After reading the last page in Prodigy, I felt my heart being ripped open and stomped on. Any reader can empathize with this feeling of reading a book with a heart-wrenching cliff hanger. Thanks to Marie Lu for putting me in a state of despair after reading Prodigy. As much as I loved Prodigy, I did feel the book moved a bit slower than I anticipated. There was a lot of build up to the plot, but it was somewhat boring to read about. Once I was about halfway through the book, I became entranced with seeing the events unfold. I’m hoping to finish this series this year.

Prodigy picks up immediately after Legend with June and Day wandering through Las Vegas after escaping the Republic. Day is still injured as June is trying her best to drag him along to seek shelter. They’re picked up by the Patriots, a rebel group with aims to protest against the Republic. The Patriots give June and Day a deal: help the Patriots successfully assassinate the new elector and the Patriots will personally see to Eden (Day’s brother) being released from the Republic. Day’s leg is patched up and June is sent into the Republic to initiate the assassination attempt.

The beauty in Marie Lu’s writing is the way she writes her action sequences. As I’m reading the action-packed paragraphs, it reminds me of the Bourne movies. Day’s ability to climb balconies and leap across buildings reminds me of something Jason Bourne could do. June’s skill in hand-to-hand combat is also exciting to read about considering without June, Day probably wouldn’t have made it far in his quest to free his brother.

One disappointment I had with this book is how a certain character’s death is treated. I won’t say who they are because I don’t want to provide spoilers, but I felt it wasn’t seen as being a big deal. I wish they would have shown a proper funeral. Another possible scene I would have liked to see in the book, is how this character death would have impacted June and Day. This character’s death scene felt quick and undeserving.

Honestly, I did prefer Legend to Prodigy. Part of this is due to the cliff hanger appearing in the last couple pages of Prodigy. The series went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. I feel for Day because of everything he went through, I wanted him to have a happy ending. I’m not sure if this will be the case, but I can’t quit the series now.

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire is the pivotal book in the series where everything becomes much darker. This may still be a “children’s” book, but the adult themes become more present. Voldemort arises out of the mist ready to take over the Wizarding World with his bigotry towards Mudbloods. As an adult, I find re-reading the Harry Potter book series to be different than when I read it as a child. It’s the same material, but I pick up on themes that are relevant to today’s society. As always, I’m going to post details I completely forgot about from The Goblet of Fire:

• The difference between Wormtail in the book versus the movie is vastly different. In the book, Voldemort makes numerous comments about Wormtail’s devotion due to his endless fear. In the movie, Wormtail is seen as a normal follower willing to do Voldemort’s bidding.
• I wish we would have seen Dudley’s tongue turn purple and grow a foot in length. Instead, the movie starts right at the Quidditch World Cup.
• Apparation requires passing a highly challenging test. This is also the first reference to “splinching” which becomes important later in the series.
• Portkeys need to be objects a “muggle” wouldn’t touch. An example would be litter.
• Ways in which Amos Diggory is such a jerk: He talks about how Cedric beat Harry in the Quidditch match last year EVEN THOUGH Harry fell off his broom due to the Dementor’s presence. Amos Diggory also accused Harry of conjuring the Dark Mark during the World Cup.
• The Quidditch World Cup seats 100,000 people.
• Veelas were women who put men into a trance. They performed at the Quidditch World Cup which almost prompted Harry to dive out of his seat. Fleur is part veela which is why she’s seen as irresistible.
• A break-in is reported at Mad Eye Moody’s house which Arthur Weasley investigates. More excellent foreshadowing by J.K. Rowling.
• Professor Snape forces Neville to disembowel toads as punishment. That’s extremely messed up.
• During the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Moody, he puts everyone under the Imperius Curse and Harry is the only one to fight it off. This becomes extremely important later on as Harry can resist Voldemort’s Imperius Curse during their battle after the third task.
• Triwizard Champions are exempt from end-of-year tests.
• Sirius Black has such an important role in the book. He’s the one who informs Harry about Karkaroff’s past as a Death Eater and about Barty Crouch Sr.’s ruthless ways of punishing the Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War.
• In the book, Harry stays near the arena while fighting the dragon. The whole Hogwarts castle showdown with the dragon is purely made to make the sequence more thrilling.
• DOBBY MADE HARRY QUIDDITCH SOCKS! How cute 🙂
• Moody mentions to Harry about how he would make a good Auror.
• “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors not his equals.” This quote from Sirius is spot on.
• Sirius was sentenced to Azkaban without a proper trial, all thanks to Barty Crouch Sr.
• During Moody’s time as an Auror, he never tried to kill Death Eaters if he didn’t have to. Barty Crouch Sr. gave him special permission to use the three unforgivable curses, but he still avoided using them.
• In Hagrid’s class, they studied Niffler’s! They even had a contest with the Nifflers to see which Niffler would find the most coins. Ron ended up winning. Harry even describes the Nifflers as being cute.
• During a divination lesson, Harry dreams Voldemort tortures Wormtail after he makes a mistake. This further describes Voldemort and Wormtail’s volatile relationship which wasn’t in the movies.
• Ludo Bagman was on trial for giving information to Rookwood [Rookwood was convicted of being a Death Eater].
• The torture of the Longbottom’s shocked the Wizarding World. Frank was a popular Auror and the timing happened right after Voldemort fell from power. This means that Harry’s parents were killed in July and the Longbottom’s were tortured shortly after that.
• Imagine being in Neville’s position: leading the legacy of his parents who have no idea who he is. This is compounded by the fact that his true strength is in Herbology and not necessarily in other forms of magic like his parents. That’s a lot of pressure for Neville.
• A phoenix song plays when Harry and Voldemort’s wands connect. They are also raised in the air and float over the Death Eaters.
• Bertha Jorkins is released from Voldemort’s wand encouraging Harry to keep their wands connected.
• Fawkes heals Harry after the battle with Voldemort. This is after Barty Crouch Jr. is apprehended.
• Fudge doesn’t believe Voldemort’s rise to power due to Harry’s apparent “mental instability” which was written about by Rita Skeeter. In this article, it’s revealed Harry can talk to snakes which was unknown to Fudge. It’s one reason why Fudge launches a smear campaign against Harry and Dumbledore.
• During the argument between Fudge and Dumbledore, Professor Snape reveals his “dark mark” to everyone saying how his mark is darker on his arm. Snape is a lot of things, but he at least believes Harry’s account of Voldemort’s return.
• Towards the end of Goblet of Fire, it’s revealed that Sirius is the black dog that’s been following Harry around. Dumbledore insists Sirius and Snape need to work together. This is the beginning of the formation of the Order of the Phoenix.
• Dumbledore makes a comment to Snape, “You know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared . . . then good luck.” I wonder if this was the moment that Snape contacted Voldemort to become his double agent.
• Ron in the end got an autograph from Krum
• The last sentence in Goblet of Fire is fitting to what happens in the series. It is, “What would come, would come. . . and he would have to meet it when it did.” This is written from Harry’s view and how Harry has accepted Voldemort’s return.

These aren’t even all the comments I wrote about Goblet of Fire. I’m writing a Word document of every little detail I find interesting as I re-read the books. I’m already at 13 pages of little tidbits from the series I had forgotten. Re-reading Goblet of Fire brought out more emotion than I had prepared for. It means I’m one book closer to reading The Deathly Hallows and all the character deaths occur in the Battle of Hogwarts. I’m still looking forward to reading the other three books and hope to start Order of the Phoenix sometime this week.

When I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I was a junior in college. Reading Fangirl allowed me to reflect on my college experience. My freshman year was an intimidating experience where I had to make new friends from scratch. I related to Cath in her devotion to Simon & Bazz. I have the same devotion to other fandoms. When I found out Rainbow Rowell was transitioning into writing comics, I was invested in whatever property she became attached to. Runaways: Find Your Way Home is an adventure story centered on the relationships between friends.

Before reading Runaways, I never knew the premise behind the team. The Runaways is a comic series published by Marvel that debuted in 2003. The series stars a group of teenagers who interact with each other every time their parents have a dinner party. The teenagers discover the dinner parties are a front for their parent’s criminal undertakings. The parents are part of a group titled “The Pride” with the ultimate goal of wiping out the planet and starting fresh. The teenagers are forced to team up and go against authority and stop “The Pride” from unleashing hell on Earth. As I researched The Runaways, I learned that they were created by Brian K. Vaughn. This name may sound familiar because he is the main creator of Paper Girls which is one of my favorite comic series. Vaughn worked on Runaways until the series was canceled in 2009.

Rainbow Rowell’s Runaways: Find Your Way Home is set after the teenagers learn about their parent’s background. What I like about Runaways: Find Your Way Home is how it hints at the original story, but I don’t need prior knowledge of The Runaways to comprehend the story. The protagonists of the story are: Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes, and Alex Wilder. Each teenager has special abilities that contribute to how The Runaways team up in battle. One of the positive attributes of Runaways: Find Your Way Home is the diversity between the characters. This doesn’t include race, but also diversity in body type. Gertrude is one of my favorite teenagers because of her sassy personality, but she’s also drawn as being plus-size. In comics, women are often super thin, curvy, and muscular all at the same time. As someone whose body type doesn’t fit that mold, I’m happy to see characters in comics with a variety of body types.

As I mentioned, Gertrude is one of my favorite characters because I think her character arc is interesting to read. Without giving spoilers, she has to contemplate how The Runaways have grown apart since she felt they would always be together. Also Gertrude has a pet dinosaur named Old Lace who’s her partner in crime. I’m also intrigued by Nico’s magical abilities since she can’t create the same spell twice. I would hate to have this ability because I wouldn’t be creative enough to come up with different spell names every time.

I can’t talk about Runaways: Find Your Way Home without referencing Kris Anka. Kris Anka has worked on many of Marvel’s properties including X-Men, Captain Marvel, and the redesign of Spider-Woman. Kris Anka’s art makes this story shine. He is perfect for Rainbow Rowell since her writing is lighthearted and clever.

As I typed this review, I didn’t realize I would have so much to say. I highly recommend this series because of the story. You don’t have to know anything about the original Runaways to start this series. Go to your local comic book store and pick up Runaways: Find Your Way Home, you won’t be disappointed.