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!
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…)
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!
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*
8
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!
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.
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.
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…
HOLY ****, IT’S ABE SAPI-nevermind.
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!
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…)
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…
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.
Sorry, I had to fit that in there. I’m a hopeless nerd.
Anyway, hello and welcome to the last BRT of February 2018!
This book’s a bit more predictable in terms of origin, as it is another library copy. At almost 500 pages, I gobbled it up in about two days. Not the best thing the literature universe has delivered, but definitely a fun ride. Enjoy the review!
MILA 2.0
As far as Mila knows, she’s a normal 16 year old girl, living in a tiny town in the middle of Minnesota. She lives with her single mother, after her father died in a fire in Philadelphia, where they used to live. But after an injury reveals a shocking secret, Mila realizes that she’s anything but human. Mila was an android, designed by the U.S. military to be the ultimate killer. To keep their identities a secret and their lives safe, Mila and her mother must evade the authorities in whatever way possible. But though they may run, they can never truly hide…
I’d say my book-rating scale rating would be about a 7. Hmm…6.75. Yeah, that’s fairly accurate. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. A fast-paced, action packed, and exciting novel.
I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day, and keep on posting those SW quotes and gifs!
Again, I’m home sick, (I SWEAR TO GOD, THIS COLD WILL NOT LET GO), but don’t worry-this time, I’ve got a book review!
This one’s a book I’ve been anticipating eagerly since October of last year. It’s the sequel to Scythe (If you want to see my review for that one, see 10/17/17), and boy, if the first book was mind-blowing, Thunderhead BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER! Which, honestly, was no surprise, as Neal Shusterman is a spectacular author, but let me just warn you that the ending left me…
…how should I say this?
Speechless. Mentally unstable. Shook. DEADISH.
Alright, I had to throw in a Scythe joke in there at some point. Not sorry. Here’s your review!
No spoilers. Promise.
Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)
Since their apprenticeship, Citra and Rowan-now Scythe Anastasia and Scythe Lucifer-have gone in wildy different directions. Scythe Anastasia has remained within the Scythedom as it slowly crumbles into corruption. She knows something must be done, but everything she tries is blocked from all directions. Even with the help of her mentor, Scythe Curie, it seems that the Scythedom is doomed. Scythe Lucifer, after failing his apprenticeship, has broken off from the Scythedom, snuffing out all of the Scythes he deems corrupt. He’s now one of the most wanted people in the Scythedom, but thusfar, he has evaded them for almost a year. Through it all, Scythe Anastasia isn’t the only one with it’s eyes on the Scythedom’s path. The Thunderhead, the digital ruler of the new world, is not pleased with what it sees. But is there anything it can do?
Okay, THIS BOOK IS A MASTERPIECE. FIVE BIG FAT STARS. SOLID TEN ON MY SCALE. JEEEEEEEEEEESUS, I LOVE THIS BOOK.
(SIDENOTE-I’m pretty sure I looked like Chris Pratt here a few times while reading Thunderhead. No joke.)
Yep, I think the Arc of a Scythe series is now up there right next to The Search for WondLa and Keeper of the Lost Cities as one of my favorite book series of all time.
Well, thanks for reading, and stay warm/healthy/sane!
Yep, that’s right, everyone! Here is your promised Car Seat Headrest album review!
Let me just start this off by saying…
There is not a single bad song on this album.
Okay, that’s probably a teensy bit biased, but that’s what I’ve truly come to believe. I had bought a few songs off the original album, and they blew me away, but this re-release truly blew it out of the water. Don’t believe me? Here’s my review!
TRACK 1: “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)”-8/10
Though it’s only around two and a half minutes long, this song is a beautiful mix of simultaneous hope and poignancy, with consistancy and slowy building vocals and instrumentals. *sad smile* Aww, Will…
TRACK 2: “Beach Life-In-Death”-7.5/10
Normally, my patience for songs runs out at about eight minutes. “Beach Life-In-Death” clocks in at about thirteen. But the good thing about this song is that it’s like three different songs. The first five minutes or so have lyrics that reflect a sense of boredom and redundancy. Then, it changes to melancholy and regret, then slowly transitions back into fast-paced instruments similar to the first third of the song. Me gusta.
TRACK 3: “Stop Smoking (We Love You)”-8.5/10
This was one of the songs I initially bought off the original version of the album. A beautiful, pleading melody with a great message to top it all off. This new version backs up the instrumentals in the background a lot, making the song almost more powerful and meaningful, in some strange way.
TRACK 4: “Sober to Death”-10/10
This was the second song I bought off the original album. And OH MY GOD, Car Seat Headrest blew it out of the water EVEN MORE with the new version of this song! I loved the original the second I heard it, but this version makes me want to jump out of my chair and scream, cry, and dance. It really stirs up my soul and makes it want to burst at the very seams with pure joy. I swear I’m not overexaggerating-THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS IN RECORDED HISTORY. PERIOD.
TRACK 5: “Nervous Young Inhumans”-9/10
(This is the greatest music video ever. I gotta learn Will Toledo’s little dance.)
This song was the other one that I bought off the original album. Though I miss Will Toledo’s little rant about galvanism and Frankenstein and whatnot, I loooooooove the new version of this song. The lyrics (slightly changed) are easier to understand now, and their cleverness and wit truly shines through with this track.
TRACK 6: “Bodys”-7/10
Not the best track on the album, but a fun, catchy, and at times a bit hilarious song.
Okay, I’ll admit, the first time I heard Will Toledo say “Is it the chorus yet?
No. It’s just a building of the verse…” I cracked up. No joke. It’s almost like he wanted the song to end…God, I love Will so much.
TRACK 7: “Cute Thing”-9/10
Aaaaaah! Lovelovelovelove! Such a beautiful, quirky, song-something about it feels like a sort of anthem. An Indie-Rock love anthem. Also, kudos for the They Might Be Giants references.
TRACK 8: “High to Death”-7/10
This song moves about like a lazy river, foggy and misty, almost like a kind of wistful dream. Almost beautifully melancholy, and in the slightest sense, almost dirge-like. The lyrics of “Stop Smoking (We Love You)” are hidden in there too, but they’ve been twisted a bit, which I thought was interesting. I didn’t like the random samples and looped vocals for the last two or so minutes of the song.
TRACK 9: “Famous Prophets (Stars)”-7/10
Like the track prior, “Famous Prophets (Stars)” has a dream-like quality, albeit a 16-minute long dream. It’s a pretty song, but after about around ten minutes, you kind of get the feeling like, “Jesus CHRIST, is this song ever going to end?” Like “High to Death”, there were some odd samples, and more lyrics from other songs (this time, slowed down lyrics to “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)”.
TRACK 10-“Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)”-7/10
With some lyrics borrowed from one of their older songs (“Sunburned Shirts”), more looped vocals, more brief Will Toledo musings, and an air of melancholy, regret, and almost jealousy, “Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)” makes for an interesting track. I like it about the same as I did “Bodys”. A sweet, wistful kind of song.
Just like I did with MASSEDUCTION, I averaged all of my scores for each song, and came out with a solid 8. Overall, pretty dang close to a masterpiece as far as albums go. An amalgam of melancholy, angst, hope, and poignancy that I doubt I’ll get tired of in the near future.
I hope you enjoyed my album review, and have a great rest of your day!
Hey, everyone, and welcome to the first BRT of February 2018!
Pretty much the most boring month of the year. There’s Valentine’s Day, but that’s pretty much all that goes on. Plus, Valentine’s Day is basically for stuffing yourself with overly sweet chocolates and insincere, fill in the blank cards.
*Will Toledo voice* “I’m so sick of…fill in the blank…”
Aaaaaaanyway…
PLOT TWIST-I got the following book from an internship I had at my local bookstore. I got to pick out seven Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for a review of all of them. (The best part? If I didn’t like the book, all I had to write was “Would Not Recommend”!)
It seemed that this ARC had been in there a little while, as it came out last November, I believe. But anyway, it was the first really fantastic one that I came across. Enjoy my review!
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Though Kat and Meg are both freshmen in the same high school, they couldn’t be more different. Kat just moved, and she’s introverted and suffers from an anxiety disorder. Meg is far more extroverted, but she has ADHD and her parents just divorced. But when they’re partnered for a science fair project, they discover that they have so much more in common than they thought-in particular, their shared love of the video game Legends of the Stone, and a YouTube star who plays it. Soon, they become immersed in their LotS-oriented project, but it soon takes them down roads they’ve both never traveled before-be it a LotS convention, boyfriends, and even the YouTube star himself.
Squee! Even if you’re not a gamer, you’ll have no trouble understanding or (thoroughly) enjoying this book. Very realistic, diverse characters, fast-paced and well written, and all around fun! (Also, the back of the book said that it’s perfect for “fans of Nicola Yoon’s ‘Everything, Everything’, which I adored, so that’s a plus.)
Thanks so much for reading, and have a great evening!
8
The Bookish Mutant 