CW: death, emotional and physical abuse, suicidal thoughts, homophobia, mentions of blood
I was intrigued by The Buried and the Bound because 1. I’m making this the year of reading more Fantasy again and this even has fae in it and 2. because of this absolutely spellbinding cover art. You really can trick me that easily; I’m a sucker for pretty covers that much. (But, it also turned out that me being fascinated with the cover helped me deduce some stuff in the story later on and that was neat.)
Told from three different POVs – those of Aziza, Leo and Tristan – I will admit that it took me a moment to get into the book. It’s something I regularly struggle with when it comes to multiple POVs, simply because it takes more chapters/pages to get to know the characters and thus invested in their fates. But wow, once I’ve crossed that hurdle, I did not want to stop reading.
Each character is presented with plenty of flaws and equal lovable quirks. It soon became clear to me how certain plotlines were going to be interwoven and I was ridiculously proud of myself for guessing several “plot twists” early on. Regardless, the story never felt predictable, but instead you wanted to know how the trio would face what would inevitably be thrown their way. There wasn’t a single one I wasn’t rooting for.
I don’t want to give away too much, so I’m keeping this short, but I loved this approach to magic and the fae realm. I also LOVED that the book set up several storylines that could be explored in future installments of this new series, but didn’t leave you hanging on any sort of cliffhanger. You somehow felt satisfied and sated, but wanted more at the same time! That’s honestly the best way a book can leave you and I will gladly be seated for more books by Rochelle Hassan.
Lastly, I have to give a shoutout to Kal @Reader Voracious, because it was due to her tweet that I found out about the book and immediately got a copy. You can find her review here.
Fazit: 4.25/5 stars! Great start to a new YA fantasy series!
Have you heard about this new book series? Do you plan on reading it? Let’s chat!
Where I ramble about all the TV shows and movies I’ve watched in the past week ….
Another week is coming to a close and I’m tired af, but have no idea what from. Some days will just be like that, so I took a nap in the middle of the day and delayed the post. Let’s talk about shows and movies though!
FINISHED TV SHOWS/SEASONS
I didn’t finish any shows this week, but watched a bunch of movies, so stay tuned for those!
WEEKLY TV SHOWS
Mayfair Witches (Season 1)
I’ve finished episode 7 and we’re finally getting somewhere, but dang that’s far too late in a season to make me change my mind about the show.
Will Trent (Season 1)
Betty is the moment. Need I say more? Well, yeah. It was fun to learn more about Faith’s home life and I’m just glad we have Will Trent back after the break last week.
Walker: Independence (Season 1)
I’m so confused about what to believe. Obviously, I kinda sorta somewhat know that Tom is a terrible person, but I still thought he was one of the best characters of the season aside from Calian.
1923 (Season 1)
My darlings are alright and getting married and … aaaah! I just know this season is going to end with Spencer arriving at the ranch and the wait for the new season will be torture.
Wolf Pack (Season 1)
The CGI of the animals remains absolutely abysmal, but I keep wanting to learn more about the pack dynamics. I don’t buy Luna pining after Austin though. I’m so sorry.
How I Met Your Father (Season 2)
Sid remains a top tier character and I like how we’re fleshing out the friendship dynamics, although I wish they would include the whole crew and not just duos.
Abbott Elementary (Season 2)
Never seen Barbara this flustered before, but the real twist were Jacob’s cookies.
9-1-1: Lone Star (Season 4)
Everything about the TK/Carlos storyline was peak content, the Owen stuff stays very mid.
MOVIES
As always, don’t forget to add me on Letterboxd if you want to be up to date on all my movie experiences!
At Midnight
I continued my “Valentine’s Day” binge of new RomComs and this one was probably my favorite of the bunch I watched. It has Notting Hill and America’s Sweetheart vibes and is utterly corny. I know that parts of it will be too ridiculous for some people, but I like movies that are unabashedly romantic, not scared of not taking themselves too seriously and have that retro flair. Diego Boneta and Monica Barbaro had great chemistry and I had a really great time watching the movie! Also, almost all of it was shot on location in Mexico, which is cool!
Somebody I Used to Know
What a waste to never having used the song during the entire movie, but what can you do? Directed by Dave Franco and co-written by him and Alison Brie, I thought that the movie was marketed in the wrong way. It’s not a RomCom, but it’s a very good film regardless. Aside from a Community reunion between Alison Brie and Danny Pudi, I enjoyed the themes of regret, change and trusting yourself. I will always watch anything Alison Brie stars in regardless, but I’d love to see more of this husband-wife-duo, because they seem to work really well together.
Sharper
I so wish I hadn’t watched the trailer and while I will post it below, I don’t recommend you actually watch it. The cast was really enticing and it was an okay movie, but none of the twists hit me, because I saw them all from a mile away (possibly because of having watched the trailer). I enjoyed how every “chapter” more or less ended on some kind of betrayal, that was thematically smart, but the rest was unforatuntely a tad underwhelming for me.
Did you watch anything I’ve watched? Are there some movies/shows I should check out? Let’s talk about that!
Are really ALL my favorite books about grief and loss? Well, no. That was a gross exaggeration in order to make the title of this post a little more clickbait-y. But that doesn’t change the fact that A LOT of them are and since I’ve promised a post like this for almost a year on social media now, I thought I should finally go ahead, sit down and actually write it.
First, I want to manage expectations! Not all of these books will necessarily be tearjerkers, not all of them will have grief or loss as a main theme, but simply as some aspect of the story. I’m going to try and do my best to categorize everything in a way that makes sense to you all.
It’s Sunday and the week has just once again flown by. I burned a cake I was baking, I worked out, watched three romance movies in preparation for Valentine’s Day (which I’m not even celebrating), I cut my own hair, cause I’m stingy – loads has happened. But today, as per usual, we’re here to check out some trailers!
Where I ramble about all the TV shows and movies I’ve watched in the past week ….
Let me tell you, I surprised myself with the amount of shows I watched/finished this past week. Let’s talk about that!
FINISHED TV SHOWS/SEASONS
National Treasure: Edge of History (Season 1)
I know a lot of people were skeptical, because the show didn’t feature Nic Cage and focused on a much younger age bracket, but you know what? For what it was, it was a lot of fun. Everyone is insanely smart, so they figure out clues and puzzles super fast, but it was also just great to have a really healthy and nice friendship group dynamic to watch. There’s loads of ships if you’re interested in that and the final episodes did hold some twists I didn’t necessarily expect.
I haven’t yet heard any news on a potential renewal for the show, but it works as a one-off limited series just as much as a continued show. They definitely set up a storyline should they get another season order, but there was no dreadful cliffhanger.
The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 2)
I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH! I think Prime also really cracked the perfect formula of how to release episode on a streaming platform. They posted three episodes per week, which was (to me) the ideal mix of being able to binge and immerse myself in the story while also having the excitement of a weekly release and getting to talk to people about specific episodes.
As far as the animation goes, I feel like they really stepped it up in season 2, because there were some gorgeous shots that I still think about a lot. Especially all things concerning the Raven Queen was SO WELL DONE. I just adored seeing the campaign come to life on the screen and this show hyping up adult animation content, because it can be so dope!
I’m very glad to inform you that season 3 has already been greenlit.
YOU (Season 4, Part 1)
Somehow, YOU manages to reinvent itself a little bit every season. I have to admit that I don’t really get why we split the season in two other than Netflix trying to generate buzz for their property over a longer amount of time, but as a viewer, not really feeling it.
This season starts out as a kind of murder mystery, where I surprised myself by guessing the murderer before I had even met the character – a new record for me! I feel very torn in the way they try to give Joe more and more redeemable qualities, because he is an absolute psycho and people are bound to forget that, because they find him hot …
Still, long story short, I had fun and binged it in one evening. Looking forward to part 2 now and will judge the season as a whole afterwards.
WEEKLY TV SHOWS
The Last of Us (Season 1)
We got TWO episodes this week and I’m so glad about that. Henry and Sam’s story deserved to be told and was so freaking heartbreaking. I thought it was kind of fitting that those were the two episodes that aired closer to each other.
Mayfair Witches (Season 1)
I’ve watched episode 6, because I think for some it wasn’t obvious that I’ve continued to be one episode ahead of the TV release. I’m just not a fan I suppose. I would have structured the show so differently.
Fire Country (Season 1)
If I get tired of Bode and Gabriella now … that does not bode well (see what I did there?) for upcoming seasons.
Wolf Pack (Season 1)
Loving this show! I don’t yet know what it means to be in a pack in this particular universe, but I can’t wait to find out.
How I Met Your Father (Season 2)
Sooo … Sophie admitted she kissed all of her friends at some point on the show. That means my Sid endgame is still an option.
Abbott Elementary (Season 2)
The Valentine’s episode was fun! They know how to do themed stuff on Abbott.
9-1-1: Lone Star (Season 4)
Ugh, again with the FBI storyline that I do not care about … the Iris thing on the other hand? Carlos cannot blame TK for it. I just won’t allow my babies to fight over something that was done by an unhinged person.
MOVIES
As always, don’t forget to add me on Letterboxd if you want to be up to date on all my movie experiences!
Your Place or Mine
I announced that we would get a resurgence of RomComs this year and Your Place or Mine was one of the first ones on my list. Not sure if all of you have seen the red carpet pictures of Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, but those two did not look comfortable next to each other at all. It was super awkward to watch, but it sort of makes sense now that I’ve watched the movie and the leads don’t share the screen for 90% of the time.
In theory, this should have been a home run. We have friends to lovers, immature adult bonding with a kid, a LOT of bookish references and talk about plants, Zoe Chao was featured. Those are legit all things I enjoy, but I felt a bit lackluster about the outcome of it all. It was nice, but not the best RomCom I’ve seen of late. I think we are allowed to want the genre to thrive, but for it to also do … more?
Did you watch anything I’ve watched? Are there some movies/shows I should check out? Let’s talk about that!
Publisher: Knopf
Page Count: 418 Release Date: July 5, 2022
CW: grief, depression, injuries, chronic pain, amputation, sexism, loss of a loved one, questionable consent to sexual abuse, mention of racism, alcoholism, drug use and suicide
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a book that crept up on me slowly and then I simply couldn’t put it down. At first, it reminded me of a lot of shows and movies that I love (e.g. Halt and Catch Fire, Mythic Quest and The Social Network – basically a lot of stuff with start ups and gaming/tech), but once I stopped comparing it to other things I’ve consumed in the past and just let myself get engrossed in the story, it really started to shine.
My brain really went “MYTHIC QUEST!” when I started reading, so inevitably I could only think of Ian and Poppy when I pictured Sadie and Sam, even though they look nothing alike…
I’ll be frank with you, Sadie and Sam aren’t always the most likable characters. They had their fair share of hardships and most of their decisions – whether you agree with them or not – make sense for who they are. Can their miscommunication be frustrating? Sure, but while that usually is a huge pet peeve of mine, it worked in favor of their particular story. Because they are messy individuals and you know what? Life is messy. Trauma and grief are messy! No one gets it right all the time.
As the book promises, this isn’t your traditional love story, at least not in terms of romance. It also isn’t “just” friendship. Their relationship is somehow so much more, “love” almost feels like a word that doesn’t do it justice. I was rooting for them to clear up misunderstandings, hoping they wouldn’t miss their cues. They sure took you on a journey, but my heart was, in the end, stolen by someone else.
Marx, my favorite NPC, tamer of horses, all around darling – you deserved the world! He’s the kind of guy you want in your corner and dang it, but Sadie and Sam weren’t always the best in showing him the appreciation he deserved. However, I will cherish him today and tomorrow, and tomororw, and tomorrow. But where my boy was golden, there was another character the pure opposite of him. He is also the main reason this book isn’t a full five stars – Dov. Every. single. time. Dov showed up in the story, he gave me the ick. He’s the kind of guy who thinks he is the coolest, but actually he’s just an aging creep with way too big of an ego. I think my biggest gripe with his character was that none of his actions were really condemned. Sure, people didn’t like what he did either, but it was mentioned like an afterthought or a side note … no one ever did something and he was seemingly always forgiven. Well, not by me.
I realize that I ultimately talked more about the characters than the story, but it’s hard to pack 30 years of companionship, fights, losses and success into a decently sized review. We get taken from past to present to the future seemingly at random, but with much precision behind the structure. There are imaginative interlude chapters and utterly pretentious paragraphs of text. I can see it maybe not being for everyone, but it’s definitely a vibe and one that suited me just fine! I mean … I sobbed my way through the entire final quarter of the book. That always says something!
Fazit: 4.5/5 stars! The emotional breakdown this book gave me was totally worth it!
Do you read books about gaming and tech start ups? Are you planing on reading Zevin’s book? Let’s chat!
I can’t believe this week is already over, I could easily take a couple more days this weekend, but alas … here we are on Trailer Sunday! Let’s get started!
Where I ramble about all the TV shows and movies I’ve watched in the past week ….
It’s been a week, but it seems that February will pass by much quicker than January did. Here’s what I watched this past week!
FINISHED TV SHOWS/SEASONS
Lockwood & Co (Season 1)
I’m going to start off by being real honest with you – if Netflix doesn’t renew this show, I will be SO upset! Their promotion team is setting them up to fail, but they deserve so much better.
Netflix sent me an email about the release of Lockwood & Co tomorrow and in the "More Like This"-section of the recommendations, they literally only put shows that were cancelled after one season 🙃🤨
I haven’t read the books and cannot speak to any possible changes, but what I can talk about is the phenomenal chemistry between the characters. While the world is definitely interesting and had me intrigued from the get-go, it was the various character interactions, the longing looks, the tension that really carried the show. Lockwood & Co might seem like it would skewer fairly young, but I think this works for adults just fine. There’s so much you can still do in this setting and I 100% want to explore the relationships some more. I might even start reading the books, because they certainly do have my attention right now.
WEEKLY TV SHOWS
The Last of Us (Season 1)
Episode 3 – Long Long Time – was EVERYTHING! Every week, this show just keeps getting better and better. I never expected to be so freaking invested (and concerned about the real life fungi news we’re getting).
Mayfair Witches (Season 1)
Ugh, what can I say. I wanted to love this show so bad, but I just don’t? There’s an element missing, something that could truly grip me.
Will Trent (Season 1)
The way this man looks at and cares for Betty is everything. It’s a healthier relationship than the one he has with Angie, but that’s gonna take some more unpacking.
National Treasure (Season 1)
WHAT A TWIST!!! I mean, did you see that coming? I, first of all, thought that was an absolute minion character, but not the boss man. And secondly, do we think the death is permanent or will there be some saving involved? I’m kind of in denial at the moment, just because I think that the agent and morgue guy are the cutest.
Fire Country (Season 1)
If the drama starts getting repetitive in season 1 already, we might be in trouble.
Wolf Pack (Season 1)
Still enjoying it, but I keep wondering if that is Ian Bohen’s voice when it comes to the anonymous caller, which in turn makes me think of Teen Wolf.
How I Met Your Father (Season 2)
Meghan Trainor was a random cameo, but my boy Sid did amazing this episode. He’s one of my top characters on the show.
The Legend of Vox Machina (Season 2)
THEY GAVE ME SOME OF MY FAVORITE PERCY/VEX MOMENTS ON SCREEN! I still always want more, because I’m a greedy, greedy person when it comes to my ships. But truly, they are doing such an amazing job adapting the campaign and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but that one cameo from an important C2 character – let me tell you, I screamed.
9-1-1: Lone Star (Season 4)
As expected, I care very little for the FBI plot. Also, what kind of amateur undertaking is this. They aren’t protecting Owen at all.
MOVIES
As always, don’t forget to add me on Letterboxd if you want to be up to date on all my movie experiences!
Teen Wolf
I watched the Teen Wolf movie so you wouldn’t have to. Saying it’s a mess is the understatement of the century, because this movie was just disrespectful. If you ever had love for this story and/or the characters in it, spare yourself! I’m still fuming and it’s been almost a week since I’ve watched it.
Granted, I should have known and I kind of did know that it was going to be terrible. So many of the cast members didn’t return (for good reason! They did Arden Cho so dirty!!) and the more I think about it, the better for them! Now they won’t be associated with whatever … *that* was. I mean, we didn’t have Stiles, Kira, Isaac, the twins or so many others. Out of my personal top 5 Teen Wolf characters, there were only two present in the movie and one of them was eventually killed off. The other got a different love interest, which was the only bright spot in the whole thing.
This entire movie catered to what Scott needed and railroaded all other characters in order to give him what he desired in life. Honestly, it felt gross. I’m just ranting now, so I better stop. My disappointment is boundless.
If any of you want to talk spoilers about the movie, feel free to do so in the comments. I will gladly dive into it more deeply there.
Did you watch anything I’ve watched? Are there some movies/shows I should check out? Let’s talk about that!
I don’t know about you, but January seemed to take forever. I took the month to focus on getting back into things I used to love and semi-succeeded with it. At least in terms of reading, I’m happy to report that I’ve finished 5 books (well, 3 books, 1 novella and 1 short story). It might not have seemed like it, because I’ve not reviewed much of what I’ve read, but I truly had a fantastic time getting back into reading.
For the Wolf by Hannah F. Whitten (3.75 stars)
While in theory, this book should have been everything to me, I didn’t find myself as invested as I would have liked to be. I’m not sure I will pick up the sequel, but I’m happy to see Red and the Wolf making it.
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison (4.25 stars)
I have the rest of the series already ready to go on my eReader and I plan to review the whole series once I’m done.
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (5 stars)
I 100% understand why this is a classic, it was so well written and gripped you from the first sentence. I’m looking forward to reviewing after I’ve watched the TV adaptation. I miss doing comparison posts, so it seems fitting to examine those two versions.
As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! OR find me on StoryGraph, which I adore more and more as an alternative. My own reviews you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above, if there are posts for them.
I think a big part of my success reading so much (at least in comparison to how much I usually tend to read in a month) in January was due to me participating in StoryGraph’s January Pages Challenge. In an attempt to get people to read at least one page per day (or listen to one minute of an audiobook per day), they set up their own reading challenge and sweetened the deal with possible prizes. While I didn’t win any of the challenge prizes, I feel like it set me up with a great habit for the year to come. Here’s a graph of how much I’ve been reading last month:
Usually, I have a bunch of posts set up for January to really kick blogging off right, but I didn’t have the best of starts to the year and generally felt pretty exhausted. I wanted to prioritize things that actually brought me joy and while I consider blogging to be a vital part of myself, I’d much rather focus on other things when I’m tired. Like, there’s no point in churning out mid-posts just because, when I’m not feeling it. So, I started the year with re-evaluating my priorities.
There’s Only So Much Time in Day
I want to read, write, watch TV, catch up with the people I care about, work out and on top of that I still need to do my job and rest as well. I can’t do it all, no one can, and it has been a challenge to not get frustrated by that. I’ve slowly gotten back into working out more regularly – mostly I’ve just walked a lot – but it’s really the creative outlets I’m missing most in my life. I seem to have zero energy for them. I’d like to change that this year and deliberately make more time for creative tasks, which brings me to my next point.
I MISS writing SO MUCH
I’ve checked out some of my old, unfinished WIPs and … I hated my writing in all of them. There’s part of my brain that knows that I’m not terrible at everything. My narrative ideas are solid, even when the execution is lacking. I haven’t posted on my secret fan fic account (sorry, I just can’t reveal that one) for close to a year now and I still got a message saying “please come back!!!” the other day. The thing is, I WANT TO. I want to write and create and draw my own characters and really dive deep into these worlds. There’s not just a lack of motivation, but I think also confidence. I’ve read some fantastic books these past years and my brain just says that I could never do that. I need to do some soul searching to find my voice and point of view.
Basking in all the good TV
TV, as so often, has been my escape in January. There’s just been so much good content out there again and I’m glad I kicked off the year with such fantastic shows. On the one hand, we have the return of The Legend of Vox Machina, which is getting released in batches of three episodes per week – offering the perfect mix between binging and a weekly schedule. I just keep falling in love with everyone at Critical Role all over again, the fact that we’re now also getting the Mighty Nein and a movie (*fingers crossed it’s a Calamity movie*) almost had me in tears.
Speaking of tears, basically the whole world is bawling their eyes out at the masterpiece that is The Last of Us! As someone who hasn’t played the game, but still knows a fair bit about it, I am in awe of this show. It’s so good and I love that Pedro Pascal just doesn’t miss with his roles. Having said that, episode 3 “Long, Long Time” will stay in my heart forever.
I don’t even know how I stumbled upon Rakuen, but it was a delight to play. The game mechanics are fairly simple, so are the graphics, but they are SO FREAKING CUTE. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some terrifying stuff and it will rip your heart out of your chest, but I like the balance with the sweet stuff.
I’ve found that “short” games with a good storyline are my jam and Rakuen definitely fits that category. It’s about a boy at a hospital, who escapes to a magical world – on the one hand, to escape his own life, but also to help the people around him. By the end, I was just a puddle of tears. Not sure it has a lot of replayability, but I had a good time!
RECAPPING 2022
A big part of this past month was taking the time to wrap-up 2022 and let go of the year. I did so in various posts, which you can check out here:
: Roaring Brook Press
Life and Other Disasters 