#I only read 2 and a half books in 2023 and I was really sad when I realised that

[xiuminscheeks]

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[estrellami-1]

Steddie Week 2023

May 24th Prompt: Discover/First Kiss

Day 1, Day 2, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

@steddie-week

They’re lying on top of Eddie’s trailer, metal still pleasantly warm with residual heat from the sun and the air, smoking and looking at the stars, when Eddie speaks.

“D’you ever think about what it would be like to discover something?”

Steve snorts. “More fame? No thanks.”

Eddie hums. “Maybe, but you’d discover something. Y’know? Like you could look at it, for the rest of forever, and know, this was mine first.”

Steve rolls over to face him. “Not really. I don’t really feel that… that desire to discover something. Or maybe it’s that I already have, in a million little different ways. I discovered that Dustin’s nose scrunches when he grins. Will bites his lip when he’s focusing. Lucas pulls his hair when he’s stressed. Mike bounces on his toes when he’s trying to gather his courage. Max and El are quickly becoming me and Robin. I think they’re actually gunning for our titles. I’m a little scared. But I discovered that Max has rainbow sheets on her bed, and El bites her tongue when she’s practicing braiding Max’s hair. And maybe I wasn’t the first to discover these things, but… I discovered them for myself, y’know? No one told me. I found them all on my own.”

Eddie had rolled over to face Steve during his little impromptu speech, and now he smiles softly. “Can I share a discovery?” He asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Steve breathes.

“You have the same nose scrunch Dustin does. But only when you’re talking about the kids. It’s like you’re trying not to smile as big as you want to.” He reaches out a hand, drags a finger down Steve’s nose. Steve closes his eyes. Eddie slowly pulls away. “Can I share another discovery?”

Steve nods. “Mhm.”

“You didn’t share any discoveries about me.” Steve opens his eyes to see a lopsided smirk. “Am I exactly who you thought I was?”

Steve gives him a sad sort of smile. “I could fill a book with the discoveries I made about you, Eds.”

Eddie colors. “Like what?”

Steve sighs. “You act all tough, but it’s a mask. You hate horror movies. Your favorite movie is The Princess Bride. You stick your tongue out when you’re focusing. You’re constantly moving. Tapping a foot, bouncing a leg, drumming on a tabletop or your lap or someone’s arm or leg. You’re very tactile. You love hugs but are afraid to initiate anything beyond a greeting. You pace when you write songs, and that’s why you can’t read half your handwriting, but it’s how you work, and why change something that isn’t completely broken? You love animals and completely loathe when something unfair or not right is happening. The chain on your pants is for your wallet, because otherwise you’re afraid you’d lose it or it would get stolen. If you find a tails-up penny on the street, you’ll flip it over so the next person to find it will have good luck. You jump around and flap your hands when you’re excited.” He swallows, meets Eddie’s eyes. “You use every term of endearment under the sun, but blush when I call you Eds.” As if on cue, Eddie’s cheeks turn red.

“Can I share another discovery?” Eddie asks, still whispering. “About myself?”

Steve nods. “Anything.”

Eddie swallows, nods, sets his jaw and forces his gaze onto Steve. “I’ve known this for a while, but… I want to kiss you.”

“Can I share a discovery about myself? That I’ve also known for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“I want you to kiss me.”

Eddie grins, biting his lip. “I think once I start, I won’t want to stop.”

Steve moves closer. Close enough he can whisper. “Another discovery I made. You’re a kind man, Eddie Munson,” he says. “You’ll stop if I ask you to.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I touch you?”

“Yeah.”

Eddie moves a shaky hand over to Steve’s arm. Glides it up to his shoulder, down his side, down his hip to his side and back up. Over his neck up to his temple, brushing back a piece of hair before moving it back to Steve’s jaw. “Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Please,” Steve whispers, and Eddie’s resolve breaks.

He pushes forward, tilts Steve’s head with the hand on his jaw, and finally, finally, Eddie Munson is kissing Steve Harrington.

He tilts his head a little further, nips at Steve’s bottom lip, grinning when Steve opens his mouth.

Somehow he ends up three-quarters of the way on top of Steve before Steve pulls back. “Eddie. Eds. Stop for a minute,” he asks breathlessly, holding tight to Eddie’s waist so he can’t move.

“What?”

“I wanna see if I can make a new discovery.” He grins. “Do you also blush when I call you babe?”

Eddie groans and buries his face in Steve’s neck. “That’s not fair, I’m already worked up,” he laughs, pressing a kiss to a mole on Steve’s collarbone, before lifting his head with a devious glint to his eye. “My turn to make a discovery.”

“What’s that?”

“How long does it take me to kiss all your moles?”

Steve grins back. “They’re everywhere.”

Eddie hums. “I’d have to be very thorough. Make sure not to miss one.”

A beat passes before they’re both scrambling up, snickering at each other as they make their way to Eddie’s room.

Years later, Steve still blushes when Eddie sidles up to him and, apropos of nothing, murmurs into his ear, “Four minutes and twelve seconds.”

Years later, Steve grins at Eddie, even as his cheeks are reddening. “Wanna see if we can make it three fifty?”

[ofliterarynature]

AUGUST 2023 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay no thanks DNF (reread) bookclub*]

Witch Week | A Perilous Undertaking | 2 AM At the Cat's Pajamas | The Last Sun | The Lives of Christopher Chant | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo* | (The Angel of the Crows) | The Enchanted April | The Art of Prophecy | A Curious Beginning | Q's Legacy | The Grimoire of Grave Fates | Charmed Life | Ocean's Echo | (Band Sinister) | (Unfit to Print) | Camp Damascus | Wanted, A Gentleman | Translation State | The Mistress of Bhatia House

I’m late I’m late I’m late! Oops

It’s only a month late, right? ‘Only’ lol, work has been exhausting! Anyways:

At this point I wonder if Ann Leckie can ever do wrong, Translation State was good! I was completely enthralled, which is all I ask, even if I don’t get as passionate about it as the main trilogy.

I continued the KJ Charles reading, with these supposed stand alones that are also kind of related? Honestly it’s no less of a stretch than Society of Gentlemen to Lilywhite Boys, so I don’t know why she can’t officially list them together. Anyways, mostly fine, and Band Sinister is still a delight!

Camp Damascus…I’m thrilled for Chuck, really, and I think he’s a delight to follow, but this one wasn’t for me. Religious trauma is turning out to be a hard no.

Ocean’s Echo was good! In some ways I definitely thought it was better than Winter’s Orbit - miscommunication is the worst I’m sorry, this story was more consistently engaging! I just like the characters from WO a bit more.

Chrestomanci! I’ve been going by the suggested reading order on Goodreads, and while I wasn’t particularly enthused by Charmed Life, once I had a grasp on the world the other books have been fun! Im very sad this might be my last DWJ, as I seem to have exhausted my library’s collection of her audiobooks :(

Grimoire of Grave Fates had a really interesting premise that lured me in, despite my reservations - an anthology where all the stories work together to solve the mystery of a murder at a magic boarding school? I thought it worked fairly well (and could definitely spin itself out into a series of novels), but just ok for me. Maybe one day I’ll finally concede I can’t read YA or boarding school books anymore.

Q’s Legacy was the last (I think) of the 84 Charing Cross Road books, and honestly the worst. It had its interesting moments, but it lacked the cohesion of the other two, speed,-running the before and during of those stories, to then spend the second half on the adaptations. It was not at all what the descriptions led me to expect. Maybe worth a single read but not a revisit.

I will also be honest, I didn’t really like the first Veronica Speedwell! The plot felt a bit contrived, and Veronica was so blunt as to almost read as rude or mean. Also very unexpectedly…clinically horny? Does that make sense? I’m not quite sure what prompted me to continue, but I’m now several books in and enjoying it! To be blunt myself, the historic setting is just set dressing, the plots can feel contrived, the mysteries are mediocre, but the real draw is the Veronica and Stoker show once they get themselves settled in and comfortable with each other. It’s a hoot.

I’d heard good things about The Art of Prophecy, but I still didn’t know quite what to expect going in. It was wonderful. Maybe a little long, but if you’re looking for a fantastic fantasy with lots of fight sequences, no romance, and some fascinating characters, this is a great read. The sequel comes out soon and I can only hope it doesn’t take as long for my library to get the audiobook as it did for this one.

I don’t know where I first found An Enchanted April, but it’s been on my TBR for a little bit, and I thought it would be the perfect fit for my classics challenge I gave myself this year! It wasn’t what I expected at all - it’s entirely character driven and very focused on their flaws, and the entire first half I thought I was going to hate it. But the second half, there’s a twist, almost, born of some very  naïve optimism that nonetheless works out. Very improbably, but I was happy for them, you funky little weirdos. 

What can I say about The Angel of the Crows except that it is still very good! It’s maybe lost a little of the shine it held when I got obsessed with it for a few months last year, but it is definitely now one of my comfort books. I really ought to read more canon Holmes though lol.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was, to be fair, one of my suggestions for book club. It was OK, but there were definitely parts that really did not work for me, the frame narrative in particular. The other members of the club really liked it but I don’t have any plans to read more of the authors work.

I’m almost tempted to put The Last Sun last just so I can yell more. I’d heard such good things about this series, but turns out my expectations were a bit skewed - it is not historical or secondary fantasy world, oops. So we got off to a bit of a rough start, not to mention all of the Capital Words. Not usually a good sign. And while I still wouldn’t say I love the worldbuilding necessarily, or that these are the next great work of fantasy, the action is really great, and the characters are flipping fantastic. You’ve got a pair of 30 year olds who are bad ass fighters, have a traumatic past, are immature assholes, can be so so kind, and accidentally adopt a posse of troubled teenagers? Sign me up, I love them, this reminds me so much of my days reading tons of Teen Wolf fanfic AUs.

My history with 2 AM At the Cat's Pajamas is that they cannot stop recommending this thing on the Book Riot podcasts. When I found a copy at Goodwill, I thought surely it’s meant to be! Well. It was not bad, but it was not great. I don’t know. It just wasn’t for me and I will not be keeping my copy. I probably should have DNF’d it, but I continued in hope.

Only one actual DNF this month though, The Mistress of Bhatia House - the newest Perveen Mistri book. I was actually fairly excited for it despite my reservations about the earlier books, but I hit a mental roadblock with this one. There was some contrived feeling tension with her sister-in-law, but really, I realized that one of my main problems with this series is that, despite being in a very precarious social position, Perveen is just incredibly reckless - usually in the name of doing good! - but it just hit all the wrong nerves at the moment. I’m hoping there will be a better time to read this, but not right now. 

[goosemixtapes]

max's october 2023 reads

weird reading month. lots of shortform articles/comics; lots of early modern english literature. also still experimenting with my format for these, so have a listening tab.

fiction

Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene, books 3-4

the latter two episodes of What Happens Next comic

Epistolary by Sacha Lamb (again, for reasons of Got Sad)

Fresh Meat comic (cw for suicide and psychiatric hospitalization)

Something's Not Right by yves. @yvesdot (review + promo)

Edmund Spenser's Amoretti & Epithalamion (review)

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins (review)

Blankets by Craig Thompson (review)

Shakespeare's Coriolanus (again, + Janet Adelman's lecture "Anger's My Meat")

the first half of Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

nonfiction

The Way We Weren't by Jules Gill-Peterson (↳ on hypervisibility and the history of passing)

Fiona: The Caged Bird Sings by Chris Heath (↳ fiona apple is the only celebrity i actually read about)

Can ChatGPT Do My Job? by yves @yvesdot (↳ on AI, book reviews, copyright, and capitalism)

Picture Limitless Creativity at Your Fingertips by Kevin Kelly (↳ linked in the former--on the potential of AI image generation)

The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism by Jonathan Lethem (↳ also linked in the former--on plagiarism, and one of the coolest things i've ever read)

Allies Behaving Badly: Gaslighting as epistemic injustice by Rachel McKinnon (↳ on allyship and 'allies' who refuse to believe you)

Debunking "Trans Women Are Not Women" Arguments by Julia Serano (↳ i knew a lot of this, but it's still a really good breakdown and a good link to have on hand)

the first half of Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price (the book, but i also recommend the article)

the first fourth of Down Girl by Kate Manne (rapidly becoming one of my favorite reads of the year)

The Spectre of Orientalism in Craig Thompson's Habibi by Nadim Damluji (↳ i haven't even read habibi but this was fantastic anyway)

"Half-Envying," from Reading and Not Reading the Faerie Queene by Catherine Nicholson (↳ delicious supplemental reading for class)

The Gaza Diaries via the Guardian (↳ not sure what to say about this one. very harrowing but very important)

The Landlord, the Tenant, and a House Fire in Milwaukee via ProPublica (↳ cws for child abuse and child death. extremely powerful piece of reporting that quite genuinely ruined my night)

listening

Mike Duncan's History of Rome, episodes 14-19

WordofGodcast, episode 2

Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine

Dorian Electra's Fanfare

[bloody-wonder]

mid-year book freak out tag

years go by... i still read books...

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023? moby dick! i totally did not expect to like this dusty tome so much but it was just too perfect a mix of tropy revenge tale, sea adventure mockumentary, and making stuff up and putting it into categories that caused pleasant vibrations in my neurodivergent brain. i have watched so many whale documentaries after reading this, you guys have no idea🐳

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023? flamefall is the second book in the aurelian cycle and it’s the best sequel i’ve read so far this year. the addition of a slow burn mm master/servant story line improved things considerably, not to mention that it was my favorite character’s time to shine. this series is sooo good, please read it guys you won’t regret it i swear🙏

(ngl i’m a bit annoyed that fourth wing, this fireborne sjm-ified, is doing numbers out there and meanwhile there’s no fandom for the aurelian cycle to speak of😒)

also i simply have to mention defekt, book two of litenverse. i found the first book quite boring despite it’s shortness but the sequel has a sad lil guy🥺. highly recommend for fans of black mirror, severance or the murderbot diaries. you don’t reeeally need to read book one btw, i think you can just read the description and then jump straight to the good stuff

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i want to read witch king but i keep putting it off cause everything i hear about it sounds suspiciously like *american author does mdzs* and idk how i feel about that😬

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023? i’m looking forward to system collapse the most bc it’s gonna be set chronologically after network effect and it’s longer than the other murderbot novellas too. very excited to see murderbot and art bicker again hehe

5. Biggest Disappointment? ig it’s the warrior’s apprentice😬 many people recced the vorkosigan saga to me as “the lymond chronicles in space” but based just on this first(-ish) book i have to say miles is uhhh,, not lymond😐 lymond’s key traits are that he’s queer and a cunt and baby miles is simply not that (yet). of all the other books that people mentioned on my overcompetent scheming bastard post this was the last one i hadn’t read so i was a bit disappointed that it didn’t pull me in like the lymond chronicles. however, of all the books mentioned there it’s also the only series i can see myself continuing any time soon so. it wasn’t all too bad ig🤷‍♀️

i was also somewhat disappointed by assassin’s apprentice but i will make myself push through the realm of the elderlings just bc i’m so intrigued by the fool👀

6. Biggest Surprise? apart from the life changing experience that was moby dick i gotta admit i didn’t expect to like the goblin emperor, what with it being one of those cozy hopepunk fantasies where people are nice and decent to each other🙄 but it really did grow on me by the end, it indeed made me feel cozy and soothed. now i wanna try katherine addison’s older darker stuff that was apparently so controversial she had to change her pen name or smth👀🤭  

7. Favorite New Author? so i read another book by christopher rice and can confirm that he’s now one of my favorite authors. the man’s early 2000s gay thrillers are very melodramatic and refreshingly juicy - you can really tell they were published in ye olden pre-twitter times

8. Newest Favorite Character? cyrano savinien hercule de bergerac. after just reading that first act where he monologues about his nose for three pages straight and then spends all the money he has to hijack a theater and cause a scene by duelling a guy on stage while insulting him in ballad form i thought wow but this is one of my sexy fucked up guys who like to swish their swords and run their mouths! please enter the mind rotation chamber, monsieur🙌

9. Newest Fictional Crush? power sur eater🐉 you guys are sleeping on the aurelian cycle and on the Glory and Tragedy of My Boy who has done nothing wrong ever in his life and i love him😭 seriously, if you’d like to watch a character like draco malfoy go through jaime lannister’s arc you gotta read this series

also csevet aisava? the guy who put sexy in bureaucracy?? it’s a crime that he and maia didn’t kiss tbh

💕Best Ship💕 the relationship of griff and delo in the aurelian cycle was SO dramatic and full of rawest scenes! kinda reminded me of captive prince at times, bc of the whole master/servant element. and the ending? “i will grow old in love, let them sing of others”?? i am Emotion🥺

10. Book That Made You Cry? furysong made me cry my eyes out like every ending to a ya series should. have i mentioned you should read the aurelian cycle btw? but also both moby dick and cyrano de bergerac made me laugh AND cry as only really good books do. there’s a part in moby dick about seeing whales in mountains and stars that made me remember i am a human being and was a small and happy human being once - like that scene in ratatouille when anton ego tastes ratatouille and the nostalgic memories hit him and he becomes not evil anymore. that was nice but i cried like a little bitch😭

11. Book That Made You Happy? re-reading twittering birds never fly without skipping all the yakuza plot scenes made me realize how hilarious this manga actually is! yashiro can obviously crack a joke but this time i discovered the comic relief goldmine that is nanahara

skjdvnksjdvk like?!

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? i have a LOT of criticisms about martin crimp’s “free adaptation” of cyrano de bergerac but ngl it was fun to watch the play come to life on stage (even tho there were no swords, a crime😒) and even more fun to watch christian kiss cyrano on the mouth like god intended

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? so this year i actually started reviewing stuff on goodreads for the first time and it’s quite fun and really useful for refreshing your memory on what you thought of a book. i try to go for short and witty over in depth and analytical so i suppose the best examples of the reviews i have written so far would be the ones of moby dick and the goblin emperor

14. Most Beautiful Cover? the og red cover of fireborne slaps! the revolutionary red? the minimalist black dragon? the main characters’ profiles formed by its wings?? talented brilliant show stopping. idk who made the decision to redesign the covers after the first book but that decision was utterly stupid🤨

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? i need to finish some series (the diviners, the dreamhealers, the broken earth), then like i said i want to read witch king and also i’m doing the classics challenge again so i have to at least finish reading roxelana and re-read the picture of dorian gray (the uncensored edition👀). i have looked up my old mid year tags and was pleased to discover that i since have managed to read all the books mentioned there EXCEPT for you love me which has been a staple in my reading plans since 2021 so i’m gonna put it on this list again to honor the tradition lmao

overall i have to say my reading year is going well but i still miss the exhilaration of discovering new books worth obsessing over like it kept happening in 2019-2021 with the secret history, captive prince, all for the game, mdzs and lymond. last year i used to think i wasn’t doing a good job of finding books like this but now i’m starting to suspect that i have actually read ALL the good books and there aren’t any left :( but that’s absurd right?? or isn’t it?! anyways tell me what you’ve been reading so that i can maybe get intrigued by something and prove myself wrong on this🙏📚

@figuringthengsout @counterwiddershins @fugitoidkry @magpiefngrl @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @pemberlaey @oliviermiraarmstrongs @hello-jumping-in-puddles @thehalcyonharbinger @pinkasrenzo @beeblackburn @weirdsociology @veliseraptor @theodoradove @sixappleseeds @doh-rae-me @venndaai 

talk to me about books guys! if you want to!!

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 

[cleopatras-library]

📚🗓 Mid-Year Freakout Tag 2023 🗓📚

jumping on the hype train because it’s fun

How many books have you read so far?

69 including comics & graphic novels (nice)

What genres have you read?

Mostly fantasy and sci fi, but also a bit of historical fiction.

Best book you’ve read so far in 2023?

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson! The first two books in the series were dubious, but things really came together for me in this one and I'm so excited for the conclusion. Also Baru is the character ever.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023?

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir; it really recontextualizes the first two books and is therefore the best at being a sequel.

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway (saw it at a festival), Translation State by Ann Leckie (I really liked her other books), and also New Suns 2 (I read New Suns last year and it had some really good stories!)

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

Alecto the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir! After reading Nona I need to know.

Biggest disappointment

It's a tie between The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (boring and somehow shallow-feeling worldbuilding, and managed not to get me very invested in the characters even with over 1000 pages?), Dune by Frank Herbert (all the worst parts of 60s sci fi), La passeuse de mots by Jennifer and Alric Twice (all the worst parts of 2000s YA fantasy), or Der Dunkle Schwarm by Marie Grasshoff (somehow uninteresting despite what could be a very compelling world). I can't choose between any of these because none of them really got under my skin, they were just meh in ways I wasn't expecting them to be.

Biggest surprise

The Well by Jake Wyatt; I convinced myself it was going to be mediocre despite the awesome cover, but it's actually my favourite graphic novel of the year so far! The art is gorgeous and the story is a fun spin on traditional quest narratives.

Book that made you cry

Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles. This book reminded me why I don't read sad literary fiction, even though it was really good (highly recommend if you can tolerate it!)

Book that made you happy

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le; I really appreciated how the characters learned to live with their immigrant parents and also the romance was really sweet!

Most beautiful book cover of a book you’ve read so far this year

Either Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk (I am a sucker for vintage anything) or Squire by Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas (I am also a sucker for clouds)

How are you doing with your year’s goal?

Don’t have one!

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

De Profundis, The Secret History, Lord of the Flies, The Origins of Political Order, and After the Victorians (I think I've given up on reading War and Peace, at least for the moment). Oh, and Alecto, when it comes out. (There are, as always, Too Many Books)

(and since they haven't done it yet I tag @maddiesbookshelves and @yourneighborhoodbibliophile (but only if they feel like it))

[allseeinganalyst]

Frozen II Novels - Review

It's been a while since I reviewed or analyzed anything here. This blog was made for that exact purpose, but I've posted one half-hearted review-ish thing about Mob Psycho and the Nanoha look-back is taking a while.

Part of that is due to being that I find myself in weird mental spaces more often than I'd like. The internet is a hell-hole, but it's also one that's borderline impossible (and certainly very impractical) to actually just sever ties to. I've ditched Twitter and I don't use TikTok (except to look at videos my partner sends me), but I still get, somehow, hit with a lot of LOUD, SHOUTY voices that seem to make it impossible to enjoy anything.

After about three-to-four midlife crises about things (i'm 30 this November), and a chat to my partner, I've managed to get the mental TARDIS that is my mind up and running again, ready to tour the fictional universe and enjoy what is has to offer, getting back into the things I love, without getting bogged down in the screeching of fandoms and social media.

Gods, that was a very long way of trying to say "I read a cool Frozen book."

Frozen 2 - Forest of Shadows and Frozen: Polar Nights - Cast into Darkness are two original novels set in the world of Frozen (Duh.) Forest of Shadows was released in 2019 and I actually read it back then, while Polar Nights was released in 2022, and I picked it up from Target and read it in march of 2023.

To get this out of the way, while it does sometimes throw people off, I am actually a big fan of Frozen. I've loved it since the first movie. It's not my favourite Disney film (that would be Tangled, and whoo-BOY, will we get to Tangled related media at some point on this blog!), it's probably a close second. I love the animation, I love the songs, I love the characters and I love the world. I was even sad when the hype for Frozen died down, and no, I don't think Enchanto is better - That's another LOUD SCREECHY OPINION that I'm not sad to hear less of.

These are obviously not the only Frozen novels out there. I do own "A Frozen Heart", which I've really got to get around to, because apparently it contains some Hans backstory, and Hans is a character I'm really interested in learning more about, and obviously there is a slew of additional Frozen media. Frozen-Mania gripped the world in a chokehold not seen since the god-damn Shrek movies, and it had an effect on our media and culture so great that no doubt, someday there will be an essay on youtube by Super Eyepatch Wolf explaining and analyzing the overwhelming impact of a Disney movie from 2013 and the INSANE fandom that sprung out of it - which I was a part of from very early on, and quite honestly you can use it as a self-contained example of how fandom has changed since then... BUT I'M DIGRESSING.

The point I was trying to make here is that, most of the media released post the original Frozen movie is fairly generic. Baring one or two things, and of course, the animated shorts, a lot of it is standard kids stuff - Storybooks, Quick Reads, Junior novels, picture books, etc. Some of it is really fun, and the art was almost always either a wonderful, bright cartoonish 2D style, or a painterly, soft style that's really pretty to look out - But not a lot of is espeically unique. It's got a "Frozen Flavour" to it, but it's all very standard. If you changed one or two things, you could swap out Elsa and Anna for Rapunzel, or Ariel, or any other number of Disney Princess characters and the stories would be more-or-less the same. Stuff that mum and dad can give to their kids to let them have their Frozen fix without having to endure "Let it Go" one more time. (Side note: If you do happen to be one of those people who're bitching about how over saturated that song is - Fuck you, I'm going to play it again on purpose.)

The point I'm getting around to is that these books, cheep target paperbacks they may be, are not that. There's a distinct world and continuity here, and it's even possible to place a timeline.

These books (I believe there may be a third between them for a reason I'll get too shortly) have recurring characters, direct continuity and callbacks. All of them expand on the world of Frozen, moving away from the generic Disney-Princess storytelling of kingdom mishaps and "oh-no! character X is lost/upset/lost a precious item/wants to do something special/has a special occasion/etc" and into a deliberately constructed world, with a soft but distinct influence from Nordic and Sandenavian folklore.

They are not perfect, but they are worth talking about. Spoilers abound below, for those of you who are interested!

I'm not going to summarize the plots. I want to talk what I find interesting, annoying, curious, fun or frustrating about these books. These reviews are intended as a form of looking after my own mental health anyway. If you're interested, I've given names and pictures of the covers. Go look them up. Or better yet, read the books yourselves and tell me what you think!

The coolest (pun 400% intended) part about these books is they are clearly on a timeline. They're designed to slot very nicely into Frozen canon, and do so very tightly I might add. The timeline that we can establish is:

Frozen > 3 YEARS > Forest of Shadows > Frozen 2 > Polar Nights.

Forest of Shadows leads directly into the events of Frozen 2, even referencing the scene where Elsa wakes up the spirits at the end, while Polar Nights is explicitly stated to be a matter of 2-3 months since Anna took the throne.

During that 3 YEARS period there, you can obviously slot in Frozen Fever, Olaf's christmas special and probably one or two of the storybook stuff released post Frozen. If the (hilarious) "Olaf Reenacts Disney Movies" shorts are in ANY way canon (and... They MIGHT be to some degree, I'll get to this later...) they almost definitely slot in between Frozen 2 and Polar Nights. Again, I'll get to why later.

I believe I am missing a novel or story somewhere that fits into the same timeline as Polar Nights references an event that's a bit too specific to not have been depicted in some form of media, but I can only work with what I find locally. Although I am in no uncertain terms a fan, I only have so many resources and time to put toward things, and Frozen isn't at the top of that list. If a novel appears on a store shelf, I'll buy it. If it doesn't, I go without.

While my thoughts are mostly focused on Polar Nights, because I read Forest of Shadows over 3 years ago. I'm talking about both novels for the most part.

They are decent in size. Small enough for kids to read with no trouble, but more than a short story. Both tell full length, original stories.

These books paint a slightly wider view of Arendelle and it's surroundings than what we see from the movies. Neighboring kingdoms are mentioned by name (including Corona - Rapunzel's kingdom from Tangled. - Again, I'm going to get back to this later), and there are several named, recurring characters like Tuva and Ada, lesbian blacksmith wives (explicitly mentioned as being married) or Sorensson, the Astronomer who lives far outside of Arendelle and is introduced in Forest of Shadows, then plays a small but significant role in Polar Nights. There's recurring references to Aren of Arendelle, the founder of Elsa and Anna's kingdom, and a secret room or passage discovered in one book is referenced and used again in the next. It's really consistent and it makes it feel rewarding to read these novels. I very much doubt that any future Frozen visual media will reference their events, but if the stories themselves can keep a continuity across writers, then that's good enough for me to feel like I'm really in a bona-fide expanded universe.

There's some stuff in these books that I have personally wanted to see since the first movie. Things like finding out how Anna never recovered the original memories the trolls took from her, or finding out what Elsa spends a lot of her time doing in Ahtohallan...

(conjuring ice memories, apparently. Yeah, seems like while she's not going to "drowning depth" again, she is using her magical ice powers to pull up home-movies of her parents... Gotta wonder if she didn't accidentally pull up one of their date nights and then shattered the whole thing into ice shards in a panic once her dad put on the Barry White music.)

The books ALSO give me something that I have held in my head since the very first movie - Anna cracking jokes about her past and her mistakes.

I've always loved the idea that Anna doesn't seem the type to get all "Shell-Shocked PTSD Veteran" over her traumatic memories. That's Elsa's job, so I've always imagined she makes a lot of jokes and lighthearted fun out of it. Like, she seems the type to go: "OH HEY! That's a great statue of me! And I'd know! I've been a statue! Made of ice! Wanna see me do the pose?"

And while we don't get that exactly, we do get her ribbing Elsa about having Marshmallow throw her out of her ice castle, grumbling about how "Hans isn't actually THAT good looking", and generally having a sense of "oh no, I remember what happened LAST TIME..." about her. It's not as explicit as I'd like, but it's there and it helps with that feeling of the world being alive and moving. These characters do remember what happened yesterday. They are actively learning their lessons and trying to avoid the mistakes of their past.

The stories are compelling enough. While not groundbreaking, edge-of-your seat page turners, they both offer an adventure that's very much on brand for Frozen, effectively utilizing the characters and the world. This isn't a story where you could change a few names and slap Aurora or Belle or Ariel in instead. These stories feel tailored to Elsa and Anna. Unfortunately, there's a bit of an issue that I assume arises from being an author hired to write your own original entry into a carefully curated, multi-million dollar franchise, owned by the real world's full on Mega-Corp.

See, while I love the connected, constructed world these novels build around the movies - They do in-fact, happen to be being built around the Frozen media franchise, and Disney have been notoriously strict with this before.

If you were a part of the early Frozen fandom (again, I was), you might remember the sheer excitement around when it was announced that Elsa and Anna, as well as Arendelle and a number of other movie characters would be coming to Once Upon a Time, flinging the universe of Frozen into unexpected live action.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts around OUAT, because... YEAH I'm trying to be focused and that is worth a WHOLE other blog post - which I don't have any REAL desire to write out unless someone BEGGED me to do it, but long story short, given that the show explicitly is alternate continuity for ALL Disney's franchises, it had a lot of leeway in what it could do with it's regular cast... But not the Frozen characters. Although the writers did get to play around creating new backstory and lore, and chopping and changing a bit, there was a strictness to what they could and couldn't do with the characters. They couldn't give Elsa a love interest. They couldn't dramatically change anything from the movie. Characters had firmly fixed personalities that were absolutely not allowed the usual "flex" of OUAT - No extra edginess snuck in, nothing out of character.

(They did have incredible costumes though. Way better than any other live action projects that I've seen).

My point in all of this is, that was explicitly in an alternate universe. OUAT had NEVER had any bearing on any of the franchises it pulled it's roster from, and was marketed to a whole different audience.

These books are NOT. They are marketed toward the same audience as the movies, and are intended to fit alongside it. And it is painfully obvious that Disney holds a tight leash when it comes to ways for writers to interpret their billion-dollar characters. Obviously this is pure speculation, but I would imagine the writers for these novels were given dedicated character bios of characters like Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and not allowed to deviate or even go into much depth beyond what was listed in those bios.

I say this for a couple of reasons - The most notable of which is the dialogue, and to a lesser extent the character actions. Characters have an unfortunate tendency to sprout stiff, unnatural dialogue, based on certain things that were mentioned in the moves.

Nowhere is this more egregious than with Anna and chocolate. The movies mention her having it as her favorite treat, and she has like two memorable moments involving it in the first movie, but the books treat it like it is NEVER off her mind. If the books mention Anna wanting to do ANYTHING, most of the time, it involves chocolate in some way. She brings it with her on expeditions. She can't wait to get back to the castle and eat some. She has a "choco-versary" with Kristoff, the anniversary of the first time they ate chocolate together. It comes off as a weird obsession, instead of the favorite food it was in the movies. Similarly, she's mentioned as having "Sandwiches" as her favorite meal a few times. Not only is this FRUSTRATINGLY non-specific, it also seems PURELY based on her one line in "Love is an Open Door" and it's callback during her conversation with Kristoff in the first movie... Although to be fair, this did also get a call back in Frozen Fever where we see her be enthusiastic about one, so... whatever.

It gets stiff with dialogue between characters too. Almost every conversation with Elsa and Anna seems to drift towards "we were seperated, but now we are together again, and I love you and am so proud of you!". They'll discuss the plot, and they do have some genuinely great moments (like Elsa talking about the trolls and Anna pointing out, somewhat sadly, that "no, sis, I can't remember, they took my memories as a child...") but a lot of it is re-hashing their end-of-movie "sisterly bond" stuff. It's a real shame especially in Polar Nights, because that is set AFTER Frozen 2. We could have had scenes of Anna asking Elsa for help ruling as Queen, or Elsa observing how Anna does things differently from her, but we learn nothing more about how these two interact than what we already knew.

The other problem that I assume crops up from Disney's strict oversight is that it's obvious the writers are not allowed to affect the world too much. They can play with the figures in it, but can't change the landscape dramatically. This is understandable, as it's unlikely the Mega-Mouse wants some kids novel throwing out a detail that might force them to change how they write the next movie. They're not going to kill off Kristoff, or suddenly give us a Hans redemption arc - As interesting as that would be, the writers need the all clear from Disney, and Disney won't want some hired novelist to make a major change to their giant money making machine which is no doubt shaped like Elsa's head.

This means that, although the stakes do feel real for the books themselves, there's a sense that nothing that happens within really affects the world that much. Characters don't learn a vital lesson or change in any significant way, and those that do are new characters, constructed for the book, who can easily be ignored by the wider narrative - Polar Nights has a whole segment with a pair of sisters, obviously designed to parallel Elsa and Anna, who's past and backstory, and the mysteries and mistruths thereof, form more-or-less the basis for the entire plot, but our ACTUAL sisters can't have a chat more complex that "boy I'm glad we're not separated anymore, also we're proud of each other!"

The result is - and this is kind of what I've been driving toward this entire time - these books give me a VERY distinct feeling, and it took me a while to identify what it was. I didn't catch it when I read "Forest of Shadows", but it WAS there, and Polar Nights has it there in full force.

These novels feel like FILLER.

Traditional, ACTUAL, filler.

SIGH - Quick sidetrack.

The term "Filler" is thrown around a lot these days, often by people that I don't think realized the term originally had a more specific meaning - At least from what my experience is.

"Filler" was primarily a term used by the anime community, referring to episodes of a show that were not adapted from the original manga. This practice was done as most anime, especially Shounen anime like those pictured above, ran almost continuously, and when your airing an episode a week which is sometimes able to adapt multiple chapters from the manga, you're going to close the gap pretty quickly.

This meant that things would be done in the episodes to stretch them out. Anything from lengthening fight scenes, to additional dialogue, all the way up to - perhaps most famously - whole new arcs created purely for the anime. These arcs had to tell their own stories that were entertaining, but obviously couldn't massively shake up the status quo, as they had no idea what would be coming next for these characters and this story. They relied on events distanced, often entirely unrelated to the plot at large (in-fact, rather infamously, Bleach once went to a year long filler arc in MID-SWORD-FIGHT BETWEEN CHARACTERS). Often they would invent new characters, new powers, and often draw on events of the past, or spotlight background characters to create an unobtrusive narrative.

These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "At their most extreme, absolutely nothing that happens in a filler episode will affect things going forward, even if it seems like a character developed or grew in some manner."

Filler's definition has expanded a lot, and was never really as fixed as I tended to take it, though I still see it used incorrectly. If an episode of a show had the characters sitting around talking, with the plot not advancing at all, but we still learn things about the characters that matter, and have an impact or call back later, or their relationships change in SOME way, then it's NOT filler. In the words of my Media Teacher: "Just because it didn't feature a car chase and a shoot out, doesn't mean it doesn't matter." - Filler doesn't matter. Slow paced slice of life episodes can matter a LOT.

As a side note, to this side note, Filler in it's most traditional sense is dying out, and has been largely, though not entirely, gone from anime by the mid 2010's. Anime have switched over to the "cour" style of episode production, with a season consisting of usually around 12-or-24 episodes (a little leeway in either direction is common, like having 26 or 10 episodes), which focus on tightly adapting one arc or novel or portion of the story. They then take a break, and return with the next season whenever, picking up where they left off. This is why you don't really see stuff running for 200+ episodes in a row anymore, and why something like, say, Attack on Titan has five seasons. This has allowed for MUCH reduction of filler, and virtually eliminated the need for the filler arc. They do still pop up, but notice how today's "big shots" like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer have multiple seasons instead of just running for a billion episodes like shows such as One Piece, or Naruto.

Though speaking of that, apparently some new shows are determined to carry on the traditions laid by their parents... *side-eyes Boruto*

AHEM. I really need to drop this topic and get back on track. QUICK, what's an appropriate Frozen-related GIF to use to move on?

I fuckin' told you I was gonna play it again.

ANYWAY, so my point is that - despite feeling like we've really entered a living, breathing world, with its own history and people, it feels like we're never allowed to see that world DO anything.

This wasn't too bad in Forest of Shadows, because even though it couldn't do anything massive, it could create the illusion of movement, by transitioning characters from their Frozen selves to their Frozen 2 selves, laying down hints of what would be fully realized in that move, but it is REALLY on display in Polar Nights - The set up involves exploring Anna's first major kingdom event as Queen, and yet, we really don't get any meaningful detail about that. We don't get a sense of how it feels for her to suddenly wield all this power and responsibility when, not just a few months ago, she was more or less the spare princess that could spend her days having picnics with snowmen. I mean sure, there's mention that she's nervous, but it really doesn't go into much detail. She's just "Queen Anna", the same way we saw her at the end of Frozen 2.

(Elsa's also still referred to as Queen - sometimes she gets directly called "The Snow Queen" - but this is a detail I like. It's not like the people forgot or disavowed her as their monarch. The two are called "The Queens of Arendelle" at one point. It's an interesting touch.)

The events of Polar Nights involve a lot of things happening (including major characters losing their memories of each other), but it all amounts to a problem that's easily resolved with Sisterly Love, and by the end of the book, everything's normal. I know these books are not going to affect the movies, but one of the cool things, as I mentioned, was that they did have continuity between each other. Sorensson was introduced as a man of science in Forest of Shadows, and then in Polar Nights, Anna and Elsa go to him for help with something they want a scientific explanation for. While some of these characters might pop up again to be mentioned in the next novel, it's hard to believe it'll focus on Anna dealing with the fact that... Say Dragurs are real, and exist out there, and that things like grudges and nasty legends and rumors can bring unwelcome power.

Some of the dialogue and phrasing is just plain awkward too. A lot of the time, when Anna spoke to Kristoff, it felt very bland, and forced-romantic, rather than their natural, more banter and warm interactions in the movies. We don't even get a call-back to "I prefer you in leather ;)" - Although that may have been pushing the biscuit. If they went any further with how Anna feels about that, the LOUD SCREACHERS might lose the ability to pretend she was being 100% wholesome and child-friendly with that line...

There's another line where Elsa's narration indicates she wants Anna and Kristoff to have kids so she can be "the cool aunt, literally" - A line that exists purely for that one lazy joke, since no other mention of them having children exists that I can remember.

(Though I am borderline certain that Frozen 3 will focus on their child, but again, that's getting distracted)

Polar Nights also avoids any direct appearances of Northuldra. No Honeymaron or Rider or anything - The only other significant characters that appear from Frozen 2 are Mattias (who fills a bit of a generic "general/captain of the guard" role, but that's his job so it's fine), as well as Gale and Burnie and the Water Nokk, who do have roles to play, but relatively minor ones. They are mentioned, but even when we see the Enchanted Forest, it's purely featuring the cast from Frozen, plus the wind and the new plush mascot lizard. Again, it's a shame because beyond: "Elsa loves the fact that she is living free" and "Elsa spends time pulling up home movies made of snow", we get nothing about how the former Queen is living as a spirit. Okay, I don't expect the book to explain about how Elsa hates needing to pee in a bush now or something absurd like that, but when you go from living in a castle to living in tents and caves, you've got to feel more than just "free" right? We don't even see how she interacts with the Northuldra. How do these people, who revered the spirits, interact with one who can speak to them in their language? Who can sit and chill out with them? Who can pop round for dinner? We get none of that, and it's sad, because it would have been nice.

Polar Nights features a mystery story between two sisters, one of whom is said to have outright murdered the other, several fights between Elsa and a Nordic zombie wraith that mimics her powers at one point, a Pirate Queen and her fleet sitting menacingly at Arendelle's borders, at one point escalating to firing on royal ships during a massive storm in an eternal night, Anna and Elsa traveling to a whole different neighboring kingdom, and Anna's fiance explicitly losing his memory of her, and anything they ever did together...

... and somehow it comes off as less compelling and impactful than Frozen 2, where - and I don't want to downplay or insult Frozen 2 because I think it's amazing and obviously it's themes run far deeper BUT - the main antagonist force boils down to "Dam that a bastard-man built one time".

(On that, Polar Nights is intent on reminding everyone that King Runeard was a Bad Man™ and every single character essentially goes "BOO! HISS!" whenever his name comes up. And yeah, the dude was an absolute bastard, and he only gets revealed to be worse in Polar Nights but you would think Anna and Elsa would have more complex feelings than "hate that guy" to their granddad who they believed was a bit of a legend up until the events of the second movie. Still, maybe they genuinely don't and at any rate, unpacking those feelings might be a bit more complicated than a novel intended mostly for kids is willing to get into.)

There's more that could be said, but I worry I've been sticking to the negative for too long. Yes, these novels do feel like anime filler. Lots of stuff happens, but it doesn't really impact anyone. There's new characters introduced and side characters discussed and all sorts of things that really don't mean that much to the world in the long run, and no doubt will be forgotten by the time Frozen 3 rolls around BUT...

BUT

The books are an enjoyable read. They let me return to the world of Frozen and explore a bit more of the land these characters live in. Yes, I wish the book featured a conversation between Anna and Elsa that didn't just feature them rehashing what they've learned in the movies, but it is STILL good to see them together again. It's heartwarming to know that Elsa still stays in the castle, that Anna let her keep their parents bedroom, that the people of her former kingdom still call her "Queen".

It's great to see side characters mentioned, and not just appear once. It's great that these books are allowed to look outside of the generic fairy-tale fare and bring up things like Dragurs and Huldrefólk and, while I do think the Sisterly Love being the solution to Polar Night's problem isn't the best ending, it does FIT with the themes for the franchise and it isn't a re-hash of Anna and Elsa, instead holding up a mirror to them and showing them what they could have been had their lives been but a tiny bit different.

They're good books, and I would rate them:

A solid B

Was originally a B-, but upon writing this out, I re-evaluated and I wanted to stress that I actually really do like them, and I hope they make more. I really want Frozen to be that thing that winds up having 20 different novel series, six comic books, two original TV series and a line of successful movies. It'd make me happy.

That is just about all I have to say on this topic except for:

OKAY SO YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE BROUGHT UP TANGLED A COUPLE OF TIMES AND I'VE BEEN SAYING I'LL GET BACK TO HOW I THINK IT INTERACTS:

Well - We all know Frozen featured Rapunzel and Eugene visting Arendelle and, ignoring some of the crazy and common fan theories (they're cousins I swear it still works if you squint), that suggests that there is a shared universe and I believe these books CONFIRM that when taken in conjunction with other evidence...

Consider that, Corona is directly mentioned in Forest of Shadows, and that would seem to confirm it, but I've still seen that, and the Tangled character's cameos waved off as cheeky Easter Eggs, BUT... REMEMBER THOSE FUCKIN' OLAF SHORTS? The ones where he re-enacts disney movies?

YEAH WELL, in the Tangled one, he has a bit of extra dialogue where he goes something like "this one is for one of my favorite people in the world, Rapunzel" or SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT SUGGESTS HE'S MET RAPUNZEL PERSONALLY, and...

AAAAAND...

Polar Nights reveals that he and the others HAVE stayed in the Enchanted Forrest before, which gives him a timeframe where he could plausibly tell these stories in universe, AND AND AND AAAAANNNNND:

He also has a short where he re-enacts "The Little Mermaid" which IS CHEEKILY IMPLIED TO BE A BOOK THAT ANNA LOVES in Polar Nights, so Olaf has a REASON to know that story, AS A STORY--

AND BASICALLY THIS CONFIRMS THAT FROZEN AND TANGLED ARE SET IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AND THE FRANCHISE IS GOING TO CONCLUDE WITH AN ULTIMATE CROSSOVER THAT puts Avengers to shame and I SWEAR THAT IT'LL BE SO AWESOME AND--

The Analyst has been dragged off into the night by sensible people. Please ignore his ramblings.

[alittlefrenchtree]

Ok I'm sending you some of your own RWRB questions: Number 1,2, 5, 7, 10, 13,14, and 19 (i had to stop myself from sending the whole list lol)

Thank you so much! Maybe I'll end up answering every question on my own anyway but it's nice starting with your selection 🥰

#1 What was your introduction to Red, White and Royal Blue? How did you become aware of it, what was your first impression of it?

I didn't know anything about it until @petitmimosa started rambling about it a few weeks/couple of months(?) ago. I think she saw the trailer on prime, read the book then watch the movie? I was only half listening (she rambles a lot about a lot of stuff) because I was pretty sure I wouldn't be interested at all (romcoms aren't really my thing).

Then FREAKING TUMBLR decided that RWRB would be the only thing I'll be seeing on my dash for days and days. So I'd say to myself, if I'm going to be forced to look at pics and gifs of these two guys AGAIN and AGAIN, may as well know what this is all about. So I've watched the movie and surprisingly had a good time. And since Internet (and algorithms) keeps showering with rwrb content (nothing else is happening in the cinema industry anyway), I've decided to roll with it and enjoy the said content. I read the book quickly after and even if it was fun, I think I like the movie better.

#2 Team Alex or Team Henry? (I know you love them both equally but choose anyway. OR choose depending of the circumstances. Like, "I’d go shopping with Alex but I’d marry Henry. Or I’d hug Alex but I’d go karaoke with Henry. I don’t know. Try something.)

Even if I like Henry and find him very precious, I think I'm Team Alex. I like how refreshing he is. You can't really be sad watching him and not only because he looks cute af. But all love to both, obviously.

#5 Choose one scene from the book to add to the movie.

I'm not sure because I don't know the book that well but I know how I felt reading this

“Dear Thisbe, I wish there weren’t a wall. Love, Pyramus”

and I wish they'd found a way to include it in the movie. Maybe not in the way of the book, because that might have not worked as best as it should but in some way. I don't know.

#7 Tell us something you like better in the movie than in the book.

Oh man, so many things. One of the main thing, I like that Alex is more freaked out by being into Henry that being into guys in general in the movie. There are important scenes following, about owning the term bisexual in front of other people but being into guys feels less a big (and long) deal than in the book for him. Which is good. I feel like the "i'm bi, so what?" is a good mood to put out there in 2023.

I know the point has been quite a debate here and there so I hope I put the right words to express my view on this.

And tell us something you like better in the book than in the movie. 

A couple of things :

I would have liked for Bea to have a bit more substance as a character in the movie.

and, and that could have been an answer to the "share an unpopular opinion", I'm not the biggest fan of the parisian night scene. Not by Taylor and Nick's fault because the shots of their faces and how they acted are very delicate but I'm very not into the directing, the blocking and the editing of this scene. If felt too heavily romcom coded for my taste (and for my french person leaving near Paris' eyes), when one of the strength of the movie (for me) is being fresh and fun with the romcom codes.

10- You’re in a difficult situation where you have only one call to get help (or to save your life), who are you calling? Amy, Zahra or Ellen?

Zahra, every day, everywhere. I wouldn't trust anyone more than someone who reminds me that much of Sam Marquez in the tvshow Las Vegas.

13- A detail you feel like it’s not enough discussed. Whether it’s a scene, a quote, a frame, a piece of acting, a decor…) Time to ramble about it!

Oh I have two actually! The first good thing I have said about the movie is how much I like the opening credits. The music is good, the visuals are good, I like it a lot.

The second has probably been discussed over and over (and my recording sucks) but

I need daily screaming about the softest, smoothest, most determined "no." I ever heard in my entire life.

14- Favorites outfit(s) in the movie? (You can pick as many as you want, from as many characters as you want. But if you reply with a screenshot of a naked person, I’m going to put you in horny jail).

I wrote the question with one outfit in mind

My only regret is that he's not wearing matching pants (there must be matching pants, right?) cause I feel like AGCD wouldn't have shy away from them. And that would have been epic.

Honorable mention for the denim look 💙 that was wasted on Miguel.

#19 is going to take me forever to answer so I'll add something later :)

Thank you again for playing with me 💜💜

All the questions here !

[thisiscarmensita]

2023 Reading Challenge -- Planning, ratings, and more!

This year, I set my reading goal on 23 books.

My Goodreads profile.

My rating scale:

5🌟 I loved this book. I'll read it again. I'll recommend it to everyone that will listen to me. 4🌟 I liked this book. I don't know if I will read it again, but there's a possibility. I'll recommend this book to those who show interest in the genre. 3🌟 This book was okay. I'll not read it again. I'll only recommend this book to those strongly interested in the genre, plus a specific trope or dynamic that's in there. 2🌟 This book was bad, to my tastes. I'll never read it again. I'll not recommend this book. If someone is really into the genre and multiple tropes the novel covers, I may mention that while I did not enjoy it, it fits what they're looking for. 1🌟 This book is the worst ever, and probably I DNF. If I could go back, I wouldn't read it. I'll not recommend it to anyone, even if they are obsessed with the genre plus multiple tropes and dynamics the book covers. 

WIP - Books read with rating and reviews:

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman -- 5🌟.

Reading this book was time travelling back to childhood. I felt a connection with the characters that one can only find when listening to a fairy tale next to a fire.

I felt their excitement, and their fears. I was happy when they were, and felt sad when their hearts were shattered. It was easy, and natural to believe blindly each word I was told.

The author captured the magic of folk tales in this story, and created an unique framework of narration that allowed me to get out of the adult costume. Once a kid again, I could enjoy this book just as children do enjoy things -- completely, with passion, and without shame.

Fairy Oak Saga, Book 1: El secreto de las gemelas, by Elisabetta Gnone -- 4🌟.

I'm re-reading this series after more than a decade and a half. It's a good children's book, but if you read it as an adult for the first time, you may enjoy it if you love to read children's books.

There are some plot holes I attributed to my then reading comprehension, but in reality, they just simply exist. Sad to notice that, I would have loved to know the reasoning behind some magic that simply works just because.

A Dowry of Blood, by S.T. Gibson -- 4🌟.

Flourish writing, interesting characters and story, excellent portrayal of the relationship dynamics the main characters have going on.

You'll probably enjoy this book if you're looking for a slow paced story that focuses on relationships, and you like reflexive narrators who chew on their thoughts, personal diary style.

Belladonna, by Adalyn Grace -- 2🌟.

You can see the twist coming. In fact, it's so obvious and simple, I had at least 3 other ideas of what the "catch" was that were much better than what actually happened. I think the book is aimed for young audiences, and it may be enjoyable for the right audiences. I agree with the general criticism you find in others' reviews: the MC is bad at resolving mysteries, the characters have no depth, and it would have been nice to dig deeper into the ghosts and their existence.

WIP - 2023 TBR list:

1

2

3

WIP - Genres, tropes, and topics I'm interested in -- please, give me your suggestions!

Pirates, mermaids, and everything and anything related to adventures in the sea or coast.

Lesbian or bisexual wlw romances that don't have homophobia or lesbophobia in them, and don't revolve around coming out/discovering your sexuality.

Poly romances with a woman as the MC/narrator, and she's the one that's involved with more than one person. Better if it's not a reverse harem.

Vampires/werewolves/aliens/IA/paranormal-creatures romances.

Sci-fi and horror short stories compilations.

[uncomplicatedbookreviews]

The Lost World

Author: Michael Crichton

Series: Jurassic Park (#2)

My rating: 5/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads: 3.85/5

Date Read: October 2023

"Too much change is as destructive as too little. Only at the edge of chaos can complex systems flourish." -----------------------------

Plot Summary: Strange misshapen corpses are washing up on the shore of Costa Rica leaving local governments in total confusion. After recovering from his grevious injuries incurred during his adventure in Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm is recruited by rich archaeologist Richard Levine to visit Isla Sorna where Richard believes there are surviving specimens of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs. Ian, Richard, supporting crew members, and two stow away children travel to the island only to discover that they are not the only ones interested in studying the dinosaurs. Using their combined expertise and wit they must survive not only the dinosaurs of the island, but their human rivals as well.

TL:DR: Crichton's follow up to his incredibly successful hit Jurassic Park leaves a lot to be desired. The publication of this book follows the box office success of the Jurassic Park movie, and it attempts, unsuccessfully to merge the book and movie version of events together in this continuation. The science is not as intriguing, the characters are not as charismatic, and the story wanders and get's lost half way through. If your a completionist feel free to pick this book up, but if you're happy with the conclusion of Jurassic Park you can leave this book on the shelf.

Thoughts and Feelings: As a huge fan of the Jurassic Park novel, experiencing the unbalanced mixture of Malcolm's chaos theory rants, choppy action sequences, major plot holes, and slow pace is a major disappointment. It feels like everything that Jurassic Park did well falls slightly short in this novel. The reappearance of Ian Malcolm is a point of contention for many people especially because the explanation given for his 'revival' is extremely weak and underdeveloped. But beyond that the entire first half of this book suffers from a very slow development. It takes the characters forever to actually get out to the island and once they're there it feels a bit meandering. The pace is not helped at all by Ian's frequent diatribes and side bars about the philosophical side of science and chaos theory. What was verging on too much in Jurassic Park has become completely overboard in this book.

The science presented throughout the book was not as engaging as it could have been and I found it much less thorough. The characters were not as likeable as those in the first book and I was really sad that Ian was the character that was chosen to continue the story rather than Alan Grant of Ellie Sattler.

There are some MAJOR plot holes that pop up throughout this book which mainly revolved around certain details being heavily emphasized in the exposition of the book that never get resolved by the end of the book which is strange considering the in depth nature of the vast majority of the book.

Also an aside: The Lost World the movie is almost completely different from the book. And I wouldn't say it's in a good or a bad way since I didn't particularly like either of them all that much.

[reading-cat]

Top 5 Worst Books of 2023

The criteria for "worst" include but are not limited to: genuinely badly written, I had too many expectations and was disappointed, just not my thing, boring and "idk I just felt like it".

5. Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Great idea, bad execution. As in, the writing isn’t very good. The pacing was extremely weird, alternating between excruciatingly slow and too quick. And there’s a fae (they’re not called fae, but you know what I mean) jump-scare.

4. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

I saw this being recommended as similar to Six of Crows. It is not. Yes, there’s a heist and some found family vibes and multiple POVs and queer characters, but that’s about it. This book just didn’t live up to my expectations. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just extremely average. There were too many main characters to properly develop all of them. The heist itself was a mess of illogical puzzles. I liked the fact that there’s some critique of colonialism, but it also felt very surface level. I’m just disappointed and kinda sad about it.

3. Things We Say in the Dark by Kristy Logan

This book has been sitting on my tbr since 2019, when it first came out. I finally read it for a book club and god, was I disappointed. Kristy Logan really said "Ooooh, look how vague and mysterious I can be" and then just gave us a bunch of half finished badly written stories. There were some good ideas in there and even stories that I somewhat liked. If only they had had the chance to develop a little bit more.

2. The Element of Fire by Martha Wells

As a big fan of Wells’ Murderbot Diaries, I decided to check out some of her other works. The Element of Fire is the fist of her books she’s ever published and you can feel it. This was tedious and boring. The world and the characters are very underdeveloped. And the fairies. I was not expecting the fae. I did not want to read about the fae. There is a flying castle though, so that’s nice.

1. Yoshi and the bird by Duran Sakagawa

I have a friend who really likes birds and Japanese and Korean authors. Every year, we try to do a buddy read or a reading challenge together. Yoshi and the bird was this year’s victim. Honestly, I was expecting a cute story about a boy who picks up a bird who fell out of its nest. Maybe a slightly melancholic life lesson. Maybe some veiled social commentary. Not this. What was this. How is this one of the most out of pocket violent and depressing books I have ever read. And when I say violent, I mean it. Why. There was absolutely no need for that ending.

[SPOILERS]

I’m sorry, bird suicide??? I can deal with bird religion, but suicide? And Yoshi too??? He’s, like, 12 if not less. What are you doing. What is this book doing.

[happymeishappylife]

Books I Read in 2023 (Part 1)

1. Doctor Who: Web in Space by David Bailey

Ice Spider captures ship, Amy, Rory, and Doctor land on and try to help. Also attacked by Robots who then capture Doctor and TARDIS. With help from Messy a cute plumbing robot, they escape, save the spider and the human crew.

2. Odd Interlude by Dean Koontz (Special Story in between Novels 5 & 6)

I have to be honest, this threw me because it jumps back to invents prior to Book 5 fresh after Odd kills for the first time and while he is still trying to reconcile this it made the book hard for me. That and it’s the first and only time we’ve switched voices in the book and no offense, no 12-year-old, no matter how traumatized or amazing sounds like Jolie. Still it was a quick fast read and it explores a topic Koontz loves to visit in all his works which is Fort Wryven.

3. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Book #2 of The Heroes of Olympus Series)

What a relief to have Percy Jackson back in action. I mean I love this boy and who doesn’t when you have lines responding back to Gods like, “All roads lead there, child. You should know that.” Percy: “Detention?” There’s just something about this very powerful, brave, and heroic demigod, just not fully understanding the things he’s told and being jealous over not being able to turn into animals when he’s already destroyed a glacier and summoned a hurricane of power. Never change Percy. But also, what a delight to be introduced to such great characters in Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang who are powerful demigods in their own right and instant family to Percy when he shows up to Camp Jupiter without his memories. I love that the three instantly click and have such a great dynamic with each other, despite the tragedies in all their lives and the immense trouble that brews throughout this book and is building in the series. I’m so excited for Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter to team up though, but I’m worried about Nico (though like Percy I kind of want to wring his neck for lying about knowing him) and I’m super worried about Annabeth even though I already know the spoilers and what’s about to happen. I’m not ready for it, but I can’t wait to read it.

4. The Musician’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap

Overall this was a good read. I had some trouble with it at times because it was set in the past and it was overall unclear how old Teresia was so some of the actions that she was put through seemed super creepy. Plus even though the story did revolve around helping the Romani and reestablishing some of their lost titles, there was still some prejudice there through the use of the words they shouldn’t be called, and while I can excuse the ‘bad guys’ in the novel for using. Teresia and even Mirela herself used it which showed the authors lack of understanding. Still, I liked how thrust into the grief and sadness at the sudden murder of her father, Teresia not only steps up to help her family but also herself and fight for what she wants and how she wants to live her life. Plus I’m glad nothing seriously happened to Toby because that would have been awful.

5. Labyrinth by Kat Richardson (Book #5 of The Greywalker Series)

Picking up right where the previous novel ended, we join Harper as she arrives home from London to the comfort of her boyfriend and the chaos that is unfolding by the Pharoahn’s plans in Seattle. Half the book is Harper falling into danger either because people are looking for her or she throws herself into it. I didn’t always agree with her choices but I also felt her suffering the more in touch with the Grey she gets. Still wasn’t prepared for the ending though and I do wonder where it will go from here since this felt like the penultimate battle.

6. Star Wars: Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to read more of the extended Star Wars universe but I forgot how much I missed it. I really do enjoy seeing what happens to Luke, Leia, and Han after the events of the main trilogy even if one of them is hurt, about to die, and just absolutely beaten up the entire novel, cough, cough Luke… But still I enjoyed the storyline where Luke, Han, Chewie, and R2-D2 are investigating the possible former living conditions of the Jedi before they were murdered and come across the next plot from former Empire elites to takeover control. Especially Leia story where she gets to be a bad ass fighting against this dark side child and his mom. Meanwhile Luke is having to stop a ship that was built 30 years ago from destroying the planet his friends on while its picking up a collection of aliens and indoctrinating (or trying to) into the next stormtroopers while one of his students is captured and threatened with execution. The only thing that irked me in the book was the romantic story. I had no issue with Luke and Callista being friends but the romance seemed forced and I was glad at the end that Han makes a comment about it looking more like siblings than romantic partners because it just felt weird.

7. The Spy Who Haunted Me by Simon R. Green (Book #3 of the Hidden Histories Series)

Considering the absolute twists in tone and situations between the first and second book, I had no idea where this was going to go especially after a world ending fight in the last one. So a spy game solving all our favorite mysterious tall tales and creatures? It made it fun and still jammed pack because going from Nessie, Sasquach, a Russian failed experiment base, a disappearing US battleship, and Area 52 was a lot to take in. I’ll admit, I was sad that Molly wasn’t more in this book because she is a great character, but it was nice to see Eddie work without his family and his friends to see who he is when he’s alone. And he’s still a master spy but a pretty damn good hero too. Now, the one thing I’m learning is this series is Green’s way to relive all of his favorite characters from his finished series. First is was Giles and this time it was Walker which was interesting, but also I already knew 1, Walker didn’t kill the other spies but also 2, he obviously wasn’t going to die because John does that later. Still interesting to see the team up, plus I learned there is a full crossover book with the Droods and the Nightside later so I can’t wait to put Eddie and John Taylor together.

8. Stars of the Kanri by S.P. Dorning

Picked this up because it seemed like a fun independent sci-fi story, but as soon as I read the dedication, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it because of the authors insistence that God put him in this story to tell His tale. And at first all was good (ignoring the first time writing mistakes), but as soon as we land on the planet it all becomes about how The Father of All will guide us and does these miraculous things and I was turned off. Plus the big secret that Mason is a robot isn’t really a twist at the end because it was made clear in the beginning what was going on. And also the people from the stars saving primitive lifeforms because they know better has been an overtold device that’s reminiscent of that colonization vibe and I can’t stand it. So definitely not picking up the sequel whose plot is given away in the epilogue.

9. Tesla’s Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman

Overall I enjoyed the premise, the plot, and the storytelling of this book because the idea that Nikola Tesla hid away objects of incredible power and incredible abilities in some random attic in Colorado Springs is an interesting twist. That and the Accelerati (founded by Edison) are these scientists that constantly try to quash and control big inventions and mysterious happenings fits right in. And I also enjoyed the characters, but it didn’t feel like I was reading about true middle school kids or actual events that middle schoolers might become a part of. It felt at least like these kids should have been high schoolers in my opinion. So that took me out of it a little. Still I liked the book enough to see where it goes from here and since there are two more in the series it will be a fun, but short right.

10. Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz (Book #3 of Frankenstein)

In this never ending 48 hours of a story, told over 3 books so far, we got a little more action heavy in this one as all our characters begin to meet up with each other. Victor’s creatures are continuously breaking down or going overboard on their programming, Erika befriends one of them and relishes the secret proving that she’s not perfect like her predecessor. Her predecessor is alive and helping the creatures of the dump live and survive, our two favorite human cops befriend a dog, and Decaulion gets a glimpse of his maker as he not blows up one of Victor’s labs, but his backup as well. It’s going to be interesting to see how Victor responds to this, especially because it seems like more and more of his creatures are on Decaulion’s side. But I also have 2 books to go, so I know a lot can change in a day.

[icherishyou]

tue, 19 dec 2023

the day flies so fast... 11 more days to go, and we will be in 2024.

I'm still processing how far my 2023 has been running. I had nothing to dream about but to finish my master's degree on the first day of 2023. experiencing how much struggle I had during my master's degree, and I was at the edge of my semester, I just wished to finish it, and I fought it until my last breath. Alhamdulillah I fulfill one of my dreams in vision board.

actually, there were a lot of dreams I wrote on my vision board. but since my main goal is to finish my thesis, I just went for it half of the year, and the day I got it, it was the happiest day in my life for that year. like, all of the struggles, dramas, depressions, all paid off.

after that day, everything that happened was just happiness or lessons. I'm so thankful to Allah, to make my heart stronger than ever through this process, to learn from every person I met virtually, physically, and fictionally to be a better person.

I think I'm accepted as a lecturer. something that is out of my reach, like I've never dreamt to be a lecturer or involved in the world of education. just as many things happened during 2023 which were out of my plan and just happened, I believe this is the step Allah wants me to take. Allah has managed all of the universe to work the way he wants and aligned with me.

I thought, since I've graduated, I could choose a career path I want: a digital marketer. it's still crystal clear, whenever people say I'm suitable for a teacher role, I'd say in my heart "I know myself, and this is the chance I can choose my own path, not by my parents, not by people around me". but it turns out I will be a lecturer soon. very very very soon.

it began with, my friend informed me about the vacancy, I applied, I went for the test and interview, then one of the human resources said "this usually takes a long time to process, but you have everything done in a day". and for the fourth round of interview, I just found out that the interviewer is my mom's friend dad. we are basically neighbors. and there was nothing serious during the interview, but having fun. even the human resource had to pick me up because I had an almost 2 hours interview that I think everyone knows I would be 100% accepted.

there is little sadness inside my heart like, do I give up on my own dream? do I just fulfil my parent's dream again? just some thoughts that lead me into nothing but sadness. my parents are both extremely happy because this is what they really want. but I just want to take those thoughts aside because Allah has made everything easy for me. I know Allah gives this for a reason that I haven't discovered yet, and I am just out of my comfort zone.

there is one reason that I hyphotesiscally think why, may be because Allah wants me to use my full capacity of knowledge and ability. because previously I really considered working in an administration or writing field only which needs less capability of suffering (I don't mean to underestimate those jobs but I'm happy doing administration and writing).

I know I will survive even though the salary is not that big. I'm being naive here, but I have to handle this and I will find a way to earn more money. this is just how Sri Ningsih (a fictional character from the book I just finished reading) is supposed to think. we just need to be more recourfull.

may Allah always guide me to His way, and I hope this is a good decision I take. Amin...

[catachyler]

Ad astra per cringe.

So, I saw on Twitter a post about a writing marathon for october: SBI Whumptober 2023, which requires to write some piece of work for 31 specific prompts for each 31 days of october. About something hurtful and sad, which I don’t like in general in whatever form of art. And I was like: Oh! I wanna do that! Even though I’m awful at writing, I’m awful at english and I have too much stuff to do. I literally have to change my entire life or, I’m afraid, I’m gonna die. Even though I’m not allowed to do that.

And I saw that post on 29 of september even though it was posted in august, so for me to participate means that I have to write a piece for a day. A piece of creative writing on english on some angsty theme. For the record, English is not my native, and excluding school years, I never actually learned it. For gods sake, Kate, what are you doing?!

I was thinking for a day, and then eventually decided to try. So.. It’s been two days and I already gave up. *sad face

One of the coolest things in all of that, is that somehow I came up almost immediately with a dozen of ideas for this marathon (or whatever it should be called), even though it has to be about hurting someone. The second cool thing is that I realized that I actually really like writing. It’s hard practically, but it’s really fun to make something, to create; and mind here, I have to create several different worlds with several different characters, they all are somehow distiguishly different even though they are based on the same group of people each time. I feel alive when I create. I like it. But it’s hard.

For me to make some work takes from 5 to 6 hours even if it’s not more than 1000 words. My active vocabulary is significantly less than my passive one. Since december I managed to read seven books (not counting study ones) and from all of them, I only got like 600 unknown words (part of them actually known, just with some unknown connotations and whatnots). But writing is struggling. I know that I know the right word but I don’t remember it at all! So about 2 or 3 hours of my writing actually goes to googling the right words. *very sad face

And also, I realize (besides that I need to take english grammar course asap) that I really need some feedback. That’s another one of many downsides of not having friends, there is no one to ask for feedback. 

Oh, I also popped on to read other participant’s work and I couldn’t not understand a half of them. I mean, I opened one work, and the first three lines of dialog contained like 6 words that I never saw in my life. Do I know the wrong English? I do remember how I was struggling watching Techno at first because he used to use some fancy words (fancy for my illiterate ass), but I definitely improved since then. Or am I?

Oh, and also probably instead of writing this post I should work on my next piece for the Whumptober. But I really stuck with today’s prompt which is “Self-esteem issues / Dehumanization” (ironically I should know about this stuff a lot). I try to think about something and it just blank. My brain is blank. And talking about blank, I don’t understand Lovejoy. And it makes me very sad. Everybody is so hyped and happy about them, and I don’t understand them. Probably that is a good theme for another post.

Anyway (gods, I so long to use ‘anyhow’ instead, but I can’t, I can’t). Today I allow myself to not write, but I should do all those ideas that I have for other days. They will be crappy, but without practice, you can’t improve. Ad astra per cringe.

*/ I google just one word: “long for/to”, was trying to find a synonym for “wish”. And now I realize that phrase contains “so long”. I so long to hear your voice again.

[zoueriemandzijnopmars]

Reading Wrap-Up 2022

I haven’t been very active on booklr this year and I also feel like I’ve been in a light reading slump for the entire year, but I felt like making a wrap-up post anyway because I still read stuff - even if I didn’t meet my goal.

The basics

Books read: 34, 26 for the first time, 8 rereads, the goal was 30 new books but I gave up on that after the summer

Pages read: over 15000! I met my goal there at least

Languages read: I read the majority in Dutch (21), 12 books in English and one in Swedish

Average rating: 3.93, though all 3 my 5-star reads were rereads. The highest number of stars for new books was 4.5, both for Girl, Woman, Other and House of Earth and Blood

Fun stats

13 books I read had more than 500 pages, the largest was House of Sky and Breath with 988 pages. None of these were rereads

9 books had less than 300 pages, 6 of those were rereads, the least was A Christmas Carol, but as I read that through an email newsletter I don’t know the exact number of pages I read

My favourite genre by far was fantasy with 21 books read in that genre

My most read author of the year is Rick Riordan with 3 whole books because I’m rereading Percy Jackson in bed

I read 4 books from the 19th century, 3 of which I had never read before. I read 5 books from the 20th century, of which only 1 was new to me (Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie), the other 25 were from this century

8 books were published in 2020 or later

I finished most books in November, but I read most pages in August

I only read 2 books by a Dutch author - 1 of which a reread and that’s less than I thought and honestly kinda sad (this means that all other books I read in Dutch were translations)

Answers to questions no-one asked

2022 was for me really the year of Dracula, it was definitely the book that made the most impact on my year, I spend almost half a year reading it and the Dracula Daily community was great

I’m kinda sad I did not read a book I was totally crazy about, I think that’s part of my kinda reading slump, I read a lot of okay books but little great ones

I often see people who call themselves readers talking about reading almost a 100 books in a year and then reading 26 doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it’s still more than 2 per month and quantity is not important, but still I sometimes feel a bit of a fake reader

First read of 2023 will be Cursed, the sequel to Gilded by Marissa Meyer. I’m very hyped about it, because while Gilded was not a 5-star read I loved how it ended and am really excited to see how it will continue

[bystreetlight]

Here we go again!

1. What did you do in 2022 that you hadn’t done before? Lived in a house that I owned, bought a car…I genuinely can’t think of anything else.

2. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not this year.

3. Did anyone close to you die? Thankfully, no.

4. Did you travel? Where did you go? Best holiday memory? Hahahaha! Travel?! Holidays!? What are those? The only time I left Melbourne this year was to go to Mildura in March for my nephews’ birthdays. It was lovely but my god I’d kill a man for an actual holiday in the near future.

5. Best thing you bought? A Ring doorbell. And our new couch.

6. Where did most of your money go? To the bank to cover the neverending interest rate increases! Yay!!!!!!!

7. What do you wish you had done more of? Reading books? I really gave up on reading in the second half of this year which makes me sad 😥

8. What do you wish you had done less of? Thinking about money and worrying about the cost of living.

9. What kept you sane? Probably listmaking, as in many previous years of my life hahahah.

10. What drove you mad? The fucking awful weather. I feel like it rained for about 95% of the year and it really sucked my will to live.

11. What made you celebrate? When Novak Djokovic got deported from Australia for being an anti-vaxxer/general dickhead, and then Rafa won the AO and it was the best tournament of all time. When the Queen died and we got an extra long weekend.

12. What made you sad? When our house got broken into, and all our jewellery and our car got stolen in October. I don’t think I will ever really get over it 😔. Also when Shane Warne died, for reasons that I still can’t quite explain.

13. How was your birthday this year and how old did you turn? I went into the office for the first time in months, but no one knew it was my birthday and I didn’t bother to tell anyone, so it was very lowkey! Went for lunch the weekend before and had a beautiful meal at Riso Diner (RIP!!!). I turned 38.

14. What political issue stirred you the most this year? SAVE THE PRESTON MARKET. And when SloMo got the boot in May.

15. Were you in love in 2022? Always!

16. What would you like to have in 2023 that you didn’t have this year? A HOLIDAY PLEASE DEAR GOD LET ME HAVE A FEW DAYS OFF WORK TO GO ON A PLANE SOMEWHERE AND HAVE A NICE TIME.

17. What date(s) from 2022 will be etched in your memory and why? 18 October, when we got burgled 😭

18. What song will remind you of 2022? Anything from the Lizzo album, which I listened to excessively. And Miles From Nowhere because #ofmd.

19. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I did!!!! FINALLY made a will after having it on my to do list for about 4 years!! Next year…I want to look after myself a bit more. Two years of lockdowns and overindulging because there was nothing else to do has left me with some bad habits.

20. Did you suffer illness or injury? I was so stressed earlier in the year from moving house and changing jobs and a repeated water leak situation at home that a chunk of my hair fell out and I had a bald spot for several months hahaha!!!! Great times! Then I had COVID in July which FUCKED. ME. UP. I had surgery in September which also fucked me up, but it was elective, and has improved my quality of life considerably so I don’t know if that counts.

21. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? I wouldn’t say I’m sadder but my anxiety has definitely gotten worse this year so I want to work on that for next year! ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter probably, given that I stopped exercising in July when I got COVID and then didn’t start again 🙈. iii. richer or poorer? Ugh, richer on paper maybe, but I feel very poor every time I look at my mortgage account hahahah.

22. How will you be spending Christmas? Christmas Day at my inlaws for lunch, which should be lovely. And then a few days off to chill out and try to relax after a fairly intense year.

24. What was your favourite TV program? Our Flag Means Death, The Bear, the final season of Atlanta, What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs, the final season of Derry Girls…it was a very good year of TV.

25. What was the best book you read? Devotion by Hannah Kent DESTROYED me. And against my better judgement I read and enjoyed Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. I have also been attempting to read To Paradise but the fact that it’s taken me 6 months and I’m only halfway through says it all really.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Orville Peck.

27. What did you want and get? A new couch, some beautiful custom cabinets, a great new job for next year.

28. What did you want and not get? Time off/away.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022? It was a bit all over the shop this year, but the most important thing I learned is that any shoe can be a work shoe if you’re wearing it to work.

30. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Taika Waititi (sorry), Bad Bunny (again).

31. Biggest achievement this year? I started out the year feeling sad about having to leave my last job but I ended up smashing it on the career front this year! Worked on an amazing project for most of the year and then was offered a role I’ve always wanted to do as soon as the project started wrapping up 💪🏼💪🏼

32. Biggest disappointment this year? When some of the gardenias we planted in the front yard died. And when Chan vs Chan (the most amazing local restaurant) closed down.

33. What is the one thing that would have made you more satisfied? If a pilates studio had opened within walking distance of my house.

34. Best new person you met this year? Our lawn mowing man 😂

35. A valuable life lesson you learnt this year? See question 29.