#Talia is my breakout character in this show

[fluent-in-lesbianism]

Just finished watching First Kill and I still haven’t recovered from just how gorgeous Elizabeth Mitchell is . And that scene in episode 8? I nearly died

I know everyone’s talking about Cal and Juls, but like, their moms Talia and Margot? Can and should Get It™ (preferably together)

Forget about the two teensbians dry humping in the pantry. Where’s my Talia/Margot milf!enemies-to-milf!lovers redemption arc?! 👏🏻

[hopeshoodie]

your after 10 years headcannons are great. where do you think the season 1 islanders will be in 10 years?

I’m honestly flattered that someone read the whole thing- I talked wayyy too much and tumblr won’t let me save my edited version where I broke up the wall of texts a bit. But omg I just love this prompt so muchhh. 

For what it’s worth, I think more of the S1 cast go on to be famous than the S2 cast. Chalk that up to most of them already being in fame-related careers and the first season being more of a breakout phenomenon in universe than the second. It’s harder for me to conceptualize the LIs without MC (probably because they’re all a bit more of blank slates than the S2 characters). 

Talia

She just has to get married to my MC Clara. I just… They’re soulmates. I can’t not think about them together. Talia and Clara would date for three years, Talia would propose at that point, and then Clara would spend two more years planning their wedding. Talia just wants to get married soon, but Clara needs the ceremony to be perfect. And it is- they get married in a beautiful floating gazebo in Thailand, everything’s perfectly decorated and executed, and they honeymoon in Aruba or the Canary Islands. The dresses- I’m picturing Talia in a dress and Clara in a white lace suit- are impeccable, it’s just the sapphic wedding to end all sapphic weddings. The have live music through the whole thing and the guest gifts are beautiful and it runs so smoothly. 

Before all of that though, I think a lot of younger musicians take an interest in Talia from the show, because she’s so awesome. Maybe one or two [INSERT MUSICIAN HERE IDK I ONLY LISTEN TO GARBAGE] invite her to tag along on a tour, and her articles cause her to be picked up as a legitimate music journalist for a bigger publication. So she starts doing a lot of festival critiques and op eds, travelling a lot with Clara by her side. For her part, Clara doesn’t really work much, and sporadically drops exhibitions that are moderately acclaimed. So they come to the ten year reunion very similar to how they left it- travelling the world together and still madly in love with each other. 

Mason

With or without MC, he keeps doing the modeling thing. I don’t think his music ever super takes off, but he certainly hits some bigger brands for magazine issues. This is probably way off base, but I think? He would really enjoy being a stay at home dad if the opportunity presented itself. Like he’ll work on music as a hobby, but he doesn’t really want to work. So I think within three years of the show ending, he has a kid with either MC or another woman he met. If it’s MC, you KNOW he’s proposing at the year’s reunion and making the proposal a big headline grabber. He’s not super plussed about the wedding execution, just wanted his role (the proposal and the suit) to be 10/10. 

But he would really, really take to being a dad. Especially if MC is doing the celebrity/successful career woman thing, I think it’d naturally progress to him staying home and raising the kids. He’s a really loving but also stern parent- I can see him having a lot of expectations for the kids appearance wise and athletically. He plays futbol with them for sure. So ten years later, MC would be thriving in her career and they’d have two or three really successful kiddos to brag about. 

Levi

I know I shouldn’t hate Levi because he’s such a good guy in Matchmaker, but I do. Ugh. I don’t wanna write one about him sksksks. I’m stuck between ‘he proposes to MC like… a month after the show’ and ‘he literally won’t propose for another 15 years’. So he and MC win and they /really/ struggle with long distance after the show. Levi’s very needy and has a hard time feeling like they’re still in love when they can’t see each other. Their relationship definitely is rocky after the villa as they struggle with that and learning how to be romantic if it’s not these huge romantic gestures. Levi struggles to communicate his feelings, and maybe they break up for a bit. 

If Levi’s not with MC, he sleeps around a ton after the show. He tries to avoid fans but inevitably some lie well enough to get through. Idk what the career progression for swimming looks like, so idk he plays professionally or goes to the olympics or whatever? I don’t see him finding a girl to date long term, and he’s definitely very lonely and frustrated if he’s still single 10 years later. 

Jake

My boy!!! My boy!! He stays really close friends with Talia and Clara, hosting them whenever they come back to England. He definitely doesn’t stay with Cherry- I think they amicably break up at the finale party- and he doesn’t date for awhile after the show. He’s still trying to get over his crush on MC, and then he gets too busy with work. He’s a fan favorite and doesn’t know what to do with all the attention, so he withdraws more than anything. Right after the show he gets an offer to open a restaurant, but the contract isn’t great and he doesn’t feel ready. Four years after the show he finally does open it though, and it’s successful because it’s good not because his name is attached. A year or so into operating, Rohan comes to the restaurant and they reconnect. They get really close, remembering their friendship, and then informally transition to dating. Neither of them are super present online, so while they’re not public about their relationship the intense fans recognize what’s up. Theories fly around and no one confirms or denies it. Besides, Jake’s really busy at work and Rohan lives in a different city. But they date long distance for like… 6 years before Rohan suggests they move in together. 

Tim

I know S3 said that Tim and Jen broke up but shut up no they didn’t. I want them to be like Victor and Nicole from Big Brother so bad. I pretend I do not see. It was a cute nod to readers and showed maturity on Tim’s part but I refuse to accept it. Tim really clings to his Love Island fame- he comes back in S2 to DJ for the ministry of sound party and comes back in S3 as well. All of his marketing for his DJing is ‘as seen on Love Island’ and ‘featured on national television!’, and he very much leans into that in public too, taking pictures and signing stuff while quoting the show. Once the notoriety wears off in like 7ish years, he kind of flounders. Both to make money and carve out a sense of purpose and career.

Jen is forced to do kind of the same thing. She’d hoped that going on the show would get her noticed by fashion editors or boost her blog at the very least. But come on- she dresses like that, she cannot have that interesting of a fashion editorial perspective. So neither of those things ever take off because her blog is pretty normie and she doesn’t have the personality to carry an audience along with her. She tries to lose the ‘Jen from Love Island’ tag, but after a few years of struggling leans into it. Their relationship is rocky at times- she struggles to acknowledge his perspective and Tim lets things go until they metastasize. But they go to couples counseling and adopt a couple of dogs. I think the 10 year reunion finds them newly pregnant or brand new parents, and I don’t see them having more than one kid.  

Erikah

My poor girl, she would get eviscerated after the show airs. Any way you slice it- if the canon S1 airs she’d get bullied for being ‘snakey’ and ‘a bitch’, and if the Matchmaker S1 aired she’d get lambasted for switching from Rohan and being annoying. Fans would bully her off social media and she’d deactivate. It would affect her ability to get work (I feel like even if she weren’t so hated it would anyways? Like if you’re seriously applying to acting positions would a reality tv show look good on your resume? I don’t think so but maybe?) and the first two years after the show would be a really dark place for her.

But she’d get her life back together, and I think a cornerstone of that would be either moving out of the UK entirely or finding a career that’s out of the public eye. I think she finds it really satisfying to do something technical like dental school or nursing, and she puts Love Island squarely in her past- doesn’t go to the reunions, doesn’t have public social media, doesn’t text anyone from the show (which lowkey upsets Clara because… you were my friend…). She doesn’t date until she gets out of her dark headspace, which will be in a couple of years. But when she does, she meets a really lovely guy on a dating service and they get engaged relatively quickly after meeting- I think Erikah’s impatient to find a house and have a semblance of normalcy. Plus if she moves she’s going to be missing her family quite a bit, so she’ll want to start her own. 

Allegra

She leans into the bitch persona she cultivated. Her job wasn’t really real to begin with, so she happily settles in to being a full-time reality tv celebrity. She goes on Love Island AllStars for SURE and I can see her doing some American/international shows as well. It’s not SUPER lucrative, she makes most of her money from online sponsorships and promoting things. She goes viral for one of her other tv appearances- she says something super outrageous and becomes a meme. I don’t think she’ll ever reach Kardashian level, but that’s how she lives- that not-really-a-celebrity that thrives off of being the person everyone loves to hate. Lowkey she has a talent or skill that she earnestly enjoys, like sculpting or writing, and her work has a cult following under an alias. Years go by and someone exposes that her work is hers, and she really hates that her persona is now affecting her actual passion.

I don’t know if Allegra ever gets married. She definitely has a few girlfriends come and go, and if she settles down with one she takes pains to keep that private so that her family doesn’t get wrapped up in all the vitriol about her. 

And that’s everyone I care about from S1 lolol. I’m sure Cherry and Sammi are thriving too.

[m00nslippers]

In a dream world where we are getting a Red Hood live action trilogy, how would you want the three movies to be? Like what plotlines, characters, villians, what arc to develop, how to present his character to appeal to the general audience and such :D

Oh man, this is an interesting question.

Well first of all, this might sound strange, but I absolutely do not think that Under the Red Hood should be adapted to Live Action. I believe this because it already exists in animated form and is perfect. No live-action remake is going to compare unless they recreate it scene by scene and they never will. The dialogue is too good, it cannot be made better, only worse. So, that being said, RH1 should not be a retelling of UtRH, rather that movie/storyline should exist as backstory for the first Red Hood movie. They should communicate the events of that story without retelling it wholesale as the plot in the movie. They should also go ahead and go with the Lazarus Pit explanation of Jason’s resurrection because the superboy-smashing-the-universe thing is too vague and requires more context than a standalone movie can really provide. I would amend it though so that it’s actually more like Arkham Knight games, in that Joker had Jason for over six months torturing him before he finally killed Jason and sent the tape to Bruce. At that point, Ra’s and Talia got a hold of Jason’s body and resurrected him.

I have a really solid idea for the first movie, a more vague idea for the second one and a really vague idea for the last one. I’ll write you guys the synopsis of the first one up here.

Red Hood Movie 1

So, the movie opens on some brief scenes of a seemingly ordinary guy as he goes through his day. He wears blue collar clothes with a leather jacket thrown over the top, rides his motorcycle to work and stops to give money to a homeless guy on the street. He works construction or something, shows himself to be really smart and maybe a little over-competent for his job, he can jump down from high beams like he’s an acrobat, he does complex math in his head, but when colleagues ask how he knows so much he just plays it off. He seems friendly but he’s secretive, keeps to himself. He goes home from work, he’s the only one there, he works out, punches a punching bag, he checks a secret compartment in his house to make sure no one has tampered with it, but we don’t see what’s inside. He eats alone and when it gets dark he walks a ways to a local dive and sits in the corner until a red-headed friend comes in.

He and the friend bullshit together, clearly they’re close. His friend asks if he’ll babysit his daughter so he can work on a case, he says sure. They’re in the middle of talking about the daughter when something on one of the televisions playing in the bar catches his eye. It’s a breaking news feed of an Arkham breakout in Gotham City, with the building on fire, lead by the Joker. He flinches and you see this snarl of twisted fear and rage and his friend reaches out to grab his arm. “Jason, don’t. He doesn’t have to be your problem. You don’t owe Gotham anything.” And Jason looks Roy in the face and says, “Gotham owes me everything. And I’m going to get my payback.”

Jason leaves the bar, goes home, opens the secret compartment–it’s full of guns and all of his Red Hood gear. He packs it up and leaves on his motorcycle bound for Gotham.

Switch over to Bruce being Brucie at a WE function for a charity. He’s called up to give a speech and he talks about how his second son was a boy from Gotham’s streets who’d been exceptional but just didn’t have the opportunities because of his poor background. Unfortunately he was dead in a tragic accident, but Bruce had dedicated this charity in his name for underprivileged youth to fund scholarships and community support, etc. He steps down and has to glad-hand some people until his phone vibrates and he looks at the screen. It’s Oracle telling him there’s a Gotham break out.

Bruce slips away and he’s in the Batcave putting on his Batman gear as Alfred and Barbara–over the computer–fills him in on what’s going on and talks about how most everyone is out of Gotham at the moment, it’s just Bruce and Oracle, and asks Bruce if he wants Alfred to call in Nightwing or someone else for help. Bruce says no he wants them to stay out of it as he’s looking at the Memorial case of Jason’s Robin costume that’s still damaged. Alfred reminds him that since it’s the Joker, Jason is bound to appear, Bruce just grunts and says he’ll deal with that problem as it comes and has Oracle on the look out for any activity from either of them.

Bruce shows up at Arkham and talks to Gordon briefly, who tells him there’s a riot going on inside and they’ve already confirmed the warden had been murdered. Bruce busts in and starts kicking butt and capturing everyone, getting various people to safety that he finds as he makes his way through the building. All the while Oracle is giving him tech support. Bruce finds Joker’s cell but it’s been broken open. Suddenly he thinks he sees joker and and chases him down, capturing him but it turns out it’s just another inmate dressed like him–there’s a whole bunch of fake Jokers running around the building. Oracle tells him they’ll never be able to confirm if it’s really him from cameras alone like this and Bruce has to admit that’s true. But also says the Joker is probably already long gone, and they need to stop worrying about containment and start searching the city for him.

Cut to Jason riding into Gotham. He opens up a derelict safehouse with yet more guns and suits up and hits the streets. Everywhere he goes, he sees flashes of memories–of him as a kid on the streets, of Bruce catching him stealing the tires from the batmobile, him as Robin, him fighting Bruce as Red Hood. He questions homeless people and hookers and roughs up some dealers. They all know him, they’re all afraid, he’s the King of Crime Alley and remember when he ran out Black Mask. After some investigating, someone tells him a certain crime family’s men were hired to riot outside of Arkham and sow even more chaos.

Jason attacks the guy in his big mansion, mowing down hoards of mobsters with guns, all to get to the head guy and question him. He says Joker put out the word he wanted some grunts to help with the breakout and Black Mask had done a deal with him to provide men. The head mobster is Black mask’s man outside of Blackgate prison. The meeting was held in Gotham’s abandoned Amusement Mile between Joker and Roman’s proxies. Jason kills the mobster and leaves for the place he mentioned.

As Jason is on his way, someone hacks into the comms on his helmet–it’s Barbara, she found him after the attack on the mobsters–and she’s trying to get Jason to stop and leave Gotham. He and Bruce had a truce, that Jason would say out of Gotham and stop being Red Hood. Jason says that truce ended when he let Joker escape and now he’s going to kill him. Barbara says he’s not the only person Joker hurt, we see her in the Clocktower in her wheel chair with a picture of her and Gordon. Jason says he’ll kill Joker for both of them. Barbara says she’d rather the Joker be alive than Jason dead at his hands, and Jason says, well that’s where they differ.

Jason investigates the place, an empty funhouse or something. Down a hallway he thinks he sees the Joker and he runs after him but there’s no one there. He keeps seeing images of when he got captured by the Joker in the mirror, sees his younger self bloodied and dead. He’s getting increasingly unhinged. Then Bruce appears as Batman, tells Jason he broke their truce, he came back to Gotham and he killed people, but Bruce is willing to overlook it if he just leaves. Jason goes into his issues with Bruce, about how that’s his problem, he’s unwilling to go as far as necessary to really protect people. About how if Bruce had killed Joker from the beginning, Jason wouldn’t have died or become what he is, and Barbara wouldn’t be in a wheelchair, and all the people who died in the Arkham break out would still be alive.

Jason attacks Bruce, they have a huge badass fight. They are mostly fighting to a draw but they are both getting heavily injured. In the middle of their fight they think they see joker and Jason cuts off Bruce’s path and goes after him alone–only to get clocked with a crowbar from behind and dragged off.

Bruce finally makes it around to where Jason ran off only to a smear of blood on the ground that he runs through the computer and is told belongs to Jason by Alfred. Spray painted next to it is a Joker smile and the location where Jason first tried to get Bruce to murder the Joker.

Bruce goes to the location and finds the Joker there with Jason completely beat up and tied down. “Remember this Batsy? It was a fun little game, wasn’t it? It really had potential.” He’s missed his broken bird in Arkham and getting out has made him feel nostalgic, but alas he has better things to do, so it’s time to tie up this loose end for once and for all. He doesn’t need Red Hood getting between batman and his games, so he’s going to play one final round, winner takes all. “I think we should play again, but this time with a twist,” he says. Joker has set up Bruce to kill him or he’s going to kill Jason again–he’s like you can’t do it can you? Not even for your little robin. So he’s going to die–again.

The confrontation ends exactly like it did in Under the Red hood. Bruce throws a batarang that slits Joker’s throat but doesn’t outright kill him. Joker runs away laughing as Bruce goes to Jason, with Jason weeping and telling him to go after the Joker. Bruce refuses and says Jason’s injuries are more important. He tries to take him to the manor and Jason says no, he refuses to go there, to take him to a hospital. Bruce says if he goes there Red Hood will be arrested for killing the gangster. Jason doesn’t care, he refuses to have anything to do with a father who chooses the joker over his own son twice, he doesn’t get to treat his wounds and act like not going after the Joker was him saving Jason. it was just him betraying Jason yet again.

The last scene is Roy visiting Jason in Blackgate prison. He shows him home videos of Lian and brings him crayon pictures from her. He tells Jason if he ever wants out, just to say, but Jay says no, he’s got some unfinished business to handle. We see Black Mask, also there in the prison…

The End.

—

So pretty much the first movie has the Joker as the main villain in a re-working of the UtRH story, pretty typical Jason stuff.

The second one is where things are a lot less typical and almost brand new and not from the comics because let’s face it–Jason doesn’t have a lot of good stories that don’t involve the Joker. In the second movie Jason is in prison for most of the plot. And the villain? Astrid Arkham, who is the Arkham Knight. How does that work, you may wonder. Oh I have ideas and it’s twisty~ If you guys want to know how I think that one would go, I’ll write it up later.

The third one I’m thinking a League of Assassins thing. Basically Talia comes to Jason to try to get him to lead the league and we find out a lot about the circumstances of Jason’s death and resurrection and training. I’m much less sure about the exact plot for this one, but I think by the end of it Jason should finally forgive Bruce enough to go home and stop killing.

[haveamagicalday]

My 2018 Reads

Let me start by saying that I have read almost 100 books this year (some short stories but I like to count those too) I’m going to make a separate list for my top ten but here are the other ones!

4 Stars

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake 

This is the third book in the Three Dark Crowns series. It’s a dark tale about three sisters who have to compete against each other for the crown. There are a lot of characters to follow which means they aren’t always that well developed but the story is so so enthralling.

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas 

Loosely based on real events, the novel follows Monica whose older sister was one of five cheerleaders to die under mystery circumstances. Five years after the deaths, Monica discovers something that could help her solve what really happened. This was a gripping read with some great twists

Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer

This book flew under the radar this year which is a shame because it was a great read. Talia gets banished to a dreary island where she stumbles upon ancient legends that may be more real than she realizes. I will admit, the first third of this book was a little wack. It was like a different book but it got much better once she got to the island.

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

A melancholy tale of a trio of ghosts that lure young boys to their deaths each summer. Our main character is a life long resident of the town who is just trying to make it through the summer. I’ll admit, it got a little messy in the end but for a debut novel, I thought it was very engaging. 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I’m late on this one, I know. Rachel commutes to work everyday. Then one day she sees something she wasn’t supposed too that leads her down a dark spiral to find out what really happened. Definitely a turn pager that has more than one mystery to solve. 

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

This year’s breakout mystery/suspense novel. Anna is confined to her house, spending her days in a group chat or playing online chest. When a seemingly perfect family moves in across from her, she becomes entangled in a mystery when she sees something she shouldn’t one night. An unreliable narrator will keep you guessing what’s real and what’s not.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

If you love the movie, you will love the book. An adorable, sweet read! 

3.5 Stars

Scream All Night by Derek Milman

Dario grew up on the set of various B-horror movies. That’s because his family owns the studio that makes them. Dario has tried to distance himself from his family but is forced to return when his brother invites him to a very special event involving their father. Darkly funny and unique, this was a twisted take on a young man coming to terms with his past.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Vampires are on the rise and to accommodate them all, the US government creates quarantined cities known as Coldtowns. Vampires must live in Coldtowns but for humans, it’s optional. But once you are in, it’s nearly impossible to get out. Holly Black creates an imaginative take on vampires. The book starts off a little slow but really picks up when our main character arrives at Coldtown. My only complaint is that this wasn’t a series. There was so much packed into this book that could have easily been expanded upon over the course of a few books.

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

Amber is in a coma. She can’t move or remember anything but she’s pretty sure her husband has something to do with her current state. The book alternates between past and present as Amber struggles to remember what happened to her. I found some of the twists convoluted and kooky but they were definitely original. Trigger Warning: there is a very graphic rape scene 

3 Stars

Final Girls by Riley Sager

Quincy is one of 3 media named Final Girls; the last ones standing during a horror movie like massacre that killed their friends. Now Quincy is all grown up but still trying to forget what happened the night her friends were murdered  when one of the other Final Girls shows up at her doorstep, forcing her to revisit her past.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

A Snow White retelling with a unique twist! Mina, the future queen, has a heart made of glass, crafted by her magician father. Lynet, our Snow White, is the spitting image of her dead mother. Then one day Lynet discovers that the king had hired Mina’s father to craft Lynet out of snow in her mother’s image after she died. Alternating between Mina’s past and Lynet’s present, this is a sweet and simple fairytale retelling!

Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins

Sophie is a teenaged witch with wayward powers. She gets sent to Hex Hall, a magical reform school, to learn how to better control her powers. This book was a fun read. I think I would have liked it more if I were still a teenager. The stakes never really seemed all that high but it was fairly entertaining.

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. 

The Little Mermaid from the point of view of the sea witch. Well, sort of. Evie is a witch, best friends with a prince, whose other best friend, Anna drowned when they were children. Now, a girl who bears a striking resemblance to Anna, appears on the beach one day and she is determined to make the prince fall in love with her. Honestly, I was far more interested in Annemette than Evie. I think this would have been a really interesting story from her point of view instead.

To Kill and Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Another Little Mermaid retelling but this time, the mermaid is a siren whose mission is to steal the prince’s heart. Literally. The first chapter of this book made it seem like this would be much darker than it ended up being. The romance was a little weak but still, this was an interesting take on the tale and an enjoyable read.

The Enchanted Sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork

A Nutcracker retelling. In this version, Clara is a musician who receives a mysterious nutcracker on Christmas. She ends up whisked away to a magical world where all the children have been turned into toys and it seems that her, and her music, is the only thing that can turn them back. The Nutcracker is very dear to me, so I was overly critical of this book. It didn’t bear too much resemblance to the ballet or original fairy tale and it read more middle grade than YA. Still it was a cute read.

And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

I absolutely loved A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness so I was excited for this. It was very different than what I was expecting. Simply put, this is Moby Dick told from the perspectives of whales. It was bizarre and I don’t really think I understood it fully but I’ve also never read Moby Dick before. The pictures were beautiful though and it is a very quick read.

Imposters by Scott Westerfeld

A new series that takes place in the Uglies universe. Frey and Rafi are twins but people only know Rafi. Frey has been raised to fight and be Rafi’s body double. I really enjoyed this book because of it’s connection to Uglies. Had I not read Uglies as a teen, I’m not sure this book would have held up on its own.

Lucy in the Sky

From the same author that did Go Ask Alice, this book is presented as a diary of a young girl that spirals out of control due to drug use. Objectively, this book isn't that great. The writing is poor, the story is unrealistic and it almost seems to glorify drugs rather than turn you off to them. BUT, it's enticing just like the other books in this series. It pulls you in and you want to keep reading. I read it in one sitting. 

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Twinkle is an aspiring film director. With the help of a geeky classmate, Twinkle embarks on making her first film for a local film festival. Along the way, Twinkle learns about friendship, family and love. A delightful fluffy read for fans of romantic comedies.

What Should be Wild by Julia Fine

This is a hard book to describe. Our main character is a girl who has been kept hidden from society due to a rare gift (or curse perhaps). Anything she touches dies, and anything that’s already dead comes back to life due to her touch as well. The story was bizarre and not entirely satisfying but it certainly was intriguing. I think it boils down to a matter of taste and I’m sure others could find much more merit in it than I did! 

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

After the death of her mother, Lina is spending the summer in Italy with a father she never knew. While there, she is given her mother’s old journal which sends her down a journey to her mother’s past. With her mother’s guidance Lina discovers the magic that Italy has to offer. A cute and heartfelt read with some classic teen romance.

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

 Mila’s best friend is dead and she wants to know who is responsible. So why not ask her? With an old grimoire, Mila finds a sleep to bring her best friend back and accidentally brings back two other murdered girls as well. With the spell’s limited time Mila and her undead girl gang try to solve the mysterious behind their deaths. Quirky, fun but also enthralling, this is a very original book.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Best friends Olive and Rose begin to lose things. First it’s only small things but soon bigger things are going lost. Everything changes for the two when they meet 3 strangers in the woods and a mysterious spell book. At times, this was a very confusing read. I’m still not sure I fully understood it but the story was engaging and fairy tale like. A lovely read.

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

A modern fairy tale like read. What starts off as a whimsical turns drastically dark as the story progresses. Our main character, Jeremy is somewhat of an outcast but attracts the attention of an outgoing and outspoken local girl. The most interesting aspect of this book is that Jeremy is able to speak to ghosts and the ghost of Jacob Grimm (who wrote all those fairy tales) has been his friend for years. Entirely random but a fantastic addition.

The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Another YA thriller from Thomas. This was her first novel and I think it shows. It’s weaker than the other books she has written but still good. However, the last 3rd felt like a completely different book which was a bit jarring. If you like murder mystery/unsolved crimes, you’ll like this but definitely check out her other books too!

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

Our main character is a descendant of Cotton Mather, the man who sentenced women to their deaths during the Salem Witch Trails. Samantha moves to Salem with her stepmother and finds that she is not welcomed by her fellow classmates, descendants of the witches. And it turns out there might actually be some magic in Salem after all. This was silly fun. I was expecting something more like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina but that’s not the tone of this book at all. The love triangle was a little annoying and there was a reveal that was bizarre but overall it was an entertaining book.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

I absolutely loved the Cinder series and Heartless but I wasn’t feeling this one so much. There’s nothing really wrong with it, the characters are well developed and the writing is good, however I just couldn’t gather any enthusiasm for it. I will say that the writing was rather slow and I felt that the book could have been a lot shorter than it was but if you like superheroes and villains, you should like this.

2.5 Stars

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

This is a retelling of the Biblical tale about Jephthah but had more of a Greek mythology feel with a cast of many gods and goddesses. It was a weird mixture of mythology and focused on a very weak romance. I think this book was aimed more for middle grade and might be more enjoyable for them.

Midnight Sun by Trish Cook

Yes, I read the novelization of the Bella Thorne movie that came out earlier this year. Yes, it was poorly written, the plot was laughable, and the romance cheesy. But, it was a quick read that kept my interest. 

2 Stars

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashman

I received this in my owlcrate and I’m still wondering why. The book is a retelling of Jane Eyre combined with ghostbusters because in this version, Jane can talk to ghosts. There’s also a secret ghost hunting society that wants recruit her but she’d rather be a nanny for Mr. Rochester. I really didn’t like this. The attempt at humor throughout was almost painful, the characters were dumb and I don’t understand why this book exists in the first place. I think it would have been better if it was just about Victorian era ghost hunters and not incorporate Jane Eyre in any way. This is part of a series in which the authors rewrite (very quirkily!) famous stories starring a character named Jane. From the reviews I read, their first book, My Lady Jane, was much better but I don’t even want to attempt to read it after this one.

September Girls by Bennett Madison

This is one of those books that I kept reading because of how bad it was. Sam is spending the summer in a small beach town that is overfilled with The Girls. That’s what Sam calls them because they are all blonde and beautiful. Turns out they are some sort of mermaid? It’s never really explained and they are all cursed and need to have sex with a virgin man in order to be free. Enter our sexist virgin, Sam. The women are written terribly, referred to as sluts and shanks and their asses and breasts are always mentioned. I have no idea how this book got published. But damn, was it fun to laugh at. Number of breast/chest/boob mentions: 27

Poetry (Both 5 Stars)

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

This book felt very personal to me (like I was reading the author’s inner thoughts) and I couldn’t always relate to some of the poems. I felt that the sequel dealt more with women’s issues on a whole and has something all women could relate too. Her poems are breathtaking though and so powerful.

The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace

I picked this up out of curiosity and ended up reading it in one sitting. It is absolutely stunning. I think every woman should read this. Hell, I think every man should read this too. I can’t wait for the third one!

Short stories

The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo (5 Stars)  

Holy smokes, this was breathtaking! A collection of six short stories based on fairy tales/mythology. The stories are so utterly original though. Clever, satisfying with feminist themes. This is a must read for fairy tale lovers! 

Amazon’s Dark Corners Collection by Various Authors

I happened to see this advertised on Goodreads and got it for free on Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader. This collection is 7 short stories of the horror variety. It’s hard to rate these since they are all written by different authors. I didn’t find any of these stories all that scary though. More so just sad. Interesting, but not all that gripping. My favorite stories were Miao Dao by Joyce Carol Oates and Sleep Tight Motel by Lisa Unger but I wouldn’t really recommend the others. Trigger Warning: The Remedy deals with depression and suicide and has a rather offensive/problematic ending. 

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (4 Stars)

This is a very dark retelling of Snow White from the queen’s point of view. Snow White is not the darling princess she is often portrayed as. This short story is very adult but not overly graphic. You can read it for free at the link I provided. 

Matchless by Gregory Maguire (3 Stars)

A quick reimagining of The Little Match Girl. The main character isn’t the match girl but a young boy whose life intertwines with the match girl’s. This short story didn’t add anything new to the story since it’s focuses on an original character. The match girl is just briefly there. My feelings for this were mutual. 

Re-reads

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (5/4 Stars)

One of my favorite summer rereads!

Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot  (5 stars)

Just as delightful and funny as the first time I read the series as a young teen

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen (5 Stars

I’ve gotten into the habit of rereading this book every summer. It’s a book that can be read in one sitting and is so heartfelt.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen (5 Stars)

This is my all time favorite Sarah Dessen novel. I highly recommend all of her novels.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (4 Stars)

This takes place in the same world as the Cruel Prince. Some of the characters even appear in the latter novel. This is a standalone that reads like a modern fairy tale.

[siphen0]

THE ROOKIE – “Crash Course” – (ABC/Eric McCandless) AFTON WILLIAMSON, NATHAN FILLION

Last week The Rookie knocked it out of the park with its series premiere. This is not the kind of show you simply jump into as a cop procedural. I jumped aboard because I liked the person playing the main character, and walked away impressed because it was nothing like what you thought it would only be. The hope for this week was that they could build upon that and further show us things that keep us on the edge of our seats.

What obstacles the rookies had to face this week were challenging after their first taste of action. Having a steady progression to their advancing is better than working off of a standard format. Well, off the bat this is already more than your average procedural since there isn’t exactly one case of the day. Instead you get three different stories to follow, with everything else intertwining as you move forward. Nolan went through a series of obstacles this time around. The simple things that a rookie might experience in terms of keeping your head on a swivel, but also the things that focused on his mentality for his age. Not everything is about his age, but it does play a big part when there are habits he has in contrast to others. These habits make him a little better in some areas, however they do hinder him from working without emotional attachments or getting caught up in having too much of a heart. Those things are what drove his story currently where Talia would force him to confront his personal moral instincts after he encounters a kidnapping victim. That kind of situation was the best way to challenge how much he could handle mentally.

The bits with humor were a nice touch from Nolan. Some viewers might see that as out-of-place, but without letting a little light in, all you have are officers and rookies with stale attitudes.

Lucy this week had an intriguing change of pace. It made sense that she should find a struggle with jumping from a training officer who was constantly breathing down her neck, to someone who found it easier to play it safe. There was no arguing why she would find her patience tested with such a drastic change of pace. Lucy’s character stands out among the other two because she has all the tools to be great, and just has to take those next steps to be that officer who can spring to the call at a moment’s notice. It was funny by the end to see that not everything was as it seemed for her. I may have had my issues with Bradford before, but the way he approached his job this week changed my perspective. Maybe not fully, but just enough to say that there is also more to him than his barking.

THE ROOKIE – “Crash Course” – (ABC/Eric McCandless) BRITTANY ROSS

Now West had some big trials this week. He was the breakout star of this week’s episode for the triumphs he had to begin making up for his past failure and letdown. Not freezing up is so crucial to their job. Not just for the officer in question, but for everyone else who he either has to protect or work with. It made sense that he would have to face frustration from Lopez who has a lot to lose dealing with that weakness. Confronting those failures head-on was an understatement when speaking of the kind of guys he had to engage with. I would have pissed my pants standing next to at least one of them, and that made a big difference in capturing his growth and ability to rise to the occasion.

The perspective from the higher up officers was engaging since like I said last week, this isn’t just about one rookie or the set of three rookies. Their actions reflect the department, but most importantly the guys who have to actually train them. Especially when two of the trainers have set goals which are ultimately affected by the performance of the rookies under their wing. This quickly brings out a more intense side to both Talia and Lopez who treat their rookies differently. Talia firstly is someone who wears her experience on her shoulder. She had her one issue with Nolan, but she at the same time proved that she can be more level-headed about the way she addressed that problem and the smaller ones to follow. She cares about moving up the ladder, but it is not shown through a desperate personality. On the other hand you have Lopez who gets quickly fired up at the very idea that she could lose it all if she can’t handle a rookie who is the son of a high-level commander. There was another officer introduced in this episode who was memorable in his own way for the kind of officer he represented. It was a perspective that we were going to need to see at some point, and they chose correctly when we were right to see someone who didn’t have the same goals as the rest.

The Rookie “Crash Course” further put these rookies to the test, while at the same time forcing some of the higher-ups to confront what it will actually take for them to move up the ladder.

THE ROOKIE – “Crash Course” – (ABC/Eric McCandless) BRITTANY ROSS

THE ROOKIE – “Crash Course” – (ABC/Eric McCandless) AFTON WILLIAMSON

The Rookie “Crash Course” Review Last week The Rookie knocked it out of the park with its series premiere. This is not the kind of show you simply jump into as a cop procedural.