May wrap up
Good day, non-existent readers,
Guess who’s back, back again, Fade’s back tell a friend
(I recently found out that was from an Eminem song). I am back with my promised May wrap-up issue. I’m going to talk about the books and movies I consumed this month. I originally wanted to also cover webcomics and anime, but that would make this unnecessarily long.
Without any further delays, let’s begin.
Books
Malibu rising was my first read of the month as my duty to the now discontinued #TheNotJessBookClub. I knew absolutely nothing going in but I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend to anyone that enjoyed little fires everywhere because it has similar family and sibling dynamics.
The book jumps back and forth in time telling the story of the Riva family, from June and Mick’s first meeting to the present day with the four siblings all grown up at the annual Riva party. The book is divided into two distinct parts, the first telling the family history and the second taking place at the disastrous party that results in the fire that gives the title of the book.
“Malibu catches fire. It is simply what Malibu does from time to time”
“Because, just as it is in Malibu’s nature to burn, so was it in one particular person’s nature to set fire and walk away.”
Speaking of the fire, I thought there would be a lot more symbolism concerning the fire and the plot. The first chapter really draws you in with that promise and while the plot is certainly engaging, it has nothing to do with it.
But anyway let's talk about the characters
In the present day, Nina is still a swimsuit model and was recently left by her husband but that’s beside the point 😃
Having been forced to grow up, she’s gotten used to taking things as they come and thus she’s lived her life as a pushover, never really voicing things that bothered her and caring too much for others but too little for herself.
While I’m tired of seeing pushover main characters, I really did like Nina and I just wanted the best for her. She’s used to being depended on and depending on no one, she’s so used to it that she hesitates to ever live for herself and not for her siblings.
Also while the synopsis says this
That didn't really happen?
It makes it sound like her life is ruined but trust, Nina will be alright.
I don't really want to write about the other siblings, not because they were annoying but because I care less about them. The only notable things about them are the fact that Hud slept with jay’s ex-girlfriend while they were still together, and Kit is a lesbian.
I gave this a four-star rating as while this was definitely entertaining, some characters were certainly less developed than the others and I feel like kit could have been removed from this book without anything major not occurring. I have also been inspired to read the world-famous seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
My favorite quotes :
“Maybe our parents’ lives are imprinted within us, maybe the only fate there is the temptation of reliving their mistakes. Maybe, try as we might, we will never be able to outrun the blood that runs through our veins.”
“But they will feel that—for one night at least—someone has seen them as they have always wanted to be seen. And that will be enough.”
Kisses and Croissants
Kisses and Croissants follow Mia, a 17-year-old girl who goes to Paris for an elite summer program to capture the attention of one of the world’s best ballet companies. She is also trying to uncover the mystery behind a famous painting she believes is of one of her ancestors.
I must say I didn’t really enjoy this book all that much. It reminded me of love and gelato, a bit too much, even down to the title. It did some aspects better and worse however, one thing remained the same, I didn’t care for the romance.
Louis and Mia were just okay? I’m not a fan of summer flings because most times it is usually insta-love and they have a home they’re meant to go back to (unless you’re like love and gelato and decide to move to a different country). Sure the two of them are a bit cute sometimes but I wasn’t really a fan because Mia kept getting distracted and Louis was just a bit unserious. Like as a love interest he didn’t really do it for me.
His whole character was just “boo hoo I don’t have a passion”. I’m sorry I didn’t really care, on top of having directly disrupted other ballerina’s lives before, he wasn’t cute enough for me to excuse his boringness. He kind of just followed her around like a puppy. At the end of the book, he reveals a mural he painted of her on the side of a building, this was a bit silly because if you paint a decent amount (this wasn’t his first time painting) to be able to paint THAT, then no shit that’s his passion.
Mia as the main character was okay enough. Apart from being a little obsessed with Louis and a bit unserious because she’s in Paris, Mia was quite likable. I enjoy characters that have passions that drive them so when she talks about ballet like it's all she lives for, I’m just like wow so true girl 🤩. She was a bit too cheesy sometimes so there’s that.
Mia also got into the summer program with her rival Audrey from previous ballet competitions and is bumped up to the highest level on the first day because she’s just that girl. They both land the lead role in swan lake, the black swan being Mia and the white swan, Audrey. During the swan lake recital, various ballet companies come and choose students they would like to audition.
The whole thing about the “mystery behind the painting” was way more boring than I thought it would be. It is rumored that a famous painting of some ballerinas features an ancestor of Mia’s. Mia sort of depends on this as proof that she’s always been destined to be a ballerina and that’s why she loves it so much. Because Louis is obsessed with her he becomes very determined to help her. Pictured below is the painting.
Anyways, fast forward to swan lake. Mia does great and lands a lot of auditions including ABT, her dream company. but spoiler alert, she gets in a motorcycle accident with Louis and of course can’t make the audition. her life is crushed.
However, she eventually gets over it, and in a few months has the audition with another equally good company as ABT doesn’t do delays. The company is of course in France and she and Louis are reunited, along with her other friends that the book doesn’t care about.
The book could certainly be worse but the ballet kept it interesting, sadly I did not fall in love with Paris as I did with Italy in Love and gelato see my Pinterest board. I blame the author.
For the rest of the month of May, I began reading the mortal instruments book series
I managed to finish the first three against my better judgment and my friend Alicia’s advice.
City of bones
City of bones was very entertaining while not certainly very good, at times it read like bible fan fiction or watching trashy reality tv
for more thoughts head to my Goodreads review
There’s a lot of info-dumping which makes it hard to read at times but for the most part, the world-building isn’t bad, and I like the plot.
I had a bit of a fun time but the characters were all very unserious and I felt like killing Jace half the time
Let's address the elephant in the room
#incestisbad
City of Ashes
City of ashes had some more unseriousness and took me a long time to read for some reason.
Let's just talk about the important moments
Simon becomes a vampire(poor boy)
Clary and Jace both have angel and demon blood respectively
Clary can make runes
Jace can jump from high places 😭
At some point, they kiss, even though they are meant to be siblings
The inquisitor (think prime minister) dies but before she can say something important to Jace (hmmm)
Luke is in love with Jocelyn
Some woman shows up at the end and knows how to wake up Jocelyn (who has been in a coma since the early chapters of the first book)
Wow lots of fun stuff, I had more fun than I should’ve to be frank
City of glass
City of glass has the most unserious first half ever. All the characters were acting ghetto and annoying and I’ve never been more irritated by a main character. Jace is annoying but he had a half-decent reason for not wanting her in Idris but she had to whine like a literal toddler and then go there anyways. when she got there against all odds, she had the audacity to be mad because no one was glad to see her 😭 I want whatever she’s on because miss girl was ludicrous.
All that aside
The second half kind of delivered excellence like they were doing a lot
Clary and Jace no longer being siblings was a huge relief. I was very exhausted from the incest teasing.
Turns out Jace is really the grandson of the inquisitor.
Sebastian was actually a very scary villain, he had me fooled at least. I initially just thought he was a creep.
We find out it was Sebastian with the demon blood and not Jace, Jocelyn’s first child is Sebastian, not Jace
Valentine kind of got an actual personality here, he comes off more like a well-meaning mad scientist with a heart after all. Alas, that doesn’t save him from the wrath of God. He summons the angel and it kills him within 5 minutes 💀
Jace dies (very sick of Cassandra) but Clary is able to save him because the angel offered to do anything for her.
Jace comes back to life.
Jocelyn and Luke are getting married! With respect to Luke, he held out for so many years and it paid off.
I kind of think the mortal instruments should have been a trilogy, city of glass ended things so well, and the mystery behind Sebastian’s death(they never found a body) could have been done away with, I didn’t really care. Jace and clary were very cute at the end I must give them that if nothing at all.
My reading experience in May can be summed up as
- Family drama and surfers
- Ballet and France
- Unserious bible fan fiction
Movies!
The first movie I watched was divergent.
So while I haven’t actually read the book it is quite safe to say that almost all dystopian YA books released in the late 2000s and early 2010s had the same plot essentially. Some terrible war or disease kills a lot of people. Everybody lives in different groups that have an assigned purpose now. The government is usually trying to kill the main character for some reason. These are all basic features of dystopian fiction generally but they all just feel the same, maybe that’s an issue with me or with the writers for failing to make something that stands out. Because I am aware of just how many books have this very basic Hogwarts-house-esque concept, I am unable to call it interesting or unique in any way.
That aside if you’re looking for a bit of fun, go for it!
For some reason, I really liked this scene where they climbed the Ferris wheel
But maybe that’s just because that’s where four admits his fear of heights and all I really want is to see Theo James in a rom-com.
Four is an interesting enough character with a great backstory, honestly, he should’ve been the main character, Tris reminds me of clary in the sense that they both lack personality.
Knives out
I truly think this is phenomenal, I was blown away. Considering I was sleep-deprived on a random Friday night I am surprised my viewing experience was so pleasant.
I knew spoilers going into this. The movie however gaslit me into thinking I had read the wrong thing.
Ana de Armas was great in this role, I really did feel for Marta every step of the way.
Daniel Craig was hilarious, like why did he have such a southern accent please 😭. I laughed almost anytime he breathed
I think if you go into the movie looking to predict who the killer is you spoil it a bit for yourself. While it is not glaringly obvious, you can narrow it out and guess from there. the fun of the movie isn’t finding out the killer, it's going on the entire wild goose chase only to find out what really happened. I recently found out people think Chris Evans was bad in this movie, I thought he was great, you are all unserious, wherever you are.
It reminded me a little of Parasite with the contrast between the ridiculously rich and just getting by (Marta was in no way as poor as them though)
the movie also has excellent rewatch value, I see this as one of my favorites of all time
I look forward to the second movie coming out later this year.
Multiverse of madness
Someone said multiverse of madness never gave multiverse or madness. Frankly, they aren’t incorrect 😭. I think the title gave false impressions
Seeing as this movie only came out last month, I will leave out major spoilers but in my opinion, this is definitely one of marvel’s weakest movies in recent years. It was engaging certainly. I saw it in theaters so I had way too much fun and kept laughing at inappropriate moments but overall this movie was very unserious.
I will say two things
I don’t see why I should care more about America who I have only just been introduced to her, against Wanda Maximoff, the best MCU girl.
Wanda, in all the moments she was completely sane, was 100% valid. She could’ve done far worse, she was right, it was her being reasonable. I stand by Wanda and I will always stand by Wanda. The scene with her and the other her after she scared the children kind of broke my heart for her. Note how, when she realized in that lifetime she would never be with her children, she gave everything up? Exactly, that’s a good woman!
The film had its moments when it would pretend anyone could overpower Wanda but it came to its senses and showed that her terrorism of everyone would only end if her motive stopped being possible. Also, Stephen barely felt like the main character in this movie. it was rather odd.
P.S this movie had some serious jump scares and a lot of horror elements actually, Wanda did not come to play.
That brings me to the end of my media consumption for the month of may, discounting comics and anime because everything is ongoing.
Stranger things season 4 came out which I would be excited about had I gone past season 1.
This is us (Best show on modern television) also ended, reminding me I need to start that show again and actually finish it.
I’m also playing around a bit with my review style as structuring these has been a nightmare. 😭
I doubt I will have so much to talk about this time next month as I have exams. 😭
Wish me the best
Toodles!
Comments
Post a Comment