June media recap

[nrgburst]

TV:

進撃の巨人 (Attack on Titan) S1&2: First off: that English translation of the title is terrible. I thought for years that the plot would have something to do with giants attacking some sort of base on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Nope! It's not sci-fi at all, but more action/adventure fantasy. TBH I don't really understand why it was so incredibly popular here? 😅 I'm not really loving the main character because he's of the belligerently reckless young Chosen One variety, and he only seems to keep moving forward in the episodes because of his friends' protection/smarts and his genetic superpower/plot armor. I really wish he were smarter or more charismatic or something other than that guy who is always upset and indecisive while ridiculous numbers of soldiers die every single episode before he actually does anything.

I've heard S3 and 4 are disappointing in the Game of Thrones kind of way, so I'm not in any hurry to finish, either. 

Loki: I am really enjoying this series, and I love Mobius and Sylvie! Kiddo is watching with me and not enjoying the constant cliffhangers. 😅 You can really tell they have been growing up in the era of Netflix binging: "What?! That's it?! But that means we have to wait until next week to find out what happens!" 😱 
I really hope the last ep of the season is satisfying - I heard it was getting a S2, but if this one ends on a cliffhanger, I will actually be annoyed! LOL I am so over the network TV format JUST FINISH YOUR GODDAMN STORIES ALREADY.


Movies:

Molly's Game: I just love Jessica Chastain, and Idris Elba was great in this too! I mostly watched this to get a better idea of poker things for Benny Watts, and all the poker lingo and psychology was fascinating! The tension in it is top notch as you realize more and more that Molly is a gambler herself, only the stakes have been her own life the whole time, and they keep going up. 🥺 I loved that final scene with her dad unpacking what had driven her to do it all in the first place. I actually got the book after, and this was the rare case where the movie was an improvement, though the book is decent, too. 

The Martian, Coyote Ugly (re-watches) Just needed some comfort movies. Uggghhh, I'm so freaking disappointed with people right now. 😥


Books:

 The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

How much did I love this book? How much did the lives of these incredible women break my heart and then put it back together? 😭😭😭 I've already bought the hardcover so I can read it again. The love letters are TO DIE FOR. The friendships you just have to keep rooting for even when they run horribly aground. And all of it wrapped in a mystery (in the after) and the tense backdrop of the war. 

 The Duke who Didn't by Courtney Milan

I really wanted to love this, but didn't? I don't know, the emotional/social cluelessness of both the main couple (even though they are both supposed to be clever) just really started to annoy me? Lots of historical details about Chinese living in England and talk about Chinese food, but without a compelling love story to go with it, it fell a little flat. 

 Three Thousand Stitches by Sudha Murty

I don't even remember why this was on my to-read list, but it was okay? She makes some interesting observations about human nature as she talks about her life and work as a philanthropist, but again, this was not a book that really grabbed me. Maybe it was the preachy tone - I felt like she was judging the addicts in the last chapter more than trying to understand how to help them, for example?

 One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

I really liked Red, White and Royal Blue and this is also an awesome queer romance but the conflict is so utterly different that I would not have suspected it was the same author! This one is time-travel/memory/stuck-on-a-train loophole rather than political/media machinations, but she sells the romance just as well. Swoony stuff - I might buy this one for the shelf too!

 Tithe by Holly Black

Honestly thought I would like this book better because I loved her Folk of the Air series so much but I really didn't like the protagonist. I've been trying to figure out why, since I loved Jude so much, and I think it's because this protagonist doesn't act, supernatural stuff just happens to her. Like, there's no sense of drive or questing curiosity, just a kind of "I'm bored and entitled to act like a brat and have people do stuff for me". Maybe it's more realistically teenaged POV? But I am not dying to read the next one, although the whole series is supposed to fill in some of the background for TFotA. 

 Dear Girls by Ali Wong

I absolutely loved her Netflix comedy specials, and this autobiography is a lot like them: she's funny, incredibly frank to the point of being grotesque in her details and talks a lot about the experience of growing up Asian American. As an Asian Canadian, I found it all incredibly relatable, even (especially?) the parts where she talks about that kind of reverse culture shock of being that "white on the inside" Asian while she was on an exchange program in Vietnam for a year. I don't know that this is a book that I'll buy for the shelf, but it's one I'd rec for sure! 

 A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Okay, to be completely honest, I was a little skeptical just because of how the title complies with that Fantasy trend of: _____of _____and _______ (Insert Dramatic Imagery Words) BUT I had heard really good things on the Jurdan server about this one. And it was utterly refreshing and compelling and so freaking good! The worldbuilding and vivid, diverse characters and sense of history/mystery/connection was just A+++. I can't wait for the next one in the series, which is out this November! Probably buying this one and reccing it to the kiddo.

 Molly's Game by Molly Bloom

Just wanted a more in-depth look after being wowed by the movie and was honestly a little disappointed? The romance parts were probably the worst - I am thrilled somebody made the decision to cut those for the film because it was possibly the LEAST COMPELLING depiction of a soulmate I have ever read. 😅 The ending is also much less triumphant - Molly's life was still very much in limbo when she was writing the end of this book, and it actually feels rather sad and almost defeated, though her words claim otherwise? I need to google what actually ended up happening in court. 

Have you guys been reading anything good? Always looking for recs that you think might be up my alley! 🥰

Comments

[kingstoken]

I'm so glad you're enjoying Loki, I'm trying to get everyone to watch it. It's hilarious that you're kid isn't used to cliffhangers, because they used to do that so much on old TV programs, especially around season finales. The worst was shows that ended the season on a cliffhanger and then the show got cancelled, that happened to me a couple of times back in the day, it was so frustrating.

[nrgburst]

Ahhhh what did you think of the finale? I totally ship it, hahaha! 😜 And I was a little dismayed that it was an old fashioned cliffhanger! Lol my poor kiddo!

Cancellations were the worst. 🥺🥺🥺 You just end up never knowing how the story finishes. I think the one I resent most is Pitch because that show was just amazing.

[kingstoken]

I really liked the finale, it wasn't prefect, the pacing was a little off and the monologue was a little too long, but I loved everything else. I don't ship Loki/Sylvie, but that kiss did add an extra punch to the betrayal. I actually liked the ending, how they left it really opens up a lot of different possibilities, like is this a different Mobius from a different timeline? Or has the TVA erased everyone's memories? Or some other wacky time travel shenanigans, and how are they going to bring Sylvie back into the story? Because I am assuming they are.

Your poor kid, but at least they now what it was like for all the old people watching TV back in the day.

[misura]

Ah, I read Tithe ... a while ago, but until you pointed it out, I don't think I ever quite realized what made me not enjoy it as much. To some degree, it also feels like it's from a different uh, 'era' in YA fiction? Though it my also just be that my reading tastes having shifted away from books with 'teenage protagonists who hate their lives and feel entitled to better' (rather than going on an adventure of their own volition, or having a perfectly nice family, actually). I think the next book features a different main character, so that one may be more fun?

(I left these behind when we moved one time, so my memories are a bit vague.)

I just finished Natasha Pulley's The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, and loved it.

[nrgburst]

Oh, okay, well if the protagonist changes I might give it a whirl then!

And I just grabbed Natasha Pulley's previous book in that series out of the library - thanks for the rec! 😄