After the first trailer came out, I had this as my iPod wallpaper for like, a month straight or something. It was pretty dang amazing.
A word of advice: please don’t listen to the haters on this one, guys. Yeah, there’s some things that could have been improved upon, I wasn’t thrilled with a few of the new characters, but overall, it is an absolutely SPECTACULAR film. And I swear on the soul of Carrie Fisher that I won’t spoil any of the huge surprises, but I’ll tell you that both your mind and your heart will probably explode by the time the credits start rolling.
Just like in The Force Awakens, Daisy Ridley’s Rey really blew it out of the water once again. I absolutely love her-tough, fierce, and focused, but vulnerable and kind on the inside. Poe and Finn were wonderful too, aside from a few corny comments that Finn makes on the side. But hey-it’s Star Wars, you’ve gotta have a little something corny. And Kylo Ren-OH. MY. GOODNESS. HE’S SPECTACULAR. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Something tells me that the Reylo shippers are going to go flippin’ insane after watching The Last Jedi, but now…I hate to say this, but there’s something that happens that I won’t say, but Reylo almost makes sense now. I’ll leave it at that.
Leia and Luke are wonderful as well. Leia was such a powerful character in this installment, as always, and I loved how Luke has transformed from a whiny (Sorry, Mr. Hamill…) young man into a much older and saltier one. Heck, I’m willing to bet that he’s saltier than the ocean around that island…😂 Chewie’s as lovable as always, as well.
As for the newer characters, I’ve got mixed feelings. Rose was kinda cute-a tad bit too bubbly, but she was sweet. Nowhere near as cool as Rey, but you know, nothing can possinly come close to her. I kinda hated Vice Admiral Holdo’s guts, but I kinda get the feeling that you were almost supposed to. (Also, what’s with that silver thingy in her hair? Whaaa?)
And then DJ…
GAAAAAAH. I felt PHYSICALLY UNCOMFORTABLE EVERY SINGLE TIME HE CAME ONSCREEN. SO. ****ING. CREEPY. GOD.
Also, the porgs were the best. Better than the ewoks, if I may be so bold. SO CUTE!!! They were perfect comic relief-not to annoying, and the perfect amount of feathery puffball adorableness.
SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!!!
The plot was also a perfect balance of Empire Strikes Back homage and startling, stunning new directions that ultimately blew my mind (and probably most everyone else’s in the immediate vicinity of the theater). Like I said, I will spoil nothing, but man-it is spectacular.
So please, fellow Star Wars fans, GET OUT THERE AND GO SEE IT!!!! PLEASE!!! I BEG YOU!!! *shrill porg screeching*
Hey there, fellow bibliophiles! I’m back, as promised, for another Book Review Tuesday!
I just returned this book to the library *wipes single tear from cheek*, and I thought it was super cute! I found it from the Goodreads Choice Awards page, and I had read another book by the author (Barbara Dee), and I decided to give it a shot. And…it was worth it! I hope you enjoy the book and my review!
Star-Crossed
Mattie has never been an actor. But when her English teacher announces the annual 8th Grade play, Romeo and Juliet, she auditions in an attempt to change her image. She is cast as Paris, and is soon swept up in all the ins and outs of theater. Mattie also meets Gemma-she’s new, British, and she’s playing Juliet. As preparations continue, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly close to Gemma. And soon, after the actor playing Romeo becomes more and more unfit for his roles, she is cast as Romeo, bringing the two even closer than ever before. Can Mattie ace her performance as Romeo while dealing with inner struggles and questions about her sexuality?
I really enjoyed this book for a few key reasons:
1-One word-SHAKESPEARE! I’m actually reading a different Shakespeare play in my class right now (Macbeth), and his works are just all-around fabulous.
2-LGBTQ+! Mattie’s sexuality is not directly specified, but it’s implied that she is bisexual (she has a crush on Gemma and there’s a subplot where she has a crush on another boy in her class). Super cool!
Also, it’s just overall well-written, with realistic characters and a fun plot.
Thanks so much for reading this, and I hope you all have a great night! Stay warm!
(Also, I’d just like to point out that the cover looks super cute when the WordPress snow is falling on it.) 😊
Hey there, fellow bookworms, and welcome to the first BRT of December 2017! The WordPress snow’s starting to miraculously pop into existence and float down across the surface of the computer screen…
Man, it’s already December? This year has gone by so dang fast…probably a really good thing because honestly? 2017 has been pretty sucky. Pretty much nothing compared to *last year* but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I’ve got another 2017 release (came out on my BIRTHDAY) from the author of The Fog Diver series for you today! Enjoy the review!
Beast and Crown
Ji is a servant. Sally and Roz are maid and governess. They all live in Primstone Manor, and all three of them share a wish-freedom for themselves and Sally’s little brother Chibo, who is a slave at the tapestry factory in the city. Their plan? The Summer Queen is about to choose the new heir to the throne, and the nephew of the Primstone Manor’s owner is destined to be the new king. Together, they sneak along with the fated heir into the city, but soon realize that they each have a key role in the ceremony. Will they finally gain their freedom and save Sally’s brother?
I read this sometime in October, I believe, and I thought it was really cute and fun. Not as good as The Fog Diver series, mind you, but still an inventive, enjoyable adventure.
Off topic, I always associate this song with “Pills” by St. Vincent (see my MASSEDUCTION review) because I had just downloaded it and was listening to it on repeat. It is absolutely nothing like the book or anything, but y’know. Spectacular song.
Hey there, everyone, and welcome to the last BRT of November 2017! I hope you all had a spectacular break and Thanksgiving! Let’s get through the last two days of this boring months together…with BOOKS!
I read this over break, as you might have gathered. I initially found it because it was a nominee for the “Best YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy” category on the Goodreads Choice Awards this year. Scythe was there too, so I voted for it, but I clicked on Warcross because, well, to put it simply, the cover is FANTASTIC. And the description seemed really cool, too. So I checked it out at the library, and was blown away. I hope you are too!
Warcross
In the not-so-distant future, people can escape to exciting game worlds with a pair of virtual reality glasses. And one of those games is Warcross-a competitive game with a global following. Emika Chen is only one out of countless fans, but she’s got a special job-she’s a bounty hunter, searching for players who do illegal deeds in-game. But her family is struggling, so she uses her hacking prowess to steal a rare object in Warcross. Intending to snag some money, Emika instead catches the eye of the game’s billionaire creator, and is soon spwept into the International Warcross Championships, acting as an in-game spy. Rumors of corruption are spreading, with potentially global consequences. Can Emika track down the source and save the games?
I still hope Scythe will win the GCA this year, but I won’t be surprised if Warcross wins, either. Marie Lu has built an imaginative, realistic future world, complete with unforgettable characters and splendid writing. Sci-fi fans, look no further! This is the book for you.
Well, I hope you guys have a fantastic night. I promise I’ll try and get out some more fan arts for you soon. Bye bye! 😉
Over Thanksgiving break, my mom was digging through some old CDs, and found a bunch of old photos in the process. They were all from around 2007, when I was about four years old.
I had no memory of when we had gotten two of our cats-Anakin and Padme-because, y’know, I was really little. (They are both about 10 years old, cousins, and totally inseparable <3) So I was surprised when my mom uncovered these…
This is little kitten Padme!!! AAAH! HOW WAS SHE EVER THAT SMALL????? (She’s kinda overweight now, poor thing. Sorry, Padme…)
And here’s little kitten Anakin!!! This, along with most of the other photos, were taken on the day we adopted this little Sith lord. What a cutie.
Spending time with his loving cousin. Look at those eyes!!!
Um…don’t know what’s going on here…
…Hugs?
Along with the kitten pictures came a photo of me on Halloween when I was about three. I was Princess Leia, for the second time (I had been her when I was two as well).
Great expression, huh? So regal.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my unannounced slew of kitten pictures as much as I enjoyed seeing them. Meow.
Hey there, fellow bookworms, and welcome to this week’s BRT!
I read this book a few weeks ago at the library, and it was really interesting-it reminded me a lot of Stranger Things! So I’d definitely recommend it for all ST fans. Here’s your review!
The Secret Hour
When Jessica Day moves to the small town of Bixby, Oklahoma, she expects it to be like any other small town, where nothing ever happens. But what she thinks is far from the truth. One midnight, she wakes up, and sees raindrops, in what looks like suspended animation, frozen in the sky. Jess thinks it’s all a dream, but she’s wrong-in Bixby, times stops for one hour each night. And she’s one of the few people who can experience this “secret hour”. Soon, she finds more like her, and soon discovers that the Secret Hour is when the Darklings come out, eager for human flesh. And now it’s up to her and her fellow Midnighters to stop them.
I thought this book was really interesting and well-written. Like I said, a lot like Stanger Things-sometimes, I half expected a demogorgon to jump out of a bush or something! That would have been hilarious…
Anyway, have a great rest of your day, and watch out for the demogorgons-AHEM-sorry, Darklings while you’re at it!
Hey there, everyone! Happy November! (Well…sorta. November’s kind of a boring month, don’t you agree? I mean, it’s freezing, and the only important thing that happens is Thanksgiving, which is only celebrated in, like, 5 or 6 countries…)
One more thing before I get to the review. So, I read up to the fourth book in the Maximum Ride series (see my Halloween BRT), and books 2 & 3 were awesome, but the fourth one sucked. Just to warn you, stop at book 3 if you don’t want to be pelted with preachy info about global warming that most of us already know by now. Yeah, global warming is an insanely important issue, but the delivery of it in The Final Warning was just…ugh. Nope.
Anyway, I picked this book up at the library last week (*incredulous gasp* OH REALLY), and I thought it was really sweet. I hope you enjoy my review!
Braced
All Rachel Brooks wants is to be a normal teenage girl. And for the most part, she is. She’s a great soccer player, a steady friend group, and a boyfriend (maybe). But she’s got one thing standing in her way-scoliosis, a disorder where the spine curves sideways. Now, her scoliosis has gotten so bad that the doctor has prescribed a back brace, which she must wear under her clothes 23 hours per day. Wearing the brace changes her life-Rachel can’t play soccer as well, and now that she stands out, she’s become subject to teasing. Can she make it through the rest of middle school with her unusual challenge?
Before I read this book, I had no idea what scoliosis was. This book was very eye-opening to this disorder, and it was really interesting to learn about it. But in addition, this book was also very relatable-even if you don’t have a back brace. Rachel was a very real character, and she reminded me of a lot of girls that I’ve met. Overall, a fantastic book.
Thank you all so much for reading, and stay warm! Don’t let November bore ya too much!
(I have no idea what the heck that last one is, I just looked up “Halloween gifs” and it came up…
…uh…)
Weird pumpkin dude gifs aside, I’ve got a great book to review today, recommended by many friends to me and that (mostly) lived up to the hype! Enjoy!
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
Max (14), Fang (14), Iggy (14), Nudge (11), The Gasman (aka “Gazzy”, 8) and his little sister Angel (6) are all hybrid experiment, consisting of 98% human genes, and 2% bird genes. Ever since they escaped The School, the place where they were created, they’ve been running for their lives, trying to survive while evading the Erasers, dangerous, wolflike hybrids determined to bring them back. But when a pack of Erasers kidnaps Angel, they must search much of the U.S., rescue her, and above all, avoid being seen by normal humans. Can they survive the dangerous trek, and get Angel back?
Like I said earlier, at least four or five of my friends read this previously, and they all LOVED (and I mean LOOOOVED) it. I would have read it sooner as well, if it hadn’t been on hold at the library for such an egregious amount of time. *fumes* Anyway, I thought it was a very creative, fun, and adventurous Book. I’ve already read book 2 (School’s Out-Forever) and I currently have book 3 (Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports) on hold. Pretty psyched! I recommend it to all of you! Yes, ALL OF YOU!
I hope you guys have a WONDERFUL Halloween, eat lots of candy, dress up in awesome costumes!
I kept my promise, here’s an actual BOOK review. I hope you loved my MASSEDUCTION review (see my last post), but we’re back to normal for now, I promise…
…well, “normal” as a relative term.
But anyway, here’s a mind-blowing, creative, and creepy book, perfect for October!
Scythe
In 2042, humanity eradicated death. But there was a problem-how do we keep our expanding population in check? The answer: Scythes. The Scythedom is an organization of people assigned to kill-or “glean”, as they refer to it-people in order to keep the population under control. Teenagers Citra and Rowan have reluctantly become apprentices to the Scythedom, but they have no idea what’s in store for them. A mysterious self-gleaning and corruption are now in the midst of the Scythedom, and now Citra’s and Rowan’s apprenticeships-and lives-hang in the balance. Can the Scythedom be restored to what it once was?
WHOA. THIS BOOK. Amazing in pretty much every way. Spectacular world-building, likeable characters, intricate, well-written…I could go on, but I don’t want to annoy you to death and oversell the book. But anyway, YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ IT. NOW. SERIOUSLY.
Have a wonderful afternoon (or whatever time of day it is where you are), and I’ll be back with another BRT on Halloween!
As I’ve told you on various occasions, St. Vincent has been my favorite singer for a while. And I’ve been waiting for new material from her for 3 years. And finally, last Friday, MASSEDUCTION was finally released! But, after listening to the album, my feelings were a bit mixed.
Just a note beforehand, I’m going to use the same method I use for rating books (1-WORST SONG EVER, 5-okay, I guess, 10-OMGOMGOMGOMG LOVE) Also, I’m not going to review “New York” because I already talked about it a bit in a previous post. So yeah, here goes!
TRACK 1: “Hang On Me” RATING: 7/10
A nice balance of melancholy and hope, a little reminiscent of St. Vincent’s earlier work. Kind of poignant and endearing in a way. Not her best, but certainly not her worst. A lot better than some of her other stuff on this album…(prepare for more saltiness later in the review…)
TRACK 2: “Pills” RATING: 8/10
When I first heard about this song, my mom told me that she had read an article that said that Cara Delevigne* was going to sing a little bit in this song. I basically wanted to puke in my mouth, and thus, my expectations were pretty low for this song. But as you can assume from my rating, this is actually one of my favorite songs on the album! Very catchy. My favorite part is the ending, which sounds like a cross between something off her last album (St. Vincent), and something off David Bowie’s Blackstar.
TRACK 3: “Masseduction” RATING: 4/10
This is really where it started going downhill.
Ugh. The guitar is kinda cool for a few brief seconds, but that’s pretty much all I like. Verging onto the horrendous, modern pop territory. It is just not St. Vincent. Nope. Nope. Nope.
TRACK 4: “Sugarboy” RATING: 3/10
BLEARGH. This is literally the worst song on the entire MASSEDUCTION album. I swear, if you took out all of the vocals, it would probably fit right in as the soundtrack to a MarioKart game or something and nobody would notice that it’s St. Vincent.
But I did notice that at one point, they snuck and sped up the baseline for “Los Ageless” in there. That was kinda funny.
TRACK 5: “Los Ageless” RATING: 8/10
Luuuuuurve! Now THIS is more like her old stuff! The chorus is a little annoying and modern-pop-y, but still a wonderful song. Plus, there’s a crazy video to go with it. I liked it even better than the one for “New York”.
PLEASE DON’T EAT THAT ANEMONE THING, ANNIE…
TRACK 6: “Happy Birthday, Johnny” RATING: 6.5/10
This is where this album starts to get really depressing.
I’d say that it’s “short and sweet”, but it’s more like “short and makes me want to cry a little”. It makes me want to give Annie Clark a little hug. *lip quivers slightly”
TRACK 7: “Savior” RATING: 4.5/10
Meh. It’s not as pop-y as “Masseduction” and “Sugarboy”, but still kind of fits that general pop mold. It just doesn’t really grab me, and eventually kind of melts into background noise. Tolerable, but not great.
TRACK 9: “Fear the Future” RATING: 7.5/10
YASS! Finally some relief after that bout of depression and pop! Like I said with “Hang On Me” earlier, it’s not her best, but it’s GREAT. The guitar is super cool. This sounds like something that would be really fun to see live.
TRACK 10: “Young Lover” RATING: 7/10
This song seems to be wearing an odd mask. The rhythm is happy and upbeat, but the lyrics are really sad. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful song, though. I’d probably give it a higher rating, but I hate the ending when St. Vincent’s voice goes up to a ridiculously high octave, bringing to mind the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when the Fat Lady is trying to sing opera and smashes the wine glass against the wall.
TRACK 11/12: “Dancing With a Ghost” and “Slow Disco” RATING: 4.5/10
“Dancing With A Ghost” is kind of cool, but doesn’t really have much substance. I’m not saying that because it’s instrumental, but there’s just not much to it. Now, “Slow Disco” is sad, but like “Savior”, it just doesn’t seem to grab me at all. Also, the probably-male-but-sort-of-androgynous voice at the end annoys the heck out of me.
TRACK 13: “Smoking Section” RATING: 7.5/10
OH.
MY.
GOD.
MY HEART.
Every time I hear this song, my heart feels as though somebody chucked it off the top of the Empire State Building, and then it splattered on the road. And then got run over by a car. No scratch that, a truck. Wait, no…a steam roller. Yeah. That’s more accurate. What I’m saying is that if you ever find me sobbing in the corner with headphones on, it’s because I’ve listened to this song too many times. It’s beautiful and cinematic, but MY GOD, THIS IS THE MOST DEPRESSING SONG I’VE HEARD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If “Happy Birthday, Johnny” made me want to give Annie Clark a hug, this one makes me want to give her a near-strangulation level bear hug.
Alright, I’ve averaged out the ratings for this album (I added “New York”, an 8), and the final number turned out to be about a 6. Sigh…
I waited three years, THREE YEARS, and I must say, I’m rather underwhelmed. Not St. Vincent’s best work. I don’t mean to say that there’s nothing good about this album. It’s just disappointing. Sigh…
So anyway, I hope you enjoyed my semi-salty album review. I promise, there’s an actual BOOK review coming tomorrow. So, bye for now!
The Bookish Mutant 