#book cover reviews

[tulip-jojo]

22nd of september,

welcoming fall today 🍁🍂

ig: tulipp.reads

[rivoluzionaria]

"Ci riconoscemmo subito; probabilmente provenivamo da un'altra vita dove non avevamo ancora finito di amarci."

— manuela g.

[apolline-lucy]

hey i did a little redesign of my book cover because i didn’t like the way the blurb was written before… how do you like it now?

check out my book, THE SILVER BIRDS, if you’re into sapphic dark fantasy with witches, monsters, spooky deaths, and a whole cast of grey characters!

[emilyscastlevania]

[ninja-muse]

This book! This book!

I'm a fan of:

sporking fantasy tropes

female antiheroes

pop culture references

competency porn

hot messes

hot messes who somehow are also hyper-competent???

fourth wall breakage

unapologetically queer people

animal-people

time shenanigans

great fight scenes

footnotes

laughing

And this book delivered! I knew I had to read this as soon as I heard about it. (Woman caught in a time loop decides not to be the Chosen One, but the Dark Lord? Hello, yes please.)

It's been a while, like maybe a year ago with Perilous Times, since I've had so much fun with a comic fantasy. I have a serious case of the gimmes for the sequel now.

[crow-caller]

Text version here.

New video! Netflix copyright claims has finally released me from its purgatorial grasp, and I'm allowed to tell you about the Uglies film adaptation and how it functions compared to the book.

The short of it: The film is honestly very faithful to its source material. This is not a good thing, because Uglies is flawed (I like Uglies. It is.) However, every step made to change or 'improve' on its source actively makes it worse, especially regarding the overall themes.

[journalette]

these are first reads of 2025. i have just finished the bridge of san luis rey by thornton wilder and i am currently reading el orden de los acontecimientos by miguel morey.

[garadinervi]

Amilcar Cabral, Unity and Struggle. Speeches and Writings, Texts selected by the PAIGC, Translated by Michael Wolfers, with an Introduction by Basil Davidson and Biographical Notes by Mário de Andrade, Monthly Review Press, New York, NY, and London, 1979

[tilbageidanmark]

Moby Dick bound in off-white Morocco leather, 280 illustrations by Rockwell Kent 1930. From Exeter Bookbinders.

[maklart]

A mock cover design for fun and to fill up the ol’ portfolio

[ID: a cover design illustration for the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon. ead and tané are standing back to back, eyes closed and holding a sword in one hand and their respective jewels in the other. a blue dragon encircles them. behind them stands sabran, resting on the sword ascalon. in the lower corners are two ships, appearing to be sailing on dark water. the background behind sabran is yellow and brown, sunlight against dark clouds. in the upper left corner is a castle, and a dark shape in the upper right corner is reminiscent of a wyrm. in the first version of the image the title and author’s name are in the middle of the drawing. the second version is without title or author. /end ID]

[catastrophicalcat]

I've been really hesitant to watch Harley Quinn since I first read reviews and TV tropes and didn't love its take on Catwoman. But now I'm sitting here binging the show in an attempt to power through work, and it's better than I expected, which is yet another lesson in giving the actual work a chance rather than attempting to judge it based on summaries or other people's perceptions of it.

P.S. Still super annoyed about Selina in Caper Crusader though!

P.P.S. Haven't gotten to S3 of HQ so maybe I will change my mind lol

[tulip-jojo]

30th of november,

some of my penguin modern classics <3

ig: tulipp.reads

[the---hermit]

Goblin Mode bt Mckayla Coyle

First finished book of 2025 and it was such a big disappointment. I really wanted to like this book, but I feel it's one of those cases in which the more I think of the the more annoyed at it I'll become. This could have been a tumblr post, I have no idea who the target audience for it is, and the more I think about it the more my confusion grows. This does present itself as a sort of self-helpy kind of book? I don't even know. The thing is I was expecting to find some sort of reflections of how the idea of goblincore and similar aesthetics can be used to change perspective on your life and yourself. Instead I got a basic and repetitive mix of things that can kind of be grouped as elements of goblincore? It felt a bit like a teen magazine at some point? I am confused? Also it felt incredibly hypocritical since the author repeats every few pages how everything the book describes is an act of anticapitalism, when this very book is nothing but the most capitalistic response to a popular online aesthetic. Because that's what this book is, or at least what it felt for me. The fault is on me for expecting something completly different from what this was, but that won't stop me being disappointed about this book.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Compound Fracture

YA thriller set in rural West Virginia

follows an autistic trans boy who survives being almost killed by the Sheriff’s son after a party, and accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him when he tries to get back at him

and is pulled head-first back into the 100 year old feud between his & the sheriff’s families, that began when his great-great grandfather was executed after inciting a miner’s rebellion, the grandfather whose ghost has started to haunt him

community & family & socialist revolution

aro-questioning MC

arc from netgalley, out september 3

[emilyscastlevania]

One of the most influential books ever.

[sunflowerofchaos]

Okay enough time has passed for me to throw my two cents into the Bridgerton discourse. Many are displeased with the season and part 2 specifically. I have been trying to piece together what my issues were with it and I hope that someone can find this and maybe find something that clicks as to why the season may have been disappointing.

I am a big polin stan. In fact I started watching for and because of them. Totally believed in the supremacy of their story because of their adorable friendship and the long build up ever since the pilot.

I loved part one. That will be controversial but I truly did. Was the pacing a bit off? Yes it was!

But did it give us the romcom atmosphere, the yearning, the love? Yes definitely! I'll even argue that part one, the going from "friendship to love" is done more beautifully in the show than in the book. People said one kiss is all it takes for Colin but that's really not true in the show. If you take account of the history we have because of season 1 and 2 it doesn't feel that way.

And the funny thing is that despite part one having a bunch of side plots, it worked. It was walking on the edge of being too much but it didn't cross the line.

Not yet anyways... so here are my 6 big errors of part 2

Like everyone I was way too hyped after the carriage scene, which leads to..

Error number 1: The break after the carriage scene set the bar too high. The long break filled with press and interviews further hyping up part 2 after that high consequently did damage to the reception of part 2. I believe that almost anything after the carriage would appear as a let down due to the wait. That's kind of unfair to the show I know, but it also makes sense as we, the audience would have abnormally high expectations that are difficult to please.

Part 2 is flawed and there is no arguing that. The beginning of it felt like a let down due to the split right after the carriage scene aka the climax of part 1 (pun intended) but fine objectively speaking episode 5 and 6 are nice. But then comes error number 2, the fact that we have 2 episodes where their love is clouded by the secret of lady whistledown. I feel like that was problematic to the pacing of part 2 (which is a problem in itself). The tension in episode 5 was necessary but also so much. So much that Colin literally questions her feelings. Then episode 6 instead of lifting that cloud sooner, continues to sour the polin scenes until the very end of the episode. The reveal should have been earlier in episode 6, so they have time to properly heal and be happy. (Seperate errors that I will adress)

Error number 3 is how the wedding fell under the dark cloud of the angst. I was wishing it would be the happy wedding of bridgerton and it was happier than Daphne's or Anthony's (not that we saw the real one) but the queen disrupting the wedding felt like another punch. One more time we were close to seeing their happiness but couldn't. (Something we barely get to see at all)

Then error number 4 (my personal enemy). The pacing of the conflict and healing. The way Colin was hurting was amazingly portrayed by Luke and I even understand how Colin wanted to hurt Pen with the entrapment comment and unlike many I won't hate him for it at all. But one thing where the writing really failed me is how polin shared a number of scenes that could've had a bigger role in their healing but ultimately didn't. I will list the scenes and how EVERYTIME we think they are a step closer to healing, they go back to square one and how that effects the scene where they eventually do "heal".

Exhibit A: The modiste scene. Beautiful confrontation and it really set up the possibility of them talking through it more but then it ends abruptly with Colin shutting down (however I'm inclined to give this one some saving grace because at least they talk)

Exhibit B: The wedding. Colin once again gives us hope that perhaps they're closer to making up but when Colin walked away with Pen and they had a second confrontation where she states that she is lady whistledown, I expected Colin to at least accept that statement and not revert back to being in denial about it afterwards and shutting down again. This could've been the scene where Colin starts to accept them as one. (Not to take away from the letters scene but it would have been a great foundation for it)

Exhibit C: The bedroom scene. Ah my personal nominee. This scene could've been so much more and no I don't mean a sexy scene. This scene could've been thee scene where they talk. It would've felt more powerful to have the talk that they have in Bridgerton house in their bedroom instead. I can't stress how it would've fit perfectly and been book compliant. If they had utilized this scene better, then polin being at Fran's wedding the next day would've have felt more emotional and helped convince us of them gradually solving the conflict. Netflix, that wouldn't even take from your running time. Pen could've confronted him there as she did in the book. Colin could've faced his jealousy right then and there instead of having Cressida point it out for him and still not facing it.

Exhibit D: Bridgerton house. Yes they do talk here and you can see that scene as the one where they settle things prior to the ball, BUT one it is too close to the end and it feels cut short which frankly doesn't seem enough for the viewers to believe that they now have joined hands. This scene was personally not enough for me. I think if you expand the conversation it would be much better or again if you put this dialogue in the bedroom scene it would have been powerful and helped the pacing as the bedroom scene was in the first half of the finale and this one way too close to the ball.

You'll see that every scene post reveal is following the same frustrating pattern of them brushing over the problem. You in turn get your hopes up for it to develop further into forgiveness, then voila Colin shuts down and goes back to square one. That was extremely frustrating for me as a viewer as it happened multiple times, especially since it seems ridiculous to leave the conflict in the air till the last 10 minutes when they have had several opportunities to solve it sooner. Colin's peace at the end comes too suddenly as those previous scenes don't see him gradually make peace with the matter but always shutting down and running. Those scenes could have been used to show the steps of him gradually getting over it, forgiving her and facing himself.

Error number 5. The side plots and overall pacing.. As I said part 1 walked the fine line but part 2 crossed it. What do you mean that we get more scenes of secondary characters than polin getting over their conflict and having some time to see their happiness. That messes with the pacing, making part 2 seem to want to cram up as much plot as possible. You have Francesca's love match, Benedict's exploration, Eloise's general conflict and dynamic with Cressida, Cressida's own story, Violet's arc, lady Danbury and her brother's conflict, the Mondrichs arc, the solicitor, queen etc...

This season was simply TOO ambitious for its own good. It tried to do too much. Suddenly it didn't feel like polin season but rather the season to set everything up for the next season and that really hurts as a polin fan.

Finally error number six which is by far the most famous error. The lack of happy polin. As I explained episode 5 and 6 while showed some happiness it didn't feel real because of the secret constantly hanging around. They were happy but you as a viewer might have felt more worried and had a more bittersweet feeling. Especially when you see Colin get more and more anxious and insecure during those episodes. Then episode 7 and 8 sees them miserable most of the time. That sucks even though it is necessary it still sucks. Sucks because after all that put together we don't get to see it pay off. 4 episodes of angst and they give you one scene that suddenly heals it, 10 seconds sexy scene and an epilogue scene where they suddenly have a baby. It is simply not enough to balance out the dark vibe of the entirety of part 2. That is why thousands of people are hanging onto the petition to release the deleted scenes. So we can finally see the pay off of the angst and can properly balance out the emotions that came with it and move on.

Not to mention the absolutely wasted confession of Colin Bridgerton.. when he said I love you at the end of episode 8 I was already thinking "with everything that you are, everything you have been and everything you hope to be????!!!" But then he didn't say it and I was confused as to why they would possibly not use THEE love confession??? Since that's Bridgertons thing??? Having incredible confessions... And it's not like it didn't fit in fact it would have fit so well. At this point if you squint you might imagine hearing luke continuing the line for God's sake. That remains a mystery that makes no sense to me.

So by now I don't think anyone got that far and I can't complain because I wrote this for me. To structure my thoughts and make peace with it. And so to sum up these errors: the split, the structure of episode 5/6, the wedding sadness, the way the conflict/healing was handled, the pacing with the side plots and the lack of happiness to counteract the angst. I will revisit part 1 happily and just stop after the mirror lol. I will look forward to seeing polin happy in 2 years I guess.. and I do believe that when season 4 comes out and they're happy and are hanging around we will accept season 3 way more and come to hopefully love it.