Breana: I’m currently listening to Jidenna’s new album, 85 to Africa. One of my favorite songs is Jungle Fever.
What are you listening to this week?
Monday, September 9, 2019
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
ARC Review: Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Title: Well MetSeries: n/a
Author: Jen DeLuca
Source/Format: First to Read; eARC
More Details: Contemporary; romance
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley; September 3, 2019
Goodreads Amazon Barnes & Noble Book Depository
Synopsis from Goodreads...
All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jen DeLuca.
Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him? The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying? This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek....
I was here for the renaissance fair and stayed for the characters and romance. However, there was a lot more to like about Well Met than that. Everything from the writing, characters, story, and of course the romantic elements were done so well. At times, there were even hints of a will-they-won’t they kind of situation. So, I have to say, Well Met by Jen DeLuca is probably one of the most interesting, fun, and charming romance novels I’ve read in a while.
Well Met was a quick read, and the story was pretty straight forward. It was easy to get into and also the kind of book that kept me turning the pages, because I was so invested that I needed to know what happened next.
I liked the main character, Emily, especially after she was roped into volunteering at the annual renaissance faire in Willow Creek. I liked Emily’s emotional journey from beginning to end. She had issues to work through, and I liked the progress she made. Toward the beginning of the novel she was stuck in her past. While she was a good aunt and sister, she had a tendency to willingly put others before and above herself. So, I knew she would have to work on that before she could open up to anyone else, value herself, and move on with her life. I also liked Emily’s family—her older sister, April, and her niece Caitlin. I loved the bond between the three of them, especially Emily and Caitlin. She was very much the cool aunt kind of character, and I thought it was great that she was willing to do the faire so Caitlin wouldn’t miss out on the opportunity. There was a whole host of other side characters—including Simon—and they were as interesting as Emily. I liked the bits of backstory and glimpses of their usual lives outside of the faire.
I also liked the romantic relationship. Since the novel takes place toward the end of the school year and over a summer, I liked how gradual the relationship felt as it developed. The banter was a whole lot of fun since the characters often did so while using their faire personas. Speaking of which, one aspect that stood out was the renaissance faire. That’s a good thing, because it was such a large part of the story. The renaissance faire worked very well as a setting for the romance to take place. It was such a unique thing to do, and I enjoyed reading about how the faire came together: the auditions, rehearsals, costumes, and even during the summer when the event was going on.
Overall, Well Met was great. If you’re a fan of romance novels with a unique spin, then I would recommend giving this book a try. As for me, I’ll be over here waiting for Jen DeLuca’s next novel.
Well Met was a quick read, and the story was pretty straight forward. It was easy to get into and also the kind of book that kept me turning the pages, because I was so invested that I needed to know what happened next.
I liked the main character, Emily, especially after she was roped into volunteering at the annual renaissance faire in Willow Creek. I liked Emily’s emotional journey from beginning to end. She had issues to work through, and I liked the progress she made. Toward the beginning of the novel she was stuck in her past. While she was a good aunt and sister, she had a tendency to willingly put others before and above herself. So, I knew she would have to work on that before she could open up to anyone else, value herself, and move on with her life. I also liked Emily’s family—her older sister, April, and her niece Caitlin. I loved the bond between the three of them, especially Emily and Caitlin. She was very much the cool aunt kind of character, and I thought it was great that she was willing to do the faire so Caitlin wouldn’t miss out on the opportunity. There was a whole host of other side characters—including Simon—and they were as interesting as Emily. I liked the bits of backstory and glimpses of their usual lives outside of the faire.
I also liked the romantic relationship. Since the novel takes place toward the end of the school year and over a summer, I liked how gradual the relationship felt as it developed. The banter was a whole lot of fun since the characters often did so while using their faire personas. Speaking of which, one aspect that stood out was the renaissance faire. That’s a good thing, because it was such a large part of the story. The renaissance faire worked very well as a setting for the romance to take place. It was such a unique thing to do, and I enjoyed reading about how the faire came together: the auditions, rehearsals, costumes, and even during the summer when the event was going on.
Overall, Well Met was great. If you’re a fan of romance novels with a unique spin, then I would recommend giving this book a try. As for me, I’ll be over here waiting for Jen DeLuca’s next novel.
About the author....
Monday, September 2, 2019
Music Monday (88): Post Malone & Swae Lee
Breana: Last week, I finally got around to watching Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s such a great movie. I loved the story and how urban and colorful the setting was (it’s now one of my all-time favorite animated movies, so there’s that). Also, the soundtrack for it was just as amazing as the rest of the movie. One of my favorite songs from the album is Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee.
What's one of your favorite movie soundtracks or scores?
Friday, August 30, 2019
Let's Talk About Dark Crystal...
I went in knowing next to nothing about the film—I didn’t look at the Wikipedia page for it or search for any reviews about it—which was intentional. I wanted to really experience the movie without being influenced by, well anything. And I just have to say it: I loved Dark Crystal. I get the hype now. Not only was it a solid fantasy adventure movie, but it had an incredibly interesting world. There was a real story there, and a lot of lore. Not to mention the overall design of the film was fantastic. The puppets were awesome, and I loved how unique and interesting the environments were: such as Aughra’s home (with the orrery), the swamp, and even the Skeksis’s castle. There were also other details like how some of the customs were introduced within the first twenty to thirty minutes, and demonstrated the stark contrast between the Skeksis and the urRu. It was by far one of my favorite introductions for not only the hero, but also the villains. As a result, it created such an immersive world, and I could go on and on about every little detail about the story and characters.
There was so much potential, and I genuinely don’t know why they stopped with one film when so much could have been done with the Dark Crystal universe. So I’m not mad about the Netflix series being a prequel. Let me explain. While watching Dark Crystal, I came away conflicted. While I wanted to know more about the story, I wasn’t necessarily sold on a sequel. Not because I didn’t want to revisit the world with the original set of characters. I just liked the way the movie ended. It was a satisfying conclusion to Jen’s story. However, because it’s such a fascinating world, I wanted to know more about what happened before the events of the original movie. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of answers were provided by Dark Crystal thanks to the air-tight narrative, but there were no flashbacks to directly accompany them. As such, a number of my questions have to do with the origins of the prophecy, what led up to the situation with the Gelflings, and more of the history of the Skeksis, etc.. And from the way the final trailer for Age of Resistance looks, it seems like the series might cover a lot of what I wanted to know.
Now more than ever, I’m excited to finally watch Labyrinth.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Review: Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
Title: Welcome to Night ValeSeries: Welcome to Night Vale #1
Author: Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor
Source/Format: borrowed from the library; Hardcover
More Details: Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Harper Perennial, October 20, 2015
Goodreads Amazon Barnes & Noble Book Depository
Synopsis from Goodreads...
From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves...no matter where we live.
Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.
Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels. Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it. Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it.
The mystery of the book revolved around something as seemingly innocuous as simple slips of paper. However, considering that this was Night Vale, it was quickly apparent that simple and innocuous weren’t the right words to use about the situation. The papers were being delivered to people by a “man in a tan jacket holding a deerskin suitcase,” and they only said one thing: King City. I liked the overall story. The mystery was interesting and there were enough twists to keep me turning the pages.
The novel also showed the characters in their daily lives, including at their jobs. In Diane’s case, it also highlighted her personal life: she was a single mother who worked hard to raise her son, Josh. While Josh spent a lot of time wanting to know who his father was, which caused some friction between the two. Even so, I liked the bond between Diane and Josh. Individually, they were great characters, but I enjoyed reading the scenes when they were together. Jackie and her routines were also interesting. I enjoyed reading about how she ran the pawnshop (plus the rules for pawning an item), as well as how being nineteen for seemingly forever/decades/however long began to weigh on her as the story progressed.
At its heart, Welcome to Night Vale is a story about mothers and their children. It was also about Night Vale's ways and the odd way time flows—or doesn’t flow—and how it affects the relationships between others. Night Vale is a strange place: it’s a town fraught with danger where even going to the library is a perilous adventure in and of itself. And it was interesting to see the town from the perspective of parents who’ve raised their children there.
Overall, I enjoyed Welcome to Night Vale. It was a great story. Now more than ever, I’m excited for the third book in the series.
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