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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Dualed (Dualed, #1) in Books

Jan 23, 2020

As <a href="http://thesocialpotato.maryfaye.net/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">Faye from The Social Potato</a> puts it, this is about "assassin twins."

For some weird reason, I liked the idea. Come on, thirty days to kill your supposedly "evil" twin before both of you self-detonate? Totally up my alley.

That, however, does not mean I'm secretly a serial killer with a freakishly high IQ and gets a high off from killing people. (However, Lupe is still worried about my future regardless of my feeble protests. I think she's really just worried about the romance department, but I'm not exactly a mind reader despite our six-plus years of friendship.)

Anyways, I'm getting off-topic. Dualed is about assassin twins (I take no credit). In a bit of a contradiction to Faye, who summed this up perfectly, I'll say Dualed stalls. It's either the book stalling or West Grayer is a procrastinator. She's been training for years to kill her Alt (which I suppose are like "evil" twins, but Alts aren't necessarily "evil"), but then she finally gets her assignment.

As expected, it probably feels like a bulldozer has just plowed into you – I know I would be panicking all over the place. I totally understand why West feels like she doesn't have enough training and decides to do something entirely illegal in The Board's eyes – killing someone else's Alt, otherwise known as a striker. (Though in my case I'll probably turn into Hermione. Dye my hair blonde and make it curly than wavy. Claim I'm a Gryffindor and best friends with Harry Potter. Plan religiously and then go after my Alt with my wand crossed with my finger.)

I just felt that West waited until almost the last minute (read: the last couple of days) to go after her Alt. She's going after everyone else's Alt as a striker while her days are counting down down down and when her friend Chord confronts her about it, she just makes an excuse. It's one of those excuses you come up with lamely just to come up with one and when the "interrogator" fires back, you just end up speechless.

(Really it's just screaming "Lies lies lies so let me come up with an excuse in the hopes I won't be questioned further" all over.)

But the book just doesn't feel like it stalls. In fact, it doesn't stall. Dualed is very fast-paced, action-packed, and when West 1.0 (the main) meets West 2.0 (the Alt), it'll leave your heart pounding as the two go neck to neck for the chance to survive. (The dark and evil side of me goes: Yeah! Blood and gore! *plays upbeat action music*) In comparison to a lot of dystopians out there, this is actually a refreshingly new idea that'll attract bees to the honey.

(I totally said that. Did it sound weird? My bad.)

So here's my ultimatum: West Grayer is a procrastinator. At the exact same time she starts questioning The Board while taking on striker duties and running away from her Alt. She finally realizes (or maybe Chord just verbally slaps her upside the head and it came through AT LAST) if she wants to live happily ever after as The Board says, she'll have to take the initiative and pounce before her Alt does it to her.

Overall, Dualed wasn't bad to listen to. Alicyn Packard definitely isn't my type of narrator, but I won't complain. I've finally figured out my favorite types of narrators are usually those who do a variety of different voices (one day I'm going to come across a cast and it'll be MIND EAR BLOWING). I give up on commenting on the narration of audiobooks unless it's really good or really bad.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-dualed-by-elsie-chapman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

Kudos

Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Onward (2020) in Movies

Mar 15, 2020

Onward (2020)

2020 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy

8.2

(49 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

I had very mixed feelings about Onward after seeing the trailer, it didn't feel like Pixar and if you'd shown it to me out of context I'd never have guessed it was them.

It's Ian's 16th birthday and things aren't exactly going to plan. To cheer him up his mum gives him and his brother a present left for them by their late father. In a world that has forgotten magic, their father had still believed, and he's leaving them a way that will allow them to see him again. When the only way to complete the spell means finding something long forgotten the brothers must embark on a quest, one that older brother Barley has been preparing for his whole life.

Onward starts with a great potted history of magic in their world and how it's been replaced by modern amenities. It feels like they made a very quick change but I liked it over the sped-up timeline over many years, it actually summed up a more modern way of abandoning things that aren't convenient. It also allows you to have fun little moments of thinking about how things changed when you see flashes of their past during the film.

With Pixar you know that you're going to get that sentiment and deeper meaning that induces bucketloads of tears and in Onward it's a strong message about family and how the past weighs down on what's actually happening in the present. None of that meaning really feels like it's there until very late in the film though, the beginning is more like some generic off-brand fantasy adventure, and though the two ends fit together they don't seem like they belong together.

The mix of characters is fun but we don't get a proper introduction to who, or what, many of them are. It's a shame that with such a varied selection of creatures that most are just relegated to being quirky looking with no real function. There were at least things to appreciate from some of them, Colt counting I thought was a fun touch, and I loved Corey the Manticore, her whole transition through the film was funny and very entertaining.

Chris Pratt as Barley was the only spot on bit of casting for me, his happy-go-lucky demeanour fits the character and we're treated to some of that Starlord adventure. (My favourite Barley scene was definitely the bridge). Everyone else kind of felt a little... meh? I wasn't wowed, I wasn't hooked in trying to work out who the voices were, it all felt a little bland. Partly I think that's because I never felt like I learned anything about them. Sure, some bits were fun, but through most of the film I wasn't really bothered what happened to any of them.

The journey that brothers Ian and Barley go on is full of twists and turns, they're amusing but nothing we haven't really seen before. As I mentioned, the emotional payoff doesn't appear until very late, and it did reduce me to tears, but it could have been so much more. The build-up to it had no real substance, especially when you consider how meaningful it's conclusion is.

In fact, the build-up could have offered up so many different things. For a fantasy story with magic and mythical creatures it holds little to no magical feeling. There's no real spectacle or pizzazz to anything. When I think of magic in other films I get wonder and joy, but in Onward it's done more for jokes. Even at the climax of the film it takes on so much humour that it detracts from the emotions.

Dan Scalon's story is partly based on his own experiences (I'm assuming with less mythical creature though)... and that story is peak Pixar... but the world created around it isn't strong enough for the sentiment it portrays. Taking such a powerful message about family and bundling it up in something that doesn't have the usual Pixar strength and heart feels like a travesty to me.

Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/03/onward-movie-review.html