Tag: review

My Lowest Rated Books of 2022 – Blogmas 2022

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

This year wasn’t my best year, mostly due to drama and life and work and just a general shift my personal time. However, I did read about 30 books (my list isn’t exactly up to date, I’m working on it). When glancing on said list, I realized I had three books that I rated the lowest. Considering how I rate books, I wanted to talk about them.

Before we jump in, I wanted to detail my rating scale:

  • 5 Stars – This book is basically perfect. I would reread it right now. I absolutely enjoyed reading this in every way.
  • 4 Stars – I liked this book. It’s not perfect, but it was fine and I enjoyed my time with it.
  • 3 Stars – I read it. I’m not a fan, but I probably have a reason. It won’t be reread.
  • 2 Stars – I finished it. Not a fan, never again, it’s getting donated.
  • 1 Star – DNF. Absolutely hated it. Offensive.

So let’s run through my lowest rated books.

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (Graphic Novel) – Originally 4 Stars, rerated at 3 Stars.

Before someone throws a tomato my direction, this review is only and specifically regarding the writing of the graphic novel. I’m not touching the contents or the author’s life. (Also, a blanket apology if I mess up Kobabe’s pronouns. I’ve never used Spivak pronouns before, so this is a new experience for me.)

My only and biggest issue with Gender Queer is that I was bored. Kobabe chose to present eir story using a graphic novel style, which should have worked to eir advantage. However, for me, I don’t think it did. I felt very limited in learning about Kobabe’s life during eir coming out and life. I just felt… bored. Focusing just on the writing, I just didn’t get hooked into the writing. I started skimming early on. I didn’t feel like I wanted to really sit their and learn about Kobabe’s life and struggles.

I respectfully just wasn’t interested in the end. I rated it 4 starts originally more because I was worried that people might get pissed at me for rating it any lower. But personally, I just wasn’t a fan.

That said… Gender Queer is a massively important graphic novel that needs to be available to anyone who wants to read it.

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour (Paperback) – 3 Stars

I had loved LaCour’s previous book, We Are Okay. When I picked up Watch Over Me, I was hopeful that I would enjoy it just as much. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

I felt as though nothing happened throughout Watch Over Me. There was a little thing here or there, but no real plot movement until right towards the very end. By the time I finally got hooked into the story, I was into the final chapter and right at the end. I just wasn’t happy about that.

I’m willing to give LaCour another shot either with her 2022 novel or with one of the other novels she’s written previously. I guess it will be a rainy day read.

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (Hardcover) – 3 Stars

This one is shocking to me, as The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was an instant 5 Star novel for me in 2019. The middle book in the series, Good Girl, Bad Blood, was a 4 Star, but I still enjoyed it very much. As for As Good As Dead…

The best way to describe it is that I really enjoyed AGAD until the middle of the book. The moment the major twist happens, I feel like the entire book takes a left turn into “I don’t know what this is” Land. I read it in my car (in a parking lot waiting for a family member to be done with a medical procedure) one afternoon and I almost threw the book out the window. I was so very annoyed.

I know there is a prequel novella that’s been released, and will be released in February I believe. I also know that Jackson has a new standalone novel out. I’m gonna give it a try (fingers crossed that it’ll be under the tree). I’m just sad because this last outing just didn’t do it for me in any way.

Wrap Up

I’m okay with only having three low rated books in 2022, even taking into account that I honestly haven’t read a lot this year (thanks reading slump). I’m hoping that in 2023, I’ll get more opportunities to read a variety of books. It’s on the list, once things get more settled around here.

Until next time!

Book Review: .hack//Another Birth Volume 2: Mutation by Miu Kawasaki – Blogtober

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Volume 2: Infection

Author: Miu Kawasaki

Series: .hack//Another Birth

Publish Date: October 10, 2006

Publisher: TokyoPop

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

Akira – also known as Black Rose – keeps fighting to save her younger brother’s consciousness from The World. But as she becomes immersed in the online game, Black Rose is beset by even further problems in the real world.

Review: For the second book in the series, this one always felt a little… slow. I remember reading it the first time on an Amtrak from Orlando, Florida to Newark, New Jersey, and just not really enjoying it nearly as much as the first book, Infection.

Akira continues to live this double life, both active in her school sport of tennis and taking more responsibility with her family, while also continuing her journey through The World with Kite and their slowly growing friend group. The trials and tribulations they go through mostly follow the games (the source material), but having certain actions through Akira’s eyes makes some of the prose feel lost or chunky.

One thing I will give this volume credit over the previous is that the author seemed to have a better grasp on the characters and source material. Things are somewhat more explained, and the main character’s personalities seem to be closer aligned to the games. Some of Kite and Black Rose’s dialogue remains flipped, but it is much less jarring in this volume compared to the original.

As a nostalgia read, coming back nearly fifteen years later still makes me wish I had played through the entire series on PS2. (I only owned the first game due to being a late adopter of the Playstation, and by that time the series was basically over and the newer games were being released, and re-released, and remade, and I’m not bitter that the originals are ignored. No. Not at all.)

Rating: 3.5/5 (Rounded up for Goodreads)

Goodreads Goal 12/52

[Edit note:] This book was originally reread in June 2020. The review of this one (as well as the final two in the series, were delayed due to some personal life things. I’m playing catchup right now! This review had been started (in a slightly different format) when I had to step away, so please forgive the shortness. My notes just weren’t that good for this one (or the sequels, lol).

Review the MCU: Marvel’s What If?

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

It occurred to me less than four hours before my mom and I planned to sit down and watch Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness that I forgot to watch something. And that something was actually important to little bits of the plot.

I skipped Marvel’s What If?

Now, I will admit this was initially skipped for two reasons: Mom doesn’t like “What If” storylines on a good day and refused to watch it, and I just wasn’t feeling the animation. However, in the leadup to Doctor Strange 2, I heard from the grapevine that actually watching some of the episodes of What If was actually somewhat important.

So, we’ve pushed watching Doctor Strange 2 off until Sunday night, and I’ve spent most of my downtime blasting through all nine episodes. And here are my thoughts for each one. Well… kinda.

(My apologies, but you can clearly watch my descent on this one and it goes so so fast.)

What if… Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?

As a first episode, I ended up somewhat surprised. While the story does follow the original film’s storyline, with changes to account for Peggy Carter switching places with Steve Rogers, it ended up working pretty well. I very much enjoyed the different scenes that highlighted that Steve couldn’t join the war effort the way he wanted to after being shot, and that Howard Stark came up with a way for him to help. There were a few things that just didn’t really click with me beyond the animation style and the shaky voice acting work (which is something across the board, but I respect Marvel Studios for bringing back all the voices of the original characters). For one, there’s a lot going on for just thirty minutes. Whole scenes of information were shoved down into thirty seconds. For another, character development was rushed: we don’t get to see Bucky become friends with Captain Carter, and hell, he spends most of the episode shafted to the side.

All in all, it was pretty solid, with some notable small issues.

What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?

I almost skipped this episode because I knew I was going to cry. And yes, I did cry, if anyone is curious. T’Challa’s portrayal as a hero is spot on, not just for the character, but also because of how inspiring Chadwick Boseman was in real life. By showing T’Challa as someone who goes on adventures, but also uses the spoils of those adventures to help the universe, is a tribute in of itself. I did enjoy the build with his character’s story, though again, it was rushed. This episode felt more solid and contained even with the timing issues. The only glaring thing I really saw was that there was no mention of Gamora, who should have already been by Thanos’ side by the time T’Challa talked him into changing his ways. I will say however, the ending was perfect (Peter Quill working at Dairy Queen with Ego appearing to talk to him). And the tribute? That was done well.

What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

So, how does one kill every one of the OG6 in four days (baring, of course, Captain America, who is still frozen)? A mad Hank Pym, obviously. I wasn’t exactly surprised by who actually died, but the manner they all did. The worst, honestly, was Hulk, which made me gasp because of the brutality of it, followed closely by Natasha’s. Clint’s made me want to cry as Fury defended him to the end. I wasn’t at all surprised that Loki decided in the end to rule Earth. While this one didn’t have as many loose ends, I have to wonder (since I’m writing these blubs as soon as I’ve watched each episode and I’m not looking ahead), is everything going to end up connected in the end? Hmm…

What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

Ugh. This was never going to be a favorite episode of mine, I knew it from five minutes in. But the entire premise just did not do justice to the MCU or to Strange’s character. The thing I dislike the most is that the whole thing revolved around Dr. Palmer and fridging her. Seriously, she “has to stay dead” is the theme of the episode. It’s so very disappointing. My only kudo goes to the voice acting, specifically Benedict Cumberbatch. If this is what I have to look forward to in Doctor Strange 2, I’m gonna hate those scenes.

What If… Zombies?!

… I hate zombies, I hate zombie stories, and I really dislike this episode. But Peter was cool, even if it was a dark and depressing episode. Seriously, like most of the currently MCU cast appears in some facet, and only three of them officially survive by the end. Nope.

What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?

Killmonger is one of my favorite villains in the MCU. This episdoe made me not like him. Also, Tony Stark is not this naïve, but wow he is here. I spent the entire episode rolling my eyes. Nope. I still don’t like this. (Did the writers just have a thing in their contract that Tony Stark must be killed off ASAP in every episode?

What If… Thor Were and Only Child?

Um.

What If… Ultron Won?

Well..

What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?

So here’s the thing-

Season Thoughts as a Whole

Alright, confession time. I didn’t get past Episode 6.

I gave the show long enough to hook me, much longer than I normally do (which is two or three episodes). If only one episode out of the six I watched hooked me or impressed me enough to continue, then why would I continue on? I have far too much left on my summer watch list to be trying to force myself to continue watching something that just hasn’t hooked me.

However, in writing this review, I think I can identify exactly why I’m not a fan of this show. I’m not a fan of properties that are dark and depressing just for the sake of it. This show had most episodes end on a cliffhanger with something bad on the horizon, which just doesn’t work for me. But that’s just my opinion, not anyone else’s.

I’ve read the summaries for the remaining three episodes so that I have a basic understanding of what happens with the different metaverse characters. It will have to be enough in the lead into Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

I still give all the props to the creators and team behind the show. It was an ambitious endeavor, even outside these pandemic times! The idea was absolutely sound. Just because it didn’t get me excited doesn’t mean it won’t be something that you might not enjoy. I highly encourage everyone who hasn’t seen Marvel’s What If to give it a few episodes.

Just so it’s clear, I won’t be watching Season Two when it airs later this year. I’ll instead continue to read the detailed episode summaries (thanks MCU Fandom Wiki).

Until next time!

Review “One Chicago” – The 2015-16 Season

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well, this has been a long time coming.

Alright, time to own up to a very hilarious mistake. Somewhere in my head, I thought that I’d posted this. Heck, I though I’d finished it! In reality, this isn’t October 4, 2021, it’s late on July 9, 2022, which means it’s been nine months since I started this. So… Don’t be surprised with how barebones this is. At the time of writing, I’m eight episodes away from being done with the next season. It’s been a while. (You have permission to make fun of me for this. I’m sitting here laughing about the situation.)

Anyway, quick reminder before you continue. This is a basic summary of some of the major storylines and major characters in each show. You’ll probably figure out that I have some favorites and some not so favorites.

Chicago Fire Season Four

This season continues this trend of the world making sure that Kelly Severide cannot have nice things. During the first episode, he is stripped of his rank as Lieutenant due to the amount of men going through Squad 3, even though he had basically nothing to do with the people who left/resigned. This is a massive blow to him, and honestly it’s undeserved. Him having to undergo “leadership classes” was something that actually bothered me, and then his rank is just handed back to him anyway when Patterson is promoted. (BTW, I didn’t mind Patterson for the most part. He exists. He did nothing for me. He was just a character created to be an obstacle for 51, just Severide and Boden in particular). But by the middle of the season, things have calmed down for Kelly for the most part. He still has some little storylines, though those don’t exactly last more than a episode or two. However, as the season goes on, newcomer Stella Kidd and Severide slowly get closer, leading to a tense conclusion to the dramatic final few episodes.

Matt Casey also starts this season on a low note. He ended last season getting roped up in an Intelligence case, that causes major repercussions during the beginning of this season. On top of that, he and Dawson end up falling pregnant, though unfortunately they lose the baby early on. This leads to a rough patch in their relationship that they struggle through, coming out stronger on the other side. On another front, Casey decides to step into the political sphere by running for alderman, which leads to many ups and downs for him throughout the remainder of the season, even after he wins. Towards the end of the season, his relationship with Dawson still isn’t perfect, but she’s got other things to worry about.

For her part, Gabriela Dawson has a rough season. She spends the first chunk of the season reassigned to the Arson Investigation Unit as she is pregnant. Tragically, she doesn’t get to stay long, as she loses the pregnancy only a few episodes later. When she is allowed to return to 51 as a firefighter, she finds herself in hot water when she has an outburst at a citizen and it ends up on social media. Things calm for a bit, and then she ends up getting attached to a foster child who she saves on a call. By the end of the season, she and Casey have temporarily separated, with her moving into the studio apartment over Herrmann’s garage.

Sylvie Brett also has a hell of a season, but most of what happens to her is compounded by who she is working with. For the first half of the season, she remains paired with Jessica “Chili” Chilton. While they do have a good working relationship, this breaks down when Chili starts drinking and acting recklessly in the aftermath of learning about the overdose death of her twin sister, Jellybean. Brett is forced to report her for drinking on the job, which ends up being the final nail in Chili’s work coffin. She spends the rest of the season with Jimmy Borelli, the 51 candidate who is assigned to work on the ambulance.

Newcomer Stella Kidd (who I know plays a major role in seasons to come) joins 51 mid season. A firefighter, she immediately makes a name for herself. I like the fact that she has a seemingly good head on her shoulders, but also a pretty good attitude. Her ex-husband causes her some trouble during her storylines, which leads to a chilling final scene.

Elsewhere, Herrmann ends up stabbed, Otis has health issues, Cruz deals with some trouble, Boden gets arrested (it’s a whole thing, first half of the season), and Candidate Jimmy Borelli just doesn’t fit in. The final few episodes reveal that not is all well with 51, and things might break again before they get better.

While this season had some issues, it does come together when it needs to. I’m happy for it. I’m rating it 8/10.

Chicago P.D. Season Three

This season blew me out of the park (if I remember right..). Characters grow and shift, major storylines are handled relatively well, and even the show’s time with crossovers worked pretty well.

Jay Halstead remains my favorite character. He’s a good cop, but he’s also willing to put his badge on the line to protect both his team and victims. His relationship with Erin Lindsay goes through some issues, more so early on than anywhere else. Seeing him interact with his brother Will is always special; both actors have incredible charisma. He suffers through some tragedies, but comes out of it stronger.

The same cannot be said for Lindsay. In the aftermath of last season, she spends the beginning of this one on a destructive spiral. She’s lucky that she’s close to Voight, otherwise her job out be in major jeopardy. I’ll admit, I’ve never been a big fan of Erin. Nothing against the actress, she just never clicked with me. She does do some major good this season, but the pros unfortunately don’t outweigh the cons.

Adam Ruzek and Kim Burgess’ relationship is one that is officially this show’s on-again-off-again. They work well together, than one of them does or says something, and then there’s yet another obstacle for them to get over. As much as I love them both, I want more for them. A little birdy tells me that I’m going to get my wish…

As for Hank Voight, my respect for him as grown. The man spends most of this season dealing with problems. But while he’s putting out fires in his own destructive ways, he also sticks with his morals. By the end of the season, my heart bled for the man as he has to say goodbye to his son, murdered while attempting to help the wife of a man we went through basic training with. In rage, he finds the man who did it, forces him to dig his own grave, and takes care of him.

Other major storylines include more of Jay and Mouse’s backstory (I love Mouse, he’s hilarious and damn good), Platt marrying a Mouch from Fire, and Officer Romen finally being written out.

This was probably the strongest season yet. I happily give it a 9/10.

Chicago Med Season One

So, my first impression of this show (not including what we’ve already seen in the crossovers) is that I feel like I’ve seen it before. It’s very… hospital drama. Which is exactly what it is, but by that I mean, they’re not reinventing the wheel. You’ve got the perfect guy who knows a lot and is returning home (played by the actor who played Tommy Merlyn on Arrow, and he’s hot and he knows it), the cocky one, the new girl, the ladies that exist to butt heads with people… It’s all very generic.

Honestly? I won’t be continuing with it. I only watched through the major crossover and just gave up. I’m not a fan of hospital dramas in the first place. I gave it longer than I normally do. I will however watch episodes or storylines that involve characters from Fire and P.D. It just didn’t work for me. I will say that of what I did see, I was impressed.

I will not be giving this season a rating out of respect for the fact I only watched maybe a fifth of it.

Crossovers and Character Appearances

There are two major crossovers during this year. The first (“The Beating Heart”/”Malignant”/”Now I’m God”) is across all three One Chicago shows, beginning with Christopher Herrmann’s stabbing. Things take a turn during the crossover when it is discovered that cancer-free patients are overdosing on chemotherapy drugs. By the time it hits the final episode, Voight takes center stage in a major performance as it is revealed that his own wife may have been a victim.

While this does end up being two separate storylines that are crossed in the middle with Chicago Med, it shows the powerhouse of acting that are the shows have employed. I can’t say I’m anything but impressed by it. It was magnificent.

The second crossover (“National Manhunt”/”The Song of Gregory William Yates”)is actually one with Law & Order SVU, which ends up being a sequel to a storyline from the previous season. I don’t really want to go into too much detail, because I’m just not a fan of this crossover. There was no need to revisit the storyline. I have respect for everyone involved, but it just wasn’t for me.

All in all, I’m happy to continue on (and I did, nine months later, lol). And how I go onto Year 4 of One Chicago. I’m excited to see what’s coming next.

Until next time!

Watching Chicago Justice Didn’t Go Very Well…

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to real world shenanigans, I had to pause watching One Chicago a while ago. It wasn’t planned, but something had to give.

It’s been about four months or so. I’m finally back at it! And last night, I reached the major crossover in the 2016-2017 season. So let’s talk about it!

(For anyone who remembers, I will be doing a full season wrap up post once I finish the season. But I wanted to focus specifically on this one topic, to save me from complaining for paragraphs in that wrap up.)

The Lead Up

Towards the end of the previous season of Chicago PD (3×21), there was a backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice. I wasn’t very impressed, but that was fine, I’m allowed to have a different opinion.

During the beginning of Season Four, Detective Antonio Dawson, one of the major members of the Intelligence Unit, is offered a role as an investigator for the State Attorney’s office. In episode eight, he accepts that role and leaves the unit. This sets him up to help start on Chicago Justice, which started airing later in the season.

The Crossover Event

One Chicago is pretty known for characters making appearances on the different shows in the franchise. Most of the time, it’s limited to a brief appearance, a scene or two at most. However, usually once or twice a season there’s a crossover “event”, which has a singular storyline stretch across two or three shows.

In the 2016-17 season, there were two. The first was a two episode arc which isn’t relevant to this discussion. The second, however, features all four shows across three episodes and serves as the season opener to the latest Chicago series.

This crossover event deals with a tragedy that effects one of the major character, and has ramifications across all of the shows during the event. It was largely successful!

The first part of the crossover is handled by Chicago Fire and deals with Firehouse 51 being called to a fire at a former factory turned illegal housing for artists and the like. While they are able to gets exits open and save a majority of the residents (and partiers, as there was a party also going on), the death toll rises throughout the episode. And to the horror of all the characters, Detective Alvin Olinsky’s daughter Lexi was inside and she’s grievously injured.

Moving into the second part, Chicago PD takes over, looking for the person that set the fire and have killed so many young people. While the majority of the unit is interviewing and searching, Olinsky says at Chicago Med and is there when Lexi succumbs to her injuries. Using some actual police work, the Intelligence Unit is able to identify a potential subject and arrest him.

From here we finish with the first episode of Chicago Justice. And here is when things take a turn.

About Justice…

So, I don’t exactly know how the convict the killer. Or exactly what happens in the trial. Or really anything after about the… fifteen minute or so mark of Chicago Justice.

Why? Because I just turned it off.

Here’s the thing. While I enjoy a good drama, courtroom dramas are hard to sell me on, because I get board with them. I was pretty sure that Justice was going to be along the lines of Law and Order. I was hopeful that something would catch me (like Antonio’s acting with other characters) and I’d get hooked, the same way I did with Fire and PD.

That didn’t happen. The first fifteen minutes was basically conversation. People making statements, people retracting statements, people just… talking. There was no action, no real moment of surprise or twists or turns. Just the same thing for fifteen minutes.

Right at that fifteen minute mark, I just gave up.

Here’s the problem with this. “Fake” was the third episode, the finale, of the major four series, three episode crossover, as well as the first episode of a new show and was meant to sell the show! The complete tone shift from action and tension and tragedy to… mundane just did not work. It slowed everything down and did not fit in with what the first two episodes had set up.

And here’s the thing…

I was warned about this.

When I was first getting into One Chicago, I went to the One Chicago subreddit to get an idea of what type of insanity I was about to undertake. One of the first posts I saw was someone asking if Justice was necessary to watch. That was a resounding “NO.”

Heck, anywhere and everywhere I’ve looked, the cons have far outweighed the pros. So many people flat out said it’s not worth it. To just read episode summaries if I absolutely had to. To just ignore it entirely (except for the first episode, since it is the finale of the crossover).

I spent 15 dollars on the DVDs. Worst purchase of the year thus far.

Wrap-up

Basically, If you’re planning on watching One Chicago, just ignore the existence of Justice if you can. It there but it’s not worth it. None of the plotlines have any real weight on the series going forth (according to my quick research).

During the rest of my watch, I will be skipping it (no great loss, just effecting this one season). I’ll briefly mention it in my season breakdown when I get to that (hopefully some time next week? Maybe even this weekend? Depends on how the rest of tonight goes.

Until next time!

Book Review: .hack//Another Birth Volume 1: Infection by Miu Kawasaki

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Volume 1: Infection

Author: Miu Kawasaki

Series: .hack//Another Birth

Publish Date: June 13, 2006

Publisher: TokyoPop

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

In order for Akira to save her younger brother, who suddenly loses consciousness in the middle of playing The World, she enters the online fantasy game as the Heavy Blade-wielding BlackRose. While heading toward the area where her brother’s consciousness was stolen, BlackRose meets the Twin Blade fighter Kite. Written from BlackRose’s perspective, this adaptation of the popular .hack series of games is the first installment of yet another hit .hack novel series!

Review: I was in the mood for a bit of a nostalgia trip going into the weekend, and so I picked up my old copy of Infection. It’s been a long time since I read through this light novel, about five years according to Goodreads. For a bit of backstory, I only ever played the first game (I was late getting a PS2 and none of my friends played RPGs beyond Kingdom Hearts and some Final Fantasy. But I liked the associated anime and read the books to understand the world a bit. Since then, I have also watched some Let’s Plays of the games, and I have a passing knowledge of the storyline of this side of the series.

As for Infection, I still think it holds up. Akira is a young teenager dealing with the trauma of discovering her brother’s comatose body, on top of the normal issues with school life. She has to deal with bullying, her intense sense of pride in her favorite sport, helping out her family more than ever, and also working to discover exactly what happened to Fumikazu while inside The World. 

There are flaws in the story being told. Some of the writing doesn’t land right, some of the dialogue shared between BlackRose and Kite are flipped (as the story is told from BlackRose’s POV and she comes off pretty harsh in the game), and some scenes feel rushed. A passing knowledge of the series helps, though you can probably figure out what’s going on without much extra googling (though it is fun to do so). 

For a nostalgia read, this was a fun little read down memory lane. I’ll probably finish the other three volumes over the next few days.

Rating: 3.5/5 (Rounded up for Goodreads)

Goodreads Goal 11/52

[Edit note:] For the sake of length (and posts), I’ll be combining the reviews for the other three volumes of this series into one post on Sunday. But right now I’m pretty sure I’m on a reading spree, so don’t be surprised to see a lot more book reviews in the coming weeks. <3

Book Review: Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: Watch Over Me

Author: Nina LaCour

Series: Standalone

Publish Date: January 18, 2022 (Originally published September 15, 2020)

Publisher: Rocky Pond Books

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

A modern ghost story about trauma and survival, Watch Over Me is the much-anticipated new novel from the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay

Mila is used to being alone.

Maybe that’s why she said yes. Yes to a second chance in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.

But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.

Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a teaching job and a place to live on an isolated part of the Northern California coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home–a real home. The farm is a refuge, but it’s also haunted by the past. And Mila’s own memories are starting to rise to the surface.

Nina LaCour, the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay, delivers another emotional knockout with Watch Over Me about trauma and survival, chosen family and rebirth.

Review: I feel conflicted.

On one hand, the book delivered on exactly what was described in the summary. On the other, I’m walking away feeling dissatisfied.

Unlike Ms. LaCour’s previous novel, We Are Okay, I struggled to stay engaged in this novel. It’s not that it was poorly written, because it wasn’t. The writing style was exactly what I remember from the previous novel. No, it was that I found the story… boring. Or, in another word, uninspiring. Like I’ve read this story before.

I knew going in that this would be a book dealing with trauma and healing. After all, our main character, Mila, had a traumatic moment in her past that sticks with her years later. But the climax of Mila overcoming that trauma comes late into the book, and it just didn’t hit me. Mila also came off the page as bland, going through the motions, with bursts of movement that felt disjointed from her narration.

Besides Lee, the young boy that Mila is in charge of, I had trouble distinguishing a majority of the characters. I got confused for a bit because I couldn’t tell apart the other two interns from the couple that is running the farm. I wanted to know more about all the characters, and for the most part we just got a line or two of backstory and that’s it.

In a way, this book felt like one of those artsy indie films you might see at a small independent theater. It tells a story, and it does okay with what time it has, but unless you are immediately caught by the plot, you are just left watching flashing pictures on the screen. In this case, I totally understood what I was supposed to get, but I just set the book down completed and moved on.

This won’t turn me away from reading other books by Ms. LaCour, because as I said I did enjoy her previous book. I am just reminded that maybe this one just didn’t do it for me. And that’s okay.

Rating: 3/5

Goodreads Goal 10/52

Book Review: We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story

Author: Simu Liu

Series: Standalone

Publish Date: May 07, 2022

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: eBook

Goodreads Summary:

Marvel’s newest recruit shares his own inspiring and unexpected origin story, from China to the bright lights of Hollywood. An immigrant who battles everything from parental expectations to cultural stereotypes, Simu Liu struggles to forge a path for himself, rising from the ashes of a failed accounting career (yes, you read that right) to become Shang-Chi. […]

We Were Dreamers is more than a celebrity memoir – it’s a story about growing up between cultures, finding your family, and becoming the master of your own extraordinary circumstance. [Summary cut for length.]

Review: I’m not normally one to read memoirs. They usually bore me, or I was “forced” into reading one for an assignment.

That is not the case here. 

I chose to pick up Simu Liu’s memoir for one reason. I wanted to get to know one of Marvel’s newest superheroes. I had never watched anything he was in previously (either it wasn’t available to me, or didn’t appeal to my tastes). I figured I might learn something from his book, or at least just have something that would get me through the workday. And I ended up pleasantly surprised.

Simu’s voice comes through with every line, raw and authentic. He talks about his life from before he was ever thought of, until that moment of standing in front of the camera on day one of Shang-Chi and hearing “action.” But beyond that is a profound look into the lives of Chinese immigrants, from day on until eventual and hard-fought success. I feel like I learned just as much about Simu as I did about the struggles of those who left their entire lives and cultures behind to chase the dream of success.

What I really enjoyed was that Simu didn’t shy away from his failures. He put a spin on them, sure, made them entertaining to read and listen to, but beneath the humor was stress and sadness. It worked well in my opinion. His failures were given the same weight as his successes. And I think that’s what makes me walk away from this book impressed.

For Marvel fans looking to know more about one of their actors, this one is an absolute must read.

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Goal 9/52

Book Review: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Title: The Lost Hero

Author: Rick Riordan

Series: The Heroes of Olympus, Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

Publish Date: September 24, 2019 (originally published October 12, 2010)

Publisher: Disney Hyperion Books

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea-except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all-including Leo-related to a god.

Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson series, pumps up the action and suspense in The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Fans of demi-gods, prophesies, and quests will be left breathless–and panting in anticipation for Book Two. 

Review: Well, I wasn’t expecting to like this book. But I did, a lot.

When I first picked this one up, I recognized the first two chapters. But that was where my reading had ended. And honestly, it took me a bit to get into this one, based entirely on those two chapters. While I have a passing knowledge of this pentalogy (as well as the other novels from the series as a whole), I didn’t know exactly how this would go. I was pleasantly surprised!

Having one of the main characters be amnesiac was an interesting narrative choice, especially with the tiny details being slipped in. Jason is clearly a complex character stuck between two worlds, and he’s lucky to have two built-in friends to help him navigate this. One small detail bothered me, however: the reveal that he is Thalia’s much younger brother. I would have rather that surprise have come when Thalia came into the story, instead of being pretty early on. But that’s just personal preference.

For new main characters, I found Piper and Leo’s voices to be strong. They both had pasts that drove them forward, bending them but not breaking them. However, I feel that they are a bit overpowered, especially Leo (the first child of Hephaestus who can control fire in centuries). But, they back it up by making him a part of the Second Great Prophecy.

Actually, I do have a slight issue. Does everyone know about the prophecy? It’s mentioned I don’t even know how many times that Jason, Piper, and Leo have to be a part of it. I mean, I’m not surprised that everyone at Camp Half-Blood knows, but it’s just treated as general knowledge, which is the opposite of how the first prophecy (which drove the first pentalogy) was treated.

Something that made me happy was to see the characters from the original pentalogy still around, not just completely sidelined. Annabeth isn’t in this much, considering that she’s searching for Percy. Rachel makes appearances, similar to how she did since her introduction. Others also make appearances that fit their characters.

I was also surprised that this book did away with the “one book a year” thing that the first series had (every book barring the third was set a year later from the first, similar to Harry Potter). Starting in winter immediately shows me that Roirden did something different with this series, and I’m happy about it.

All in all, this was a pretty satisfying opening to the next part of the series. I’m looking forward to seeing exactly how everything plays out.

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads Goal 8/52

Let’s Talk: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I’m impressed.

I honestly never thought that there would be a Lego game that would be larger than Lego Dimensions on release day. One that holds up, anyway. But then again, I never considered TSS.

I’ve been playing since release day, slowly making my way through the game to 100%. It’s a humongous game with a lot of content, both of the level variety and the different planets, all of which stand out. There are both land fights and space battles (though those got old pretty fast), and even some fights inside ships that you take over. 

Let’s talk about the stats. (Disclaimer: I have had all the currently released DLC since release day, so some of the stats may be different if you just have the base game.) As of the writing of this post, there are 1200 Kyber bricks to be collected throughout the game, via puzzles, missions, and levels. 380 characters appear, separated into one of nine classes. As for vehicles, there are 95 ships that are used during space travel, 9 capital ships (4 of which were just added the other day during an update), and 45 micro-ships, which can be ridden around on planets.

TSS features 45 levels, dedicating five for each film in the main storyline of the series, Episodes I-IX. Each level has a total of six Kyber bricks to collect: one for completion, three for the three tiered stud goal, one for collecting all of the minikits, and one for completing all challenges. There are five minikits per level, totaling 225 minikits, while there are three challenges per level, totaling 135 challenges. Levels vary in length, with some of them only consisting of boss battles, while others are long space battles or even just exploring for twenty minutes.

The puzzle and mission variety is pretty great. Some puzzles are easy to figure out at a glance – hit a series of buttons or switches, put a battery into a receptacle, or even just break some stuff or jump behind a box. But others could be intuitive, such as having to find several seeds to plant and grow across an entire location, or trying to climb a giant building, but first finding the correct path up. The missions are similar, as some are straight forward, but others are long and involved. Having the variety really helps keep it fresh feeling, especially when playing through all of the planets gets to be a bit of a chore.

The planet variety was insane. Some planets only had one specific location that you stayed in, such as the caves on Hoth or the resistance base on Yavin 4. But others had different places to visit, such as Tatooine with three specific locations, or Coruscant, which had two that could be accessed from space, but several others only able to be accessed by the on-world taxi service. Some of the locations were pretty small, while others were large and involved, spanning multiple levels in break out rooms.

Character variety was pretty good. The cast is large, featuring character both well known and beloved, and random background character #7. Some characters get costume changes, such as main characters (Rey, Han, and Obi-Wan for example) or Stormtroopers. You really only need one character per “class” though there are some that I feel are better than others (such as using BB-8 over R2-D2, simply because BB-8 can go into the small tunnels and R2 can’t).

This game also has a skill tree, for lack of a better description. As you get Kyber bricks, you can unlock different things, such as running faster, more health, and the ever wonderful stud magnet. On top of this, each class has four skills that can also be upgraded three times each. Those skills primarily only affect that specific class of characters, though there was one that worked across the board: upgrading one skill in the Smuggler class cuts the cost of hints down.

Speaking of hints, one quality of life change to the series was introducing a pretty big hint or rumor system. Every mission and puzzle has a unique name, and you can buy a “rumor” that gives you a hint as to what to do as well as the location of that specific mission or puzzle. This is particularly helpful with minikits and challenges, as it can get confusing at times. (Minikits show up on the minimap, while challenges don’t, and are usually pretty dependent on where you are in the level.)

Beyond the skill tree and the hint system are the datacards, this game’s version of red bricks. For the most part, these are just minor changes to the game, such as altering the look of the game or weapons, or changing the music, or an infinite dance party. The only major ones to really focus on are the multipliers, as those are what will help get you to one of the game’s most time consuming trophies: collect 10 billion studs.

Of course, there are also always some semblance of issues. One of the only major ones I had to deal with is the menu as a whole. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been trying to zoom into something, only to accidentally flip pages. It’s just very touchy and somewhat annoying, but I also totally understand it. I just don’t have to like it.

Another problem that popped up is a glitch that happens to pretty much everyone. If you have a capital ship that is accessible, if you do a space mission, the graphics completely break the scene, causing the space fight to happen around and through a broken ship, with walls you can fly and fire through. It’s a bit of an issue.

I also had a decent amount of crashes. There was never any real rhyme or reason for these. Sometimes it was during scene or level transitions, other times was just during normal gameplay. I always knew one was coming because the screen would start majorly lagging. The only good thing is rarely would I lose a lot of progress, as the game has an automatic save feature that is triggered frequently.

My personal opinion of the game? It’s pretty damn amazing. I have absolutely enjoyed my time with it, and I’m totally willing to play any DLC levels that might be released (as of now, there are no announced plans for DLC levels, but a girl can hope). Yes there’s some repetition, and yes some of the onscreen gags are a bit… much. But honestly? The next time I set up my XBox One, I’m half tempted to pick up the game for it and restart.

Just… not for a bit. I’m kinda burned out on Lego right now.

But regardless, I think this was a game well worth the wait (over three years) and the price. It lived up to the hype and I’m satisfied. Now if only certain fans can get over the fact there isn’t a character customizer…

Until next time!