by Marcus Sedgwick and Thomas Taylor
April 3, 2018
208 pages
Goodreads Summary:
Scarlett Hart, orphaned daughter of two legendary monster hunters, is determined to carry on in her parents’ footsteps—even if the Royal Academy for the Pursuit and Eradication of Zoological Eccentricities says she’s too young to fight perilous horrors. But whether it's creepy mummies or a horrid hound, Scarlett won’t back down, and with the help of her loyal butler and a lot of monster-mashing gadgets, she’s on the case.
With her parent’s archrival, Count Stankovic, ratting her out to T.R.A.P.E.Z.E. and taking all the monster-catching rewards for himself, it’s getting hard for Scarlett to do what she was born to do. And when more monsters start mysteriously manifesting than ever before, Scarlett knows she has to get to the bottom of it and save the city . . . whatever the danger!
In his first adventure for middle-grade readers, acclaimed YA author Marcus Sedgwick teams up with Thomas Taylor (illustrator of the original edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) to create a rip-roaring romp full of hairy horrors, villainous villains, and introducing the world’s toughest monster hunter—Scarlett Hart!
Scarlett Hart, orphaned daughter of two legendary monster hunters, is determined to carry on in her parents’ footsteps—even if the Royal Academy for the Pursuit and Eradication of Zoological Eccentricities says she’s too young to fight perilous horrors. But whether it's creepy mummies or a horrid hound, Scarlett won’t back down, and with the help of her loyal butler and a lot of monster-mashing gadgets, she’s on the case.
With her parent’s archrival, Count Stankovic, ratting her out to T.R.A.P.E.Z.E. and taking all the monster-catching rewards for himself, it’s getting hard for Scarlett to do what she was born to do. And when more monsters start mysteriously manifesting than ever before, Scarlett knows she has to get to the bottom of it and save the city . . . whatever the danger!
In his first adventure for middle-grade readers, acclaimed YA author Marcus Sedgwick teams up with Thomas Taylor (illustrator of the original edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) to create a rip-roaring romp full of hairy horrors, villainous villains, and introducing the world’s toughest monster hunter—Scarlett Hart!
Review
What caught my attention about Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter were the names of the author and illustrator. Both I've heard of so I decided to give this graphic novel a try. Besides, who doesn't fancy a little monster hunting action? ;)
I enjoyed the illustrations but the storyline felt disjointed at times. I sometimes found myself struggling to connect how one panel jumped to the next. The transitions just didn't feel very smooth. This ties together with some confusion regarding the story. Though the synopsis gives it away I expected some background to Scarlett's present condition and about the monster hunting practice. You don't really get a good sense until further into the book.
Despite her young age, Scarlett was brave and tackled monsters without hesitations. She may have been a little headstrong but she always had her trusty and loyal butler and housekeeper to keep an eye on things and to encourage her. While the villain was a fellow monster hunter I was happy to see Scarlett had some allies in other monster hunters. It was exciting and satisfying to see them fighting side by side.
I don't love monsters but I really like the way Thomas Taylor illustrated each of Scarlett's monster encounters. They were scary but not overly gross that you'd want to toss the book far away. Thy were all familiar and easily identifiable.
Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter is definitely just the beginning. I can tell there will be much more adventures to be had and I look forward to what other monstrosities and brilliant gadgets this author/illustrator duo will come up with!
*I received a finished copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way.
I sometimes feel like that with graphic novels. I think the lack of dialogues on any given panels makes for a difficult read. But the synopsis sounds good, though.
ReplyDeleteYep, I agree. I actually experimented with a couple ways to read the panels. Not sure they helped lol... Thanks for reading my review Joy <3
DeleteI had a NetGalley chapter sampler of The Ghosts of Heaven and I loved what I read and intended to look into this author more, but never did. What is funny though is I have been following him with my music Twitter account because he is also musician, and I had no idea he was also the Ghosts of Heaven author until he tweeted about this book! Ha ha. I just finished a Graphic Novel that had primo illustrations and a scattered storyline, too, but the premise was a ghost haunting a sheet so I bumped it up to four stars because it made me smile so much. XD
ReplyDeleteI didn't know he's a musician! That's so neat. If you like graphic novels then this one might be fun for you too ;)
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