By Corcoran O’Leary

The Goldfinch

– Donna Tartt

For the past month this book has engulfed me, picking it up any chance I could to inhale the story and characters in a book that keeps its audience through the author’s eloquent writing style. Yet don’t be confused by the precise writing, The Goldfinch includes a healthy dose of self-destruction and nihilistic viewpoints. Following Theodore Decker after a tragedy strikes his family, changing his life forever. This tale is one written with incredible care, with Donna Tartt spinning an emotionally and ultimately expansive tale that takes a look at important moments in life and tries to find meaning in them.

Sin City: The Hard Goodbye

– Frank Miller

The first story in Frank Miller’s incredibly popular Sin City series, he comes out swinging. Immediately establishing the dark world that Sin City exists in, Miller paints a world of black and white, using stark dramatic images to set the tone. Here we follow Marv, someone easily written off as a typical brute, large scarred and often confused. However, one women gives him a night to remember, and after waking up to her corpse next to him, he vows to take revenge. This gruesome tale is comic noir at its best, with intense and gritty dialogue Frank Miller achieves in building a corrupt world where the only justice that can be served is by a lone vigilante. This over-the-top story is still treated with reverence by Miller, who does justice to his characters, creating satisfyingly three-dimensional characters who are easy to root for.