#3.5 star review

[literatureaesthetic]

first read of may — a cup of sake beneath the cherry trees by yoshida kenkō

moonlight, sake, spring blossom, idle moments, a woman's hair. 'a cup of sake beneath the cherry trees' is a collection of fragments from the journal of a 13th-century monk, as he reflects on the pleasures of life and its passing moments. i think there's something in here for everyone to admire, with its reflective themes, philosophical undertones, and beautiful writing and imagery.

i definitely recommend!! 🌱

[solipseismic]

THE THING IS the star wars shows are almost all unequivocally Bad* but there are JUST ENOUGH exceptions** that sometimes when u see a new show coming out*** you go WELL perhaps there is hope after all. and maybe it looks cool**** :) and someone else may be thinking well sol isn't it easy for you since you are a star wars fan? and the truth of the matter is that NO. it is because i am a star wars fan that i know just how bad star wars is. and my love for star wars has a direct correlation to how much i hate its shows***** so u see actually it is very difficult for me

[niseag-reads]

Ouch my brain /pos - a ramble

Right. I want to say something sensible about this book, but I have been reading it since January, and I would be damned if I remembered what happened in the first half of it in any detail. This is a ramble/review for "Forges of Mars." the full trilogy. by Graham McNeill

Taking so long to read it was not the books fault. Indeed, that was me running into burnout and being preoccupied with university stuff. But being somewhat less than fully emerged in this book probably didn't help the book at all.

There are so many characters, holy shit. And some of their names are so similar! Hawke and Hawkins come to mind. Additionally, characters will be named by their first name, last name, or nicknames and keeping apart who is who is no joke. The dramatis personae provided is somewhat useful, but annoying when you have to refer to it too often. this does come with the caviat that I do, as a rule, not really remember names (I think it's the autism) making this all the more difficult to me. Where characters are diverse enough in their thinking and acting i will be able to tell them apart by that, but for side and background characters that really doesnt work.

With this, there are also multiple storylines, and my issue with that in many books is that there is always some I prefer over the others and then I get annoyed when they switch to the ones I do not care for as much. Also because I often didn't immediately know where we were jumping to. it really grated my gears that when a POV switch happened it wasn't always immediately clear whose POV the book had switched to, causing moments of confusion. Perhaps if i remembered which names belonged to what people it would be easier, but sadly it was not. for fairness, I was reading the ebook. Maybe this is clearer in the paper version.

In this trilogy, I found myself intrigued by the characterisation of the mechanicus characters whom I wanted to stick with, only to be forced to read about these other groups as well... if I wanted to read space marines, I'd have picked up one of their books, you know? Regardless, the arcs of kotov, linya, and tychon were all very interesting to me, and eventually, around the second book, I started to appreciate locke as well. The way the warhounds were written actively annoyed me, but I am someone who has read a lot of books involving (were)wolves, and my expectations from that may have influenced how I looked upon these chapters. the many POVs in this book felt somewhat unnessecary, too, like, I am unsure what the marines or the warhound POVs truly added to the storytelling. I get why there was both mechanicus and bondsman perspective though, that was a very interesting and clever choice in worldbuilding that allowed the reader to see the two ends of the coin when it comes to the runnings of a mechanicus expedition. the eldar perspective was not one I cared for much, but I do not fault the book for including it because it did definitely add a completely different angle to everything going on in this book.

The last book in the series is significantly more intense and action-packed than the other two, which I had not expected. It solidifies the feeling of a finale, I suppose, especially since the other two books lacked proper ending points. I thus believe that this was written as one very long book that was chopped into threes for marketability. That's not a negative, just an observation. the final confrontation is a-tier. very good, very satisfying. Galatea deserved worse. All in all, this was a decent enough experience and I can see why some people go wild for the characters in this book, they're very good. I left this review sitting in my drafts for so long I forgot where I was going with it. anyways. 3.5 stars. do recommend, but is very long and requires brain.

[bloodmaarked]

lord of the flies // william golding

first published: 1954 read: 04 october 2024 - 13 october 2024 pages: 176 format: e-book

genres: fiction; classics; psychological; dystopia (ish) favourite character(s): justice for piggy least favourite character(s): jack merridew (WHEN I GET YOU-!)

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 thoughts: as many people did, i read lord of the flies years ago as part of my high school english class, and i remember thinking this book was brilliant. i was curious to reread it as an adult to see if it captured my attention in the same way. whilst it's not amazing in the same way i remembered, it still holds up very well. repeatedly, though, i couldn't help but wish that another author had written it, or would take a stab at retelling the story!

the premise has all the ingredients for a story of psychological intrigue, a look at the basic elements of human nature told through a microcosm of society made up of prepubescent boys. i think this part of the story is done the best, because, through characters like ralph, piggy, and jack, we take a look at who we may become when we're not restricted by authority and societal rules. do we stick to our values, or do we abandon them in favour of our base instincts? there are some moments of conflict between characters that are pretty well written and kept me engaged.

i think where it fell a little flat for me is in terms of the excitement of the book outside these moments. the boys are stuck on a desert island and there's a lot that could go wrong and cause tension or fear. i think william golding tried to lean into that at times, but i think he didn't lean into it enough! hence why i think that another author might've ramped up those thrilling moments and given this book the edge that i feel it needed. i have heard and read a few times that others found this boring, and while i never found myself bored, i do agree that it was lacking a little something something. not too much thrill and terror that the book is transformed into something beyond the psychological study of human nature at its core, but enough that there were moments of greater excitement in between.

i don't recall this from my first read, but i did detect a racial undertone in how he described the kids' descent into "savagery". i thought i might be overanalysing, but then it culminated into one of the characters using the n-word 😭 i don't have a direct quote but something like "are we going to act like those n----?" casual racism in those classic books is gonna get you every time i guess.

overall i'm glad i reread lord of the flies, and it was a pleasantly quick read too. however, i would love to see someone take and reinvent this material - in fact i'm surprised a version with an all-female cast hasn't been done already! i think it's worth giving a read if you haven't already, but don't go into it thinking it's a dystopian adventure full of excitement.

[hannahwatcheshorror]

SAW III (2006)

This film starts directly where the last movie left off, we hear Amanda’s echoing “game over” and Donnie Wahlberg is trapped on the floor in the kill room from the first film. This SAW makes me squirm. After years of watching horror films to numb my squeamishness the first two scenes of this movie had me so incredibly uncomfortable even while rewatching I decided to pause the movie to work on my review. One of the more twisty SAW movies but certainly a good one or at least an interesting addition. 

⭐⭐⭐.5

I mentioned before that this particular SAW makes me squirm and I think it is the classroom chain scene that really did me in but Donnie-boy bashing up his foot with the toilet didn’t make me feel great either (this isn’t a great day for feet, I just saw MISERY). Having just watched the offensive scene I find that there is no way I can rest my body that feels comfortable anymore, I feel like I have hooks in me now and it is gross (cause even the next trap involves hooks in the ribs, yucky).

While our little hamster goes around in the maze trying to figure out all the traps that are related to him and his dead son, Jigsaw John and Amanda have kidnapped a surgeon to work on his tumor brain and that is all sorts of out of hand. Our hamster guy absolutely did NOT try to save the lady in the ice room, he dicked around until she was completely frozen and then thought, “Welp, better go get that key I need to progress anyway!” When I watched before I thought he tried to save her but he absolutely did not, I know it’s supposed to be poetic justice since she didn’t do anything to help save his son but it was just very lame here (what were they gonna do, though, have a naked lady running around with him all film?).

Our main guy again waits around while the next victim, a judge, has to endure (fresh) rotten pig juice being slammed into his face. It is so gnarly and maggoty. This time our boy acts just quick enough to get the judge out of the sluice in time. Oh, and HOW could I forget the open brain surgery in a dirty room when the surgeon has an explosive device locked on her neck? My heart is in my stomach which is in my throat. This may have a bad rating with those tomato people but I get such a visceral reaction from this movie that something has to be said.

Ugh, then our main guy continues his inaction and gets the judge and his son's killer killed. He is really a very useless fellow, he couldn’t even be nice to his daughter in the beginning of the movie! The first time he has any real action is when he shoots Amanda for shooting his wife and then when he is ignoring his wife and he goes ahead and murders John which sets off his wife's collar and kills her.

It was bonkers twisty at the end and it turned out the reason why so many of the traps didn’t have clear paths out was because Amanda set them and she is just a plain old murderer whereas Jigsaw is a sophisticated player of games. Also this whole trap was a game for Amanda to test if she could be the new Jigsaw which, spoiler alert, she cannot be. She is too emotional and is a killer and that is no good for John-o. The movie ends with only the main guy alive and we find out that John has his daughter locked up somewhere but, since John is gone, we will never know where she is.

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Fantasy, Humor

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Suicide, Sexual content, Torture, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Genocide           

Summary: From bestselling author Django Wexler comes a laugh-out-loud fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides maybe the Dark Lord doesn’t have it all wrong after all, perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett and KJ Parker.

Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

*Opinions*

I watch a lot of bookish content, which is why my TBR continues to grow and not shrink, but this is another read influenced by social media. It was a five-star read for the Booktalker (booksandlala) and the premise sounded interesting to me, so I requested it from the library. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was not what I got out of this novel. This was a satirical, fourth-wall-breaking romp through this fantasy world of Wexler’s creation. While I enjoyed my time in this world (though with a few critics) this novel will not be for everyone.

How to Become the Dark Lord or Die Trying follows Davi, a chosen one sent from Earth to a fantasy realm to save the Kingdom. The only problem? She keeps failing at this task and dying over and over and over again. The good news is that she always returns to where she started, a pool where she first emerged—the bad news, after a couple of thousand years that gets really old. Eventually, Davi decides that she wants to be on the winning team and tries not to save the kingdom, but become the Dark Lord that eventually destroys it. While there are a lot of false starts on this path as well, eventually Davi has a small horde of Wilders, and on her way to the meeting that will choose the next Dark Lord. However, without knowing how things work on this side of the world, Davi has to rely on her wits and a whole lot of luck to get the title she so dearly wants. Then again, if she dies, she can just try again, right?

The way that Wexler wrote this fantasy novel was reminiscent of a Mel Brooks movie, though I would not state that it is executed as well as one of those movies. Davi takes every well-worn fantasy trope and turns it on it’s head during her time attempting to become the Dark Lord, including murdering her quest giver multiple times. The issue I have is that near the end of the novel, is that Wexler attempts to go from a funny romp to serious questions about the world and Davi mentally manages the change in her understanding of how the world works. I understand that satirical novels need a plot, but the shift to serious lore and Davi losing her mind a little was a pretty serious shift, which is then forgotten after a couple of chapters.

The internal logic of this novel did not work at times well, which I didn’t get too hung up on given that this is a humorous novel, but I did catch it. The biggest one is that Davi does not remember anything about her life before coming to this fantasy world, she mentions this multiple times, yet she uses almost exclusively pop culture and known references from our world. You would think that after a couple of thousand years, she would forget movie lines along with what she used to do for a living. You would also think that she would catch on to the lore and myths of this world and use their slang. She is able to speak Wilder, but decides to confuse everyone around her constantly by continuing to talk in Earth references. I get that it is the humor of the novel, but it didn’t make sense within the logic of the world Wexler developed.

While I enjoyed my time with this novel, but most readers will know within the first twenty-five pages whether they like the narrative voice or if it is going to drive them insane. When describing the humor and overall narrative voice to a friend, I stated that it reminded me of Youtubers, especially in the gaming sphere, in the heyday of its popularity. Think like Smosh or early Markipler and Jacksepcticeye. If that is not the type of humor you enjoy, Davi is going to get on your nerves immediately. At times, I even found her a bit too much but I was enjoying the twist on a fantasy novel that I was able to push through those instances, which happened mostly at the beginning of the novel. Another writing aspect that did not really work for me was any time Davi was thinking about sex, which was a lot (see my comment about Youtuber humor). Now there were not the more egregious issues of a man writing a female main character, but there was something in the way that he wrote her horniess that made it clear the author was a man. I am not saying that women cannot be extremely horny, it is the way that it was written. I wish I had a better way to describe it. Again, I watched a lot of Youtube in my day so I was able to deal with it, but I can see it being an issue for other readers.

I personally did not like Davi a lot, but the surrounding characters were enough to push me through when she was extremely annoying. Still, even the primary romance didn’t hold my attention, mostly due to the issue I had with how Davi was written in terms of her thoughts on sex and her pursuing those needs. I did like her love interest, they were one of the few sincere characters in this novel.

I know this all makes it sound as if I didn’t enjoy the novel, but I had a good time while I was reading it. I just never found that I wanted to pick it back up. This is a story that I am interested in seeing where it is going, especially given the ending, but I will be picking it up from the library. This is a 3.5 read

[andreai04]

Pointless and purposeless anxiety in the present, and in the future one endless sacrifice by which nothing would be gained—that was what he had to look forward to in this world.

Why should he live? With what in mind? Striving for what? To live in order to exist?

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

Dying Inside by Pete Wentz & Hannah Klein, illustrated by Lisa Sterle

3.5 stars

This was a fun read! Lisa Sterle's art was beautiful, I liked the story for the most part but thought some bits seemed a little random (why did they have a friend breakup for like 3 pages which literally affected nothing...). I liked the twist and ofc witchy stories are always a fun time. I thought the romance was sweet, I thought they saw each other as best friends a little too quickly for my taste but it developed well after that. I also like how this book combined ideas of autonomy with mental health and different forms of ethics, and I really liked the happy ending. I also thought the darker humor came across well in my opinion, it was pretty funny at times.

I'd recommend this for people who want a fun paranormal read for Halloween, fans of witchy books, and people looking for graphic novels with dark humor. However, if you struggle with mental health, definitely check the content warnings first!

[lostcryptids]

the only 2023 horror movies i watch this year LOL. totally killer and cocaine bear gave me a migrane

[match-your-steps]

just read a review of the lego movie from 2014 and it is genuinely a horrible piece of literature and through perusing the comments underneath the review, I have gained an intense dislike of the reviewer. it's not even that I liked the lego movie and he didn't it's just that a lot of the stuff he says is factually incorrect, really stupid-sounding, or he doesn't provide any real reason, and in the comments, he reacts to even the friendliest and politest constructive criticism as if it's a personal attack on him.

[circusclownproductions]

I love leaving a 5 star review and raving about how much I loved the movie instead of leaving 3 1/2 stars and still raving about the movie as if I rated it 5

[belle-keys]

Okay, so the two main reasons I couldn't give Yellowface 5 stars were:

1. It wasn't truly satirical, in my opinion. We see a lot of reenactments of booktwt and the publishing world being, well, the publishing world in Yellowface. And the in-text commentary on these things was particularly pertinent, not a single complaint there. But the book's satire lacked the humorous and hyperbolic elements necessary for there to be comedy, for you to chuckle. In Yellowface, there was more of a literal reconstruction of how bookish spaces on the Internet sound and look than an intentional and satirical depiction of the industry and community in my opinion.

2. Athena Liu, despite inevitable claims to the contrary, is a self-insert character. Whether or not that's good or bad in the context of Yellowface is debatable, but it didn't work for me. I'm sure there's gonna be people trying to "prove" Athena isn't a self-insert character at all, and then people saying yes, she's a self-insert character but it's a good thing in this novel! I disagree with both takes. I think maybe I personally know too much about Rebecca's life which is why I see it this way who knows. Or maybe Athena is actually a poorly crafted character in the context of the story after all. But I think Athena possibly being RF Kuang is something that works against the thesis of the novel if you choose to see it this way.

[sailor-toni]

Not only is the dude a red flag. But he has those hetalia england eyebrows.

[certifiedfantasyreader]

Ok so I've finally finished reading a darker shade of magic.

Gave it 3.5 🌟

It was ok nothing special but I'm excited to see where it's going.

Kell: Loved him from the first page. He was magnificent

Lilia: I honestly thought she was gonna be a pick me but she grew on me halfway through.

Rhy: LOVED HIM.

I just love how unique the world setting is. Like 4 LONDONS???

Grey, Red, White, Black

I'm curious about the black amd I hope the author goes it to that as well.

Overall I did enjoy the book.

[bloodmaarked]

autumn chills // agatha christie

first published: 2023 read: 05 november 2024 - 14 november 2024 pages: 304 format: e-book

genres: fiction; short stories; mystery; crime; detective favourite character(s): tommy and tuppence least favourite character(s): harley quin

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 thoughts: 2024 has marked an introduction into the world of agatha christie for me. i've read the first two miss marple mysteries, and now i've gotten to read autumn chills, a collection of short stories featuring a whole host of characters i've not yet gotten to meet, including poirot, tommy and tuppence, and harley quin. i don't normally do seasonal reads, but i'm glad i did this one - coincidentally getting to read the first story, about a murder which takes place on bonfire night, actually on bonfire night with the sound of fireworks in the background, was too perfect!

as with most short story collections, there are going to be hits and misses, which is why i usually avoid them. but as this was heavily discounted, and i've already had a good experience with christie, i decided to buy it on a whim. and on the whole i'm glad i did!

of the twelve short stories, i really enjoyed murder in the mews, triangle of rhodes, death by drowning, the house of lurking death, and four and twenty blackbirds. in these it was most interesting to see how such a compelling mystery was fit into such a compact space, without feeling rushed! and i was still able to get a great sense of the main characters and their personalities. the stories which didn't focus on a mystery (such as while the light lasts), didn't do much for me and fell flatter. also i didn't really enjoy the two harley quin stories; i feel like they probably could've been good if i'd had more context for harley as a character and who he is. there seemed to be a sort of supernatural element there that was not quite explained and i kept feeling a bit lost.

i would've liked if the stories were a bit more autumnal in theme (mainly the first story had overt links to autumn), but overall i had a good time with this short story collection, and getting to know agatha christie even more!

[hannahwatcheshorror]

CHILD'S PLAY (1988)

💁‍♀️Strong Female Lead

A classic film about a scary thought, “What if my doll were alive?” Chucky is the original ANNABELLE (well, that isn’t entirely true) and masters the cute to creepy transition in seconds flat. No time is wasted showing you how the doll comes to life, it just takes a moment for him to belong to someone and for the killings to begin. Nicely paced and well acted with very nice effects especially for the main man himself. Should encourage you to be a little nicer to those “inanimate” objects around you.

⭐⭐⭐.5

(trigger warning sexual aggression/violence against a woman)

Charles Lee Ray, a serial killer, is about to die in a toy store when he says Abracadabra (by The Steve Miller Band) over a little ginger doll (since it has no soul) and puts his soul in it with voodoo (wack). A nice lady buys the “doll” for her son's birthday and gives it to her little brat (nah, he is a cutie) and doesn’t realize what hell will soon be breaking loose. The aunt is babysitting but she won't be there long because Andy has a new best friend in Chucky the doll and the doll wants to play. Death by toy hammer to the face then dramatically falling out a window is weak as hell though, I just gotta say, Aunt Maggie. 

Karen comes home to find her babysitter dead and her son blaming it on the doll (yeah, right, kid) to which she says, “Yeah, right, kid, tell me the truth.” The detective is wary and thinks the kid killed the aunt which is so fucking funny, I just have to say, this kid is such a small little baby who is so confused and he certainly didn’t kill a bitch. ANYWAY. Things keep escalating when Chucky makes Andy skip school and visit his old accomplice's house to blow the place up (with the dude inside). Now Andy is sent to the nuthouse because he says Chucky is alive and no one believes him! Chucky goes on a side quest and finds out his only shot at being human again is to become Andy (yikes).

Distraught about her son in a psych ward, Karen goes home with the doll and commands it to talk to her. Fucker doesn’t listen so she threatens to burn him over the fire, that gets him talking. Now she knows her son isn’t a liar. Ms. Barclay makes our detective listen to her by putting herself in danger and damn it if that doesn’t make me fall in love with her. We love a woman who will recklessly go after a mad man (or doll) because of their kid. Chucky goes after the detective who barely makes it out alive but now at least he believes.

Andy is locked up in the psych ward still and sees a spritely little Chucky parkour his way up the steps and into the hospital on his way up to get Andy. The doctors think the kid is off his nut and you feel this sense of helplessness for him because we know he is telling the truth!  Poor little Andy even has to watch a guy get electroshock therapy to death which I'm sure won’t scar him for life (it will). After narrowly avoiding capture at the hospital, Andy goes home to try and wait out his best fiend.

Like an unfriendly Santa, guess who comes down the chimney? None other than Chucky in the flesh, I mean, plastic. Chucky decks the kid in the head with a fucking baseball bat like it’s no big deal. UM. WACK. (Ha) He attempts to start the ritual but Mom and the detective come back in the nick of time. After a little more bat whacking on the detective, Chucky gets the Freddie Lounds special (a full fire cleansing) which STILL isn’t enough for this evil bastard. They have to shoot him in the heart and he barely goes down then. They are all safe (for now).