REVIEW: John Wick: Chapter 4

With the price on his head always increasing, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) finds a way to defeat the High Table; kill the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) in single combat and win his freedom.

Obviously we got to talk about the action as that’s what the John Wick franchise has become known for and Chapter 4 takes things to a whole other level. There are probably about half a dozen sequences which could be the standout in any film so that fact there’s so many exciting and impressive sequences in one film is something to be commended. For a fourth film in an unlikely franchise to be this good and to take its characters and the action to levels we haven’t seen before is really something else. The final act is action on a level and like the sequences before it, it knows how to have some fun with it.

One of the things that makes the many thrilling action sequences work, besides from being well shot, edited, lit, and choreographed, is that many of the key characters are motivated by things other than revenge and desire for a big payday. It’s loyalty and family that drives most of them. Whether that’s blood family like new characters Shimazu and his daughter Akira (Hiroyuki Sanada and Rina Sawayama), or family of choice like John, Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick), or even the family that the Tracker (Shamier Anderson) has with his attack dog. These characters have something to fight for other than themselves and it makes any threat they face feel more real and there’s consequences for the decisions they make. (more…)

Magical Readathon: Spring Equinox 2023 TBR

April is just around the corner so that means it’ll soon be time for the Magical Readathon – my favourite readathon. The prompts for this readathon are each assigned to a subject and you need to read so many subjects/books in order to work towards your chosen career. The Spring Equinox edition of the readathon takes place throughout the month of April and G over at BookRoast has all the info you need about the extra stuff like side quests and things.

Last year I completed all the classes/books I needed to become a Moon Warden and I’m now a Novice in that career path. The way the Magical Readathon works now means I can carry on with that career in order to advance and become an Apprentice, or I could choose a completely different magical career. I honestly am not sure what I want to do yet. If I want to carry on with my Moon Warden training then I’ll need to take five classes – Elemental Studies, Astronomy, Art of Illusion, Restoration, and Spells & Incantations. I think I might end up being a bit chaotic and just try and read as many books as I can and see what leaves me with in terms of potential career paths. So with that in mind, I’ve noted down all 14 prompts and what books I’m planning to read for them – if I manage to get to all of them. While the amount I read on average each month has increased this year, I think 14 books is probably pushing it a bit.

Alchemy – Type of metal in the book title
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
I believe the sequel to Iron Widow is coming out later this year so it’s about time I picked it up. I don’t often read sci-fi (even though I love sci-fi shows/films) so Iron Widow should be something different.

Animal Studies – Flip a coin, heads read a non-fiction book, tails read a fiction book
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
I did indeed flip a coin and got heads so I picked The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I’m going to Amsterdam in May and am planning on visiting the Anne Frank House, and while I learnt about her and the Holocaust in school, I’ve never read her diary so thought it was about time to rectify that and I have the audiobook from my library. (more…)

REVIEW: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognised or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you’re a woman. Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. It exposes the gender data gap – a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women’s lives.

Invisible Women is one of those books that simultaneously super interesting but also super frustrating. I love how with all its stats from countries around the world and its in-depth look at different industries and situations, it puts words to the ideas or feelings I had about life as a woman in the world. There’s the stock phrases like “representation matters” but Invisible Women goes more in-depth than just the idea of “seeing is believing”.

I liked how it goes into the biological differences between men and women and how things like mobile phones getting increasingly larger is fine for men to use one-handed but it’s more difficult for women as the phones are designed with men’s hands in mind and they are usually larger than women’s hands. It’s easy to think that anything men can do, women can do but that’s not the case when the equipment they need to use to do X thing aren’t designed for a woman’s body. I know I’m guilty of thinking that I “can be just as good as a man” when it comes to different things if we have the same time or training, but Invisible Women showed how so much “standard” equipment like PPE, high-vis jackets, and stab vests are designed for a man’s physique aka someone without breasts and perhaps narrower hips and a larger face, which means they are more uncomfortable for women or even don’t work as they should as they’re not designed for their body shape. It’s really enlightening and though as Invisible Women shows there’s still a lot of data missing, it’s ridiculous that what data there is has yet to cause any changes in various industries. Though as the book progresses and shows how the majority of decision makers, whether in government or industry, are men it’s maybe not a such a surprise that women’s needs aren’t seen as such a priority. (more…)

REVIEW: Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

When the daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu) return to Earth with plans to destroy the world of humans, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his adult superhero alter ego (Zachary Levi), must bring his superhero family together to save the world.

The first Shazam! film was an unexpected delight and while Shazam! Fury of the Gods doesn’t reach the heights of the original, it’s still a pretty fun sequel that builds on the themes of family that was so essential to the first one. That being said, I would’ve like Asher Angel to have more screentime with his on-screen siblings, as adult Billy aka Zachary Levi, definitely had the most screentime with the siblings, both the kid-versions and the superhero-versions. The first film had such a great balance between the superhero and the kid stuff but in Fury of the Gods it was definitely more skewed towards the superhero stuff. Which kind of makes sense but it was to an extent where you sometimes for got that this superhero was a teenager – especially as teenage Billy was a lot calmer and more thoughtful than superhero Billy who sometimes veered off into being almost Deadpool-esque with the abundance on one-liners and acting more like comic relief than a hero with responsibilities. (more…)

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge 2023 Edition

It’s fast approaching that time of year again! And this year is a huge milestone for me and this blog. This April will be the tenth year of me doing the A-Z in April Challenge. Ten years! The challenge is to post on your blog every day in April except Sundays – though this year is a bit different. Not including Sundays, there are (usually) twenty-six days in April which matches with the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. That means on 1st April you write something beginning with the letter A, on the 2nd something beginning with the letter B and so on and so forth. This year though the Z post will be on the last day of the month which is a Sunday.

This year it’s a completely new theme, though it’s not something completely foreign to my blog. Last year I re/watched all of New Doctor Who, from Christopher Eccleston to Jodie Whittaker. I say re/watched as I’d seen Nine and Ten’s eras multiple times, I’d watched most of Eleven’s but kind of stopped watching when the Ponds left, then completely missed Twelve’s era, and only started watching the show again properly halfway through Thirteen’s era. So, it was a case of revisiting characters and stories I loved and had a lot of nostalgia for, and watching things for the first time.

So, as I was spending six months watching Doctor Who, I couldn’t help but think ahead to this challenge and start making notes as to what characters, episodes, and themes could fit this challenge. That means April on here is going to be everything Doctor Who. It’s been fun picking out episodes that I have a lot to say about or having the space to gush about characters that I’m five or more years late to meeting. This is probably the year I have been most prepared ever as I had already noted down what each post/letter would be by the end of 2022 and started writing and scheduling posts in January!

There’s still time to sign up for the A to Z in April Challenge. I do recommend it; it definitely makes you stretch yourself to think of something for every letter and it encourages you to be organised – something I’m always trying to be better at when it comes to my blog.

REIVEW: Glorious Poison by Kat Dunn

Glorious Poison is the third and final book in the Battalion of the Dead trilogy so there may be vague spoilers for the previous books, Dangerous Remedy and Monstrous Design, in this review.

Robespierre is dead. The Reign of Terror is over. As Royalist strength grows, the Duc de L’Aubespine plots a coup that will consign the revolution to history. With Olympe in his clutches and one of the Battalion playing spy, they will all have to rely on one another – however hard that might be – in order to make the right choices and potentially save France’s future.

Boy was Glorious Poison a bit of a tough read in comparison to the previous books. There are still schemes and political machinations and friendship but everything looks so bleak for the heroes that it can be a painful and sad read at times. As well as the overarching plot of trying to stop the Duc which seems like an impossible task, so many of the characters are going through life changing events and are having new traumas added to the ones they already had.

Friendships and loyalties are tested as characters are each going through some form of emotional turmoil and are often trying to hide their true feelings and motivations from the others. This trilogy has always been about the choices people can make, both good and bad, and then the consequences from those choices and that’s never been so prominent as it is in Glorious Poison. The choice to live, the choice to love, the choice to fight, the choice to trust – it all slowly builds as uncertain alliances are made in order to achieve their goal of saving Olympe and stopping the Duc.

Throughout the trilogy the setting has always been vivid and now in Glorious Poison we’re back in Paris and with a sudden change of leadership the city, and the country, is on a knifes edge. The differences between the upper and lower classes are stark once again as those who were under threat by the Revolution, are now able to be more free with their luxuries.

Though it is often a story where the characters feel hopeless, Glorious Poison is a testament to the strength of friendship and found family, and when one character might not believe in themselves, they’ll find others will. Overall Glorious Poison is a smart and satisfying end to this trilogy. 4/5.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Spring 2023 TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. It’s time for a TBR and I love doing these. Now I’ve completed my Read the World Project and have nothing that I have to read it’s really fun to look at my shelves and think about what I’d really like to pick up and read next.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
I’m going to Amsterdam in May and am planning on visiting the Anne Frank House, and while I learnt about Anne Frank and the Holocaust in school, I’ve never read her diary so thought it was about time to rectify that and I got the audiobook from my library.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
I read an ARC of City of Brass years ago and while I liked it, I didn’t carry on with the series, but now the author has a completely new book and it features female pirates which sounds pretty cool.

Vicious and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
So, Vicious will be a reread and I did love it when I read it nearly 10 years ago! As it’s been so long since I read it, I do want to reread it before reading Vengeful. I’ve heard mixed things about the sequel so I’m interested to see what I make of it and hopefully Vicious lives up to my memory of it.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Firekeeper’s Daughter is one of those books I’ve seen around for years and have been tempted to buy it many times because of its gorgeous cover and after it was available for 99p on kindle, I finally succumbed and got a copy.

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
I saw a video where Matthew Sciarappa mentioned reading the latest novel in this cosy murder mystery series and it sounded like my kind of thing plus, I’ve not really read any books in translation since I finished my Read the World Project and I don’t want to get out of that habit. Turns out my library has the series available on audio so I’ve got a reserve on the first book and it should be available in May.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I am a bit hesitant about this one as while I loved The Martian, I didn’t think much of Artemis so Project Hail Mary could go either way for me.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Kindred is one of those modern classics that I’ve heard a lot of good buzz about but still don’t really know what it’s about. I think it’s a mix of historical fiction and sci-fi and time travel which should be an interesting and potentially hard-hitting combination.

The Beast Player and The Beast Warrior by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano
This is a duology full of mythical beasts and I’ve been doing pretty well at reading series so far this year aka I’ve read two trilogies (Winternight and Battalion of the Dead) and would like to carry on catching up on the series on my shelves this year.

What books are you hoping to get to in the next few months?

REVIEW: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021)

After Mona Lisa (Jeon Jong-seo), a young woman with telekinetic powers breaks out of an asylum in Louisiana, she makes her way to New Orleans where she meets fellow misfits and outcasts.

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon starts off strong with this neon-infused New Orleans setting but everything does peter out in the second half. It’s a film that has both comedic moments and more serious ones and the blending of those two doesn’t always work. When it’s focused on the more eerie side of things that’s when it really worked for me.

There’s a level of tension throughout the film as though Mona Lisa has these powers which allow her to make people do whatever she wants, she’s been locked away from the world for so long that she doesn’t really have many social skills or awareness of how the world works. She’s naive in some ways and it’s easy for her to be taken advantage of. Especially at the beginning when she’s just got out of the asylum and is just wearing a straight jacket, because of Jong-seo’s size it makes her look even more vulnerable. (more…)

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2022 Masterpost

I somehow forgot to do this after I completed the challenge in 2022 and as I’m prepping for the 2023 challenge I thought it was about time I put together my 2022 masterpost. 2022’s edition of the A-Z blogging challenge was full reviews of films that began with each letter of the alphabet.

Sign Up Post
A – Absolute Power (1997)
B – Blue Steel (1990)
C – City Heat (1984)
D – Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
E – Enough Said (2013)
F – Firefox (1982)
G – The Good Shepherd (2006)
H – House of Flying Daggers (2004)
I – The Immigrant (2013)
J – Jenny’s Wedding (2015)
K – King Leopold’s Ghost (2006)
L – Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
M – Matchstick Men (2003)
N – Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
O – One for the Money (2012)
P – Psycho (1960)
Q – Quincy (2018)
R – Rope (1948)
S – Space Cowboys (2000)
T – The Trouble with Harry (1955)
U – Upside-Down Magic (2020)
V – Vita & Virginia (2018)
W – White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
X – X+Y (2014)
Y – The Year of Spectacular Men (2017)
Z – Zoe (2018)
Reflections Post

REVIEW: Monstrous Design by Kat Dunn

Monstrous Design is the second book in the Battalion of the Dead trilogy so there may be vague spoilers for the first book, Dangerous Remedy, in this review.

Camille and Al are in London, searching for James and Olympe, while Ada and Guile are still in Paris, tasked with spying on royalist Duc de l’Aubespine and figuring out what his plans are and putting a stop to them. With the Battalion of the Dead spread thin, they will have to rely on each other more than ever, especially as there’s a new threat in Britain.

While there was Frankenstein elements in the first book, Monstrous Design goes full steam ahead with those ideas and with it becomes quite horrifying at times as the theoretical becomes reality. The blending of eighteenth-century science with fantastical elements is still really interesting and as Ada gets more involved with experiments, you see more of how she’s chafing against what’s deemed as proper for a girl of her standing when all she wants to do is learn and understand.

This isn’t a fault of the book but it’s something I’ve noticed as this is the third YA book I’ve read so far this year when the rest of my reading has been adult. The teenage characters really feel like teenagers – which is good! They all often feel like maudlin teens or out of their depth and having big feelings about things, which also makes the moments when they’re honest about their feelings all the more impactful.

In relation to this, I like how these teenage characters parents have a big impact on them. It’s easy to just have absent or dead parents in YA to allow the characters to do what they wish, and there are a few dead parents thanks to the revolution, but the parents have clearly shaped their children – for good or for bad. Ada’s relationship with her father is one that gets more focus in Monstrous Design as he feels he’s trying to protect her and set her up with the life a young woman needs aka a husband and own home to look after, and doesn’t take into consideration what Ada desires from life. James’ relationship with his father is frustrating at times but also understandable as he wants his father’s approval and praise and will do anything to get it, even if it means putting himself and others in difficult positions.

Having the Battalion split up and two storylines running concurrently means there’s a lot of twists and conspiracies in two different countries. I didn’t find one group of characters more interesting than the other which was good as sometimes there isn’t that balance. I did worry the Paris gang wasn’t going to be doing much to drive the plot forward but was happy to be proven wrong about that and how everything comes together was really well done.

Monstrous Design isn’t quite as action-packed as Dangerous Remedy but there’s still a lot of scheming and peril and there’s still a dry wit which is mostly thanks to Al. It’s still a fast-paced and engaging read and how it combines the politics of the time with fantastical elements is really well done and interesting. 4/5.