Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom by Griffin McElroy, Clint McElroy, Carey Pietsch, Travis McElroy, Justin McElroy

27 reviews

roodborstje's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Grief

jenc's review

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

emily_mh's review

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

This was so good! Definitely my favourite in the series so far. I loved the sci-fi setting with fantasy elements! It was a refreshing change from the predominantly fantasy settings of the previous instalments. The pacing was incredible - there were many surprises and reveals throughout the story which kept me guessing and engaged. The plot itself was so intriguing and I feel like it’s going to have a big impact on future stories. There were also some great callbacks and connections to past events which really tied this book into the series. Finally, the new additions of Carey, Kravitz and Noelle as characters were incredible. Kravitz is so sick and I’m in love with Carey. Plus, the two romances that featured in this book truly stole my heart! I can’t wait for the fifth book!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Vomit

kys_chai_and_books's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

qrschulte's review

adventurous dark emotional funny sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Stalking

Minor: Genocide

connieischill's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

aviery's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

lucithefer's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

thevampiremars's review

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

The Adventure Zone: The Crystal Kingdom surprised me. Of the podcast arcs, it’s one of my least favourites – I’d hardly be the first to point out the railroading – but of the graphic novel adaptations, I think this might be the best so far.

It differs quite significantly from its podcast counterpart, with the pacing improved drastically and some plot points moved around or cut entirely. This thoughtful editing meant more attention could be given to the important details, like the Millers’ backstory, the Cosmoscope and the planar system it reveals, Kravitz (and his burgeoning relationship with Taako), etc.

That said, the pacing isn’t perfect. The Pocket Spa scene, for example, played out over a total of one (1) page. The joke was that Taako opted out of the action in favour of a leisurely respite, but because it was treated with the same urgency as combat it just didn’t work.

Pietsch’s artwork is great, though I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of sound effects. I did miss Griffin’s music but I know there’s not really any way it could have come across on the page – it’s just one of those things that doesn’t translate into this medium. Oh well.

As I said at the top of this review, I think The Crystal Kingdom is probably my favourite TAZ graphic novel so far. I’m looking forward to The Eleventh Hour (my favourite Balance arc) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

emmaward55's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I love my brothers and their silly fantasy boys.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Re: Body horror:

The body horror is explicit amputation. There's no blood and it's just the one panel. After that the stump is covered. It's also not traumatising to the characters involved in the scene, although it is upsetting for them.