#4-Star Review

[agentjazzy]

finished up jenny nicholson's newest video, and in a comment someone suggested taking a peek at the galactic starcruiser subreddit and. 💀

[manchesterau]

dan was disappointed that challengers wasnt gay enough so they BETTER bring it for the tour i want them to go places theyve never been before

[literatureaesthetic]

march '24 favs:

• those who leave and those who stay & the story of the lost child ; elena ferrante — the final two books in the neapolitan novels, a tetrology recording the lives of two girls in naples from childhood to old age. gutting, beautiful, layered, and complex. this series is a masterpiece, elena ferrante is everything to me <3 (please read it!!)

• sirens and muses by antonia angress — following an array of characters at an art university as they navigate life, work, academia, relationships, and being an artist in a capitalist world where everything is commodified. the depth of characters paired with the nuanced discussions of art, class, and politics left me so pleasantly surprised. (it's also extremely gay and perfect for all you tumblr users with mummy/daddy issues)

[filmforager]

The Outrun: Review

Saoirse Ronan proves a force of nature

There are plenty of films about the cyclical nature of addiction, where moments of hope are snatched away by painful relapses. But few films capture the essence of being an addict as convincingly as The Outrun, in which setting and sound design are about as key as the story. Portraying alcoholism as a suffocating cacophony of noise, it’s an immersive way into this powerful true-life story.

Drawn from the memoirs of Amy Liptrot, we follow Rona (Saoirse Ronan), an alcoholic biology grad who starts the film at rock bottom. Booted out of a pub for drunken disorder, she lands herself a black eye and a real wake-up call to get her life in order. This leads her to leave the noise of London to recover at her home in the Orkney Islands, where she joins up with her long-suffering mother (Saskia Reeves), and watches over her father (Stephen Dillane), who struggles with mental health issues of his own.

As you can expect, her road to recovery is anything but straightforward. But rather than opting for a linear structure, writer-director Nora Fingscheidt makes the shrewd decision to frame Rona’s bumpy journey by flashing between two different time periods. A breath-taking early sequence in a club shows how Rona falls in love with her then boyfriend (a charming Paapa Essiedu), before her illness slowly and heartbreakingly takes its toll. There’s an undercurrent of threat as the camera shakily homes in on her drunken outbursts and the hurtful comments she makes while under the influence.

These emotionally charged flashbacks show the painful impact that alcoholism has on her relationships in the past, while weighing her down with sorrow in the present. That these potentially jarring time jumps work so well is testament to incredible work from Ronan (also a producer on the film), whose courageous performance will have you invested throughout. Ronan has always been a capable actress, but here she plunges an unseen range of authentic emotional depths – this character really goes through a lot. One scene where she goes from drunkenly abusing her mother to tearfully apologising is genuinely devastating. She’s backed up by terrific performances from Reeves and Dillane as parents going through very different challenges.

In a script that mostly strays from cliché and sentimentality, Fingscheidt refreshingly lets the sense of place do the talking. There’s a real juxtaposition between the noise and chaos of the life she leaves behind, and the healing tranquillity of the natural landscape, where Rona has some agency over her life. It’s here that the film finds moments of relief – after all, what’s more healing than the sight of some seals bobbing their heads in the water?

Moving, inspiring and frequently upsetting, The Outrun beautifully explores the challenges of addiction and mental illness, with a career-best performance from Saoirse Ronan.

★★★★

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Review: My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen Rating: 4/5

A delicious, Gothic sapphic romance that I couldn't stop reading. I really love books set in the Netherlands, I've never figured out why and I find so few of them, but it was so nice to read something set outside the UK or America. I loved the explorations of trauma and how people cope with it and I adored the complex relationships between Roos, Ruth and Agnes. A thoroughly enjoyable read with shades of Crimson Peak.

[vulpixbookpix]

Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Neesha and Gabby are the new kids at school. Despite Neesha's attempts to start off as a "loner," Gabby manages to talk her into eating lunch together and being lab partners. They eventually start talking and realize that they read the same manga when they were younger. The two decide to find the volumes to read together, which prove to be a bit difficult as they're out of print and hard to find.

Their friendship blossoms as they spend the school year searching for the manga volume by volume. While they read the adventures of Navigator Nozomi, a romance starts to bloom between the two of them.

I enjoyed the scenes of the manga incorporated into the story. It helped to see how Gabby and Neesha could've interpreted parts of it differently while they were reading. Neesha is a young girl who feels like she has to fight all the wrongs in the world, and possibly the world itself if it tries to say that she can't do something due to her disability. Gabby, on the other hand, seems to be able to go with the flow and brush off a lot--until she doesn't.

The graphic novel itself deals with characters struggling with PTSD, the world not being accessible to all, and, overall, family and friends who accept you and are supportive. This was a great read.

[jeffament]

girl. who is forcing u to do this… u know u can turn movies off right? when u don’t like them?

[folkdances]

the police allege that he was wearing the same clothes, carrying the weapon, and had a manifesto on him? somehow i don't believe that.

[bloomingkyras]

Solo Date Point Review (R1) + Blind Date Star Review (Final 5)

Creator comment:

Odin: Gemma found out that she really love to be around Odin and he make her feel the love that she never get before. he treat her well even when the incident at the house happen, Odin came and give her support.

Adriadne: This girl, she really like I don't care 😅. She always come and chat with Gemma even tho there's other contestant with them. But she proof that she's not weird and guess what she confess to Gemma that she had a crush on her 🤭. That 1 bonus for her too.

Felix: He still shy but he's really working on to get Gemma attention and He also being there for Gemma when the incident happen.

Max: hmm..the pieces still have on Gemma's heart. It's hard to heals.but hey, he already apologize. Gemma know that hard to be around with rivalry in the same house and I also don't blame him to get jealous.

Aria: Gemma love to be around her as a sisters. they have a lot of chit chat. But the romance, they still working on it.

Nephinae: I'm sorry, she had being eliminated for this round. Gemma found out that, It's hard for them to be together. They have romantic bar quite low and It's not Nephinae false, Gemma refused to be with her although she keep trying. hope she found her love after this. tq for sent her to be a part of this BC ❤.

*Odin, Max, Felix and Adriadne had a good friend sentiment with Gemma.

For solo date round 1, the point will be from the friendship and romance bar. This also will be including a comment from Gemma's podcasts from the previous post. See u guys in Solo Date R2. there will be 2 sims will be eliminated on the second round. They still will be a part of Gemma save file.

[hannahwatcheshorror]

JENNIFER'S BODY (2009)

💁‍♀️Strong Female Lead

Jennifer’s Body is a nice and self contained story, meaning they wrapped the whole thing up with very few loose ends which is pretty satisfying for the viewer. Similar to The Taking of Deborah Logan in that the protagonist(s) found the information they needed and used it to take down the antagonist. I suppose Sinister is the same but that story is bad so I don’t count it. Featuring a Panic! At the Disco song made just for the movie (I mean, what else could you want?) this flick is low-key star studded with Chris Pratt playing a towny at one point and J. K. Simmons as a teacher. A fun and flirty addition to the horror genre.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Trigger Warning Use of R-word, F-word, Casual Racism)

Jennifer drags her friend Anita (Needy for short) to a live band show where a fire breaks out “by accident” and the hot but creepy band end up taking Jenny away from Needy which is super suspicious. Don’t get in a van with like six (6) strange men. Anyway, Jenn shows up at Needy’s house that night covered in blood, acting bonkers, and throwing up black bile (we LOVE some good old black bile, hello, Late Night with the Devil). “Are you scared?” Yeah, Needy is scared!

The next day at school Jennifer is back to normal, actually better than normal and could care less about all the people who died during the fire. Jenn lures a meathead football player into the woods and eats his insides, the town is very scared and sullen, but not Jenny! After a few weeks go by, though, she gets hungry again so he finds a new boy to target and eat his guts and blood. She even tells Needy what happened on the night of the fire! The band took her to the waterfall and sacrificed her to Satan! Wack!

But the band thought that little Jenn-Jenn was a virgin sacrifice for Satan, and she wasn’t, she’s “impure” and therefore the sacrifice didn’t work right and that is why Jennifer is still alive and feeding on human flesh. Needy finds out the only way to stop Jenn is to stab her through the heart (from their high school libraries occult section… yeah, I call shenanigans). But Jennifer is still out for blood and goes for Needy’s boyfriend. Tragedy strikes when he dies but Needy is going to get justice for her man. She busts into Jenny's room, gets bitten, and stabs her would-be best friend.

The movie ends as it begins, Needy in jail for killing Jenn, well, Jennifer’s Body really. Jennifer was murdered by the band in the beginning of the film. We find out that demon bites can sometimes transfer power and Needy has some demon floatation skills so she busts out of jail to go brutally murder the band. It was a very sick and satisfying finale as the credits began to roll seeing the band members get theirs after they so easily disposed of Jennifer.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Book Review: Fire From the Sky (Sámi [Sweden])

[image: book cover: an outline drawing of two teen boys kissing in an embrace, is overlaid on a blue background with (possibly traditional) interwoven patterns]

Fire From the Sky

Author: Moa Backe Åstot

Ánte is Sámi, and has lived his whole life in northern Sweden herding the reindeer, just like his ancestors before him. He knows that this is his place. But he fears that being gay will mean he cannot stay, that who he is conflicts with the traditional life he loves.

A bundle of awkward teen love and small village coming out, mixed with embracing your identity and a love for the land and the reindeer. (And a cozy grandma's house <3) The emotions are raw, Ánte's feelings come as physical sensations rather than anything he really understands. And Erik is frustratingly elusive with what he wants. There is occasional homophobia, but despite that this was a comforting teen story with a happy ending.

The author is a young Sámi debut writer. The book comes out in English next month.

Genres: #identity #family #romance

Other reps: #indigenous #gay

★  ★  ★  ★   4.5 stars

Thanks Netgalley for an advanced copy!

[sergle]

oooooOOH you lil binch...

[gothteddiesdotcom]

unintentionally started drama on kink tumblr by following through on the idea of a peer reviewed tumblr dom with a “reviews” tab on my blog with different quotes from things people have to said to me while we were involved with credit and links back to the reviewer’s blog

[literatureaesthetic]

mieko kawakami was one of my author focuses of the year, i've slowly been working my way through her oeuvre. i knew kawakami was something special when i read 'breasts and eggs' last summer, and 'all the lovers in the night' has only cemented that impression. although it wasn't as impactful as 'breasts and eggs', it was still a very solid read. i only have 'heaven' left to go, and i'll have read everything she's written :')

you can find my full (and much more coherent) review here, if interested. but to sum, i highly recommend checking her work out if you haven't already!!

[sailor-toni]

The art is so pretty for this series. The use of color drive me mad with envy (cuz it's so good!)

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Review: Second Night Stand by Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters Rating: 4/5

I'm officially in love with Karelia Stetz-Waters (and her wife's pretty damn good too). This book was light and fun with such a lot of heart to it and I just loved every second. It's body positive, it's sex-positive, it highlights consent and communication and how sexy those things can be. I can't wait to see what these two write next, together and apart. I'm so glad I've found a sapphic writer writing lesbians like the ones I know (though if she wants to try writing some actual butches and femmes, not just almosts, I would be one happy boi).