What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – August 26th, 2025 – Lilo & Stitch, Karate Kid, Monty Python, 1923, Bring Her Back, The Conjuring, Marvel & More!

What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – August 26th, 2025

Wow, there was a lot to dive into this week! One of the biggest films of the year drops, plus we have a notable catalogue anniversary title, a hit TV show, a beloved franchise returning, a horror box set for true aficionados, and some awesome graphic novels! It’s a cornucopia of cool releases!

In This Week’s Column:

• Lilo & Stitch (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital)
• Karate Kid Legends (Blu-ray + Digital)
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Steelbook) 
• 1923: Season Two (Blu-ray)
• Bring Her Back (Blu-ray)
• The Conjuring (4K Ultra HD + Digital)
• Compensation (Blu-ray) 
• High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava (Blu-ray + CD) 
• The Unholy Trinity (Blu-ray + Digital)
• Baby Assassins 3 (Blu-ray) 
• Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Volume 1 (Graphic Novel)
• Ionheart (Graphic Novel)

Lilo & Stitch (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital)

The Movie: 

I think the original Lilo & Stitch gets overlooked as a powerhouse in the Disney library. Released in 2002, after the ‘90s Disney heyday (with The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King all coming out within five years) had calmed down, Lilo & Stitch was a respectable hit at the box office, but not a juggernaut. But I have some family members in their early 30s, and for people in or around that demographic, that movie is a core memory for them. I see more and more people wearing Lilo & Stitch apparel at conventions and buying merchandise of the film, and more pop culture references to it every day. 

So it’s no real surprise that Disney added it to their ever-growing stable of live-action remakes. It’s also no surprise that it was a massive hit, grossing over $1 billion worldwide, with over $400 million in the U.S. alone. All those 2002 kids are now grown up and taking their kids to the movies, so of course it was going to be big. 

And I don’t really have a lot to say about it, simply because I’m not in the target demographic for the audience. Honestly, I didn’t love the film, but who cares? It wasn’t made for me, it was made for young kids and their families. Frankly, I found both Lilo and Stitch to be somewhat annoying, and I much more identified with Nani (a terrific Sydney Agudong), who is simply trying to get the two troublemakers to be calm for five freaking minutes so she can just not get Lilo taken away by Child Protective Services. But apparently that’s too much to ask! (To be fair, it’s also the crux of the movie, so again, this is just grumpy old reviewer me, apparently.)  Still, kids will love it, so ignore me completely if you have young ones!

The Bonus Features: 

• Deleted Scenes
• Bloopers
• Scenes with Stitch featurette
• Drawn to Life featurette
• Ohana Means Family featurette

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

Even though I didn’t love Lilo & Stitch, it’s a well-made family comedy/sci-fi/adventure movie, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Watch it with the kids and have a good time!

Karate Kid Legends (Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: 

I’m a little bit sad that Karate Kid Legends didn’t do better at the box office (although it was a decent mid-size success), because I really, really enjoyed it. The film is an all-new story that ties in to pretty much every previous Karate Kid movie or show to date, pulling in Ralph Macchio from the original movies and the Cobra Kai show, as well as Jackie Chan from the 2010 reboot (while wisely leaving Jaden Smith out of it.) And ultimately, it’s just an incredible amount of fun. 

This time around, the titular Karate Kid is Li Fong, played by Ben Wang, a teenager whose mom has just relocated him to New York City from Japan, where he was occasionally training with Mr. Han (Chan.) But his older brother was killed in a street fight, so his mom frowns on karate or fighting of any kind. When Li befriends a teenage girl and her pizzeria-owning father (played by a charismatic Joshua Jackson), he begins training the dad for reasons I don’t need to go into here. This all leads to a confrontation with a local Karate champ who is – of course – a jerk, followed by secret training that leads to a huge karate tournament. 

It’s formulaic, sure, but in the best way. There’s nothing unpredictable about the movie at all, but it’s high-energy, it’s fun, it’s got a great soundtrack and energetic pacing, and it will have you smiling from ear to ear the whole time you’re watching it. Oh yeah, and make sure you stay for the post-credits sequence!

The Bonus Features: 

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Two Masters, One Student featurette
• Becoming the Karate Kid featurette
• Strength & Character: The Cast featurett
• Karate, Kung Fu and The Art of Action featurette
• Honoring the Miyagi Legacy featurette

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

Karate Kid Legends is a perfect blend of all the previous Karate Kid incarnations, while also setting things up for future sequels that might stand on their own. I can’t ay if it was successful enough to launch more sequels, but on its own, it’s a super fun film that I think you’ll really enjoy. 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Steelbook) 

The Movie: 

I like to joke that, for a long time I think Sony’s unofficial motto was, “Another year, another version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail on home video!” Seriously, I think this film has to be in the top ten of movies that have had multiple releases on home video. Honestly, I’ve lost count at this point. In the past few years, I feel like it’s slowed down a bit, but here we are with a brand new – albeit warranted this time — release of the film, with Sony’s new Steelbook 4K Ultra HD Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 50th Anniversary Edition. 

So while I give Sony grief over the multiple re-releases, this new version not only celebrates the film’s 50^th anniversary, it also marks the 4K Ultra HD debut of it as well. Oh yeah, and it comes in a super-cool Steelbook case, which is always a welcome addition to the shelf. And ultimately, as much as I like to tease Sony, I’m never truly upset about a new version of MPATHG, because it is one of the funniest movies of the past 50 years. If you’ve never seen it, there’s really no way I can describe it to you that will sound coherent or sane, just trust me that you need to track it down and watch it immediately, and this new release is a great way to do that. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

Normally, when a film is 50 years old – and shot on a low-budget to boot – I have very low expectations for a 4K release. But Sony has g iven this movie the deluxe treatment, and I’m blown away by it. This is the best I’ve ever seen The Holy Grail look on home video. Now, it will by no means be mistaken for the newest Marvel movie, but the transfer manages to retain the grainy cinematic quality of the movie while also improving on image clarity, color saturation, black levels, and contrasts, resulting in a picture that makes it feel like you’re watching it on a movie theater screen. The surround soundtrack also offers up some great directionality and surround effects, along with a thumping bass channel. There are some moments that are a little more on the tinny side here and there, because you can only work with the source material you have, but all in all it’s a terrific effort. 

The Bonus Features: 

• Near-Theatrical Version of the Film (in HD resolution) – Experience a slightly shorter version of the film, as seen on VHS!
• NEW! ’Tis But A Tribute – 50 Years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Over 25 comedy luminaries share their memories of, affection for, and continued fascination with the film
• Audio Commentary with Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
• Audio Commentary with John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin
• 2015 Tribeca Film Festival Q&A with Terry, Terry, Mike, John and Eric
• Outtakes and Extended Scenes with Introduction by Terry Jones
• Lost Animations with Introduction by Terry Gilliam
• Quest for the Holy Grail Locations with Michael Palin and Terry Jones
• Lego Knights: The Knights of the Round Table in LEGO
• Special Japanese Version
• How to Use Your Coconuts (An Educational Film)
• BBC Film Night on Location
• Three Songs to Sing-Along
• Photo Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

You might have seen that this release is not listed as including a digital copy, and that wasn’t a mistake on my end. It does not come with a digital copy, which for the life of me I can’t figure out. To go to all the trouble to make one of the best releases of the year and then simply not add in a digital copy is unfathomable to me. Aside from that major oversight, Monty Python fans should be thrilled with this 50^th Anniversary edition.

1923: Season Two (Blu-ray)

The Show: 

The Yellowstone juggernaut continues! 1923 is the second prequel series to the incredibly popular show that debuted on Paramount+ a few years ago. (The first prequel series was 1883; where do they come up with these very creative names?) 

This show takes place in – obviously – 1923, and sees an earlier generation of the Dutton family going through the usual challenges of the early Dust Bowl era: dying animals, poverty, Native American conflicts, religious strife, familial drama, etc. Frankly, it all feels like part of the Yellowstone industrial complex, but what really sets it apart is the cast. Of course, the two leads, Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, get all the attention, and rightfully so. They are bona fide superstars, so getting to see them act together and on a TV show is a real treat. But the supporting cast is also terrific, including Brandon Sklenar, Julia Schlaepfer, and especially the always-excellent Timothy Dalton. 

This second-season collection includes all seven episodes of season two, and my understanding is that the show was scheduled to run for just two seasons, so this is effectively the completion of the saga.

The Bonus Features: 

• Darkness Cannot Hide: 1923 Returns
• The Shroud of Winter: Production Design & Costumes
• The Women of 1923
• 1923: Teonna’s Story
• What Would You Bring Back from 1923
• Behind the Story” segments for each episode

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

I suspect that 1923 will appeal the most to people who have already watched all of Yellowstone and 1883, or at the very least, those viewers will probably pick up on more of the nuances and plot tie-ins than new viewers will. The show’s a little slow-moving for my tastes, but the cast really helps keep you interested in the goings-on on screen.

Bring Her Back (Blu-ray)

The Movie: 

Writer/director brother team Danny and Michael Phillippou’s first film, Talk to Me, was an effectively creepy horror film that gained some solid attention and has developed a nice little fan following. I found the film to be quite good, despite a few particularly disturbing scenes, so I was curious to see what they would do with their follow up, Bring Her Back. 

And boy, it’s been a hot minute since I have hated a movie as much as I hated Bring Her Back. I understand that some people like gore and blood and guts in their horror movies, but it was like the Phillippous were on a mission to make this movie as disgusting and grimy and disturbing as humanly possible. And I know that some people are going, “Well, duh, it’s a horror movie, moron!” but this was at a whole different level. 

The story follows teenage Andy and his younger (and blind) stepsister Piper, whose father has just died unexpectedly. They’re shipped off to stay with the decidedly weird Laura (Sally Hawkins), who lost her own blind teenage daughter a couple of years previously. She also has another foster child, Oliver, a young selectively mute boy. To say more would be getting into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say the film’s title should give you some clue what Laura’s endgame is. 

When I went to rate the film on my movie-rating app, I saw that it has an average rating of 3.7 stars out of 5, which is mind-blowing to me. I have a hard time believing anyone liked this movie. I think people more think they’re supposed to like it than they actually enjoyed the process of watching it. I mean, if you like horrible, disgusting things happening to children repeatedly, characters making bad decisions, and just an endless amount of uncomfortably gross stuff – some of which are horrifically disturbing; you’ll never eat a cantaloupe again – then I guess I can see how you might like it. For me, there are very few movies I truly regret watching, but this is one of them. 

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio Commentary with Danny & Michael Philippou
• Deleted Scene
• Coming Full Circle: Making Bring Her Back Featurette
• Six Collectible Postcards

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

I’m disappointed that The Phillippou Brothers went in this direction for their follow-up to Talk to Me. They clearly have some filmmaking talent, but if this is the kind of movie they’re going to make, count me out. 

The Conjuring (4K Ultra HD + Digital)

The Movie: 

The Conjuring started off as just a simple horror movie and went on to launch a franchise. Released in 2013, it was nothing more than the story of a woman whose house was haunted and the paranormal investigators who helped her figure out what was going on. 

Then, of course, the film was a massive hit at the box office, taking in over $140 million just in the U.S alone, and it launched a franchise that continues to this day. Personally, I think the credit for the film’s success goes to its absolutely brilliant trailer, which is one of the scariest movie trailers I can ever remember seeing. That scene with Lili Taylor playing hide-and-seek with her kids and the clapping hands is so eerie, so creepy, that you just had to see how it would play out. 

Now, as a franchise I can’t say I’m a particularly big fan of most of the movies, but this first one – which makes its 4K Ultra HD debut this week, just in time for a new theatrical entry in the franchise — is pretty enjoyable. It’s anchored by terrific performances by Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, and the aforementioned Lili Taylor. That said, the film’s scares are more creepy than truly scary, and the movie treads well-worn ground. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but overall, the film’s a good way to kill 90 minutes, especially during the upcoming Halloween season. 

The 4K Video/Audio:

As a relatively recent film, The Conjuring looks and sounds very good in the premium format. The color saturation is strong but not quite what I would call overly vibrant, as the film has a lot of earthy tones defining the look of the picture. The predominant feel of the film is meant to be kind of dark to reflect the action on screen, and that’s captured well. Image clarity is sharp, however, and the overall effect is quite strong. The surround soundtrack isn’t the most immersive ever, but it does a great job of bringing the action and dialogue into your living room. Meanwhile, the powerful bass channel ensures there’s an occasional rumble through your bones. All in all, this is a very good A/V presentation.

The Bonus Features: 

• NEW! Scariest of Them All featurette
• NEW! Reflections on The Conjuring featurette
• The Conjuring: Face-to-Face with Terror featurette
• A Life in Demonology featurette
• Scaring the “@$%” Out of You featurette

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

While the umpteen films that have come since 2013 have been of varying levels of quality, the original The Conjuring holds up as an effective horror movie in its own right. Now’s a great time to revisit it on 4K!

Compensation (Blu-ray) 

The Movie: 

Usually, when The Criterion Collection announces a title that I’ve never heard of, it’s some 70-year-old foreign film or something like that. I mean, I’m pretty well-versed in cinema history, but I can’t know everything. So when I saw the black-and-white cover art for Compensation, I assumed it was maybe a silent film or something like that. It turns out the film, which was written by Marc Anthony Chery and directed by Zeinabu Irene Davis (a husband-and-wife team), came out in 1999, which is right in the sweet spot of the era I know the most about, the 90s. So how have I never heard of it before?

Well, I don’t have an answer for that, but I am glad to say that thanks to Criterion, I am familiar with it now and very happy about that fact. Compensation tells two stories that are semi-related. The first is about an African-American deaf woman, a teacher and seamstress, in Chicago in 1910 and the migrant man she falls in love with, while the second brings the proceedings to the 1990s, where a deaf artist and a librarian begin a courtship. Both couples are played by the same actors, Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks, and both give heartfelt performances.

But the film isn’t just a romance. It has themes about race and the African-American experience, but also brings to light the experience of life as a deaf person, and there are some neat visual tricks that Davis employs to really bring those aspects to life. Ironically, there are even scenes that utilize silent film techniques, matching what I thought the cover indicated. This is definitely a movie that draws a lot of inspiration from silent films. It’s a powerful and effective experience. 

The Bonus Features: 

• Audio Commentary featuring Davis, Chéry, and director of photography Pierre H. L. Désir Jr. 
• Two short films by Zeinabu irene Davis: Crocodile Conspiracy (1986) and Pandemic Bread (2023)
• Interviews with Davis from 2021, plus additional interviews with cast and crew

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

Apparently, Compensation has been languishing in obscurity until recent years, where it’s sort of been rediscovered and is gaining new life. This new Criterion Collection should go a long way in making sure the movie gets the attention it deserves. 

High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava (Blu-ray + CD) 

The Movie: 

Severin Films continues to crank out high quality box sets with their newest release, High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava. Bava is well-known not only for being the son of Giallo master Mario Bava, but he’s also a widely regarded director in his own right, having helmed the incredibly popular Demons films. According to the press materials, in In the late 1980s, Bava was hired to direct a four-part anthology series for Italian TV under the title High Tension. He delivered, but the final result was so excessively gory and disturbing that the network pulled the show from the air and it’s never been officially released, instead making the bootleg rounds only. 

Now, Severin brings us the worldwide official debut of High Tension in this terrific new box set. The four movies included are The Prince of Terror, The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, Eye Witness, and School of Fear. Each movie has been restored to home video quality and is presented uncut, meaning you get to see them in all their original grisly glory. For my money, the two standouts in the set are The Prince of Terror and Eye Witness. The Prince of Terror sees a top movie director and his family set upon by a crazed stalker in their remote villa, giving it a combination feel of horror film and survival thriller. Eye Witness sees a blind woman as the only witness to a murder, so naturally the police want to protect her while the murderer wants to silence her. It’s a tense cat-and-mouse thriller. The other two movies are solid, but they fall into what I would consider more traditional giallo territory. 

This new box set is a 5-disc affair which sees each of the movies on Blu-ray with a nice collection of extra features, and then a bonus fifth soundtrack CD which includes music cues from Bava’s works; High Tension, of course, but also Demons 2, Delirium, and more. 

The Bonus Features: 

The Prince of Terror:

• Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years Of Italian Giallo Films
• The Adventure Of Anfri – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava On High Tension
• We Call Him Maestro – Lamberto Bava On The Prince of Terror

The Man Who Wouldn’t Die:

• The Scerbanenco Touch – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
• Stephen King Italian Style – Interview With Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti

Eye Witness:

• Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years Of Italian Giallo Films
• The Last Giallo – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
• Love Is Blind – Interview With Actress Barbara Cupisti

School of Fear:

• The Tale Of Evil Children – Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
• Play The Game – Interview With Screenwriter Roberto Gandus
• When Bava Met Boswell – Interview With Composer Simon Boswell

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

I’m more of a casual fan of Italian horror cinema than a die-hard fan, partially because I don’t really love the gore and blood that many of the films relish in, but I still enjoyed this box set. It’s a terrific collection with a couple of great films, some excellent bonus features, and stand-out packaging. Another hit from Severin films!

The Unholy Trinity (Blu-ray + Digital)

The Movie: 

I’ve stated many times over the years that I’m not the biggest fan of westerns in the world, and here I am now reviewing a second one in a month! To be fair, I don’t DISLIKE westerns, it’s just not a genre I go out of my way for. There are some western movies I truly love, so I don’t go into them with any pre-conceived notions, they just don’t always end up being my cup of tea. 

The Unholy Trinity falls into the better-than-average-but-not-quite-great category. I liked it more than I do a lot of the no-name, no-budget westerns I’m forced to endure for review purposes. But it’s not a masterpiece, either. The film’s main character is Henry Broadway, played by Brandon Lessard, who sets out to clear his father’s  name in a town that hates him for a murder he claims he was framed for. Along the way, he comes up against Samuel L. Jackson’s Saint Christopher, who thinks Henry might know where some hidden gold is, and Sherriff Dove, played by Pierce Brosnan, who’s on the side of the angels. From there, it’s pretty typical western fare, albeit with some decent action scenes and some not-overblown dialogue.  It’s far from a genre-defining classic, but it’s not a bad way to kill a couple of hours, either. 

The Bonus Features: 

There are no bonus features on this disc. 

Digital Copy Included: Yes

The Wrap-Up:

If The Unholy Trinity had a lesser cast (David Arquette, Katrina Bowden, and Q’orianka Kilcher all play supporting roles), it would be a lot more forgettable, but a likable cast and a decent story and execution make it at least worth watching. 

Baby Assassins 3 (Blu-ray) 

The Movie: 

I really, really, REALLY wish they would change the name of this franchise. In 2021, we got Baby Assassins, an Asian action film. While the title conjured up some sort of Boss-Baby-Meets-Ninja-Assassin mash-up, it was actually a surprisingly good action flick. The film saw two teenage girls graduate high school, during which time they were trained as assassins. They were then forced to room together and get real jobs to establish their cover identities. Unfortunately, things quickly went wrong and the two — who can barely tolerate each other — have to go on the run and trust each other to survive. 

Then came Baby Assassins 2 in 2023, which picked up a couple of years later, where Mahiro (Saori Izawa) and Chisato (Akari Takaishi) have been working as contract killers. But when they fail to pay their union dues, they’re suspended from their agency. This happens to come at the same time as a pair of rival hitmen decide to take them out, leading to action-packed mayhem. Once again, it’s a twist on the classic buddy cop formula, only with assassins instead of cops and teenage girls instead of male action stars. 

Now we have Baby Assassins 3, because despite the names, these are clearly very popular films in their native Japan. This time around, Mahiro and Chisato are on vacation when they get a new assignment, only to learn that a rival hitman is after the same target, and he’s not about to let them get his reward. So now it’s hit girls versus hitman, with a slightly edgier tone than the first two films had. The comedy element is still there, but things feel a little less “cute” this time around. Still, it’s fast-paced and action-packed, and if you liked the first two films, this one will be equally enjoyable.

The Bonus Features: 

• Trailer

Digital Copy Included: No

The Wrap-Up:

Much as I don’t like the name of the Baby Assassins franchise, I’m glad to see it continue. The films aren’t high art, but they’re frenetic and not-too-serious actioners that are a great way to kill an hour and a half late at night.

Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Volume 1 (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

I didn’t get a chance to review Fantagraphics’ Lost Marvels: Volume 1 hardcover graphic novel when it came out a few months ago, but I did get to peruse a copy at my local comic shop and it was quite impressive. This week, we are treated to Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Volume 1 (an unwieldy title to be sure), which I am happy to say I got to dive fully into!

The series of graphic novels is collecting notable works by seminal talents at Marvel Comics that have never been collected before. While Volume 1 focused largely on horror comics with works by the likes of Neal Adams, Stan Lee, Barry Windsor Smith, Jim Steranko, and others, this volume quite obviously focuses solely on the works of Howard Chaykin. 

Now it’s important to recognize that the focus here is not on representing the complete works of Chaykin at Marvel, but rather the rare and little-seen Chaykin works. So there’s obviously no Star Wars work here, but you may be a little surprised to find out – I certainly was – that most of the work comes from the mid-to-late-2000s. There are some early Chaykin stories collected (Marvel Premiere #32 and #56), but the bulk of the book comes from two projects from Marvel’s erstwhile MAX imprint: the four-issue Dominic Fortune MAX series from 2008, and War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle (also from 2008), written by none other than Garth Ennis. 

Now, I’m a Chaykin fan so I enjoyed this book quite a bit; I remember reading the MAX books back in the day but it’s been so long it was like reading them again for the first time. Plus, the book is a gorgeous oversized hardcover printed on premium paper, so it looks and feels outstanding! 

The Specs: 

• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Page Count: 256 pages
• Cover Price: $49.99

The Wrap Up:

There are already plans for a Volume 3 of Lost Marvels and I would assume a second volume of Chaykin works down the line. Now I need to track down Volume 1 and complete the collection, but these are a must-have for any Marvel fan or anyone who just loves seeing comic book legends at work. 

Ionheart (Graphic Novel)

The Book: 

SO, first off, that’s not a typo: then ale of this book is IONheart, not Lionheart. (Search engines may get tripped up with that.) Second of all, here’s what you need to know about Ionheart: it’s an extremely interesting if not entirely successful sci-fi/fantasy graphic novel that has some real pluses and some real minuses. 

The book was written and drawn by Austrian-German artist Lukas Kummer. The story sees a knight of sorts traveling across a fantasy-esque land pursued by a “demon” who may or may not be a robot. All the while, there are artifacts from across time popping up at random places. The knight is also telling his story about how he got there and the princess he was in love with, and where she is now. Honestly, it’s hard to explain in a few sentences: there’s time travel, robots, princesses, fast cars, townspeople, and mass destruction, all in 300+ pages. 

So, let’s start with the good stuff. Kummer’s art and colors are outstanding. He does that thing where his work is both cartoonish yet detailed at the same time, and it’s very visually striking. And the story is interesting; I was pretty hooked for the first hundred pages or so. 

However, the story is broken up into a few chapters, and it’s right around the first chapter break that it started to lose me. That’s the point at which the story stops being told linearly, and once you combine time travel elements and the flashbacks and flash-forwards, things started to get confusing, and honestly the story lost me at several points. I wish the narrative had been a little clearer from start to finish, because I think I would have flat out loved it if that were the case. As it is, I still enjoyed it, but it’s not the masterpiece I thought I might be in for. 

The Specs: 

• Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
• Format: Softcover
• Page Count: 312 pages
• Cover Price: $24.99

The Wrap Up:

Ionheart is aimed at teen and adult readers and I’m sure some people will have no problem following the story. For those people, they will probably love this book. I found it a bit hard to follow, but I still liked it quite a bit.