showing them the droids such as R2, even if this book wasn’t exactly deemed for adults as the audience. A very clever and bright/joyous Star Wars universe read for kids! 

DK Readers L3: Star Wars: Finn's Mission: Find Out How Finn Can Save the Galaxy! by David Fentiman

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I appreciate how large the words are in the book and how descriptive and detailed they are on their topics while keeping it basic and with good enough simplicity to keep it on a natural level for child readers. I thought the full color photos included in the book and the glossy pages were absolutely vividly beautiful and gorgeous, although some of the photos looked modified or slightly inaccurate, such as Leia, to my memory at least. I love how some of the pages were laid out into fact files or other interactive and unique layouts, such as the Stormtrooper arsenal and weapons kit as well as the First Order Vehicles, Maz’s Castle Rules Certificate, Rathtar Beast Research Page and Jakku Animals fact layouts. I especially liked how the Jakku Animals fact layout looked like somebody had “sketched” the animals onto the page of a book inside this book. The concise and centered minor character layouts weren’t bad either (such as for Maz and BB-8) for providing basic necessary information while not taking up too much space. I think my favorite part of the book, funnily enough, was “FN-2187”’s Stormtrooper Training Scorecard and reading the scores, that really seemed a very interactive element for kids and even me as an adult and I like that it added an extra fact to the movies in this book that wasn’t shown anywhere else, that would definitely intrigue kids and make them feel special for knowing that extra tidbit of information that maybe others don’t know. I thought I remembered that Starkiller Base was created on the planet of Ilum, which the Jedi used to visit to harvest Kyber Crystals, which was why it was chosen, but this book references it as a unnamed ice planet. I don’t know if I’m wrong or the book itself is inaccurate, and I’m unsure at the end of the day. Also it is stated on that same page that they aren’t sure about the whole Hosnian system being devastated, but in the movies they seem pretty certain the whole system was blown up and destroyed completely. I thought the quiz at the end of the book was easy enough to be fun yet allow me to keep my confidence in my answers at the same time testing me on a few of the questions really provoking my thoughts and thinking on what I had just previously read; truly tempting me not to flip back in the book for the answer but when it occurred to me in my mind it was exciting to flip back in the book to see if I was correct after all all on my own. I also liked how the page numbers were marked very clearly and in large font for child readers to mark their place in the book and their progress as well as if they have to do book reports for school that makes it easier. Also, for DK books, I like how at the back for the parents it is explained what children should be able to do if they are ready for a Level 3 book, such as being able to read many words in succession and beginning to read silently. My favorite tip for parents was to encourage your child to talk about what THEY liked about the book, the words and details they found interesting and important. Also encouraging the parents to ask questions about the text is an interesting method. Plus, I like how DK explains that when a child is excited to flip to the next page that’s a good thing!! Lastly, I like that it’s stated that it should be encouraged to reread favorite works, texts and books to increase confidence. I never thought that doing that would increase confidence, but now that I can think about it, that would definitely do so! To learn a book by heart word by word would definitely increase your confidence as a child. I thought this book overall was a very concise and accurate summarization of Finn’s role and all of his point of view of the events that take place in Episode 7: The Force Awakens. The only downfall is that it ONLY expresses these events from what Finn witnesses and takes part in, but I suppose that’s why the book is called “Finn’s Mission” and not something else Star Wars overall. As a focused topic book, this is definitely a great book!! 

World of Reading Level 2: Star Wars: The Fight in the Forest by Nate Millici

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

3.0

I thought this book was highly simplistic and laid out the lightsaber duel at the end of Episode 7 in very basic terms, perfect for children who love the Sequels but are too young to REALLY read into the material and content yet. I do think the story should’ve A. Explained that Rey had the Force before suddenly giving her the lightsaber to fight Ren and B. Should’ve given a little bit of insight into what Starkiller Base was and why we needed to stop it. I didn’t like how the book took two whole pages to write out “Kylo Ren had a red lightsaber. Finn had a blue lightsaber”. That made it seem like the author acted like they were talking to somebody of lesser intelligence. Even a child would read those lines and think it’s insanity to write them. I also didn’t like the line of “Rey knocked Kylo Ren to the ground” like it was such a big deal, when we haven’t even been fully introduced to or know who Kylo Ren is or his powers. I also thought the reason for Starkiller Base exploding should’ve been expressed and expanded upon for the overall story to make sense. To me if it was going to be mentioned at all it should’ve at least been fully explained as a concept. My favorite piece of artwork in the book is when Rey and Finn are rescued by Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon. I like how  they made the light look, as well as Finn’s unconscious state and Rey’s helpless hopelessness as she sits in an appropriate position on the ground. I like Rey’s clothing depictions in all of the artwork as well. The lighting backdrop behind the Falcon as Starkiller Base exploded was a very pretty orange/yellow color. Lastly, the collage image on the last page of Rey holding the saber with Ren in his helmet behind her is great foreshadowing for the future of the Sequel Trilogy movies and all works associated with them. 

Star Wars: Rescue From Jabba's Palace: Star Wars Young Readers by Michael Siglain

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I thought this book was a good summary of the opening events of Episode 6: The Return of the Jedi, especially for kids as the intended audience, the author watered down some of the more intense elements while adding a lot more feelings of excitement and intensity that weren’t felt in the movie, but still kept the entire portrayal of the scenes highly accurate in their elements and appropriately descriptive for children. I didn’t however like the depictions of alien species like the Gamorrean Guards and Jabba the Hutt himself. I also didn’t like the portrayal of Chewbacca the Wookiee, but that doesn't make much sense because I don’t mind his depiction in other Star Wars World of Reading books illustrated by the same Studio. However I do love Leia and Han Solo’s depictions in their different outfits, Leia in her Bespin and Boushh outfits, as well as her hair, and Han in his Episode 4 Smuggler’s outfit. I like that flashback of artwork shown from Episode 4 of Han talking to Jabba. I also like the scene of Slave 1 (Boba Fett’s starship) on the landing platform in Cloud City with the sunset. I do like Jabba the Hutt’s colors in the artwork though. I love the depictions of Luke in his black Jedi Knight robes. I thought the portrayal of the Rancor was really scary, scarier than it is shown in the movie, and it was super cool but I’d worry about it actually frightening the children reading the book. I like the way Jabba’s sail barge looked sailing across the sands of Tatooine. I like the small smile on Lando (disguised as a guard) when Luke springs into action off the plank. My favorite part was the emphasis put on the fact that his new lightsaber was green!! A whole page was dedicated to expressing this fact. I always thought it should’ve gotten more attention and explanation in the movie. I also like how it’s explained in detail what happened to Boba Fett, and how they spent more than a few pages describing what occurred. It was a very short scene in the movie that I personally thought should’ve gotten more time. I love the full page artwork of Boba in the Sarlacc’s tentacles. The colors are really bright and vibrant on that page in particular. It is worth noting however that instead of stating how Leia choked Jabba to death with her slave chain, it is stated only that she “used a big chain to defeat him” to make the story child-appropriate. I thought it was silly to have Leia in her slave outfit at the end scene, but I suppose that would be accurate for the scene in the timeline however as portrayed. Overall I thought this book was very enjoyable and well written and I believe that anybody should read it whether kid or even an adult who is a loving fan of the movie or novelization of Episode 6 or wishing for an introduction into it’s chapter of time in the Star Wars universe as a whole.