Book Review #789 - Family Don't End With Blood: Cast and Fans on how Supernatural has Changed Lives by Lynn Zubernis

How a Show, and the Support of Its Fandom, Changed—and Saved—Lives

May 2017 marks the end of the twelfth season of the CW hit Supernatural, a television show about two demon-hunting brothers (and an angel) that is at the center of a fan community as tight-knit as family—a virtual support system that spans the globe. The three-time People’s Choice Award winner for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show and Tumblr’s 2015 Most Reblogged “Live Action TV” show has made a name for itself by supporting and encouraging its fans to “always keep fighting,” a main theme echoed in the show, and demonstrating the inspiring truth to a memorable line from early in the show’s run: “Family don’t end with blood.”

In twenty powerful chapters written by Supernatural’s actors and fans, including series lead Jared Padalecki, Family Don’t End with Blood: How Supernatural Has Changed Lives examines the far reach of the show’s impact over the last eleven years. Supernatural has encouraged fans to change their lives, from getting “sober for Sam” to escaping a cult to pursuing lifelong dreams. But fans aren’t the only ones who have been changed. The actors who bring the show to life have also found, in the show and its community, inspiration, courage, and the strength to keep going when life seemed too hard.

In keeping with the show’s message to “always keep fighting,” and to support the important work of combatting stigma and encouraging those who are struggling to speak out, a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to charity Attitudes in Reverse, whose mission is to educate young people about mental health and suicide prevention.

Contributors from Supernatural’s cast include:

Jared Padelecki (“Sam Winchester”)

Jim Beaver (“Bobby Singer”)

Ruth Connell (“Rowena MacLeod”)

Osric Chau (“Kevin Tran”)

Rob Benedict (“Chuck Shurley aka God”)

Kim Rhodes (“Sheriff Jody Mills”)

Briana Buckmaster (“Sheriff Donna Hanscum”)

Matt Cohen (“Young John Winchester”)

Gil McKinney (“Henry Winchester”)

Rachel Miner (“Meg Masters”)

My Rating: 4/5

This book deals with the Supernatural TV show and the impact the show and its conventions have had on not only fans of the show but the cast as well.

The majority of the shows cast wrote stories in here from Jensen Ackles' page to Jared Padalecki's short story and many other in between. It really demonstrated that there is no other TV show out there that cares about its fans more than Supernatural.

There was just so much love for what is my favourite TV show in this book that it made me want to go back and rewatch the show (again). I even spoke to my mum so much about this book that she has started reading it (she is also a fan of the show). 

I loved all the fan stories as well and not just how the show saved them but how they originally found the show. I just found that part really interesting because the reason was different for each person.

Book Review #748 - Bone Key (Supernatural #3) by Keith R.A. DeCandido

Twenty-two years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America . . . and he taught them how to kill it.

Sam and Dean are headed for Key West, Florida, home to Hemingway, hurricanes, and a whole lot of demons. The tropical town has so many ghouls on the loose that one of its main moneymakers has long been a series of ghost tours. But the tours are no more, not since one of the guides was found dead of an apparent heart attack . . . his face frozen in mid-scream. No one knows what horrors he saw, but the Winchester brothers are about to find out.

Soon they'll be face-to-face with the ghosts of the island's most infamous residents, demons with a hidden agenda, and a mysterious ancient power looking for revenge. It's up to Sam and Dean to save the citizens of Key West . . . before the beautiful island is reduced to nothing more than a pile of bones.

My Rating: 3/5

This book is set in mid-season 3 right in the middle of the Sam/Ruby storyline as well as Dean's quest to get out of his deal with the crossroads demon. Both of these storylines are mentioned heavily throughout the book.

The characterizations of Sam and Dean is always the main issue I have with these Supernatural books, and this one was no different. First of all there was mentioned of the boys smelling on more than one occasion which I thought was weird, especially as it wasn't done in the humorous way like it likely would have been had this issue ever been raised on the show.

Secondly, Dean was portrayed as a sleazy manwhore and it had none of the humor or lightheartedness the show uses when approaching this side to Dean. I could go on but these were the main two I had issues with.

There were so many secondary characters in this book, more so than you would see in any episode of Supernatural and this unfortunately takes time away from Sam and Dean which I have found is a common problem with these books.

Book Review #704 - Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken by Tim Waggoner

Whether the reader is new to the Supernatural family or has been with them since the beginning, they’re in for a wild and surprising ride with Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken.

For the first time ever, you can make decisions alongside Sam and Dean Winchester in their quest to battle monsters, demons, and every Big Bad looking to crawl out of the dark recesses of America’s small towns. Open up a local paper in a diner and pick which strange occurrence the boys will investigate first. Jump headfirst into your very own adventure with the Winchester brothers and pick your cover story: will you be an FBI agent, reporter, or bikini inspector? Figure out which lead to follow. Decide whether to split up or stay together. Do you call Bobby Singer for help? And remember, the clock is ticking! If you make the wrong decision, another victim could meet a dark and gory death.

Demons, spirits, and ghouls lurk around every corner, waiting to get the drop on Sam and Dean — and only by following all the clues, interviewing the right suspects, and making the right choices can you lead them to victory. This heart-pounding interactive adventure will be broken down into a series of five original stories, each with branching storylines and multiple endings, all based on the choices the reader makes.

My Rating: 6/10

I used to read a lot of 'Choose your own adventure' books as a kid and loved how you could reread the book numerous times and get a different story each time. This book isn't like that however, as your choices have consequences. If you don't pick the right option each time, you get Sam and Dean killed. 

I have read a number of Supernatural related books now but this book is definitely the closest I have found that captured Dean and Sam's personalities. 

I loved the ending how the four very short stories all connected together unexpectedly. 

Book Review # 674 - Witch's Canyon (Supernatural #2) by Jeff Mariotte

Twenty-two years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America...and he taught them how to kill it.

Sam and Dean have set out on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, but this is no vacation for the brothers. On a stretch of deserted ranchland just beyond the canyon's stunning vistas, mysterious murder sprees have occurred every forty years. The area's inhabitants have been few and far between in years past, but a nearby mega-mall is about to celebrate its grand opening and attract thousands of fresh victims.

The Winchester boys are determined to protect locals and shoppers alike, but they never anticipated they'd be fighting a group of killers this vicious, this vindictive, this . . . dead. A deadly horde of animal spirits and human ghosts has arisen to terrorize this tiny corner of the Arizona desert. If Sam and Dean can't figure out why, the wide-open spaces of the West will once again become a desolate frontier . . . and the witch's canyon will be the brothers' final resting place.

My Rating: 3/5

The death count in this book is so much higher than I remember there being in any average Supernatural episode. 

Because of the amount of characters this book had, there was very little of Sam and Dean - or less than one would expect in a Supernatural book. 

The supernatural element in this book was interesting although it took WAY too long to develop. All the action was in the last 50 or so pages. The first 300 pages were mainly deaths and out of character dialogue. 

I felt like the author was restricted by the fact this was a novelisation of Supernatural. If he had been able to branch out and develop the characters and the story the way he wanted then the book would have been 100% better. 

Book Review #628 - Nevermore (Supernatural #1) by Keith R.A. DeCandido

My Rating: 3/5


Source: Bought


Goodreads











Twenty years ago they lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America...and he taught them how to kill it. 

Sam and Dean have hit New York City to check out a local rocker's haunted house. But before they can figure out why a lovesick banshee in an '80s heavy-metal T-shirt is wailing in the bedroom, a far more macabre crime catches their attention. Not far from the house, two university students were beaten to death by a strange assailant. A murder that's bizarre even by New York City standards, it's the latest in a line of killings that the brothers soon suspect are based on the creepy stories of legendary writer Edgar Allan Poe.

Their investigation leads them to the center of one of Poe's horror classics, face-to-face with their most terrifying foe yet. And if Sam and Dean don't rewrite the ending of this chilling tale, a grisly serial killer will end their lives forevermore.

I had relatively low expectations for this book. The fact that this is not a novelisation of an episode, but an original Supernatural story set between episodes gave me hope though.

The book starts off very promising with two college guys getting murdered. It soon becomes very commercialised.

The main issue I had with this book was the amount of depth put into things that didn't influence anything. There was so much description of the music that Dean liked which I found incredibly boring.

I wouldn't say that Sam and Dean were perfectly portrayed, they were kind of one dimensional versions of themselves.

There were two separate stories going on. One with a banshee at a friend of a friends house and then someone trying to resurrect Edgar Allan Poe.

I liked both of these stories, but I felt like they didn't go that well together and made the plot seem rather messy.

I loved the setting of the Bronx as it is obviously an area that the author loves and knows well.