madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Book Review Tuesday (5/7/18)-Exo

Posted on May 8, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

This book was another that I had obtained from the OH SO SACRED LIBRARY (I eternally bow down to thee). My expectations were average (about a six-ish out of ten on my scale). The first quarter or so met my expectations, but then it really picked up, and my rating shot up to about an 8. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who loves sci-fi dystopia…and ALIENS!

Enjoy the review!

Exo

One hundred years ago, we discovered that we weren’t alone. The zhree, a peaceful alien race, chose Earth as an off-world colony, and have helped mankind make many technological advances since their arrival. Though most of the human race is tolerant of the aliens, a terrorist group called the Sapience is still intent of removing their mark from the face of the planet.

Donovan Reyes is the son of the Prime Liaison for the zhree, and he works for the government. But after a mission gets sorely out of hand, he lands in the hands of the Sapience, who see him as a vital pawn against the Prime Liaison. Donovan knows that there’s no chance that his father will ever listen to the terrorists, so he must try to escape…and gather as much information as possible about them before they resort to drastic measures…

As I mentioned before, I found Exo to be a joy to read! Clever and believable world-building, very realistic characters (to the point that I imagined one of them exactly like Laura Dern*), and a plot that successfully kept me on my toes for much of the book.

Also, on the subject of the zhree, I kind of imagined them a little bit like the Arsians in The Search for WondLa series. Albeit Arsians with more eyes (except for in Loroc’s case), and more advanced technology. *stifles a sob*

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, and stay cool! (Or warm…depending on the weather. I happened to have made the mistake of wearing a dark blue shirt in 70 degree weather…oof.)

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (5/1/18)-Caraval

Posted on May 1, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hello there, fellow bibliophiles, and welcome to the first Book Review Tuesday of May 2018! Also, happy May Day, Labor Day, or whatever festivities are occuring where you are!

This book was another library borrow that I got a thrill out of. Fast-paced, clever, elaborate, and filled with love and magic! Also, according to Goodreads, you might like it if you’ve read Daughter of the Pirate King (see 4/10/18), Defy the Stars, (loved, but haven’t reviewed thusfar), Bound by Blood and Sand (bought on my Kindle, fairly decent), and a bunch of other books that have landed on my current to-read list. So I guess this was meant to be.

Enjoy my review!

Caraval

Scarlett and Donatella Dragna have lived their whole lives on a tiny island, in the shadow of their domineering father. Their only escape was the tales of the legendary Caraval, a magical show where the audience can take part, told to them by their grandmother. For years, Scarlett has been writing letters to Legend, the master of Caraval, and has not received a single response.

Until now.

Scarlett is now seventeen, and facing an arranged marriage to a boy she hasn’t even met. But she suddenly receives an invitation and tickets to Caraval, and with the help of a mysterious sailor, reaches Caraval’s location. But now, the stakes are even higher. This year’s show is like a game…and the object? Find Tella, who has been kidnapped by Legend. Can Scarlett save her younger sister before Caraval ends?

The main reason I enjoyed Caraval so much was probably the intricacy of it all. Each twist and turn was filled with another creative, and surprising twice. I could imagine the setting and characters as though I was looking at them through a movie screen. All in all, spectacular book!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (4/24/18)-Daughter of the Siren Queen

Posted on April 25, 2018April 25, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hi there, everyone, and welcome to the last BRT of April 2018!

This book review will be on the spectacular sequel to Daughter of the Pirate King (see 4/10/18). If Daughter of the Pirate King was amazing, this book was downright spectacular-all of the wit, action, and fun, but with the volume turned up. Kind of a similar situation to the one I had with the Arc of a Scythe series so far, except that Daughter of the Siren Queen didn’t leave me speechless (or slightly dead inside), and it didn’t quite merit a five-star rating. But I’d say it came pretty close.

Enjoy the review!

Daughter of the Siren Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King, #2)

Alosa has now recovered all of the pieces to the ancient treasure map, reclaimed her status as the captain of her own ship, the Ava-lee, and gotten her revenge on her kidnappers.But after one of her old foes reveals a well-kept secret about her father, the Pirate King Kalligan, she is now back in danger. Now locked a deadly race against her father, Alosa and her faithful crew must recover the famed treasure…before it’s too late.

(NOTE: If I could only find a gif or YouTube clip, I would most definitely insert the “Huzzah, I’m the pirate king!” thing from MST3K right here. Sigh…)

In short, what an oustanding book! Not only was Alosa just as witty as always, but I loved getting to know her crew even more. I’m so sad that this is the end, for now…Tricia Levenseller announced on Goodreads that this series is, in fact, a duology.

*single tear trickles down cheek*

Well anyway, have a great rest of your day, everyone!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (4/17/18)-Arclight

Posted on April 17, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hey, everyone, and welcome to today’s Book Review Tuesday!

I just recently returned this book to the library (*sniffle*). My expectations were a little low (I forget why), but this book surprised me with its intricate plot, compelling characters, and plentiful twists and turns! I hope you like Arclight as much as I did. Enjoy the review!

Arclight

In a dystopian, future Earth, the world is divided into three sections. First is the Arclight, mankind’s only defense from a dangerous outside world. Then there is the Gray, the uninhabitable wasteland, and beyond that, the Dark, where dangerous monsters, called the Fade, dwell. No one goes beyond the Arclight, and nobody comes back from the Dark alive…

…all except for Marina.

Marina has no idea of who she is, what her previous life was like, or how she is still alive. And now, the Fade want her back in their realm. Will she be the savior of mankind, or instigate a new era?

Incredibly fast-paced, gripping, and powerful, Arclight exceeded all of my expectations. Such an exciting read! I won’t spoil anything, but I’ll just tell you that your mind will probably be blown by the twist at the end. In short, I enjoyed this book immensely.

Have a great rest of your day, and stay warm…or cool…whatever the weather. You never know, at this point. (For me, it was nice and warm in the morning, but it just started snowing…)

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (4/10/18)-Daughter of the Pirate King

Posted on April 10, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

“HUZZAH, I’M THE PIRATE KING!!!”

Hey, everyone, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

SLIGHT PLOT TWIST-I bought this one on my kindle, and I enjoyed it greatly. A fast-paced, action packed novel, with a clever and fierce heroine to match! I hope you enjoy my review!

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Daughter of the Pirate King

Alosa Kalligan, the seventeen year old daughter of the infamous Pirate King, is the fearless captain of her own ship, unmatched by hardly anyone on the high seas. Until one day, when she is kidnapped by the crew of the Night Farer, who seek to take her back to her father for a ransom. But what they don’t know is that Alosa has other plans. She has staged her kidnapping in order to find an ancient map that leads to an island filled with unimaginable riches. If she can just get the crew out of the way, she could quickly escape and do what no pirate has done before…

Daughter of the Pirate King was such a joy to read! What with sharp, witty dialogue, an action-packed plot, and as I said before, a heroine who is a true force to be reckoned with. Love, love love!

Also, throughout the entire book, I couldn’t help but imagine Alosa as like an older, pirate version of Merida from Brave.

Throughout the course of my life, Merida has been one of the only Disney Princesses that I’ve actually liked. I wasn’t a huge fan of the other princesses when I was little-I only really wanted to watch (and enjoyed) The Lion King and The Jungle Book and the other Disney movies which centered around wildlife. (Because, screw humans, I want AWESOME ANIMALS!)

Aaaaanyway, have a great rest of your day! (Thank God the weather’s warming up…)

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (4/3/18)-Rebel of the Sands

Posted on April 4, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hey, everyone, and welcome to the first BRT of April 2018!

I intended to review this book about a week or two ago, but due to California and a bit of Burger King Foot Lettuce, I was a little…delayed. I got this one at the library (no surprise there), and I managed to gobble it up in a few hours. It wasn’t the most spectacular novel in the universe, but it definitely kept me turning the pages for a while. Enjoy the review!

Rebel of the Sands

Amani Al’Hiza is just an orphaned girl with exceptional skills with a gun, dying to get out of her town of Dustwalk. In a daring act, she sneaks out of her home one night, crossdressing as a boy, and enters a shooting contest. There, she meets Jin, and with him, discovers a perfect escape. But what she never anticipated was a wild journey out into the desert, mythical creatures, and dark secrets that could mean the difference between life and death in the wrong hands. What dangers await Amani and Jin in the merciless deserts of Miraji?

About two years ago, I remember this being one of the runners-up for one of the YA catergories in the Goodreads Choice awards. It didn’t win, but I’m fairly sure that it got a lot of votes. I’d say that this was a fun, action-packed, and fast paced book, but not entirely worthy of all of the hype surrounding it. Not to say that this wasn’t good, but it wasn’t spectacular or DiTerlizzi/Rowell/Shusterman level mind-blowing or anything. (Wow, that was a coherent sentence…)

Well, see you guys soon, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Animals, Geeky Stuff, Vacations

LA and Sequoia National Park 2018

Posted on March 30, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hi, everyone!

As I said earlier, the reason I wasn’t able to make another BRT this week was due to my vacation in California. I had an AMAZING time! Figured I might as well showcase a few of my highlights from my vacation. Enjoy!

Our first stop after landing was Meltdown Comics in LA. MAN, it was such a fantastic comic shop! I’m really sad it’s closing.

But hey-at least I got a few Meltdown stickers, as well as a B.P.R.D. trade paperback (which I held up like Rafiki holding Simba in The Lion King the entire duration of the visit). I ended up reading it at least six times. Yep.

Believe it or not, this is Sequoia National Park. Not Isla Nublar.

*Jurassic Park theme blaring* *T-Rex roar*

These two were taken at the Giant Forest, which houses many giant Sequoias. They were soooo beautiful! One of the park rangers suggested that we hug one of them while we were at the park, and described it as “like hugging a wall”. As it turned out, that was fairly accurate. 😜

These were all taken by Hospital Rock, which was fairly close to the park entrance. I swear, if there’s any place on Earth (*ahem* Orbona) that’s most like the Wandering Forest, it had to be there. I honestly wouldn’tve been surprised if some of the vegetation got up and ate a bird or something.

(Psst, anyone know the way to the heart?)

General Sherman, the world’s largest tree!

Lake Hume, in King’s Canyon National Park.

On a far weirder note…this monstrosity was in this tiny, sketchy town near Sequoia. The only reason we could think of to construct such a thing was to scare off them ‘squatches.

Who knows.

We visited the NHMLA after our visit to Sequoia. I had an amazing time, and I enjoyed a bit of geeking out and childhood nostalgia. Here we have the skulls of an Einiosaurus, Styracosaurous, and Triceratops.

SQUAAAAAAAAWK!

I forget what the thing on the left is, but whatever it is, it CRACKS ME UP. (Also, that poor lil Hyracotherium is in for a big surprise…)

“REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!”

Pakicetus, one of the first whale ancestors. I kinda had a mental freakout when I saw this guy, as I grew up watching waaaaaay too much Walking with Prehistoric Beasts. (Okay, technically the one they have is Ambulocetus, which evolved some time later, but you get the idea.)

I hope you’re all enjoying your spring break! See ya later!

Geeky Stuff, Movies

“You’ll never know how much I love you…NOPE PSYCHE THIS MOVIE!!!”

Posted on March 30, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

In my last post, I eluded to a post about my new favorite movie. Got any guesses from the hint(s) I’ve dropped yet?

Nope?

Alrighty then, I am more than happy to spill it now…drumroll, please…

…THE SHAPE OF WATER!

(Okay, let me just say beforehand that I love the art for this poster. James Jean’s art is so amazing, don’tcha think?)

Before I spill all my feels, let me just give you a little backstory.

My parents and brother had seen the trailer for this movie, which they told me about, and I got SUPER excited. I watched the trailer, and BAM. SUPER PUMPED. But, alas, it’s rated R, so I wouldn’t get to see it until it came out on DVD. Nonetheless, I had a poster up in my room for it, and was ecstatic when it won those awards at the Golden Globes and Oscars. Now that I’ve seen it, I can say that it is fully deserving of every single one.

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I knew it was going to be amazing from all of the hype and trailers and whatnot (also, it was Guillermo Del Toro, which was basically a prerequisite for it’s inherent awesomeness), but OH MY GOD, THIS MOVIE WAS STUNNING! So beautiful! I won’t say why, but man, by the end of the movie, I was SOBBING. Like, full on sobbing. It’s somewhat common for movies to make my cry a little, but there’s only one other time when a movie or TV show has made me cry close to that much.

That was Stranger Things, Season 2, the end of episode 8, when they’re talking to Will in the shed, and then Jonathan plays “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. YEESH, THE FEELS!

Aaaaanyway, what I’m saying is that this film was incredibly moving. Del Toro did a beyond spectacular job, from the plot, to the setting, and especially the characters. And going off of the subject of characters…this is gonna sound generic, but…Elisa and the Amphibian Man.

FILMThe_Shape_of_Water_.5a2f127dec50d.jpg — I can almost hear this image-it’s like they’re having some sort of telepathic conversation. “Aw, c’mon, can I cuss at Strickland in sign language some more?” “Elisa, let’s just go over here…” “I just wanna see the look on his face, though…” “Elisa…”

Oh my goodness, Elisa! Aaaaah!

Aside from just being kind of all-around adorable, she’s really, in a way, the heroine that we need in this day and age. She’s not only determined, caring, and brave, but also sees people for who they really are, and is fiercely loyal towards them. God, I love her…

GAAAH, THE AMPHIBIAN MAN, TOO! They did such a fantastic job of making him mysterious, yet incredibly lovable at the same time. He and Elisa were so wonderful together, I can’t, it’s just so…*sobs* beautiful…

(Also, apparently there’s a theory that Elisa and the Amphibian Man are Abe Sapien’s parents. If it weren’t for Abe’s actual origin story, I would SO be on board. That would be the coolest thing ever!)

Okay, I should probably stop before I start sobbing again. I have some fan art posts on the way, and I’ll definitely share some pics from my trip to California. Bye for now!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (3/13/18)-The Everafter

Posted on March 14, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hello, fellow bibliophiles, and welcome back to another installment of Book Review Tuesday!

This particular read was a one of my Kindle-interim-between-library-visit-books. At less than three hundred pages, I expected to gobble up The Everafter quickly. Which, don’t get me wrong, I did. But this book made me think, stirred up emotions in me, and made me cry a little. (Not in the way you’d think, though.) Surprisingly deep. Enjoy your review!

(Forgive me for the small cover image. This was the best quality one.)

The Everafter

17 year old Madison Stanton wakes up, drifting through an incomprehensible, dark void, with knowledge of only one thing.

She is dead.

But Madison soon realizes that she’s not alone. Floating around her are objects-ones that she’s lost in her previous life, and know, when she touches them, they trigger a memory of the past, be it a childhood trip to Disney World, her new cat, a teenage sleepover that ends up severing friendships, and even her first kiss. Although these objects have provided Madison with an idea of her past life, she still can’t figure out one thing, and she won’t stop until she finds the answer: How did she die in the first place?

From the description, I expected this book to be kind of sad, at the most. But not only did it make me think about the concepts of life and death, but it was actually pretty depressing. Nonetheless, it was an incredibly thought-provoking and powerful book.

One thing I prominently thought about after finishing this book was the concept of the lost objects triggering memories in the afterlife. My first thought was that one of the first objects that I (hypothetically) would find was this stuffed Webkinz Chihuahua that named Linny (yes, after the character from Wonder Pets…I was a weird child). To this day, I have no idea where the ever-loving heck she could’ve went. Sheesh.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your evening, and (if you live in a place that has this) try not to get COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY THROWN OFF by Daylight Savings Time! (“Hello, darkness, my old friend,”…or maybe it’s the opposite…)

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (3/6/18)-Carry On

Posted on March 7, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hello, fellow bibliophiles, and welcome to the first BRT of March 2018! Exciting, isn’t it-I’ve had lots of great material to read, and it’s starting to get relatively warm outside! (“Relatively warm” meaning “in the high 50s and low 60s”…that’s Colorado in the spring for ya…sorta warm and slushy.) Also, I’m almost finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and so far I’ve cried twice. The first time was in the middle of Study Hall. Oof.

Anyway, I read this glorious novel last week, and boy, I FELL IN LOVE! I was so sad to return it to the library…*sniffles*

Before I proceed to the review, here’s a heads-up: this is based off of a fan-fiction written by a character in one of Rainbow Rowell’s other novels, Fangirl. It’s supposed to basically be a parallel-universe type Harry Potter, but in this case, Harry falls in love with Draco. And Draco’s an extremely hot vampire.

Carry On

After seven years being roommates with Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch-a pale, rich vampire who seems to have it in for him-Simon Snow is completely fed up with him. Through all of his problems at the Watford School of Magicks, be it his uncontrollable magic or his recent break-up with his girlfriend, Agatha Wellbelove, Baz has always been there to tease and torment him. And to add to all of the mess, there’s a monster running throughout England, hungry for all of its Magic. Something tells Simon that Baz is plotting against him, and he’s been doing it for the entire time. But this year, both Simon and Baz are seeing a great shift in themselves-where once they were enemies, they are now hopelessly in love with each other. Can they keep their newfound love a secret-and stop the sudden disappearance of magic?

This book deserves all the stars. Okay, maybe not all the stars in the universe-that goes to WondLa. But how about the amount of stars in the Milky Way? Hmm…

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Yep. Seems legit.

Regardless, Carry On deserves it all the way. Action! Magic! Ghosts! Monsters! Kissing!

AND…

VAMPIRES.

HOT VAMPIRES.

Specifically, Baz. Those stupid, sparkly, fairy princess Twilight vampires got nothin’ compared to him. Plus, the guy plays Kishi Bashi on his violion.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! SQUEEEEEEEE!

Anyway, I’ll dispense from the swooning over a certain vampire and stop this post. Goodbye, and enjoy your evening.