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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Cage of Destiny (Reign of Secrets, #3) in Books

Jan 23, 2020

The author/publisher provided a free copy of the book for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a review copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore do not affect the opinion or content of the review.
I honestly forgot about writing a review for Cage of Destiny after reading it, so I am now fashionably late in the reviewing scheme of things.

My excuse: I've been trying to get both of my co-bloggers into reading this and it has not happened yet. My mission will continue. (Also Anelises library is cooler than mine because she says they have a copy of the first book.)

I honestly live for Daviss introductions because they give me life. It's one of the rare things that never happen in books but it happened and I always look forward to reading it. Also it seems like there will be more books? Which means I might get more of one of my favorite bad-ass princess? My heart is overjoyed. *rolls into abyss of happiness*

Cage of Destiny starts right off from <a href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-cage-of-darkness-by-jennifer-anne-davis-arc-review"; target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cage of Darkness</a>, when Allyssa is given the ultimate choice from her parents to walk away from her crown or continue the path of being empress of Emperion. This makes things a lot interesting since <a href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-cage-of-deceit-by-jennifer-anne-davis-arc-review"; target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cage of Deceit</a> revealed Allyssa is a bad-ass princess who sneaks around the kingdom just to take down criminals in a disguise. And now she has a decision while taking down evil queen interested in kingdom domination!

To be a ruler, or not to be a ruler, that is the question.

And of course, there is a love triangle, which is kind of strange yet thrilling at the same time. Unlike most love triangles where the poor girl is playing Pick a Boy and us poor readers are fighting around with teams, there's only one side to this love triangle. The other guy is just there hanging on hopelessly, and my heart is happy because Davis isn't busy pulling around with my poor heartstrings and there is only one ship to this story.

Which basically leads me into some of the characters of book three. All of the major characters have been introduced in either the first or second book, so a lot of those characters are returning. In addition to that, there are some new characters as well, so maybe there's a book four? That is yet to be seen.

But let me take a moment to appreciate Kerdan, who got introduced in the previous book and will be playing a larger role than floating around and plotting and being all around mysterious prince warrior. Kerdan is basically the Kenji from Shatter Me - all funny personality with more page time than Kenji did, but also my favorite character other than Allyssa.

In fact, Kerdan probably brings out the funny side of Allyssa, which I will definitely not complain about.

 Cage of Destiny brings a satisfying conclusion to one story with an unknown promise of future books - I'll be looking forward to future books regardless.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/cage-of-destiny-by-jennifer-anne-davis/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>

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Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The High Moments in Books

Oct 5, 2020

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I am very excited to be part of the Instagram Tour for The High Moments by Sara-Ella Ozbek. Thank you to Kaleidoscopic Book Tours for this amazing opportunity, and for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The High Moments is a book about Scarlett.

She’s not perfect and she has a very tricky relationship with her mother. All she wants is to be successful and for people to like her.

She is one of those people that make goals on New Year’s Eve, and then reflect back one year later, just to realise that nothing has changed. But one day, she does decide it’s time for a change. So she moves to London. She doesn’t have a particular plan, but she does want to be a designer.

She ends up getting a job at a modeling agency with a very low salary. But the fashion industry is the worst place you can go to, if you are willing to change yourself, just to appeal to others.

Which is something Scarlett, obviously, does.

She makes friends that aren’t that real. She hands out with the wrong crowd. And she sleeps with men she shouldn’t. She takes drugs. She consumes alcohol. Way more than she is supposed to. But at least people start to recognise her. They invite her to parties she could only have dreamed of. Surely that can’t be all that bad? Well – it is.

And she doesn’t really learn from it, until it’s way too late.

This book was compared to The Devil Wears Prada, and I don’t agree with that comparison. The Devil Wears Prada is a gem, and the first of its kind, so it shouldn’t be a very easy story to compare. Just because this book follows a woman that works in a very fast paced fashion industry it doesn’t mean comparisons should be thrown left right and center.

Additionally, Scarlett is a very insecure person. And despite her goal in design, she doesn’t show a lot of determination. She seemed to care way more about her parties, than to be good at her job and get promoted in her career. But I think that her immaturity comes with her age, and the story was captured in a time when she still needed to experience everything and grow. Which she does, at the very end of the book, even though it’s a slow start.

Aside from this, I really enjoyed the book, and it only took me one day to finish it. I was very invested and entertained, and I have only praise for that. The scenes were very realistic and the characters were very real. The plot was predictable, but I expected that. Every time Scarlett would make a bad decision, I knew it would come back to bite her. And I also knew she would learn to grow from all the mistakes she made – which she does. And that pleases me.

“Everyone always wonders how good people can do terrible things, but bad behaviour is the easiest thing in the world, really. You just don’t think about it.”

If you love fast-paced books, filled with humour and fashion, I promise you will enjoy The High Moments by Sara-Ella Ozbek. It will lift your spirits and make you giggle. And on top of that, it will make you discuss Scarlett’s choices in life with your best friend. What more do you want in a book?

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Ryan Hill (152 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies

May 11, 2019

Black Panther (2018)

2018 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

8.3

(283 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Chadwick Boseman as Tchalla/Black Panther Michael B Jordan as Erik killmonger Letitia wright as shuri Danai Gurira as Okoye Wakanda's world building The ancestral planes sequences (0 more)

The cgi isn't that great considering the budget of the movie (0 more)

"Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, 'cause they knew death was better than bondage"

Full of life, joy, sorrow, and hilarity; Ryan Coogler's Black Panther just has a vibrancy you rarely find in the superhero scene, let alone blockbusters. Enriched with a deep, abiding love for African culture and Afrofuturism; the movie just feels purposeful. Important. Meaningful. Context matters here, as Black Panther will become one of very few films populated by African Americans not dealing with slavery or black history to thrive financially. And that cast is phenomenal. Boseman's soft-spoken panther-of-few-words is the rare MCUer to opt for a moment of silence rather than a snarky comment. Michael B Jordan brings an unmistakable swagger to the perpetually weak slate of Marvel villains, conveying a crushingly sad and challenging story that could just as easily be regarded as the true hero of the film. Letitia Wright as the genius tech maestro was a blast, a character who could give Tony Stark a run for his money both technologically and charismatically. And these are just three of Coogler's creations; drawn from a slate of inspired, unique and wonderfully represented roles for black actors...many of whom will deservingly use this as a career springboard of sorts.

I remember years ago I read a book about the cultural significance of various comic book locales, and the Wakanda entry struck me as uniquely sad and inspiring. Wakanda, a place busting with innovation, tradition, and pride...hidden from the world. Sort of an alternate-timeline Africa which wasn't poisoned irreparably by colonialism and all its horrors. There's a sad duality obvious in this Wakanda, that being for it to exist, it must be hidden. Must be quietly nurtured, developed and treasured. It's an apt metaphor in relation to black pride, culture, and history; something constantly being reworked, reshaped and reimagined to put a sordid past (and present) in the rear-view mirror by those who perpetrate it, knowingly or not. This idea, that for something to thrive it must be isolated, is at the heart of Black Panther. You can understand why T'Challa, and generations before him, sacrificed anything to preserve the myth of Wakanda. But you can also understand Killmonger's feeling of betrayal. The profound moral objections inherent in a small community turning it's back on a larger suffering population in the name of self-preservation. There's no heroes and villains when Black Panther is at it's best, just two sides to a terrifying moral question *loaded* with historical weight.

Because Killmonger isn't really a villain. The best illustration of this is the contrasting "dream" sequences, in which T'Challa shares a promise with his father within a transcendentally beautiful African landscape, and Killmonger is confronted by all his pain, suffering and moral rigidity in the vast concrete jungle of Oakland, in the tiny apartment where his father was murdered for trying to make a difference. They both wake up with tears in their eyes, some from pain and some from catharsis. Coogler marks the chasm between T'Challa's and Killmonger's pasts so perfectly, and illustrates exactly why they feel the way they do with such wisdom. Black Panther so clearly empathizes with Killmonger and understands where his pain was born, and the horrors that nurtured it.

And so there's no hero and no villain to this movie. Just two men in nearly identical black panther suits, clashing over how Wakanda ought to venture into a new era. Nobility and passion, conservation and sacrifice, incremental change against a vengeful redistribution of power and oppression. Both men are correct in their aspirations, being "right" here doesn't matter. it's tough for a good man to be king. Killmonger made T'Challa the hero he is, by instilling in him a mission, a perceived duty to turn around, face an oppressed people and finally lend a hand. But more than that, there's something miraculous here. An apology from a good man. A recognition of a sin even when it's perpetrator was, until now, helpless to prevent it. A declaration that not contributing to hate and prejudice doesn't equate to actively working to prevent it. A plea for a humble brand of superheroism, for countless ghosts of the past to be heard and change to erupt in their name. Divides to be bridged, chasms to be crossed and wrongs to be righted.

Black Panther has a complex, meaningful and profoundly challenging thematic framework; offering a fresh dissection of what it means to grapple with the sins of those who came before. Sure, there are some technical issues along the way, the machinations of Marvel storytelling are evident and errors could be found; but if you understand that superhero stories were meant to ask these sorts of questions and push boundaries since their inception; Black Panther is a dream.