Review: Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo by Ben Costa & James Parks

I don't usually read graphic novels, but when I got this one for review, I was pretty curious about it. Because that cover is pretty awesome. And I thought the story sounded pretty interesting too. I just read this one, and sadly, I didn't like it all that much. Aw. But there were parts that I enjoyed a bit.

Like the gorgeous illustrations. I found all the images to be stunning. The skeleton looks pretty awesome. And I liked looking at the pictures, haha. I just didn't think the story was very good. I'm not sure what age group this is for, but it says above twelve. At times it felt very adult, yet also so childish.

And so I'm not sure who to recommend this to. But I sure do know that I do not think children should read it, because it isn't for kids at all. But still, nothing too adult about it either. Sigh. Anyway. I had a lot of issues with this one, sadly. And I think that the only thing I enjoyed about this book was the artwork. Aw. And that it was a fast read, lol. I'm glad I gave it a try, though. I do wish to read more graphic novels. I just wish this one had been a lot better. I also don't get the title, The Road to Epoli. As they spent this whole first book in a forest. Hmph. There will be other books, I think, that will be on the road to Epoli. But I won't be reading those. Though I am sort of curious to know what happens next. I am just not curious enough.

This book tells the story of Rickety Stitch. He's a living skeleton. He also sings. Though he sings rather terribly, and no one likes listening to him. We learn a little bit about him in this book, though I didn't really care at all. Aw. But I really liked seeing the pages from his dreams. Those were interesting. And I wanted to know more about that. This whole book is in color, which I loved, except for all his dreams, which are black and white. So pretty. This skeleton is sort of interesting to read about, yet I didn't really care for him.

He has one friend, the Gelatinous Goo. Aka some jelly thingy. Seemed sort of cute. Except, well, they both go drinking in this book, and I didn't really care for that scene at all. It was a bit disturbing. Aw. Oh, well. There are a bunch of characters in this book. Some of them kind of interesting. Like the gnome. But some just really annoying, like the imp. I didn't like his character at all. Lying creature. Though he did look cute, sometimes. There are jokes in this book, I suppose, but they were a bit too adult for this age group.

I'm not sure what else I wish to say about this book. There isn't really that much to mention. It was just over two hundred pages, I think, and it was a quick read. The story was interesting at times, but I found most of it to be boring. At least the drawings were pretty. I wish I had liked this book more, but that just wasn't the case. Still, I'm glad I gave it a try. Huge thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC to review while I was in Chicago. Means the most. It sure is gorgeous. Curious to know what others think.

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