The Flash (2023)

The other day, my boyfriend decided he was going to watch The Flash despite basically hearing that it was a dumpster fire and, ya know, despite the whole Ezra Miller thing. If you hadn't heard, it turns out Ezra Miller is a trash human being. He also, if you didn't know, is the star of The Flash. So anyway, we sat down to watch The Flash. I had zero problems with this because I have historically actually enjoyed a lot of "trash fire" "genre" movies. And yes, "genre" is in quotes because frickin everything's a "genre" and calling Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Super Hero movies "genre" is just dumb.

So anyway, we watched The Flash and... it's not that bad actually. The following review contains spoilers. You've been warned.

Not gonna lie, I think the fact that we watched it in the comfort of our own home with the ability to both pause and talk over it made it more fun that it might have been otherwise. I dunno, because I watched it the way I watched it. There were parts where I had to explain to the perpetually drunk man because he'd zoned out or something... and there were a couple parts we "rewound" for funsies or clarification. But yeah, we had a lot of fun.

That being said, pretty much all the CG was a dumpster fire. I watched a good chunk of The Flash on The CW (the TV show) and their CG was better. So, ya know, not great for what was supposed to be a really big movie for the WB, or whatever the company's name is now. The babies in the big "save the babies" scene were faker than Bradley Cooper's baby in American Sniper. The alternate universe stuff at the end was hard to watch. Heck, the entirety of the alternate timeline stuff inside the Speed Force was hard to watch. I honestly didn't enjoy the big fight against the Kryptonians, either. Not sure if that was a CG issue or just the 50th Flash fight scene and it was just real old at that point issue... but whatever.

Alt Barry's laugh was hella annoying. It wasn't as prevalent as I had been lead to believe by Honest Trailers on YouTube, but yes it was annoying. His character... I honestly don't know what to think about it. Obviously Alt Barry didn't have the same maturing crap happen in his past, so he's gonna be more immature than Barry, but... yeah. I guess he was no more annoying than your average stoner college kid.

I really liked Michael Keaton back as Batman. I'm not really super nostalgic for him as a lot of fans, but he was fun. The fight scene in the kitchen was amusing and probably would have been more effective if they hadn't plastered Michael Keaton's face all over the promotional material. It's clear from the "never show his face" thing during that fight that he was supposed to be a surprise but... yeah. I especially liked his spaghetti analogy for the time-travel/alternate universe stuff. Fits right in with my other favorite quote about Time:

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbley-wobbly, timey-whimey, stuff." - The Doctor, Doctor Who

Also, the Batwing was the best Batwing ever. Like, that's what I'm looking for in my Batman. Not the latest in military tech, just a semi-realistic plane shaped like a bat. That I had nostalgia for. On a side note: my boyfriend did not recognize the Hans Zimmer Batman theme and I was very disappointed in him.

Supergirl was cool. No notes.

I was also completely forgot about the George Clooney cameo at the end and was alternately surprised and like "oh yeah..." about it. I definitely have a controversial view on George Clooney as Batman... I liked him in that movie even though that movie was definitely a dumpster fire. Still want my Bat-fleck movie, though...

Oh, and I did not think the Wonder Woman cameo deserved the music sting. It was very out of place. The Lasso of Truth bit here was loads funnier than the one in Justice League.

My boyfriend was very, very confused as to why Nick Cage was included in the alternate timelines at the end. I was highly amused and barely able to explain so... that was fun.

From my admittedly limited, casual Flash fan lens, I don't think the story really suffered from not having The Reverse Flash instead of Alt Barry. I have never really understood Reverse Flash's motivation in fucking up Barry's life, so having it be Barry the entire time made more sense to me. Also admittedly, this isn't a pure Flashpoint story... but it essentially is. Barry's motivation is obviously the same, even though he goes about it differently than more traditional Flashpoint story-lines do. I also clocked Alt Barry as whatever iteration of The Flash pushed Barry out of the Speed Force as soon as Alt Barry got shrapnel stuck in his arm... it was really obvious, though my boyfriend was more surprised a little later...

But yeah... I didn't absolutely hate The Flash. I probably won't watch it again unless my boyfriend decides that's something he needs to do. I wasn't even planning to write this review until it kept popping into my head so... yeah.

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Review

I really enjoyed Night Broken. Like, really enjoyed it. Like, crying at the end when everyone was being all fatalistic. Night Broken was awesome. However, that does not mean I did not have thoughts. So here goes:

Okay, Mr. Gywnn ap Lugh, who knows he’s dealing with a ridiculous and changeable person such as Coyote, please set an arbitrary deadline for getting back an artifact you literally spent a bunch of time not caring about. Good plan. Probably not going to work out for you. I hate this kind of crap so much. You are an incredibly powerful, incredibly long-lived person so a week is nothing. You know this. You also know who has the damn Walking Stick so… why don’t you maybe try to contact Coyote? I’m assuming that’s within your power. Instead, we must make vague threats at Mercy. Good plan. Solid plan. You’re an asshole. Leave it to Zee to point the time thing to Mercy. THANK YOU. I was overall pleased with how that whole thing turned out, just got real annoyed at that first meeting.

I very much dislike Christy. Probably picking up what Mercy’s laying down, but also… I dislike women who play the kinds of games she’s working on and yeah. Hate it. So much. So very glad that relationship drama didn’t actually become relationship drama because I despise relationship drama more than I despise Christy. Make no mistake, I despise that woman. The revelation that she basically won’t take responsibility for her own shit on top of the manipulation… ugh. Keep her away from Mercy and the rest. Forever, if possible.

I really do enjoy learning about mythologies, especially those that aren’t as “well trodden” as the ones we hear about in the US… ya know, mainly the Greek/Roman and Celtic ones. Getting the Guayota story from Kyle was neat. I did look Guayota up immediately upon seeing the name. First thing that comes up is the Wiki article, which I only read the blurb about due to potential spoilers. Honestly glad I didn’t read further due to Kyle’s retelling.

Honestly, things were progressing pretty okay, then Wulfe up an throws a wrench into things. I sometimes love that this world feels so lived in; that’s partially due to the amount of characters. However, when 15 thousand of them show up at random intervals for random reasons, it really feels too full. Especially when, say, Mercy has barely gotten any sleep and everyone suddenly want to see her tonight. And just… ugh with that whole bit. Definitely smacks of something needed to be dealt with right now that I feel like could have waited. Which shows how much I know, because having Stefan at the ready was ultimately helpful. Still felt stupid as it was happening. I am very glad Mercy’s exhaustion is shown “on screen” cuz protagonists who just keep going like the Energizer Bunny are odd.

It is very interesting to me to get to see some of the politics involved in the supernatural community basically vs the humans. I saw a very little of that in The Hollows series by Kim Harrison and a bunch of it in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurel K. Hamilton. The Anita Blake series focuses on it from a police perspective, as Anita becomes a Federal Marshall throughout the series and often liases with police. It’s interesting to see it from a purely political standpoint here. I mean, it’s a clearly corrupt political standpoint, but that’s politics for you. I am glad Mercy and Adam have some pretty heavy hitters on their side, as far as political maneuvering goes, apparently. It is quite nice to see idiots put in their place by smarter people, especially in regards to politicians and trumped up government agents.

Night Broken ran a mile a minute and barely let up. There were points where I felt about as exhausted as Mercy. But it was good, ultimately. Everything hung together pretty well and made sense —Wulfe notwithstanding. I’m a pretty happy camper with this one, even though reading the first paragraph of the blurb made me very scared I wouldn’t be. Seriously, there are reasons I don’t read blurbs after the first one gets me. But anyway, Night Broken = fun and intense and good.

Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

Oathbreakers is, by far, the best of the three Vows and Honor series. It follows one story from beginning to end and does that very well. It was the most fun I’ve had reading a Valdemar book in a while.

Sometimes I’m glad I decided to read the short stories that accompany a series. This is one of those times. Essentially knowing who the dead man Tarma, Kethry, and Jadrek came across is and what that sword is… makes it a bit more fun. Just being like “ah, so they are getting it back.”

I am absolutely fucking pissed about Kethry being able to work magic in Valdemar. No vrondi appear to pester her. Everyone around her can still talk about magic perfectly fine. It’s like the rules surrounding Vanyel’s lovely anti-magic spell thing suddenly just don’t matter and it doesn’t exist. What. The Actual. Fuck. Lackey. I probably wouldn’t be so mad if I hadn’t read these in chronological order and hadn’t had it hammered home through three back-to-back series about how vrondi swarm magic users in Valdemar and magic can’t be talked about very easily within Valdemaran borders. As it is, I’m pissed.

So… where on the scale of Susan to Renesmee does the name “Megrarthon” rate?

Although I am largely enjoying Oathbreakers, I am finding Kethry and Jadrek pining after each other really gross. Just from a personal standpoint. I don’t enjoy mushiness, especially when the people being mushy just aren’t talking to each other. I am glad they worked themselves out in the end. Getting the back-and-forth that wasn’t really a back-and-forth was annoying. Add to that Jadrek thinking Tarma was unaware of he and Kethry’s relationship… ai yai yai…

I like that Kethry is able to siphon off the energy from all the Hawks being pissed off. Using anger as magical energy is pretty neat when someone thinks to use it.

Favorite Lines

"You can't stop knowledge; you shouldn't try. If you do, half the time it's the wrong people that get it first." - Kethry

"Keth, power brings with it the need to make moral judgments; history proves that." - Jadrek

Scarlet Adventures #6

I spent most of my day off playing some more Pokemon Scarlet, pretty much just working through the Outbreaks and leveling up and evolving a bunch of random Pokemon. For those who don't know what Outbreaks are, they're basically when a bunch of Pokemon from a particular species appear altogether and, well, that's basically it. Outbreaks first appeared in Pokemon Legends: Arceus and they continued to be used in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. I must say, I much prefer the Legends: Arceus form, for reasons that will become apparent through the captions of the following pictures.

I appear to have exhausted my Deerling...

How come no one told me Pikachu and Raichu could swim?!

As you can see in my little map, I have arrived at the place where with Basculin Outbreak was occurring. No Basculin here.

Second spot, still no Basculin.

Third spot, still no Basculin.

The biggest "lake" here... Still. No. Basculin. WTF.

This is much later, as you can see from the lighting. NOW there are Basculin.

I spent several hours running around this area to reset the spawns. HOURS. This was easily the most frustrating Outbreak since my first Flamigo one where they spawned one at a time. Seriously, HOURS went by and I STILL didn't finish the Outbreak. Didn't even get a notification telling me the numbers were going down. I was pissed off.

Drowned myself twice on top of this waterfall, too.

At least in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the Outbreaks would happen in a contained bit of space with IMMEDIATE respawns, so you could just sit there and either catch or fight to your hearts content. Most of the Outbreaks in Pokemon Scarlet are like this, but I've had enough that refuse to respawn unless you've left or are running around an area. This Basculin one was THE WORST.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

A Slightly Spoilery Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 25, 2020

Grabbed me and didn’t let go. Pretty easy to read, quick pace. Enjoyed every moment... except for the melodramatic relationship stuff, but then, I’ve never really been a fan of that stuff so... yeah.

I liked the Grisha and their powers and the explanation of their powers. I kind of liked the reveal of The Darkling, if we’d gotten more with him, it probably would have been better. There didn’t really seem to be a villain to the piece until late in the game, but that wasn’t really a detriment to the story. I like villains hidden in plain sight so long as they work well. This one definitely did.

I enjoyed the characters themselves as well. Alina was a good heroine, I think. She isn’t floundering around unsure of herself, mostly, but when she does, it’s believable. I find that refreshing. Genya was probably my favorite. Unabashedly herself, even though she’s in service to the queen and looked down upon. Mal was... eh. There, I guess. He’s not entirely fleshed out.

Anyway, I loved this book a lot. Gotta go read the sequel now.

Bonus TV Show Quick Review

Shadow and Bone is a TV show on Netflix, if you weren't already aware. It's a lot of fun and mixes the Shadow and Bone Trilogy with the Six of Crows Duology, which makes sense from a timeline perspective. It does change some things, the biggest being Alina's appearance. It's not a bad change, to be honest. I quite like the Jessie Mei Li in the part and I feel like she's a lot more enjoyable as a character.

Mal got a bit more fleshing out, but he's still largely just around... which is addressed at the end of the second season, so that's fun. I love me some Jesper. Nina's amazing and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the show. Her book counterpart goes some interesting places. I'm still reeling from the Genya/David thing that I won't spoil... just know it's reel-worthy. I love Bagra in both book and show; Zoe Wanamaker is awesome. I cannot not mention Ben Barnes as The Darkling. I've been in love with him since he played Prince Caspian, so... yeah.

The effects in Shadow and Bone are pretty good. Nothing can match what's going on in my brain as I read the books, so Alina's powers were honestly a little underwhelming in that aspect. Everyone else's powers were just fine. I feel like Alina's were probably the most difficult to get right... there's a lot of aurora effects going on, which kind of makes sense but wasn't what I envisioned. Much shrugging. Adaptation gotta adapt.

This is supposed to be a quick review (might do a longer one at some stage, but I'm not sure right now), so I'll leave off with this: I really enjoy the TV show for what it's brought to screen. I'm a little disappointed we didn't get a lot of Alina in The Little Palace, but they condensed that bit a lot so... eh, it works well enough. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, head over to Netflix and enjoy yourself.

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Okay, I’m all for sudden changes in the status quo, however, I feel like something as big as the Fae essentially disappearing would get more than a “oh hey, this happened off screen between books.” Especially given how big the Far have been in Mercy’s recent life up til now. I assume since it actually has nothing to do with Mercy personally, that’s probably why it’s in the category of “this happened off screen between books,” which, again, is fine. I am just shocked. Shocked, I tell you! The only thing I remember from my first read of Frost Burned was that Mercy and Jesse went Black Friday shopping.

I don’t know if it’s just my mood or lack of sleep, but Frost Burned has me tearing up at random points. They’re clearly tear-jerking points, but I’m not sure I was so teary on my first read. It’s really the little things: Tony showing up, Kyle hiring Hauptman security, etc. Mostly happy tears. Frost Burned has a bit of a feeling of a finale book. Just about everyone Mercy knows showing up somewhere.

If I didn’t love Kyle already, this book would have done it. It takes a very special person to stand up to kidnappers the way he did and then he took care of Mercy after. So great. Love him. I also quite like Asil. He’s my brand of ancient, dangerous, and amusing at the same time. Kind of reminds me of Laurel K. Hamilton’s Wicked Truth.

It really very much sucks that Mercy had another will-stealing Fae artifact used on her. Sucks big time. Again, though, I’m both happy and not that her trauma continues to be an issue, if only for the realism.

Despite the fact that the late villain of the piece was actually behind the plot the whole time, he did still feel exactly like a sudden third act villain. I did find him a little bit interesting, for all his entire story was info-dumped by Marsilia, Stefan, and Hao. I did manage to remember a bit about that last battle, mostly about the ice, as that whole scene started… but that’s where I’ll leave it for spoilers sake.

Frost Burned really does have the feel of a finale. That’s not a bad thing and probably helped me leave the series alone for so long. That said, it’s also a lot of Mercy running around, trying to keep those she could safe. Also our first real run-in with the government vs the werewolves, since that bullet was dodged earlier in the series. It’ll be interesting to see how or if that shakes out in the rest of the series.

Favorite Line

"I am always careful with the truth. It is a powerful thing and deserves respect." - Tad Adelbertsmiter

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

It is really amazing to me how your brain can just discard information on a whim. You can read a book and really like it, only to forget pretty much everything about it in the space of a few years. Makes rereading more fun, I guess. I remembered the otters, well otterkin actually, in River Marked and that Adam and Mercy were on their honeymoon, but virtually nothing else. River Marked is chock full of lore pertaining specifically to Mercy and Mercy's heritage... and I remembered none of it. Well... a tiny bit... but that tiny bit is spoilers, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I teared up twice during River Marked. Once during Adam and Mercy's wedding and the second time reading Mercy's letter to Adam at the very end. I am a sap for people coming together in unexpected ways and for the love letters, apparently.

So, the lore. I love me some lore. I'm not sure how true-to-life this particular lore is, given it's Native American lore or based on it anyway. I haven't done much research into that area of things, though given I've heard basically nothing in the way of controversy on how Particia Briggs handled it, I'm willing to bet she did. It definitely seemed authentic enough to me. Insert much ignorant white person shrugging here. I am very glad they spent a bunch of time here making damn sure we knew Mercy wasn't anything like a skinwalker. 'Cuz yeah, definitely an entirely different thing than what Mercy is.

Coyote really reminded me of The Doctor from Doctor Who, complete with the whole "thinking out loud while problem solving" thing. I quite liked him and his characterization makes loads of sense. Again, insert ignorant white person shrugging here. Oh! The Maryhill Museum and Stonehenge replica are real places that you can visit and they've definitely earned a spot on my "I would like to go to there" list.

I quite enjoyed River Marked. The story was fun and pretty much ran a mile a minute, so it was also a fairly quick read the couple of times I had time to sit down and actually read it for long stretches.

Favorite Line 

"Wal-Mart is the Happy Shopping Grounds for the financially challenged." - Mercy Thompson Hauptman

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A Spoiler Free Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 14, 2014

Alright, so... this was my second Neil Gaiman book, my first being Neverwhere. I saw the 2007 movie adaptation a few years ago and absolutely loved it. However, the movie also did that thing where it condensed the plot lines and, in my opinion, made the story more enjoyable.

That does not mean, however, that I didn't enjoy Stardust. It was fun. The plot was a lot more twisty and the world of Wall and Faerie populated with more people. The only real problems I have with the book are: there wasn't really any real threat and the ending just petered out.

The witch is set up as an antagonist but all she does is try to kill Yvaine that one time. There's a lot more time spent with the Stormhold brothers who never did much of anything. There wasn't any danger established other than that. Nothing. Just a lot of "Oh hey, Tristan and Yvaine are wandering around and Yvaine's not eating but Tristan is eating loads."

The ending... due to a lack of a decent villain, there was a serious lack of, to put it in gaming terms, final boss battle. I'm not saying the ending was bad but it just sort of petered to a fairly uninteresting end... in my opinion anyway.

My recommendation is to read the book before seeing the movie, but definitely see the movie.

The Oathbound by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Not sure I actually read all of this the first time, though.

The Oathbound definitely reads a lot better after having read the short story “Sword Sworn.” I vaguely remember flailing upon reading the info dumps of the beginning of The Oathbound the first time I read it. Having full context of how Tarma and Kethry met and teamed up really does help. Not that it makes Kethry’s info dump about sorcery any better… my brain hurts trying to parse it all. The Oathbound also very much reads like a series of short stories, strung together by time rather than an overarching storyline.

Both Tarma and Kethry have been raped. Joy. That’s only two of the Valdemar heroines, so far in the chronological order… however, most of the Valdemar books have had male protagonists so far and of those, only Vanyel was raped. So that, ya know, great.

I think Need is an interesting magical item. Made more interesting by a previous-in-the-chronology short story where she helps a trans woman and actually transforms her body. I think Need’s neat.

Was really expecting the thing with Kavin and Wethes to last longer. Highly unsatisfying, to be honest. You’d think a thing Kethry was dreading would have taken more time to get over, but apparently not. Just a hurdle to get over on her path to more power, really. I guess.

The Oathbound is basically a string of short stories about Kethry, Tarma, and Warrl stretched along the timeline from shortly after Tarma and Kethry met. As such, we get descriptions of them over and over. Need gets a side eye from pretty much everyone because apparently sorcerers just don’t bother with blades at all. I personally find all this repetition tiring and honestly, uninteresting. That’s not to say the stories themselves aren’t interesting, just the repetition of the descriptions. Kethry and Tarma’s chosen occupation lends well to short stories.

It’s not entirely great, though, when you get the story from earlier chapters retold by Tarma and Kethry. And the one from a mere two chapters earlier, too. Just… why? This book is arranged in chapters, not actually short stories in their own rights, so why retell the story we already read? Could have been solved by simply relaying that the ladies told the priest they’re talking to the real story. I’m heartily rolling my eyes and skimming this entire section.

Hey guys, did you know that Warrl is as tall as Tarma’s waist? Did you? Did you? — an example of the massive amount of sarcasm I’m having 84% through the book when this fact is reiterated… for at least the forth time.

I honestly feel like The Oathbound is middling, at best. It largely skirts around the action until the last few chapters. There are a few endings that could have been handled better… both Tarma and Kethry need some therapy, especially after what happened at the hands of their demon… Jesus that was a thing and a half. I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. It feels like it’s just being swept under the rug… I don’t know.

The Oathbound is not the best and not the worst.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

A Slightly Spoilery Reread Review

Silver Borne is another solid entry in the Mercy Thompson catalogue. It mostly deals with the ties between Mercy and the wolves she’s surrounded with. Also there are fae involved again. Most of what follows are my notes from my reread. I vaguely remembered the Phin plot, but only vaguely. Everything else was written as I read this time.

I HATE the bowling scene. I HATE characters not talking to each other. HATE IT. The conflict WILL NOT resolve unless you talk about it. Being silent on the matter helps nothing. Which is why I love Adam and Mercy so much. They might make mistakes in the moment, but they take the time to talk things out. It makes them a more solid unit and a more believable couple. I seem to remember that this is the last of the big drama between them, but I also only read the next two books in the series, so I’m not entirely sure. I hope so. I’d much rather see a healthy relationship than a constantly battling one.

I find it interesting that the werewolves in the Mercy Thompson universe basically get Dissociative Identity Disorder with a big ol’ side helping of shapeshifting… apparently. It’s also interesting that the wolf can wholesale take over, even if the werewolf is in human form. Clearly that doesn’t happen super often, as Samuel/Sam’s case is extreme, but… yeah. Super interesting. This is further expounded upon once Adam knows about Samuel’s condition.

We get some more fae lore here, which is great. I will forever enjoy getting more fae lore. They’re a weirdly big part of the Mercy universe. I say weirdly because most werewolf books I’ve read largely revolve around the wolves and vampires. Not much else.

I liked Mercy’s mind-scape where she met with Bran at the end of the book. It’s always interesting to see how a main character’s mind works and how the author chooses to visualize it. Garland and rocks is definitely original.

Favorite Lines

     "I raised my eyebrows, and said in dulcet tones, 'Are you telling me you can't fix it? I'm sorry. I distinctly remember you saying that there is nothing you can't fix. I must have been mistaken, and it was someone else wearing your mouth.'

     He gave a growl that would have done Sam credit and pushed himself back under again, muttering, 'Deine Mutter war ein Cola-Automat!'

     'Her mama might have been a pop machine,' I said, responding to one of the remarks I understood even at full Zee-speed. 'Your mama...' sounds the same in a number of languages. 'But she was a beauty in her day.' I grinned at Gabriel. 'We women have to stick together.'

     'Why is it that all cars are women?' he asked.

     'Because they're fussy and demanding,' answered Zee.

     'Because if they were men, they'd sit around and complain instead of getting the job done,' I told him." - Mercy Thompson, Zee Adelbertsmiter, and Gabriel Sandoval

"Endings are relative," I said, and Samuel jerked his head up. "I mean, as long as no one is dead, they get the chance to rewrite their endings, don't you think? Take it from me, Samuel, a little time can heal some awfully big wounds."

In Other News

I finished another OviPets project today. Goatmon, the Rangifer version (there will be an Ovis version down the line), took me 9 months to complete. Goatmon is part of my Armor Digimon Project. I did the little bit of tattooing around the ankles. Supposed to be Goatmon's shackles. *shrug*

The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer

A Spoiler Free Review

The Dark Wife retells the story of Hades and Persephone in a slightly interesting way. We get the story from Persephone’s view point and she’s young, a teenager at this point and doesn’t actually know what’s going on. Zeus is painted as a villain, which, ya know, he kind of is. I honestly wasn’t a big fan of this, mostly because Persephone is just so… wet as a protagonist. Engaging enough to get me through the book, but otherwise just kinda there for most of it.

I was not expecting bisexual Persephone or female Hades. Apparently our view of Hades and apparently Cupid as males rather than females was a thing Zeus decided to do. I’m not entirely sure why and it’s not really explained, other than to explain the whole perspective of Hades kidnapping and raping Persephone. Not super important to the plot… especially with a revelation near the end about the Olympians…

I really don’t like the whole “we must be mysterious and speak in riddles for PLOT” thing. I dislike the withholding of information mostly for the sake of withholding it. Persephone isn’t sure enough of herself or her position to demand answers. We do get those answers, with a bit more mystery on the part of Gaia, but still not really.

This had an interesting take on Elysian Fields. I always kind of pictured the fields and less literal than just fields. This version of the dead just sitting and wallowing in their oh-so-heroic misdeeds is really quite horrifying. Of course Persephone changes that, which ends up quite well.

“But I was lonely” and couldn’t dream of asking to accompany Hades on her duties… that would just be too crazy. Seriously, this Persephone had agency enough to choose to go to The Underworld but none beyond that. Just following Pallas around or wandering Hades’ palace alone. When she finally shakes that off, it’s much better for everyone. This is really what I meant when I said Persephone was a “wet” protagonist.

Hades honestly wasn’t much better and wasn’t actually around so much. Like, she was there, but it was really closer to an Edward Cullen style of “I’ll watch you sleep and hug the nightmares away” kind of thing. I liked Pallas well enough. Hermes mostly appeared and was cryptic when he wasn’t doing his messenger god duties.

I like this take on Charon. There’s no way there would just be a bunch of dead standing around who didn’t have ferry fare so they’d have to pay somehow. I think it’s interesting that all their bits of “payment” are incorporated into Charon’s physical body. Makes the ferryman way creepier than they are otherwise… which is kind of creepy enough.

I have this feeling I should just stop reading retellings. There are very few I’ve read lately that I’ve enjoyed. I have a feeling it’s mostly due to the characterization of the protagonists, but… eeehhh… not entirely sure. I have enjoyed Punderworld by Linda Sejic, which honestly just cements my characterization theory. Sejic’s versions of pretty much all the gods and goddesses are much more vibrant and active in their narratives. The Dark Wife just didn’t do it for me.

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

A Spoilery Reread Review

I said at the end of my Iron Kissed review that I didn’t know if Mercy got some more time to deal with her trauma and I am very happy to report that not only does Bone Crossed start off in the same moment Iron Kissed left off, but Adam is #1 awesome dude about Mercy’s trauma. No pressure on her to put out. A+ Adam. This is part of why he’s in the top 5 of my favorite werewolf Alphas.

Not that I am particularly happy that Mercy’s having panic attacks and such, but I am glad she didn’t bounce right back to being okay. The trauma she went through in Iron Kissed isn’t something you just get over so I’m glad she’s having to deal with the aftermath… from a Doyle-ist kind of perspective. I’m also very happy she and Adam tend to talk about their “secrets” and shit instead of just letting it fester and make them angry with each other. That kind of drama, I hate with a fiery passion.

Bone Crossed was interesting. The antagonist doesn’t really come fully into play until late in the book, which is fine. I suppose Mercy’s got enough on her plate with panic attacks and Marsilia stirring up shit. Blackwood was just kind of lurking in the background most of the time.

I love this version of Baba Yaga. Seeing each author bring the more famous mythical beings to life is fun for me. I also quite like the idea that since the government doesn’t actually have a fae classification system that the fae can just make up whatever. Kind of hilarious. Them governments, never quite knowing what to do in the face of new-to-them shit.

I liked Bone Crossed. I felt there was a lot of good world-building, which I like. I’m interested to see how Mercy takes to being the Alpha female of the Columbia Basin Pack and how she’ll continue to grow into her powers.

Favorite Lines

"But you can't marry someone to fix him, even if you love them." - Mercy Thompson

"One of the oddest thing about being grown-up was looking back at something you thought you knew and finding out the truth of it was completely different from what you had always believed." - Mercy Thompson

"Hostage-holding is for the bad guys." - Mercy Thompson

 

In Other News

GoodReads actually counted Brightly Burning and Bone Crossed twice... which it does sometimes when your previous "Read" dates aren't filled in and you report you've finished a book via the app... le sigh. But I upped my reading goal before I checked on that... which is fine cuz it actually turns out I thought I read Brightly Burning before, but I didn't, actually. Much shrugging. 12 more books to hit the new goal.

Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey

Somewhat Spoilery Review

I was honestly not expecting Brightly Burning to be as good as it was. I don’t think I was expecting it even through the first bit with Lan’s victimization at the hands of his bullies. Brightly Burning is really good. Not something I think I’ll be rereading anytime soon due to emotional turmoil, but yeah… my eyes are still leaking tears as I write this.

I hate the way Nelda Chitward goes about parenting after Lavan’s confession of being bullied. Jumping straight to victim blaming when told of his bully. Ma’am, you’ve clearly never been bullied in your life, and especially not with the threat of no one believing you held over you. Add to that, that she wouldn’t believe it due to the family Tyron came from… entitled brats will be entitled brats, especially when they think they can get away with it, regardless of family standing. What the Sixth Formers are doing is some bullshit. Tyron is a sadist.

Cloistered Order of Kernos-Sequestered is fucking crazy-pants and I don’t understand how that’s even a thing. A good thing it exists, for Jisette Jelnack’s imprisonment, but like… how do you get more followers? Solitary is inhumane and to essentially have a religious order that practices it… what even? Religion is largely stupid, in my opinion, and doubly so in this instance. The fact that the Kernos-Sequestered thing isn’t as bad as I thought it probably would be doesn’t actually help matters.

The way Valdemaran troops treat Lan after his big debut on the battlefield brought tears to my eyes. Happy ones, cuz lord knows he deserves the praise. Lan’s anxiety beforehand was completely understandable, especially considering what he’d been through. Little bit sad though. Probably what ultimately prompted my tears… a complete reversal of events from what Lan thought might happen.

I quite liked Tuck, though he did fade into the background during the last part of the book. Elenor, too, though I really do hate that whole unrequited love thing she has going on… I’ve never been one to have crushes like that, so it didn’t connect with me. Pol and Satiran were amusing together. I completely get Pol’s sense of duty and I’m glad his sight was mostly restored in the end.

I did see the ending coming from a mile away. That said, it was still quite moving and, as I said at the beginning, I did tear up. Brightly Burning is definitely up there in terms of my favorite Valdemar books. Kind of intense and definitely not one to reread super often. It’s a really good stand alone novel.

Favorite Line

:Emotional crisis is the constant state of the young, Chosen,: Satiran chuckled. :That's why they can eat so much; they burn it up with emoting.:

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

A Spoilery and Possibly Triggering Reread Review

First and foremost: Queen of the Damned is such a horrible movie and a horrible adaptation. However, Queen of the Damned is pretty much unadaptable as a movie. Needs a mini series at least. Give those plot lines time to breathe or, ya know, exist. Good book, bad movie. Stewart Townsend is best on-screen Lestat. Fight me.

Iron Kissed was really good and mostly enjoyable. Mercy books are kind of like watching Netflix shows. The chapters run together in cliff-hanger-ish ways, but a bit more subtle. Keeps your attention and keeps you wanting to turn the page. I have a hard time putting down the book when I know I should, chapter breaks or not.

Iron Kissed focuses a lot on the fae. We learn a lot more about them and how they work. We also learn that they’re definitely scary af. Even their objects aren’t to be trifled with. I very much enjoyed the world-building. It was fun, until it wasn’t… and this is where the spoilers are going to start, if you’d like to avoid them. Also a trigger warning: discussion of rape.

This Is You Final Spoiler and Trigger Warning

I really like how Mercy’s love triangle is handled. Turns out, not an actual love triangle. Makes me very happy. Love triangles have always bugged the shit out of me. These days I’m more likely to just yell at whatever I’m reading or watching that they should just consider a Polyamorous relationship, because the stupid drama is just stupid. Mercy neatly bypasses all that with Samuel and Mercy realizing she’s just pack to him and not mate.

I really and sincerely hate rapist antagonists. Tim Milanovich is definitely one of those and he’s hella gross. I hate him and I hate seeing what he did to Mercy. And that was written before I reread the actual rape part… why is it female protagonists so often end up raped and male ones don’t? Mind you, I don’t read a lot of male-led series, so I’m mostly assuming… seems to be a thing with female protagonists, though. Some form of rape, be it mental of physical, often happens to them at some point in their lives. Ugh. Also, I say that, but the last handful of series I’ve read don’t include rape plots… just this one. TV series on the other hand… I’m probably projecting in my utter disgust, but… idk. I’m also pretty sure some part of me was dreading that part of the story as well… which is possibly why it took me longer than normal to get through Iron Kissed.

Adam’s complete acceptance of Ben is heartwarming. I teared up. Also got set off by the Pack showing up for Mercy. I know it’s essentially on Adam’s orders, but still. Ben is definitely my favorite wolf after Warren.

I am overall pleased with how Iron Kissed handled everything. That said, I am also very aware that Mercy largely getting over her trauma in a week or so isn’t at all realistic. I barely remember anything from the next four books, which I have previously read, so I can’t say whether or not there’s anything lingering, but a part of me highly doubts it.

Favorite Lines

"I didn't brush my teeth with gunpowder this morning so I could go shooting my mouth off, Mercy, but this is serious." - Warren Smith

"We might not be able to lie... but truth and honesty are rather difficult." - Zee Adelbertsmiter

"Some people are boys longer than others," - Mercy Thompson

"If there was one thing I'd learned over the past few interesting (in the sense of the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times") months, it was that when things started to get dangerous, it was important to have people who knew as much as you did. That way, when I stupidly got myself killed -- someone would gave a starting place to look for my murderer." - Mercy Thompson

Work Rant

Had to get this out.

I work in the Meat Department of a National grocery chain that shall remain nameless. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll probably be able to work it out, but I won’t name them here. I am going to try my darndest to stay polite during this rant, but I make no guarantees. The opinions I express in this rant are mine and mine alone and don’t reflect the opinions of the company I work for. Policies may change or have changed since I wrote this, just for the knowledge of future readers.

The Meat Department of a grocery store IS NOT a butcher shop. We do not butcher animals on site. I’ve worked for (nameless company) for eight years at this point and we have never cut anything that wasn’t already pre-butchered. Basically large chunks of the full muscle groups. Also, we generally only cut one species of meat as cross contamination issues mean we’d have to shut down the cutting room and completely clean it between each species. This can take up to an hour. So no, I won’t be cutting your chicken. Learn how to do it yourself, please.

I don’t know if this is the same across the industry, but at my store, you have to be certified to cut anything on the saws. Our union rules prohibit me from cutting anything period (except fish). If there is not a meat cutter in shop, we can’t cut anything. Meat cutters usually only work in the mornings and early afternoon. If you want a custom cut, we recommend you call ahead or place an order for the next day. It would be great if people would stop getting angry at clerks for not being able to cut things. Especially as (nameless company) moves into prepack and phases out service cases altogether.

People working at a particular location have ZERO control over what we do or do not carry. Different locations can carry different product. We carry different things at different times of the year. You’re very unlikely to find a whole turkey if it’s not the end of October through January. Just because Tiktok said we carry something, doesn’t make it true. I literally had a woman tell me Tiktok said we had an item. I looked it up on the app and it came up as “Not Available In Store.” Needless to say, she left disappointed. Oh, and this is my favorite: We’re given very little notice to as to when our product lineup is going to change. Like, sometimes we won’t know until the day of the “set change.” That’s when they reshuffle the products around, add new ones, and take out others. So yeah, you could very well have “bought this thing here last week” and we could just not have it anymore. Not usually the case, but possible.

Meat (including seafood) doesn’t come in specific weights. We cannot reliably cut your salmon into 5oz portions. We can only approximate. I’ve had chicken breasts weigh anywhere from half a pound to a pound. Trust mw when I tell you: your dish is not going to be ruined by a couple ounces of extra meat. Neither will your diet. Also, there's not a specific amount of food anyone can eat. Telling someone "I'm feeding x number of adults and x number of kids" does not tell me how much food you want. You need to figure that out yourself and tell me so I can give you what you want or think you need.

Grocery stores have signs that tell you where things are and you should read them. Like items are usually grouped together. I cannot count the number of times I’ve had customers ask for charcoal, which is on the sign over the aisle containing charcoal. That’s just one example, I have hundreds. Seriously. Signs. Read them. Every word on them. Not just the big numbers. (I’ve transitioned to talking about price signs at this point) Didn’t we learn this sort of thing in school? Read the whole page and THEN follow the instructions. All the words make the signs less deceptive than you think they are. This goes for the price tags on items as well. Our sale prices for random weight items (meat and fish and shrimp, etc) are on the BOTTOM of the tags and not up top with the rest of the pricing information. Not sure why this is, but it is, so act accordingly. I also cannot count the number of times I’ve had customers tell me their shrimp (or whatever) is priced wrong, but it’s not, they just haven’t looked at the whole tag.

Departments/Service Cases have different hours than the rest of the store. For example: my store opens at 6 am and closes at 1 am. My department opens at 10 am and closes at 8 pm. It's usually pretty obvious when the Service Cases are closed: no product and the department lights are off. The only time this changes is right before opening or after closing, while we're putting product in or pulling it out of the cases. Sometimes we're early setting up or late shutting down. This does not mean we're necessarily open for business.

Your grocery store is probably understaffed. Just, in general. No one really wants to work at a grocery store, especially these days. Grocery workers are looked down upon by the rest of society, same as most retail, I imagine. I’ve had relative ask me when I’m going to get a real job. We’re little more than furniture to most people, at best. Chronic understaffing make all this worse. I don’t think either of the shops I’ve worked in have had full staff in the eight-plus years I’ve worked for (nameless company). You’ve got one person doing the job of two or three. So, ya know, if we seem stressed, that’s probably why.

In addition to understaffing, grocery stores also seem to be magnets for neurodivergents. I personally have anxiety and probably bpd, both undiagnosed but ya know, there are signs. One of the guys in my department is on the autism spectrum and is hard of hearing. One of the other guys is hard of hearing in one ear and another is just straight up drunk sometimes… we don’t always give the best customer service because of how we function as people. I was incredibly happy to begin masking in 2020 and I still mask simply because smiling for 8hrs a day is grating mentally. We do try our best, but it’s hard and it would be nice if people would remember that we’re people too and not just cogs in the machine.

This job is very physical. Say you’re buying a package of chicken; probably about 3lbs. That package of chicken was brought to the store in a big cardboard box we refer to as a case. That case had at least nine packages of chicken in it; that’s 27lbs or chicken. Now imagine you were me having to a) take that chicken off he truck and put it away in the back and b) having to stock that chicken several times a day. Now multiply that by the  seven different pieces of chicken you could buy. Now multiply THAT by all the pork and beef. Gotta move all that product around all day, every day. I am SORE at the end of a shift. Not everything’s gonna weigh that much (sometimes it's definitely more), but you get the point.

Customers (that’s ya’ll) can get downright nasty. I am fortunate enough not to have been assaulted or even seriously yelled at, but these things happen. Mostly I get “yelled at” for not being able to cut things and price changes. I even have people (usually older people) get real pissy over the digital coupons my company uses. The littlest things can set people off, too. Out of the sale item on the last day of the sale? Anger. Discontinued an item? Anger. Out of a random item and will have more tomorrow? Anger. Don’t know where a very specific item that isn’t in your department is? Anger. I’ve apparently ruined a few Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners because we didn’t have something RIGHT NOW. Ya’ll need to calm down, man. It’s not the end of the world.

I am not by any means saying these things are universal or that we don’t sometimes make mistakes. The people who make up the company are only human after all and humans do make mistakes. However, these are things I’ve seen repeatedly over my eight-plus years in the industry and I thought it was time to share.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, and JK Rowling

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 4, 2016

If you are planning to purchase this book, please do so used in order to curb J.K. Rowling's spending on her transphobia.

So... the problem with reviewing The Cursed Child is, simply put, a matter of bias. I was biased toward the story before I'd heard reviews of the play itself. I was biased upon reading about certain plot details. I was even more biased after hearing reviews about the play. And now, after having read the script myself, I'm not sure quite where my own thoughts on it lay... I do know that I enjoyed reading it.

This next section will be some of my thoughts in a bullet-point format. They will contain spoilers.

SPOILER SECTION. THERE ARE SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT.

• I have gotten used to the idea of Delphi existing, even if I think her existence makes no sense.
• I hope we now understand the many reasons why J.K. Rowling destroyed all the Time Turners in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
• Really not sure how I feel about the potential for a future Rose/Scorpius match... even if they are rather popular in fanfiction circles.
• I enjoyed the dark, Voldemort run future, if only for the Snape and Scorpius interactions.

That's really all I have to say for now... I'll amend this review later if I have anything else to add. 

Favorite Line

"Consider me engorgimpressed." - Scorpius Malfoy

The Second Summoning by Tanya Huff

Spoilery Reread Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 2, 2013

A really solid second book to the Keeper's Chronicles trilogy. Review Contains Spoilers.

The Second Summoning is, in my estimation, mostly a world building book. It's the second book in the Keeper's Chronicles trilogy and, as such, is very much the middle book. We continue to follow the journey, and mishaps, of Claire Hansen, Austin, and Dean McIssac. We are reintroduced to Claire's family, most notably her little sister, Diana. We are then introduced to the world around Diana, which has been made both better and worse through her high school career.

The main drive of The Second Summoning is an accidental creation of an angel who isn't exactly an angel, Samuel, and his demonic counterpart, Byleth. The creation of the angel is caused by a combined effort of Diana, Claire, and Dean. They then must track him down and deal with whatever problems were caused by the demonic counterpart. Of course, the angelic and demonic entities appear to be teenagers and hijinks ensue.

What I found really interesting about The Second Summoning was the way things like angels and demons were dealt with. They are, ultimately, pieces of the "light" and the "dark" with no actual personality ascribed to them. This, of course, changes when it turns out that someone messed up while Samuel was being formed and so he ends up essentially being a teenager. And, as dark and light must be balanced, Byleth ends up as a female teenager. The way the pair are dealt with by Claire and Diana is much more interesting than the moral dilemma they bring up in the book itself. Sam ends up as Diana's cat and Byleth gets sent off to live with an elderly couple she'd terrorized earlier in the book.

As always with this series, there are tons of pop culture references and Keeper/Bystander arguments. We get a much better look at what a Keeper actually does while seeing Diana in school and Claire on the road. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we got a lot more Austin quipping about various things along the way, because he's a cat and not to mention it would be disrespectful to cats.

I also feel like I do a horrible job reviewing these books. My recommendation is to go out and read them for yourself. They're a lot of fun, even on second or third read-through.

Don't forget to feed the cat.

On A Side Note

I created Austin and Sam on OviPets as part of my "Literary Creatures" ongoing project. I'm very happy with them.

Reviews Batch 10

So hey, I've actually managed to stick with this blogging thing for over a year this time. Enjoy these short reviews from a pair of my favorite long-running series as celebration. 😁

Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 1, 2020

Pretty fun, all told. Getting to spend more time with Trent and more or less proving he's not a complete a-hole was cool. Getting more of demon society, also cool, especially on the differences between male and female demons. I'm not sure exactly how effective Ku'sox was as a villain... I think Oliver might have been better, but he's closer to an Umbridge (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) than anything else. Like, I literally think of him as a male version of her. Oh, and I enjoyed Vivian.

On another note, I can honestly say the only thing I remembered from this book was the scene at Dalliance, and it wasn't even the whole scene. So... not entirely sure what that says about the book. It was an enjoyable read. The Hollows is always one of my favorite worlds to visit.

 

Sucker Punch by Laurell K. Hamilton
Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 13, 2020

Basically, a whole lot of talking and not much else. Like, pretty much just jumping from conversation to conversation and a couple different locations. Olaf surprises the heck out of everyone by being reasonable and spends a lot of Sucker Punch asking questions to wrap his head around what Anita’s asking of him/her decision making.

I liked that I didn’t have to skip past the sex scenes (a personal preference as I literally do not care about them), because there were none. However, I did feel like I really wanted to skip past the “oh, Anita’s not taking care of herself again” scene... and luckily there weren’t the usual “but you’re a GIRL and sleeping with all these guys” conversations, so that was nice.

I probably would have enjoyed Sucker Punch more if the actual mystery had been the focus of the book. It really wasn’t. It also wasn’t obvious who the perp(s) were, mainly because, again, the amount of conversations having nothing to do with the plot. I have no real memory of who did what and why and why certain conclusions were reached. Like, at all. It’s like the plot was there to hang Olaf’s stuff on, more than to drive the story. The story is Olaf questioning everything and Olaf surprising Anita and Olaf being 0% as scary as he should be because of all of it.