#or just left out characters and scenes because there was a biiit too much going on

[zevranunderstander]

just watched ballad of songbirds and snakes and I really liked it, my only tea is that I don't think the narrative really is made for a good movie adaptation and it kind of shows, it probably would have been better as a short 1 season show or a double feature because the pacing from part 2 to part 3 is a bit awkward and just because there is so much content to get into, a lot of moments felt pretty rushed. loved seeing the main setpiece of the capitol street be a roundabout I used to work 1 street away from tho & a lot of buildings being slightly edited famous berlin buildings was a huge banger.

[w-ngs]

jan21

hello 2021! you did not get off on a good start. let’s try and be a little better, okay?

i didn’t read much this month (and probably won’t be for a long while because of school), but it was a wild month. well, you’ll see.

***

crooked kingdom, leigh bardugo — oh my god???? i completely forgot that i read this before i left for school and almost didn’t include it in my monthly wrap-up????? how dare i forget this masterpiece.

it was great. i loved it. i think overall, i preferred 6oc because heist stories are my guilty pleasure. but romance-wise... let’s just say kaz and inej have made it to my top 10 ships. but also i read through this so fast because i had to finish it before i left that half the story is kinda just not in my brain lololol

the most intriguing part of the entire story was the anti-wraith. her character kind of came out of nowhere, and i’m not really sure she had much of a purpose than being someone who could physically match inej. i guess she was also anti in the sense that she had no respect, just ruthlessness, which is the opposite of inej and what she stands for. but i don’t know if the anti-wraith was significant enough of a character to really be considered a foil.

i don’t really give spoiler warnings because hardly anyone reads these other than myself lolol but big spoiler ahead. skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to know. cuz i accidentally spoiled it for myself before reading and i kinda ruined it for myself lmfao.

poor matthias. he was there, and then he was gone. i feel terrible for nina. they were finally on the same page, and then he had to act all saint-like and trigger some idiot into killing him. and matthias finally came to terms with what he’d been taught and what he was trying to teach himself (#charactergrowth), so he wrapped things up neatly for himself before the bye-bye. but nina, she finally got her guy on her side and they were supposed to change the world together. sigh.

and of course, we got kaz. he’s my favorite. how could he not be, with his trauma and desire to overcome it but not letting it define him and still maintaining that evil genius act he’s so good at. it definitely hit harder in this story, the extent of his trauma. it made him more real, too. both sides of him coexist, and one could not exist without the other. he’s crazy, in nearly all senses of the word. also crazy in love, the mfing idiot. ugh, i love vulnerable kaz. i love what inej brings out in him, how she knows just how hard to push without driving him over the edge. also i saw a tiktok (this app is gonna come up a lot more in the next few reviews fsjdsdfkjdf) with a photo of them kissing with a towel between their mouths because he can’t touch her but he desperately wants to and what a perfect solution is that their... bathroom scene had me holding my breath. or at least taking very shallow breaths. it was intense. so intimate, i felt like i shouldn’t even have been there. ugh, the cute little babies. uwuwuwuwuwu

one last note. leigh bardugo is a very good writer, plot and characters and all. everything flowed much more smoothly in this book, and once again i was impressed by the detail provided. you go girl. i can’t wait to see the tv series development.

a 10/10.

***

the shadows between us, tricia levenseller — literally what did i read lmaooo. this is my first tiktok book recommendation. and it. was. boring. boring characters that didn’t make much sense. boring plot. i skimmed it after the first 50 pages cause it was so boring. that’s it bye.

a 3/10.

***

manacled, senlinyu — um. wow. i literally......... even hours after finishing it my brain is still ridiculously scrambled. edit: it’s about a month later and sometimes random scenes and images still pop in my head for no reason and then i feel all twisted inside again. i love it.

so, this is not a published book but a dramione fanfiction on ao3. i don’t read fanfics that often anymore, mainly because i’d rather read other things, not because i don’t like them. but i found this one because a tiktok that showed the illustrations in the story and i was so blown away by the fact someone would illustrate an entire fanfic that i just had to read it. and i have no regrets. it’s kinda long and a biiit wordy for me at times but holy shit that hit like a mother trucker. and i haven’t read dramione in ages, not since... years. so this really hit different.

the illustrations are beautiful. they’re what dragged me into the story in the first place, so, of course they are. but i’d literally spend minutes looking at every detail in amazement at how perfectly the emotions were captured and the lighting casting the perfect shadows and just… everything. i know nothing about drawing but my eyes were truly blessed.

i think integrating the handmaid’s tale with the hp world was ingenious. i would never have expected that. and wow. the relationship between the two, it’s…….. i can barely put it in words in my mind, and it’s even harder to articulate on paper. complex, but at the same time not, simply the desire for the other to stay alive. timeless. destructive. their only defense from the harsh reality of their situation. desperation at its most desperate, their one and only survival method. depressing. it’s so depressing. i was so sad, the angst almost too much at times.

the flashbacks were insanely intense. and i thought the handmaid section was bad. it was awful to read. i could hardly bear it, it was so dark at times i didn’t know how either of them got through it all. i mean, they barely did. the near-death scares, the constant need to create a blank slate within yourself in order to not overwhelm yourself with crushing emotions… wartime sometimes has a tendency to sound romantic, but theirs wasn’t anything near romantic, and i appreciate that the author chose to be very real about it.

at the beginning, and in the middle when we went through the flashbacks, i was afraid the love would be toxic. and, well, it kind of was at some points. but in a time like that and a situation like theirs, it would be hard to not have a toxic relationship. i was glad that in the end theirs was a good love, the kind that sustained and kept them alive and got them through until the very end, because it was what they needed from each other. and, of course, my favorite part of it all was draco’s ceaseless possessiveness that only seemed to grow, never fade. i love simpy men.

they deserve each other. i was afraid at the end they wouldn’t, that one of them would die—that draco would die because hermione basically did once already for him, so he would have to “return the favor”—also she was pregnant so there was no way she’d be the one to die—idk many theories. but at the end i’m so glad they both ended up alive. after everything, they deserved it.

i did nothing for two days straight but read this book. except eat. and barely sleep. and i have no regrets.

a 9/10.

***

bloodlines, richelle mead — dang. i used to be obsessed with vampire academy when i was in middle school. i even watched the terrible movie that released because of it. and now i can’t believe i really thought that was peak literature lmfaooooo

i remember adrian being such a funny and interesting character that i picked up bloodlines to see if it was gonna be as good as i remembered it was. i was disappointed. it was just... well let’s just say there wasn’t enough to get me invested in the characters as i used to be. i think what it was is that adrian’s characterization was so weak. he wasn’t as ~quirky~ as i remembered him to be haha. the plot was also way too slow-paced, and a little too easy to guess. maybe if i was 12 again i’d be going crazy over it like i used to. but i’m not a pre-teen anymore and my brain craves stuff along the lines of manacled—destruction, death, angst that wants me to pull my own heart out to stop it from hurting.

a 5/10.

[wynne-keyler]

A kind of review of Orphan Black Season one.

So I literally just finished season 1 of Orphan Black and JAYZUZ what a rollercoaster this series is.

The best part is how it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it makes sure to never jump the shark either.

So these are my thoughts so far:

⚫ Delphine, aka the femme fatale.

Delphine is an obvious curve ball from the moment she steps on screen. She drove me up the wall but I'm glad she kept Kira (the only child borne to a clone) a secret.

I've seen some spoilers so I know she's gonna stick around but I don't like her very much right now. I want someone to cut her if she ever uses Cosima again.

She's obviously a fucked up and it's going to take a lot for her goddamn way back if that's where it's heading.

I was so fucking angry with her...but damn when that music started to swell in episode 10 when she came to ask Cosima for forgiveness again in Felix' apartment and she said I'm on your side I was like...yes please?!! Please don't be a villain??!!

Idk I'm so conflicted about her.

⚫The dudes.

All of them are kind of secondary characters, but besides Mr. effeminate,the detective, and Allison's husband Donnie; they're all psychos. Complete and utter psychopaths with cold emotionless eyes (especially Paul's).

Speaking of Donnie, he pisses me off too but he's looks like a chubby suburban Clark Kent so I keep forgiving him.

And he did stand up for Allison eventually at the intervention, despite her torturing him for information earlier.

⚫The clones.

I'm someone that's admittedly a bit hypersensitive to lacklustre and bad acting, but what Tatiana Maslany has achieved with the clones she plays is incredible.

HER ABILITY TO EMOTE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD. And it feels like such a rare ability these days, most actresses seem more interested in vogue-ing (like Kiera knightly in pirates of the Caribbean).

The clones all have unique mannerisms and voices, and they're all feminine in so many different ways. They truly come across as real multifaceted people. All while most other female characters in media seem to be complete cardboard cutouts.

It's almost as if these women were written as people first and women second

Sometimes I did felt like she exaggerated their unique mannerisms just a biiit too much, but it was only really noticeable when you binged the episodes.

Absolutely incredible performance!

Allison Hendrix (the Curling/Soccer mom clone) is one of my favourite characters right now. Mostly because of her badass moment during the intervention when she told everyone off for snooping into her life!) but boy was she difficult to like in the beginning.

Also she's kind of terrifying. I don't want to be on her bad side. Ever.

What she did to Ainsley, I think they're setting it up that she actually wasn't the monitor but who fucking cares. Fuck Ainsley, she was so creepy and invasive.

Cosima is... definitively the hot one.

Although for supposedly being "the smart one" she sure doesn't act very smart. She walked into the Delphine debacle knowingly. Idk how I feel about that. If she's horny she should have dated someone else! Goddamn it why did she have to have her heart broken?

Anyway, she's clearly got more going on than just being smart, so I can't wait to learn more about her and her background.

Sarah Manning is of course my ultimate fave, frigging action clone, Tom boyish, a rebel, and the one actually getting shit done.

I kind of hate her drug addict past but I guess it's a necessary evil to make her stand out and explain her general devil may care attitude?

I just feel like it's unnecessary. Maybe it's because I'm a child of addicts but I just find them sympathetic or interesting AT ALL.

I feel like her being a punk rock rebel would've been enough. She clearly gets her strength and attitude from her foster mother Siobhan (who waz finally on Sarah's side again but then just...up and left what was that about I'm so worried now).

Siobhan seemed like such a genuine veteran badass, I hope she's trustworthy.

Helena.

GOD I HATE HER STUPID ASS MUSIC QUE.

EEEEH AAAH ... EEEEH AHHH

I hope to fuck they stop with that annoying ass sound.

Also yeah I'm really curious about her life at the convent and how she was brainwashed to become a killer.

Beth Childs is obviously dead as fuck but BOI do I judge her life choices. She just fucking GAVE UP and left her sisters AND THEIR CHILDREN to the fucking wolves.

Also Katja (the German clone) was just a dead body not sure if she's even important.

SERIOUS SPOILERS (but who cares lol)

Rachel whoeverthefuck.

Just fuck her. She seems like a pure narcissistic bitch. I hope she dies for what she's let those bastards do to her twins/clones and their CHILDREN. She seems to ENJOY the whole situation.

Jfc. Despicable.

The entire scene between her and Sarah she seemed to enjoy the power her position as a glorified lapdog gives her.

Secondly, the way Sarah and Helena's birth mother turned out to be a surrogate was FUCKING BRILLIANT.

Of course it would be surrogates that would be taken advantage of for this experiment. It avoids any one scientist getting too attached and I'm sure the sperm and eggs were from two random, healthy anonymous donors.

10/10 plot twist.

______________

And that's pretty much it so far.

Just wOW. I've been missing out.

Getting into TV series is so much easier when you can just pirate episodes instead of having to wait for Nordic Netflix to give them to you 3 years after premier.