Reviews

Chew, Bulle mit Biss: Reif für die Insel by John Layman

Only show reviews with written explanations

alisonwhitam's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

ihateprozac's review against another edition

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3.0

Same deal as Volume One, I'll recap the volume with spoilery plot overviews for each chapter, and then move on to what I did and didn't like about the text.

******SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEWS******

Chapter 1: Chu and Colby work together to solve a bank robbery, where the robbers left no clues but a steaming pile of shit. Literally. Fortunately Chu doesn't have to eat said pile of shit, and they solve the robbery with the help of Colby's new software and some good ol' fashioned detective work. They're lead to a boat where the criminals are cooking a soup using the mysterious chicken fruit.

Chapter 2: Chu travels to the island of Yamapalu to investigate the chicken fruit, and in the process runs into a US Dept of Agriculture agent called Lin Sae Woo. She is murdered before she has a chance to tell Chu all about the chicken fruit. The FDA discover the frozen body of the Russian hooker from the observatory in Volume One.

Chapter 3: Chu is mistakenly placed under arrest, but is soon released and helps solve a murder that Yamapalu authorities didn't even know had happened. They uncover a cock-fighting ring with a prize winning rooster, which the police chief takes off with. Chu finally gets to taste the chicken fruit, and it's ~out of this world. Literally.

Chapter 4: Chu and Colby make a connection between the 'Vampire' and the island of Yamapalu. Turns out that the Vampire is compiling intel on the observatory operation and deceased Senator that funded it. The President (Prime Minister?) of Yamapalu is luring the world's greatest culinary minds to Yamapalu, in the hopes that the chicken fruit (now revealed to be called Gallsaberry) will put his little island on the map.

We discover another food-related ability: cibolocution. Chef Fantanyeros is mute, yet able to communicate through his cooking. He's translated pieces of literature and opera into culinary dishes. Chu busts into the Yamapalu military compound to rescue his brother Chow and Amelia who have been lured and held hostage by the Yamapalu PM. Oh yeah, Colby and Applebee sleep together ;]

Chapter 5: The authors finally fill in the gaps with Montero industries, as we learn that Ray Jack Montero has reverse engineered frog DNA to make the meat taste like chicken. The Pulp Fiction Jules lookalike is torching Gallsaberry plantations on Yamapalu, determined to destroy the chicken substitute competition.

The "Vampire" is revealed to be another cibopath, who can actually absorb others' abilities by eating their flesh. He kidnaps Fantanyeros and later eats him absorb his cibolocution ability. The Yamapalu PM kills himself, and Chu makes it home with Amelia and Chow safely in tow. Tony gets a date with Amelia, Applebee has released some of that sexual frustration and is now actually nice to Tony, and we learn that not all the Gallsaberry specimens were burned - Amelia kept one to herself.

*****END SPOILERY PLOT OVERVIEW******

All the great elements of Chew are here in Volume Two, including that self-aware taking-the-piss comedy. Newly rebuilt Colby sums himself up with the following: "Don't stare at my robot face, I'm overly sensitive about it and I have a hair-trigger temper" and later says "I'm just keeping it real" to which Chu retorts, "you do know that nobody talks that way, right?"

The Easter Eggs and attention to detail are still there, with D Bear's apartment floor showcasing a "How to be a Badass Gangster" magazine and his very first arrest warrant. A sign on the Yamapalu hotel wall reads "Please refrain from urinating on hotel walls - Management", while a poster in the police station states "Wanted: guy who ate my candy".

There are also a couple of CSI references! There's a Horatio Caine fanclub poster (complete with sunglasses) and Gil Grissom even shows up at one point. There's also a cute panel where some Yamapalu crooks are watching Mary Poppins on TV. And I noticed something even better than CSI Easter Eggs: LOST Easter Eggs! One of the bodies in the Yamapalu morgue is tagged as 'Jeremy Bentham', and a poster in the Yamapalu police station reads "Mysterious hatch found on island"

Despite the comedy and easter eggs, I just didn't enjoy the storyline as much as Volume One. It wasn't very cohesive, it almost felt as if there was an entire chapter missing. It felt disjointed going from robbery --> Yamapalu --> cockfighting ring with demonic rooster --> Yamapalu civil war --> Vampire related to observatory attack --> extraterrestrial chicken plant --> frog chicken substitute. Each of the elements made sense on their own, but they just didn't fit together.

Overall: If you liked Chew Volume One, this is worth reading. The storyline doesn't quite make sense, but it's still lulzy and a great way to kill half an hour. The humour is great as ever, though the storyline fail means I can only give this 3 stars.

davechua's review against another edition

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4.0

Second volume of the series is a lot of fun, but some things are left unexplained and the ending is rushed. An alternative to chicken is found on a tropical island and Tony Chiu has to find out what's the deal.