thereviewniverse-blog - Tumblr blog

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Clash of New and Old Fans Here We Go:

Alright ya’ll. I saw a special code word posted around Instagram that lets book fans discern themselves from the tv fans.

That’s called gatekeeping and it’s a toxic mindset to have when new fans to come to the fandom.

Will they have read the books? Maybe, but the point is that they like the same thing we like, The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows. We should welcome them, after all it means our great love of Bardugo’s stories won’t be such a niche interest anymore!

New fans may actually be respectful of the topics explored (sex trafficking, PTSD, slavery, dyslexia, racism, LGBTQIA+, etc) and will be understanding of that and won’t try and change it. Will they know super niche things only in the books? Probably not so don’t be an asshole about it. Will they feel they connect with the characters as much as we do? Of course they will! They are seeing them on screen through amazing portrayals by the actors, which is as a valid as reading their backstories and interactions in the book.

The point is, we all consume media in different ways so for the people who consume the grishaverse visually through Netflix are just as valid as those who consume it through reading the books. So I better not see fans getting a hell of an ego because they were ‘the original fans’ who ‘read the books ONLY and SCREW THE SHOW’.

Although, we will get fans that won’t be understanding of the story and characters, who will want Inej and Kaz to kiss, who think Nina is skinny, who think Jesper should not be darker. These are the people the fandom is worried about and want to keep out. Don’t group these people with the other potential fans who will get around in merch and talk about the show all the time because it’s the difference between narrow minded arrogance and enjoying a tv show. These two types of fans are not synonymous with each other, as I have seen lots of people upset with the idea that we will have fans that act like they know the grishaverse better than the readers, wear all the merch and talk about it a lot like we aren’t all going to do exactly that too. (Maybe beside the egotistical part).

Fans who are just enjoying the show a lot aren’t the ones we want to gatekeep. It’s the fans who are going to be rude and bigoted towards the character’s races, sexualities, and trauma. We already have a racism problem within the fandom, so let’s not try and fool ourselves that the new tv fans are going to ruin it because we don’t want to accept change or look our problems head on and accept our flaws and try to fix them.

So for the new fans who will find us in the streets of Ketterdam or the halls of Little Palace through the Netflix show, you are welcome! Just please be respectful of the grishaverse and other fans, much how we all do too.

[thereviewniverse-blog]

the hanging girl

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Finished speculative book cover illustrations for Angie sage’s Magyk and Flyte.

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Popular YA books and are they worth reading: my opinion

yea im just going to get into it

Harry Potter: Overall good books. They do have plotholes and lack representation, but have a great fandom that makes up for it. A great intro to magic and fantasy for the younger end of the YA spectrum. 

Overall verdict: ignore the cursed child and you’ll be fine

The Hunger Games: I thought these were really interesting books. They deal with political themes that are really important to be aware of. After reading these books I would sit in class and figure out how I would kill all of my classmates in our own hunger games. 

Overall verdict: heck yeck

The Fault in Our Stars: Pretentious and kind of hard to read, but not that bad. Pretty basic and predictable but still entertaining. The Anne Frank kiss was yikes.

Overall verdict: each to their own. read some reviews before picking it up

Twilight: Not as bad as everyone says it is, but still pretty bad. Really creepy and also pretty damn racist. Has some interesting side characters. I never read past the first book so I don’t know that much. 

Overall verdict: there are better books to spend your time on

The Mortal Instruments: Not outrageously bad, but not Oscar worthy. It’s kind of just there. Characters are pretty cliché, and some very unnerving themes are included, the YA Game of Thrones when it comes to incest. 

Overall verdict: Read her other series; they’re much better.

Divergent: fun enough. the first book is the best. very confusing and full of plot holes. not that memorable tbh. 

Overall verdict: just read the hunger games

13 Reasons Why:

Overall verdict: don’t

The Maze Runner: the first book is decent. it’s an interesting concept and an entertaining read. beware of an overabundance of boys. 

Overall verdict: go ahead, just don’t touch the sequels

Six of Crows: world can be a bit confusing at first if you haven’t read the grisha trilogy, but you pick it up pretty quickly. well developed characters, world, and plot. 

Overall verdict: hell yeah

Throne of Glass: starts off pretty basic, but decent. gets less decent as it progresses. beware barfing, toxic masculinity, graphic sex, and killing of minorities. 

Overall verdict: i genuinely have no idea what demographic this series is for

Red Queen: more into the political aspect, not that much action. glass sword is the low point. improves a lot in the last two books. iffy lgbt rep. Maven Calore carries the entire series on his back. 

Overall verdict: it’s not for everyone, but give it a fair try

The Lunar Chronicles: pretty enjoyable. i like the twists on the fairytales. the characters work well together and carry the *pretty simple* plot well. beware possible racism? idk i don’t really remember i was like eleven. 

Overall verdict: yeah sure why not.

Anything by Rick Riordan: i haven’t read his more recent stuff (think past heroes of Olympus), but i’ve heard good things. the books are fun, and overall really good. i think they’re meant for a younger demographic but i’m not entirely sure. 

Overall verdict: please at least read percy’s retellings of greek mythology

A Court of Thorns and Roses: T H I S I S N O T Y A

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Libraries and coffee shops are the soul of a community.

(via bookeworm94)

[thereviewniverse-blog]

After all the wrongs you done to me, I still believe in you, I know you still believe in me, after all we are just humans, so stop the playing around and come home to me where you belong, don’t worry about if anything goes wrong, we will work it out between us. 

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Y'all, this was a stupidly fun papercraft to build. And it’s huge. 16 x 31 inches! (by comparison, the recent Wicked King papercraft is 11 x 14″) I really had fun experimenting with this one, especially with the colors. I limited my selections to vibrant reds and dulled blues/greys and really stretched the color contrast muscles. Paying homage to the brilliant book covers, I imbued a crow/cityscape with a collage of elements inspired by noir, art deco and M.C. Escher. And I’m super happy to let Nina finally have her waffles.

I’ve had this planned since early last year, and finally decided to build it in celebration of the King Of Scars release…but then Netflix dropped their news about the Grishaverse mini series!?! So let this papercraft be my mortal sacrifice to the book-adaptation gods to bless Leigh Bardugo and Eric Heisserer & crew on their venture!

[thereviewniverse-blog]

This Book is Not Yet Rated

This book really wanted to be an indie movie but didn’t have the budget and so became a book instead. Just read it but imagine weird synth music in the background, perhaps with a sepia filter over it. 

Very aesthetic based. You have the decrepit old movie theater, the film festival, the block-busteresque store, the battle with the rats. Lots of candy. Lots of time-travelling kittens and a disenfranchised celebrity. 

Overall it was very cute. It’s one of those books where it won’t change your life, but it reminds you that reading to read is fun. You don’t have to throw yourself into loving every single book that comes along. Sometimes you can just read it, put it down, and continue on. 

[thereviewniverse-blog]

Me: use this blog to write reviews for books and compile a masterlist of what you’ve read and liked for future reference

Also me: ….brandon sanderson fanblog

[thereviewniverse-blog]

A very bad book review brought to you by me, a ding dong

Today’s book is Skyward by Brandon Sanderson! (Spoiler free)

A few quick bullet points before I get into it

All of the characters? Very good as always 10/10

Like seriously my bi heart couldn’t handle it

Spensa is one of my favorite written characters of all time BS really went there and did fantastic

I was a little nervous for BS because he normally does high fantasy and this book is a space opera, but honestly he nailed it! I feel like a ding dong for questioning his power,,,,,,

I like this books funny mascot character! If you’re familiar with BS you know what I’m talking about.

This is a more general note of Brandon Sanderson in general, but I like how he makes all of his characters powerful and weak in different ways. Honestly if you’re into table top rpgs I’d look into his characters because he’s very good at making incredibly likable, yet flawed characters.

Ok my scale of how easy it is to get into it gets about a 8/10. Its not my favorite start to one of his books but certainly not my least favorite.

Very good book! I love space operas and I love Brandon Sanderson so it was a match made in heaven! As always his characters were fantastic and quirky, I especially really love how he wrote Spensa.

Overall score? I haven’t quite decided yet but definitely a nice warm evening with the window open and a cool breeze passing by/10 would recommend

[thereviewniverse-blog]

the top-rated review for Skyward on Goodreads is not the most original comment I’ve ever seen, but it is a whole goddamn mood