#Author: Laure Eve

[slaughter-books]

Day 18: JOMPBPC: Witches

Everyone said The Graces were witches...

[socialoutsider1a]

Hugh Laurie’s 10 Best Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

By Ben Protheroe

Published Feb 15, 2024

Summary

Hugh Laurie's comedic sensibilities shine through in his deadpan expressions and impeccable timing, making him a comedic powerhouse.

Laurie's natural charisma allows him to play affable characters or charming rogues in dramatic roles, showcasing his versatility as an actor.

Laurie's most impressive skill is his ability to completely transform himself, abandoning his famous traits and disappearing into unexpected roles.

Hugh Laurie first established himself as a comedy actor, but he has also shown that he is a powerhouse performer in dramatic movies and TV shows. Laurie first rose to prominence alongside Stephen Fry, the other half of his popular double act. The duo starred in TV shows and movies together before developing successful careers on their own. Fry has become an author and a TV presenter as well as an actor, while Laurie has added more dramatic roles to his repertoire. Laurie is mostly known for his TV shows, but he has made some brilliant movies as well.

Hugh Laurie has acute comedic sensibilities, especially when playing the straight man. His deadpan expressions and trademark comic incredulity are among his best assets. However, he is also articulate and intelligent enough to make unusually verbose punch lines land without missing a beat. Laurie uses his natural charisma in dramatic roles to play a number of affable characters or charming rogues. What's perhaps most impressive about Laurie's acting skills is that he can abandon all of his most famous traits and disappear into unexpected roles.

10Peter's Friends (1992)

Roger Anderson

Peter's Friends is a somewhat forgotten comedy directed by Kenneth Branagh. Stephen Fry is the titular Peter, a man drifting through life who inherits a luxurious countryside manor and invites all of his old college friends back together for a New Year's Eve celebration. The old friends assemble from all over the globe, and their bright and shiny facades begin to crumble. Hugh Laurie plays Roger, a once-promising musician who sold out a long time ago to write advertising jingles. He's just one in a cast full of eccentrics, all of whom have a tenuous grip on reality.

9All The Light We Cannot See (2023)

Etienne LeBlanc

Based on the novel by Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See follows the lives of two teenagers caught on opposite sides of the Second World War. Marie-Laure is a blind French who uses her radio to broadcast messages of hope and resistance, and Werner Pfennig is a German soldier sympathetic to her cause but tasked with tracking her down. Hugh Laurie shines as Marie-Laure's great-uncle, a man with PTSD from the First World War who fights to overcome his condition to protect his family. All the Light We Cannot See delivers a powerful, uplifting message.

8Arthur Christmas (2011)

Steven Claus

Arthur Christmas is a festive adventure with a lot of heart and a lot of humor. Arthur is the son of Santa Claus, but he is forced to take on a delivery of his own after he discovers that one child didn't get their Christmas present. Hugh Laurie plays Steven, Arthur's business-minded older brother who wants to run Santa's workshop like a delivery warehouse or a military base. Arthur Christmas has all the charm usually associated with Aardman Animations, the studio most famous for claymation projects like Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit.

7Jeeves & Wooster (1990-1993)

Bertie Wooster

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie's TV adaptation crystallized two classic comic characters for an entire generation.

P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories have been extremely popular in Britain for decades, and Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie's TV adaptation crystallized two classic comic characters for an entire generation. Hugh Laurie plays Bertie Wooster, a wealthy young man who is affable and optimistic but somewhat thick. Stephen Fry plays Jeeves, his intelligent valet with a sardonic wit. As Bertie tangles himself up in problem after problem, it's often down to Jeeves to extricate him from his troubles as painlessly as possible. Jeeves aims a couple of barbs at his employer, but he makes sure they sail over Bertie's head.

6The Night Manager (2016)

Richard Roper

The Night Manager pairs Hugh Laurie with Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman, and all three actors deliver brilliant performances. Laurie plays Richard Roper, an amoral, psychopathic arms dealer who is under investigation by the British Foreign Office. Hiddleston plays a hotelier in Cairo who is enlisted to infiltrate his inner circle. Based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré, The Night Manager is a suspenseful thrill ride with an ordinary man placed in extremely deadly situations. Hugh Laurie's performance as the villainous Roper is a great showcase for his talents as a dramatic actor.

5A Bit Of Fry & Laurie (1989-1995)

Various characters

Hugh Laurie's first TV show alongside his comedy partner Stephen Fry was the BBC sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. Their deadpan British wit combines with absurdist Pythonesque sketches where Laurie typically plays the sarcastic straight man. Fry and Laurie's sketches often poke fun at the rigidity of British society by introducing elements of the surreal, and they frequently use innuendo and puns to spin ordinary situations into farce. A Bit of Fry and Laurie also gave Hugh Laurie a platform to demonstrate his talents as a musician with plenty of comedy songs on guitar or piano.

4Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Mr. Palmer

Sense and Sensibility is one of the best Jane Austen movie adaptations, starring and adapted by Emma Thompson. She plays Elinor Dashwood, one of three sisters who find themselves in dire financial straits and plot to find wealthy men to marry. Despite the jeopardy of this premise, Thompson's script captures Austen's dry wit and upbeat tone. Hugh Laurie plays a supporting role as Mr. Palmer, a comfortable member of high society whose privilege allows him to freely dispense erudite one-liners without needing to fear the repercussions. Laurie helps revitalize Austen's humor for the modern era.

3Veep (2012-2019)

Tom James

Laurie is one of very few actors in the show who can go toe-to-toe with Louis-Dreyfus in full comedic flow.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the star of Veep as the cynically ambitious career politician Selina Meyer, but she has an outstanding supporting cast to back her up. Veep's best seasons come after the show takes some time to assemble its funniest characters. Hugh Laurie plays Tom James, the charismatic senator who sucks all the attention away from Selina on the campaign trial, even though he is brought in as her running mate. Laurie is one of very few actors in the show who can go toe-to-toe with Louis-Dreyfus in full comedic flow.

2Blackadder (1983-1989)

Prince Ludwig the Indestructible, Prince George, Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St. Barleigh, other minor characters

The BBC historical sitcom Blackadder hops to a new time period each season, starting in the Middle Ages and ending in the trenches of the First World War. Hugh Laurie plays a different character in each season, starting with one of the show's most cunning villains, Prince Ludwig the Indestructible, in season 2. His most memorable performances come after he joins the main cast as the upper-class twit, George. Prince George and Lieutenant George are both stupid but boundlessly optimistic, and they consistently rub Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder the wrong way.

1House (2004-2012)

Dr. Gregory House

House gave Hugh Laurie his most famous role, and he took it with both hands. The character of Gregory House is based on Sherlock Holmes. He has a genius-level intellect and remarkable powers of deduction, but he's misanthropic and he struggles with substance abuse. House's best episodes delve into obscure medical mysteries, as House and his team work around the clock to diagnose their patient. House's methods are unethical, and he often treats patients like puzzles rather than human beings, but his results speak for themselves. 20 years on, House is still an unbeatable medical drama.

[identity-library]

Disability (Books)

A:

A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)

Tiny Tim (Unspecified Disability)

A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Brigid Kemmerer)

Harper (Cerebral Palsy)

A Different Kind of Beauty (Sylvia McNicoll)

Kyle (Blind, Diabetes)

A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Mackenzi Lee)

Percy (Epilepsy)

A List of Cages (Robin Roe)

Adam Blake (ADHD)

Julian (Dyslexia)

All Our Broken Pieces (L.D. Crichton)

Kyler (Facial Difference - Scarring)

All The Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)

Marie-Laure (Blind)

All the Right Reasons (Bethany Mangle)

Connor (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome)

American Girl (Series - Various Authors)

Blaire (Food Allergy)

Gabriela (Stutter)

Josie Myers (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Joss Kendrick (Deaf)

Joy Jenner (Deaf)

Maryellen Larkin (Limited Mobility)

Sam Walker (Amputee)

A Step Toward Falling (Cammie McGovern)

Anthony (Down Syndrome)

Belinda Montgomery (Low Vision, Unspecified Developmental Disability)

Douglas (Unspecified Developmental Disability)

Eugene (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Francine (Down Syndrome)

Harrison (Autistic, Blind)

Sheila (Autistic)

A Time to Dance (Padma Venkatraman)

Veda (Amputee)

An Accidental Woman (Barbara Delinsky)

Poppy Blake (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Animorphs (K.A. Applegate)

Collette (Paralyzed)

Craig (Unspecified Disability)

Erica (Unspecified Disability)

James (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Jessie (Unspecified Disability)

Judy (Unspecified Disability)

Julio (Unspecified Disability)

Kelly (Cystic Fibrosis)

Liam (Unspecified Disability)

Ray (Unspecified Disability)

Timmy (Cerebral Palsy, Wheelchair User)

Tricia (Unspecified Disability)

B:

Blind (Rachel DeWoskin)

Emma Sasha Silver (Blind)

Blind Curve (Annie Solomon)

Danny Sinofsky (Blind)

Blindsided (Priscilla Cummings)

Arnab (Blind)

Eve (Blind)

Gabriella "Bree" (Blind, Seizure Disorder)

JJ (Blind)

Karen (Blind)

Mark (Blind, Wheelchair User)

Murph (Blind)

Natalie O'Reilly (Blind)

Paula (Blind, Cerebral Palsy, Wheelchair User)

Serena (Partially Blind)

Sheldon (Blind)

Blind Sighted (Peter Moore)

Callie (Blind)

Blind Spot (Laura Ellen)

Roswell "Roz" Hart (Blind - Macular Degeneration)

Breathe and Count Back From Ten (Natalia Sylvester)

Verónica (Hip Dysplasia)

Bruised (Tanya Boteju)

Caihong "Cai" (Deaf)

C:

Catching the Light (Susan Sinnott)

Cathy (Unspecified Learning Disability)

Cemetary Boys (Aiden Thomas)

Julian Diaz (ADHD)

Chapel of the Ravens (Paul Bishop)

Ian Chapel (Partially Blind)

Charlotte Kent - Series (Mary Kittredge)

Joey Kent (Paralyzed)

Chronicles of Isaac of Girona - Series (Caroline Roe)

Isaac (Blind)

Connection Error (Annabeth Albert)

Josiah Simmons (ADHD)

Ryan Orson (Multi-Limb Amputee)

Connor Westphal - Series (Penny Warner)

Connor Westphal (Deaf)

Crime on the Cuff (Henri Weiner)

John Brass (Amputee)

Crown of Feathers - Series (Nicki Pau Preto)

Sparrow (Blind)

D:

Dan Fortune - Series (Michael Collins)

Dan Fortune (Amputee)

Daughter of the Deep (Rick Riordan)

Ester Harding (Autistic)

Dear Mothman (Robin Gow)

Noah (Autistic)

Death From - Series (Brigitte Aubert)

Elise Andrioli (Blind, Mute, Quadriplegic)

Docken Dead (John Trench)

Martin Cotterell (Amputee)

Dr. Douglas Baynes - Series (Vicars Bell)

Douglas Baynes (Amputee)

Dr. Evan Wilding - Series (Barbara Nickless)

Evan Wilding (Dwarfism)

Duncan Maclain - Series (Baynard Kendrick)

Duncan Maclain (Blind)

E:

Every Time You Go Away (Abigail Johnson)

Rebecca (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

F:

Far From You (Tess Sharpe)

Sophie Winters (Limp, Scarring)

Fault Tree (Louise Ure)

Cadence Moran (Blind)

Finding Phoebe (Gavin Extence)

Phoebe (Autistic)

For a Muse of Fire (Heidi Heilig)

Jetta (Bipolar Disorder)

Frankie's World (Aoife Dooley)

Frankie (Autistic)

Sam (Wheelchair User)

Fred Carver - Series (John Lutz)

Fred Carver (Cane User, Past Injury)

Freezing (Penelope Evans)

Stewart Park (Stutter)

Future Girl (Asphyxia)

Piper McBride (Deaf)

G:

Gifted Clans (Graci Kim)

Sahm (Limb Difference)

Girl, Stolen (April Henry)

Cheyenne Wilder (Blind)

Give Me a Sign (Anna Sortino)

Isaac (Deaf)

Lilah (Hard of Hearing)

Good Kings, Bad Kings (Susan Nussbaum)

Joanna Madsen (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

H:

Handle With Care (Jodi Picoult)

Willow O'Keefe (Osteogenesis Imperfecta)

Harper Connelly - Series (Charlaine Harris)

Harper Connelly (Chronic Pain)

Hello, Universe (Erin Entrada Kelly)

Valencia Somerset (Deaf)

Highway Bodies (Alison Evans)

Jojo (Amputee)

House Rules (Jodi Picoult)

Jacob Hunt (Autistic)

How to Dance (Jason B. Dutton)

Nick Freeman (Cerebral Palsy, Walker User)

How to Speak Dolphin (Ginny Rorby)

Adam (Autistic)

Zoe (Blind)

I:

Inspector Anders - Series (Marshall Browne)

Anders (Amputee)

J:

J.D. Hawkins - Series (W.R. Philbrick)

J.D. Hawkins (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Jerk, California (Jonathan Friesen)

Sam Carrier (Tourette's Syndrome)

Jimmy Jenner - Series (John Milne)

Jimmy Jenner (Amputee, Hard of Hearing)

Joe Binney - Series (Jack Livingston)

Joe Binney (Hard of Hearing)

John Rodrigue - Series (Ken Grissom)

John Rodrigue (Partially Blind)

K:

Keep This to Yourself (Tom Ryan)

Junior Merlin (Partially Blind - One Eye)

L:

Learning Curves (Ceillie Simkiss)

Cora McLaughlin (ADHD)

Light a Single Candle (Beverly Butler)

Cathy Wheeler (Blind)

Lincoln Rhyme - Series (Jeffrey Deaver)

Lincoln Rhyme (Quadriplegic)

Love and First Sight (Josh Sundquist)

Cecily Hoder (Facial Difference)

William "Will" Porter (Blind)

Love Letters for Joy (Melissa See)

Joy (Cerebral Palsy)

M:

Maddy and Alex Phillips - Series (R.D. Zimmerman)

Maddy Phillips (Blind, Paralyzed)

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl (Brianna R. Shrum, Sara Waxelbaum)

Margo Zimmerman (Autistic)

Matt Sinclair - Series (Tony Fennelly)

Matt Sinclair (Epilepsy)

Max Carrados - Series (Ernest Bramah)

Max Carrados (Blind)

Maximum Ride (James Patterson)

Iggy (Blind)

Mongo - Series (George Chesbro)

Robert "Mongo" Fredrickson (Dwarfism)

Motherless Brooklyn (Jonathan Lethem)

Lionel Essrog (Tourette's Syndrome)

Murder, I Presume (Gilliam Linscott)

Peter Pentland (Amputee)

Murder On Wheels (Mary Scott)

Bryan Greyshott (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

N:

Naomi Blake - Series (Jane A. Adams)

Naomi Blake (Blind)

Nestlings (Nat Cassidy)

Ana Greene (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Nora Callum - Series (Thomas McCall)

Nora Callum (Amputee)

Not If I See You First (Eric Lindstrom)

Parker Grant (Blind)

O:

Odelia Gray - Series (Sue Anne Jaffarian)

Greg Stevens (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

One For All (Lillie Lainoff)

Tania de Batz (Unspecified Chronic Illness)

On the Edge of Gone (Corinne Duyvis)

Denise (Autistic)

Out of My Mind (Sharon M. Draper)

Ashley (Unspecified Physical Disability)

Carl (Unspecified Developmental Disability)

Freddy (Unspecified Disability - Wheelchair User)

Gloria (Autistic)

Jill (Unspecified Mobility Disability - Walker User)

Maria (Down Syndrome)

Melody (Cerebral Palsy - Wheelchair User, Synesthesia)

Willy Williams (Unspecified Motor Disability)

Owen Archer - Series (Candace Robb)

Owen Archer (Partially Blind)

P:

Percy Jackson - Universe (Rick Riordan)

Amphithemis (Short Term Memory Loss)

Ben (Unspecified Disability - Wheelchair User)

Ethan Nakamura (Partially Blind)

Halcyon "Hal" Green (Mute)

Hearthstone (Deaf)

Hephaestus (Facial Differences, Limb Differences)

Leo Valdez (ADHD, Motion Sickness)

Phineas (Blind)

Thalia Grace (ADHD, Dyslexia)

Peter and Georgia Marsh - Series (Amy Meyers)

Peter Marsh (Unspecified Disability - Wheelchair User)

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes (Jonathan Auxier)

Peter Nimble (Blind)

Pinned (Sharon G. Flake)

Adonis (Limb Difference, Wheelchair User)

Autumn (Unspecified Learning Disability)

Planet Earth is Blue (Nicole Panteleakos)

Nova Vezina (Autistic)

Punk 57 (Penelope Douglas)

Ryen Trevarrow (Allergies, Asthma)

Q:

R:

Rainbow Magic (Daisy Meadows)

Camilla (Deaf)

Elsie (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Harper (Down Syndrome)

Riley (Limb Difference)

Remember Dippy (Shirley Reva Vernick)

Remember "Mem" Dippy (Autistic)

Retina Boy (Ben Shaberman)

Doug Anderson (Blind)

Marcy (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

S:

Sadie (Courtney Summers)

Sadie Hunter (Stutter)

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (Carlos Hernandez)

Floramaria Vidón (Diabetes)

Salvador "Sal" Vidón (Type 1 Diabetes)

Scholomance (Series - Naomi Novik)

Dinesh (Facial Scarring)

Hideo (Unspecified Tic Disorder)

Jowani (Stammer)

She is Not Invisible (Marcus Sedgwick)

Laureth Peak (Blind)

Shooter (Caroline Pignat)

Noah Waters (Autistic)

Silence Between Us (Alison Gervais)

Maya (Deaf)

Silent Joe (T. Jefferson Parker)

Joe Trona (Facial Difference)

Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

Kaz Brekker (Chronic Pain, Cane User)

Wylan Van Eck (Dyslexia)

Sixteen Souls (Rosie Talbot)

Charlie Frith (Amputee)

Skull Session (Daniel Hecht)

Paul Skoglund (Tourette's Syndrome)

Something More (Jackie Khalilieh)

Jessie (Autistic)

Song for a Whale (Lynne Kelly)

Grandfather (Deaf)

Grandmother (Deaf)

Iris Bailey (Deaf)

Wendell (Deaf)

Stick Foster - Series (Kevin Robinson)

Stick Foster (Paralyzed, Wheelchair User)

Strange Fire (Melvin Jules Bukiet)

Nathan Kazakov (Blind)

T:

Tall Story (Candy Gourlay)

Bernardo (Gigantism)

Tender is the Flesh (Augustina Bazterrica)

Dr. Valka (Unspecified Mobility Disability, Cane User)

The Body in the Woods (April Henry)

Nick Walker (ADHD)

Ruby McClure (Autism)

The Boy Who Steals Houses (C.G. Drew)

Avery (Autistic)

Sam (Anxiety)

The Good Hawk (Joseph Elliot)

Agatha (Down Syndrome)

The Heart of Applebutter Hill (Donna Hill)

Abigail Jones (Blind)

The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

Lev Myshkin (Epilepsy)

The Locked Tomb (Tamsyn Muir)

Cytherea the First (Cancer)

The Luis Ortega Survival Club (Sonora Reyes)

Ariana Ruiz (Autistic, Situational Mutism)

The One Thing (Marci Lyn Curtis)

Ben Milton (Spina Bifida)

Maggie Sanders (Blind)

The Second Opinion (Michael Palmer)

Thea Sperelakis (Asperger's Syndrome)

The Storm Runner (J.C. Cervantes)

Renata "Ren" Santiago (Allergies, Epilepsy)

Rosie (Amputee)

Zane Obispo (Leg Length Discrepancy, Cane User)

The Tragedy Paper (Elizabeth LaBan)

Tim Macbeth (Albino, Blind)

The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)

Mat Cauthon (Blind)

The Window (Jeanette Ingold)

Mandy (Blind)

Things Not Seen (Andrew Clements)

Alicia Van Dorn (Blind)

Things the Eye Can't See (Penny Joelson)

Libby (Low Vision)

Thousand Worlds - Series (Yoon Ha Lee)

Myung Juhwang (Amputee)

Quartermaster Yang (Deaf)

Toby Peters - Series (Stuart M. Kaminsky)

Gunther Wherthman (Dwarfism)

Tristian Strong - Series (Kwame Mbalia)

Jessica "Jess" (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Troubled Waters (Carolyn Wheat)

Ron Jameson (Quadraplegic)

U:

Unseelie (Ivelisse Housman)

Iselia "Seelie" Graygrove (Autistic)

V:

W:

Warriors (Erin Hunter)

Berrynose (Amputee)

Briarlight (Limited Mobility)

Brightheart (Partially Blind)

Cinderpelt (Limited Mobility)

Deadpaw (Limb Difference)

Fallowfern (Deaf)

Finleap (Amputee)

Halftail (Amputee)

Jayfeather (Blind)

Leopardstar (Diabetes)

Lilywhisker (Paralyzed)

Longtail (Blind)

Moth Flight (ADD)

Oddfoot (Limb Difference)

One-Eye (Partially Blind)

Petalfall (Epilepsy)

Shadowsight (Epilepsy)

Snowkit (Deaf)

Whitewater (Partially Blind)

Where You See Yourself (Claire Forrest)

Effie Galanos (Cerebral Palsy, Wheelchair User)

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the East (Gregory Maguire)

Nessarose Thropp (Unspecified Disability, Wheelchair User)

Wild and Crooked (Leah Thomas)

Gus Peake (Aphasia, Astereognosis, Asthma, Cerebral Palsy)

Wings of Fire (Tui T. Sutherland)

Addax (Limp)

Battlewinner (Fantasy Disability)

Chameleon (Facial Difference, Limited Abilities)

Clay (Limp)

Dune (Amputee)

Jerboa ||| (Amputee)

Mayfly (Amputee)

Onyx (Limited Mobility)

Osprey (Blind, Paralyzed)

Peregrine (Partially Deaf)

Sapphire (Amputee)

Scarlet (Facial Difference)

Sequoia (Amputee)

Snowflake (Limited Mobility)

Starflight (Blind)

Stonemover (Limited Mobility*)

Tamarin (Blind)

Tau (Limb Difference, Limited Mobility)

Vengeance (Facial Difference)

Wasp (Facial Difference)

Wonder (R.J. Palacio)

Auggie Pullman (Facial Difference)

X:

Y:

You're Welcome, Universe (Whitney Gardner)

Julia (Deaf)

Z:

Zen Moses (Elizabeth Cosin)

Zenara Moses (Cancer)

#:

100 Days (Nicole McInnes)

Agnes (Progeria)

100 Sideways Miles (Andrew Smith)

Finn Easton (Epilepsy)

13 Gifts (Wendy Mass)

Angelina D'Angelo (Facial Difference)

[selkiemaidenfae]

books read in 2024: the graces by laure eve

✧

"cut her in half and you'll see 'grace' all the way through. like rock candy."

this book. this fucking book.

i loved it at first. i loved river as a protagonist in all her complex, frustrating glory. i loved the mystery and the magic.

but the ending just ruined it for me. the reveal that the graces are just as awful and cruel as people said, especially to river and marcus, and they just get away with it?? and author justifies it??

fuck that. laure eve is incredibly talented but i'll never read another book by her, i was so mad at this book.

[head-post]

France announces large-scale operation to fight cyber-spying ahead of Olympics

French authorities launched a massive operation on Thursday to clean up computers infected by a cyber espionage programme that has affected millions of users around the world, RFI reports.

Paris chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement posted on social media platform LinkedIn:

On the eve of the Olympics, this operation demonstrates that different players in France and abroad are mobilised to fight against all forms of cybercrime.

She said investigators were targeting a network of bots suspected of infecting computers with PlugX malware and stealing data from them, “particularly for espionage purposes.”

Analysts and investigators were able to take control of a server that controlled millions of infected computers, it said, and are in the process of remediating the situation.

The operation is expected to last several months, having already helped victims in several European countries, the statement said.

According to the statement, “several million infected machines” have been detected worldwide, “including 3,000 in France.”

The statement did not mention a specific threat to the Paris Olympics. However, the French government’s cybersecurity agency warned last week that ransomware attacks would be “inevitable” during the Games, which officially open on Friday.

Read more HERE

[softness-and-shattering]

K theres a book called Blackheart Knights, dont remember the author, its sort of sapphic king arthur and they are knights in armor who ride motorbikes. The plot and characters are mediocre-ish imho (I think the author was going for a parallel story thing that didnt quite work for me) BUT the setting and the vibes are *impeccable*. I do reccomend it.

Also like this is the cover

So its by Laure Eve

i love that motorcycles exist. like i'm genuinely so glad that someone was like "what if bikes were as fast as cars and could turn you into roadkill if you hit a pothole"

[booksandtea]

Author Interview | Laure Eve Last month I teased on my Instagram that I got to interview the breath-taking Laure Eve and how I hoped to have it all transcribed soon.

Unfortunately for you, I lost the bloody audio.

Luckily Laure is such a Queen that she agreed to re answer the questions over email for us so I can still scream about her work.

I’m actually a little sad that I did loose the audio because we had such a great conversation, but once the others go live too I can also edit in links to there so you can experience some of the magic.

Keep reading to find out more about Laure Eve, The Graces, and her future work.

Laure Eve

A French-British hybrid who grew up in Cornwall, a place saturated with myth and fantasy. Being a child of two cultures taught her everything she needed to know about trying to fit in at the same time as trying to stand out.

She speaks English and French, and can hold a vague conversation, usually about food, in Greek.

A random selection of favourite things: Terry Pratchett quotes, characters with questionable morals, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Häagen-Dazs cookie dough ice cream, anything Trent Reznor is remotely involved in even if it only extends to ‘he once touched this artist’s arm’, bad 90s dance music and anything a bit weird (see: Davids Lynch and Cronenberg).

Find her on Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

Is The Graces a duology or will you be revisiting the world? It is a duology for the moment, though I’d definitely revisit the world if another story for it came to me. I think at the moment it’d be taken up from someone else’s point of view, like say Marcus. I think it would be interesting to do a series where each book was told from a different character’s POV.

Do you prefer reading standalones or series and do you think that influences your writing? On balance I probably read a lot more standalones than I do series, I think mostly because series are much more of an investment, and I tend to have to read so much varied stuff – new books that I get sent, research for my own writing – that it takes me a really long time to get to the next book in a series. I’d really love to write a series, but for some bizarre reason I keep unconsciously defaulting to duologies…

I spoke to a friend who loved The Graces and she thinks it would be interesting to know how you researched the magic, where you got the inspiration from, and whether you view yourself as Wiccan? The inspiration for the magic in the books definitely comes from modern Wicca and the resurgence of pagan/earth religions in the 20th century. For me where magic gets interesting is when it sits between the intersection of willpower, spirituality and belief, and is therefore more nebulous in nature. I grew up in an area that was very open to those kinds of alternative spiritualities, so I really drew from the experiences of my childhood. I wouldn’t necessarily say I am Wiccan, no – mostly because I am an atheist, and there are dimensions to Wicca that draws on the belief in some kind of higher power. But I am very interested in its philosophies, and its approach to reality.

Is your favourite genre to read different to what you write? Do you have any recommendations? I honestly don’t have a favourite genre. I read contemporary, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller and horror, they all offer different experiences for me. Recommendations – too many! The best thing to do for recs is follow me on instagram. I tend to post about the books I really love that I’ve read recently.

Are there any fantasy/paranormal elements you’d love to explore in the future? Actually I find myself being drawn back towards science fiction a little more. In the new thing I’m writing right now, I’ve been exploring the intersection of magic and technology, and how that would work, what that would look like. It is a very fun concept to play around with.

What is the best thing about being an author? You get a moment every so often where you realise that you’re being paid to make stuff up. It’s the strangest and most wonderful feeling.

If you can tell us anything, what are you working on next? It’s an alternative world fantasy inspired by the stories of King Arthur and Merlin, but set in a city with trains and motorbikes and electricity. It has a very modern gothic kind of vibe. I’ve no idea if it will ever get published, but I’m having immense fun creating it.

And lastly, if you could write a book with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why? Wishful answer: I’d have loved to have written a book with Terry Pratchett. As a writer he has had a huge influence on me. It would have been quite something to be able to draw on his amazingly creative and sharply perceptive mind.

I hope you enjoyed this post and you get the chance to see Laure speak at an event because she’s super awesome. After hearing her at NYALIT my pals all bought her books too so we’re now a Laure Eve Fan Club 💖

Have you read either of Laure Eve’s duologies?

If you enjoyed this post consider supporting Northern Plunder Ko-fi | Twitter | Book Club | RedBubble

On writing, duologies, and witchcraft | Q+A with @LaureEve Author Interview | Laure Eve Last month I teased on my Instagram that I got to interview the breath-taking Laure Eve and how I hoped to have it all transcribed soon.

[starrlikesbooks]

Welcome to May!

May's my favorite month because it's my birth month 🎉 but now I can also celebrate having so many good books come out!

As always, you can check under the cut for more on each~

Blade of Secrets by Tricia Levenseller is a quest-y fantasy with an amazing concept behind it: a teen blacksmith who's sought out for her power to make magical weapons accidentally creates an indestructible sword that steals secrets from any it cuts, and it just told her its soon to be owner has plans for world domination. I already had the fortune to read this one, and if you like misfits traveling together and the idea of a hunky yet obnoxious mercenary somehow also fitting the farm boy romance trope, you'll have a lot of fun with this book.

Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan is a cute fake dating/secret dating story of a Bangladeshi girl with anxiety trying to live up to her parent's standards while also falling for the notorious bad boy she's meant to be tutoring. I've never read a fake dating story with so little miscommunication and it's honestly such a wholesome book!

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee I got to read months ago and I have been waiting for it to come out so I can push it! On the surface it's a fake dating story (with one of my favorite versions of that trope), but more uniquely it's the story of a tri-racial trans guy spending his first summer out, and really poorly attempting a love story to prove his own worth. It also has one of my favorite characters I've read this year in it (Devin!) who also happens to be openly asexual and throughout the book explores eir identity and while trying out pronouns.

The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He is a speculative sci-fi fiction story starring a girl stranded on a trash island whose only motivation is getting back to her sister, and a girl whose sister's disappearance pushes her onto a path of investigation and discovery. This book is weird but lovely. As I did get a chance to read it already, I can vouch for really fantastic writing and a consistently compelling story.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho was blurbed as "American Gods meets Crazy Rich Asians" and while I have no idea what I'm supposed to take away from that, I am very intrigued. Just imagine- a girl moving back to a country she hasn't been to since she was a toddler, psychic grandma's ghost, a powerful and mysterious deity, and gang warfare. Something for everyone!

Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve has one of my favorite aesthetics- modern knights. And these knights? They're on motorcycles. I'm sold. There's also prohibition style illegal magic and apparently fantastic writing. This is an Arthurian retelling I'm willing to joust someone for.

May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor is another trans-led romance, but this one is *deep breath* friends-to-lovers-to-exes-to-enemies-to-lovers, and yes I jumped on it the second I saw it so have already read it! After Jeremy comes out as trans, he's determined to prove himself by running for prom king- but it sets him up against his best friend from childhood, and recent ex, who's hoping prom king will get him a chance to go to a better college. These characters are so flawed and so fun to watch together, and I can't wait for people to meet them.

Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater is the second book in The Dreamers Trilogy, AKA the sequel to Call Down the Hawk. If you somehow missed out on The Raven Cycle (the series this one's a spin-off of), you should still pick up CDTH and prepare for this one if you like angsty gay teenage boys who can pluck things out of their dreams, fantastic and sketchy magical underbellies, chaotic prophecies, and incredibly sus agencies hell bent on killing magical people.

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar may seem like de ja vu because it's another Bangladeshi fake dating/secret dating story! But this one stars two bi girls and takes place in Ireland. Though Hani and Ishu have never interacted more than they had to due to a bad reputation, and a refusal to get pushed together just because of their cultures, when Hani comes out to her friends as bi and gets told she's just "confused" she lies and tells them she has a girlfriend... Ishu. This is the author of The Henna Wars and this book is somehow even cuter than that one.

Happy reading!

[wondereads]

Personal Review (10/03/21)

The Graces by Laure Eve

Why am I reviewing this book?

Chosen by my trusty book spinner, I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. I finished it in two days, but it also has some things I didn't like at all.

Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

River Page, her true name unknown, has just moved to a small town where the Graces rule. Rumored to be witches, the Grace siblings are the resident monarchy of the local high school, and everyone either wants to be them or be with them. River is convinced that she is the one who will truly fit with the Graces, and she wants nothing more than for them to love her.

On one hand, this plot really drew me in. The secrecy was so frustrating, in a good way. I was desperate to know what the Graces really were, and River is a very unreliable narrator. Like I said, I burned through this book, so it was definitely good enough to keep me hooked.

On the other, it was slow. It took forever for things to really start happening, and my desire to know River's secret was pretty much the only thing that kept me going. I would say it only picked up around halfway through, and that area started to feel a little rushed. I'm still not clear on some details.

This plot would be pretty mediocre, but that plot twist at the end gave me whiplash and I liked the incorporation of traditional witchcraft. I also liked the ending. As such, the plot gets a bit of a higher score.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ah, this book commits a cardinal sin. I'm afraid the protagonist is "not like other girls". I do think some of it is warranted, either through her secret or the front she's putting on to attract the Graces, but that feeling of revulsion I got when she said she wasn't like those other girls...

River and the Graces are all very interesting characters. They all have their secrets, secrets the reader would give anything to figure out. There's a big switch in their characters towards the end, which I very much liked. Unfortunately, I didn't like the characters themselves. The characters in this book are compelling, they're interesting, but they are not likable. By the end, I did not feel comfortable rooting for any of them.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The saving grace of this novel (haha, get it?). I do think Eve is good author. She has some great descriptions, and I think she portrays emotion very well. Unfortunately, the characters and the pacing kind of take away from that. It's very hard to write an unreliable narrator because you have to trick the reader while also making it clear they should not trust the protagonist, but I think she did it. The only issue I have is with the pacing. The beginning is too slow, and the ending is too rushed.

Meaning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 N/A

I would not say this book has a meaning, but there are a couple of things I want to say in this area.

First, please do not look up to these characters. They are not good people, and the book makes that very clear.

Second, I'm not well-versed in this area, but there were a couple of lines that felt a little culturally insensitive. There wasn't any blatant racism, but there were a few little lines and descriptions that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I would say probably check with a POC reader or reviewer about that.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Even after writing all this, I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. There were things I really liked, such as the witch lore and the secrecy. Then there were things I didn't like, such as River's character and the pacing. I do think this book is a hit or miss; anyone can try it, but this book seems to be aimed at a very specific demographic. I don't think I'd ever read this book again, but I don't want to discourage anyone else from reading it either. I'd recommend this book for people who enjoy small town witchcraft, secretive families, and strong sibling bonds.

The Author

Laure Eve: British-French, also wrote Fearsome Dreamer and Blackheart Knights

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every two weeks, and I take recommendations. Check out my about me post for more!

[inklore]

Happy Friday, Laur!! It’s shy mutual anon here, popping in to say that I hope you have a lovely weekend and also to talk about books if that’s okay?

I love to read, so was curious if you’d like to share what you’re currently reading and who some of your favorite authors are?

hello, darling! happy saturday, i hope your weekend is going very well. it’s going great for me over here, thank you for being so sweet in asking <3

and of course! it’s always okay to talk about whatever with me, but i love books so this is even MORE okay!

i’m currently in the middle of a few books because i have zero self control when it comes to starting a dozen at a time lol.

but the currents are:

a little life by hanya yanagihara

act your age, eve brown by talia hibbert

one true loves by taylor jenkins reid

and for my favorite authors i really like otessa moshfegh, ana huang, katee robert, helen hoang, sophie lark, talia hibbert, t.j. klune, and of course taylor jenkins reid.

i’d love to know what you’re currently reading and your favorite as well, sweets!!

[slaughter-books]

Day 25: JOMPBPC: Confession

I didn't know what to do for this prompt, so I decided to spell the prompt using the names of authors! 📚🩷

[swissmissficrecs]

Favorite Sherlock (BBC) Fics of 2019

Once again, my hopes of getting through some of the very tantalizing fics that finished up in December are simply not going to materialize anytime soon, so rather than delay any longer, here are my personal picks for the fics I enjoyed the most last year.

Disclaimers: This list is obviously skewed toward my own personal preferences and reading habits. There are plenty of other fics that I enjoyed, and even more that I simply didn’t get around to reading (yet), so it’s not a judgment if your favorite (or one you wrote) isn’t on here. Think of this as a sampling rather than a definitive list. I hope this will help you to re-acquaint yourself with fics you loved, give a chance to others you may have skipped the first time round, and possibly discover something entirely new and astonishing.

And now, in descending order of length:

Voyages of the Bakerstreet (528,359 words) by fresne Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/OCs Summary: Starfleet never really intended to assemble a crew with a half trained doctor and an alpha Augment with authority issues. But they also didn't really intend for the Borg to make it quite as far as they did. And so...These are the Voyages of the USS Bakerstreet. Her five year mission (make that ten (okay fine twelve year mission + time travel)), to seek out new life and new civilizations. To go boldly.

Proving A Point (186,270 words) by J_Baillier, elldotsee Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

Riptide Lover (114,090 words) by jinglebell Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: The year is 1866. When John becomes swept overboard, he never expects to encounter a living creature of myth. When the merman absconds with John, the lost sailor must use every tool at his disposal to convince Sherlock not to kill him. But it seems that killing John Watson is not what the deadly, beautiful creature has in mind at all... Victorian mermaid AU. Heed the tags.

By A Thousand Cuts (95,774 words) by 7PercentSolution, J_Baillier Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: It's hard to let go of the past, especially when going home for the holidays. An incident just before Christmas brings unpleasant memories to the surface, and the wounds Sherlock carries may take more than just time to heal.

Rebuilding Rome (94,000 words) by SilentAuror Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: When a case unexpectedly forces John to acknowledge some difficult truths about himself and his life, he spirals downward, leaving Sherlock to do his best to rescue him from his own darkness and somehow try to build something new on broken foundations.

Side Effects (86,730 words) by MissDavis Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Life is a lot better for Sherlock and John than it was a year ago. Yes, John still can't walk and Sherlock is still on antidepressants, but they're married now, and almost everything else is back to their version of normal. They have a dog. Sherlock's solving cases again. But when Moriarty learns of their marriage, he escapes from prison and takes it upon himself to make their lives miserable. Is Sherlock really up to the challenge of catching a criminal whose only goal is to make sure that he and John don't live happily ever after?

The Monument of Memory (79,663 words) by J_Baillier Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

Repairing the Broken Things (75,151 words) by BakerTumblings Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: "I'm calling today to notify you that there's been an accident."

Just to Hold You Close (70,841 words) by sussexbound Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: When a woman is murdered and the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never has before.

White Knight (69,840 words) by DiscordantWords Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine's chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn't ask John.

I'm coming home, John. -SH (67,247 words) by Ranowa Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: In the two years after Sherlock throws himself off the roof of St. Bart's, crunches into the pavement below, and dies in John's arms, John starts texting. He doesn't know that his text messages are being read.

The Low Road (57,327 words) by Jupiter_Ash Rating: Explicit Relationships:  Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Low Road - n. Behaviour or practice that is deceitful or immoral. The last thing Sherlock remembers is shooting up in his university room in Cambridge. Now he's miles away, in the middle of nowhere, trapped with a man who wants to have sex with him. Where is he? What's going on? And more importantly, who the hell is John Watson? The game is on. But what happens when the other player seems to know you better than you know yourself?

Isosceles (56,609 words) by SilentAuror Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Original Male Character(s) Summary: After solving a case for a major celebrity, Sherlock gets himself asked out. When John asks, he discovers that Sherlock has no intention of going, at least not until John agrees to coach him through whatever he might need to know for his date...

The Alphabet Vignettes (49,141 words) by suitesamba Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Twenty-six vignettes featuring Sherlock and John's life after S4.  These begin just after E3 and continue into retirement in Sussex, but are presented in a non-linear fashion.

The Lying Doctor (44,285 words) by pagimag Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan Summary: Sherlock and John's relationship is fragile after the events at Culverton Smith’s hospital. John struggles with guilt and anger issues. During a case he decides to visit his aunt, which leads to an unexpected development. He’s forced to reevaluate ingrained behaviours, confront long lasting issues and question how he leads his life.

Complete as a Human Being (41,661 words) by LollipopCop Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Mary Morstan Summary: One week after Sherlock's birthday, Irene Adler is back in their lives, living at Baker Street and bringing up old wounds from the past while aggravating new ones. John is not pleased.

Reconcile (36,464 words) by illwick [plus all of the other installments of this terrific series] Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John views his past through a new lens when he finds his relationship with Sherlock on thin ice.

The Change (28,841 words) by Laur Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock and John struggle to accept the Wolf as they begin their new relationship.

A Quiet Life (25,176 words) by DiscordantWords Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: There had been three days of silence and a funeral. Sherlock had the terrible feeling that whatever happened next would depend, entirely, on him.

Haunted (22,369 words) by Vulpesmellifera Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Plagued by the past, John moves himself and his daughter to a new flat for a fresh start - and it's not 221B Baker Street. While he grapples with new knowledge and old guilt, he's confronted with odd neighbors and strange noises in the night. But is it the new flat, or is John Watson losing his grip on reality?

John Watson and the Three Spirits (aka A Ghost Story of Christmas) (18,788 words) by PipMer Rating: Teen Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John hadn’t planned on becoming a grumpy old man. Well, he wasn’t old quite yet. But he wasn’t getting any younger, and as he thought back on his life so far this Christmas Eve, he was coming up with a lot of regrets. He had been here before, at a crossroads. Feeling as if his life were over, only to have it turned around in the blink of an eye. Could it happen again? Or was it finally, truly, too late?

The Palmyra Atoll (16,069 words) by elwinglyre Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: As John's preparing for the wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old island.

stay (just a little bit longer) (15,155 words) by subtext-is-my-division Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John may not be an expert, but he's pretty sure that shagging your ex is a bloody awful idea. (Shame the sex is so good, though.)

Boat Chase! (14,314 words) by shamelessmash Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago Summary: Sherlock, John and Lestrade are on a case that lead them to Brooklyn, NY. Reluctantly, Sherlock accepts the 99th precincts offer to help with the legwork. Welcome to this Sherlock/Brooklyn 99 crossover, where everyone ships Johnlock, and the case doesn't matter.

The Death and Resurrection of a Beekeeper (12,923 words) by shiplocks_of_love Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock escapes London for a quiet, solitary life in Sussex, exhausted after the whirlwind of drama following Mary’s death. One day, a letter arrives.

In July of This Year (12,078 words) by yaycoffee Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: There is an oft-cited experiment discussed in classrooms and cocktail parties alike, a convenient analogy when one endeavors to make a point about not noticing the obvious until it is inevitable. Simply, if you place a frog on a hot plate, it will jump off immediately, but if you put that frog on a cool plate and turn up the heat slowly, slowly, it will simply burn. Or: How these two idiots melt together, finally.

Afraid of the Light (12,063 words) by hippocrates460 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: After everything, comes a time of quiet. There's cases, and Baker Street, and really, life is good. It gives John time to work through something he's been struggling with.

Below Zero (10,912 words) by Calais_Reno Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: 10,000 miles south of London, John Watson sits in a research station in Antarctica. 210 miles above London, Sherlock Holmes is floating in a space station. They are Earth’s only survivors.

Bloodsicles and Bay Leaves (10,724 words) by Zingiber Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Molly Hooper/Greg Lestrade Summary: When Sherlock struggles to ask for John's hand in marriage, he turns to the animal kingdom for inspiration. Biology may be the key to John's heart - or it may kill them both.

Inktober 2019 (31-panel comic) by thinkanddoodle-batch Rating: NSFW (only 1 panel) Relationship: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: None given but this is an utterly charming friends-to-lovers story centered on Sherlock’s bed… which he is desperately trying to get John into!

[theothersideofthecinema]

The Captive Lover – An Interview with Jacques Rivette, Frédéric Bonnaud

(September 2001)

Translation by Kent Jones

This interview was originally published in Les Inrockuptibles (25 March 1998) and has been republished here with the kind permission of the author.

* * *

I guess I like a lot of directors. Or at least I try to. I try to stay attentive to all the greats and also the less-than-greats. Which I do, more or less. I see a lot of movies, and I don’t stay away from anything. Jean-Luc sees a lot too, but he doesn’t always stay till the end. For me, the film has to be incredibly bad to make me want to pack up and leave. And the fact that I see so many films really seems to amaze certain people. Many filmmakers pretend that they never see anything, which has always seemed odd to me. Everyone accepts the fact that novelists read novels, that painters go to exhibitions and inevitably draw on the work of the great artists who came before them, that musicians listen to old music in addition to new music… so why do people think it’s strange that filmmakers – or people who have the ambition to become filmmakers – should see movies? When you see the films of certain young directors, you get the impression that film history begins for them around 1980. Their films would probably be better if they’d seen a few more films, which runs counter to this idiotic theory that you run the risk of being influenced if you see too much. Actually, it’s when you see too little that you run the risk of being influenced. If you see a lot, you can choose the films you want to be influenced by. Sometimes the choice isn’t conscious, but there are some things in life that are far more powerful than we are, and that affect us profoundly. If I’m influenced by Hitchcock, Rossellini or Renoir without realizing it, so much the better. If I do something sub-Hitchcock, I’m already very happy. Cocteau used to say: “Imitate, and what is personal will eventually come despite yourself.” You can always try.

Europa 51 (Roberto Rossellini, 1952)

Every time I make a film, from Paris nous appartient (1961) through Jeanne la pucelle (1994), I keep coming back to the shock we all experienced when we first saw Europa 51. And I think that Sandrine Bonnaire is really in the tradition of Ingrid Bergman as an actress. She can go very deep into Hitchcock territory, and she can go just as deep into Rossellini territory, as she already has with Pialat and Varda.

Le Samourai (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

I’ve never had any affinity for the overhyped mythology of the bad boy, which I think is basically phony. But just by chance, I saw a little of L’Armée des ombres (1969) on TV recently, and I was stunned. Now I have to see all of Melville all over again: he’s definitely someone I underrated. What we have in common is that we both love the same period of American cinema – but not in the same way. I hung out with him a little in the late ’50s; he and I drove around Paris in his car one night. And he delivered a two-hour long monologue, which was fascinating. He really wanted to have disciples and become our “Godfather”: a misunderstanding that never amounted to anything.

The Secret Beyond the Door (Fritz Lang, 1948)

The poster for Secret Défense (1997) reminded us of Lang. Every once in a while during the shoot, I told myself that our film had a slim chance of resembling Lang. But I never set up a shot thinking of him or looking to imitate him. During the editing (which is when I really start to see the film), I saw that it was Hitchcock who had guided us through the writing (which I already knew) and Lang who guided us through the shooting: especially his last films, the ones where he leads the spectator in one direction before he pushes them in another completely different direction, in a very brutal, abrupt way. And then this Langian side of the film (if in fact there is one) is also due to Sandrine’s gravity.

The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

The most seductive one-shot in the history of movies. What can you say? It’s the greatest amateur film ever made.

Dragonwyck (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1946)

I knew his name would come up sooner or later. So, I’m going to speak my peace at the risk of shocking a lot of people I respect, and maybe even pissing a lot of them off for good. His great films, like All About Eve (1950) or The Barefoot Contessa (1954), were very striking within the parameters of contemporary American cinema at the time they were made, but now I have no desire whatsoever to see them again. I was astonished when Juliet Berto and I saw All About Eve again 25 years ago at the Cinémathèque. I wanted her to see it for a project we were going to do together before Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974). Except for Marilyn Monroe, she hated every minute of it, and I had to admit that she was right: every intention was underlined in red, and it struck me as a film without a director! Mankiewicz was a great producer, a good scenarist and a masterful writer of dialogue, but for me he was never a director. His films are cut together any which way, the actors are always pushed towards caricature and they resist with only varying degrees of success. Here’s a good definition of mise en scène – it’s what’s lacking in the films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Whereas Preminger is a pure director. In his work, everything but the direction often disappears. It’s a shame that Dragonwyck wasn’t directed by Jacques Tourneur.

The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)

It’s Chandler’s greatest novel, his strongest. I find the first version of the film – the one that’s about to be shown here – more coherent and “Hawksian” than the version that was fiddled with and came out in ’46. If you want to call Secret Défense a policier, it doesn’t bother me. It’s just that it’s a policier without any cops. I’m incapable of filming French cops, since I find them 100% un-photogenic. The only one who’s found a solution to this problem is Tavernier, in L.627 (1992) and the last quarter of L’Appât (1995). In those films, French cops actually exist, they have a reality distinct from the Duvivier/Clouzot “tradition” or all the American clichés. In that sense, Tavernier has really advanced beyond the rest of French cinema.

Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Of course we thought about it when we made Secret Défense, even if dramatically, our film is Vertigo in reverse. Splitting the character of Laure Marsac into Véronique/Ludivine solved all our scenario problems, and above all it allowed us to avoid a police interrogation scene. During the editing, I was struck by the “family resemblance” between the character of Walser and the ones played by Laurence Olivier in Rebecca (1940) and Cary Grant in Suspicion (1941). The source for each of these characters is Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, which brings us back to Tourneur, since I Walked with a Zombie (1943) is a remake of Jane Eyre.

I could never choose one film by Hitchcock; I’d have to take the whole oeuvre (Secret Défense could actually have been called Family Plot [1976]). But if I had to choose just one film, it would be Notorious (1946), because of Ingrid Bergman. You can see this imaginary love affair between Bergman and Hitchcock, with Cary Grant there to put things in relief. The final sequence might be the most perfect in film history, in the way that it resolves everything in three minutes – the love story, the family story and the espionage story, in a few magnificent, unforgettable shots.

Mouchette (Robert Bresson, 1966)

When Sandrine and I first started talking – and, as usual, I didn’t know a thing about the film I wanted to make – Bernanos and Dostoyevsky came up. Dostoyevsky was a dead end because he was too Russian. But since there’s something very Bernanos-like about her as an actress in the first place, I started telling her my more or less precise memories of two of his novels: A Crime, which is completely unfilmable, and A Bad Dream, a novel that he kept tucked away in his drawer, in which someone commits a crime for someone else. In A Bad Dream, the journey of the murderess was described in even greater length and detail than Sandrine’s journey in Secret Défense.

It’s because of Bernanos that Mouchette is the Bresson film I like the least. Diary of a Country Priest (1950), on the other hand, is magnificent, even if Bresson left out the book’s sense of generosity and charity and made a film about pride and solitude. But in Mouchette, which is Bernanos’ most perfect book, Bresson keeps betraying him: everything is so relentlessly paltry, studied. Which doesn’t mean that Bresson isn’t an immense artist. I would place Trial of Joan of Arc (1962) right up there with Dreyer’s film. It burns just as brightly.

Under the Sun of Satan (Maurice Pialat, 1987)

Pialat is a great filmmaker – imperfect, but then who isn’t? I don’t mean it as a reproach. And he had the genius to invent Sandrine – archeologically speaking – for A nos amours (1983). But I would put Van Gogh (1991) and The House in the Woods (1971) above all his other films. Because there he succeeded in filming the happiness, no doubt imaginary, of the pre-WWI world. Although the tone is very different, it’s as beautiful as Renoir.

But I really believe that Bernanos is unfilmable. Diary of a Country Priest remains an exception. In Under the Sun of Satan, I like everything concerning Mouchette [Sandrine Bonnaire’s character], and Pialat acquits himself honorably. But it was insane to adapt the book in the first place since the core of the narrative, the encounter with Satan, happens at night – black night, absolute night. Only Duras could have filmed that.

Home from the Hill (Vincente Minnelli, 1959)

I’m going to make more enemies…actually the same enemies, since the people who like Minnelli usually like Mankiewicz, too. Minnelli is regarded as a great director thanks to the slackening of the “politique des auteurs.” For François, Jean-Luc and me, the politique consisted of saying that there were only a few filmmakers who merited consideration as auteurs, in the same sense as Balzac or Molière. One play by Molière might be less good than another, but it is vital and exciting in relation to the entire oeuvre. This is true of Renoir, Hitchcock, Lang, Ford, Dreyer, Mizoguchi, Sirk, Ozu… But it’s not true of all filmmakers. Is it true of Minnelli, Walsh or Cukor? I don’t think so. They shot the scripts that the studio assigned them to, with varying levels of interest. Now, in the case of Preminger, where the direction is everything, the politique works. As for Walsh, whenever he was intensely interested in the story or the actors, he became an auteur – and in many other cases, he didn’t. In Minnelli’s case, he was meticulous with the sets, the spaces, the light…but how much did he work with the actors? I loved Some Came Running (1958) when it came out, just like everybody else, but when I saw it again ten years ago I was taken aback: three great actors and they’re working in a void, with no one watching them or listening to them from behind the camera.

Whereas with Sirk, everything is always filmed. No matter what the script, he’s always a real director. In Written On the Wind (1956), there’s that famous Universal staircase, and it’s a real character, just like the one in Secret Défense. I chose the house where we filmed because of the staircase. I think that’s where all dramatic loose ends come together, and also where they must resolve themselves.

That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Buñuel, 1977)

More than those of any other filmmaker, Buñuel’s films gain the most on re-viewing. Not only do they not wear thin, they become increasingly mysterious, stronger and more precise. I remember being completely astonished by one Buñuel film: if he hadn’t already stolen it, I would have loved to be able to call my new film The Exterminating Angel! François and I saw El when it came out and we loved it. We were really struck by its Hitchcockian side, although Buñuel’s obsessions and Hitchcock’s obsessions were definitely not the same. But they both had the balls to make films out of the obsessions that they carried around with them every day of their lives. Which is also what Pasolini, Mizoguchi and Fassbinder did.

The Marquise of O… (Eric Rohmer, 1976)

It’s very beautiful. Although I prefer the Rohmer films where he goes deep into emotional destitution, where it becomes the crux of the mise en scène, as in Summer, The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediathèque and in a film that I’d rank even higher, Rendez-vous in Paris (1995). The second episode is even more beautiful than the first, and I consider the third to be a kind of summit of French cinema. It had an added personal meaning for me because I saw it in relation to La Belle noiseuse (1991) – it’s an entirely different way of showing painting, in this case the way a painter looks at canvases. If I had to choose a key Rohmer film that summarized everything in his oeuvre, it would be The Aviator’s Wife (1980). In that film, you get all the science and the eminently ethical perversity of the Moral Tales and the rest of the Comedies and Proverbs, only with moments of infinite grace. It’s a film of absolute grace.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

I don’t own a television, which is why I couldn’t share Serge Daney’s passion for TV series. And I took a long time to appreciate Lynch. In fact, I didn’t really start until Blue Velvet (1986). With Isabella Rossellini’s apartment, Lynch succeeded in creating the creepiest set in the history of cinema. And Twin Peaks, the Film is the craziest film in the history of cinema. I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what I saw, all I know is that I left the theater floating six feet above the ground. Only the first part of Lost Highway (1996) is as great. After which you get the idea, and by the last section I was one step ahead of the film, although it remained a powerful experience right up to the end.

Nouvelle Vague (Jean-Luc Godard, 1990)

Definitely Jean-Luc’s most beautiful film of the last 15 years, and that raises the bar pretty high, because the other films aren’t anything to scoff at. But I don’t want to talk about it…it would get too personal.

Beauty and the Beast (Jean Cocteau, 1946)

Along with Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945), it was the key French film for our generation – François, Jean-Luc, Jacques Demy, myself. For me, it’s fundamental. I saw Beauty and the Beast in ’46 and then I read Cocteau’s shooting diary – a hair-raising shoot, which hit more snags than you can imagine. And eventually, I knew the diary by heart because I re-read it so many times. That’s how I discovered what I wanted to do with my life. Cocteau was responsible for my vocation as a filmmaker. I love all his films, even the less successful ones. He’s just so important, and he was really an auteur in every sense of the word.

Les Enfants terribles (Jean Cocteau, 1950)

A magnificent film. One night, right after I’d arrived in Paris, I was on my way home. And as I was going up rue Amsterdam around Place Clichy, I walked right into the filming of the snowball fight. I stepped onto the court of the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre and there was Cocteau directing the shoot. Melville wasn’t even there. Cocteau is someone who has made such a profound impression on me that there’s no doubt he’s influenced every one of my films. He’s a great poet, a great novelist, maybe not a great playwright – although I really love one of his plays, The Knights of the Round Table, which is not too well known. An astonishing piece, very autobiographical, about homosexuality and opium. Chéreau should stage it. You see Merlin as he puts Arthur’s castle under a bad charm, assisted by an invisible demon named Ginifer who appears in the guise of three different characters: it’s a metaphor for all forms of human dependence. In Secret Défense, the character of Laure Mersac probably has a little of Ginifer in her.

Cocteau is the one who, at the end of the ’40s, demonstrated in his writing exactly what you could do with faux raccords, that working in a 180-degree space could be great and that photographic unity was a joke: he gave these things a form and each of us took what he could from them.

Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)

I agree completely with what Jean-Luc said in this week’s Elle: it’s garbage. Cameron isn’t evil, he’s not an asshole like Spielberg. He wants to be the new De Mille. Unfortunately, he can’t direct his way out of a paper bag. On top of which the actress is awful, unwatchable, the most slovenly girl to appear on the screen in a long, long time. That’s why it’s been such a success with young girls, especially inhibited, slightly plump American girls who see the film over and over as if they were on a pilgrimage: they recognize themselves in her, and dream of falling into the arms of the gorgeous Leonardo.

Deconstructing Harry (Woody Allen, 1997)

Wild Man Blues (1997) by Barbara Kopple helped me to overcome my problem with him, and to like him as a person. In Wild Man Blues, you really see that he’s completely honest, sincere and very open, like a 12-year old. He’s not always as ambitious as he could be, and he’s better on dishonesty than he is with feelings of warmth. But Deconstructing Harry is a breath of fresh air, a politically incorrect American film at long last. Whereas the last one was incredibly bad. He’s a good guy, and he’s definitely an auteur. Which is not to say that every film is an artistic success.

Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)

I like it very much. But I still think that the great Asian directors are Japanese, despite the critical inflation of Asia in general and of Chinese directors in particular. I think they’re able and clever, maybe a little too able and a little too clever. For example, Hou Hsiao-hsien really irritates me, even though I liked the first two of his films that appeared in Paris. I find his work completely manufactured and sort of disagreeable, but very politically correct. The last one [Goodbye South, Goodbye, 1996] is so systematic that it somehow becomes interesting again but even so, I think it’s kind of a trick. Hou Hsiao-hsien and James Cameron, same problem. Whereas with Wong Kar-wai, I’ve had my ups and downs, but I found Happy Together incredibly touching. In that film, he’s a great director, and he’s taking risks. Chungking Express (1994) was his biggest success, but that was a film made on a break during shooting [of Ashes of Time, 1994], and pretty minor. But it’s always like that. Take Jane Campion: The Piano (1993) is the least of her four films, whereas The Portrait of a Lady (1996) is magnificent, and everybody spat on it. Same with Kitano: Fireworks (1997) is the least good of the three of his films to get a French release. But those are the rules of the game. After all, Renoir had his biggest success with Grand Illusion (1937).

Face/Off (John Woo, 1997)

I loathe it. But I thought A Better Tomorrow (1986) was awful, too. It’s stupid, shoddy and unpleasant. I saw Broken Arrow (1996) and didn’t think it was so bad, but that was just a studio film, where he was fulfilling the terms of his contract. But I find Face/Off disgusting, physically revolting, and pornographic.

Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997)

His work is always very beautiful but the pleasure of discovery is now over. I wish that he would get out of his own universe for a while. I’d like to see something a little more surprising from him, which would really be welcome…God, what a meddler I am!

On Connaît la Chanson (Alain Resnais, 1997)

Resnais is one of the few indisputably great filmmakers, and sometimes that’s a burden for him. But this film is almost perfect, a full experience. Though for me, the great Resnais films remain, on the one hand, Hiroshima, mon amour (1959) and Muriel (1963), and on the other hand, Mélo (1986) and Smoking/No Smoking (1993).

Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997)

What a disgrace, just a complete piece of shit! I liked his first film, The Seventh Continent (1989), very much, and then each one after that I liked less and less. This one is vile, not in the same way as John Woo, but those two really deserve each other – they should get married. And I never want to meet their children! It’s worse than Kubrick with A Clockwork Orange (1971), a film that I hate just as much, not for cinematic reasons but for moral ones. I remember when it came out, Jacques Demy was so shocked that it made him cry. Kubrick is a machine, a mutant, a Martian. He has no human feeling whatsoever. But it’s great when the machine films other machines, as in 2001 (1968).

Ossos (Pedro Costa, 1997)

I think it’s magnificent, I think that Costa is genuinely great. It’s beautiful and strong. Even if I had a hard time understanding the characters’ relationships with one another. Like with Casa de lava (1994), new enigmas reveal themselves with each new viewing.

The End of Violence (Wim Wenders, 1997)

Very touching. Even if, about halfway through, it starts to go around in circles and ends up on a sour note. Wenders often has script problems. He needs to commit himself to working with real writers again. Alice in the Cities (1974) and Wrong Move (1975) are great films – so is Paris, Texas (1984). And I’m sure the next one will be, too.

Live Flesh (Pedro Almodóvar, 1997)

Great, one of the most beautiful Almodóvars, and I love all of them. He’s a much more mysterious filmmaker than people realize. He doesn’t cheat or con the audience. He also has his Cocteau side, in the way that he plays with the phantasmagorical and the real.

Alien Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997)

I didn’t expect it as I was walking into the theater, but I was enraptured throughout the whole thing. Sigourney Weaver is wonderful, and what she does here really places her in the great tradition of expressionist cinema. It’s a purely plastic film, with a story that’s both minimal and incomprehensible. Nevertheless, it managed to scare the entire audience, while it also had some very moving moments. Basically, you’re given a single situation at the beginning, and the film consists of as many plastic and emotional variations of that situation as possible. It’s never stupid, it’s inventive, honest and frank. I have a feeling that the credit should go to Sigourney Weaver as much as it should to Jeunet.

Rien ne va plus (Claude Chabrol, 1997)

Another film that starts off well before falling apart halfway through. There’s a big script problem: Cluzet’s character isn’t really dealt with. It’s important to remember Hitchcock’s adage about making the villain as interesting as possible. But I’m anxious to see the next Chabrol film, especially since Sandrine will be in it.

Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)

I’ve seen it twice and I like it a lot, but I prefer Showgirls (1995), one of the great American films of the last few years. It’s Verhoeven’s best American film and his most personal. In Starship Troopers, he uses various effects to help everything go down smoothly, but he’s totally exposed in Showgirls. It’s the American film that’s closest to his Dutch work. It has great sincerity, and the script is very honest, guileless. It’s so obvious that it was written by Verhoeven himself rather than Mr. Eszterhas, who is nothing. And that actress is amazing! Like every Verhoeven film, it’s very unpleasant: it’s about surviving in a world populated by assholes, and that’s his philosophy. Of all the recent American films that were set in Las Vegas, Showgirls was the only one that was real – take my word for it.I who have never set foot in the place!

Starship Troopers doesn’t mock the American military or the clichés of war – that’s just something Verhoeven says in interviews to appear politically correct. In fact, he loves clichés, and there’s a comic strip side to Verhoeven, very close to Lichtenstein. And his bugs are wonderful and very funny, so much better than Spielberg’s dinosaurs. I always defend Verhoeven, just as I’ve been defending Altman for the past twenty years. Altman failed with Prêt-à-Porter (1994) but at least he followed through with it, right up to an ending that capped the rock bottom nothingness that preceded it. He should have realized how uninteresting the fashion world was when he started to shoot, and he definitely should have understood it before he started shooting. He’s an uneven filmmaker but a passionate one. In the same way, I’ve defended Clint Eastwood since he started directing. I like all his films, even the jokey “family” films with that ridiculous monkey, the ones that everyone are trying to forget – they’re part of his oeuvre, too. In France, we forgive almost everything, but with Altman, who takes risks each time he makes a film, we forgive nothing. Whereas for Pollack, Frankenheimer, Schatzberg…risk doesn’t even exist for them. The films of Eastwood or Altman belong to them and no one else: you have to like them.

The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997)

I didn’t hate it, but I was more taken with La Femme Nikita (1990) and The Professional (1994). I can’t wait to see his Joan of Arc. Since no version of Joan of Arc has ever made money, including ours, I’m waiting to see if he drains all the cash out of Gaumont that they made with The Fifth Element. Of course it will be a very naive and childish film, but why not? Joan of Arc could easily work as a childish film (at Vaucouleurs, she was only 16 years old), the Orléans murals done by numbers. Personally, I prefer small, “realistic” settings to overblown sets done by numbers, but to each his own. Joan of Arc belongs to everyone (except Jean-Marie Le Pen), which is why I got to make my own version after Dreyer’s and Bresson’s. Besides, Besson is only one letter short of Bresson! He’s got the look, but he doesn’t have the ‘r.’

* * *

[the-knights-who-say-book]

May I ask... Are there books you absolutely loathe?

oh YEP

i hate the C0urt of Thorns and Roses series because i can’t stand Sarah Maas’s romance. I read the first one because it was so hyped up by booklr, didn’t really like it, but bought into the hype for the second one, which was even more loved — and hated it even more. From what I know of the rest of the series, it only gets worse

her Throne of Glass has some redeeming qualities for me (it’s Manon and the witches, that’s it) and I used to like it, but I started to strongly dislike it when the fourth book came out, and I absolutely loathed Empire of St0rms, so I stopped reading them after that (and again, I’ve read reviews of the later books and can tell that was a good choice)

The All For the Game trilogy, I mostly hated. I found the final one acceptable but the first two awful (though I still enjoy torturing my reading buddy @astolen98saturnsedan by forwarding posts about it!). just, zero research put into the mental health representation, bad writing, and a complete failure to get me to like the characters

I also hated Captive Prince, which was, again, EXTREMELY hyped up by booklr without any of the hype mentioning how the entire book is sexual assault after sexual assault, and you could not pay me to read another word by that author let alone in that series

Let’s see, some books I hated that aren’t as super big in the book community: The Graces by Laure Eve, Vinyl by Sophia Hanson, Swear On This Life by Renee Carlino. that’s pretty much my entire list of Books I Can’t Stand lol

[sshannonauthor]

Since summer is starting, do you have any good ya/na books to suggest (I've read all of yours and I'm patiently waiting for bone season #4).lI've really enjoyed books from V. E Scwab, Sarah J Maas and Jay Kristoff.

Of course! I’ll recommend a few I think might appeal for each of those authors, based on the genre(s) they write in and the general themes, atmosphere and features of their work.

Schwab 

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

The City’s Son by Tom Pollock

The Graces by Laure Eve

Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft 

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson 

Kristoff

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín

The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 

Way Down Dark by J. P. Smythe

Maas

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

The Girl King by Mimi Yu

Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P. M. Freestone 

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard 

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

[discountalien-pancake]

what do you think of the cover for the graces by laure eve?

If this book isn’t set in the 1920s, I don’t want it. I’m exaggerating, but, seriously, Art Deco style needs a good reason to be paired with anything other than Art Deco period. 

Other than that, these are really beautiful covers. The framing is very good, the artwork is beautiful, and choice of colors is perfect. There’s lots of pretty details, but no question of what we’re supposed to pay attention to. I don’t think the gold is foiled, but I wish it was. And I really do like what they’ve done with the title and the author name, by which I mean they’re integrated into the illustration instead of slapped on top. 

The typefaces are my main beef—they’re very Art Deco, which is that distinctive roaring 20s style that everyone refers to as “Gatsby” now because of that fucking movie. Without reading the book, I can’t say if there’s a good reason for the covers to look this way or not, so while they’re beautiful, I hesitate to give them higher than 8.5/10, due to thematic discrepancy.