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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs | 2013 | Children, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.9 (128 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was an enjoyable read and one that I will very likely pass on to my son. I only recently became aware there was more than one book and this was engaging enough that I want to read the next one in the series. Unlike so many other fantasy books this one actually acknowledges the idea that when a child / teen / person goes into another "world" so to speak, the people they leave behind will worry about them. So many go into these other "worlds" and their original home and family get completely forgotten. I enjoyed that element of reality being brought to the story.
  
Son of a Witch
Son of a Witch
Gregory Maguire | 2008 | Fiction & Poetry
7
6.8 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
I saw the musical version of Wicked two or three years ago, and ADORED it. I'd been wanting to pick up this book for sometime, and finally found both it and the sequel at my local library. (I just learned there are two more books, A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz, so I'll be requesting those from the library soon!) I started the book knowing, from other reviewers, that it was very different from the musical. Unlike most of the reviews I read, that didn't make me not like it. Quite the contrary. I loved seeing the politics and social unrest hidden behind the scenes. The musical hints at the pogroms against Animals (the sentient ones) but doesn't go into the Whys and Hows like the book does. Wicked and its sequel are much grittier, much darker. At times they feel like political commentary. I loved them.

Wicked is the story of Elphaba, Oz's Wicked Witch of the West. Her story tells us about her birth, her childhood, her school years, and how she eventually came to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Throughout the course of the book we meet Glinda, the Good Witch (and Elphaba's college roommate), the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys, and the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch, unsurprisingly, is not as evil as she's painted to be. Her sister, though...I might not call her wicked, but dictatorial? Yes. Wicked also introduces Liir, Elphaba's son. His story is the sequel, Son of a Witch.

In Son of a Witch, we watch Liir try to decide who he is and what he wants to do with his life. Is he really Elphaba's son? What does that mean for his future? Should he take up her mantle and her responsibilities? So many people seem to think it's his duty to do so, but he's not Elphaba. She never confided her dreams and goals to him, so he doesn't even really know what those duties are, much less if he wants to take them up. Son of a Witch is really the story of an identity crisis, but it's an identity crisis with the added pressure of entire tribes and races of peoples looking to Liir for help, or guidance, or simply answers that he does not have.

I very much enjoyed both books, and I'm excited to find out there are two more in the series. I definitely had some unanswered questions at the end of Son of a Witch, and was disappointed when I thought that was the end. I also plan to look up the author's other, similar books - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Cinderella), Mirror Mirror (Snow White), and many others not based on fairy tales. Or recognizable fairy tales, anyway.

Reading these two books has also made me want to re-read the Oz series - I read most of them years ago in middle school, but I think I may try to grab them from the library again. Oz is such an interesting world, and re-reading them after reading The Wicked Years might shine a whole new light on them.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
Wicked
Wicked
Gregory Maguire | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.4 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
I saw the musical version of Wicked two or three years ago, and ADORED it. I'd been wanting to pick up this book for sometime, and finally found both it and the sequel at my local library. (I just learned there are two more books, A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz, so I'll be requesting those from the library soon!) I started the book knowing, from other reviewers, that it was very different from the musical. Unlike most of the reviews I read, that didn't make me not like it. Quite the contrary. I loved seeing the politics and social unrest hidden behind the scenes. The musical hints at the pogroms against Animals (the sentient ones) but doesn't go into the Whys and Hows like the book does. Wicked and its sequel are much grittier, much darker. At times they feel like political commentary. I loved them.

Wicked is the story of Elphaba, Oz's Wicked Witch of the West. Her story tells us about her birth, her childhood, her school years, and how she eventually came to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Throughout the course of the book we meet Glinda, the Good Witch (and Elphaba's college roommate), the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys, and the Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch, unsurprisingly, is not as evil as she's painted to be. Her sister, though...I might not call her wicked, but dictatorial? Yes. Wicked also introduces Liir, Elphaba's son. His story is the sequel, Son of a Witch.

In Son of a Witch, we watch Liir try to decide who he is and what he wants to do with his life. Is he really Elphaba's son? What does that mean for his future? Should he take up her mantle and her responsibilities? So many people seem to think it's his duty to do so, but he's not Elphaba. She never confided her dreams and goals to him, so he doesn't even really know what those duties are, much less if he wants to take them up. Son of a Witch is really the story of an identity crisis, but it's an identity crisis with the added pressure of entire tribes and races of peoples looking to Liir for help, or guidance, or simply answers that he does not have.

I very much enjoyed both books, and I'm excited to find out there are two more in the series. I definitely had some unanswered questions at the end of Son of a Witch, and was disappointed when I thought that was the end. I also plan to look up the author's other, similar books - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Cinderella), Mirror Mirror (Snow White), and many others not based on fairy tales. Or recognizable fairy tales, anyway.

Reading these two books has also made me want to re-read the Oz series - I read most of them years ago in middle school, but I think I may try to grab them from the library again. Oz is such an interesting world, and re-reading them after reading The Wicked Years might shine a whole new light on them.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
Decimation: Son of M
Decimation: Son of M
David Hine | 2006
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
In the voice of a goth-wannabe, darkly-attired conductor's voice: <i>"All aboard, the Angst Express is now departing..!</i>

I was quite pleased with David Hine's "Rebirth" storyline on Top Cow's THE DARKNESS. During my extended read of most of what made of HOUSE OF M, and the subsequent M-DAY stuff, I learned that Hine helmed DECIMATION: SON OF M, a 2006 mini-series that dealt with Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) and how he comes to terms with being de-powered. I was anticipating a great read, one that would make sense, as well as leaving me satisfied as I said goodbye to HOUSE OF M and all that followed it. Sadly, that was not the case at all!

The story itself seemed to be written well enough. However, I felt Pietro's almost nihilistic mood was too much to bear! Yes, losing your super-quickness was something that would take time to fully settle into, it was not the end of the world! Nor was it worth kidnapping your daughter Luna from her mother, the Inhuman Crystal, or stealing terrigen crystals from Attilan!

While the mini-series title, SON OF M, made sense, the story should have been titled THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL! Seriously, this was probably one of the most depressing mini-series (next to Morrison's WE3, which I loved, but, sadly, will not re-read as my depression is staring to rear its unwelcome head in my life again!) I have ever read! it probably should have a warning or something, especially if you are someone who is trying to keep their depression in check!

I am giving this mini 2 Stars out of 5, simply because a I think Hine is talented, even I did not like this story, and b) Roy Allen Martinez turned in some super-tight art! Mind you, I was not really pleased with Medusa's visual reworking, nor the "porn star-esque" figures given to Medusa and Crystal! However, that aside, I quite liked Martinez's art!

In conclusion, all I can say is don't read this if you are having a bad day/week, SON OF M will only make the bad day worse! 'Nuff said!
  
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Josh Sadfie recommended Bicycle Thieves (1948) in Movies (curated)

 
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
1948 | Drama
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"You know, it’s tough to really summate your favorite movies, and it changes so often based on your vibe and things like that. When I w­as thinking about it, I was trying to think of what are the movies that continually show up in the top 10. And I landed on The Bicycle Thief – or Bicycle Thieves; sometimes people say “thief,” sometimes say “thieves.” [Director Vittorio] De Sica’s Bicycle Thief is like a north star project for me. First of all, it’s arguably the greatest film in the father-son series. It’s one of the bits of neo-realist masterpiece. The way that De Sica aligned it with his casting and the themes of his movie is always an inspiration. The fact that he saw Lamberto Maggiorani at the audition, that he showed up with his son – he’s a factory worker who showed up with his son – he immediately said, “Oh, this is the guy who needs to play the character.” And the fact that he cast the kid, Enzo, off of the street while they were filming, who was selling flowers for his father. The fact that De Sica had the vision to try to blur the lines, starting with casting and then, towards the climax of the movie he shot, he modeled his production around the release of a soccer match. So that he knew he was going to have hundreds upon thousands, thousands upon thousands of people leaving the stadium at the same time. And he would shoot around. He’s using reality as the fabric of his fiction film. And that, to me, makes it an ultimate masterpiece of all time."

Source
  
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Nickg24 (492 KP) rated Titans - Season 2 in TV

Dec 17, 2019  
Titans - Season 2
Titans - Season 2
2019 | Action, Adventure
Contains spoilers, click to show
So after a fantastic first season I was expecting the second to raise the bar even higher,which it did in parts but also failed to do so in other parts.

This time the titans find themselves going up against a genetically modified super baddie in deathstroke.Having killed one of the original members of the titans and in turn one of them causing deathstroke to accidentally kill his own son both parties are seeking revenge.

For all the excellent action/fighting sequences, the introduction of bruce wayne (though we never see him as batman through the entire series) and superboy (half superman/half lex luthor) this second season finds itself bogged down with a lot of talk and with everyone feeling down and miserable at some point.

The titans all fall out,go their separate ways only to reunite at the end to defeat deathstroke.The killing off of wonder girl felt flat and unnecessary and the set up for the 3rd series doesnt fill me with much with much excitement but I will almost certainly tune in to watch it.