#2019 Book Reviews

[velvetjune]

can’t stop thinking about that book club in control where everyone’s reviews were about a seemingly different plot entirely and predicted how they would die in the actual game. actually incredible to piece together while playing and inherently a little funny. haunted book

[literatureaesthetic]

why is bookstagram the most uninspiring place on the internet

[mrynnn]

Little Woman

I just watched a really inspiring movie that helped me understand that life's most mundane moments, perhaps even the moment I'm living right now, are a part of something much greater.

Our lives may feel mundane the majority of the time, but to the untrained eye, they're actually exciting. That's the thing. See, our eyes are too trained. We're so used to our own lives. We see everything as monotonous because, well, it's all we've ever known, and that gets boring.

But to anybody else, even your neighbor next door who lives almost the exact same life as you on paper, the story of your life is interesting. In a way, we're all just little women, living in our little houses, going about our little lives concerned over other little people who we for some reason have deemed as far, far bigger than ourselves. Little people with big dreams to one day confidently say that no one will forget us. Little people whose little voices can make them big enough to shout from the rooftop and say,

I want to be great or nothing.

- Amy march

From little woman

[infinitaregna]

Review: The Luminous Dead (2019)

The Luminous Dead, or A Sleep Deprived Woman is Startled for 400 Pages

Unremarkable first time novel from Caitlin Starling. Again, a shorter edit of a book like this (cut it down to one or two hundred pages maybe?) could have made for a real stripped down and taut horror tale.

Unfortunately, as it is, 412 pages is far too long for Starling to keep the content interesting. Dread, fear and tension regularly dissolve into boredom, tedium and monotony.

That sounds a little more harsh than I actually want it to be, especially considering the fact that I really wanted to like this story of a woman exploring a cave system on another planet while stuck in a self-contained caving suit. But, unfortunately, Starling's main focus is on the relationship of the caver and her 'handler'. A relationship that plays out largely as a single audio conversation between the two characters. While this is a novel and interesting approach, at the best of times, it can be difficult to keep something like this compelling for even a short period of time, let alone 400 pages.

That this was nominated for a Bram Stoker award causes one to possibly question the validity of that honor...

[wearetheweirdosmisterblog]

Happy 14 of 31 days of Halloween on Hulu!

Crawl (2019)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

😱😱😱/5

When a hurricane hits Haley (the main characters) Florida town. She has to race to help her trapped father terrified and alone in his home. However when gigantic alligators are hunting you in the murky waters, this doesn't make it an easy journey.

They meet people who are also trying to get to safety due to hurricane Wendy. But will the gators allow that to happen? I think not.

For a killer gator movie this was done well. This film really keeps you on the edge of the seat the whole time. The suspense is one that is slow but fast at the same time which makes it great for someone with a bad attention span.

The heartfelts moments that Haley and her father have really show how resilient this family is. This also goes to the basis of inner family trauma and the bonds that break in between.

Honestly I did not think I was going to like this film as much as I did. I would put this on my watch list and definitely recommend it if you are suspense druggy.

Director: Alexandre Aja

Cinematographer: Maxime Alexandre

Streaming on: Pluto NOT HULU

Tw: Death, Animal abuse, Drowning, thalassophobia

[literary-lion]

Black Butler Vol. 28 | Book Review

I have never been so shook by a manga in my entire life. I can’t believe Toboso has really changed the entire landscape of her story after more than a decade of writing it. More and more I think about things I’d brushed off and realize that they were all leading up to this reveal. I wonder how long she’s really had this planned. From all the way in the beginning? Was this something that was just…

[vampiredungeon]

That post about goodreads reviewers not being human was right. What the fuck is this man

[liesonthefloordramatically]

“But they love you” Over and over, “They love you” Thousands and thousands of eyes just like mine Aching to find who they are

[thethingything]

hmm our sleep schedule is kinda fucked and that's obviously not great (we've been going to bed at around lunchtime and waking up at 8pm for some reason) but I may be able to get this to work in my favour because I need to book a doctor's appointment but I don't know how this is gonna play out in terms of whether I can get an appointment today or if I'll need to wait or get an in-person one

[manichsey]

If someone's reading...

Let's talk about Jo March girls

Jo March girls are the girls that want to be someone important, girls who fight for what they want, and they want big things. Are the girls that if they could choose, they would choose to travel the world, know different people, cultures, storys, and they would do a journal for the travel. Are the girls who love love, but don't want to be in a relationship (because their freedom is too important for them just gave it to a mortal). Are the girls who need academic validation more than anything. Are the girls who love poetry, book, literature, history and philosophy class. Are the girls that would do anything for those who they love. I'm a Jo march, I want the world to know me, I'm the most anxious person that I know, but I'm also everything I want to be (even if it takes me some time to be brave enough to be). Jo march girls, are also the archer and mirroball girls.

Ps: if you don't know who's Jo march, you should watch (or read) little woman, specifically the 2019's version.

[strawberri-syrup]

i looooooooooove videos about terrible books theyre so fun to me

[velvetjune]

imagine being director Northmoor of the FBC and one day you revel so much in your power that you literally explode. and instead of doing anything else about it, the FBC goes “when life gives a secret paranatural government agency lemons…” and throws your possibly-alive, moving corpse in a power plant so they don’t have to worry about their power bill. then going onwards, people only refer back to you using ominous light-based puns

[good-omens-heritage-posts]

good omens heritage post

A History of Good Omens

On May 30th, Good Omens director Douglas Mackinnon, author Neil Gaiman, producer Rob Wilkins, and actress Adria Arjona (Anathema Device) joined us for a video Answer Time and shared things like their favorite scenes, scariest filming moments, and top five earthly pleasures. The show launched the following day and sponsored a site-wide takeover for 24 hours. This Year in Review, Good Omens has dominated across the board, resulting in #1 rankings on multiple lists. Here’s how we got there:

The Story

It was a wild year for Good Omens, both in your hearts and on our rankings. The title first appeared in 2017 at #19 on Year in Review’s Books list and moved up eight spots to #11 in 2018. Things were quiet with the series until the show premiered on May 31st, and Aziraphale and Crowley entered the television sphere. The show debuted on our weekly Fandometrics lists the following Monday, June 3rd, 2019. That week, #Good Omens was the second-most-talked-about thing on all of Tumblr, between Marvel and Captain Marvel. It took the top spot the following week, reigning at #1 for nine straight weeks until Taylor Swift came for the crown on August 26th. It was truly a summer of angels and demons.

The Authors

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have also long been Tumblr faves, appearing at #8 and #7, respectively, on the 2015 Top Authors list. After the list returned from its 2016 vacation, Neil took a bit of a dip to #9 in 2017, and to #11 in 2018. In 2018, Terry also returned to the list at No. 16. This year, they are back to back at the top where they belong. Neil Gaiman has had a big year on Tumblr—he’s answered more than 1,000 questions on his blog, @neil-gaiman​​, since January 2019.

The Ship

People have been shipping Aziraphale and Crowley since as early as 2001, with people on LiveJournal calling them ineffable since 2005. Ineffable Husbands was solidified as their ship name when it began to trend in March, coinciding with the release of the first trailer. By June 3rd, the pairing had debuted at #1 on the Ships list, where it stayed for twelve weeks, until September 9th when it was displaced by Reddie (Richie Tozier & Eddie Kaspbrak) after the release of IT Chapter 2. 

Ineffable Husbands is the ship of the year for multiple reasons: they are an angel and a demon—not human, and therefore not defined by their gender or sexuality, they’ve spent 6,000 years taking risks to help save each other, a love that surpasses the end of the world. They also have completely opposite approaches to plants, which @dotstronaut​​ captured perfectly in the ship’s top post from 2019.

[jeshaisabookworm]

Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right by Kieran Kramer | Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4 out of 5. Title: Dukes to the Left of Me, Princess to the RightAuthor: Kieran KramerSeries: The Impossible BachelorsVolume: 2Published: 2010Pages: 416 pages, Mass Market PaperbackGenre: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Regency, Regency Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult, Espionage, British Literature This is the second book of the Impossible Bachelors series by…

[hannahwatcheshorror]

PET SEMATARY (2019)

😿Cat Dies (then un-dies)

Nothing like slapping "Stephen King" on a bastardization of his classic book and turning it into an abortion of a movie. It started with such promise and then, was killed, buried, came back to life, and was mercifully ended by the rolling credits. Not a terrible movie but considering what it could have been? Only redeeming factor is that Rachel is much stronger in this movie than her character in the book and that makes it fun to root for her.

⭐⭐

Family gets a spooky cemetery for pets in a mad-lad land deal, and befriend the decidedly creepy old man neighbor (played by the ever versatile John Lithgow) who is pushed by unknown supernatural forces to show Papa Creed the mysterious burial ground behind the Pet Sematary that brings things back to life. And by things, we only mean pets, duh, who would want to bring a person back to life? Don't worry about that for now. (But later be VERY worried about that.)

Cat named Church comes back gross but all is well until the daughter gets ruined by a truck. Everyone is sad but Papa Creed has a brilliant plan, just bring her back to life! He drugs Jud (because Papa Creed cannot fight off that 80 year old stallion) and casually carries a 9 year old a few miles into the woods. She comes back crickling her bones and being very evil and spooky. Baby girl butcher's Jud, then Mama Creed, buries her in the magic cemetery, Mama kills Papa, they both bury him, and the happy little undead family goes back to pick up the 2 year old son from Grammy and Grandpas! Reunited at last. 

When comparing this movie to the book it was like an aspiring writer read the Wikipedia quick summary of Pet Sematary and said, "I can write this just like Big Daddy King did!" But couldn't do that at all and instead just made a bad movie. Not the slow creep the book was. Lacked all the gut wrenching horror of losing a loved one and the undeniable and unreasonable grief that comes with it which could lead any sane person to extreme measures. In the year 2000 Stephen King called Pet Semetary the scariest book he had ever written and it's like they didn't care to express that primal fear at all, the undying love for your kin.

[lunaticbookblog]

White Sand Vol 1-3 by Brandon Sanderson

These were available so I skimmed them in one day. My opinion on graphic novels has not changed; I still find them visually overwhelming and difficult to read. Just overall not my thing. (The exception being The Sandman, but that’s a different story).

Can’t say I absorbed much of the plot, but the art is good. The first style reminds me of the way scenery used to be animated in “old” movies like The Aristocats. The second style felt more modern. Starker lines, fewer details. An art style I don’t like as much, but it made it MUCH easier to focus on the written words. The third art style strikes the best balance between interesting art while not being so overwhelming with the details as to detract from the words.

This felt a bit like Star Wars and Cosmere crossover. Got strong Tatooine vibes. Overall, I found most of the characters a bit annoying until the last half of volume 3. However, this is the introduction of Khriss, so worth checking out for her backstory, and for more info about another Cosmere planet (Taldain) and magic system. If you’ve read Mistborn Era 2, it adds some context. Surprised Sanderson included a stay at home dad character, which was a fun surprise. Whoever drew Baon in volume 3 knew what they were doing and I’d like to thank them for their service.

Of them, volume 3 was the most interesting. Worth noting that there is an Omnibus version. After doing some comparisons with a friend, they are not identical. There is some different dialogue throughout. And the Omnibus includes other things, like Khriss’ notes.